Ad-Jen-t Calendar 2015 - Day 10

A film that I watched fairly recently is 'Her'. It's set in a future where having a personal AI is the norm; basically everyone has their own Siri that they use all the time. The story follows one particular guy and the trials and tribulations of his love life. I know I'm really not selling it very well at the moment, but I'm trying to contain myself from raving about it too much. I didn't know much about the film before seeing it, but I totally did not expect it to be so heartwarming and heart-breaking-ly beautiful.

On top of that, the soundtrack is also amazing. I still listen to it frequently and, in my opinion, it makes great background music for life in general ;p

Ad-Jen-t Calendar 2015 - Day 9

If I had to choose one song or piece of music to listen to for the rest of my life, I'd choose Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. There's just so many different sections to this piece, all of which I adore. I particularly like the piano version and would very much like to be able to play this one day :) Take a listen for yourself:

Ad-Jen-t Calendar 2015 - Day 8

Last Sunday, I played Skyrim for the first time. Thank goodness Wicks was present to capture some of my most noob-ish moments in style...

All art by Simon Wicks.

Note: We are not affiliated with Skyrim.

Ad-Jen-t Calendar 2015 - Day 7

For the past 2 weeks, I've been on a mission to find the perfect shortbread recipe. So far I've tried 4 different ratios of ingredients, and still the search continues. I particularly enjoy putting chocolate chips into the mix. Here's a sample that I made a week ago, they don't look quite so radioactive in real life, I swear it's the lighting in this photo :p

If you have a favourite recipe then be sure to post in the comments!

Ad-Jen-t Calendar 2015 - Day 6

Christmas Favourites #2:

http://www.thorntons.co.uk/product/Chocolate-Toffee-Fudge/Chocolate-Bars/Continental-Viennese-Bar/pc/2198/c/2200/12.uts

These Thorntons chocolate bars are such a Christmas staple for me. I don't know why, but my mom and I always got them when we were out shopping together, now I feel like I need them at this time of year. My favourite flavours are Viennese, Sicilian Lemon and Cappuccino.

Note: We are not affiliated with Thorntons.

Ad-Jen-t Calendar 2015 - Day 5

Christmas Favourites #1:

Photo: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/marys_christmas_genoa_32386

Last year, my mom made this Genoa cake and I've been a massive fan ever since. Naturally, I requested that she make it again when I go back :)

Ad-Jen-t Calendar 2015 - Day 4

Thought I'd share with you a film that I've recently seen :)

A few weeks back, a friend and I went to a local independent cinema, which was most quaint and cozy, to see the eponymous Steve Jobs biopic. Being quite interested after seeing the trailer, I was excited to witness the whole thing myself.

It was no disappointment. The format of the film was unique and the story was told in a clever and creative way. I adored Kate Winslet's portrayal of Joanna Hoffman; such a strong and witty character.

Overall, I'd very much recommend that you see this at some point.

Have a good rest of the day :)

Ad-Jen-t Calendar 2015 - Day 3

Last weekend I made some little desserts that were much appreciated by the housemates. Here's my recipe for these choc pots :)

Chocolate Ramekin Desserts
Makes around 6

Ingredients
300g chocolate (any type you like) + a little extra for topping
300ml double cream
20g butter
10 Oreo biscuits (or you could use Bourbons, any sort of sandwich biscuit is good)

1. Break up the chocolate into small pieces and place into a container (I find a measuring jug to be easiest for pouring out of later on).
2. Heat up the cream and butter until it's just bubbling. Pour this straight onto the chocolate and start stirring to combine the two together until you get a nice smooth consistency.
3. For the base, crush the biscuits (probably easiest in a food blender, or just put them in a bag and bash 'em with a rolling pin). If you prefer it to stick together a bit more, just add a little melted butter.
4. Now to assemble it... Put down your biscuit base and really pack it down in the bottom of the ramekins. Then just pour your chocolate mix on top. Chill in the fridge for as long as you can bear (20 mins will do). Serve with a little cocoa powder dusted on top and/or some chocolate shavings.

You're welcome :)

Ad-Jen-t Calendar 2015 - Day 2

Mornin'!

As promised, here I am again to deliver more (low) quality entertainment :p Today's topic is music; basically I just wanted to share with you my favourite things to listen to around Christmas.

Currently my go-to album has to be Tchaikovsky's 'The Nutcracker' for two main reasons. One being the fact it makes me feel Christmas-y, and the other is that it reminds me of when I was a lot younger, perhaps 7 or 8 years old, and how I always used to watch the VHS of the ballet. It was, and still is, an absolute favourite of mine :)

Out of all the pieces, I'm a particular fan of the Waltz of the Snowflakes. To me, it just paints a wonderful snowy scene in my head. Take a listen for yourself:

Until tomorrow, have a lovely day :D

Ad-Jen-t Calendar 2015 - Day 1

Hello everyone!

For this year's advent calendar I thought we'd do something a little bit different. Gonna be honest here and say that we don't have many quotes unfortunately, but I still really wanted to keep up this Christmas tradition. So, the plan is to post every day leading up to Christmas. There should be quite a range of stuff, basically just me sharing whatever I can think of...

To start off, I thought today's post could just be a bit of a catch-up, since I haven't really shared what I've been up to. Thinking about it now, I don't even know where to begin! It's been a busy few months where I've met a large number of new people, started a course that I'm really enjoying at the moment (found out I actually quite like stats and business law, who knew) and also learned to write Hiragana in my Japanese classes.

It's been a surreal and wonderful experience, which has also messed with my mind a little bit; I'm not quite sure any more how time works... It feels like a long time since I moved away from Localville, yet the past weeks have flown by so quickly and now it's nearing Christmas already... I guess the only appropriate word to describe it all is 'crazy'.

