Peter Crawford - 24 Gigs, 24 Hours

 One of the things I like to do when I can, is show some support for local musicians, upcoming bands, people whose music NEEDS to be heard. Recently, I had the pleasure of seeing Cornish singer/songwriter, Peter Crawford, at one of his shows in Exeter, and I thought it was about time he got a little more recognition!



Not only is Peter Crawford a talented musician, he's also gearing up to raise money for a great cause. On April 23rd, he will be performing 24 gigs in 24 hours in and around Plymouth to raise much needed funds for the Devon & Cornwall Air Ambulances Trusts. Anyone who has ever seen the Air Ambulance at work will know what a worthwhile cause this is but the cost of keeping these life-saving helicopters running is millions of pounds, so they really rely on generosity to keep them going.

This is where you could help. You see, it isn't just locals who rely on the Devon & Cornwall Air Ambulances. Every year, masses of tourists flock to the Westcountry to enjoy the beautiful beaches and get some fresh, country air. Having worked in the tourist industry for a while in my youth, I saw the Air Ambulance called out several times, to offer aid to people who were visiting the area. Lives were saved because generous people from all over chipped in to keep the helicopters in the air.

24 gigs in 24 hours won't be easy, but Peter has his route all mapped out, and he's ready to entertain in the name of charity! So, if you want to offer some support, you can do so here.

Also, if you happen to be in the area, here is a guide to where you can see Peter on the big day. Why not come out and enjoy some excellent tunes?

The schedule is still coming together but here it is so far.
00:00 Kitty O'Hanlon's
01:00 (TBC)
02:00 Tesco Roborough
03:00 ASDA
04:00 Tesco Lee Mill
05:00 City Centre landmarks
06:00 City Centre landmarks
07:00 Café Nero
08:00 Cap'n Jaspers
09:00 PCAD (TBC)
10:00 Hartnolls
11:00 Plymstock School
12:00 City College Plymouth
13:00 Skymind Studios
14:00 Saltash Leisure Centre
15:00 Fore St Air Ambulance shop Saltash (TBC)
16:00 Last Stop Record Shop
17:00 Plymouth Arts Centre
18:00 The Minerva
19:30 Blues Bar
20:30 UPSU
21:30 Vauxhall Quay (Acoustic Academy)
22:30 The Treasury (TBC)
23:30 Kitty O'Hanlon's

Good luck, Peter!

The Top Ten Movie Blogfest

Today, it's the Top Ten Movie Countdown Blogfest, hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and I don't mind telling you that picking just ten, then trying to put them in the right order was one of the hardest things I've ever done LOL!










10. Chorusline

Don't judge me, I LOVE a musical! When I was a kid, my friend and I used to go through phases of watching certain movies over and over again. Chorusline was one of them, and to this day, I can still recite the whole movie.

9. Hairspray (Original)

While I do love the newer, musical version of Hairspray, I think I'll always prefer the original. It was less of a musical, and more... dark and twisted, I guess lol. Not, TOO dark and twisted, but the humour is darker. And Ricki Lake is wonderful!

8.The 40-Year-Old Virgin

I'm not ashamed to admit, I have a teenage boy's sense of humour, so The 40-Year-Old Virgin is pretty much my ideal film LOL! The first time I watched it, it was in the middle of a VERY low point in my life, and I hadn't laughed in a long time. However, this movie had me laughing so hard I had to hit pause so I didn't miss anything while I was giggling! My fondness for it is partly because it's a funny film, and partly because it dragged me out of a rubbish place.

7. Shrek

Come on, who doesn't love Shrek?

6. Talladega Nights

This is ridiculousness as its best. There are so any lines of comedy genius - if you haven't seen it you really must!

5. Leon (The Professional)

I know this one looks a bit weird in amongst my other choices, but I genuinely think this is one of the best movies EVER. Not for the faint-hearted, but Gary Oldman puts in a performance that mesmerizes me every time I watch it. Brilliant.

4. My Best Friend's Wedding

In real life, if a crazy woman tried to break up a wedding, you probably wouldn't want to hang out with her. But in this movie, you can't help root for Julia Roberts as she tries to take down the perky, and slightly irritating Cameron Diaz to get the man of her dreams. It's funny and sweet, and has that classic moment that everyone always remembers.


3. Love, Actually

Full of Christmas magic, some of the finest actors Britain has to offer, and enough romance to make anyone feel all mushy!

2. The Wedding Singer

Speaking of epic comedy moments....


1. The Rocky Horror Show

The first time I ever saw The Rocky Horror Show, I was a little traumatised lol.  However, I watched it again and learned to appreciate the true brilliance of it. I mean, it's so fabulously weird, it's hard not to love it!

Don't forget to check out the other bloghop participants, the link is at the top of the page! :D 

Dancing On Ice Final: Why Beth Took The 2013 Dancing On Ice Crown

So, some of you will know ITV1's "Dancing On Ice" is pretty much my favourite TV show of the year. What's not to love? Ice dancing is beautiful, dangerous, and there are lots of sexy men wearing tight clothes! :p

The final of this year's series aired last night, and the winner was quite a shock to some people - though I'm not really sure why. You see, Beth Tweddle was being tipped as the winner for quite some time, so the angry reaction on Twitter when Matt Lapinskas didn't win was a little weird. From what I could gather, many viewers felt Matt was too cocky, and his Twitter exchanges with his ex Shona McGarty did little to dispel that theory.

