Birthday!

Sorry for not posting over the weekend but I was quite ill and it was my birthday on the Sunday so I didn't have time to. 

Since I was ill I didn't get chance to do much but I did go to the cinema with a few friends to watch 'How To Train Your Dragon 2' which was great (I'm also a big fan of the first one) and now I desperately want a dragon. I may have also shed a tear during this film even though it is for kids but it was genuinely sad so what can I say? But I'm not going to reveal anything in case I ruin it for anyone. I'm also looking forward to this coming out on DVD as it's the sort of film you want to watch again and again and I like to watch the films one after another so my new aim when I'm out shopping is to find the first one at a relatively cheap price. 

I got loads of great presents for my birthday and I still have presents to receive off my dad. One of my favourite presents I got was off my friend Abi (you will meet her in the summer for some joint posts), she brought me a 'Wreck This Journal' and it is brilliant. It is going to live at the side of my bed so I can use it whenever I need. However, as Abi has discovered, trying to help someone guess what this present is is very difficult as the concept of it being a book but not a book and being a journal but not a journal is very hard to understand and leads to about an hour of anger and bewilderment (sorry Ab).
My mom got me the remaining seasons of Will & Grace, the first two seasons of American Horror Story and an amazing cushion the says "I love you more", which is sat happily on my bed. I can now proudly say that  I own all of my favourite TV series on DVD and can sit on a cute cushion to watch them. I guess you can say I am one happy bunny.

(sorry for the awful photo)
Another present I received from my mom was the book 'Submarine' by Joe Dunthorne (the book that inspired the film) and I can not wait to start reading it. So the next time you will hear from me will probably be when I am head over heels for this wonder and begging you all to read it.
All of my social addresses are at the side which will send you straight to my profile and I suspect you will be hearing from me shortly, bye!

Favourites... Travel

I don't think that you can really call this a favourite but recently I have been wandering the internet and everyday seen a page on travel, the best hotels or a bucket list of places to visit before you die and they have all caught my attention so I found myself scrolling through the endless lists of dreamy places. I guess you could call it wanderlust but I am now so desperate to go and explore the world. Inspired by the excessive amount of travel websites I have visited, I have decided to start my own mini bucket list of areas to visit and countries to go to.

 An obvious place to start is Paris and the Eiffel Tower, a romantic setting which everyone must have thought or dreamt about visiting.

 When I was very young, I always dreamt about visiting Egypt and loved anything Egyptian. I remember my mom's friends going and coming back with different gifts of notepads with hieroglyphics on and bookmarks of a similar design. I always wanted to go and see the pyramids and tombs of pharaohs like Tutankhamun. I mean, who wouldn't want to travel on a camel and see Giza and the Sphinx?

 Australia is another easy guess. The Sydney Opera House, Uluru and other landmarks have all caught people's attention at some point or another, with no exception to me. The entirety of Australia appears amazing, apart from all of the spiders and high temperatures, and I would be surprised to find myself turning down an offer to visit. 

 The Great Wall of China, a tourist favourite and dream of many. The seemingly unending wall is so beautiful and surround by nature it is hard to not want to visit.

 In Turkey, there is an area filled with rock houses, a strange vision to onlookers but a must see for explorers and travellers. 

 The famous St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, Russia is another area worming its way onto most peoples travel lists, with its colourful domes and intricate design work its unlikely anyone would say no to going.

I would love to go to Italy again as it is a country of never ending beauty. I have visited Italy before for a fly by visit of Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius but the country is filled to the brim of city's and towns containing famous landmarks, there is still so much I want to explore. Venice is an obvious place to want to travel to, along with Pisa, Florence and Rome.

 Machu Picchu in Peru is such a beautiful and mysterious area I am dying to visit, regardless of the expense it costs to go, and, to be honest, it must be worth the money.

 In Prague, there is an exciting, mind bending building named 'The Dancing House' and I wouldn't mind visiting, even if it's just for a photograph.

 Easter Island must be on nearly every online bucket list I have seen and is truly a real dream of mine to visit.    The strange heads which have been replicated so much must leave true marks on those who see it. 

 Athens and just Greece overall is a place I'd love to visit. The white houses and deep blue seas just appear so dreamy I am desperate to visit. Athens is also breathtaking and filled with mythology, its a wondrous place.

 India is one of the countries I really want to travel to. I would love to try the foods and see all the sights as India appears to be such a charismatic place. The Taj Mahal is a place in particular I'd love to visit.

 There is a really beautiful piece of architecture in Iran named the Azadi Tower and I am desperate to go as it just looks so intriguing. 

