Everything Changes!

Hey guys

Wow it's been a few months. So much has happened and so after starting Uni again I thought I would start blogging too! So this semester has been pretty great so far! Nearly all 4 of my subjects are focussing on Ancient Greece right now, which is great! I have a passage analysis on the Iliad, which I have missed doing so it should be fun! I've also started learning Ancient Greek. WOW! It's so awesome but really hard at the same time. There's also a lot to memorise, and I hate rote learning so I'll have to suck it up haha. I can successfully read it but I don't know what the words mean haha except for a few.

I guess this semester started out differently to how I pictured it. So much has changed and I've realised that things can really change in a second, in a blink of the eye. It's so weird to think that certain things would remain the same forever, or for at least a long time and then suddenly they're cut off and you're left standing as if someone just slapped your face. It's a horrible feeling and hopefully as time goes on so too will this terrible feeling. I guess you're just left going how could this have gone wrong and feeling angry.

But yeah, Uni's been good! Lenka and I went and watched the Adjustment Bureau the other day with Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. I really enjoyed it and it was about this idea of fate, and how our lives are all mapped out for us from the moment we are born. However Matt Damon's character has to 'fight his fate' to end up being with the girl he loves. It was interesting to compare this notion of fate, where we have free will and we make our own decisions, we determine our own fates to that of fate in the Iliad. Where fate is a presupposed conception and there is no way to change it at all, it's just something which is accepted.

Also we were studying Euripides' Trojan Women and after reading it again, I have come to the conclusion that it is my favourite play, one of my favourites....*cough Antigone cough* haha. It's such an incredibly powerful representation of the most innocent, in a time of war. I think it's influence comes particularly from the fact that it still very much appeals to what were going through today. From Iraq to Libia, Egypt and Yemen it's just a heart wrenching play every scene worst than the last. It makes you feel so terrible afterwards, man Euripides you really were fantastic! Some 2,000 years later people are still studying your plays, still performing them. It's amazing. I really want to see a live production of this play, it would be incredible!!!

Also going for my driving test soon! eeeeep i'll let you know if I pass haha :/

And we also have the Tutankhamun exhibition opening up in April in Melbourne can't wait for it! :D

I also have two weddings coming up, and one of them is big. Which means fancy dress and everything! I'll post pictures up when it's passed haha :)

This blog post's shout out's go to-

Shelby: "That wasn't too bad" what she said after we had lunch at the Conservatory bahahaha it still makes me laugh.

Alenka: the two fail guys who couldn't find their seat at the movies and we both nearly peed our pants!

Love Yags

xox

The Book Challenge

Hey guys

So I love reading and I love books, my weekly trips to Borders persuaded me to do the Book Challenge, where I shall endeavour to read the 100 top Classic Novel of all time! :D

I'm using the BBC List so far and the books that I have already read I will replace with books from other various lists, the lists that include the Twilight series by Stephanie Myer will not be included, I cannot handle anyone who deems that series a all time classic novel.

So first up is Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace I just started it and it's already becoming quite interesting it's 1,000 pages so don't expect a review too soon! After reading each book I will post a review and my interpretation of the novel :)

I'm really excited to start and I will be buying each book so at the end I will have a collection of them all!

Until next time

Yags! xxx

The smell of Antique books

Hey all

So today Lenka and I did a bit of shopping in the city, it was lovely! We also went into an Antique bookshop today it was amazing! I was amazed at all the books the Greek section was not vast but it was fabulous all the same. We didn't want to leave :)

I picked up a illustrated children's book of the Iliad and Odyssey from 1956. It's amazing everything is all simple and very very accurate. The drawings are awesome and the maps are very efficient. It's really really wonderful and I'm going to keep it for my kids :D

This is what it looks like:

The map on the right is really awesome it tells you who comes from where and which city-states are allies of Greece and Troy.

Also read about the Roman statue that washed up on the shore of Jerusalem, it's female, wears a toga and had been estimated as being 2,000 years old the head is missing though. But imagine just walking on the beach and suddenly you see an Ancient statue just standing in the sand pretty epic!

Until later

Yags

xxxxx

Ah Fagles!

Hey guys

Long time no blog yes it has been. I finally got my Fagles box set :D

So I'm very happy I'm going to keep it and pass it on to my children ahahh! Yes so I'm very excited it was my Christmas present to myself. Here's what it looks like-

It's so awesome! How many translators have Box Sets may I add? Hardly any not even Richmond bahahahaha.

Anyway I always post pictures of food I eat in the city with friends these were our cakes from Brunetti's

They were very very good!

