Sorry I've not posted in a week, I've been in Rome (pictures and posts soon to follow). Looking through the pictures I took in Rome, it reminded me of the ones that I had taken last month on my birthday here in Turin. I rather stupidly had forgotton to take my keys out with me, so I was left hanging around outside my house from 5 in the morning. Rather than wake my flatmates, I decided to have a wander around the city in the early morning.

I loved how warm and inviting this shop looked whilst I was stuck outside.

Italians are patriotic.

If I could drive... I would be driving this car.

Hugh Grant for PM!

Not really...
Hugh Grant did a good job on Question Time, proving not only is he not a little airhead, but also that he has some morals and backbone. Occassionally he came across a tad smug and actor-y (see:the glasses) and let us not forget that the non-politican role on Question Time is always the easiest. However, he rightly teared into the panel, especially Jon Gaunt, who unfairly brought up Grant's past misdemeanours. He may not go down the Joanna Lumley route of actor-turned-protestor but who'd have thought that an apperance on QT would be Hugh Grant's wisest career choice of the last five years?

This week, Harry Potter himself Daniel Radcliffe came out and said that he had been sober for a year, deciding to give up drinking after beoming reliant on alcohol to enjoy himself. This reliance on alcohol is pretty common amongst people in his age group, but the reaction to Radcliffe's admission has not really been one of praise. Instead there have been many sneering commentators with lots of (generally older) people suggesting that he is a bit of a lightweight and boring, as though getting blindingly drunk every weekend is the done thing for teenagers and people in their twenties. Now I don't want to come across all Daily Mail; I think young people should go out, have a laugh, have a drink and have fun. If you can't do it when you are twenty, with no responsibilities and a student loan to waste, when can you? However, I don't like the attitude that this should be the done thing for twenty-somethings.


People seem to find Radcliffe's admission interesting because there have been no - or very few at least - pictures of him falling out of nightclubs drunk, nor has there been any knowledge of his drinking. I think it this lack of awareness that is surprising people. There seems to be a general consensus that, if it was so bad, why didn't we already know about it? But for Radcliffe, this isn't the point. It isn't that amount that he was drinking that was the problem, it was the reason for doing it - his belief that he couldn't have a good time without it.

There is a very strange attitude in this country towards drinking, especially towards those who don't drink, or who want to limit their drinking. In the past when I have cut down on smoking, I have had nothing but encouragement from friends. Yet when I have told them that I won't be drinking this evening, I have heard only complaints that I am "boring" and spoiling other people's fun. In fact, the minute I say that I'm not going to be getting off my face, it becomes my friends' personal mission to get me wankered. These are the same friends who see me puking my guts up the next day, the trips to the toilet the only breaks in my weekend under a duvet where a Smiths CD, a loaf of bread and a crushing sense of shame are my only company. Don't get me wrong, I do the same, encouraging people to come out when they don't want to, buying drinks for those who have only brought out a tenner (normally for the reason that they don't want to get to wasted). However, I think it's time that as a nation, we became more tolerant to those who don't want to drink, or who don't want to drink to the excess. Everyone is happy to lambast Amy Winehouse when she turns up drunk to a concert and get on their high horses. Yet when a young actor says that he has given up drinking in order to regain complete control of his life, he is mocked. I think people see it as a criticism of themselves and their own drinking when someone says that they wish to give up. This is not the case here. Daniel Radcliffe is just saying that drinking doesn't do it for him. For that, he should be applauded.

My song of the week

Patrick Wolf - House

I know that Patrick Wolf has been knocking around for ages but typical me, the minute he starts getting mainstream is when I get interested. However, there is a reason why he is getting more acclaim at the minute - his new album is incredible. This is his fourth album and whilst I've found his previous stuff a little inaccessible and left-field for my tastes, the songs on this album are instantly catchy. The song I'm listening to most is (for the moment) House. It might be because I am about to leave a house, a city and a country that I have absolutely loved but I am finding it particularly poignant and heart-wrenching. If anyone is in the same position as me I recommend listening to This City after - it's so upbeat and feel-good that there is no chance of you wanting to curl under your duvet and cry about the past after listening to it (which is obviously something that I never do - ahem).

For the past few months, I have been friends with a girl who's style is somewhat similar to mine in the sense that we both follow fashion and tend to opt for a kind of Urban Outfitters/Alexa Chung-style vibe (I know, what twenty year old British girl doesn't?). I'll admit, she probably keeps a closer eye on it than me, and could identify a brand at twelve paces. However, recently she's become a little territorial with her style. Another girl in our group, who I'll admit has started to embrace fashion a little more than she used to, is now being accused of being a fashion thief by girl A.

Now I know that fashion is a very personal thing - your clothes form your identity and tell the world something about you. But if you choose to follow the latest trends, do you really have the right to claim loafers or a button-up shirt as your own, even if you might have bought it first?

I was a bit late to the Alan Partridge party (what with being about 8 when it first came out on tv), however I recently got in to the, and in fact spent what could have been a horrible hangover weekend watching Alan. I think this is my favourite clip.

"And another!"

Embarrassing Crush of the Week

Tom Pellereau, The Apprentice.





















I know it's wrong, but his geeky charm just appeals to me. He's also got a Michael Sheen thing going on, though that in itself is another embarrassing crush, I suppose (having said that, good enough for Rachel McAdams and Kate Beckinsale = good enough for me).

On an Apprentice sidenote, I was going to do a post last week on how pleased I was that Zoe had gone, what a bully she was etc. but then they revealed on You're Fired that she beat cancer twice as a teenager, and then I felt like the most horrible person in the world.

Things I hate

1. Skiing

It is not the activity so much, but more what comes with it. I was (un)lucky enough to go skiing for the first time this year (apparantly, the dry ski slope in Llangrannog doesn't count) in Switzerland as a friend of ours has a chalet there. Rather naively, I thought I'd take to it pretty well. WRONG!
I won't go into too much detail, but when you've been rescued by a snow plough a few hours into your first run, I suppose you should realise then that maybe skiing isn't for you.
Perhaps it's my own inadequacy that makes me dislike skiing (or more to the point, skiiers) and resent anyone who's better at it than me. However, I couldn't help but stifle a laugh when I went on a trip to Aosta (picturesque little town in the Italian mountains) and one of our group whined
"I can see that the town is beautiful, but for me this is so bittersweet because as a skiier, it's so sad to see that the snow has melted."












Me skiing. Or not.

TrueLad.com

Even though the word 'lad' makes me want to wretch (one place above 'banter' and below ending a sentence with 'BOOM.' on my list things that deserve a shot in the leg for), I did come across some funny things on truelad.com. The site is 40% dickheads, 40% sexist rubbish and 10% lies, but the remaining 10% pretty funny. This made me chuckle this morning.

"Someone's phone went off in an exam last week. Their ringtone was "Eye of the Tiger". Instead of trying to turn it off quickly, he stands up and punches the air in time with the song. He was then asked to leave. GottobedoneLAD"

Miles Kane - Come Closer

This song's greatness is almost outweighed by the fact that Daisy Lowe (boo! hiss!) is in the video. However, it is a great song, so we will just have to overlook this.