Dogs and Babies.

I deliberated with myself a lot over whether to write this post. I don't intend it to be a bashing of the parents or families of children who have been seriously injured or killed by dogs because lets face it, they've probably been punished enough. It's just a matter which has been weighing on my mind for the last couple of days and I wanted to defend these so called 'dangerous' dogs. I hope it doesn't turn into a massive incoherent rant but it's a matter which is very close to my heart.

Yesterday in Pontyberem, Wales, a six day old baby was reportedly killed by her family's pet, an Alaskan Malamute. You can read the full story here. How many times does this have to happen for people to wake up and realise that a child, alone and unsupervised, with a dog just isn't a good mix? I would never fully trust any dog with a child, they are animals.

Alaskan Malamutes 'should be supervised around unfamiliar small animals, as they have a strong prey instinct'. Why would you leave an animal which is described like that around a young baby? Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love dogs. I cannot wait to be in a situation where I can get one of my own and it will most definitely be a large and widely regarded 'dangerous' breed. But even if i got a Jack Russell I wouldn't be leaving it alone with my child.

My mum has an Alaskan Malamute and a Siberian Husky and I can relate to the quote about them having a strong prey instinct. They are both brilliant dogs, so soft and gentle with us and they have really loving, laid back temperaments, but there is no way in hell I would ever let them be around children alone. I have seen them run after and pluck a seagull from the sky, thrust their heads into a hedge and come out with a bird between their jaws. I don't encourage it, obviously, but I can't punish them for it, they're animals and it's their nature. They had to survive for many years by hunting for their prey. Just because humans have decided that we like their company doesn't mean that we can change what's been hardwired into them by hundreds of thousands of years of evolution.

Our childhood dog was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier mix. He was the best dog ever. That's the only way I can describe him. The best dog. Staffies are immensely protective and in tune to their owners emotions, a soppier breed of dog you'd be hard pressed to find, but they are strong. More people every year are hospitalised because of Labrador bites than bites from a Staffordshire Bull Terrier but it is not sensationalised in the news because people aren't often killed by Labradors. A Labrador's instinct is to go for the arms and legs, they will bite and let go. A Staffy, with jaws that could bend steel, will instinctively go for the face and body and they do not let go. Also, bad people get Staffies. They think of them as a status symbol, a dog to make them look 'hard'. This is why there are so many Staffies in rehoming shelters, because people buy them thinking they're a dangerous breed then realise that they are soft as anything. I know there are exceptions, I am widely generalising, but on the most part if a dog has good owners then it will be a good dog.

People forget that these are wild animals which are living in their homes. Huskys and Malamutes are the purest breed of dog there is, the closest to the wolf, so surely they have some lasting instincts that make them wild and untameable? People hit, hurt and shout at these animals forgetting that the dog could quite easily kill them if it chose. People leave their children alone with these animals, forgetting that an elbow in the wrong place when the kids are climbing all over the dog or the kids taking food away from it could make it snap, bite, instinctively protect itself or it's prey. They are animals.

1984 Theatre Review

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I read George Orwell's Nineteen-Eighty-Four as part of my English A-level in college and I loved it. It seemed to eerily reflect our current society, a text which really was before it's time. I've re-read the book many times since I studied it and I enjoy it more and more every time. It also inspired me to read some of Orwell's other well know classics. Animal Farm is one of my all time favourite books, so depressing and clever. How someone can describe Britain's social state through animals so accurately is beyond me. George Orwell was such an impressive, brilliant writer.

When I saw that a stage version was coming to Richmond Theatre I was so excited and I booked tickets straight away. I couldn't imagine how the book could be transferred to the stage but I think they did it well.

Description from ATG's website :- April, 1984. 13:00. Comrade 6079, Winston Smith, thinks a thought, starts a diary, and falls in love. But Big Brother is watching him - and the door to Room 101 can swing open in the blink of an eye.
Its ideas have become our ideas, and Orwell's fiction is often said to be our reality. The definitive book of the 20th century is re-examined in a radical new staging exploring surveillance, identity and how thinking you can fly might actually be the first step to flying. 
This new major production explores the world inside Winston Smith's head, as well as the world without, and catches the euphoria and bliss buried deep underneath the cold face of Big Brother. In an age of mass surveillance, ‘total’ policing and GPS tracking, 1984 is as relevant now as it ever was.

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I really enjoyed how they had adapted it for the stage. The set changed very subtely, using mainly music and lighting, but you knew what was going on. Some of the actors would wheel pieces of scenery to a different position and that would mean that the stage was now a different place, the Ministry's cafeteria or the second hand shop. The actors also played two or three different characters but it wasn't as confusing as I would have imagined, I could follow the story. The back room of the second hand shop, Winston's secret room, was set off stage. We saw Winston and Julia via a large TV screen at the top of the set. The cameras were placed quite abstractly so it was quite difficult to see the whole room but the overall effect was interesting, very different.

