Tango King and Queen

When watching BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, I was always mesmerised with Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace’s Argentine tango. I was extremely disappointed when I saw that they were not in last year’s series.

When I began watching Strictly I would always particularly watch them. How they taught their celebrities, how they would position themselves when dancing.  Normally in the quarter finals of the show the celebrities would have to tackle an Argentine tango, Vincent and Flavia would always perform one. I always loved the way they danced together, they hold each other so perfectly and with so much passion and elegance it is truly breathe taking.

When I watched their live show, ‘Midnight Tango’, I was literally blown away by their movements and strength to perform such powerful movements and not look drained. It was fantastic and just showed off their true ability to dance. Their choreography was brilliant; the way they were able to create so many different routines is inspiring.

Buckingham Live

This afternoon was the live broadcast for this week's Buckingham News. Buckingham News being, The University of Buckingham's bulletin, which they do each week on a Friday at 5pm.

Watching the bulletin go live, was a thrilling experience. whilst everyone was silent, all you could hear in the background was the anchor's voice, and what was being read of the Qstarter. This experience enforced my appreciation towards those who participate in live broadcasts. I have also decided that I would love to learn how to use the tricastor and the Q starter.

The broadcast ran incredibly smoothly as did everything else. Hopefully in the next term I will get to learn these pieces of technology.

Please watch our University's bulletin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlEA1fcArs0

NYC weather breaking into England

Days like today remind me of why I like England. The sun is out and beaming on my face, whilst there is a nice little breeze coming through the air. I am the type of girl who likes her heat and sunbathing, however I am one for winter as well. When I say winter though, I mean the nice days in winter, for instance today. I am not one for rain and gale force winds.

Days like today remind me of my trip to New York. New York’s weather was very cold, but the sun was beaming down. Even though the tall buildings would get in the way of it, once you were in the spotlight it was like your own personal heater.

New York was a fantastic place to go and visit. Once I stepped out of the airport I instantly felt like I was stepping into a film set. There were tonnes of yellow taxis. All the people were so friendly and some of the buildings were spectacular. It seemed to have mixed the old with modern.

I went in January, when all the Christmas decorations were still up. It was stunning, not only were there particular areas that had decorations up, but buildings were lit up with Christmas lighting, creating such a magical place. 

A place I would definitely recommend visiting is Times Square. It was truly a magnificent part of New York. With so many shops in the area, it was completely lit up with lots of different coloured lighting. TV screens were all around you advertising many products. Also everywhere you looked, there were people dressed in costumes: Minnie Mouse, Elmo, Cinderella, Batman and so many other characters. Street performers were set up as well, either doing magic tricks, dancing or just entertaining the audience.

The highlight of this trip for me was going up the Empire State building. It really did complete my experience. I went up it alone at midnight and I didn't come down until about 1 in the morning as I was so mesmerised by the city. This trip was definitely an experience I will never forget.

Back into Ballroom

After going to ballroom classes once a week for four years, having a year’s break was actually quite difficult. I didn’t realise how much I enjoyed it until I suddenly had to give it up.

I had to give it up due to going to Nottingham Trent University, as there were no ballroom dance classes there. However, moving to the University of Buckingham, I have been able to find a ballroom class called Dance. Tonight was my first lesson and it really was so enjoyable. I was unbelievably nervous as I had decided to go to a later class, which was more advanced.

Once I got there, I realised I was going to be the only youngster as many couples were late thirties early forties.

When the class started I watched to see what steps people knew. I knew, by just watching for a couple of minutes that I knew I was going to be able to cope. The steps here were quite basic, which was good as I hadn't been dancing for ages. However, I did start to get a bit bored, but I was very glad that I had come to try out the lessons. We did the samba and the quickstep.

After this lesson I decided to stay onto the advanced class, and I am so proud of myself for doing so. I ended up being the teacher’s assistant for most of it. Even though I didn’t know the steps I was picking them up fast and really enjoying every moment of it. It was terrifying dancing in front of the class but quite exhilarating at the same time.

I am extremely glad I decided to start ballroom again, it’s always a good to have a hobby you feel quite confident in.

British Cuisine

Britain is well known for its unfussy and simple cuisine food. After a long stressful day, British food is always a good hearty meal for comfort.

Starting your day off with a full English breakfast is the way forward for a good day. Even though it is calories upon calories, its always good to treat yourself now and then with sausages, tomatoes, egg, bacon, beans, and some tempting toast.

This country has always been well known for its fish ‘n’ chips. Battered cod with deliciously cooked chips, smothered in salt and vinegar and wrapped in paper, is always needed when visiting a beach for the day.

Britain’s battered Yorkshire puddings used for toad in the hole or a wholehearted roast is never a miss. Yorkshire puddings can also be used as a sweet treat, leave them to cool down and cover the inside with jam. A perfect desert.  

Britain is also well known for its sweat treats, such as apple pie, scone jam and cream afternoon tea or a good bowl of bread and butter pudding with custard

Many chefs take the beautiful British cuisine and place their own individual twist onto it. Dominic Teague from Onealdwych hotel in London took the traditional afternoon tea and took it to a creative level. This season he has based it on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory;http://www.onealdwych.com/food-drink/afternoon-tea pastries included cinnamon swirl brioche and a topping of candy floss.   

Heston Blumenthal is a world-famous chef who has always thought outside of the box and created wacky and witty food. He created a series of episodes, Fantastical Food, taking iconic British food and either expanding it to ginormous sizes or taking something simple, as bacon and egg, and changing it into a fun, exciting dish, such as ice cream.  

So if you’re up for a good hearty meal, British food is the way forward.

Being Chased

On my walk back from the media labs at Chandos building I had a very peculiar and terrifying encounter. It’s piercing eyes and overpowering, muscular body intimidated me. It edged towards me, its wide feet slowly taking one step closer at a time. Then it let out a shrieking noise that could have been heard from a mile away, stretching its neck up so that it could empower itself. At this point it started to charge towards me, moving every body part so that it made itself look bigger. Its neck bent forward so that the tip of its forehead was aimed at me.

Out of nowhere it stopped charging. It was suddenly being chased away. Its body became hunched over and every limb was drawn back into its body and was hidden away.  It turned away from looking at me and ran away. What was chasing it away were 3 small figures. Much smaller than itself. They came out of the shadow. These three small figures were all very similar, especially in their height and body shapes. They all disappeared into the shadows behind rows of cars.

Can you guess what it was that chased after me? – It was a goose.

Can you now guess what the three figures were? – They were ducks.

Yes. This is actually true, I was chased by a goose and three little ducks came out and chased it away. It’s amazing what the little things can do. 

Swan made from an Apple

When having an apple left over, which you don't particularly want to eat, what do you do with it? Yes you can make a swan out of it. I did

.

Take the apple and split it in half diagonally. 

Take the half with the bottom of the apple and carefully cut out a section from one side. 

Do the same on the other side, but leave a small section in the middle.

Try not to cut your hand. 

With the piece that you have sliced out, slice a similar piece out as many times as you can. 

Do the same on the other side. 

Stack them to make wings. 

A slice needs to be taken out of the other other half of the apple.

From this piece shape a swans head from it.

Use the pips from the apple to be the eyes. squish them into the swans head then push them in properly with the side of the knife. 

Take a slice out of the middle section from earlier and place the swan's head in it. 

You have your swan.