Year 2011

Wow! Where has this year gone? So many things have happened this year, especially for me.
Let me tell you what has happened through this year: (All I can remember)
On March 11: The Japanese Tsunami ("Never Go Back" by Evanescence focuses on the tsunami.)
The New Zealand earthquakes.
Brazil Floods.
STS-135: Final Launch of the Space Shuttle Program.
The Greece Riots: Protesters in Athens start to clash.
Will and Kate got married. What a beautiful wedding it was, I remember watching the whole show on TV when it was broadcasting live.
The Oppikoppi Festival which I did not attend as I don't live in that area, but I saw reviews and it sounded like it was a very fun and exciting festival!
The Tragedy of Steve Jobs 1955-2011. I was so shocked when I heard on the radio that he passed away. I couldn't stop crying!
The Tragedy of Amy Winehouse, which was very sad and very upsetting!
Deaths:
Elizabeth Taylor 1932-2011; Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud 1929-2011; Ryan Dun 1977-2011; Al Davis 1929-2011 and Betty Ford 1918-2011.
The Rugby World cup 2011
Obama and the Queen of England both visited Ireland.
Libyan civil war begins in February and ends in October.
Epica kept their fans updated about their new album coming out early 2012.
Tarja Turunen started her What Lies Beneath Tour.

The new release of the following albums: The Unforgiving by Within Temptation; Goodbye Lullaby by Avril Lavigne; Goodluck by Goodluck; Dirty Work by All Time Low; Running to Midnight by Locnville; Evanescence by Evanescence; Imaginaerum by Nightwish; Here and Now by Nickelback; Xperience by The Soap Girls.
There are so many other albums that were released this year, but these are the artists I mainly listen to and I must say, I cannot stop listening to any of these artists music. They are all incredible singers. Ha! I honestly have to say, I listen to mostly the new Evanescence album because the last time they released an album was back in 2006 (And I am a HUGE fan of Evanescence!). When I heard that their new Single was released on 09 August "What You Want", I got it off iTunes and I couldn't stop listening to this song for days and days. Now, I listen to the whole Evanescence new album, I have the Deluxe Edition (Which is 4 extra songs) and I really cannot stop listening to this album! Not that I don't listen to the other music artists, I do like to listen to Nightwish's new album, their music is also amazing! I also cannot stop listening to The Soap Girls debut album, they are two sister's who have super amazing voices and the word SOAP stands for Sassy Outrageous And Pink. I remember when I first heard their song "Sour" on the radio. Ha! My mom told me they were on the radio once and they were totally in sync, when they spoke, they were both speaking at the same time. I have to thank them though for giving me the opportunity to meet them at the MCQP that took place last week Saturday. It was fantastic to meet them and their concert was truly amazing! They gave me huge hugs and we chatted for quite a while and I got my Xperience album signed by them both. I like the new Within Temptation album as well, my favourite song is "Murder", I love the music and the lyrics. The new Avril Lavigne was good, but I was a bit disappointed as it was just love songs and not really about anything else, but I did like this album, it is amazing! I also like the new Locnville album. You know, last year I wasn't really into their music, this year, I would say that earlier this year I started to like their music. I have to be honest and say that I like the Running to Midnight album more because it is very good and I can't really explain, I just like the Running to Midnight album. Very nice to listen to. The one song track features Natasha Meister, who, thanks to Locnville, I have become a fan of. I have listened to her music and I think that she is one talented singer and it would be nice to meet her one day soon.

There were such amazing movies that were released this year which were: Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Thor, Immortals, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2, Rise of the Planets of the Apes, I am Number Four, Red Riding Hood, Abduction, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, X-Men First Class, The Smurfs, Cars 2, The Green Lantern, Beastly, Bad teacher, Captain America and Breaking Dawn Part 1. The list can go on Forever! It's sad that the Harry Potter Saga is finished, but now we got the DVD's, so it'll never end.