So I'm nearly half way through Arrian's the Campaigns of Alexander and this description by Arrian is just mesmerising and a bit saddening as well, this is what he describes when Alexander gets to Troy and is visiting the tomb of Achilles and lays a wreath on the tomb

" Alexander laid one on the tomb of Achilles calling him a lucky man, in that he had Homer to proclaim his deeds and preserve his memory. And well might Alexander envy Achilles this piece of good fortune; for in his own case there was no equivalent: his one failure, the single break, as it were, in the long chain of his success, was that he had no worthy chronicler to tell the world of his exploits. No prose history, no epic poem was written about him; he was not celebrated."

If only Alexander could take a look at today and see just how well known he is and how the world knows and studies all his exploits he would be quite happy!

Anyway that's it for now :)

Yags!

xxx

(Arrian trans. Aubrey De Selincourt, the Campaigns of Alexander)

The Campaigns of Alexander

Hi guys

It's been a while and I apologise I finished exams and now I'm just terribly lazy watching movies, sleeping in too late and eating too much. Yesterday I had a catch up with lots of people in the city was nice to see everyone again! Before that Lenka and I did a bit of shopping and I bought Arrian's The Campaigns of Alexander. I started last night it's already quite interesting and I don't know why but I keep getting these sudden urges where I need to highlight particular lines in the book. I don't know if it's just become a habit but it's really weird and freaks me out a bit. Anyway this one quote I read was so awesome I have to share it

"His passion was for glory only, and in that he was insatiable"

WOW what a fantastic description I love it! :D

I'm also going to get an Iphone soon! Very very excited I've wanted one for so so long and I just have to get around to it really. And also today's the first day of December! This year has gone by so fast it actually scares me!

Anyway hope you are all well!

:)

Yags!

xxxx

Groovy Greeks.

Hi all

So i finished Uni for the semester on Tuesday! I am now on holidays and I've got to say it's a nice feeling. It's weird though whenever I find myself watching tv or just out on the deck I have this sudden feeling of guilt come over me and then I remember, wait I can do this now haaha. My sister got me a copy of Horrible Histories, the Groovy Geeks it's fabulous! Really the drawings are soo funny, it's really ingenious and great way to begin topics too! Anyway so I came across this link and it posts videos of lectures from all the top Universities including Harvard, Yale, Princeton just to name a few. I clicked on the Princeton link and there are quite a number of Classics lectures the first one I'm listening to now is about why we should study Classics, I'm so excited. And then it hit me I seriously cannot get any geekier than this! haha

Until next time!

Yags

xxx

The importance of having a hobby.

So yesterday I was chatting with a couple of friends, and we were talking about having talents, and how we found ourselves to be 'talentless', and as I agreed with them one of them pointed to my desk, that is laden with Greek stuff and said "but at least you have a hobby!" And it's so true! I don't know where I would be if I didn't have this hobby. I feel like my life would be pointless and ever so boring. So let's just say I'm glad I chose to study Classics in High school, now at Uni and I'm glad I was intrigued by the stories of the Trojan War at a young age. I think having a deep interest in whatever topic is fundamentally important. It creates a sense of intrigue and interest that is hard to find anywhere else. Now, it no longer has to refer to just reading piles and piles of books, we live in a digital age, where understanding has become easier and much more widespread. To find out anything, is really just a click away. The digital means provide new insight into History that is just really incredible. So balance your interests with books (you can never have too many books) and digital means because you'll never know what you will find out!

I saw these badges on etsy.com and i laughed!

I'm also hoping to pick up the Robert Fagles collection of the Iliad, Odyssey and Aeneid tomorrow very exciting, I've wanted it for ages! :D

Yags

xxxx

Pasta, Sven, Cleopatra and Mark Antony.

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Melbourne, perfect sunny weather :)

A group of us went out for Cindy's birthday, we decided to have lunch at South bank. We randomly went up to an Italian restaurant that served pasta. When we walked in I was like 'omg this is awesome' the whole wall in the restaurant was the painting of Cleopatra and Mark Antony named the banquet of Cleopatra by Giambattista Tiepolo, the painting depicts the famous contest between Cleopatra and Antony where they make a wager to see who can host the most lavish feast. The painting shows the end of this wager, where Cleopatra removes one of her pearl earrings a very expensive pearl earring at that and drops it into a glass of vinegar. Cleopatra thus wining the wager, as she spent the most money and her's was the most 'lavish one'. So I took a picture of the painting, and was very excited when I saw it :)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Hi guys,

So yesterday Cindy, Zee and I went and watched Harry Potter after moths of waiting, watching snippets of scenes and too much anticipation the day had finally arrived. Funny how you wait for something for so long, and then it's over in the blink of an eye! So we watched it at Imax :) very exciting! The start of the film was quite excellent where they improvised well! The wedding was different to what I pictured, and as were some of the new characters. The parts that I found were quite done well were

- The tale of the three brothers

- Bathilda Bagshot scene (very scary, Cindy and I screamed ahah)

- The scene with Bellatrix at Malfoy manner where she writes 'mudblood' on Hermione's skin a quick and easy shot that depicts many different themes

- Dobby he was so cute especially with his shoes, a reminder of how he is now a free elf

- Hermione/Ron's relationship

- The last part of the film

- scene where Ron stabs the horcrux

The parts the film didn't really concentrate on-

- The horcrux's I found were not really focussed on at all. Firstly there was no proper reminder of how many are needed to be found, how many have been destroyed etc. Also the time in the book spent on discussing, planning where they would find another horcrux was not present at all probably because none of Dumbledore's memories regarding Voldemort were not shown in the previous film *cringe*. Instead the trio spent their time just sitting, at one stage Ron and Hermione are playing the piano, bit of a wtf moment and just reading.