But back to the present, this is a pretty busy week; I've got a test on Friday, which I'm not looking forward to and stressing out about (only a little). There's this habit that I've sorta gotten into during exam weeks where I tend to eat cereal at night. I need to shake that one off, not the most healthy thing to be into.

Apart from the test, I'm going to a carol service with some friends tomorrow night. Should definitely get me into a Christmas-y mood. My current attempts at being festive are quite pathetic; a dark green jumper and my Christmas socks (basically socks with a pattern of stockings... sock-ception much?)

Anyways, that should probably be it for today. Look forward to something different tomorrow.

Until then, have a good day :D

A jumble of thoughts

Hello everyone!

It's been a while since the last time I posted, mainly because, for a while, I wasn't too sure where to go with this blog. The past few months have seen quite a few major changes to our lives here at Perfect Sandwiches. To put it briefly, we've all moved away from Localville, as hinted in our delightful new banner by Wicks, spreading out over the country. It's been rather overwhelming, settling into a new environment and meeting so many new people all at once, but at the end of the day I'm having a good time. Of course, I miss the Sandwich Crew, it's strange to not see them every day when that's the way it's been for the past few years.

That brings me to talk about this blog, which has largely been fuelled by all of our day-to-day antics. Now that we're not talking as frequently, it's been difficult coming up with content. After much contemplation, I've decided to make the blog more about my experiences right now, whilst there will be an increase in podcast production, where all of us can chat. Hopefully this will work out better as we'll be discussing what we've been up to without having already done so off-camera, so to speak, therefore our reactions will be first-hand. That's the plan! Other projects in the works include Raven, which is due for release around the new year, plus we'll be keeping you updated with news regarding our cosplays and plans for Nine Worlds 2016!

So until next time, have one on me :)

Happy 5th Anniversary!

It's now officially 5 years since this blog was created. Thank you all so much for making it what it is :) Here's to a fantastic future!

Quote Week: September - Day 7 - 2/2

"Try not to make any more 007 jokes, 007."
- Nine Worlds 2015 Squad

Story behind quote:
... One might even say we made too many 007 jokes.

Note: We are not affiliated with the James Bond franchise.

Quote Week: September - Day 7 - 1/2

"Try not to get face-paint on the pillow, 007."
- Nine Worlds 2015 Squad

Story behind quote:
Apart from the McMeme, the 007 meme made quite a few appearances...

Note: We are not affiliated with the James Bond franchise.

Quote Week: September - Day 6 - 2/2

"What is the name of the bow-tie pasta?"
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
When Wicks asked this Cranium question, a few of us misheard it as 'bow-tie pastor' instead. Now who could that be...?

Note: We are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Quote Week: September - Day 6 - 1/2

"What's his name... Harvey Two-Face..."
- K.W.

Story behind quote:
Ruby's new name for the DC villain, Two-Face. Good ol' Harvey Two-Face and Bruce Batman... ;p

Note: We are not affiliated with DC Comics.

Quote Week: September - Day 5 - 2/2

"Time for McDinner..."
- Nine Worlds 2015 Squad

Story behind quote:
During our weekend at Nine Worlds, we witnessed the birth of the McMeme. There we were, sat in McDonalds, prefixing every word with 'Mc'. I'm glad they didn't kick us out for laughing so hard.

Note: We are not affiliated with McDonald's.

Quote Week: September - Day 5 - 1/2

"It's as if the porridge and yogurt have swapped their ideal consistencies."
- Nine Worlds 2015 Squad

Story behind quote:
A most interesting breakfast at our hotel.

Quote Week: September - Day 4 - 2/2

"...I'm not gonna teach you to suck EGGS..."
- We all know who this is

Story behind quote:
In a motivational speech, some of the sentence phrasings bumped heads...

Quote Week: September - Day 4 - 1/2

"KG tokens!"
- L.R.

Story behind quote:
After receiving cosplay tokens from Kieron Gillen, Cap. shouts this out in joy. I wonder if KG was a little confused by our abbreviation for his name...

Quote Week: September - Day 3 - 2/2

"These sausage rolls are just loose in my bag..."
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
We let them be free. Anything goes at Nine Worlds.

Quote Week: September - Day 3 - 1/2

McDonald's employee 1: *mutters* "Who's that?"
McDonald's employee 2: *Cockney accent* "The Joker, from The Dark Knight"

Story behind quote:
The funniest part of cosplaying has got to be going out in public, in this case, ordering from McDonalds with Joker face paint. Just gotta look them straight in the eye.

Note: We are not affiliated with McDonald's or DC Comics.

Quote Week: September - Day 2 - 2/2

"Lenny Henry and Anya's mum both recommend. That's when you know you're in safe hands."
- Nine Worlds 2015 Squad

Story behind quote:
We clearly made the right choice going with Premier Inn.

Note: We are not affiliated with Premier Inn.

Quote Week: September - Day 2 - 1/2

"If we were a mole, they would be the starship!"
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
Wicks compares Travelodge with the Radisson. No prizes for correctly guessing which is which.

Note: We are not affiliated with Travelodge or the Radisson Hotel.

Quote Week: September - Day 1 - 2/2

Sharah: "Does anyone have any plain paper?"
Jen: "I've got some at home."
- S.A. J.C.

Story behind quote:
Jen. Ever helpful. The only issue is that Sharah needed it right away.

Quote Week: September - Day 1 - 1/2

"The grumpy constant..."
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
Something along the lines of the mean of the number of hours of sleep the subject has had combined with the amount of food eaten in the past day. It's a complex calculation.

I call it a Cinderella Quote Week

For the next week, every time the clock strikes 12 o'clock we'll release a new quote!

