Doctor Who – Rosa Review

Rosa was a truly fantastic episode, shifting the usual focus from monsters and adventures to an important moment in history.

This is the first episode in Doctor Who history to centre on a significant figure from black history. So it feels appropriate that Rosa Parks’ story was written by the first ever black writer for Doctor Who, Malorie Blackman making her TV Doctor Who debut.

I haven’t seen any reaction yet but I already feel like there’s going to be people saying Doctor Who is getting too political. My response to them is, grow up sci-fi and fantasy have always been political.

Rosa treated the real life story of Rosa Parks with the dignity and respect that she deserved.

The way that the horrible reality of racism in the 1950s was unflinchingly depicted was harrowing. I was not expecting an episode of Doctor Who to be so brutally honest.

Rosa was not a sad episode, there was a message of hope that things have and will continue to get better. I think this might be one of the most powerful Doctor Who episodes ever. It really made me cry.

Doctor Who - The Ghost Monument Review

The Ghost Monument, is a thrilling episode with some great character driven plot. Series 11 of Doctor Who is on a role!

Warning, this review will contain spoilers.

The Ghost Monument is the first adventure for the newly formed TARDIS team, in much the same way as End of the World or Beast Below was. Action, adventure, robots, spaceships, alien planets, scares, and mystery. What more do you want from an episode of Doctor Who! Well as with last week, this episode also had very compelling characters too.

The 13th Doctor is awesome! Jodie Whittaker delivered another stellar performance. She just utterly is the Doctor. There’s just so many traits about her that are completely who the Doctor is and should be. I also like that the Doctor’s using Northern colloquialisms like “Let’s get shift on.” After the 12th Doctor it is refreshing to have an empathic Doctor again, one who cares about people, for me that’s a core character trait of the Doctor.

It’s great having a team of companions again. Ryan, Yas and Graham all bring something new to the show. I think it feels like the right balance has been struck for having multiple companions, they’re a team and they’re working together. They feel like different people, but they have each other’s backs, and they’re bringing their individual mindset and skillset to their adventures.

It’s always a sign of bad writing when a significant death doesn’t have any lasting impact, so I like that Grace’s death still has a resonance. Graham is still going through the grieving process and trying to be there for Ryan which is really interesting to watch, very human and very emotional. I know there was some doubt when Bradley Walsh was cast as a companion, but I think - as with the casting of Billie Piper and Catherine Tate – any doubt was unfounded.

Aside from the main TARDIS team this week’s supporting characters, Angstrom and Epzo, were also compelling. Angstrom in particular was an interesting character, resourceful and initially closed off but opening up once she started to trust the Doctor.

This episode perfectly got that zone of scary but not too dark that Doctor Who excels at. Those cloth creatures (whatever they were) were genuinely unnerving. The scares in Doctor Who should be like that, unnerving but not so terrifying that they’ll traumatise the kids who might be watching.

Who else was surprised at the mention of the Stenza? The reveal that the Stenza were responsible for what happened to the planet Desolation, cast a mysterious and ominous shadow over everything that happened. Even in their absence the Stenza are a threat. I’m wondering if that’s why there’s no Daleks this year, because the Stenza are going to be a lurking, and possibly reoccurring big bad. I hope that might be the case because it’s about time Doctor Who had some new big bad monsters, and the Stenza are certainly deeply unpleasant.

Speaking of possible arcs and reoccurring stories, what is the ‘Timeless Child’? I suspect that’s going to become important later on.

This week also gave us our first look at the new TARDIS. Personally I really like this design. We only really got a glimpse of it but I like it. It has elements that sort of feel like they echo the 9th/10th Doctor TARDIS and the 11th Doctor TARDIS. This is a TARDIS that feels like the perfect fusion of organic and mechanical which is what the TARDIS should be. My only complaint is that no one uttered the words “It’s bigger on the inside.”

So to sum up, The Ghost Monument was another entertaining instalment in what promises to be an excellent series of Doctor Who.

Doctor Who - The Woman Who Fell to Earth Review

Doctor Who is back. Jodie Whittaker is the Doctor.