 On the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe in Africa, there is a waterfall named Victoria Falls which is an area of such natural beauty, it would be weird to not want to go. 

 Last but not least, something that is probably on many people's bucket lists, I would love to go on a road trip around America. Me and my friend have said we both want to do this together for a gap year and I do hope it happens as there is so much to see in America and so much to try, it's hard not to want to go straight away. A particular place I want go to is New York City as it is filled with so many things to look and do and it reminds me of the films I have watched so I'd love to go round and say that this happened here etc. 

If there is anything else you think I should add then comment and let me know or any memories, photos and stories of places you have visit then tell me about them, I'd love to hear them.

How To... Make Your Hair Grow Faster Naturally

This is going to be the first of my 'How To' posts and is going to be about increasing your hair length quicker than normal while being totally natural. 

 First of all, you want to make sure you are drinking lots of water as it flushes away all of your toxins which will slow hair growth. If you don't drink much water at the moment, increase the amount you drink slowly as you'll end up going to the toilet a lot and it will keep you up all night, but 4-8 glasses a day is recommended. 

 It's a good idea trim your hair every 6-8 weeks as this will remove any damaged split ends and enables your hair to grow healthier and quicker. 

 It may be hard to cut down the use of heat products but it really pays off, even if you only use heat for 5 out of the 7 days in the week, it will improve the look of your hair and decrease the damage. I only use a hair dryer nowadays and barely use my straightners and, since I have stopped, my hair is a lot softer. However, it is also important to let your hair dry naturally a few times a week as blow drying will cause more split ends to appear.

 About once a week, to keep your scalp healthy, you should condition your scalp as a healthy scalp produces healthy hair. Also, while doing this, you should massage your scalp as it will stimulate growth.

 Wash your hair every other day as when you wash, you are removing the natural oils which help growth. After washing, always comb the hair rather than brushing as when your hair is wet, its more prone to damage and a comb will decreases the damage to your hair.

 Try to style your hair in relaxed styles so they don't pull on your roots and weaken them. The styles can be down or a loose ponytail. Plaits are also good and, apparently, increases hair growth but I'm not sure if this is true.

 Another way to promote hair growth is to increase the amount of protein you eat as protein is good for growth and repair, especially in your hair. Also, you should make sure you are getting all of your vitamins as they will supply your hair with the oils they need to grow. 

Favourites, How To and Review Posts

I have decided to organise my blog and make it more interesting by having a few posts about certain things a week. For instance, I'm thinking at the moment to have three different posts a week, one where I discuss something that has taken my interest during the week (my 'Favourites' post), a review post and 'How To..' post. I will probably start this this week or next, depending on how busy I am. So, if you have any suggestions on what I could write about, feel free to comment, tweet or DM me. As always, my twitter is @sunbrann and I follow back ASAP so you can message me suggestions there. My posts, unless on the weekend will usually go up after school time, about 4pm GMT and each different type of post will have it's day. I hope this makes my blog a bit more interesting and help you with finding new things a bit better. 

Thank you!

Coughton Court

Yesterday I visited Coughton Court and the one area which really caught my attention and heart was the walled garden. It's a haven of scents, colour and wildlife. Accompanied by the summery drone of bees I explored the garden in detail. Every colour, every flower elevated my mood and I decided to take some photos of this absolute delight. Each photo I took was filled with colour and different flowers and this really is a heavenly place, unless, of course, you suffer with hay fever or have a dislike to bees. I really recommend you visit this area on a warm summers day, especially because of the delectable ice creams you can buy from the shop (when I was eating mine I was accompanied by ducks). The court itself is a Tudor, Grade I listed building with breath-taking views but the gardens are even better. It's located near Alcester and is easily accessible off a the A435.

It's also one week till my birthday! 

Gum

 Gum, although Australian, emulates a 1960's Californian sound and he has recently made his way to my ears. I'm very glad he decided to do some solo work along with his part in Pond (one of my favourite bands at the moment) and Tame Impala. His solo album, 'Delorean Highway', was released the 30th of May and features a song that I just can't stop listening to. This beautiful tune is named 'Misunderstanding' and transports you to a place akin to your own little heaven. It has an almost zingy feel to it and the notes form a dream-like pattern in your mind, really making you feel as though you really are in a sleeping state. If you wish to listen to this little beauty on SoundCloud then click here and there is a free download here. The cover art is also something to be noted, it features a space scene where the planets are made of gum being blown by heads. I love the fact it has a connection between his name and the music without being too dramatic or over the top. Pond, his band, has a similar feel but has a lot more of a 'band' feel to where you can pick up the separate instruments rather than the slightly more merged sound to his solo work. Overall I think everyone just needs to appreciate the wonder that is 'Gum' and take in his many different sounds, songs and stunning melodies. 

