X Factor: The good, the bad and the brave

Whether you love it or hate it - you can’t avoid it. Yes, that’s right, I am talking about X Factor.

Whether it’s Simon Cowell’s monotonous strop over the programme ratings slump being splashed all over  the tabloids, or you genuinely enjoy tuning into the Saturday night entertainment show (albeit a bit discreetly) - one thing is for sure – almost everyone has heard about X Factor. And as us viewers tune in week in and week out to watch the remaining contestants sing their hearts out, live, in front of the nation, we are all so hasty to judge who was good and who was bad that we tend to forget one very important factor – how tremendously brave those kids are!

On Saturday night, the average age of the final five acts was just 18 - the oldest contestant Marcus Collins being 23 and the youngest (and the latest to be eliminated) Janet Devlin, being 17 but just a tender 16 when she originally went through to the live shows.  And whilst the teenager fell under regular scrutiny from the judges and more gratingly from the voting public (most notably for forgetting the lyrics during her live performance, not just on one occasion but two), it is very easy to forget her strife.   She is performing under enormous pressure in front of an audience that has, on occasions, soared to 12 million, at an age when most her peers are probably losing sleep over doing a class assembly at school. The pressures that teenagers face on their journey to adulthood can be oppressive enough but the teenagers on here also have to deal with the pressure of the media frenzy that surrounds the competition - not to mention the torment of facing the inevitable criticism that comes with the territory of being in the limelight on a popular television show. 

Looking beyond the glossy stage setting and the polished, attractive backing dancers, you can actually see the trembling knees of Amelia Lily, Janet and some of the girls from popular band ‘Little Mix’. Their apprehensive faces as they wait to hear the result each Sunday night can only be described as somewhat painful to watch.   They might come across as precocious, intrepid, confident, fame-hungry wannabes, but beyond all that, some of those contestants are just terrified children desperately chasing their dreams live on television.

So, I think we should watch next Saturday night's show with a retrospective eye and a new-found admiration for those brave, young hopefuls who we are always so quick to criticise. 

Hats off to Winter

The weather might be bitter and brisk and a little bit miserable and you might be searching your wardrobe looking for things to wrap up in and keep you warm. But don’t fear....because with this biting, cold weather comes that super cool and trendy, extra outfit option – the hat! Guaranteed to keep you warm and make you look HOT! So spice up your attire with one of the trending hats of the winter. Here are my top 5 recommendations:

1) The Beret   To look fresh, chic and stylish - the beret is your perfect fashion tool! Whether it is a chunky, knitted beret, a cable knitted beret  or a simple French beret – any are ideal for looking slick this winter.   

Fergie looking chic in a beret

2) The Beanie   Having a bad hair day? Don’t panic. A cool, cute and quirky beanie can be the perfect rescue remedy on those mornings where you wake up and your hair is just not at its best.  And they are also great for warming your head when it’s cold.

Kate Beckinsale wears this beanie with style 

3) The Cloche   Kelly Osbourne, Victoria Beckham and Leighton Meester are just a few celebrities that wear the cloche hat with style – and so can you! It might be identified with the 1920's, but the cloche more than any item, has come back to symbolise the fashion of this decade. 

4)  The Fur Faux    They can be silky, they can be soft and they can be perfect for adding effortless elegance to your outfit on those cold, wintry days.

 5) The Turban The more modern take on the classic beanie - a turban styling in a chunky ribbed knit are everywhere this season and are perfect for adding style to your winter wardrobe. 

Style queen: Kylie Minogue in a knitted turban

10 things...to make the cold weather bearable

As winter looms, the weather is getting chillier and the days are getting shorter, those summer days we spent strolling in the park and lying on the beach feel like a fading, distant memory. However, all is not lost as winter can actually be a truly magical time. Here are ten things to embrace about winter:

1) Cosy cardigans, hats and ear muffs! As the wind gets harsher, the roads get icier and there is more often than not even a hint of a snow storm, this can only mean one thing: it is time to layer up! The bikinis and lovely summer dresses that us women spent all of summer fake tanning ourselves to look nice in, can now be put to the back of the wardrobe and be replaced with the likes of a wonderful, thick, comfortable cardy, a bobble hat and a pair of fluffy ear muffs if gets really cold (although I just like to wear them anyway). There is no greater comfort than the cosiness of warm clothes, so snuggle up in them during the coming, cold months.

