Under the Sea

We decided to visit the Sea life centre in Birmingham because who doesn't love seeing penguins and tropical fish and sharks in the middle of a city?

I kind of had my reservations because some of the online reviews said they didn't have very big habitats in the sealife centre and that seems quite cruel to me. Having been I have to sort of agree with this. I did feel quite sorry for the penguins swimming up and down in lines in a small enclosure but at the same time it was incredible to see all these beautiful creatures up close and gives you a real sense of appreciation for animal/fish kind.

 

 

There was  a whole habitat dedicated to the different fish in Finding Nemo which got me very excited. Dory can be seen above along with the blow fish further up. Some of the fish had such beautiful colours and markings but it was difficult to get decent photos on my iphone because they kept swimming around! I love the monochrome spots on the fish above and the bright vibrant colours of the pink and yellow fish below. Just beautiful. 

 

 


I have a lot of love for the giant sea turtle which was living in the tank surrounding the shark tunnel. They are truly such stunning creatures, and the giant size of them is not conveying in the photos at all. The fact that this beautiful species is endangered makes it even more poignant and the sea turtle in Birmingham was rescued apparently from a handbag before being bought to Birmingham and nurtured to health.

 

 

Above you can see our attempted selfies with both a shark and the penguins. These are just two shots of about 50 failed photos, due to a joint combination of poor lighting, speed and movement of penguins and sharks and also my poor photography skills. It was a try though, hey? 

If you want to see some stunning and interesting fish, jelly fish, sea horses, frogs, turtles, sharks, even otters then I would recommend the sea life centre, especially for a day out with kids, although we all know I am a big kid at heart so I guess that's why I enjoyed it so much.

Beautiful Birmingham

At the weekend I visited Birmingham, less than half an hour by train from Coventry and less than £3 return ticket. Birmingham is the second biggest city in the UK and whilst this wasn't the first time I had been, the last time was for the National Student Apprentice and I didn't have that much time to explore. 

The city, on a sunny blue sky day, is actually quite beautiful (even if the locals of Birmingham are not so beautiful). 

Here are the gorgeous regal buildings that I was in for the Apprentice Challenge, they look even better with the blue sky back drop: 

I believe they are the Town hall (first photo) and the Council House (second photo). When we were looking up things we could do in Birmingham one of the options google found us was a 'Council House Tour'. I was confused as to why anyone would want a tour of council housing, but now I realise it meant this beautiful building and it makes a lot more sense! 

Contrast these old buildings with those more new and architecturally interesting like this one below and Birmingham makes for a visually really exciting city. 

Here's my OOTD for this hot and sunny day, something of a rarity here in England, as you can tell by my lack of tan...

Top: Hollister 

Shorts: Forever 21

Shoes: Converse

Bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs

Sunglasses: Stella McCartney 

Spectacular sunset

This evening I decided to go for a run, which was a complete disaster because I can't run and after about 5 minutes I was sweaty and walking. But I  did get some absolutely beautiful photos of the sunset, all taken on my humble iphone 4s. 

I think they pretty much speak for themselves, and while being on a campus in the middle of nowhere is often really boring when you get to see stunning sunsets like this it is completely worth it. 

Healthy breakfast, healthy mind

Last night I had toast for dinner because I didn't have any other food. It was wholemeal bread, and whilst I enjoy the healthiness of wholemeal bread it is not the most enjoyable as toast. So last night at about 11pm, with the prospect of having that same bland wholemeal toast for breakfast weighing on my shoulders, I decided to walk to Tesco and buy myself a healthy, tasty breakfast. 

It's amazing how peaceful the world is at that time. I saw a few sleeping ducks, a wide awake fox, a couple of munching bunnies. Warwick is so wonderfully in the middle of nowhere and although it's often very boring I also often feel a lot like Snow White surrounded by all my animal friends. 

Campus actually looks pretty cool at night, lights in the darkness, all the studious people studying away in the library until the early hours. Quite surreal almost, the calmness of the dark, the distant lights... 

Tesco, might I add, is even more surreal at 11pm. My local superstore is open 24 hours and as it approaches midnight they turn up the radio over the store speakers and it kind of turns into a party. Except that the shoppers, of which there are few, are half asleep, and the workers wide awake. There is food everywhere too, boxes stacked in the asiles ready to be unpacked. I was kind of amazed that all this happens every night whilst i'm fast asleep- madness. 

Anyway so I went to Tesco and below you can see the fruits of my labour (literally) that I enjoyed for breakfast this morning. Berries and pancakes and maple syrup and more berries in a smoothie.

Berries make such great pictures for instagraming but my flatmate (who has the skinniest hands for a guy) was determined to ruin my photo but as it is my most liked recent photo on instagram I think I win.

What can I say, my breakfast brings all the boys to the yard.

New style of revision

Decided to try out a new 'style' of revision and note making before my exam today (see below). 

I thought by combining my notes with some little sketches it might help me remember things. Not really sure if that was the best idea I've ever had or really more a new form of procrastination. 

However my exam this afternoon for my management, organisation and society module wasn't too bad and i'm pretty confident (hopefully) that this won't be a retake. 

Thank you fashion. 

If anyone would like further information on either ethics or power in a business context, theories and case studies relating to these I am at your service. 

BA's have talent

So I was browsing through the images from the latest Central Saint Martins BA degree show and when I came across these creations my heart began to melt.

I decided, as I do with all creations that I lust after, to spend my time creating an illustration of the design since I will never be able to own and wear the clothes. This is how all my illustrations begin, as a simple line drawing, pencil on paper:

I have been desperately trying to add colour to this digitally but it's failing and I have decided that the beauty of this creation cannot be captured in a way that does it justice.

So instead I have decided to include a photograph below (source: vogue.co.uk)








The collection is by Richard Quinn, and is stunningly floral and feminine and the detail is so exquisite. It reminded me instantly of the glamour, elegance and artistry of Dior.

I actually did some research (thanks Google) on Mr Quinn, and was not shocked to find that he was selected to spend his summer in Paris working for Dior. 

Richard Quinn said "I think my time at Dior was the most influential in terms of my creative approach. My team leader always pushed my ideas to develop them further – even when you usually think you have exhausted every avenue, he showed you how to go that extra mile and make it relevant to the brand" 

I am by no means Carine Roitfeld but if I was Raf Simons I would employ this guy as my right hand man at Dior asap. 

Design talent like Quinn's makes me realise that business is the right degree for me; I couldn't compete with him. I wouldn't want to. But I would be happy to sort out his business strategy. 

For more info on Richard Quinn: http://www.wearefur.com/our-trade/fur-futures/blog/richard-quinn-%E2%80%93-central-saint-martins-dior

His full graduate collection and the rest of the CSM BA show: http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/spring-summer-2015/ready-to-wear/central-saint-martins-ba/full-length-photos/gallery/1176750