On a more personal note:
I would like to tell you my highlights of 2011:
As you all know, when I am older, I would like to become and actress. I would say that, looking back to the start of the year, I have done a lot of things in reaching my goal. Last year I didn't really take any steps and just sat back and didn't do anything. This year, looking back, this is what I have achieved:
I have been featured in the following magazines:
Teenzone - My Poem (I love to write poems and I have many other poems I have written) and my question that Matt Lanter answered.
Seventeen - In the September 2011 issue I was Scout of the Month and in the December 2011 and January 2012 issue, I was featured as one of Seventeen's current Urban Scouts.
Heat - 2 of my Tweets have been in the Heat Magazine. A picture of me and Ryan O'Connor is featured in the issue 392. Early in June, Heat asked "If you had to ask Locnville one question, what would you ask?", this question was going to be featured in the Heat BFF edition with Locnville. I asked "What Challenges did you face in reaching your goals?". Andrew Chaplin answered my question. My question was featured in the Heat BFF Locnville 36-page mini magazine edition.
Hannah Montana - 2 of my Shout Out's have been featured in the Hannah Montana Magazine. My song is featured in the August 2011 issue as I was one of the winner's for the Song Competition.
Throughout 2011, I have won many competitions, such as: Hannah Montana "Compose your own song"; Teenzone's Locnville competition; Seventeen's BFF competition where I won a Sass Diva hamper worth R5000 (R2500 for you and R2500 for your friend); Hannah Montana Shout Out's where you send a shout out and you'll get randomly drawn to win a prize, I won a Hannah Montana sling bag. There are many more other competitions I have won.
I have also met some local celebs in my country. Here are the celebrities I met: Ryan O'Connor;Charmaine Noy; Locnville; The Soap Girls and Ben Peters from GOODLUCK. I must admit, if I want to be an actress, I must know that I will have fans and the signing sessions will be very busy.
I must say that all these people I met are all very nice, kind and super awesome! I will never forget them and I must admit that all their shows I have been to is truly amazing!
I have also been live on air on two Radio Stations: 94.5 KFM and MFM 92.6. Ah! I remember it clearly, 94.5 KFM asked "How is your week going so far?" and I answered that my week was going well and I was excited for my one design project. Next thing I know, I got a call from KFM and I was chatting to Ryan O'Connor on air. I also entered the GKTeens, but I never won, but that doesn't matter, I had fun chatting to KFM again on air. I was on air live with MFM radio station a couple weeks back, but I didn't ask MFM to call me, the one presenter asked me if I would like to dedicate my 30 minutes of songs. I was chatting to MFM from Twitter. Ha! So I guess that's how they knew me and gave me a call. I was chatting to the two very awesome presenters, who are no longer on MFM, which is very sad, but chatting to them was truly an amazing experience. I got the experience of what it is like to be live on air on the radio. My name is also featured on MFM when they ask what songs would you want to listen to. I normally request songs everyday.
For Schooling:
This is the very first time in all my school life I have received and Academic Badge. For Term 3 - I came 3rd in my grade. I have also been on the cover of my weekly newsletter. My artwork has improved and my artwork and two of my poems have been published in my 2011 School Magazine.
Lastly, this year, we finally started building on, on our house, after how many years we've been talking about building on for years and years, now, the building is done.

There are so many other things that has happened throughout this entire year, it will feel like you are writing a book about 2011. These are just the highlights I have focused more on in 2011.
One thing I will be very happy to say when I look back at 2011, I will remember the fantastic moments I shared with my friends and to all the new friends I made, meeting celebrities, having 2 albums signed by amazing music artists and all the incredible moments I had in 2011.

I wish everyone the best for 2012 and I hope that 2012 will be one of the best years of your life.
I know that it will be for me as I am in Matric next year. (Apparently the world is meant to end in 2012, but if it was going to end, we wouldn't even know the world has ended because it will happen before you even know it.)
I hope that everyone has had a Wonderful and Joyful Year of 2011!
Have a safe, wonderful and a Very Happy New Year of 2012!

