Solemn Liverpool Blues

After months and months of anticipation and sheer excitement, the time had finally come for me and one of my favourite gig buddies to head off to Liverpool for the annual Sound City Festival on Bramley Moore Docks. Fuelled by cider and a longing to be reunited with Van McCann once more, I packed my Docs and fishnets and we hit the the road. Soon, after a long drive, I was finally at one again in my beloved Liverpool and not long after arriving we were putting on our hippest vintage shirts and ripped shorts as of course the indie stereotypes that we are and got ready to make our way to the festival. Unfortunately, the festival didn't turn out to be as grand as we had expected; for one, the taxi there ended up costing half of my wages and the cider and pizza at the festival further cost the rest of my wages *slight exaggeration for dramatic effect*.

With having no choice but to arrive at supposedly the last entry at 4:00pm, we were then forced to sit around for 7 hours until Catfish and the Bottlemen headlined at 11:00pm. Whilst being left with no choice but to wait around for my favourite band, I was further forced to remain sober for this entire ordeal as there was no chance I was paying £5 every time I wanted a shitty 250ml bottle of Bulmers. So, hungry, sober and poor, we decided that there was no chance we could put ourselves through that all night so at about 6:00pm we decided to jack that shit in and head in to the City Centre; on the way selling my wristband to some 40 odd year old raver with a tenner at the back of a pub.

Despite the festival which was an absolute disaster; with dead crowds, live drawers of naked men and a shitty VIP section; I also forgot to mention that Palma Violets were cancelled days before which absolutely killed me although, I probably wouldn’t have stuck around to see them anyway because we could just not cope with the atmosphere that was equivalent to having a filling without anaesthesia. *I digress* Nonetheless I still had an absolutely great time in a great city which allowed me to escape the stressful horrors of exam season for a short while.

After ditching the festival, which is better left unspoken about and of which we also didnt return to the next day, we spent our days exploring Liverpool instead. We headed to the Albert Docks and picked up some ice cream to refuel our happy vibes and just sat for a while, appreciating how nice it is to just do nothing and watch time go by aimlessly. We engulfed ourselves in the city, exploring its culture and history, indulging ourselves with good food, good music and overall good vibes. One of the highlights to my weekend was visiting Tate Liverpool; I'm an absolute sucker for art galleries and museums in general and after already visiting this art gallery a few years back, I just couldn't wait to return and I felt like there was no opportune moment like the present. We roamed around for hours appreciating the fine work of Francis Bacon, Franz Kline, Picasso and then eventually headed to the high street to do what I do best... spending all of my money on things that I do not need. 

I am now broke whilst also being the proud owner of some new Doc Martens and many other things that have left my bank account very empty (My Liverpool purchases may be featuring on my blog very soon!). But, I can honestly say despite my now lack of money and the regret of not getting to see Van McCann and Pete Doherty. I have still had an absolutely incredible weekend and am now suffering solemn blues after arriving back in Telford. 

Above, are all the images from my adventures over the weekend and I definitely recommend anyone who has not had the joys of going to Liverpool, to hop on a train, bus, coach or any other form of transport and just hit the road Jack.

The Clueless Blogger

International Women's Day

First of all, Happy International Women's Day to all of you fellow independant females out there who don't need to rely on men or feel the need to fit in this so called society that man has created; I'd like to applaud us all for making it this far in this patriarchal world. To me, this day is all about celebrating the glory that it is to be a woman but also the progress that we have made over the years; if it wasn't for the likes of Emily Davison, Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst back in the early 19th century, then us women would not be standing where we are now with the rights that we so rightly deserve. I think that it is highly important that we never forget these iconic figures who were the pioneers of gender equality and to them I am forever grateful.

As I sit here with my right to vote; my right to an education; my right to wear what I wish and speak out as I wish, I dont feel privileged but I am entirely grateful to the suffragettes and suffragists. I dont feel privileged, why should I? Why should I, feel privileged that the government finally issued me my rights in 1928? Rights, that all men were given at birth yet for some reason the government felt us undeserving and penalised us due to the fact we do not have a penis or a big ego (excuse the vulgarity). What I do feel privileged of, is that I am of the same gender as such empowering women as Emily Davison.

Yet, despite all of the hard work of women across the years, I'm still dissatisfied with how we are treated and why our actions are questioned based on gender stereotypes:

'That skirt is too short, you're obviously asking for it'

'That's un-lady like of you'

'Women aren't as strong as men'

'Why would a pretty girl like you have a face full of piercings?'

'Women can't play ...'

'Men are generally more successful'

'Women are nothing without men'

Yes, we may have progressed exceptionally from where we began but there is still so much in-equality left in the world. Some might believe that there is no longer such thing as a patriarchal society but all you have to do is look at the likes of the Vatican City and Saudi Arabia who still don't possess the right to vote or, the lack of a right to an education in Egypt and Chad. How can we blissfully ignore all of the wrong doings against women, just because it isn't happening right in front of us, it doesn't mean that gender in-equality doesn't exist; open your eyes. 

As much as I love Women's Independance Day, a day dedicated to female empowerment; it does however come at the price of male naivety as they question, 'Why don't we get an Independance Day?'. The ignorance of some males opinions today, riled me to conduct this blog post as if they really cared so much about having a day dedicated to their egotism, they would have surely looked more heavily into and realised that in fact the 19th November is Male Independance Day. Yet, no they didn't really care about having their own Independance Day but instead wanted to deter the attention away from a day solely dedicated to women as their ego's are shy of some attention for 24 hours. 

