Hello folks,

Thankyou for all your comments in reply to my last entry about your Halloween plans. I really enjoyed reading them. Here’s a video of my sister and I talking a little about what we got up to on Halloween day/night.

I was really pleased with my costume. I made a few alterations to it and wore my own jewellery (because I wasn’t too keen on the necklace it came with) but I think it was worth the shipping costs from America. Here’s a photograph of myself in full costume:

My friend David dressed up as the Joker from The Dark Knight. I have to say I think his costume was possibly one of the best costumes I saw that night. He resembles Heath Ledger which made it all the more realistic. Here is a photograph of David and I in full costume.

All in all it was a really fun night. The Mighty Boosh were doing the DJ set which was pretty interesting considering they were all wasted.

In other news, Diana Vickers once again did a FANTASTIC performance on the X Factor Saturday night. She is proving herself to be a very versatile artist indeed. Click on the link below to watch her perform Blondie’s ‘Call Me’.

That’s all for now folks!
Thanks for reading.
Helen-Marie

Last entry I mentioned the X Factor, a British television music talent show which is contested by aspiring pop singers drawn from public auditions. I highlighted one such contestent (Diana Vickers) as being ‘captivating’ in her first week of the live shows where she sang a version of U2’s ‘With Or Without You’.

In the second week of the live shows the contestents were to perform songs by the legendary Michael Jackson. Diana sang a version of ‘Man in the Mirror’ and, despite original fears that she wouldn’t be able to pull off the Michael Jackson classic, she completely bought the house down with her haunting tone and quirky uniqueness.

I think this girl is very special and I completely adore her voice. Diana for the win I say!

Don’t you just love Autumn? There is a beautiful feel in the air this time of year. The weather is calm and crisp and the colours are out of this world. I have been dying to take some photographs over these last few weeks or so but I keep forgetting to take my camera out with me.

I’m going home Tuesday for Halloween and I cannot wait. As you may or may not know (depending upon if you have read my previous posts or not) this year I am dressing up as a witch/sorceress and my costume is pretty spectacular. Today I have been watching various makeup tutorials on YouTube to get some ideas together. I came across the following one which I’m dying to try out. Only trouble is I’m not so good with applying makeup so it probably won’t look anything like this when I give it a go *sigh*.

What do you think? If you know of any good Halloween makeup tutorial sites/videos etc then please comment and let me know. It would be much appreciated.

What are you all doing this year for Halloween? Are you dressing up and if so what as? Do you plan to go to/throw any Halloween parties or do you like to celebrate Halloween in a different way? Maybe you don’t like/celebrate Halloween? Let me know. I’m always interested in what you guys have to say.

Thanks for reading folks!
Helen-Marie

Hello folks,

The X Factor live shows started last night (11th October, 2008) and the talent is incredibly high this year. I will admit to loving the X Factor and I do religiously watch it every single year. Last year the gorgeous Leon Jackson won the X Factor title and the year before that we (of course) had Leona Lewis. In previous years, once the live shows have started, there are usually one or two singers who stand out above all the others. This year, however, there are at least five singers who are worthy of X Factor fame. Here’s all the performances from the first live show (in alphabetical order): -

01) Alexandra Burke

02) Austin Drage

03) Bad Lashes

04) Daniel Evans

05) Eoghan Quigg

06) Girl Band

07) JLS

08) Laura White

09) Rachel Hylton

10) Ruth Lorenzo

11) Scott Burton

Unfortunately for Bad Lashes they were the first to leave the show last night (11th October, 2008) after a sing off with rivals Girl Band. Here are the sing off performances from the live results show: -

1) Bad Lashes & Girl Band

Even though there are a handful of talented people on the show this year, one girl completely stands out for me above all the rest. Her name is Diana Vickers and she is just absoloutly captivating. Here is her performance of U2’s ‘With Or Without You’: -

Right now she is my favourite to win the show. I can’t think of any other singer who sounds like her and I just can’t stop watching her performance. “Haunting” is a word that comes to mind.

What do you guys think of the contestants this year and do you have any favourites?

Thanks for reading!
Helen-Marie

The University of Northampton

Hello folks,

I’m back at University now. I can’t say I’m overjoyed to be back but this is my final year (and shortest year) so I’m just going to try and make the most of it. This year I have a 10,000 word dissertation to do. At the end of year 2 we had to choose a topic to do our dissertation on and submit a dissertation proposal form to our personal tutors. I decided to do mine on the relationship between losing a companion animal (a pet in other words) and models of grief/attachment. I have to somehow narrow this down though as the subject matter is way too broad. I was thinking of looking into symbolism and models of grief. Pets play an important role in our lives, so much so that they actually often act as an integral role in a family, sometimes fulfilling a part similar to that of a child in a family unit. I thought it would be interesting to see how people deal with the death of a pet and how this is dealt with in relation to their family member function. That’s just one idea I had. If you have any others please feel free to share them.

It feels strange being back in halls. I always enjoy the first day back at University because I like to “decorate” my room (so to speak). This year I wanted to add more colour into my room as last year I had to deal with various shades of yucky brown which made my room look dull and depressing.

I really love the pattern on my bed sheets. It was actually a child’s bed spread but I adored it so much I just had to have it, haha! I also purchased a beautiful Niagara Falls poster off Ebay.co.uk which adds a little colour to my wall and brings back some happy memories of my time spent there.

