Good Luck Comes in Threes =)

Things are all looking up in the world of Keira. I haven't spoken much about my personal life on this blog of late, but there are some big changes going on. For starters, yesterday was my last day of work at 'alcatraz' as one of my colleagues calls it. I've been offered a job with a small company at the Kent Science Park in Sittingbourne. It'll be working on immunoassay design and development, which is in the same vein as what I was doing in Finland. Needless to say I'm very excited about having a proper graduate level job rather than the rubbishy agency job I've been doing since graduating.

Secondly, this obviously mean that I have to relocate. Which has been such a headache given I only handed in my notice two weeks ago, and am starting my new job on Monday! Not much time to find a flat, have all the checks, insurance, furniture, internet, etc etc etc... But! The flat I found is absolutely gorgeous, I've managed to acquire some lovely furniture, and I pick up keys tomorrow!

So then all that is left is to find some hunky men to carry all the furniture to my first floor flat. Well lucky for me I've found a lovely boyfriend who has volunteered. Yes, a new job, new flat and a boyfriend all in the space of a month! These thing don't happen in reality surely? Soon my bubble will be burst. And it will be horrendous. But for now, I'm just gonna enjoy it.

Oh, not to mention, Sittingbourne is only a 20min drive from a certain ex-housemate and co-presenter =D So will have to have many a night in my new flat with my stereo system introducing my neighbours to the world of europop :)

Hotel FM to Represent Romania

Sadly Claudia wasn't selected to represent Romania at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest. But thats the beauty of esc. You can discover so many great songs - not just the final 25 you hear on the night.
On a positive note though, I'm very very happy for Hotel FM, who actually were my initial favourite after a single listen to all the songs. I just thought it would be a bit too old-school eurovision for the Romanian public to choose it. But I'm glad they did, and I hope it does very well :)

MGP; First Semi-Final

Eurovision season is a go! This weekend sees the first of the semi-finals of both the Norwegian and Icelandic national selections. NRK have published full versions of the songs for Norways first semi-finals. Here's my thoughts after an initial listen...

* Carina Dahl, Guns and Boys: A bit of a Lady GaGa feel to this. Doesn't really work for me though. Something about her voice that isn't quite right.
* Use Me, Daisy: Much more my type of thing, but not really what I like to hear in Eurovision. They've got a bit of a GreenDay style drum beat, which I like. Didnt really listen to the lyrics, but I like his voice.
* Helene Bøksle, Vardlokk: An ethnic ballad in the stle of Alvedansen from a few years ago. Not quite as good though.
* Sie Gubba, Alt Du Vil Ha: Straight away took a dislike to this. It improves with the chorus, but even the fiddle couldn't save it. Its just too old-fashioned for me. Oh, good use of drop&surge though! Nice surprise near the end.
* Gatas Parlament, Jobbe Litt Mindre Og Tjene Litt Mer: Oh dear, this is just a bit of a mess. A blend of far too many styles. Accordions, drunken style singing, rap?! Kinda of grew to like it by the end though... in that way where you know you really shouldn't...
* Sichelle, Trenger Mer: Ah, promising intro... Bit more Scandi-electro-pop. More my thing. Ah yes, I think this is my favourite so far. Its success will depend heavily on the stage performance though I feel.
* Åste & Rikke, Not That Easy: Oh dear, no I don't like this at all. Bit too odd, and although could be potentially catchy after repeated listens, I don't think it makes a good first impression. Verses are just too disjointed.

If you want to listen for yourself, all the clips are available here...
http://www.nrk.no/nett-tv/indeks/245731/

Want U To Want Me

This is definitely my favourite song of esc2011 so far...

Destination Dusseldorf!

After trying (and failing) to buy tickets for the eurovision 2011 final on sunday, I was more gutted than I let myself believe. However, today tickets for the 'jury final' (or dress rehearsal as more commonly known) went on sale. And at a fraction of the price, I managed to get 2 tickets for me and Rach front and centre! So excited. It should be as much a spectacle as the main event, just without the voting. I can't believe it. We're actually going to be there, in Dusseldorf, with all the performances live in front of us! Ahhh!

I Wish You Would Understand

Don't you love when you rediscover a forgotten favourite?
This song came on my ipod today, and it never fails to tug at my heartstrings.

ESC: Romania

Been listening to all the songs in the Romanian Eurovision selection this year. I believe they choose on new years eve, so probably won't be watching, but will be interested to see what they chose. Out of the 14 songs, I liked about five. The rest were fairly average, and one was shockingly bad (Rallsa). But here's my favourite three...

Claudia Pavel - I Want U To Want Me
Straight away after a string of average songs, this one stood out as a good 'un. Depends on her vocal performance on the night, but I think this will be a strong contender.

Distinto, Ianna si Anthony Icuagu - Open Your Eyes
This stood out because of its classical style, which often does well at eurovision. It lost something for me when the woman started singing though, and I wasn't over keen on the ending. But could do well.

Hotel FM - Change
An unexpected gem. Normally this would be cheesy tripe, but for some reason I really like this song. Will it do well? Probably not, but I think it might be my favourite overall.