2) Winter Food  Pies, parsnips and Sunday roasts are just a few of the delicious winter treats on the menu that can be enjoyed as the temperature starts to drop.

3) The best TV of the year With both X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing battling it out on screen to be at the top of the ratings list, not to mention the up and coming Christmas specials and films – who needs to paint the town red on a Saturday night? It is time to cosy up on the sofa  in your PJ’s and enjoy the epic , winter TV season.

4) Hot Chocolate (with marshmallows) You can’t drink one of these in the summer (without looking like a weirdo) so make the most of it! The weather usually starts getting colder from around October onwards, so head to the shops and buy a sachet of either the fair trade or Cadbury’s hot chocolate, boil the kettle and add some marshmallows for the best result!

5) Hot Water Bottles (and a nice warm bed) If your bed is a feeling a bit cold due to the decrease in temperature, do not fear – hot water bottles have been warming beds for many years and are one of the greatest winter comforts. Several shops now even sell microwavable animals that can do the trick just as well – you simply put them in the microwave for a minute (and seriously no longer – the results are traumatising) and then take them out to reveal a warm, snugly, cute little creature that will warm your bed up in seconds.  Aww.

6) Snow days   With our increasingly changing climate meaning that the winters of the last 3 years have had large snowfall amounts widespread and very low temperatures; we can probably expect some more snow in the months to come (especially if rumours of this ‘big freeze’ are anything to go by). Snow, it has to be said, can be a pain in the backside but it does however mean that we tend to get a day (or two) off school and as travelling from A to B starts to become slowly impossible, what better excuse to stay inside all day and do nothing but watch TV? Or, if you are feeling really energetic, then venture outside with a carrot and a bobble hat and make a snowman. You’ve got to love a bit of snow, you know.

7) Baking I don’t bake/cook or even attempt to, but I have always viewed it (probably as a result of watching too many Christmas films) as a lovely, wintry experience. Whether you are baking mince pies, a Christmas pudding, or just some homemade bread, with all that biting cold air outside what better time of year is there to take shelter in your warm kitchen and get your culinary juices flowing? 

8) Social Events  Whether it is a Halloween fancy dress party, a firework display or Christmas drinks - winter holds all the exciting annual events.

9) Mulled wine, sherry (you know, for Father Christmas…) and winter cocktails

Tis the season to be jolly, so have a little head start with some of these wonderful winter bevvies. 

 10) CHRISTMAS! Best time of the year.    Enough said really. 

Is Facebook actually having a positive impact on our education?

 Facebook and twitter have famously been used as the catalyst for students procrastinating in the past. However, new studies suggest that it could actually be having a positive impact in education performance.

According to data gathered from several sources by OnlineEducation.net, Facebook and Twitter are used to remarkable benefit— sometimes. Students welcome online networking and resources and around 75% of students said they’d like to do some online facilitation during lessons.

Also, social media may have a positive impact on students’ sense of themselves in the community and among their peers. Social media-using students were twice as likely as other students to feel well-liked by their friends and to participate in extracurricular activities. And 20% more of Facebook-using students said they felt connected to their school and community. 

Helje Solberg, executive editor of the norwegian paper VG, spoke at a conference recently about how her newsroom use social media. She said staff are now asked to spend 10% of their time working on social media. She went onto explain that social media can be a great tool for newsgathering, content distribution and community engagement when used correctly. Therefore, by using social networking sites as a collaboration in classes at both schools and universities, it might be actively preparing students for life in a work place. 

However, negative effects always arise.  Students who use Facebook and hit the books simultaneously found their multitasking led to 20% lower grades than those of their more focused peers. Facebook-using students also made less money during school from part-time work, putting in around five hours per week as opposed to 16 hours per week for a typical, unplugged counterpart.

Not only do grades and finances suffer, but students might actually end up feeling more depressed or lonely. Almost half of students believe they are sadder than their friends on Facebook, and 25% of college students have shown signs of severe depression in their status updates at one time or another.

In a word, the results are inconclusive. But with around 96% of all university students on Facebook, only the most dedicated academics would consider giving up social media for slightly better results. 

A good old book review - (I feel like I am still at school!)

'Sister' by Rosamund Lupton

Not heard of the author before? No, I hadn't either.