An Idea for a Music Video "City Lights" - Locnville

Hello everyone! Today, I am writing my idea for a music video which is "City Lights" performed by Locnville. I must say, these are one of my favorite songs off their new album "Running to Midnight".
For about 3 months now, I have thought about how awesome it would be if Locnville could produce "City Lights" as a music video. So, I have decided to share my idea with everyone and I have written out my idea for everyone to see.

Firstly, here is a general idea of what everything looks like:
Location: Cape Town, in the streets, near a big city (Cape Town haha!)
Time of Day: Night time.
Dress code: Casual. Dress code for Locnville: Casual and this is optional: Wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses.
Dress code for girl: Villey (or normal) top, leggings and boots.
What the girl looks like: Blond Hair, Blue eyes, not tall and not to short and she isn't a model (But she is really pretty).

I have put a lot of thought into this idea and I hope everyone will like this idea I have come up with:
Starts off with people dancing in what appears to be a club. It is dark outside. A girl walks out of the club because she isn't really in the mood to dance. So she walks out and the music starts. As the chorus begins, the girls starts walking and looks up at the street lights. The girl is aged 18 years old. She looks from a distance to the end of the street (Hence "And it seems like the street lights shine so far away".). As the song progresses, there is one of the twins (Andrew or Brian or it can be both) sitting on the bonnet of the car (Can even drive to the Club and not be in the mood to party and then sees the girl walking), smiling, talking to each other. He/They look up and see the girl walking. One of the twins look at the girl and gets up and walks to the pavement where the girls is walking and from a distance, one of the twins start to follow her. As song progresses, the girl looks to the bench in front of her. She sees a child sitting on the bench and then the girl has a flask back of her childhood. (Maybe when lyrics go "I've been down to the river by the city, Can't believe you don't remember, could've sworn that you were with me".). She smiles for the first time throughout the music video.
Again, as the song progresses, (This is a suggestion) maybe another girl is looking at the street lights. So, for example, if Brian was following the first girl, then Andrew would follow the second girl.
At the end of the song, the girls and twins end up meeting each other.
Basically: It is a girl walking down a street, looking at street lights and Locnville notice her and start to follow her.
Another optional for Locnville:
Locnville could be performing:
1. At the club - As they are performing, they see the girl walk out and walk out with her.
2. In a recording studio.
3. By the street - They see the girl and follow her.

Here is something from me: I would just like to say that I want to be an actress when I am older and one of my goals is that I must be in front of the camera. Being in a music video would mean a lot to me if I was featured in a music video. It would help me out with being in front of the camera.

Thanks for reading,
I hope everyone enjoyed reading my idea,
Much Love!

An Idea for a Music Video for Jax Panik

Hello everybody! I am going to talk about my idea for a music video for the band, Jax Panik.

The song I was thinking of was "Loser for Love". I really like this song, it's very catchy and it's a song that you can dance to all the time. It's really a great song.

My idea for "Loser for Love":
In the music video, there can be quite a few girls in this music video, considering that the song relates to a male singing about a female.
There can be a white room with Jax Panik performing the track and then it cuts between scenes with females who dance to the music,smile at the camera (Taking pictures).The girls can even be blowing kisses to the camera, haha!
The one line in this track says: "All the boys and girls in this have been through....Black nails and White Lies". Maybe in this scene, girls (and boys) could have black nail polish on their nails and maybe something written on the girls and boys hand saying "White Lies", then the girls and boys show the writing to the camera.
As the track starts to get to the bridge in the middle of the track, Jax Panik begin to say: "I've been waiting all night for your attention, Finally, you blowing smokes in my direction.....". As that line begins, about 4/5 girls are dancing with Jax Panik in the white room and then as the music progresses, it cuts between scenes of Jax Panik performing and the 4/5 main girls dancing.
Then the Music Video ends off with a whole lot of people (male and female) dancing and the vibe is almost like you are at a concert of Jax Panik, except you are dancing with the band.