Studies started Monday (29th September, 2008). This year I am majoring in Psychology and minoring in Criminology. I’m taking four modules in Psychology and two modules in Criminology.

Psychology Modules:

- Forensic Psychology
- The Psychology of Health
- Dissertation Module (counts for two modules in total)

Criminology Modules:

- Crime & Punishment
- Media, Crime & Justice

I’ve mainly had introduction lectures/seminars this week to give us an insight into what’s expected of us and what each module entails. We also received our module guides and I purchased a few textbooks which should come in useful as the modules progress.

I think out of all my modules I’m most looking forward to Forensic Psychology. That kinda stuff just really interests me and I can’t wait to get my teeth stuck into it. I think Media, Crime & Justice will also be quite interesting. Plus we get to watch alot of TV/Films for our assignments.

I’m guessing alot of you have started back at school/college/university by now. What are you all studying and how are you finding your courses so far?

Just before I go I wanted to mention that I have posted two new videos up on my YouTube channel if you want to check them out. One is a Weekly Up-Coming film video and the other is a Film Review Request video. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!
Helen-Marie

Hello folks,

The 31st October marks a special day on the Wiccan calendar and therefore a special day for myself.

Samhain (pronounced “sah-van” “sahm-hayn” or “sow-in”) is the most important of the four major sabbats celebrated by Neo-Pagans, Druids & Wiccans. In ancient times, Samhain formed the dividing day between years. It was a time that was neither in this year or the next.

Samhain, also known as November Eve, Feast of the Dead, Feast of Apples, Summers End, Halloween, Hallows and All Hallows, once marked the time of sacrifice. In some places this was time when animals were slaughtered to ensure food throughout the depths of winter.

Samhain is a time of reflection, of looking back over the last year, of coming to terms with the one phenomenon of life over which we have no control - death. Wiccans feel that on this night the seperation between the physical and spiritual realities is thin. Wiccans remember their ancestors and all those who have gone before.

In ancient times, the Celts believed that upon death everyone goes to a beautiful place free of hunger, pain and disease. It was called “Tir nan Og”, sometimes translated as “Summerland”. They had no concept of Heaven or Hell like that seen in Christianity.

Most modern day Wiccans and Druids have attempted to reconstruct as accurately as possible, Celtic beliefs, rituals, and other practices. A Wiccan, or other Neo-Pagan, may celebrate the Sabbat alone, as a solitary practitioner or they might gather with others in a coven. A typical celebration of Samhain might involve:

- Scheduling the celebration to a day near October 31st.
- Decorating their altar with autumn flowers, pine-cones, small pumpkins, decorative gourds, leaves etc.
- Ritual purification (taking a solitary bath).
- Casting (creating) a sacred circle within which their ceremonies are conducted.

The circle is usually marked with four candles of various colours aligned at the four cardinal directions. The purpose of the circle is to confine the Wiccans’ healing powers within it. It is not created to provide protection against demonic powers as some Cowans (non-Wiccans) have suggested.

- Performing rituals to contact loved ones who have died.
- Consecrating and sharing cakes and wine.
- Banishing (or closing or grounding) the circle.

Samhain is our favourite time of year. A true time for Witches, Witchcraft itself, and Wiccans alike.

Whilst the majority of Wiccans will tell you that they shy away from throwing Halloween parties (as we know them anyways.) and dressing up as various scary characters from various scary films I completely adore that side of it. I love buying costumes, making cakes, handing out sweets to the little “Trick-or-Treaters” who knock at my door and surprising them by saying “Trick” instead of “Treat”, haha! This year is no exception and earlier on tonight I bought my costume from the good ol’ US of A. Want a preview?

All I’ll need to do to complete the look is backcomb my hair a little, buy some cool eyelash extensions and cover my eyes in dark eyeshadow. Oh, I just can’t wait.

You’re probably all wondering why I’m talking about Samhain now when the actual day is over a month away. The answer to that question is that I was just really excited about buying my costume and wanted to share it with you all, haha! Nothing more than that.

Nearer the time I will be sharing some of my Samhain rituals with you (all two of them) and sharing some photographs of my altar/pumpkins etc also.

Thats all for now folks. Let me know what you think of my costume.
Thanks for reading.
Helen-Marie

Hello folks,

Cityscape.murexa.org is finally back up-and-running (so to speak). I decided I wanted a change from CuteNews and switched to Wordpress with the help of my wonderful host Brenda. This layout is an edited version of the free wordpress theme ‘Stripped Flowers’ from ScribbleScratch.com. I wanted something simple and colourful and this theme ticked all the right boxes. I edited the header image and the sidebar titles to make it a bit more personal and I’m pretty happy with the way it has turned out. I hope you guys like it.

There are going to be a few changes to this blog. I will still be doing personal blogs but I will also be doing entries relating to TV/Film/Music and various other topics. I will also be making more of an effort to post up my YouTube videos as entries on this site. I just want to add some diversity to my blogs and I feel this is the best way of doing that. Hopefully you’ll all find something in my blog entries that appeals to you.

I’m also thinking about writing a few entires based on my studies at University. I start my third and final year this Sunday (28th September, 2008) and I’m gonna have alot of coursework to get through. I think it would be a good way of getting your views on various issues bought up in lectures that I find particularly interesting and having general discussions about Psychological topics.

That’s all I have to say right now. I just wanted to update you guys on what I will be doing over here and where I see this site going.

Thanks for reading.
Helen-Marie