The England Team Are A Disappointment.

If you are a man of the right age in Iceland, you have a 1 in 2000 chance of being picked for the team. Their players were bought for a total of only 16 million and their manager is a part time dentist. So, surely England would win easily in a match against them. But no, clearly not.

We played so badly yesterday it was an embarrassment. The goal keeper let in an easy save, and the only goal we scored was a penalty. Also, Wales are still in the competition, so they are better than us as well.

Our team needs to get their act together before the world cup, because at this rate we are not going to get very far at all. Did you watch the match last night?

Here is how Iceland selected their team. It just shows us up even more really!

New Top Gear- What Is All The Fuss About?

Over the past few weeks, I have been watching the new Top Gear. Much to the surprise of my friends, I do quite like it. So okay, Chris Evans can be annoyingly shouty and excitable sometimes. Well, most of the time actually. But I really like Matt Le Blanc. He is perfect for the show, as he has just the right attitude to make it work. I already liked him as an actor from friends, and now I like him as a TV presenter as well. Sabine Schmitz can be quite funny sometimes too. It is good to have a women on the show!

Most people are saying the best part of the show was the presenters, but the presenters have actually changed several times over the years. Only Clarkson has stayed constant, and he is my least favourite of the three, as he is very arrogant. I still miss Richard. He was fun. Mostly though, what I liked best were the challenges. And anyway, the most important part is the cars, believe it or not.

So although the new BBC Top Gear is not quite as good as the original, I do not think it is the disaster it is made out to be. What do you think of it?

You Know You Are A City Girl When...

I have lived in a medium sized town all my life, and it is only now I have friends from more rural areas that I fully appreciate how adapted I am to urban living. I find it weird when there is no traffic noise, I have never been camping and I can only find my way around using a map if there are street names to help me. I think if I moved to the back of beyond I would have quite a few problems.  I like everything to be close to hand. Similarly, my friend from outside of the area found it hard at first to go from living in a small village to a much larger town.

It is interesting how within one country, people can have very different ways of life. It is nice that we have a large variety of lifestyle options to choose from. However, if you are forced to move from one extreme to the other by your parents, it can be very daunting. Have you ever had this experience?

EU Referendum

As I am sure you are aware, today is the day Britain will either vote to stay in the EU or leave. Although we are not old enough to vote, my school held it's own election so we still got to have a say and practice voting. I think this is a great idea, because although most people believe teens are not old enough to decide the fate of the country, we still have opinions. The results will be read out in tomorrow morning's assembly.

In a few years time, we will be allowed to vote for real. I am really excited about this, because I like the idea of having some control over what happens in my country. A lot of young people don't bother to vote, but I think it is more important they vote than anyone else. Young people will have to live with whatever future we end up with for longer, so they are the people that need to decide it. I will definitely be voting as soon as I am able. Will you?

Cinema News and Reviews

Yesterday, I went to see Me Before You. It is such a good film, but it is very sad. It does have a few funny moments at the beginning though, when the mad Lousia Clark is first getting to know Will. I loved it! I really like the song at the end as well. It is called Not Today and is sung by Imagine Dragons. It has been in my head ever since!

While I was at the cinema, I saw a trailer for Now You See Me 2. It is about a group who perform magic who end up with real magical powers. It looks really good, but I guess I should watch the first one before I see the sequel.

Also coming up is the long awaited Finding Dory and The Secret Life Of Pets, which looks hilarious. They are currently making a Top Cat movie as well. It is a good job my exams are over, I think I am going to be spending quite a bit of time at the cinema.

Colourful Costumes

Most of my exams are now over. I have had them every day this week, and I have a couple more on Tuesday. Soon, it will be all over and we can enjoy the last part of the summer term. It won't be long until we are on our summer holidays.

At the moment, the shops are full of colourful and unusual swimming costumes. From bikinis to all in ones, there is a wide range of designs. Here are my favourites from around the web.

This tropical pattern will put you in a summery mood.
I love the blue and white together.
New Look, Top: £12.99, Bottoms: £7.99

This colourful bikini features double straps and contrasting trim.
New Look, Top: £14.99, Bottoms: £7.99
 

I love the intricate straps and soft blue lines.
New Look, Top: Now £11.24, Was £14.99
Bottoms: Now £7.49, Was £9.99 

This all in one has halterneck straps and cute blue buttons.
Peacocks, £20

No To Meghan Trainor

A few months ago, I blogged about how I liked Meghan's Trainor's songs from her first album, and could not wait to see what she would sing next. Now she has released her latest songs (NO an Me Too), I am very disappointed. They are both very repetitive and egotistical. They are not nearly as good as the positive, fun songs she used to sing.