If you want to follow me on SoundCloud and see what songs I have been enjoying recently then you can follow me, my username is sunbran, my Twitter is @sunbrann and my Instagram is @sun.bran

One Day

One Day is a novel written by David Nicholls and has to be one of the best books I have read in a while. I've often been in charity shops and secondhand bookshops and found at least one copy, if not more of the book and decided it mustn't be worth the read if it has appeared so many times in the secondhand shops, however, it really is worth a lot more. I purchased the book while on holiday a few weeks ago when I found it for 50p at an old house and decided to take the plunge. I opened the orange book and was immediately hooked, I think the main reason for this is because it displays the raw emotion in everyday life but without romanticising it, making the words on the page seem like real life rather than some fairytale life story which isn't actually going to happen to a large majority of people. I'd like to give an example of the lack of romanticism but I may end up ruining the story with my favourite line which is so straight to the point and leaves you sitting in shock but then you think, if you hadn't of been reading about them, you wouldn't really care, which is an idea this line really conveys. The burb outlines the story by saying: "15th July 1988. Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows? Twenty years, two people, one day." although, after graduation they don't go their separate ways at all, they go on a day trip and stay in contact afterwards, but, as the blurb says, each chapter is the same day but the next year onwards, a story telling method which I found very gratifying and enjoyable. I would, without a doubt, highly recommend this book if you are into the romantic or drama book genre and I guarantee that you will find yourself smiling, crying or even laughing along with the book (unless you have no empathy or feelings) and, as previously said, you can probably find this book in a secondhand bookshop, charity shop or in a regular bookshop. If you are wondering why the book is in so many secondhand shops then you may find out why people read and don't want to go through the roller-coaster of emotion again when you read it. There is also a film which stars Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess but, after watching the trailer, I can honestly say I'm not impressed. Although, just incase it does end up being better than I thought, I shall hunt it out and watch it. 

By the way, if you want to follow or add me on Goodreads my username is sunbran.  Here you can keep up with what I'm reading and my thoughts on them.

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (film)

Today I have been off ill and I decided to spend my day catching up on all the films I wanted to watch or the ones I brought on a wim. One of those films was 'Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist' starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings, based on the book of the same name. Incase you are wondering what it about the here is the description: "After a chance encounter, Nick and Norah embark on a journey through New York's indie rock scene on a quest to find the secret show of a legendary band, and wind  up finding each other." However, after watching this film I wouldn't describe it this way but thats not to say it wasn't a great film. Also, the tagline is "Every night has a soundtrack" which doesn't really follow the films story as there was a lack of actual music playing and 'soundtracks' but more talk of music and songs being played in the background. Overall I enjoyed the film in the heartwarming, happy ending sense and I was left with a content feeling, but, in my eyes, this follows the classic type of film whose characters and story line floats around music, which, when you've seen quite a few of them, does get a bit boring. I still found myself being dragged into the story though and my desire to scream at Cera's character 'Nick' was unbelievable. Another character I found myself wanting to shout at was 'Tris' played by Alexis Dziena but for different reasons, she's a total cow in the film. One thing I did admire about this film is the involvement with the gay scene which I think has made the film look more interesting and enabled it to take a slightly different  route with the storyline and how the characters are able to interact. I have also decided to look for the book as I am interested in seeing how the book has been interpreted and, as they say, the book is alway better than the film. I think I would rate this a strong 7 out of 10 and its currently £1.72 on Amazon. 

As usual my Twitter is @sunbrann where I will update you when I have a new post up and my Instagram is @sun.bran where I will also have updates on new blog pots and feature some of my photography.

Rik Mayall

Sadly, a comedy great has passed today at the age of 56. Rik Mayall's cause of death has yet to be released but the news has already caused grief among many of his fans, the evidence of this very clear on pretty much every social media site you can enter. He stared in many comedy shows such as the Young Ones, Bottom and was also part of the 'Comic Strip Presents..' shows. His film 'Drop Dead Fred' is yet another well known piece of work coming from him. Since Bottom is one of my favourite shows I can honestly say I will miss his work and his ability to make light of any situation. He even jokes that he "beat Jesus Christ" after a near fatal bike accident as he was on life support for five days. If you haven't heard of or seen the man in action here's a fab clip of him in the Young Ones sporting beautiful yellow dungarees:

Or you can watch a playlist of some of his best moments here.