Yes, that means two per day. You're welcome ;)

We're at Nine Worlds this weekend!

We've spent months and months preparing for this...and it's finally here!

Friday to Sunday, Anya Stark, Cap, Wicks and Jen will be attending Nine Worlds 2015. It promises to be a good time, so we invite you to follow the fun on our Twitter @SandwichCrew, where we will be live-tweeting throughout the weekend!

Trust me, you won't want to miss out ;)

Quote Week: July - Day 7 - 2/2

"DELICIOUS!"
- S.A.

Story behind quote:
Cap. captures the perfect follow-up to 'DISGUSTING!'

Quote Week: July - Day 7 - 1/2

"They ran out of sausages so we have to have burgers in hot dog buns."
- S.A. J.C.

Story behind quote:
At the barbecue on our last day at the Academy, Sharah and Jen tried to wait for the queue to die down, but in the end it was a case of snoozing and losing.

Quote Week: July - Day 6 - 2/2

"I specifically asked for lasagne..."
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
The day when the canteen decided to serve lasagne with nachos.

Quote Week: July - Day 6 - 1/2

"It's a Frankenstein tangerine!"
- A.A.

Story behind quote:
As a snack, ArwaChihuahua manages to find the smallest tangerine possible. However, after eating it, she attempts to staple the peel back together... And hence, it was born!

Quote Week: July - Day 5 - 2/2

"...and then you'd have the ultimate barrel!"
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
In a rather lengthy conversation, we contemplated the possibility of two people with double barrel surnames taking both of their surnames in full as their child's surname, people with double barrel first names and the trouble they might have in life, e.g. trying to fit their name on their wedding cake. Along the way, we created the character of Jonathan-Charles Smith, said to be Slickens' future husband.

Quote Week: July - Day 5 - 1/2

"Pickle me quick!"
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
Death talk, won't dive into too many details. Although this does sound like a phrase you would see on a Love Heart (confectionery).

Note: We are not affiliated with Swizzels Matlow.

Quote Week: July - Day 4 - 2/2

"I'm a big fan of meadow."
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
Wicks on her favourite landscapes - Part II

Quote Week: July - Day 4 - 1/2

"I'm a big fan of bleak."
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
Wicks tells us about her favourite types of landscape.

Quote Week: July - Day 3 - 2/2

"Didn't realise I was training to be a rapid response paramedic."
- L.R.

Story behind quote:
Cap. comments on driving theory exams.

Quote Week: July - Day 3 - 1/2

"In one word...farm."
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
After attending a riveting talk on the business of agriculture, Wicks is asked to describe it in one word.

Quote Week: July - Day 2 - 2/2

"We should do the Art Attack music!"
- S.A. H.W. J.C.

Story behind quote:
When Jen gets a missed call from an unknown number, Sharah and Wicks consider how the call could have went if Master had picked up. They thought of every detail down to the hold music. And then proceeded to record a rendition of said music.

This is the classic track we were talking about:
'Left Bank Two' by The Noveltones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2XReqnoXBU

Also, it was used in SMART, not Art Attack.

Note: We are not affiliated with Art Attack, SMART, or The Noveltones.

Quote Week: July - Day 2 - 1/2

"...bur fear..."
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
When chatting about the bears in the Shtory, Wicks got her letters mixed up. [She meant bear fur.]

Quote Week: July - Day 1 - 2/2

"I'm in such a good mood, I just aw-ed at that child."
- A.T.

Story behind quote:
On our final day at the Academy, ANT just couldn't hide her joy.

Quote Week: July - Day 1 - 1/2

"Let's have a bonfire, bring all your old notes, we'll throw them into the fire and toast marshmallows on top."
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
This is what a plan sounds like.

Quote Week...with a twist!

To celebrate our return from Ninja Academy, we've got a quote coming your way every 12 hours for this week! No need to thank us ;)

Our brand new banner, courtesy of Simon Wicks!

Big thanks to our head of graphics, Wicks, for the brand new banner, celebrating not only our return from Ninja Academy but also the start of our week of production for ProjectCrow.

Check out the original banner in full:

By Simon Wicks

Stand by, awesomeness to return tomorrow

Watch this space.

Spoilers...

Announcement: Ninja Academy calls...

Dear Readers,

The time has come, once again, where we have been summoned to attend Ninja Academy for specialised training. The extensive program will run as of tomorrow (Monday 13th April) until Sunday 28th June. I regret to inform you that, during this time, we will be officially on hiatus.

As always, I cannot thank you all enough for your continued support. I hope we will meet once again in this space on Monday 29th June.

Until then, have one on us.

- Jen
Perfect Sandwiches
Buy buy, sell sell

Weekly News Round-Up #90: 29/03/2015

Hello and welcome, it's been quite a week of planning. This August, Cap, Anya Stark, Wicks and myself will be journeying to Nine Worlds! It's all very exciting, sorting accomodation, planning cosplays and playing out possible scenarios of falling asleep in bath tubs. Apart from that, it's been a relatively quiet week...

Discussion of the Week: You are entering a futuristic colloseum fight with some sort of cyborg tiger. What would be your weapon of choice? You can use anything apart from fire arms, the weapon can have added enhancements, e.g. a sword with a blade that can electrocute a target upon contact, and you will already be skilled in wielding your chosen weapon. What will you choose?

Keeping it short and sweet this week ;p

Until next time.

Happy Easter!

Have a good day :D

Weekly News Round-Up #89: 22/03/2015

Good day, my friends! This week's project has been a highly-anticipated one. As we are all mega-fans of the popular CBBC game show Raven, we thought it would be fun to create a spoof version to play ourselves. There was much planning and deciding who would be which symbol, even having to make up 3 extra symbols because we have so many players. Then came the names... Endless anagrams to choose from. Oh, and did I mention that Wicks will be playing Crow, our spin-off titular character? Afterwards we had to hand-pick the challenges that we could possibly create. Despite not having a DT and props department, there's a fair number that we can re-construct, even if they may be slightly simplified. Well, there's a summer project and a half!