- There is not much if anything on Dumbledore's past. I found this part very interesting in the book, especially the way Harry feels towards Dumbledore was not shown at all. Instead there would just be snippets of Rita Skeeter's article, and her book.

- The extent of Voldemort's terror and annihilation of muggles and non pure bloods was not shown to the extent that it should have. All Voldemort is really shown as is just evil, I think the movies lack the background to this super interesting character, and is really limited to his affect on others

- Dumbeldore's tomb.......... ? computerised cubes really

- and last but not at all least HARRY DANCING WITH HERMIONE this scene made me want to puke really. Okay I understand the idea behind it well and truly, but did they have to put it right in the middle. the dancing was just *gah* :( i wanted to cry right there and then.

- also, why are the ministry workers suddenly all wearing Muggle clothes, surely this was not Voldemort's new uniform code, really?!?

Okay so it looks like I didn't enjoy it, I did but some of the things really really bug me ahha. But watch it, it's very worth while I'll be watching it again with Lenka.

Here are some snaps from yesterday-

me and zenab

us three

us and Voldy

and my overall rating for the film would be a 4/5 (1 point being for the reasons above but also because it was WAY better than the last two :)

Dobby was just awesome once again very very cute, i got a bit teary when he died :'(

Also Imax had their workers dress up as Death Eaters to help people find their seats it was so so so scary. and Kudos to all the people that dressed up! ^_^

xx

Yags!

break even.

Thought I would show you guys my new buys!

So I got this book about Pharaohs which I have started reading, it's really interesting! There is a large section dedicated to Egypt and Rome including naturally Caesar and Marc Antony. Towards the end when, the focus is on Alexander the Great :)

And I got this Colosseum shaped pencil sharpener, how cool is it!! And HP glasses they're so cool!

xx

It's too hot to sleep...

Hey all,

Well Summer has officially begun today was probably the warmest day so far. Summer can be such a pain sometimes, I'm one of those people who can't go to sleep when it's hot I need a little bit of blanket!! And I have a feeling tonight is going to be like that....great!

Anyway, so today I'm going to be submitting my last essay *fingers crossed* and then it's on to Exam revision, where I shall be breathing Rome for two weeks.....hopefully! I also really want to learn how to play either the Piano or Violin! I'm going to make it my New Years resolution!!

I'm super excited for the new Harry Potter movie! I have a whole day planned with the girls, picnic in the Gardens, lots of food and drink, dressing up, were also buying a pair of HP glasses to wear ahha, and then watching it on the big screen! Imax :)

However, I have the worst habit ever. You know when you read a book and then watch the movie, it's natural to compare the two and nearly all the time you find that the book was so much better! Well I've done this with all the Harry Potter movies so far, I sit there in the cinema critiquing every 'wrong' action and it bugs me so so much. But I can't help it!! It just happens. I watched a 1 minute clip from the movie and spotted three things, they didn't do like the book. I realise that they can never include the detail included in a book but grrrrr!! The last Harry Potter movie made me so angry I haven't watched it again :/

Yeah I need help! It also happened with Clash of the Titans and to a lesser extent Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Let's face it, I'll always have high expectations!

I also found out today, that my bestfriend Shelby has never been to the Airport..............EVER! ahaha so I'm going to make sure she goes, these holidays! The Airport is epic, even though it makes me a bit depressed seeing everyone leave, going on their awesome holidays! It's the best feeling in the world embarking on a plane overseas! Shelby we are going to the AIRPORT :D

I came across this picture that just made me go, whoa fantastic photography!!

It's a sign everyone, Zeus is angry!!

Fun at the Beach.

Here's some snaps from my day out with the girls at the Beach :)

with SEA MEN ;)
our very classy champagne cups :)
me and lenka you can see the pain on her face ahahahah

:)

The beach was pretty awesome and we learnt one very VALUABLE lesson to never give Alenka a spray bottle, of whatever it may be. In this case it was sunscreen and it was everywhere, she even tried to spray sea gulls, didn't work ahaha!

Love these girls :) xx

was an awesome day! now back to studying and then hopefully a big blog about Harry Potter, I'm so excited for the 18th!!! :D