This is what I had in mind for "Loser for Love".
My idea for dress code was: Dancing outfits.
Haha, it doesn't have to be a white room where Jax Panik performs, it can even be in a room (any kind of room.) with pictures up of the Jax Panik logo.
What I also had in mind was that there can be auditions for people to be featured in this music video.
The ages I was thinking of was 18 years and up.(I am 18).

I would just like to say that I want to be an actress when I am older and one of my goals I must face is being in front of the camera. Being in a music video would mean a lot to me if I was featured in a music video. It would help me out with being in front of the camera.

Thanks for reading,
Much Love!

94.5 KFM Blog

Hello everyone! I am going to Blog about 94.5 KFM Radio Station.
I am going to be writing about their competitions, music they play and how incredibly awesome they are!

Firstly, to start off with, KFM's competitions are really cool. KFM has what we call klupVIP. In order to become a klupVIP member, all you have to do is SMS your name and ID number to 33536. Being a klubVIP member allows you to enter most of KFM's competitions. There is usually a competition every week and the draw in on Friday. I am a klupVIP member and, honestly, it is so nice to be a member, because it feels like you're part of the KFM team. After you are a klupVIP member, some people might ask: How do I earn klupVIP points? Well, it's pretty simple, all you have to do is listen to KFM and the presenter who is on air will tell you what word you must SMS and the number you SMS it to is 33536.
You can also enter competitions by SMSing KFM if they are running a competition for something and it doesn't require klupVIP points.
Every Saturday, there is a Presenter by the name of Mark Pilgrim, who runs a competition every Saturday on Take40SA. When you hear the Trigger Track: you SMS your name, ID Number and the song's position, for Jo'berg and for Cape Town, and then Mark Pilgrim picks randomly a winner, and that person - If they answer their phone - will win the prize, which is a large amount of money.
I must admit, KFM does run awesome competitions.

Secondly, KFM plays very nice tracks. Ha! I actually only realized about 2 months ago that most Radio Stations only play Singles that are released. Here is the reason why: "Generally radio stations receive singles from an artists' record label and these are the songs that will have videos, press, marketing and performances etc tailored around them. Stations do sometimes play album tracks that are not singles but more often than not the songs that are big hits are the singles." - I got this information from a person who works for Primedia and is helped me out.
(Primedia is a building located in Town area and KFM is in the Primedia building.).
Overall, most Radio Stations play Singles from an Artists' Album because it is a big hit and most people will listen to that specific track.

Lastly, but most certainly not least, I am going to write about how incredibly awesome KFM is. To be honest, there was a competition on KFM a few months ago (about 2 months ago) and I entered this competition, which was called "Fan It". With "Fan It", you enter and then everyday, there were 3 random selected names called out on KFM 6 times every week day and since then, I've started to really listen to KFM, not that I haven't listened to KFM in the past. I have listened to KFM before, but, for me, it's a habit to listen to KFM everyday.
If you SMS KFM for the At work - Network and you request for a song, you might not hear the song on the same day, but if you SMS everyday, I guarantee you that KFM will play the song you have requested. Trust me, I know. You just have to be patient, KFM will get back to you.

Now, I listen to KFM every week day. All the presenters are really awesome! Each week morning, if you SMS a birthday wish to someone, KFM will read out your SMS.
Each morning, there is now a GK Teen where two Teenagers get questioned by one of the Presenters, whom is Ryan O Conner and the one teenager who answers the most questions correctly, wins the prize.