During the middle of the week, Wicks managed to produce a true modern masterpiece after adorning the plastic utensils from lunch with leftover gravy, resulting in 'Gravy Fork & Gravy Knife'. Meanwhile, during a Chemistry practical, Slickens managed to singe her fringe a little with a Bunsen burner. Not to worry, thankfully very little damage was done.

In the past few weeks it has become apparent that there have been severe cuts regarding plastic cutlery at lunchtime. Wicks had quite a struggle eating her not-so-bite-size chunks of chicken without the aid of a knife. Hmm, and it's as if inflation only occurs within that canteen.

Until next week, have a good one :)

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 40

"It was so dark, the only source of light was that blue LED in the distance..."
- H.W. J.C.

Story behind quote:
The light from that e-cigarette was no beacon of hope in the early hours of the day. Memories of LARPing (4 of 4)

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 39

"You just put your head down and napped, then when they started doing stuff you just got up and went..."
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
On Jen's power-napping tendencies. Memories of LARPing (3 of 4)

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 38

"Breakfast was sausages and hash browns in a tortilla wrap. It was crazy."
- H.W. J.C.

Story behind quote:
Memories of LARPing (2 of 4)

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 37

"We'd be trying to inflate this air mattress at 2 in the morning..."
- H.W. J.C.

Story behind quote:
Memories of LARPing (1 of 4)

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 36

"I didn't think swearing could be so poetic."
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
Who'd have thought.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 35

"Sitting down kills you."
- A.A.

Story behidn quote:
ArwaChihuahua sees the bright (?) side of not having chairs in the hall.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 34

"The characters in TV shows doing a lit make me feel like I've done a lot of stuff."
- A.A.

Story behind quote:
We've all been there.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 33

"Vincent van Gogh had his ear bitten off by a dog, that's where the expression 'dog-eared' comes from."
- K.W.

Story behind quote:
Untrue tales of Van Gogh.

Weekly News Round-Up #88: 15/03/2015

Hi everyone! This week has been quite an interesting one with much progress in the development of the Shtory...

After the initial chit-chat about writing prediction fictions for the Shtory, we managed to get some more information on the premise of the Shtory from Sharah. Wicks made a start on a background story for her character, whilst Jen had some crazy ideas of some sort of business analogy for the whole system of the Shtory, but finally settled on a series of short stories regarding the history of the family her character is a member of.

During the middle of the week, Sharah, ANT and Jen recall the many memorable 'chick flicks' whilst trying to think of the names of characters, such as Regina George, Rebecca Bloomwood and Luke Brandon. Meanwhile, a combination of mentioning the guy from Princess Diaries who said "I'd gladly take a bullet for you" and Sharah's impression of the pirates in Peter Pan saying "no splash" set Jen off on a 5-minute laughing fit.

Come Friday, it was Red Noce Day, and also time to assemble. Of course, this was the opportunity we have been waiting for, so we had to come as Avengers, complete with DisneyLoverMolly as the Winter Soldier. In a rather rare moment, ArwaChihuahua and Wicks, Loki and Thor repectively, were caught on Cap. Cam getting rather close. On the other hand, Wicks/Thor got hit by her own hammer, I guess none of us saw that one coming. Throughout the day we managed to spot quite a few cool costumes, such as Wadz's Deadpool, the yellow Power Ranger, a handful of Crayola crayons, a banana, Alexis as Harry Potter, Dorothy for The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland and Batman. What a day it was!

Until next week, have a good one :D

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 32

"Burn 'em, soak 'em..."
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
On crawlers... A cross reference between Lord of the Rings, Poldark and Slickens burning her fringe.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 31

"We burnt out the crawlers..."
- H.W. S.A.

Story behind quote:
Rest assured, Slickens has no crawlers after singeing her fringe with a bunsen burner in a Chemistry practical.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 30

DisneyLoverMolly: "Why do they all have that little bit drawn on the nose?"
Jen: "Who nose..."
- M.B. J.C.

Story behind quote:
Master responds to DLM's question with this ol' chestnut of a joke. Here are the pictures in question:

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 29

"Never look inside."
- S.A.

Story behind quote:
After a rather sickening Macaroni Cheese from the canteen, Slickens strongly advises Cap not to look too deeply into her panini (or, in this case, pa-no-no, as pointed out by Wicks).

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 28

Wicks: "Had to repair my trousers, hammer and helmet... Should've just gone for a Spider-Man onesie."
Jen: "A much simpler option, even if there's the possibility of getting mistaken for Iron Man."
- H.W. J.C.

Story behind quote:
Oh cosplays... I still blame the spandex.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 27

"A/An [insert object] the size of two mountains!"
- S.A.

Story behind quote:
Some things in Slickens' Shtory were described to be quite extraordinarily large, in particule the dragon that's the size of two mountains...

Weekly News Round-Up #87: 08/03/2015

Hello, good day, how are you all? We've had a week of planning for various bits and bobs...

Kicking off the week, we took the 'What dragon are you quiz', which was a rather interesting experience. You can find it here: http://www.playbuzz.com/kattw10/what-type-of-dragon-are-you

In our excitement for Sharah's Shtory, we decided that we'd throw down the gauntlet and try to come up with some fan fiction before Sharah herself has written it, hence we thought we'd call them prediction fictions. This lead to quite a bit of digging around for information on the characters, some of which Sharah was a little hesitant to reveal.

