My newest obsession...

I love musicals, that's pretty much why I ended up studying technical theatre.  However I'd recently discovered a new favourite musical.  My love for it possibly over takes my love for Les Miserables, which is quite a big deal!
What is this mystery musical?  Well it's none other than The Lion King.

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I went to see it in London as a late 21st birthday treat in March, with my friend Jodie.  We both love the film so we were expecting to love the musical just as much.  Except I totally underestimated how much I would love it.
I'm not even sure where to start without rambling so I think I'll just start with the beginning, Circle of Life.

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It pretty much starts out how the film does.  The sun rises and all of the animals come to greet baby Simba.  That's the simple version.  However to be in the theatre with the animals (puppets/costumes/creations) parading down the aisles and looking down from the balconies was overwhelming.  Not to mention the attention to detail, the sun was shimmering as it rose and the lights gradually changed to reflect the dawn.  I've never seen something look so realistic on stage before.
I'm not going to lie, I was so overwhelmed by the beauty of this opening that within about 30 seconds of the song I was in tears.  I could go on and on about it for hours but I'll stop now before I bore you.  If you really do want to know more then feel free to contact me.

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Other than the costumes and puppetry, I think my favourite aspect of the show was the music.  Nothing beats a live orchestra in a theatre setting and there is just something about the African influences that I adore.  Surprisingly it wasn't the songs from the films that became my favourites.  One of those songs is called "He Lives in You".  It's sung by Rafiki and Simba just before Simba returns to reclaim Pride Rock from Scar.  It's a wonderfully uplifting song that's loaded with emotion.  I hope you like it as much as I do!

Like I've already said, I could go on about this for hours.  If you want to know any of my other thoughts on this musical, or anything really, email or tweet me!

Blog Swap!!!!

I meant to do this post ages ago, however I then managed to get the worst cold ever known to mankind and then be snowed under in uni work and meetings.  So I'm sorry to Holli that this has taken me so long to put together!  Hopefully it's worth the wait.


A little while ago I participated in something called a Blog Swap.  It was organised by the lovely Rachael over at Island Girl Insights.  I was paired with Holli, from Dragon Mommy, who sent me some awesome things!

Everything arrived in a cute little box with this lovely purple pouch inside!  There was a handwritten tag too which added a lovely personal touch.  I couldn't wait to open it and see what was inside!

Look at all those lovely goodies!!!  I'm so glad there were sweets in there too!  I have a massive sweet tooth.

Lets start with the sweets seeing as they were perched right at the top there.  These are some bubblegum flavoured bottles from River Island.  Bubblegum isn't a flavour I normally go for but these were lovely!!!  The sugar on the outisde added a nice sourness which complimented the super sweet bubblegum really well.

Last of the edible items is this adorable, teeny, tiny Lindt bunny.  Holli must have some telepathic powers or something, Lindt chocolate is my all time favourite!!  Especially if it's in bunny form.

Next up is this little face scrub!  I've not tried it out yet but it's just the sort of thing I'm bound to like.  I also have really dry skin so this should be perfect for me!

I also received this purple shatter nail polish!!  I love painting my nails, though I don't have much time to do it.  Shatter polishes are a quick way to make my nails look funky, except I've only had the black one until I got this!  It's from Barry M, my fave, and the number on the bottom is 322 (incase you were wondering).  I just couldn't wait to try it so I swatched it for you all over a couple of coats of Rose (086) from GOSH.

My penultimate item is this eye shadow from MUA.  I've never tried anything from this brand before, I'm not into make up that much.  It's a pale pink (I just suck at colour correcting photos, sorry) with a slight shimmer to it.  When applied it's quite sheer, perfect for me, and looks really beautiful and pearlescent.  Perfect to change up my everyday eyeshadows a little!

Last, but definitely not least, is this adorable owl necklace from River Island.  I don't know if you noticed but I happen to like owls a little bit!  I love the colours on the owl's body and it's big bejewelled eyes!  Definitely my new favourite necklace!
I would just like to say a big thank you to both Holli, for all of these wonderful things, and Rachael, for organising the blog swap in the first place!  You're both wonderful!  If you want to see what I sent to Holli then click here to go to her blog.

Book 1st! - April 2012 part 1

Ok so, as this is the first month, I've decided to do it in 2 parts.  This part will be going through all of the movies that are currently in the cinema and the 2nd part will go over the films that are coming out in the rest of this month!

The most prolific book adaptation currently in the cinema is The Hunger Games.

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I haven't personally read these books, however I haven't heard a bad thing about them.  From any one.  Yes there is the hardcore fanbase, but don't be put off by that!  I'm not going to put any plot spoilers in, you'll have to go and find it out for yourself!  Just like me!  If you're lucky, and I'm organised, I might even post a review of The Hunger Games.  When I finally have time to read it that is!

The next two films are not direct adaptations, but are more loosely based on existing stories, one more so than the other.

Mirror Mirror is a film based on that well known fairy tale, Snow White.  However if you've only seen the Disney film version of this tale then I urge you to read the Brother's Grimm story.  It's a lot more gruesome and creepy than the Disney film, especially in the way that the Queen dies.

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The film sticks more along the lines of the well known Disney version, from what I can tell from the trailer.  However I'd suggest simply going to watch this film for the sets and costumes!  They look incredible!

And last, but not least, is the sequel to the 2010 film Clash of the Titans, Wrath of the Titans!  Whilst this particular film is pretty much an entirely new work of fiction is it based off of the first film, which in turn is very loosely based on the myth of Perseus.

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There isn't a specific book about Perseus but it's easy to research into his mythical story.  While you're at it have a look into the myths behind the Titans themselves!

I hope you enjoyed, what I hope to be, the first of many posts like this!

Book 1st!

So if you read my blog regularly you’ll know that I love the vlogbrothers.  Back in early 2011 one of the brothers, Hank Green, decided to start a website encouraging people to read the book before they saw the movie adaptation.  As a book lover myself I loved this idea and was so excited to start receiving their email newsletters about it!  However my excitement was short lived as there was a total of 2 newsletters sent out, the last being in November last year.  I’m not going to lie, this is something that has incredibly disappointed me.

In light of that I’ve decided to do it myself!  Every month I’m planning to let you all know what movies are coming out that are book adaptations so that you can, if you want to, go and read the book first!  This will be mainly focusing on movies that are coming out in Britain as that’s where I live.  Feel free to let me know about any movies that I miss and I hope you enjoy reading the books first!

Re-branding!

Remember when I said I was going to start selling jewellery?

Well I'm creating a cohesive image for the internet now, in the form of Little Owl.

This blog is now called Little Owls Blog and my Etsy shop is (hopefully) going to be Little Owls Creations.

I hope you like the new header and feel to my blog!  Keep an eye out for more changes in the near future!  Hopefully it's going to get to the point where all of the graphics I use (in the sidebar, signature, header, background etc.) have been created by, or for, me.

Exciting times lie ahead!