She has had a complete image change as well. Gone are the girly outfits and the pretty pastels. Now it is all revealing black outfits and music videos with attitude. One of the things I liked about her was the fact she was different. She was colourful, with a bit of a retro style. Now she is like lots of other artists: boring songs with more focus on being sexy. I would rather she focused on the music.

Do you like her new songs? Or do you prefer her older material?

Campaigning Success!

I often blog about issues Greenpeace are hi-lighting and the ways which you can get involved. This time, I have some success stories for you.

ASDA and Waitrose have both said they will drop the unsustainable tuna company John West by 2017 if they do not clean up their supply chain, which currently uses harmful fishing methods and violates human rights laws. Hopefully, Sainsbury's will follow suit soon. Most big brands that buy palm oil like Nestle, Unilever and Mars have stopped buying from the supplier IOI because they have destroyed so many areas of rainforest. If these companies continue to lose business, they will be forced to change.

Meanwhile, their microbead campaign has taken a big step forward. The government has said that if cosmetic companies don't clean up their act, they will face a ban on microbeads! Greenpeace took their petition of 312,239 signatures to 10 Downing Street this week, and they are waiting for a response. It could result in a full ban on microbeads.

These stories show how our action can make a difference. It proves that even though we are still teens, we can still help change things for the better on a global scale. I hope you will continue to support these campaigns.

Euro 2016 Begins

Tonight was the first match of Euro 16. Normally, I am not that into football, but this year our tutor group have found a way to liven things up. Everyone picked teams out of a hat. Who ever's team wins the championship gets a pound off everyone who entered. I entered for a bit of fun but it seems I have lucked out. I was given Romania and Croatia. Romania has already lost a match to France this evening, and Croatia is unlikely to do much better. I am still hopeful though. The only problem is, I now don't know who I want to win: England or the teams that are going to win me the Jackpot!

Next week we have our exams. Up until now, I have done a good job of not panicking, but when we were given our exam timetables it freaked me out a little. It is very daunting seeing it all laid out on paper. It should be over and done with pretty quickly though. How do you feel about it?

Socceraid

Today, I had a Guys and Dolls rehearsal at school. One of the scenes is really funny, because my friend has to be drunk and dance about on stage. We were all in hysterics in the wings. This afternoon, I have been reading on my swing chair in the beautiful sun.

Now, I am watching Socceraid. Two teams of celebrities and professionals are battling it out as we speak for the trophy in the name of charity. Led by Robbie, the England team are taking on the Rest of the World. The match features Olly Murs, Marvin Humes and 2 members of 1D. Last year, Rest of the World took the trophy, so the England team are determined to take it back this year. But with few professionals on the pitch, anything could happen! Bring on the chaos!

However, the real reason for the match is to raise money for Unicef and their amazing work overseas. Also, the government are matching everyone's donations, so we can raise even more money for this cause. Are you watching?

I Don't Know What I Do In Bed...

The other night, my phone went off at 1 in the morning. This made my dad get up and come in my room. He found me out of bed, turning it off. I even had a conversation with him about it. The next morning, I had no memory of it at all. I had been asleep the WHOLE TIME.

I have done things like this before. I often sit bolt upright in bed,  say something, then lay back down and shut my eyes again. I never remember a thing. Once, my mum found me standing at the top of the stairs. I had been sleepwalking. Again, I remembered nothing. Freaky, right? When I talk in my sleep my mum looks in to see if I'm awake. Once she made out the words to a song.  I seem to be getting worse as I get older.

Have you ever done something like this?

Beach Jewellery

Today I went shopping with my 3 best friends. I bought an awesome travel journal from Paperchase, some glittery trim to use for cardmaking and a tiny little pendant in the shape of two hearts. We also wandered around FatFace. I love outdoor lifestyle brands like that, I really like all their laid back styles, although I am not so keen on their muted colours. I prefer Animal's brighter shades.


While I was in there, I also looked at some jewellery made from coloured cord, the sort that is often found in surf brand shops. I really like that style of jewellery, simple but pretty and perfect for summer days. I personally have a lot of friendship bracelets and I might try and put the pendant I bought onto a cord. Do you like that kind of jewellery?