Lately I have just been 'getting on' with things.
When I say 'getting on' I mean just getting things done without any fuss or carry on as much as I possibly can. I am not focusing on problems or inadequacies, and I am overlooking as much as I can in the name of 'getting on'. Now I know that may not sound like such a big deal, I mean I am hardly going to find myself being martyred for just 'getting on' with things am I? But I have recently become keenly aware of what I am saying and doing and I am resisting any urge to be petty, whiny or pathetic. This has all come about after I recently read an article about how pettiness has become a modern epidemic and a huge problem worldwide.
Pettiness! An epidemic! Yes, apparently it is true; and psychiatrists and psychologists all over the world are overrun with people that are either suffering from pettiness or that have fallen victim to the pettiness of others.
Apparently, people are blowing shit out of proportion more than they ever have before in history, and it has made people unable to self manage their emotions or deal with their problems without projecting them onto others. Basically, making mountains out of molehills and taking the mundane to epic proportions all in the name of one's own agenda has become so commonplace that people are turning on each other and are showing lowered levels of loyalty and tolerance to each other than ever before. How very, very sad indeed. 
And the worst part is that some people are actually seeing this petty behaviour as hilarious or amusing, people actually believe that it is funny to be rude, cold and even calculating about the way in which they express themselves or their discontent. And when confronted about the way that they have made their victims feel, these people show little to no remorse  for their behaviour either, they actually feel justified in their pettiness. These issues are being raised in therapy sessions more and more around the world and the cruelties of people and their petty, selfish, behaviours are apparently on the increase. 
It is (in some really troubled people's minds) seen as funny to give short, rude and curt responses to others and to even start arguments where there weren't any before. Pointing out people's shortcomings or problems is now the main of the day, and people are willing to stop at nothing to destroy other people, no matter how immature or petty it may be. What-the-fuck? What is wrong with the world? When did revenge become the 'go to' plan? What are we doing to each other? 
Anyway, I am most certainly not willing to join the ranks of the petty haters, and I am making a concerted effort to 'get on' with my own business, not meddle with the affairs of others and not look for problems where there are none. There are real problems out there in the world, finding more of them is really not helping us at all is it?
Do yourself a favour, drop the pettiness, be bigger, be better, be happy and be kind; it's actually harder to do than people think; but it feels so good to just let shit go. 

Every now and then a trend or look comes into play that is totally of the moment. And because it looks amazing on a few gorgeous, young and thin individuals, it rapidly becomes desirable, but it is most definitely not a look that is going to suit everyone. Unfortunately, many people in the world do not worry about whether or not this latest fad will suit their body type or skin type or general sense of self; they just jump in head first and go hard at trying to achieve this desired look, totally abandoning all sense of their own style and producing some truly hideous results. 
When it comes to fashion trends and fads, one size definitely does not fit all, in fact one size generally fits a very limited few and that limited few are probably not living in your neighbourhood. Just because it works brilliantly on Lady Gaga, that does not mean that it will work on you. In fact, if you saw a desired look on Kate Moss, Nicki Minaj, Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus, Angelina Jolie, Bjork or Mariah Carey, then I can tell you right now, it is more than likely not a good look for you. Not only can the rich and famous get away with a shit load more fashion faux pas than you can, they have people specially making their clothes for them, tailoring everything to fit them perfectly, so even if the fashion choices that they make are downright disgusting, at least they can appear to be doing it with style when they do fuck up. You do not have access to that kind of primping and preening, and you probably don't have the bodily dimensions of the aforementioned women either, so just leave that shit alone. 
Now don't get me wrong, I know that we need style icons and we most definitely need people that are willing to push fashion boundaries by being explorative and creative with clothing, however that does not mean that you should invest in a meat dress any time soon, nor should you be wearing purple shiny hot pants anytime soon either, odds are that you do not fall into the 0.05 % of the population that can actually pull that look off; so please do not try to.
I think that with fashion you should try to steer away from copying the stylings and fashion trends of others anyway. If you really have a genuine desire to be fashion forward then start by being creative with your own wardrobe and sense of style. Be inventive, be brave and above all be original. Trying to replicate fashion looks and styles rarely, if ever, turns out well. Trends are just that, trends, they don't last. Invent your own sense of style and stay true to that and you'll avoid a lot of terrible choices along the way. 
Bright orange tans, tight perms and bad dye jobs, super mini skirts, flesh toned leggings, fluro leg warmers, over plucked eyebrows, hair scrunchies and cheap extensions, Crocs, boob tubes, jelly sandals....the list could go on forever. And let's be honest we have all been there and done that, we've all fallen victim to the ebbs and flows of fashion trends and popularity; and it is not until years later when we review the photos that we realise just how terrifically horrid we looked at the time. 
Invest in some timeless, quality, classic pieces that can go with lots of different things, mix and match your wardrobe, learn to love your shape whatever it is, have pride in dressing yourself comfortably and well, and take a few of your own fashion risks from time to time. You don't need to follow fashion fads to find your own sense of style, you just need a desire to rock what you've got. 