Apart from that, there was plenty of prep for the long-awaited non uniform day next Friday for Comic Relief. There was a lot of persuading when it came to getting Slickens to dress up, but we'll see how it goes on the day.

Until next week, have a good one ;)

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 26

"I have to be put into lock-down..."
- S.A.

Story behind quote:
The rather severe logistics of the Chemistry exam.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 25

"You're only tree above sea level."
- S.A.

Story behind quote:
Sharah explains about the Shtory and the location of the Air elementals. Thank goodness they're not at too high an altitude.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 24

"We've come a full Family Circle on biscuits..."
- L.R.

Story behind quote:
Somehow the conversation kept coming back to the topic of biscuits, prompting this quote from Cap.

Note: We are not affiliated with Family Circle or McVities.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 23

"It comes from the notorious mince bird!"
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
Wicks was appalled that the chef at the canteen told her they had Shepherd's Pie made with beef. We were confused at her frustration, which lead to her explaining the difference between the two; Shepherd's Pie is made with lamb and Cottage Pie is made with beef. So, we'd all learnt something new. Previously DisneyLoverMolly had believed both to have just any type of mince, hence Wicks explaining the different minces.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 22

"Just go down to the weapons section of Poundland..."
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
Wicks suggests to Slicken that the best place to look for a bow and arrow set is Poundland; they've got a complete wall of toy weapons.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 21

"Now that would really be a case of 'but when would I wear it?'"

Story behind quote:
On the topic of purchasing a leavers hoodies... We'll just politely decline.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 20

[Enquirer]: "Have you got a lesson next, ANT?"
ANT: "I've got Art, so essentially a free."
- A.T.

Story behind quote:
ANT's blasé attitude towards Art never fails to make Master laugh ;p

Weekly News Round-Up #86: 01/03/2015

Welcome to another edition of WNR! A much shorter edition, but still packed with mischief and fun...

At the beginning of the week, ConscienceSarah reminisces and tells all about her Excel movie that she created when she was younger; Pig Bin Baby Hotel. We expressed a great deal of interest to see this title, however it only seems to be playing in very select theatres.

Meanwhile, ANT was not impressed when the canteen decided to start grating the cheese in her favourite cheese salad sandwich, rather than slicing it. When asked why it was an issue, the reply was that grated cheese is much messier and doesn't hold in the sandwich. Fair enough ;p

Onto other movie-related topics, Wicks pitches an idea for a film... Imagine a time-traveller, who is following a trail of clues to some destination, however the clues were put there previously by someone else, who was just out to troll the time-traveller. Or the troll could even be the time-traveller's future self. #TimeTravelTroll

Anyways, that's all for now!

Until next week, have a good one :)

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 19

ConscienceSarah: "We found out the correct term for fibillance; fricative!"
Jen: "No, I don't believe that, it's fibillance."
- S.A. J.C.

Story behind quote:
Fibillance or fricative? You decide.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 18

"You'll feel better in the morning..."
- S.A.

Story behind quote:
ConscienceSarah does her duty by reassuring Master that it'll all get better... Later on, Master uses the same line on Sharah... ;p

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 17

Shop assistant: "Do you have any ID?"
Wicks: "Do you have any idea how old I am??"
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
On a certain occasion, Wicks had a little trouble buying a 12-rated game...

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 16

"Ho. Ho. Ho. Ho. Who..."
- A.A.

Story behind quote:
Whilst tackling the Laughing Game, Aswa gets a little mixed up...

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 15

"They were waiting outside the corr-ee-dor..."
- S.A.

Story behind quote:
A sleep-deprived Slickens pronounces the word 'corridor' in an unusual way.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 14

"I'm _________. No, I'm _________ ..."
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
Wicks' hilarious clue for a game of Who's in the Bag?' Can you guess who it is?

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 13

"I didn't really want to eat it, ate most of it, then thought I might as well eat all of it."
- S.A.

Story behind quote:
Sharah talks about the food they had on the Russia trip. As noticed by Wicks, this sentence also, rather nicely, sums up the essence of Slickens' being.

Weekly News Round-Up #85: 21/02/2015

Good day, how d'you do? As you may have gathered, this is quite a special edition of WNR as we will be chatting solely about Wicks' birthday tea party.

I cannot begin to tell you how delightful a gathering it truly was, everyone came in their finery, thankfully not a chimney sweep in sight. There were corsets, top hats, Sharah had a bonnet and ANT had the look of a gentleman down to a T with a walking cane and pocket watch.

After tea, cakes and sandwiches (fillings included cucumber, cream cheese and strawberry), we decided to have a few games, the first being one where everyone stands in a small circle and takes hold of someone else's hand. After wards, the aim is the untangle eachother without letting go of hands.

Next up, we a ladies vs. gents game of 'Who's in the Bag', a game much like Charades, where players must work as a team to guess as many people as possible, within a time limit, from the clues given by a member of the team. One issue that we had was that we knew very few of the people suggested on the cards, which did result in slow progress. At one point, ArwaChihuahua was flinging cards left, right and centre in a bid to find someone to describe!

To end a rather hysterical afternoon, we tried out the Laughing Game. Players must go around in a circle, each time saying either 'ha', 'ho' or 'hee'. If someone laughs or smiles, they are out of the game. Let me tell you one thing, I was completely incapable of going after ANT, in fact there was quite a bit of re-jigging of seats in order to minimise laughter. I know this game doesn't sound particularly funny on paper, but you'll understand when you try playing it.

All in all, I think it be fair to say that we all had a jolly fantastic time. Big thanks to Wicks for having us over.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 12

"Besides, I am a brush, I have no gender!"
- S.A.

Story behind quote:
Slickens on dressing up as a chimney sweep brush for Wicks' tea party.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 11

"It's practically charity."
- M.B.

