Magic me there?

I've been writing a lot of serious posts recently, so today I have decided to write you a short summary of my favourite fictional ways to travel, which I'll probably update as I think of more. Please leave me your suggestions to be added to this list in the comments!

1. FLOO POWDER

From: The Harry Potter Series

Advantages: Quick, Magical folk only, looks amazing

Disadvantages: Dirty, No muggles (awh!), may deposit you one grate too early, not very environmentally friendly.

Why? I like the idea of being able to step into your fireplace and go wherever you like. There's something wonderfully quaint and mystical about this aspect of floo powder. It's cute without being gimmicky, and as far as I can tell, it's pretty original. 

2. BABYLON CANDLE

From: Stardust 

Advantages: It's really valuable, it can travel long distances ridiculously fast, it can follow imprecise commands like 'take me home' 

Disadvantages: It gets confused and takes you to places you'd really rather not be, it's hard to get hold of, and each candle only has one or two journeys in it. 

Why? The candle is black and for something supposedly good, looks wonderfully evil. Also, the phrase 'travel by candlelight' has a wonderful ring to it. 

3. HEART OF GOLD

From: The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)

Advantages: Beautifully random and eccentric, doesn't have to go through hyperspace, flickers through every point in the Galaxy at once, looks pretty, is filled with wonderfully strange rooms/people/fish. 

Disadvantages: Often appears in very dangerous places, easy to loose when you've misplaced it, vulnerable to the attacks of cricket-robots, not as fast as the bistromath, can't fly and make tea at the same time

Why? This is without doubt the coolest space ship in the universe. It works on the principle of improbability. The whole series refuses to take itself seriously, and as such, is the most hilarious and yet beautiful science-fiction series of all time - and certainly it's only trilogy in five parts. 

4. ASLAN'S BREATH

From: The Silver Chair (6th book of the Narnia Series, C.S. Lewis)

Advantages: Fast, very good view, warm and comfortable, very safe

Disadvantages: Only Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole get to try it out, and even then only once. Also, involves falling off cliffs. 

Why? Although it sounds initially VERY WEIRD, in context, it makes a lot of sense. Aslan is a lion/God, he's sending them on a mission, they're all at the top of a cliff looking over the entire world, so he lets them float to their destination over Narnia on a sort of cloud made of his breath. C.S. Lewis' writing, as usual, is extraordinarily beautiful. Don't start the Narnia series with this book though - the best introduction is the 2nd chronologically, but principle book, the ever famous The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. 

5. DRAGON

From: Everywhere, but I'd like to pick the time Dr Faustus gets to write a dragon with Mephistopheles in Christopher Marlowe's play Dr Faustus.

Advantages: Seriously cool, quite fast, and if you tame them it wouldn't be a bad ride. 

Disadvantages: The scales might make it quite uncomfortably, people run away from you, the dragon may decide to eat you, and it's very hard to steer a dragon. Apparently. 

Why? Again, the cool factor triumphs. Also, Dr Faustus is enjoying the benefits of being seriously evil at this point, which is quite a welcome rescue from wizards in pointy hats jumping on their cute pet dragons etc. I saw a production of Dr Faustus at the Globe where the dragons were these wonderful blackened skeletons, terrifying looking things, the perfect complement to the Jacobean dress and all... It was beautiful, comic, and haunting. Also, the fire-breathing could be quite handy.  

6. NAZGUL

From: Lord of the Rings

Advantages: Fast, powerful shriek, quite hard to kill (a sword through the neck usually does the trick)

Disadvantages: Large size makes it hard to balance on buildings, ugly.

Why? Most of the characters travel by foot, horse or pony in LOTR, which emphasises the human aspect of the epic, but frankly, isn't very exciting. As ever, the baddies, who have no need for the valour of a slog across Middle Earth, get the coolest transport, although the goodies get the best costumes. The Nazgul are horrible, but with all the SFX, they are  also quite spectacular. 

7. T-65 X WING STARFIGHTER
From: Star Wars 

Advantages: Fast, cool navigation & targeting equipment, precise, fits one droid & one human/humanoid, good weapons if you like blowing things up

Disadvantages: Blows up ridiculously easily, no good if you land it in a swamp

Why? Luke Skywalker has one. Also, it's possible to blow up the Death Star with one of these, as they're very fast and can make quite precise moves. Also, it kind of means unlimited access to any planet in the galaxy. 

8. HAGRID'S MOTORBIKE & THE FORD ANGLIA, also THURSDAY NEXT'S SPORT'S CAR
From: Harry Potter Series & Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair 

Advantages: Technology at its utmost, augmented by magic! Fast, potent, and eccentric.