Recently, round about in July, I remember it was the first week of School for the 3rd Term and one morning, KFM asked: How has your week been? So I SMSed, saying: "My week so far. School started, got my first project that I'm actually happy to work on.". After about 20 minutes, I got a phone call from KFM and when I was talking on air, I wasn't nervous at all! Sure, my Heart was pounding fast, but I was so happy to be on air with KFM. I was chatting to Ryan O Conner about my school project - My school project was that we had to Design a Poster and a Headpiece for a Brazilian Carnival, that was our theme. So this day when KFM phoned me, I was starting with my collage for my Design. Now my project is completed.
The second I was on KFM was, in fact, for the GK Teens. I was up against a girl from UCT. The Score was 3 - 5. I got 3, but after we played GK Teens, Ryan O Conner said that I did very well on GK Teens.
Ha! At school, two of my teachers told me I did do very well and even though I did not win, I was brave enough to be on air with a Radio Station and I have tried my best (which i did.).
My name, many of times, have also been mentioned on KFM for Birthday wishes, At work - Network and Shout Outs.

Finally, I would just like to end off by saying that KFM is a wonderful Radio Station and they are, indeed, incredibly Awesome! You can chat to them on Facebook, Twitter or you can SMS them. They are truly, a very lovely Radio Station. It's always nice to listen to their stories and also listen to the Eye-Witness News, it's very interesting to know what is happening, and not to forget the Traffic Updates, which people SMS in and say where there is traffic across the Cape.

Thank you to all the Presenters I mainly Listen to: KFM Breakfast: Ryan O Conner, Charmaine Noy and Jeremy Harris. Here are the other Presenters: Benito Vergotine, Elana Afrika, Lee Downs, Keri Miller and let's not forget about the Take40SA Presenter: Mark Pilgrim and the KFM Ground Patrol - KFM Ground Patrol go around the Cape and are at Random locations, and give out free things. You might need to give them a password (If required) and you'll receive whatever KFM Ground Patrol have. It's really nice what KFM Radio Station does. There are so many other things I can say about KFM, but this sums it all up, of how really Awesome KFM is.
If you do not Listen to KFM Radio Station, I recommend you to listen to this specific Radio Station.

Thank you for reading,
Much love.

Why seventeen magazine is a awesome magazine

Hi everyone! I am going to talk about how awesome the seventeen magazine really is.

Firstly you ask yourself, why is seventeen so fab? Well, seventeen is mainly aimed at young women. seventeen has got a good guide to staying in fashion, seeing what's the new trend to wear and how to live life being happy and without going through being upset all your life.

seventeen does have amazing tips on how to eat anything without feeling guilty about what you eat, another tip would be what is the latest fashion clothing to wear, which I find very stylish. seventeen has got so many fun things inside of the magazine. Heck! When I first started buying the seventeen magazine, all I saw was fashion, the latest styles and what are the best Beauty products to buy. I always looked at the "Scene" section, my horoscope and the exclusive interview with the Cover Star. Now, after about 3 years (In 2009), I've completely fallen in love with the seventeen magazine! I read the seventeen magazine at least once a day, I look to see all the stylish fashion and basically everything in the seventeen magazine.

Another awesome reason why the seventeen magazine is the best Magazine is because seventeen posts at least about three competitions every month (How fab!). seventeen also asks for advice from people for their view on a specific topic and the advice is featured in the seventeen magazine.

Twice in a year, usually in the January and July issue, there are two issues in one (January/February and July/August.). This happens because in both combined issues, there are extra-special editions with them. For example, in the January/February issue, there will be a Diary and in the July/August issue, there will be something with the magazine. I think this is simply spectacular and amazing!

Another awesome thing about seventeen is that seventeen also has a mobile site (seventeen.mobi), where you can look at the latest news (mainly celeb news), competitions and you can basically take seventeen everywhere you go (Which is so awesome!). There are also quizzes featured on the mobile website, which is so cool!

Lastly, I'd like to end off by saying that the seventeen magazine is one of the best magazines in the world and it is a awesome magazine. It has everything that a girl wants and I simply love the seventeen magazine, I love everything inside the magazine. Where it be the Cover Star and the interview with them, the "Scene" section, fashion section or even the beauty section, I love everything featured in the Seventeen Magazine.