Story behind quote:
#PovertySkittles

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 10

"I'm like a cheerful old man."
- M.B.

Story behind quote:
She whistles and sneezes like one. DisneyLoverMolly.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 9

"It'll grow on you!"
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
Master explains that she's adjusting to her new and shorter hair cut, to which Wicks replies so puntastically.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 8

"Black shoe, black shoe, something something, black shoe."
- A.T.

Story behind quote:
When asked what the 'Black Shoe' nursery rhyme is, ANT very nearly got all the lines.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 7

"Outrageous good."
- H.W. M.B. J.C.

Story behind quote:
Being outrageous...good! A new rating on personality tests ;p

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 6

"It's like little cities in hexagon squares..."
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
Wicks explains Civ.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 5

"They told us we had to be quiet or else the bees would attack us..."
- S.A.

Story behind quote:
The truth, or a myth to keep kids quiet at 'Gig in the Park'?

Weekly News Round-Up #84:15/02/2015

Well, it's me again! Hope you've all had a week filled with wonder, we've had another quiet week, what with people going home at every given opportunity. Neverless, much fun was had by those who remained...

This week, Wicks has been revising for her lifeguard exam, which comes with a handy book providing plenty of information on the likes of first-aid training, legislation and how to effectively look around the pool. She also had a bunch of us help out with demonstrations, which must have looked like some sort of strange dance to the unwary passerby. All in all, Wicks passed the exam, so a big well done and congrats are in order!

Tuesday saw Cap informing Master of possibly the best Google Image search; King of Sweden wearing hats. Take a look for yourselves, some of these hats are truly works of art.

Towards the end of the week, Wicks was counting up her change to buy some Skittles, however she didn't have enough. Kindly, DisneyLoverMolly filled in the gaps and got the Skittles, hence the birth of the PovertySkittles, made to be shared around.

Shortly afterwards, we tried our hardest to grapple for details on the Shtory. It can be confirmed that there is slow but definite progress, with the first draft being re-written. There is no publishing date yet but I'm sure we'll find out in due course. I'll tell you now, it wasn't easy getting information; Slickens has a notebook that is said to contain top secret information regarding characters and plots. Wicks had to snatch it out of her hands and run off with it, however no further knowledge was acquired due to our appreciation for information privacy. We can assure you that we will be the first to report if any news surfaces.

Sharah also shared with us that, whilst looking through a thesaurus, she came across the perfect nickname for herself; Spindleshanks. Got a good ring to it ;p

Until next week, have a good one :)

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 4

"It was terrible, but I enjoyed it. 7 out of 10."
- A.T.

Story behind quote:
ANT expresses her views on the sequel to Legally Blonde.

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 3

"I don't think I'm built for full days anymore."
- J.C.

Story behind quote:
A full day of lessons just feels like so much these days, have we devolved?

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 2

"That was the dress rehearsal, but wait until opening night!"
- J.C.

Story behind quote:
Metaphors for not peaking too early - part 2.

Further reading:
WNR #81

40 Quotes of Lent: Day 1

"You see, there are mountains around Everest and you have to climb those to get to Everest."
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
Metaphors for not peaking too early.

Further reading:
WNR #81

Weekly News Round-Up #83: 08/02/2015

G'day all! Well it's been a week and a half, or so it feels like it! To my horror I had a full day of lessons on Monday and I have to admit it feels like we've devolved and are no longer built for full days. Brightening up the day, ANT announced that she watched 'Legally Blonde 2'. Naturally, her review of it was something along the lines of "terrible, but still enjoyed it; 7 out of 10!" And who could blame her, you gotta love rom-coms. When discussing the movie, DisneyLoverMolly realised that she didn't remember much of what happened expect for the gay dogs. The conversation took a quick turn as Wicks was reminded of a documentary she'd seen about gay penguins. I fail to remember the exact statistic in a population, but it seemed to be nature's very own birth control, as the gay penguins compensated for their more promiscuous aunts. Well look at that, we've come full circle on evolution and devolution!

In other news, Sharah tells all about the fool in King Lear, but we were all momentarily baffled due to hearing 'fall instead of 'fool'...plot twist? Hmm, I think not. Meanwhile, DLM's English teacher finally answers her email; hurrah! Also, Wicks asks if anyone still remembers the dance to the Time Warp (let's do the time warp agaaain!) since ArwaChihuahua seemed to have no recollection of its existence.

Whilst talking of summer, Sharah told us about her experiences at Gig in the Park when she was younger. The overall impression we got was that Sharah did a lot of venturing out on her own whilst others were a little tedious, for example, the grown-ups feeding the kids tales of killer bees that would sting you if you were loud...likely story. When thinking of things to do in the summer, we thought it might be fun to take a trip to the Isle of Wight inspired by the events in Badger's Day Out. Wouldn't that be delightful.

The week's biggest lunchtime discussion topic was Harry Potter. One major area that we felt Hogwarts could have done better on was protecting students against the Basilisk. Although it seems an impossibly large task, a suggestion was that they could have provided glasses. This lead to quite a funny image being painted in our imaginations; Dumbledore handing out novelty glasses, for example, the ones with a moustache attached to the bottom, perhaps Snape could've had a hot pink cat-eye shaped pair... Anyway, when going through Voldemort's timeline and that location of horcruxes, it appeared to us that Albania proved to be quite the popular tourist destination for Harry Potter characters. And one final question: does Bellatrix love Voldemort? Discuss.

Reaching the middle of the week, ArwaChihuahua and Wicks contemplated going to see Big Hero 6 (according to Wicks there's no connection with Big Hero 1 - 5). When explaining the premise of the film, it was clear that there's some sort of robot school, but not quite anything is related to robots...and enigma it is.