Disadvantages: Occasionally unreliable, all of them stand out, two of them are dependant on magic

Why? It's a bit retro and  and very effective, and a great way of announcing that you're a trustworthy character.

My inner geek is satisfied. 

Return of the Blog

I have decided to keep up my blog! ( hums death star theme tune!).

So...
Since I last posted, my life has rather vaguely revolved around school, grades, subjects and french revision. I still believe education has the power to be terrifically exciting, I've just realised it makes every other aspect of your life boring. Being a bit of a geek (ehem...yes.), after a day of school all I can think of to talk about is...school. Conclusion: It's time to change the subject.

The sun has come back! I'm feeling happier already. I'm one of those awkward people who hates whatever season I'm in, but now isn't too bad, if a little windy. I have a feeling this summer will be beautiful. Already the skys of my mind are a vivid blue, the thin clouds embossed far below the level of my thoughts. At last, after my long struggle last year, I'm properly happy again. I've been fine for a month and a half, maybe two, and I feel more like myself than I have in two years.

Last night I washed and plaited my hair (with some help, hairdressing is not my forte!) and now I have rather wonderful wavy hair. The sixthform at my school (drat, I'm doing it again!) had to dress on the theme 'Movies' today, so I came as a rather feeble impression of Hermione Granger, complete with wand. Not overly imaginative, but my wardrobe and purse are rather sparse for exciting constume making. The wand, a remnant of a childhood Harry Potter obsession, has a light up tip and sound effects, which transformed my sober and mature sixthform friends into overexcited wizard-wannabes. Brilliant! Any time you think your friends are getting too serious, a short trip back to their childhood will solve the problem. I grew up with Harry Potter and his friends, from early primary school, and it was noticable how everyone I talked to today took the wand into their stride. It's part of our culture as children of the 90's - we're the Harry Potter generation.

Sadly this beautiful day hasn't been so perfect for everyone. I was woken by my radio-alarm telling me about the earthquake and subsequent Tsunami hitting Japan and spreading out across the pacific. We flow from one horror story to another, war and revolution to natural disaster and on. Has it always been like this? The world precariously balanced, as if any moment we could collapse into terror, the news flashes baying their sadistic sincerity. I wonder if we're living through a moment of particular disaster and - if the earth lasts that long! - one day, we'll tell our children about watching Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, New Zealand, Australia, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan, the economies, the EU, all crumble under blood and fire and water. Perhaps one day people will be so used to democracies dividing and people dying in their multitudes, nameless, we'll become numb to it all. Do disasters raise our humanity, or grind it away?
Jesus. In disaster he fell on the cross, under the thumb of a great empire tearing away the liberties of his people. He had nothing and was humbled, dying under the mocking calls of  soldiers whilst his followers hid and denied his name. Is there anything more terrible than the agony of an innocent who dies to save the guilty? Is there anything braver, than to walk to one of the most painful and humiliating forms of death knowing you could escape - Jesus is God, he could have - but choosing to? Our God chose to walk to death that day. But then. Then.
Imagine the might of the flood. The hurricane. The storm and tornado and tsumani and earthquake and avalanche and the radiant poison of the pollutants and fires, their toxic gases spreading over earth. All these things can take away your homes, your familes, your live. They are killers. But that is the end of there power: their dominion ends at death. Look. There is the pause, where we wait, listening. What happens next?

God. Death took an innocent man in Jesus, like thousands today, the people dying as I write this in the tsunami, the people slipping away at the end of their lives, the others, the many. Yet because Jesus died, God himself in human form, something miraculous is happening.

After the boundary of death there is God's kingdom. God rules, death is defeated, the tsunami and the poisons and the aching seeping wound of evil on the earth is nothing. I believe in this Kingdom, the dead are living. Jesus opened the gates of life and he is holding out his hand, reaching out for the sufferers to show them the way.

Basically... Death is an Epic Fail!

Even in the darkest night we have hope, whether your darkness is a bad patch at school or languishing in prison or waiting for the waters to recede so you can search for your loved ones and destroyed homes. If you are out there in one of those traumatised countries, or just suffering in your own lives, I hope things will change for you soon. Thousands of people out there are praying for you & God is with you. It's a little hard to express without sounding insincere, but I really do hope and believe that there is always hope, and God can change lives. And to the people of Japan, the world is with you in your suffering.


...I think I just invented a split personality blog. I really need to improve my writing!...
Peace out & God Bless!
J.