This review will contain some spoilers so be warned…

First off, Jodie Whittaker. She hit the ground running (literally as well as metaphorically!). From the moment we first encountered her, I felt like Jodie Whittaker was the Doctor. Jodie Whitaker’s Doctor was smart, funny, and utterly likeable. This is the newest incarnation of my hero growing up. There were elements of her performance that reminded me a little of Matt Smith and David Tennant but at the same time she utterly made the role her own.

One of the things that makes or breaks any era of Doctor Who is the companions. I think the 13th Doctor is going to have a good team of friends to play off and I think watching the dynamic unfold between them will be really interesting. Each of them is going to bring something different to their adventures with the Doctor. You can already see the traces of what’s going to make them fantastic companions as the series progresses in much the same way that Rose Tyler was showing what she was made of right from the beginning.

Ryan seems to be the smart one but not in a traditional book smart way. It also seems like he has some self-confidence issues which I think the Doctor will help him work through. He was a likeable and relatable character which is what I want to be seeing from any new companion.

Yas seems to have an investigative nose which reminded me somewhat of Sarah Jane, any companion that reminds of Sarah Jane must be doing something right! Also having a companion be a Police Officer is a pretty original idea but one that I think will work well.

I thought Graham was going to be the weakest of the new TARDIS team but I was wrong, I don’t think there is a weak member of the team. It’s interesting to see a companion who’s more cautious, I don’t think that’s really happened before.

I had a feeling that Grace was going to die, but that didn’t undermine the poignancy of her death. I think that her death is going to be something that has an important and powerful lasting impact throughout the series.

Monsters, this episode had a proper monster! If you read my Doctor Who Series 10 reviews you might recall I complained frequently about a lack of proper monsters. Well The Woman Who Fell to Earth gave us a proper monster. I don’t think Tim Shaw will come to be regarded as one of the all-time classic Doctor Who monsters but he was a good adversary for the new Doctor to face.

Even the setting was new, instead of London we’re now in Sheffield. After Clara Oswald and Amy Pond both having fairly vaguely defined backstories it was nice to see the new team having a life in a city before they met the Doctor. I think moving away from London is a smart idea, since 2005 pretty much every series of Doctor Who has been very London heavy so leaving the capital really makes this feel like a fresh start. It was definitely Sheffield, I’m from Yorkshire and it felt like an authentic representation of my county.

Fundamentally this is a ‘new Doctor’ episode. To a certain extent it followed the mould that has been set by The Christmas Invasion and The Eleventh Hour for what a new Doctor episode is. The Doctor has to figure out who they are in their newest incarnation and save the world. That is the type of episode that The Woman Who Fell to Earth is. Is that a bad thing? I don’t think so. This is a new era of Doctor Who, with a brand new Doctor, I think it was right to start the series like this. It was a great episode to whet our appetite for more Who and I definitely want to see more of what this era has in store.

Also I loved that tease we got of the new theme tune over the credits. It gave me a Classic Who vibe in all the best ways.

My Tiana Doll Collection

I recently added a fifth Tiana doll to my collection. With so many versions of the best Disney Princess I thought I would do a blog post about my Tiana doll collection so far…

Mattel, Disney Princess Bath Time Collection (Approx. 2013/14)

The doll that started off my entire collection. She’s a basic doll (basic five points of articulation, no shoes, and moulded on top) but in spite of that I’ve used her a lot to make outfits for.

Hasbro, Disney Princess Royal Shimmer (2017)

At this point I was only just beginning to collect variant dolls. I found her on offer in a supermarket and I had enough loyalty point to get some money off her. I actually really like this collection of Hasbro Disney Princess dolls, I have Jasmine and Pocahontas from the same series.

Disney Store, Winter Boutique (2011)

I found this Tiana doll whilst browsing on eBay. Originally she was released with two other dresses as part of a ‘wardrobe set’ collection of princess dolls. However I was only able to get her with the winter dress. I really like the execution of the green dress with this one and the winter details are a fun little extra that makes her stand out.

Disney Store, Wedding Doll (2018)

Possibly motivated by the Royal Wedding, Disney released a collection of Disney Princess dolls in their wedding dresses this year. This collection included Tiana, I think this wedding dress is fabulous. It’s nice to see a Tiana wearing some slightly different colours to what she usually wears. I also like that this dress has something of a 1920s feel to it which is appropriate for Tiana but not something that is shown too often in her merchandise.