Thursday saw Wicks explaining to us about a rather 'mundane', as she described it, dream, where we were doing some filming in a wonderfully grand house that was situated in the middle of a theme park. Unfortunately Wicks had left some equipment behind but, when trying to re-enter the theme park, ended up having to deal with a rather difficult douchebag of a gatekeeper.

Ending the week, DLM announces that she is addicted to the mobile game Bubblemania. Meanwhile Master got her hair cut, but it took people a little while to realise, due to the deceptive nature of the shorter cut looking like just a shorter layer.

And there you have it, a whistle-stop tour of the events and happenings of the week!

Until next time, have a good one :)

Weekly News Round-Up #82: 01/02/2015

Good day to you all! I hope it's been a pleasant week; we've had a relatively quiet one, with lunchtimes often being sparsely populated. Still never mind, we had fun ;p

The two Molly's got their share of Geography and were introduced to this helpful song about hurricanes, although it is questionable how much this helped...

On the topic of educational songs, Wicks found a song about transition metals, let us point out, in her own time. Although it is a wonderful display of Auto-tune, a particular line is slightly mis-leading, see if you can spot it...

The main lunchtime discussion of the week was regarding the classic story of The Wizard of Oz. Wicks questioned whether the witches are human, Munchkins or their own race. Also, how did they get to Oz? Immigration, plain ol' magic or were they there right from the beginning?

More Chemistry news; Cap could only sigh and look disappointed at an article that announced the discovery of a new type of chemical bonding, namely vibrational bonding. Welp, something else to add to the syllabus.

Until next week, have a fun one ;p

Weekly News Round-Up #81: 25/01/2015

Welcome, one and all, to a brand new year of WNR's! I hope everyone's had a good winter holiday, we only just got back to the Academy this week, meaning we are back to our usual antics...

To kick off the week, ANT found out that she had a surprise 3-day Art mock exam starting from Monday. Of course, she sat through it, only asking for a Polo to 'keep her going' in these difficult times.

During lunchtime, ConscienceSarah tried to prove the point that not everything in the world can be solved using maths. She presented a scenario to Master, with the challenge being to solve the problem with only mathematical methods. Here is a summary of said scenario: you are in an enclosed box with only a rapidly flooding toilet. How does one save oneself from drowning? Dwell on that and comment with any solutions.

Tuesday saw the Chemistry crew getting their mock results back. Everyone did well, but the emphasis was on not peaking too early. Naturally, this lead to us coming up with a string of metaphors for not peaking too early, with Wicks even suggesting, at one point, that if there existed a qualification in the use of metaphors we'd all pass with flying colours, but of course, we can't peak too early on that one either.

As the conversation shifted, Sharah informed us that she watches so much TV that she knows the words to quite a few adverts, including this one for Colman's Shepherd's Pie.

In the middle of the week, Cap and Master had planned to go into town to get Wicks' birthday card, however ended up with a slight problem when Wicks was also on her way to town. They ended up having to leave the birthday girl in the book store with the promise of picking her up when they were done. Whilst browsing the card stores, Cap and Master somehow couldn't resist chuckling at all the 'son' cards; a particular favourite was one that said 'Son, you made it'. They contemplated getting this for Wicks but reasoned that no one else would get the joke. After much consideration and exposure to some of the crazy cards on the market (particularly one with a power pack that had a singing hamster when you opened it up), they settled on a reasonable choice.

On their way back to the Academy, the trio dropped into the local 99p Store, where they found these biscuits. They decided to bring some back for everyone to try.

We loved how the picture of the biscuits is animated.

We were all rather excited when Friday rolled around as that was the party day that we all agreed on. It did however prove to be quite a challenge for all of us to sign the card without Wicks seeing it, but we managed in the end. Come lunchtime we had the present-opening ceremony, which Cap and Master took turns filming (henceforth the creation of CapCam and JenCam). We all contributed towards a group present, which was the 'Thor: The Dark World - Art of the Movie' hardcover book (which we all got a whiff of), Ruby also made a beautiful dragon picture and Cap baked this delicious cake.

Every detail was thought of, including the rolling pin-bashed choc chips in the filling!

To end a fantastic week, even though no one can seem to recall how this conversation started, we had a chat about Voldemort's tendency to honk and also if the actor's family looked at him any differently after the movies. Perhaps people who knew him were unafraid of his character; maybe the kids thought 'Oh, it's just Uncle Ralph' when they saw him as Voldemort.

Anyway, we hope Wicks had a fantastic birthday and wish her another year filled with joy.

Until next week, have a good one ;)

Note: We are not affiliated with Colman's, the 99p Store, Gullón, Marvel or the Harry Potter franchise.

Happy Birthday Wicks!

Wishing you a fantastic day with plenty of laughs. Have a good one on us! :D

Wicks' Birthday Week - Best Buy

Wicks' Worst & Best Buys of 2014

Best Buy: Domino's Pizza's 'Meateor'

Meatballs, sausages, pepperoni and bacon rashers; you get your money's worth of meat. Although spectacular in its own right, this is perhaps best consumed in small doses.

As featured in WNR #76.

NOTE: We are not affiliated with any of the above mentioned brands.

Wicks' Birthday Week - Worst Buy #4

Wicks' Worst & Best Buys of 2014

Worst Buy #4: Moshlings Magic Water ('Strawberry & Raspberry Rainbow' flavour)

They've really cracked the niche market for yogurt-flavoured products. This drink looks like water but has quite a strong smell and taste of strawberry yogurt. If you're a yogurt fan, this is the product for you. Unfortunately, Wicks does not fall into that niche and most likely won't be picking it up again.

As featured in WNR #69.

NOTE: We are not affiliated with any of the above mentioned brands.