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When Winston was taken to Room 101, he was on a chair in the middle of the stage with tarpaulin all around him. There were about eight surgeons around the stage and O'Brien. O'Brien would ask Winston a question and if his answer was 'wrong' the surgeons would descend upon Winston, the lights would strobe, then it would cut to blackout as all we could hear were Winston's screams. When the lights came back up, Winston would have blood on him, his fingers, his mouth, because he was being tortured. It was a really tense atmosphere.

If I hadn't read the book before-hand then I'm not sure how much of the play I would have understood. Because I already had a background knowledge of the story I could fill any gaps within the plot myself but I'm not sure how someone who hadn't already read it would fare. One of Orwell's best features in his writing, in my opinion, is his description. There's one part in the book which I have to skip because the description makes me feel so sick. I felt like there were a few details missed out of the play, details which make the book brilliant, but the play was only an hour and forty minutes long so there is only so much they can include I suppose.

Also, there was no interval. I know it's not a very long time but the story is extremely intense. I could have done with a break around an hour in.

Overall I really enjoyed it. It was interesting to see a different adaptation of a classic and well-loved book and it must have been hard to fit it onto a stage. A great night.

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I'm Still Here!

As Bloglovin' seems to enjoy reminding me, I haven't written a blog post for 39 days. This is bad. One of my New Year's resolutions was to blog more and that obviously hasn't come to fruition. I'm starting to post again regularly from this week, sometimes it takes a break to realise how much you enjoy something. I've taken a couple of these breaks since starting this blog not even a year ago, terrible, but I keep being drawn back. I miss it. So here I am, apologising profusely and promising much more regular posts from now on.

I've reached 160 followers! Wow, thank you so much. To all my new followers, I will be much more active on here in future. I don't usually leave such big gaps between posts. I'll also be following you all back very soon and I look forward to reading everything you have to write.

I'm part of the 2014 Blogger Challenge and I've missed a few of those posts but I'm hoping to catch up on them and start a fresh.

Currently Reading :-

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On My Bookshelf :-

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Review - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief

by Markus Zusak

I really like reading books before watching the film adaptation. I like to be able to form ideas about situations and characters in my head first before being shown on a screen. I have also found that some books are absolutely murdered when turned into a film so I like to discover them in the way the author intended first. I hadn't heard much about this book before, I'd heard the title but I knew nothing of the story. When I heard that it was being turned into a film I looked it up on Amazon, read the blurb and wondered why the hell I hadn't read it yet. So I bought it. I read it. I LOVED it.

Amazon Description - HERE IS A SMALL FACT - YOU ARE GOING TO DIE

1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier.

Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall.

SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION - THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH

It's a small story, about:

a girl

an accordionist

some fanatical Germans

a Jewish fist fighter

and quite a lot of thievery.

ANOTHER THING YOU SHOULD KNOW - DEATH WILL VISIT THE BOOK THIEF THREE TIMES

I wouldn't say that I enjoy reading books about the Holocaust and World War II but I do find them interesting and I have read quite a few, fiction and non-fiction, this one is so different! At first I didn't like that the story is narrated by death. I thought that it was quite impersonal and the writing style took a little while to get used to. After a couple of chapters however, I was hooked. It was also a bit annoying that you knew many of the main storylines, and deaths, in advance. I think that it took some of the shock factor away from the book but it was still brilliant.

The characters, the non-Nazi ones, are loveable and really burrow into your heart. I cared about each and every one of them. Liesel was sweet and caring, Rudy was chilvalrous and daring, Papa was everything a papa should be, I loved mama's brash exterior and the fact that she loved her family so much, Max was poetic and scared. I loved them.

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I liked the fact that there were no 'Hollywood' moments. There were a few times I expected something to happen in a certain way, the predictable, happily ever after way, but it didn't. I felt like it represented real life pretty accurately. Lives were saved by pure coincidence and lives were taken too. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to ruin such a wonderful book for someone who hasn't read it yet.

I was in the hairdressers when I finished the book. I knew that I was going to need a good cry at the end of it and that I should stop reading but I just couldn't. I also couldn't let all my emotions out whilst having a wash, cut and blowdry without risking looking like a totally crazy person. So I held them all in, I only let a tear or two escape as I read one of the most distressing endings to a book ever. I held it in all the way home and then I lay on my bed, re-read the last chapter and had a bloody good cry. God, that makes me sound pretty mental. But the book was just so emotive! And good!

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I am so looking forward to seeing the film now, I hope that it does the book justice and they don't change it too much! If you haven't read it yet I would definitely recommend it. It's one of the best books I've ever read and it will be one of those books that I will read many more times. Five stars (5*).

