Monday 23 January 2012

Year of the Dragon


Happy Chinese New Year!!

In celebration of the Year of the Dragon and the commencement of the festival, here are my top 10 favourite dragons.

1.      Smaug from the Hobbit – Devious, smooth and terrifying. The Hobbit film is going to be made on the success of Peter Jackson’s interpretation, but with Benedict Cumberbatch voicing then I think it will be geekgasm central.


2.      Tiamat from Dungeons and Dragons – How many heads! Ok I think he may have been defeated as his many heads where tangle up ‘maypole’ style but look at all the heads that spew different energies!


3.     Enter the Dragon – Bruce Lee’s last film and him totally and utterly incredible. Enough said.

4.      Mushu from Mulan – Something for the kids.


5.    Norbert/Norberta the Norwegian Ridgeback from Harry Potter – Gender ambiguous, bad tempered dragon that added a new level of fantasy to the Potter Series.


6.     Lockheed from X-Men – Sidekick to Kitty Pryde who, due to overwhelming popularity gained increased role in the series and even featured in a creature based comic series.

7.      Gorwen from Though the Dragons Eye – Blast from the past. Perhaps it was based on the fact that I was young but the final battle between Gorwen had me genuinely scared for his safety.


    
8.      Charizard from Pokemon – He was an arse to train on the Gameboy but when I had him under my control there was no stopping us. Gotta Catch ‘Em All.

9.      Falkor from the NeverEnding Story – Giant dog like Luck Dragon. He’s just so cool and friendly what’s not to like?


10. Elliott from Pete’s Dragon – Fondly remembered as it made me think that it was possible to have an actual dragon as a friend!



Tuesday 10 January 2012

January Sale and Rizzle Kicks


Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone is sticking to their resolutions, after chatting in the office we realised that we tend to fail so we decided avoid the disappointment by not setting any. In fact I don’t think I have achieved one since I decided to become 33% less angry back in 2001!

With the New Year comes the January sales and hopefully some amazing bargains. We are now at a point when further reductions are being added to further tempt you to part with you Christmas money (or vouchers if grandparents have been involved). Most of the large retail stores have lowered prices including Topshop and River Island. I nearly bought next year’s Christmas cards at Sainsbury’s but realised that I was turning into my mum so I put them back.

In order to get the best bargains there are a few tips that you could use:

1.     It is likely that many of the main stores will have been picked over as there have been a few weeks of sales already so it may be worth trying stores in quieter areas. This is easier in bigger cities but it is worth a shot (obviously you may want to check online too).
2.     There may be an item that you like but the colour isn’t quite right, don’t ignore that bright green top, dye it a darker colour. Granted there is a tiny bit more work involved but it’s worth it.
3.     If the size you want is gone then you could always try a size above or below. Sizing is often a bit hit and miss so you could get lucky but if not some simple sewing can help make the item fit perfectly.
4.      Some of the better deals will be on random styles or items. Why not take something that you wouldn’t normally wear and give it a go, what’s the worst that can happen?
5.      Independent stores also have some great sales so make sure you don’t stick to the bigger stores!

Hopefully these tips will help you jazz up your wardrobe for 2012.

I shall leave you with the Rizzle Kicks song because it’s amazing!!


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