It is gratifying to report therefore that Rosamund Lupton’s emotionally powerful, debut novel more than matches up to the hype it has received courtesy of its Richard & Judy endorsement.  This cleverly worked psychological thriller about the skeletons lurking in the cupboard of what seems at first to be a fairly standard family, is both compelling, haunting and tragic.

Sister is written in the form of a letter from a young woman to her missing, assumed and feared dead, sister and Lupton’s concise and convincing narrative style allows their turbulent childhood to unfold through a slow-burner of small detail and intriguing allusions to past events. Guilt, grief, death, suspicion, psychological illness and obsession all play defining roles in this ambitious and exciting first novel.

Beatrice Hemming  jumps on the first flight home to England from her New York residence when her mother phones to say that younger sister Tess, a student at a London art college, has disappeared. Despite a five-year age gap, the two girls have always been close and Beatrice , the older and more grounded of the two sisters, knows everything about her younger sister – or so she believed. But now Tess has been missing for four days and the police fear the worst.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Beatrice is discovering how little she actually knows of what has been happening to her sister and is totally unprepared for the revelations she must now face.

The police, Beatrice’s fiancé and even her mother start to accept that they have probably lost Tess forever, but Beatrice embarks on a dangerous and at times slightly disturbing, quest to discover the truth about her sister - whatever the consequences.

While the police set the motions going and we slowly become acquainted with the family’s history, Lupton takes us to the heart of a complex web of relationships and provides some interesting twists and turns along the way, not least the startling conclusion.

Sister is an impressive first novel for Luption, which intelligently and subtly, combines a crime story with a sad and moving tale of domestic strife and upheaval. 

My Top Ten (or maybe eleven) guide points for starting university life

As I mentioned in my blog a few posts down, it is a start of a new academic year and for many people, this signals new beginnings. I, as I may or may not have already mentioned, have recently graduated from the University of Southampton. The three years I spent there were, without hesitation, the most amazing, the most eye-opening, the most rewarding and yes probably at times the most challenging, years of my whole life. An experience that has undoubtedly changed my life forever.

Three years ago (almost to this day in fact), I was sitting in my room, a quivering wreck of anxiety, wishing that I had a time machine that could stop the clock ticking away to the day I had to move to university. The day I had to move out of the comfort of my lovely home and into scary halls of residence with people I had never met (and of course I assumed I wouldn’t like) and  into a world  I felt I wasn’t ready to move into. Well, of course this wasn’t true. So to anyone starting university this month (or just wants to have a general read anyway), I have concocted ten things to hopefully help ease your nerves and kick start you into university life.

1) Smile at all times. Everyone, as I found out almost the minute I pulled into the car park, is in the same boat. Everyone is nervous (even if they later say that they weren’t). No one knows each other and everyone wants to get to know you. Especially if you smile and look friendly and inviting. So whatever you are feeling, remember everyone probably feels the same (and some probably feel even worse).

2)   Try and get on with your flatmates. This partially links on from my point above. I do believe that even three years on, it is up mostly important to at least try and get on with the people you are living with, especially for the first few weeks. Whether you are in halls of residence or a private rented house (or whatever other accommodation options there are now) and even if your newly acquainted flat mates look, sound or act like one of the bizaarest people on the planet, try and make an effort for the first week at least. You will find that having a foundation of friends that you live with will be a huge comfort in the first few weeks of living away from home. Once lectures start, you will meet new people on your course and you may decide that they are far more similar to yourself and chose to spend the majority of your time with them and that’s fine. Or, in most cases (especially mine) the friends you meet in halls could become the best friends you make at uni and end up shaping your entire university experience - so much so that you choose to live with the following year (and the year after that and probably again once you've). Try it, you just never know.

3)   Don’t go home that first weekend No matter how home sick you are or how much you are longing to see your boyfriend/girlfriend/parents/siblings/pets, make sure you try and stick out at least your first weekend away. Even if nothing particularly exciting appears to be going on, it is important to try and not get into the routine of heading home every weekend. The people who tended to do this were probably the ones that struggled to form the firmest of friendships. Of course, it is fine to go home every now and then and as regularly as you please, but try and kick the habit of thinking you need to go home every single solitary early on. You will feel much better once you have proved to yourself you can do it.

4)   Make the most of freshers week By attending everything you can. Pub crawls, meet and greet drinks, foam parties, the freshers fair, the freshers ball (although personally I didn’t go to mine, so I am not one to talk). By doing this, you are maximising both the opportunity to make lots of friends as well as the opportunities to bond with the ones you have already met. Even if drinking and crawling back at the early hours of the morning isn’t your scene, try and put yourself forward and join in, just for that first week only. If you don’t enjoy it, you don’t have to do it again.

5) Don’t panic about not being able to cook This, funnily enough, was top of the ‘panic’ list for several of the friends I met at uni. It was however (and the people who know me well enough may have a good laugh at this) not one of mine. I am a self-confessed, terrible cook (terrible in the sense that  before I moved to uni, I had never really attempted to cook anything other than beans on toast) and I sort of had an unwritten, amorphous plan to plough my way through on this exact meal (or maybe the odd pasta/pesto dish). This is fine. Once again, most people are in the same boat and you can club together in ‘lets just shove a pizza in the oven’ for the first year especially (your cooking skills will develop in the coming years – don’t worry). You will, however, I am not going to lie, come across the odd gourmet chef that think they are Gordon Ramsey. The less said about this the better. Just laugh.

6) Don’t overload on kitchen utensils  Obviously, bring the essential items such as plates, bowls, glasses (lots of these – they have a habit of going walkabouts ) and cutlery (although I do believe I casually forgot this ‘essential item’) but don’t get into a fluster about making sure you have things such as kettles and toasters. More times than not, most the other people in your flat will bring them and you will end up with loads and have to store them in your room.  If the worst comes to the worst and you end up without something, you can always pop into town and buy it. A radio or an ipod docking station can also be useful though  - both for your room and the kitchen whilst you’re cooking.

7)   Bring a doorstop  Someone told me this little gem of advice during those anxiety filled weeks leading up to the ‘big move’. Most halls of residence have fire doors which slam shut if not propped open (in case of the instance of a fire, believe it or not).This can cause havoc when trying to make yourself friendly and inviting to new flatmates. So, if you have time, pop along (or alternatively order on the internet) to your nearest home store (John Lewis, Tesco Direct, Homebase) and buy a door stop. If you don’t have the time or the money then you can just ve creative and use a wooden hanger (lots of people did this) or even a really heavy book. If you want to be super-duper creative then carve a small plank of wood, thin enough to slide under a door. Sorted.

8)   Take lots of pictures with you.  If you are in halls of residence, then most of the rooms have huge noticeboards or space where you can put pictures of all your family and friends back home. It is nice and comforting to try and make your room as homely as possible. Other accessories such as cushions and posters are also a good idea. I would suggest candles (if you are a girl) but most halls of residence and student housing have rules against this. The reason is pretty self-explanatory I guess.

9)   Bring a not-in-use school uniform. Without sounding weird, sleazy or whatever else this statement may spring to mind, this is really handy to have with you. Whether you have one in freshers week or at another point in the year, all universities tend to have a school disco at some point and it is great not to have the added stress of nipping to Primark and buying a cheap shirt/tie/skirt monstrosity when almost everyone will have a spare school uniform lying around at home. Saves money, time and hassle all at the same time.  

  10) Join a society – This one is fairly hypocritical of me as I never joined a society in the entire three years I was there (although, I did play in the English netball team from year 2 onwards), I do believe it is very useful to try and join at least one sort of society in your first term. Even if you don’t stick it out for the rest of the year, it is yet another way to meet new people and have some great experiences. They also do great socials!

11)   Have fun!  Last but not least, this is by far the most important one! University will almost certainly be some of the best years of your life in which you will make lifelong, amazing friends. So make the most of it. The time really does fly by. 

Rory McIlroy wins first major at Congressional

If Rory McIlroy’s inclusion on last year’s most marketable athletes list at number 36 was based on potential, this year’s 15-place climb is based on pedigree: McIlroy is the real deal according to the British media. Yesterday, he carved his way into the record books with an impressive victory at the US open and has since been compared to the likes of Jack Nicklaus. His performance was, without a shadow of a doubt, brilliant, with The Times newspaper describing his success as ‘spectacular.' The Daily Telegraph, however,  reflected their own views on the event by writing ‘that all questions about the legitimacy of Rory McIlroy as a major champion were erased at Congressional with a display that made even the eyes of the great Jack Nicklaus water.’The Times released a statement which displayed Jack Nicklaus lavishing praise on McIlroy who was himself only four months younger than McIlroy when he won the first of his 18 major championships titles at the US Open in 1962. ‘He’s going to have a great career’, Nicklaus said. 'He’s got all the components and a great personality.’