I love a good series; I am all over sinking my teeth into a trilogy of movies or a series of films or even a long running TV program, but when do you cut your losses on a franchise and say enough already! Unfortunately, sometimes it happens, even the biggest die hard fans and fangirls can have too much of the same thing. 
We have all been there, God knows that I have invested years of my life in staying up late to catch up on the latest episode of something that I have an addiction for, but in spite of all that, I do think that some movies and TV programs shamelessly flog a dead horse in the name of entertainment. Or should I say, in the hope of capitalising on their devoted fan base at the box offices despite the fact that they are clearly pushing the envelope with the quality of story that is being produced. 
Yep, I said it, sometimes directors, producers and writers need to have a good hard look at themselves and just stop themselves...really....please....just stop! There's a tonne of original material out there just dying to be made, so stop rehashing things over and over again Hollywood, I beg of you... for the love of god, have mercy! 
And believe me when I say that I have a fangirl's perseverance when it comes to series, sequels, remakes and rehashes; but sometimes even I need to check out. I can forgive an average season of a beloved TV series if it's followed up by a kick arse one, which they usually are, but if not - I'm out! And with movies, if the consecutive films appear to be on a downward spiral of crappiness and cannot live up to the first one, then I usually check out as well. 
Take the Alien franchise for example, a totally solid body of work and a worthy undertaking, and a series of films that I am personally a fan of. Love H. R. Giger's freaky art work, love Ridley Scott as a director, love science fiction as a genre, love horror/ sci-fi even more - I mean the films are legendary, no doubt about it - but how many of them do we really need? After almost nodding off during Prometheus and then recently finding myself contemplating the snack food in the cupboard for about twenty minutes whilst watching the latest installment Alien: Covenant, I am going to answer that question by saying about three less than there are already. It would appear that no amount of cool Xenomorph hybrid action, or even Michael Fassbender (am I really saying this?) can make me interested in seeing any more Alien films, they have literally been done to death now. TO DEATH!  And while I am on an Alien rant, let's be honest, there were some pretty dodgy moments on the way to the newest ones as well... Alien 3 - oh boy, don't get me started! And I haven't even bothered to mention the Alien vs Predator spin off series, because that is a whole other saga in itself, I mean come on, enough is enough!
Fair to say that I have loved them, and overall I respect them, but I have really had enough of them. I think that I have just paid to see my last Alien movie, but then again, it is always best to never say never - just in case!

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.
-Swami Vivekananda

​Some interesting reading material with that quote at the top of the page found its way to me this week. I was immediately drawn in by those few lines and found myself reading an extensive article about a PLC vision; but at the heart of that article was a message about the power of positive thinking and envisioning clear positive outcomes, and it really got me thinking about whether or not  visualising positive outcomes can actually work.
We have all heard about (and in my case even read) 'The Secret' and we're all privy to the belief that focused and continued positive visualisation can make things happen or manifest into positive outcomes. But is there any real truth to this practise? Does it actually work, or is it just some new age malarkey to get you to waste your time? 
Elite athletes have been using the method of positive visualisation for many years as an integral part of their practise and preparation before competing, and coaches and trainers around the world swear by it's effectiveness. Turns out, that this method of mentally creating the ideal, is actually being used successfully in all walks of life. From scientists and revolutionists to housewives and hotel staff, positive visualisation techniques are being embraced and practiced everywhere, and with excellent results.
Musicians are using it to nail a difficult piece of music or to write their next album, performers are using it before they go on stage or arrive on set, writers are using it before they even put pen to paper, artists before the paint hits the canvas and therapists use it with their patients to help them to create their own successful outcomes before they happen. It would seem that if you aren't using this technique yet, then you are definitely behind the eight ball. 
Australian Psychologist Alan Richardson did a small and very significant experiment on the power of envisioning positive outcomes with a group of basketball players that had never used the technique before. He split the players into three groups and tested each player's ability to make free throws. For twenty consecutive days the first group practised throwing free throws for 20 minutes. The second group were only allowed to visualise themselves making free throws for 20 minutes a day and the third group did not do anything at all. Not surprisingly, the third group had no change at all, however, the group that only visualised that they were making the throws improved 23% which was only 1% less than the group that had physically practised doing the throws every day. This experiment proved that positive visualisation methods could definitely give a person a psychological edge on their competition, and the best news is that anyone can do it, it's super easy and it can be used by anyone for any purpose. 
According to online resources, it is best to do your visualising twice a day - first thing in the morning and right before you go to sleep, you should typically spending 10 minutes each time, amounting to 20 minutes of positive visualisation a day. There is actually a tonne of information online about the best way to do your visualisations (including youtube clips), but basically all you need to do is have your ideal goal clear before you begin and then relax, close your eyes and envision yourself in this perfect goal setting (eg. playing the piano perfectly) with as much clarity and detail as you can for ten minutes and then you're on your way.
By doing this practise, you are beginning to strengthen the pathways in your brain that will allow that thing to occur - sounds weird I know, but apparently it works. It is usually best to start with something small at first like waking up earlier or eating slower, and then once you've got some understanding of how it works and how long your brain takes to rewire itself, you can take on bigger things. 
Needless to say, I am going to give it a go. I am always keen to utilise the power of my brain and will never knock back a chance to grow for the better. I will most certainly keep you posted on my positive visions for a better future as I proceed, but I am definitely going to need to start small at first, even though I really want to visualise myself with a million bucks straight off the bat.
​Now I just have to think of something simple to get the ball rolling.....