Chastleton House

I visited this Jacobean house yesterday and found it was very good for photograpy. It's very split in terms on how it makes feel. On one hand you have a cosy old house with warm traditional fireplaces, huge four poster beds and imperfect glass in the window casting a sparkly shine on the place, while on the other it reminds you of a horror story without making you feel too uncomfortable. The slanting, creaky floorboards, the dark rooms, the strange objects and secret room all allude to something more than what first meets the eye, yet it doesn't make you feel to anxious or apprehensive. There is also a dark cellar with many rooms which fully succeeds in making visitors feel tense and  uneasy. All of these factors are great for photography as they really show the 400 year decay that took over this country house after it was left to its own devices. 

The gardens are very impressive, they have been recreated and brought back to life after being left for so long without being cared for. A kitchen garden and a flower garden are some of those refurbished. In the land outside the house and gardens there is a rustic dovecote which appears very scenic in a field of long grass and other vegetation. Overall, I think this was a great place to go regardless of what you are visiting for and even better for the amature photographer.

If you are interested in visiting, it is located along the A44 in Oxfordshire, near the town of Morton-in-Marsh and is signposted when you get near it. Unfortunately there is no cafe there but there are plenty along the A44 or in the small villages dotted along it. It's £9.50 for adults and £4.50 for children or free if you're a member of the National Trust. You can visit the website here. 

If you are interested in keeping up with me then you can follow my Twitter - @sunbrann or my Instagram @sun.bran

Submarine *spoilers are given*

I'm guessing that most of you don't know this but my favourite film is 'Submarine'. This film was directed by Richard Ayoade and is based on the book 'Submarine' by Joe Dunthorne. The story follows a fifteen year old boy going through the motions of school life, his experiences with his new girlfriend and how he deals with his parent's wilting relationship. The main character 'Oliver Tate' doesn't have the most normal personality but is still relatable and can make you laugh till you cry. Oliver Tate is played by the beautiful Craig Roberts who, in my eyes, is probably the person most suited for the role. His girlfriend 'Jordana Bevan' (who has also been cast perfectly, played by Yasmin Page) is a pyromaniac and appears to have the ability of controlling Oliver with a single remark. The couple are shown to have a happy 'unromantic' relationship, filled with fireworks, setting fire to Tates leg hair and walking Bevans dog. I think the factor that makes their relationship so desirable is that it isn't romanticised and it's filled with smart, hilarious, sarcastic remarks, one of my favourite being "F****** hell, you're serial killer." coming from Jordana when Oliver is trying to lure her into bed. However, at the same time as he is starting his relationship with Jordana, Oliver's parents are having problems after his mothers old 'true love' moves in next door. Since Oliver's father isn't a man able to stick up for himself, Oliver is worried for his parents and is desperately trying to patch things up between them, with strange and comical consequences. While Oliver is occupied with these occurrences, his girlfriends mother has a brain tumour, which, according to Oliver, turns Jordana "gooey in the middle" after listening to her describe how a flame looks similar to a tear. Oliver stops all contact with Jordana and is heartbroken when he discovers her with another boy (but what did he expect?). On the same night he discovers his mother and her ex-lover together and, after a trail of events, attempts to urinate in the ex-lovers house. Although this may not sound like a happy ending, eventually all things come together (I'm not revealing all) and it does leave you with a heart warming uplifting sensation. 

Ayoade has manage to create impeccable screenplay, enabling the viewer to build up trust with the story and completely lose themselves within in it. In no other film that I have watched have I ever felt so in-touch with the characters and like the story was personal to me. At several points in the film I found myself wanting to physically interact with the characters and tell them how to make everything better, and, even long after my first viewing of the film, I found myself floating away and thinking of the storyline, imagining the endless possibilities of what could have taken place in the small Welsh town after the ending of the last scene. The characters are so well played that it almost feels like a serious deception when the audience is reminded of the fact that they are only part of an imagination. I would love to be able to point out a fault with this marvelous feature but there are none as far as I'm concerned, and, it would without a doubt receive a 11/10 rating from me. But, enough rambling from me, just go and watch this beautiful piece of cinema. I think it's currently about £4.50 Amazon if you're interested in buying it.

Just a hi

Hey! So I thought I would start a blog where I can basically just tell everyone my thoughts on everything, things it would recommend any other boring stuff that I'm hoping someone will find interesting. I'm very into books, music, films and photography which I think I'm good but I guess that's debatable really. I also have a love for animals, and yes that does include the creepy horrible ones, and I hope to be able to work with them one day. So for now I'm going to go but you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram (if you search Sunbran I will be there somewhere) and I will come back with something more interesting to say soon. Another thing you can do is check out my page on bracelet tutorials which is on my personal account: http://braceletsbysunbran.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Bye!