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Inspiration - 2014 Blogger Challenge #1

This year I'm taking part in the 2014 Blogger Challenge hosted by Gaby at Another Girly Blog. This is the first post and the subject is inspiration. The idea is that instead of writing a resolutions post we should post a picture which will inspire us throughout the year.

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I am really going to try to keep this quote in my mind this year. There are so many things which I want to do and I keep putting them off, thinking that I'll see what happens and waiting for other people to make decisions which will impact my life. I am saying 'no more'. I am going to get up off my arse and go and grab the world instead of waiting for it to come to me. I need to make plans, do research, make lists, but I need to actually follow through with them for once. I need to go and do the things I plan, and do them rather than waiting. If I don't fulfill some of my dreams now then I may never get to and that would be a major regret.

So here's to 2014, to travelling, writing, education, experiences, doing more of everything. I hope it's going to be a good year for you all.

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Review - Coming Home For Christmas by Jenny Hale

Well, Christmas has been and gone for another year. I had a really wonderful day and I hope you all did too.

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Coming Home For Christmas

by Jenny Hale

Publication Date - 1st October 2013

Publisher - Bookouture

Amazon description :- Christmas is a time for family... isn't it?

Allie Richfield loves Christmas, so when she lands a job as House Manager for the amazing Ashford Estate—which includes organizing the Marley family festivities—she is in her element. With a budget bigger than her life savings and a team of staff, how hard can it be?

As one-by-one she meets the Marleys, she’s about to find out...

Allie’s new boss, Robert, might be gorgeous, but he’s also colder than the snow outside and refuses to come home for Christmas. Robert’s playboy brother, Kip, flirts with her relentlessly; and his sister, Sloane, arrives home with baggage—both the divorce-kind and the Louis Vuitton kind. Their ninety-two year old grandmother, Pippa, spends her day grumbling at them all from her mobility scooter.

With Robert intending to sell Ashford, it’s the Marley’s last chance to create some happy memories in their family home—and Allie is determined to make it happen... even if it takes a little Christmas magic! With the festive spirit in full swing, she might even discover a little happiness of her own...

Yet another Christmassy book which I've read this year! It was an easy read, chick-lit with a bit of Christmas thrown in. Because of the location, a massive house owned by someone with lots of money, I thought that this would have such a Christmassy feel but to be honest it didn't really do it for me. The storyline was pretty non-existent and it was so predictable. I knew what was going to happen almost as soon as I started reading.

I didn't feel like Allie's feelings were explored very much, apart from when she was fawning about over men. She was apparently close with her mother and sister but when she couldn't spend Christmas day with them it was barely mentioned that she'd missed them or wanted to spend the day with them.

It also really annoyed me when her previous job as a nanny was put down. I have often found that a nanny is viewed as a glorified babysitter. Allie is described as just being a nanny to get some money, to fill a job gap. I have never met a nanny like that. To work so closely with children you have to love it and love them, and it's not just sitting around playing with kids all day. It's a hard job, physically, emotionally and mentally. Many people don't have enough respect for what nannies do and books which portray nannies like this really annoy me because it gives people the wrong idea about a really wonderful, much needed job.

It was okay, the main positive in my book was that it was Christmas themed but other than that I didn't feel like it had much going for it.Two stars (2*)

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I'm Home!

I came home on Friday and it finally feels as if Christmas is here. My mum came to pick me up from London because last year the trains were horrendous, this year the weather wasn't as bad as it was last year but I am so glad that I didn't have to drag the world's biggest suitcase across to Paddington station. I don't go back to London until Saturday 4th January so I have two glorious weeks to spend with my family and friends, I am SO excited.

I'm seeing my bestie tonight for the first time in about seven months and I can't wait. A night of mulled wine and chatting. Isn't that the sign of a brilliant friend? The fact that you don't see each other for ages but when you do it's like you've never been apart? My brother's passed his driving test too so I get to utilise his driving skills by getting him to pick me up, payback for the last four years of lifts! It's great though because public transport is pretty non-existent down here and I hate driving the morning after a night out.

Other than that I don't really have any concrete plans for my time in Pembrokeshire. I'm planning on seeing my Gran a few times, spending a night or two at her house puppy visiting. I'm taking my cousin (who was thirteen the other day, where does the time go??) for a girlie day of shopping and cinema as a birthday/Christmas present so I'm really looking forward to that. I hope to go to the beach a few times with our dogs, it's freezing but that's the best weather to go in my opinion. Also, you don't have any of the summer tourists! There are a few friends I'm planning to catch up with over the two weeks but that's about it. A time for family, friends, lie-ins, baking, reading and relaxing. Perfect.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I'll be putting a couple more posts up before Christmas Day but I'll take this opportunity to wish you a very Merry Christmas. I have a feeling that 2014 is going to be great!