A lot of the kids at work have been a bit off this week. Is there a full moon that I don't know about? I am a firm believer in full moon madness, I do think that our bodies are greatly affected, just as the tides are, by the cycles of moon. I mean it makes perfect sense, our bodies are made up of 60% water, so it wouldn't really be a stretch to think that our bodies are affected by lunar activity would it? 
I know that all scientific evidence states that the moon actually has zero influence on human moods and behaviours, but sometimes I like to say 'fuck you science' and go with my gut, and when it comes to the beautiful and mysterious moon, I most certainly do not subscribe to science.
Ancient civilisations actually believed that the cycles of the moon were linked to a woman's menstrual cycle, after all it gets full every 28 days. That is why pagans worshipped the moon as the mother goddess symbol, and it is considered among pagan folk to be a sign of great fortune and fertility to have your cycles running in sync with the moon cycles. 
Police have long complained that the full moon is always a far more active time for criminals, however, in all fairness that could be because it is just a lot easier to see at night during a full moon. However, when you consider that a lot of the crimes recorded around the full moon are of a violent nature, visibility does seem to be an unlikely reason for the rise in crime. It's like the moon just makes some people go a bit bonkers; hence the word lunatic, meaning maddened by the lunar cycles. 
And aside from the old full moon werewolf tales, it is actually quite true that more people come to hospital suffering from animal bites around the full moon than at any other time. In fact dog bits are twice as frequent at that time of the month. Explain that science! I bet you can't!
All that I know for sure is that my own personal tide is also mighty high at the moment as well. I have a managed to catch a really annoying head cold, it is actually that time of the month and I don't seem to be able to get a lot of downtime this week because a shit tonne of things seem to be going on. Basically, it is just one of those weeks, one of those full on weeks when you could really use a second you to get everything done easily.
Luckily, I got to the movies on Sunday afternoon to see something of quality that has seen me bopping out in my car to it's soundtrack and losing my woes and myself in music for at least a few minutes every day. 

George Andrew Romero was an American-Canadian filmmaker, writer and editor, he was best known for his gorey and mostly satirical horror movies which were always about an apocalyptic future where the dead walk around (very slowly) and try to either eat people or 'turn' people into zombies through their infectious bite. In short, he was the father of the zombie apocalypse genre of films.
He passed away on July 16th this year at the age of 77 after a brief but aggressive fight with lung cancer, leaving behind a legacy of cult horror and undead movies that have generated a massive following and inspired hundreds of similar zombie related films and TV programs. Long time Romero fan Quentin Tarantino once presented George with a Mastermind Award at the Spike TV's Scream Awards and stated in his speech that the A. in George's name actually stood for 'a fucking genius.' He was both loved and adored by fans of the zombie horror genre and his presence in the horror film industry will most certainly be missed. 
Romero is probably most famous for for his 'Dead Series Trilogy' - Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead which all received incredible success, in fact Dawn of the Dead which was made with a 1.5 million  dollar budget when it was  released in 1978, grossed an incredible $55 million at box offices, swiftly becoming one of the most successful zombie cult movies of all time. 
In tribute to Romero, we had a pizza and zombie movie night on Saturday night, watching his 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead. Cheesy one liners, the slowest moving zombies ever and early 90's gore effects; put all of those together and you've got yourself a terrific B grade horror of cult standards that never fails to amuse and entertain.
It is the blend of extreme ridiculousness, intense gore and inevitable doom that has always made Romero films so memorable for me. Romero influences have spawned video games, movie remakes and even the hugely successful TV program The Walking Dead, and I think that it is fair to say that we will be seeing Mr. Romero's influences in modern media for many, many years to come. Just like his undead counterparts, George A. Romero's influences will continue to live on well beyond the grave. 