Disney Store, Disney Princess Classic Doll (2016)

My most recent Tiana and one that had eluded me for a while. I specifically wanted the 2016 Classic doll as that was the last year (for now) that Tiana wore the blue dress, but the first year she came with a minifigure of Naveen as a frog. I love the way that she is posed in the box, almost like she’s about to kiss him, this is one doll I won’t be opening.

Honourable Mention:

Charlotte La Bouff, Mattel, Princess and the Frog (2009)

Lottie (Tiana’s best friend) has only ever had two dolls released, one by Disney Store and one by Mattel, I personally think that the Mattel one is much nicer. It took me around a year to finally get this Lottie but once I had her I was glad that I bought her.

Making Tiana’s Café

Following the Frozen Doll Room I’ve made another doll room, this time my favourite Disney Princess is getting a new café.

The second doll room I made was Tiana’s Café. In the movie Tiana opened a restaurant – not a café – but with a little creative license I decided to make a café instead. It was a nice little set when I made it but I know that now I could do much better. I also felt like Tiana needed to move to larger premises.

The first thing I made for Tiana’s Café was a kitchen, the plan was to make this outside of the usual cereal box I make doll rooms in and has it rest alongside the box. For this I took a piece of card from a calendar insert which I cut to size and then covered with paper. Using a hot glue gun I secured a shelf onto the wall, there’s also a small bottle cap glued to provide extra support for the shelf. I then used items I’d either previously made or collected to furnish the kitchen for Tiana.

As with many of doll rooms, the main part of the café started out as a cereal box. I cut it to open up one side and then covered the edges and the outside of the box with white paper to neaten it up. This step is taken from My Froggy Stuff on YouTube.

With the box prepared I worked on the exterior of the café. I used a green check scrapbook paper which I thought looked like tiles along the front of the box. I stuck on a piece of wood print scrapbook paper with a picture of a frame and a small handle added on for a door. For the sign I used black paper and a white chalk marker.

For the interior walls I found this green patterned scrapbook paper at a local craft store. I thought this would be perfect for Tiana. Green is one of the core colours Disney use to market her, the pattern reminded me of one of the patterns Disney sometimes uses for Tiana, and I also felt that it had a bit of a 1920s feel to it.

The main walls have been completed so I could add in a little extra detail. I glued in a picture from a Disneyland Paris travel brochure which has been trimmed with white paper for a window. I used a complimentary strip of scrapbook paper to give the room a skirting board and I used a light wood print scrapbook paper for the flooring.

These pictures were on the wall in the old version of Tiana’s Café but I decided that they were still useable and so I glued them into the new one.

I wanted a little stand to display cakes on. I covered a small box with gingham fabric and then hot glued a stand of bunting around it to create a unit to display cakes that is inspired by the ‘Gingham Alter’ from the Great British Bake Off.

The room was pretty much complete so I placed the café next to the kitchen and then added in some furniture.

And that was how I made a new café for (one of) my Tiana dolls. I’m pleased with how this project turned out, I feel like it is a massive improvement from the more basic previous version.

Frozen Doll Room

The Forest of Enchantment got Frozen in my latest craft project…

The very first doll room I made was The Forest of Enchantment living room. It was inspired by a stage show I had seen at Disneyland Paris which featured Rapunzel, Merida and Pocahontas. I loved the show and made the room as a little tribute to it and as a way to display those dolls. However over time this room feel out of use and strayed away from its intended purpose. Rather than just put it in the recycling I decided to retheme it into a Frozen doll room.

First step was to strip back the room to just a paper covered box. I chose to keep the green floral wall as it reminds me a little of Frozen Fever. I recovered the other wall with a snowflake patterned scrapbook paper. I used a dark wood scrapbook paper on the floor and a lighter wood scrapbook paper as a skirting board.

I mounted a picture of the Arendelle castle onto another piece of wood print scrapbook paper for a window and then glued it into the box.

Using a hot glue gun, I glued a piece of sequin fabric to the box as a curtain and to help soften the divide between the two wall papers. I also glued a string of silver beads to the box, these were part of the old Forest of Enchantment room but I think they sort of look like lights and I felt they fit the general feel of the Frozen room. A selection of pictures has also been glued onto the wall, I initially considered adding more but decided not to so that I have the option to add more at a later date.

The basic room was compete so I could move the furniture into the room.

This mini drawer had been a part of the Forest of Enchantment room previously. I bought it cheap from The Works (I think it was meant to be a jewlery box), previously I had painted it light blue. To make it feel like a better fit for the Frozen room I used a chalk marker to add some Frozen inspired details.

This couch was from a pack of doll sized IKEA furniture. I used a piece of white fabric with a black print as a blanket thrown on the couch, I chose this fabric as it’s relatively neutral in contrast to a lot of the pattern throughout the room. I also placed some mini cushions I had made previously onto the couch. In front of the couch is a brown faux fur rug which was just cut out from a piece of faux fur that I’d used in a previous craft project.

Every room always needs just a few little extra items to help finish it off and bring the set to life. I like adding things like this to add a little more detail into a doll room. The digital clock and the box of tissues are both from the Disney Happy Places blind boxes I collected.

With the Frozen doll room now complete all that was left to do was move in some dolls. So here’s Anna and Kristoff on the couch with Sven.

Ranking My Top 3 Disney Princesses

It’s the Royal Wedding today. I thought this might be a fun occasion to do a post about Disney Princesses. The ranking in this list is just my current top 3 princesses, I am also only going off characters who are included in current the official Disney Princess line-up.

3 – Pocahontas

First off, I know Pocahontas has problematic parts. I also know that a lot of people dismiss the movie out of hand because of that. However I think that Pocahontas has a lot of positive aspects that people often don’t acknowledge.

Personally I think Pocahontas is a great character. (She also has the best animal sidekick in Meeko!) Pocahontas tries to fight for what she believes in, she fights for love and understanding, and she aims to bring people together. I think some of her lines like, “This is where the path of hatred has brought us. This is the path I choose.” have a lot of resonance.

2 – Merida

Merida is determined, opinionated, stubborn, and resourceful. She really broke with what is expected of a Disney Princess and it worked well. I feel like Merida is also one of a limited number of princesses who actually has to deal with her actions having consequences in terms of the rule of her kingdom.

Whilst Brave is not one of my favourite Pixar movies or one of favourite Disney Princess movies, Merida is utterly one of my absolute favourite Disney Princesses. I recently re-watched Brave and it reminded me of just how great Merida is.

1 – Tiana

I love Tiana. A self-motivated, hardworking, young woman who wants to start her own business. Tiana doesn’t just wait around for something to happen, she knows what she wants and she strives to get it.

Tiana really is a great character and for me she is absolutely the very best Disney Princess.

A Quick May Life Update

Just a quick life update post to make up for the lack of recent blog posts…

First off, sorry for not blogging much this month. With being on holiday, returning to England, and sorting out various admin stuff, I haven’t really had the time or the inspiration to write a blog post recently. Hopefully that is going to change soon.

As always it feels slightly strange to be back in my home town after the end of another academic year. I live in a small seaside town and there’s a definite contrast when I return there from university. Particularly when I’m returning from another country!

Despite the fact that I have left behind Canada and I’m now in England again I haven’t really experienced any major feelings of cultural displacement or culture shock or anything like that. I think that doing a year abroad definitely proved to myself just how adaptable I can actually be.

I recently bought myself a sewing machine! I love sewing and making things so it was about time I finally bought a sewing machine so I can take my craft projects to the next level. As a test I made a couple of basic doll dresses for my Elena and Megara dolls which I think came out well. Future projects with my sewing machine include more doll crafts and starting to make my own cosplays!

The Final Post About My Year On Exchange

It’s all over now. My year on exchange in Canada has reached its conclusion and I am now back in England. This is (probably) my final post about my year on exchange.

Going to Canada for a full academic year was initially fairly daunting but I am really glad that I did it. There were some really good moments both semesters and overall it was a fantastic experience. The experience I had living and learning in Canada was definitely different from what I am used to in the UK. I did have to confront unfamiliar situations but to be honest I never got really homesick and never experienced culture shock. If anyone reading my blog is considering doing a year abroad I would wholeheartedly recommend that you do one.

Whilst I liked the university where I studied in Ontario, I am looking forward to returning to university back in England this September. I think the place that I miss the most is Toronto. I just had a wonderful time every single time that I went to Toronto. In my mind I am going to go back to Toronto at some point.

So what’s next for me? Well I have a long summer break ahead of me. I already have some plans to keep myself busy, I’m sure I will end up writing multiple blog posts about what I do over this summer holiday.

A Little More Canada Before I Leave

I’ve finished my academic year. But even though I am done studying abroad I’m not heading back to England just yet.

My parents flew out on Friday – the end of the semester – and we are having a family holiday before I leave this country for good. We started with me showing my parents around the town in Ontario where I have been staying. It was a really nice way to say goodbye to the place where I have been living since last September.

Also whilst we were in Southern Ontario we went down to see Niagara Falls. There was evidence of the long winter and repeated freezing spells in the large chunks of ice that had formed around the base of the falls. However Niagara Falls was just as stunning as I remember. If you are ever in the area you really need to see them.

The second leg of our journey took us away from Ontario to the Pacific Coast. We landed in Vancouver, British Colombia.

There’s no denying that Vancouver is a stunning looking city. The entire city is located on a waterfront, and when you look to the North there’s mountains. I don’t think I have ever been anywhere else like this. But whilst the city does look amazing, I honestly I don’t actually think Vancouver is that great. It is a great photo taking city, but in terms of things to do I just wish that there was something more.

However, in Stanley Park I saw four raccoons! Raccoons are my absolute favourite animals. But in my entire time at the university I only saw one briefly. Yesterday I saw four and one of them came really close to me! One of my best experiences in Canada.

New Experiences from Studying Abroad

Part of the reason why I wanted to do a year abroad in the first place was to have new experiences in a different culture. I thought living in a different country for a full academic year was going to be a fantastic chance to get to experience things I had never done before. I have definitely got to have some new experiences whilst I have been studying abroad, now as the academic year comes to a close I am thinking back to some of the experiences that have really stood out to me.

 The Pep Rally          

This was just like nothing I had ever experienced before, I doubt back in the UK I will ever experience anything like this ever again. I used to be a massive Glee fan so getting to perform a dance on an American Football field was pretty cool for me!

Toronto

I’ve been to Toronto a lot of times throughout the academic year and I love it, I’ve had a great time every single time. It really is a fantastic city to visit and I have enjoyed my visits there.

Thanksgiving

Being British I have never experienced Thanksgiving before so I didn’t really know what to expect. I had a really good long weekend and got to spend a lot of quality time with the friends I’ve made over here.

Haunt    

Halloween is increasingly becoming more and more of a thing back in England, but for Halloween 2017 I went to a Halloween event at a theme park which was a new experience for me and a lot of fun.

Christmas Party

Every year at university wherever I have been living, we have organised a Christmas party of some sort. This year was no expectation, although I think 2017’s was one of the very best. Everyone pulled together to organise it and we had a lovely evening.

Snow (at first!)

At first it was actually really exciting to experience proper snow. As the winter wore on I became increasingly less keen on snow. But I have not been short of excuses to make Frozen references!

Toronto ComicCon

One of the best things I have done this year was Toronto ComiCon, I just had such a fantastic time. It was an unforgettable geeky experience.

Finals Are Here (And Then I’m Gone)

It’s Finals season again. Well, actually it’s finished for me. Yesterday I had my last exam, though it’s not quite over yet as I have a take home exam to submit on Wednesday.

Since classes finished, finals and getting ready for finals is pretty much all my life has revolved around. Every day I’ve either been working on a final essay, taking an exam, or revising for my next exam. My coffee addiction has returned in full. About a month back I was only having one or two cups of coffee a day. Now I’m back up to about three or four cups of coffee a day! (Safe to say I love coffee!)

For the first time in quite a while I was actually getting pretty stressed about one of my exams. Usually because of effective revision and stress managing tactics I manage to stay pretty calm about exams. But this time I started to worry, mainly I was worrying because I wasn’t sure if I was targeting my revision at the right parts, and even though I had been to every class I couldn’t relearn the entire course. Despite the stress I think I still managed to do pretty well, I know that I did that my best.