The Sun did a tribute to his success, drawing on information from McDowell and Harrington. McDowell went as far as to say “he’s phenomenal. The way he’s bounced back from Augusta, his maturity level for a 22-year old is incredible.”

And, if this is as the press coverage suggests is the prime of his professional career as a golfer, then he can, like other sporting successes such as Andy Murray discovered, expect to feel the full weight of expectation.

This literally made my heart melt...

 It's tough being ginger even when you're a seal: Lonely pup shunned by his colony  By MAIL FOREIGN SERVICE, 15th September 2011

Sitting all alone on a beach, this little seal is an outcast from the colony.

Its crime? Having reddish-brown fur and the palest of blue eyes. The rest of its sleek black family took an instant dislike to the ginger pup, leaving it to fend for itself.

The pictures were taken by Anatoly Strakhov, who spotted the seal on Tyuleniy Island, Russia.

The loneliest seal in the world: This rare brown furred pup was spotted on the beach at Tyuleniy Island, Russia

Hiding hole: The seal, which is almost blind, had been hiding under a pile of logs when he was first spotted

The photographer, 61, said: ‘He was hiding and waiting for his mother to come and feed him.

‘He had a very strange colour fur and looked different from his two black brothers.

I was pleased to be able to capture such an unusual animal, but the poor seal is almost blind and so was unlikely to survive in the wild.’ 

Luckily, Mr Strakhov was with staff from a dolphinarium who took it into their care.

The pup – whose colour is the result of an accumulation of iron in its fur – might have had more luck in the U.S. One of the biggest concentrations of red-haired seals is in San Francisco.

Hiding hole: The seal, which is almost blind, had been hiding under a pile of logs when he was first spotted

Shunned: The pup sits on is own up the beach while other seals group by the water's edge

New Beginnings

It’s another school year: the weather is turning, the leaves are falling and for most young people, it is all about new beginnings. Whether it is the start of a new school, a new university or just a new academic year, it is a time to start afresh with your newly charged batteries and look forward. 

Though it has been years since I bought my last back-to-school pencil case and a back-to-school, brand new, state-of-the-art rucksack, this year is still for me all about 'new beginnings' as I hope (if all goes to plan) to start a Masters in Journalism at the London College of Communication in October. A place that I feel honored to have seeing as I only applied about a month ago (no, I am not actually kidding). After much umming and arring about whether to apply this year or whether it was best to leave it a year and apply in the mean time, I half-heartedly filled out an application form and then left it sitting on a pile of junk in my bedroom for it to gather dust. I then decided that after weeks of what can only be described as doing very little and with no plans penciled in for the near future (or the distant one, if truth be told), I decided in the midst of  some semi pre-holiday abroad chaos to send my application off and just wait and see what happened. And blow me down, some weeks later I got a call from the course director asking to arrange an interview. Wow.  So now it was time to put a holt to my arbitrary, helter- skelter functioning and actually put things into motion and work backwards to do all the things I should have done months ago. Firstly, it was time to do some research. Proper, extensive research  into the course. I had done some prior to this in order to decide it was where I wanted to apply (I am not a complete fool) but now I needed to know things.  Proper things. So, off I went and looked up lots of facts and figures about the university, the course, the course lecturers and the destinations of the recently graduated students. I even memorized the course outline (don't ask).  I was on fire. I mean, what could I possibly be asked that I would struggle to answer now? Well, the first question I got asked of course: why do you want to be a journalist? Oh and the second: how long have you wanted to be a journalist for? Wow. I'm an idiot.  Research can only get you so far in an interview like this.

I did, however, manage to stumble and mumble my way through and managed to get an offer of a place at the end of it. I now have high hopes for this course. It is going to get me another qualification, it is going to make me a better writer,  a better journalist and hopefully allow me to get a decent job at the end of it (we'll see). 

But for now, it is all about new beginnings and new opportunities. For as  Lucille Ball once said, ‘I would rather regret the things I have done than the things I haven’t done'.