Keep up the good work seventeen Team!

Thanks for reading,
Much Love!

A little bit of advice from me

Hello everybody, this is my first time blogging (Wow!) and I what I would like to say on my first blog is a little advice I want to let all of you know.
Whenever I go to my school, people always get me down, hardly anyone at school likes me (I have no idea why), a lot of people have used me for some reason and it is tough in higher grades.
I just want to give you advice by saying whenever you feel unhappy and you think no one likes or even loves you, you MUST always remember there is always I mean ALWAYS someone out there who loves you and loves to see your face every day, with that beautiful smile and that beautiful face you have. Never back down on your fears, always be happy and there are always lessons in life you must and will learn.
Learn to always be true to yourself and always be yourself around anyone, where it be a crowd of people or even a boy you like. Never stress about small things that happen in your life, for instance projects and events, bare in mind the saying I have heard from a TV program "No Need To Worry".
Ever since I learned that phrase, it has made everything easier for me. One more thing, if you love your childhood (Of cause I do), then think about it AND even if you love watching something that you also loved watching in your childhood days, but your a little more older now, then watch that program, do not worry about what people think, say or do, they are all just being rude. Ignore them and remember "No Need To Worry".

I hope this is good advice for all of you,
Thanks for reading!

My Review of the new Locnville "Running to Midnight" album. By Andria Mackinnon

Hello Everyone! I am going to talk about my review of the new Locnville "Running to Midnight" album.

I would like to start off by saying that when Locnville's first album, "Sun in my Pocket" was released, I never got around to listen to the album. Ha! To be honest, I never actually listened to Locnville's music, because I mainly listen to Rock, Hard rock and Alternative rock. I love rock music, but hip-pop is not really one of my favourite types of Genres of music.

Last year, my sister received the Locnville "Sun in my Pocket" album for her birthday and I listened to some of the music. I thought it was quite good, it had a nice up-beat to it and I thought the music was pretty good. To be honest, I didn't really like Locnville at the start and I wasn't really into their music, but towards the end of last year, about in August, after I saw Locnville Live in Concert at the Grand West Arena, it changed. Change I am meaning that at the concert, I started to actually get into the music and I started to mainly listen to the one song "6 Second Poison".

Ha! I'm just trailing off.... Haha......
My review for the new Locnville album: I must admit, the new Locnville "Running to Midnight" album is mellow. The "Sun in my Pocket" album was more of a up beat and you felt like you wanted to dance to the songs, but the "Running to Midnight" album is a lot more mellow and more relaxed, which is a good thing, because if you ever just want calm music in the background (For example, if you want to read a book or magazine), the "Running to Midnight" album is perfect for that. The "Running to Midnight" album is worth buying, I promise you, you won't regret buying the album. I do remember an interview with Andrew and Brian, saying that this album is their best album yet, which I totally agree with. Heck! I thought the album will be the same, but it wasn't, the album is a really good listen and a good buy. For example, "Here We Are" is a very relaxing song, especially the line "Hold me in your arms". To me, that line sounds like a "opera". I love all the songs on the album. They are all really amazing. My top 3 songs are "Stars Above You", "Staring at the world 0utside" and "City Lights".

Lastly, I would like to share my thoughts about the "Stars Above You" song and music video: I think the song is excellent and the way the lyrics say "When the Stars are above you". Then the music starts up in the beginning of the song, it's really amazing. It doesn't matter if you are at a party or just relaxing somewhere, this song is great for anything. This song is definitely a big hit. The music video is also amazing because it has a "Lords of the Rings" effect to it. I love all the visual effects that was in the music video. I thought it was amazing and I loved the Husky in the music video, because a husky is my favourite type of dog in the world. That's what I thought of "Stars Above You".

Thanks for reading everyone,
I hope you like this blog,
Much Love!