I think at the end of the day that is what is truly important with exams, to do your best. There’s always going to be that part of you thinking ‘I could have done that’ or ‘I should have learnt that’. But as long as you tried to revise and you did the best that you could, I think that is what matters most with exams.

It’s interesting how everyone has their own way of getting ready for an exam. I know some people like to revise hard right up to the last moment, that just makes me more stressed and I think if you have attended the classes and done your revision then there’s nothing that you can learn in the last couple of hours which you shouldn’t already know.

I’ve found that the way for me to get ready before for an exam is to de-stress as much as possible. I like to just completely unplug and put away the books about two hours before my exam so I’m in a calm head space when I go into the exam hall. This academic year I’ve really got into the habit of reading a comic before my exam, particularly DC Bombshells. I also like to try and avoid listening to music with words before an exam so I don’t get random song lyrics stuck in my head for the duration of the exam. Particularly since about 2012 I listen to I Am The Doctor from the Doctor Who Series 5 soundtrack before I go into an exam, it always manages to get me motivated.

Everyone seems to have a different reaction to exams and finals, but for me the most important thing is to just try to stay calm, and do the best that I can.

Thinking About Returning To England

Several of my recent blog posts have talked about how my Year Abroad is approaching its end. But what about once I’m back?

I have a really long summer break this year. I break up from University significantly earlier than I do in England. I then don’t return to Uni until towards the end of September. It’s going to be a long one. I do have some plans to keep myself busy and stop getting bored. I have a few projects in mind that I want to work on other summer. I also want to make a start on researching for my dissertation. There will likely be numerous blog posts over the summer about what I am getting up to.

When I am back in England I am definitely looking forward to the weather. (Never thought I’d type that!) But at this point anything over 5 degrees feels warm to me! Seriously, the Canadian winter just drags on and on and on. It was fun at first but after a while it just becomes tiring.

It’s going to be nice to get to spend some quality time with my parents again. Obviously I miss them when I am away. This semester has been the longest I have ever gone without seeing them, even though we regularly speak on FaceTime that’s not really the same as actually seeing them. I am pretty independent so I can cope on my own, and I always know that my Mum and Dad are happy that I’m off having fun, doing well, and living my best life. An important part of the university experience is about living on your own and having space to grow, I know that I have grown as a person from being independent. However at the same time I am close with my parents, I’d say we have a healthy, happy and positive relationship. I think that’s how it should be with your parents when you’re a student.

I have definitely enjoyed studying in Canada, it’s been interesting taking different courses and learning in new ways. But I have also missed my uni back in England and I have missed my uni city. I am looking forward to going back there in September.

There’s other little things that I’m looking forward to when I go back, such as good quality instant coffee. Canada just doesn’t do good quality instant coffee.

I would say that rather than focusing on the sad parts of leaving Canada I am choosing to see the positive side and think about what I am looking forward to once I am back in England.

Thinking Back to Wanting to Study Abroad

As I have mentioned before, my year abroad is rapidly approaching its end. It’s sort of funny how something I’ve been thinking about since 2014 is going to be completely over and done within a month.

I was thinking about studying abroad pretty much as soon as I started to seriously look through university prospectuses. I just knew that I wanted to take the chance to go out and study in another country. When else in life do you really get the opportunity to experience another country in the way you can as student studying abroad? In fact part of what sealed the deal for my uni and the degree that I am studying was that I could have a full year abroad instead of the more typical single semester.

Throughout last year I wrote quiet often on my blog about the process of getting ready to go on my Year Abroad. From submitting an application to getting a Study Visa, it was a long process. However it was not a continuous process, sometimes months went by with nothing happening and then I had about twenty different things to sign and submit all at once. The process of getting ready to go out made it feel like it would be a long time until my Year Abroad happened, then before I knew it I was sat in my bedroom with my parents figuring out how to cram everything I needed into a suitcase and a hand luggage bag!

I am really glad that I could have a full year. If I had only had a single semester then I would say the first semester is the better one to go abroad. There’s one major benefit to going out for the first semester and that is everyone else is new, as everyone is sort of in the same boat it’s a lot easier to make friends. I’m also glad that I didn’t chose to do a split year at two different universities as the stress that would have involved would probably have been too much for me.