Wicks' Birthday Week - Worst Buy #3

Wicks' Worst & Best Buys of 2014

Worst Buy #3: 30p Chocolate

Wicks wisely reminds us all that sometimes supermarket own-brand products are not suitable alternatives to branded products, even if the price is remarkably low.

As featured in 40 Quotes of Lent 2014 - Day 35.

NOTE: We are not affiliated with any of the above mentioned brands.

Wicks' Birthday Week - Worst Buy #2

Wicks' Worst & Best Buys of 2014

Worst Buy #2: Chicken pastie (extra hot)

This snack gained quite the notorious reputation after Wicks famously compared it to something "cooked in the fire of a dragon". As much as Wicks likes dragons, it is unlikely that she will be going back for seconds.

As featured in 40 Quotes of Lent 2014 - Day 25.

Wicks' Birthday Week - Worst Buy #1

Wicks' Worst & Best Buys of 2014

Worst Buy #1: Soft mints

Like most people, Wicks enjoys a good mint, such as a Polo, however this particular type rubbed her the wrong way. I think it's fair to say that she won't be re-purchasing these.

NOTE: We are not affiliated with any of the above mentioned brands.

Wicks' Worst & Best Buys of 2014...coming soon!

As many of you already know, Wicks' birthday is this coming Saturday. In the lead-up to the big day we've got an exclusive list of items, hand-picked by Wicks throughout 2014, that she was either impressed or unimpressed with.

Tune in all this week, you won't want to miss it!

Quote Advent Calendar 2014 Archive

All of our fantastic quotes from this year's Advent Calendar!

Day 1: "But when would I wear it?" - A.T.
Day 2: "Can you spell it out for me?" "Jen." - Ranger, J.C.
Day 3: "There's a label here-" "No." - Check-out worker, J.C.
Day 4: "Parenting advice for a stem cell: you can be anything you want when you grow up." - Poster that Sharah observed
Day 5: "They start with joy and end with sadness." - H.W.
Day 6: "...Bilbo...?" - H.W.
Day 7: "Sherlock would be having a field day!" - H.W.
Day 8: "...I'm now a chick magnet!" - L.R.
Day 9: "No hammers allowed!" - S.A. J.C.
Day 10: "Hello diabetes..." - Sharah's History teacher
Day 11: "...and whether she can take Mr Feeley in a white." - H.W.
Day 12: "A unicorn?" - L.R.
Day 13: "Slickens, go [insert obscenity here] thy self." - H.W.
Day 14: "What does Wi-Fi stand for?" "Umm...wireless fireless?" - J.C. H.W.
Day 15: "He weeds and feeds every other week..." - S.A.
Day 16: "ANT, I have a big announcement...I am the heir of Slytherin." - H.W.
Day 17: "It was quite a short review." "I'm a short person." - S.A. H.W.
Day 18: "...oh wait, I'm a carnivore." - H.W.
Day 19: "It's like cancer in audio form." - A.T.
Day 20: "We like to think that the fat tinsel has been losing weight throughout the year." - S.A.
Day 21: "I only go for my favourite ham." - A.T.
Day 22: "If you start getting excited, refrain." - S.A.
Day 23: "Are they making a film?" - Man in [insert name of fast food chain]
Day 24: "No, you don't." *spoken in Doncasterish* - H.W. J.C.
Day 25: "It's because of the Christmas spirit." - S.A.

I hope you've all enjoyed this year's Quote Advent Calendar. Until next December, have a good one ;)

Twelve Days of Cwismas: Day 12

On the twelfth day of Cwismas, the Gerbils sent to me...
Twelve Zombie LARPs,
Eleven Elf screenings,
Ten Yule dinners,
Nine Worlds for Simon,
Eight Games of Twister,
Seven Dads a' Dancing,
Six Informers,
Five Balloon Friends,
Four Gifts from Scruffs,
Three Monsters weaving,
Two many puns, and
A Honey Badger Attic Attack!

Twelve Days of Cwismas: Day 11

On the eleventh day of Cwismas, the Gerbils sent to me...
Eleven Elf screenings,
Ten Yule dinners,
Nine Worlds for Simon,
Eight Games of Twister,
Seven Dads a' Dancing,
Six Informers,
Five Balloon Friends,
Four Gifts from Scruffs,
Three Monsters weaving,
Two many puns, and
A Honey Badger Attic Attack!

Twelve Days of Cwismas: Day 10

On the tenth day of Cwismas, the Gerbils sent to me...
Ten Yule dinners,
Nine Worlds for Simon,
Eight Games of Twister,
Seven Dads a' Dancing,
Six Informers,
Five Balloon Friends,
Four Gifts from Scruffs,
Three Monsters weaving,
Two many puns, and
A Honey Badger Attic Attack!

Twelve Days of Cwismas: Day 9

On the ninth day of Cwismas, the Gerbils sent to me...
Nine Worlds for Simon,
Eight Games of Twister,
Seven Dads a' Dancing,
Six Informers,
Five Balloon Friends,
Four Gifts from Scruffs,
Three Monsters weaving,
Two many puns, and
A Honey Badger Attic Attack!

Twelve Days of Cwismas: Day 8

On the eighth day of Cwismas, the Gerbils sent to me...
Eight Games of Twister,
Seven Dads a' Dancing,
Six Informers,
Five Balloon Friends,
Four Gifts from Scruffs,
Three Monsters weaving,
Two many puns, and
A Honey Badger Attic Attack!

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all the best in 2015!

Twelve Days of Cwismas: Day 7

On the seventh day of Cwismas, the Gerbils sent to me...
Seven Dads a' Dancing,
Six Informers,
Five Balloon Friends,
Four Gifts from Scruffs,
Three Monsters weaving,
Two many puns, and
A Honey Badger Attic Attack!