​DAWN OF THE DEAD 
Release Date: 2004
Rating: R 18+
Running Time: 101 mins 
Zack Snyder's homage to the great George A. Romero classic was always going to be a huge undertaking; cult film remakes often receive mixed and tepid responses. In my mind, Snyder's version only enhanced what Romero had laid down previously and offers viewers an A grade standard version of a B grade cult classic.
This movie is high tension gore-filled horror, less then ten minutes in and it's zombie apocalypse time. The zombies are fast moving, the infection is fast spreading and the hordes rise quickly which gives the film an ominous urgency. Our surviving characters take refuge at a local shopping mall (an obvious nod to consumerism) as they try to hatch an idea to escape from the city and their own inevitable doom. 
Ving Rhames rehashes his 'too tough to talk' role that he seems to play in every film he is in, and Sarah Polley does a decent job of the unlikely heroine - Ana the nurse. 
FINAL SAY: Get down with the sickness.
3.5 Chilli Peppers

When things get crazy and hectic, as they so often do in life, it's so important to search a little harder and dig a little deeper; and for want of a better way to describe it - find the shine in your life.
Sometimes the shine can be extremely hard to find, on certain days, it can be downright elusive; on some days it can feel like there is no real shine left in the world to find at all. On those less than average days when everything and everyone appears to present another obstacle or opposition, you can end up feeling completely depleted and deflated by the world and it's constant pressures. Those are the days that require double what it takes and they are most definitely the days when we especially need to nurture ourselves and find a little gold or a tiny pearl amidst the muck and the mire. 
Don't lose hope, there are some pretty easy ways to restore your faith in humanity and re-find the shine, so relax dear readers, I got you covered! Studies have shown that just thinking about the happy times in our lives can boost the serotonin levels in our brain. Serotonin is the essential component in the prefrontal cortex of the brain and it regulates your  emotions and your self-reflection abilities. Basically, the more serotonin that you can get into your brain, the better that you will feel, and since serotonin also has the power to override old panic patterns it's great for generating a calm mind and disposition.
So, thinking happy thoughts is actually really beneficial to your health, and it will most certainly help to lift you out of your funk on a less than terrific day. As Maria sang in The Sound of Music - "when the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favourite things, and then I don't feel so bad."  And it turns out that she was quite right about that because just thinking about things that make you happy will lift your spirits and make you see that the world really isn't so bad. 
Here are some other quick fix remedies that I like to use for particularly funky days or whenever the need arises (I hope that they may serve to also help you find your gold or tiny pearl next time you need one). 

• Have a laugh - watch a comedy, share a funny story over the dinner table or phone a friend that has a good sense of humour.
• Pamper yourself -  have a home foot spa, paint your nails, force someone to give you a back rub, dye your hair, have a face mask....you get the picture. 
• Surround yourself with beauty - get to the local gardens, bush areas or to an art gallery, or if hotties are more your style then hit the town.
• Get out of your own way - plan an excursion or an overnight stay to break the cycle, just get out of the house and stop mulling things over!
• Get active - walk it off, run it off or dance it off (Shake it off!)
• Perform a random act of kindness - doing nice things for other people has been scientifically proven to again, boost the serotonin levels in your noggin' - so go and be kind and spread some love around.
• Re-read or re-watch  something you love - must be an oldie but a goodie.
• Soak it out - full on deep bath, tonnes of bubbles, wine in hand and stereo blasting something awesome in the background!
• Watch some harrowing movie or documentary about people that have truly shithouse lives and then smack yourself upside the head for not realising how great your life actually is - works for me!