There have been some trials and tribulations along the way, but ultimately I don’t think I would have done it differently. This year has probably not been what I was anticipating back in 2014 (for instance at one point I was convinced I would be in sunny California not snowy Canada!), however I have enjoyed my study abroad experience.

Moana Revisited

When I saw Moana at the cinema back in 2016 I was pretty unimpressed. I know my review did not exactly line up with other people’s opinion of the film. I haven’t watched Moana since I saw it in the cinema, until now. So having revisited the movie I thought I would share my opinion of what I think of it now.

To get straight to the point, I was wrong. My original opinion was wrong. I think when I saw it originally at the cinema I was expecting a movie like Frozen. Moana is not Frozen. I think it actually has a lot more in common with Mulan. Personally I prefer Frozen, however Moana is a good movie. It’s not the best Disney movie ever, it’s not my new favourite Disney Princess movie, but it is a well told ‘chosen one’ narrative. I am glad I finally watched Moana again and without that notion of expecting it to be Frozen.

Moana herself is a great character, very likeable. She is very determined, competent, intelligent, opinionated and passionate, but she is also flawed, and has moments were she struggles which helps make her feel like a well-rounded character. I think Moana can truly stand up with the best of the Disney Princesses – like Merida, Anna, Elsa and Tiana. Next time the princess dolls go on offer I need to add Moana to my collection…

I still think some of the songs are weak. You’re Welcome is far too auto-tuned, I also don’t find it funny and overall it makes me dislike Maui. Shiny disappoints me, it sounds like a poor attempt at the classic Disney Villain song, such as Poor Unfortunate Souls or Friends On The Other Side. However my opinion on How Far I’ll Go has seriously changed, I don’t think it is as good as Let It Go or Almost There, but it is a pretty good song and a great expression of who Moana is as a character.

I am still not entirely sold on Maui. A lot of his humorous moments fall flat for me, the Twitter joke still really makes me cringe. However I can appreciate his character arc more than I did previously. Despite my lukewarm reaction to Maui, the movie is really Moana’s story and so he is ultimately of secondary importance.

In conclusion, I was wrong. Moana is so much better than I had originally written it off as being. I am glad I finally decided to give Moana a second chance.

My Year Abroad is Racing to Its Conclusion

Somehow it’s already the last week of classes, as of Thursday afternoon at 4PM I will have finished classes for third year.

Right now I’m sort of shocked that it can already be at an end. It’s only really within the last week or so that it has actually hit me just how close to the end of the academic year I am. I think part of the reason why I’m disorientated is that in Canada there’s no spring break. Back in England we usually have four week spring break around whenever Easter occurs. This year there’s no spring break which just seems really odd to me. In fact there was only one day off for Easter which was Good Friday, and the way my timetable has worked out this semester meant that Friday is already my free day.

Usually I’m more aware of when the end of the semester is approaching as I am usually working on coursework (or more accurately for me editing and revising coursework) right up to the final few days of the semester. As I mentioned in my last blog post, despite a horrendous amount of deadlines throughout March I was able to stay on top of my coursework load thanks to some forward thinking planning.

Classes conclude at the end of this week, then from Monday onwards Finals Season begins. But once I have done my last exam – which is a take home exam – I am finished for the academic year. I’m somewhere between nervous and confident for finals, I know I still need to do a good amount of revision before the exams start.

Of course as we approach the end of another semester and another academic year I can’t help thinking over what has happened and what I have done this semester. Without a shadow of a doubt the highlight of Second Semester has been Toronto ComiCon.

In the coming weeks there will probably be numerous posts reflecting on how my year abroad is coming to an end, dealing with finals and reflecting on what some of the highlights of the year have been. However I just wanted to do a quick post about how my year abroad is racing to its conclusion.

A Relatively Easy Coursework Season To Survive

So it seems to have become a thing for me to write about Coursework Season everytime it comes around again. Previously I wrote ‘Student Life - Surviving Coursework Season’ about Spring semester 2017 and I also wrote ‘Surviving Coursework Season – In Canada!’ about Fall 2017.