Here are my theories as to why Beth triumphed over Matt.

Firstly - she was brilliant. Not saying Matt wasn't, but it wasn't as if she was stumbling around all over the ice like she'd had a few too many pre-show vodkas. People seemed to think Matt's ability was far superior, and in reality, it wasn't at all. They were on par with each other and it could have gone either way.

Secondly, while Matt was always fantastic on the ice, Beth grew through the competition. She got stronger and stronger every week. Sure, Matt learned how to get better control of his skates, and pulled off some great tricks, but Beth's transformation was much more noticeable, and people love that. They respond to people who don't whine when they get bad comments, and instead, they pick up and try harder.

Finally, Beth is one of our Olympic heroes, and we are still holding onto that pride from last summer. I mean, come on. Louis Smith won Strictly Come Dancing, and Victoria Pendleton was absolutely horrendous, and look how long she stayed in the competition! As a nation, we are still very much in the midst of a love affair with our Olympians, so that factor must have helped. The only difference with Beth is that she genuinely did deserve her place in the final.

But mostly, on the night, she was simply fantastic, despite the judges poor marking. Giving Matt's showcase full marks was bizarrre. He skated well, but there was nothing in it that was memorable, while Beth, and even Luke Campbell put their heart and souls into routines that were packed with fun and impressive moves.  The judges favouritism for  Matt was never clearer than when the results were announced. Jason Gardiner looked outraged, Karen disappointed, Robin surprised. I know you can't control your expression when you hear something unexpected, but frankly, the sulky and pissy look on Jason's face that continued right to the closing credits was unprofessional. It's one thing having favourites, but being so very blatant about it showed huge disrespect for Beth's achievements.

I leave you with Beth's amazing showcase - and, now we countdown to next year's show!

Fozzy Geekery - Fans Choice for UK Tour Songs

It's been a while since I did a Fozzy post, so I'm back with a little geekery for you, based on the question they asked on their Facebook page yesterday!

 They wanted to know which songs the fans want to hear on their UK/European Tour in April. Because I am a gigantic dork, I was curious to see what everyone wanted, so I may have added up the votes to find out! (Told you I was a dork!)

Here are the results:
Sandpaper - 5 votes
Enemy - 4 votes
Spider In My Mouth - 3 votes
Let The Madness Begin - 3 votes
Wanderlust - 2 votes
Dark Passenger - 2 votes

and a bunch of songs with 1 vote:
Fairies Wear Boots
Where Eagles Dare
With The Fire
Storm The Beaches
Grail
Wormwood
Don't You Wish You Were Me
It's A Lie
Broken Soul
God Pounds His Nails
End Of Days

Obviously, this by no means what ALL fans want to hear, just those who happened to catch the post and take the time to make a suggestion BUT Sandpaper is a clear winner, and Enemy is a song that ALWAYS gets the crowd going!



In an ideal world, everyone would get to hear the brilliance of Storm The Beaches live, but according to iTunes, it's 11 minutes, 35 seconds long! That is one heck of a chunk of their set to take up with one song - though I guess it would make a kickass encore!

I gotta say, I think the top voted songs are bang on, and I really, truly think every show should open with Let The Madness Begin - what a way to get people pumped up! So if we take those top 6 songs voted for by the fans (still a bit iffy on Wanderlust. It is one of my favourites, but there are so many other kick ass songs I'd prefer to hear live), I'd like to add my own personal choices.

 
Broken Soul -  not only one of my favourite Fozzy songs, but ranking high on my favourite songs of all time. Ever. It's stunning.
God Pounds His Nails - Ultimate song to get people rocking
Eat The Rich - as above
She's My Addiction - erm, as above again
Inside My Head - a little bit of gentle after all the jumping around

Eh, who am I kidding? If I had my way, the guys would perform every song they've ever recorded at some kind of super gig! :p But as that's unlikely, I'll stick with the picks above!

Speaking of Fozzy in the UK... have you got your tickets yet? If not, I strongly advise you getting your metal-loving hands on them before they sell out! You can get them here.

I'll leave you with this video of Fozzy's recent performance at Soundwave, Australia. Come on peeps, how could you not want to see these boys live?! (P.S There are lots of flashing lights in this video! You have been warned!)

 Before you go, whats YOUR favourite Fozzy song?

The Lying Game: Season 2, Episode 8 - Is Alec the father of the twins?

Not even gonna lie. This season of "The Lying Game" has been a little bit slow. All we've had for the most part are the same questions over and over again, and any info that has come to light has been perfectly obvious, making me feel like this:

But finally, some stuff happened. Pushing aside another obvious fact - that Theresa (Yara Martinez) would get whacked when she went to the cemetery alone (did anyone else want to smack her for not just doing as Dan asked and letting it go for the night before their wedding? Geez, the dude was leaving flowers at Derek's grave for months, a couple more days wouldn't hurt, and disagreeing with a guy as sexy as Tyler Christopher might be the stupidest thing ever!)   - we also found out that Ted (Andy Buckley) was hooking up with Rebecca (Charisma Carpenter) when she lived in L.A! Ted Mercer has just become the most vile, hypocritical, pathetic man I've seen on TV in a while, and I muchly hope Rebecca kills him and eats him.