Just because there is a difference between our anatomies, why should we be considered so inferior to the male race? Don't get me wrong, I am not by any means a misandrist and I am not aiming for a matriarchal society but instead just a society where we are all considered equal and don't face sexist remarks or get discriminated against just because of a gender; I don't want to hear people proclaiming that, 'She asked for rape, look at what she's wearing'. Don't get me wrong, this blog post may appear to be attacking some men however, that is as a result of some male comments that I have witnessed recently.  I want to hear men praising women for their strength, for their intelligence, their courage, beauty and I want to hear women returning compliments because at the end of the day beneath it all, we are all made up of the same matter; take away the surface and we all possess the same structure.

The Clueless Blogger

The Eden Project

Recently, I have been been back down to one of my favourite places again..Cornwall. For those of you who don't know, Cornwall is home to The Eden Project. Basically, The Eden Project is an educational eco-park consisting of huge biomes which contain plants from all over the world. Ok..so that sounds really dorky and probably a wee bit boring but honestly it's completely the opposite! I have always wanted to go and have always put it off as its quite a long drive away from where I stay, however I was so happy that I finally went. For any of you, who are major enthusiasts of anything botanical, thrill seekers, organic food lovers or even if you're someone who just appreciates the beauty of nature; this is the perfect place for you (I sound like I've been paid to advertise the place, ha).

I have never been so in my element before (besides when I'm in a vinyl shop)and the whole experience completely blew me away. There is just so much to see and do there: you can have endless amounts of fun strolling through the Mediterranean and Rainforest biomes; gaze at the giant bumblebees; wander through the palm trees; experience a traditional Malay house; sip on an organic coconut cocktail; roam through the muddy bare-foot trail or even have a quick cream tea in the cafe( She says in her best Stoke accent). There are also numerous exhibitions that take place, I was uber lucky for there to be a dinosaur one on at the time of which I was able to release my inner-geek. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to go on the sky high zip wire of which I was extremely sad about however, no doubt I will be returning.

Throughout my entire adventure, I took so many photos that would completely spam my blog so instead, below are a few that basically sum up my experience. 

I almost forgot, they also had a giant green house full of plants that you could purchase; for me this was one of my favourite parts as I have an obsession with filling my room with them! Thanks to The Eden Project, I now have a total of 20 plants in my room of which I can now basically call a jungle.

*HIGHLY RECOMMEND A VISIT*

The Clueless Blogger

Seaside Playlist

Last week me and the rest of the Perry family went away to Cornwall for a week away; as we have more family down there, it is something we do quite regularly however this time we stopped at St. Ives instead of the usual place, Looe. Although, Looe is a lovely little town and I love it there; St. Ives is just beautiful. Cornwall is one of my favourite places to venture in the UK, it is so chill and hip and it's just a great place to get away to even if its just for a few days. With me being the music geek that I am, I obviously have to make a new playlist that is fitting for wherever I go. This is one of my favourite playlists yet and I feel that it's really appropriate for the beach setting whether you're just going for a stroll on the beach or reading a book, it's quite a peaceful track list.

Seaside Playlist

Bitter Palace

Ask The Smiths

Feels Like We Only Go Backwards Tame Impala

Gracious Ben Howard

Still The Japanese House

My House By The Water Mac De Marco

Sunday Morning The Velvet Underground

Veins Palace

Oceans Seafret

Pools To Bathe In The Japanese House

Take Me To The Water Nina Simone

Girl From The North Country Bob Dylan

Caught Florence & The Machine

Video Girl FKA Twigs

Above: Clearly having a whale of a time here ft. my wild hair and my awkward pose as I attempt to recover from a rogue wave

As you can probably tell by the above playlist, I'm a huge fan of The Japanese House and also Florence and the Machine. For me, The Japanese House are nothing like anything I've heard before, which is why I think I love them so much. My obsession with Florence and the Machine has also grown as I've recently brought her new album on vinyl, 'How Big How Blue How Beautiful'. All of the above songs are ones that I really thing bring the sense of the beach and the ocean waves all the way back home to me and are increasing my holiday blues as I continue to listen to them. If there is one thing you should take away from this playlist though, I definitely suggest listening to the Glass Animals, another new find of mine as I think they’re really rad.

The Clueless Blogger

The Clueless Blogger

As you have probably already figured out, I'm new to this blogging scene and have absolutely no clue as to where to start so I'm just going to attempt to talk a little about myself and why I've started this blog. So.. I'm Francesca and I am a 17 year old student living in the West Midlands. Ok, that sounded like the beginning of an AA speech.. Anyway, I am a huge enthusiast of Literature; The Smiths; Cacti;American History and Instagramming pointless photos. I also have a tendency to sleep my days away and my ultimate weakness is soup! 

I've been meaning to start a blog for a while now and have consistently put it off because I never knew where to start; I decided that as I have seven weeks until I return to Sixth Form, I have a long time to figure it all out. The title of my blog basically came from my state of mind 99.9% of the time as I am pretty clueless about most things so this blog could be one huge learning curve for me.

I don't have a theme for my blog in particular but I'm just going to blog about anything that comes into my head at the time. As I am a History,and Literature student; there may be occasions where I write blog posts based on historical events or political affairs that I'm passionate about and as I love to read, there will most likely be reviews on books that I have recently read. Besides my studies, I'm really into travelling, vinyl collecting and vintage shopping so if any of this sounds like it would 'float your boat', then stick around. 

I'm hoping this blogging affair goes to plan and maybe eventually I can change my name to the 'Informed, perceptive or even savvy blogger' but for now I'm looking forward to this clueless journey into the world of blogging.

The Clueless Blogger

P.s. I have a 'Blogging for Dummies' book that I'm going to attempt to get through so this journey may not be as painfully clueless as I thought