Just because you can't see something or prove something, that doesn't make it untrue. Thousands of people have devoted their lives to a God that no-one can really prove is real, but can we safely say then that God is not real or true? And how many people have seen ghosts or had unexplainable occurrences happen in their lifetimes? Again thousands, but can we prove any of it to be true? No we cannot. However, if we cannot prove something to be true, then we also cannot prove something to be untrue, and therein lies the most wonderful thing of all, possibility!
​Possibility has intrigued and infuriated minds since man first had the brains to consider it. It has given room for people to ponder and believe in so many different things, things that some of us completely dismiss, and things that some of us wholeheartedly embrace. Gods, aliens, supernatural beings and abilities, angels and even things like Bigfoot; these are some people's truths, some people's belief systems and the things that keeps some people going. Who am I to deny anyone of the right to their own beliefs? Who am I to decide or to dictate what is real and what is fiction when I have no proof for or against any of these matters? 
Just because you cannot hold it in your hands or see it with your eyes or smell it or taste it, that does not mean that it is not real. If that were true, then what could be said of love? Or hate? Or any of the other complex emotions that we all know to be true and massive in variation from person to person? We all understand and accept these complexities of life as true because they affect us individually, but what if you had never actually experienced love for yourself? Would that then give you the right to deny another of the truth of what they feel when they claim to have felt love? Of course it doesn't. 
It matters not what others believe in or put their stock into, for them it is the truth and that is evidence enough for me. I do not have to become a believer in anything to be able to allow others to believe, do I? Aristotle once said "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."  And this is so very true, just because it is not your truth, that doesn't make it untrue for someone else, and it certainly doesn't make it yours to pull apart. Everyone has a right to feel what they feel and to believe in whatever they wish to believe in, and as long it's not harming anyone or anything, then I say all power to you. 
And is it really that important that everything in life be proven to be true anyway? Are we really that hung on the truth as humans? Generally I think that we are not, and taking away some else's truth or trying to prove a point or weaken someone's belief system is never going to make anyone a better person in the long run anyway. Live and let live, believe in what makes you happy and don't feel the need to prove your beliefs to others. Don't listen to anyone that tries to devalue your beliefs; and remember that only the weak and the insecure ever seek to disprove the beliefs of others. Take comfort in the knowledge that if cannot be proven, then it cannot be disproven either, and that is a very powerful awareness to have. 

Whilst perusing Pinterest the other day I found this great list of Would You Rather questions. We regularly play the Would You Rather game in our home, particularly around a  bonfire or late in the evening when everyone's feeling pretty mellow; we always get a good laugh out of it and it is a terrific game to play around the dinner table to get conversations flowing. Anyway, this was a list of more than 200 questions - some of them are head scratchers, some of them present a moral conundrum and some are just plain weird, but they were a great compilation; I certainly know what I will be pulling out the next time that I have a get together.
Anyway, here is a dirty dozen from the list to get you started and for you to toss around your own dinner table:

1. Would you rather have a horrible short term memory or a horrible long term memory?
2. Would you rather have one nipple or two belly buttons?
3. Would you rather be alone forever or surrounded by annoying people forever?
4. Would you rather be unable to move your body when it rains or unable to not move your body when it is sunny?
5. Would you rather invent a cure for cancer or discover life on another planet?
6. Would you rather be poor and help people or be rich and hurt people?
7. Would you rather be invisible for a day or fly for a day?
8. Would you rather give up social media forever or give up movies and TV shows forever?
9. Would you rather sell an important personal item or sell one of your internal organs?
10. Would you rather be remembered infamously when you die or forgotten?
11. Would you rather be compelled to high five everyone that you meet or give a wedgie to anyone you see in a green shirt?
12. Would you rather have edible spaghetti hair or edible maple syrup sweat?

Totally weird stuff I know, but potentially terrific ice breaker stuff as well. I am a total sucker for games and good conversation, so Would You Rather is always a solid go to for me, give me a hypothetical conundrum any day of the week; I may not be able to solve it, but I will have a ball trying!

LIFE
Release Date: 2017
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 110 mins 
You know how these alien movies go; astronauts go into deep space, they find something otherworldly and get all excited about it and then before they know what's going on, alien shit is bursting out of people's chests, everyone is freaking out and the ship becomes a claustrophobic alien hell hole. Life is not unlike any of that, in fact it is exactly like that, well almost like that anyway. 
On a mission to Mars, a crew aboard an International Space Station discover life beyond our own planet. However this rapidly evolving life form proves to be a highly intelligent killing machine that is determined to kill everyone on board. 
A stellar cast that includes the likes of Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds and Hiroyuki Sanada deliver a reasonably tight and suspenseful science fiction thriller. The effects are good, the acting is convincing and the alien life form is interesting for sure. The biggest problem that I had with this movie was that it lacked originality; as I said we know how this goes, so predictable would be understatement. If you've never seen any alien movies before, you'll probably love it, for the rest of us, it's just a nice predictable romp through some very familiar territory, but it's certainly not a game changer.
FINAL SAY: This is some Re-animator shit.
3 Chilli Peppers ​