Lecturers say the funniest things

There's a new facebook group been set up to celebrate the ridiculous analogies one of my favourite lecturers, Proffesor Bushell, would use to describe microbiological systems. Here's some examples of his classic gems...

"Imagine you're blind, deaf and dumb and you are wandering aimlessly eating plates of baked beans and the only way you can sense anyone else is there is if they are eating from the same plate of baked beans" - On chemical signalling between fungal organisms

"See I'm not a very good cook, if you come around to my house for dinner I'll just cook you Mars Bars and cabbage, so you'll start on the Mars Bars and only once they're all gone you'll start on the cabbage instead" - On restricting nutrients

"I got some PHD students, put them in a submarine and shrunk it. Then we sent them into the middle of a colony. They died... Noones noticed... yet..." On oxygen restriction in the middle of colonies in a culture

We've Gotta Go Back Marty!

Last night I went to the cinema to see the rerelease of Back to the Future. A very good film, and 25 years on is still good fun and stands up well against the current crop of films. Honestly we couldnt find anything else to watch at our cinema so we made the 30minute trip to the bigger cinema outside of town in order to see this one. I think we made the right choice. Michael J Fox is a great little actor and I love watching films from when big actors started out (Johnny Depp in Nightmare on Elms Street being another classic). I havent seen any of the sequels but I think I might have to hunt down some copies. If you havent seen the first (which I cant imagine how you could have missed it) you should difinitely give it a chance.

You've Been Tango-ed

Sooo... where to start with the catch up. Not really sure where to start. Easiest thing to start with might be Antti Tuisku in Finnish Strictly Come Dancing. I was on Ladbrokes website looking at various odds for things and discovered that you can place bets on the Finnish version of the show. Antti is second favourite to win. I didnt recognise any of the other names competing, but Mikko Leppilampi (host of eurovision 2007) is hosting the show. Here's a clip of Antti's tango from last week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M1hUTvz3Lk

Surprise

Hello world.

I very tentatively return to my blog. I said that more recently about twitter and then never returned again, so this may be a very short lived return... but we'll see how it goes. Now the summer is over, and I'm into the routine of work, I'm hoping to find time on the odd tea break to get back to blogging. I just hope I havent lost too many readers along the way.

Eurovision season is slowly warming up. Antti Tuisku is in the Finnish Strictly Come Dancing. X-Factor has won me over (against my will and as a conversation topic at work), and the apprentice is on. Yes, leaving uni and returning to a house with cable TV has reawoken my TV habits. I do have a life outside of TV too though... I joined a knitting club! Haha.

Do stay tuned. I will post more. Promise.

The results are in...

I got a 2:1!


It feels a bit anti-climatic to be honest...

What a Week

I have returned from an awesome week in Slovenia. Vid was the best tour guide I could have asked for. He drove me all over the country and filled me in on all (well most) of the history and taught me a lot about the nature and culture. And of course it was lovely to spend time with Mira again. She was my closest friend in Finland, and still is one of my closest friends - i just feel so comfortable with her. I will have numerous photo's and abridged diaries to follow in due course.

After my return, I bought a car! I had a ford fiesta when I first passed my test 4 years ago, but gave him (his name was Freddy) up when I came to uni and have shared my mums Peurgot ever since (which has it in for me btw). I was hoping to get another ford fiesta once I graduated and was lucky enough to find one so soon! A friend of my mum has got to the age where he needs a medical to renew his licence and has decided not to bother, and so wanted to sell his little ford fiesta... the timing could not have been better. Its a purple one this time, and 10 years old, but its in such good condition (he only did 700 miles between MOTs last year!). Its gonna be a shock for the little thing with me bombing about in it all over the place.

And one of the places I'll be bombing off to a lot is work! Yes, thats right, I have found a job. Had an interview at 11am on monday, and by 12 they had offered me the job... I start monday! Super fast. Its not the best job, but its with a good company - a name to be respected on a CV. Plus its still lab based, and only 15mins from home in Herts, so pretty convenient. Its only till April, but its a start, so lets see what comes of it.

All things considered its been a blooming good week :)

Let The Summer Begin!

Exams are over, uni is finished and the summer is here! I had my last exam on tuesday, and all things considered, I think it went quite well. Fingers crossed I get the 2:1 I'm hoping for. I find out on the 22nd July, so watch this space :)
I starting moving some stuff home yesterday. I had a car-full and there is still plenty left. I am still mentoring, so will go back this weekend to do my shift before the final (?) Sounds of Europe show on monday :( After that though, I shall hopefully be jetting off to Slovenia to spend a few days with a good friend of mine from Finland. Hoping for good weather so that we can spend plenty of time outside in the sunshine, and do a spot of swimming in some of the lakes :)

After that though, the job hunting starts with a vengeance. In fact it already has, I have two job interviews lined up for the next few weeks (one tomorrow and one for after Slovenia). Both are only temporary contracts, but I'm happy with anything science-related at the minute really.

I might have time for a bit of blogging this weekend, but if not, I shall return with some Slovenia diaries after my trip.

Remember that game when you were a kid where you'd draw a head on a bit of paper, and fold it over and have a friend draw the next bit, and fold it again and so on until you completed it and unfolded it to reveal a bizzare construction. Well there's an online version. My friend had only the feet left to go, so I thought I'd finish it off. This is what we ended up with.

Final Weekly Weight Update!

Thats right, the last weekly weight update. Thats because I did it! I reached my 3 stone target weight loss. I'm still not in my 'healthy' BMI (I have reservations about the use of BMI to dictate everything about your health), but this is the lowest weight I have been since I was 17, and I'm happy to try and maintain this weight for 6 months or so while I get everything else in my life sorted first. Not to mention I've dropped 2 dress sizes, and just in general feel so much healthier. Happy girl :D

Eurovision Song Contest - Semi Final 1

So I just posted a little review of the first esc semi on the GU2 blog website, so thought I'd go ahead and copy it into a post for this rather neglected blog. One week of exams left :)

Tuesday saw the first semi final of the 2010 Eurovision song contest in Oslo. Widely agreed to be the weaker of the two semi's, there were still a lot of surprises. The 10 qualifiers, along with my thoughts, were (in no particular order);

Belgium: My favourites of this semi. A simple acoustic style song, with autobiographical lyrics. A refreshing song in a contest of gimmicks.

Iceland: Got the biggest cheer from the crowd. One of the few Schlager songs of this years contest.

Russia: The joke entry. Except most people don't realise. Which to the Russian's probably just makes it even funnier. I liked it, but it was a shock qualifier.

Bosnia & Herzegovia: Talking of shock qualifiers. Rock songs rarely do well at eurovision, so why this poor attempt got through is anyones guess.

Belarus: Only the second time Belarus have made it to the final. And well deserved (even if the gimmick was a love/hate divider). Another simple but classic song style.

Serbia: Quite an usual look this singer has gone for, and an usual style of song (to western ears at least), but insanely catching. Also quite a nice change for a country still relatively new to the contest.

Moldova: The opener of the contest, and apparently you cant go wrong with a dry-humping saxsophonist. Catchy, and I quite like it, but there probably were better one's that should have gone through in its place.

Albania: Another that doesnt deserve its place in the final. This is run of the mill, and rather dated, pop. With vocals and a melody that are equally mediocre. Dissapointing.

Greece: Eugh. Thats all.

Portugal: A pretty little ballad. Not very catchy, but pleasant enough at the time. Will probably get lost in the final though, unless its lucky enough to have a late placing.

And comiserations to those who didnt qualify: Estonia (very dissapointing, this was a great song), Malta (perhaps the gimmick was too much), FYR Macedonia (perhaps the semi naked girls were too much), Slovakia (perhaps the whole sherade was too much), Finland (shame, this was starting to grow on me), Poland (what a voice! Strangling your backing singers is definitely too much though), Latvia (again... eugh).

The second semi is live tonight from 8pm on BBC3. It promises to be an exciting and tense show.

Exam, Revise, Eurovision, Repeat

This coming week I have my final (final!) exams of my undergraduate degree. Big deal then. Sadly, after both eurovision semi-finals I have an exam the following morning. So this is gonna be a busy, mixed bag of a week... After all my exams are over though, I have some nice holidays lined up. Firstly, a trip to Slovenia to visit my dear Finnish friend who is spending the summer there, and then a second weekend trip to Butlins in Bognor Regis with my family. A kind of nostalgic trip, as this is where I spent many a happy summer holiday as a kid :)

Weekly Weight Update

I know I missed a week again. I had to work on my weigh-in night, and so had to go a fortnight. Which always spells disaster. I put on 2lb. So was 4lb from target and rather annoyed with myself. So last week I was determined to shift it again. And I did! I lost 2.5lb this week, meaning I'm now only 1.5lb from target. I also only have one week left at my Guildford group, and so would really love to reach target here rather than at a group back home since these are the people who have shared 'my journey'. So my determination has continued to this week. I will reach my 3stone target by wednesday!!!

Weekly Weight Update

Ok, so its been quite a few weeks since I updated, but for the sake of consistency, I'm sticking with the title. It was easter and my birthday a few weeks back and I managed to put on a wacking 4.5lb in two weeks :/ But I was prepared for it and knew I'd go straight back on the wagon when I got back to Guildford. Which I did. In the last 3 weeks I've lost 6.5lb. Which takes me to a grand total of 2st 12lb! Just 2lb to go to reach my initial target of 3 stone. I set that target not thinking I'd actually get here (me and diets never have a particularly lasting relationship...). So now I'm here I'm so pleased with myself. But also aware that given how well I'm getting on with it, I can happily keep going. So I have set myself a new target of another stone to reach 4 stone total loss. Depending on how that goes, I might go for a bit more. But its early days yet. That just shows you how hiddeously overweight I was that I can loose up to 6 stone to reach a healthy BMI. Not that I put much value in BMI's but still... I'm determined not to give up just yet :)