This semester I had a bit of a different approach to managing coursework season. Ultimately it has meant that I’ve manged to avoid the worst of the stress that usually sets in as a result of coursework season, anything that helps me avoid stress has to be good for me.

I always write out all my deadlines on a calendar at the start of the semester so that I know what I have due when. This is a great way to get a good idea of when you need to start working on an assignment. It’s also very satisfying to cross off an assignment with a Sharpie after it’s been submitted.

Because of writing my deadlines on my calendar I realised that March was going to be a pretty heavy month for me. I’ve had something due literally every week this month and most of them have been quite lengthy assignments. It was obvious that I wouldn’t be able to go through them all at my usual pace.

Back in January I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do for Reading Week, knowing March was going to be busy I decided that I was going to get started on my coursework in advance. I also knew back then that I was going to Toronto ComiCon and I did not want to be worrying about having to do work over that weekend which further pushed me to get started in advance. 

In Canada most classes seem to have less weekly reading and more assignments. Back in the UK I was definitely doing more reading but on the other hand I was doing nowhere near the same amount of assignments. I think there’s something that I like about both ways off teaching, but I do know it’s going to be slightly strange for me to adjust back into the UK system for next semester.

So basically that’s how being smugly organised has given me a relatively easy coursework season to survive this semester.

Turn Left Moments

Recently I went to Toronto ComiCon, in my blog post about it I wrote that in “some ways this feels like a ‘Turn Left’ moment for me”. In this post I want to explore further what I meant by that.

In 2008 there was a Doctor Who episode called Turn Left. The episode explored what would have happened if Donna Nobel had turned right instead of left and never met the Doctor, the answer was that things would have worked out a lot worse for everyone. In my opinion it is a seriously underrated episode, very powerful and very emotional.

The basic concept of the episode is essentially that a single moment can change things for a person, that concept has resonated with me for years. Maybe not everyone would agree but I think that there are moments in our lives that change things for us. I sort of think of these as Turn Left moments.

So what are some of these moments for me? Well…

2005 – Watching Rose

·         On Saturday 26th March the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who aired, I watched it, and 13 years later I am still a Whovian. I honestly cannot stress enough what an enormous impact Doctor Who has had on me. Genuinely it has changed my life.

2012 – Starting to Write Fan Fiction

·         I suspect most people might be a little bit embarrassed to admit that they used to write Fan Fiction, I’m not. Writing Fan Fic was the first time I ever really wrote something for myself, and the first time I wrote for fun. Essentially because I was a Fan Fic writer I discovered that not only do I enjoy writing but I’m also pretty good at it. I wouldn’t have chosen the degree I am doing if I hadn’t found that love of writing through my Fan Fic experience.

2012 – Going to Disneyland Paris for the First Time

·         I think a lot of people assume that I have been a massive Disney fan for years and I grew up with the movies I love today. That’s not actually the case. It was a trip to Disneyland Paris in 2012 that really awoke my love of Disney. It is because of that trip that I am Disnerd. This trip also influenced me in another way in that it was responsible for me beginning to get into keeping a scrapbook.

2013 – Grant Gustin is the Flash

·         I bet a lot of people assume I have been a superhero fan for years and years but actually, as with Disney, it is a lot more recently than you’d probably expect. Really it all begun with Grant Gustin being cast as Barry Allen in The Flash. I was already a big fan of Grant from his role on Glee and so when he was cast as the Flash I knew I had to watch the series to see more of him. But getting into the series had another consequence, I got seriously into superheroes!

2016 – I Bought a Tiana Doll

·        Just one doll isn’t going to make that big a difference is it? I was so wrong! One Saturday in February 2016 I bought a Tiana doll, as you probably know Tiana is my favourite Disney Princess. A few months later I decided maybe I should buy dolls of the other Disney Princesses that I really love, but only a few of them. From there it just grew and grew. My love of dolls also developed into making clothes for them and rooms for them to be displayed in. As of March 2018 I currently own 38 dolls!

2018 – Toronto ComiCon?

·         Maybe it’s too early to say right now, but Toronto ComiCon sort of feels like it’s the next of these Turn Left moments in my life. I had such a good time and now I really want to go to more conventions. I also want to get more into cosplaying because it was a lot of fun.