But moving on ... since the show began, I have wondered if Alec (Adrian Pasdar) is Emma and Sutton's (Alexandra Chando) father at least every two weeks. But now, I am becoming more certain than ever.

Clue 1
Alec outright said that Rebecca went to him when she found out she was pregnant. Why the hell would she go to someone other than the father? I mean, aside from all the reasons I listed about Ted above, but she was crazy in love with Ted. Scared or otherwise, it is very weird that she went to Alec first.

Clue 2
Alec blatantly refused to look Emma in the eye when he said Ted was her father - and it's not even a lie. Biologically, he might not be the father, but he did bring Sutton (and Emma at times) up.

Clue 3
Alec knew there were twins. Yes, he was the one who arranged the adoption, but if he was going to have Ted and Kristin (Helen Slater) adopt, why lie? What difference did it make if there was one baby or two? Okay, looking at this again, I'm starting to see this isn't exactly a clue, but it still makes no sense! :p Unless... it's one of those freaky cases where the twins have different fathers ... Hmmm.

Clue 4
Remember back in Season 1 when Sutton and Thayer (Christian Alexander) were dating? Alec was livid, and wanted to do all he could to keep them apart. Well, sure - if they were brother and sister, it would be deeply disturbing! I know what you're thinking - Thayer isn't really Alec's son. Having not read the books, I don't know if this is a fact that came from the original writing, but it's my guess that they threw in the detail about Thayer being someone else's kid so they could play out the Thayer/Emma/Ethan love triangle. Of course, I could be way off here, but that's my theory! I guess,  also, if the twins DO have different fathers, and Alec is Sutton's father, it wouldn't matter if Emma dated Thayer ...

I know none of this is concrete, but these are a few thoughts I've had, and I am certain there are a few I've forgotten! Would love to know what you think!

American Horror Story Cast News!

I know, I know - I've been slacking. Writing a novel and balancing work is no easy task, but I'm back now - and you may have noticed, I have a new blog name! The fabulous Tammy Theriault came up with the idea, and I love it! Thanks, Tammy!

So, onto the news!

Even before the last episode of "American Horror Story: Asylum" aired, fans were super excited to see which cast members would hop on board for Season 3. Thankfully, due to the show's success, our favorite actors and actresses have wasted no time agreeing to come back for more creepy shenanigans. Let's take a look at the stars who have already signed up for another season.

Jessica Lange A collective sigh of relief was heard when news broke that Jessica Lange had signed up for Season 3. Lange is the heart and soul of "American Horror Story," and without her, it just wouldn't be the same. While there is always superb talent in the cast, Jessica brings that extra bit of magic that encourages viewers to come back for more. ...Read More

Annalisa Crawford Talks Music!

Today, I bring you something a little different. Some of you may not know, but as well as writing articles and gabbing about entertainment, I also write novels. Doing so has introduced me to a huge amount of other people who write novels, and as we like to support each other, I am hosting the fabulous Annalisa Crawfordas part of her blog tour for her novella Cat and The Dreamer! So - take it away, Annalisa!




It's been a year since my novella Cat and The Dreamer was published! There have been lots of changes in my own life in that time, and I started to wonder what else had changed...

Thank you Kyra for inviting me over today!

Today's topic: Music!

When I woke up on the morning of 14 February 2012, I had no desire to dance like a horse and I quite liked Robbie Williams - a cheeky chappy who sang such classic as Old Before I Die and Rock DJ.

Fast forward to today when the only two songs that cause me to change radio station at work are Gangnam Style and Candy.







I know you you know these songs, you can't not know these songs, but I also know it will make Kyra happy to have them on her blog! Have a listen, and think of me hiding under a stack of cushions and singing Bohemian Rhapsody!

The only redeeming feature is the number of YouTube copies Gangnam Style has spawned, a lot of them in the name of charity. And you have to do your bit for charity, don't you?

"Afghan Style" - 21 Engineer Regiment  Fill The Truck Style!  Gangnam Policeman  

Unfortunately, there's nothing redeeming about Robbie...

What songs did you love or hate in 2012?

About Cat and The Dreamer
As a teenager, Julia survived a suicide pact, while her best friend Rachel died. Julia’s only escape from her guilt, and her mother’s over-protection, is her imagination. When Adam arrives in the office, Julia’s world takes a startling turn as she realises reality can be much more fun than fantasy. Finally she has someone who can help her make the most of her life. But can she allow herself to be truly happy?

Cat and The Dreamer is available on Kindle UK, Kindle US, Kobo, Nook, iTunes/iBooks, and via Vagabondage Press.

Annalisa Crawford lives and writes in Cornwall with a good supply of beaches and moorland to keep her inspired. She finds endless possibilities in the relationships between people. Several new projects are on the cards for 2013.
Find her on her blog, Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads.