I wouldn't want to be an apprentice star

The Apprentice is a show which makes me feel good about myself.

I watch the contestants on the show and thank my lucky stars that I am not as arrogant and full of myself as most if not all of those people.

The whole concept of the show is stupid because when in business you are not in direct competition with the people on your team and so I feel it does not show the people as they may otherwise be.

It does,  however, sometimes make me feel as if I am lacking in ambition. Why am I not wanting to be some big wig in a huge company? I think I would dislike the stress of the job and the long hours.

I spend much of my life working long hours and now that I have been at my current job for the last 8 months or so I have come to realise that I like the quiet life. I like coming home at 5 pm and having nothing on for the rest of the day. I like being able to leave things in the office and not think about things when I am not working.

Maybe I lack ambition but I do quite enjoy that.

Back to the apprentice stars, I am quite happy not to have to work with any of them, even if at the end of the day I might end up having a job that could create money.

SNP win

Sat up to watch the election over night last night.

I heard the news about the SNP's taking a landslide and I was not sure.

Yes I thought they would do well and yes I thought the would win but when I woke this morning and saw how well they had been doing I was surprised. This lead to utter shock as I watched the remaining results come trickling through for the rest of the day. I never expected them to do this well.

I remember when they won the last time and that was something I was sure I would never see, now only four years later they have not only won but won by an astonishing margin.

Now they are in again we will see how well they do and how long it takes to try and get independence.

I want to ride my bicycle

I have decided that now that the weather is nicer, and that I have nothing better to do, I am going to ride my bike more.

One of the great benefits I have found so far, and I have only gone out four times, is not the health benefits, or the weight loss, or even how much fun it has been, but how much scenery you can see that you never normally notice.

I moved to Brechin in July last year and although I am getting to know the place and can get around fairly easily I have never really gone off the beaten track and followed the various nature trails around the area. Part of the reason why I never did this was because to walk round the places would, for me, take too long and I would get bored.

Cycling has changed all this and with the good weather I have seen some pretty great sights. It makes you fall in love with your surroundings even more.

Of course I have enjoyed the feel good factor of doing exercise, at times bringing myself back to my childhood by going down hills at 25 mph.  Or going through forests, travelling over tree roots, down holes, almost falling off. Exhilirating.

Amy Macdonald, Love Love tour review, Aberdeen

The crowds snaked around the streets but despite the cold the atmosphere was a happy one, with people eager to get out of the cold and in to see Amy.

Roddy Hart and the Lonesome Fire opened up Amy MacDonald’s “Love Love” tour at Aberdeen’s Music Hall.

Roddy, a singer/songwriter from Glasgow played a five-song repertoire to an unenthusiastic crowd. The soft rock band rushed through the songs with little time to chat, except to sell their merchandise. The songs all sounded similar; in fact they sounded so alike I wonder if it could have been one long song rather than five shorter one. Having said this as the performance went on people began to respond a little more.

The performance itself was a little rigid with the band mainly standing on one spot, lacking in any theatrics. At the end of the last song we finally saw Roddy move. It is a pity that he could not have moved more throughout the entire performance.

During the break the Hall started to fill and it was soon apparently that the event was sold out.

Amy MacDonald came on stage to whistle and cheers and quickly entertained the crowds with her songs Ordinary Life and Poison Prince. The Hall was instantly filled with her unique and powerful vocals as she sang, whilst playing acoustic guitar, with all the emotion and determination that she could. Add to this the full use of stage light; she certainly started as she meant to go on.

She then went on to talk about her last visit to Aberdeen when she brought in the New Year in 2009 and how she used to stay here, which got a few cheers from the crowd.  

Next up were two slightly more sombre songs: LA and The Youth of Today, adding in a bit of keyboard and violins.

She then spoke about her previous gig and how there were three women who sat with arms crossed the whole time. It was a less than subtle hint to get the crowd going and it seemed to work as she went into her next song Love Love.  It certainly seemed to work for her as the crowd clapped and danced more enthusiastically than previously but it was Mr Rock and Roll that really got them going, and for the first time you could hear them singing along.

Footballers Wife was next up, a song that she had avoided for some time since dating a footballer, she showed how “normal” and down to earth she was, just wanting to be Amy rather than a WAG.

She then performed Spark and as the band encouraged the crowd, Amy sang in her booming voice.

Speaking about her next song, she highlighted her morals; it doesn’t matter what you wear, or how you look, beauty is skin deep. The crowd loved this and she swiftly went into her song, Pretty Face.

Don’t Tell Me That It’s Over was the only song, which saw any errors in performance.  The lights filled up the hall and the focus was put onto the audience. It was then that the guitarist Owen seemed to have technical problems but he soon it fixed it and did not detract from the performance.

Troubled Soul and Give It All Up showed the band giving it their all as the crowd focused on the lyrics. It was at this point that Amy thanked her fans for supporting her and letting her be where she is today. It showed her as being level headed and mature.

No Roots started with her performing solo, her voice echoed through the Hall, strong enough to fill it with no problems. As the band joined in the audience came alive. 

Next up was Run which, despite being slow, still got the audience singing along, even those who had previously not responded to the encouragement from the band. 

This Is The Life got everyone dancing along, getting the biggest reaction of the night. 

Ending the night was What Happiness Means To Me slowed the pace down and concentrated solely on Amy until end when the band burst into life much to the audiences delight.

After much enthusiastic and appreciative applause the encore began with Born to Run with Amy performing alone before moving onto Let’s Start A Band, which finished off an entertaining night.

I like it

I know I like this new job because never in my life have I ever taken work home with me, or done anything work related when I was on my weekend. This weekend this all changed as I just sat and did something that I could have left until I went into the office on Monday. Not only did I do it but I enjoyed it.

Roll on the morning and even if it is cold I have armed myself with some new heat in a click hand warmers.

Reporting for duty

Three days into my new job as a reporter at the Brechin advertiser and Forfar Dispatch and I am loving it.
It is a huge change from working in ASDA and I am over joyed that I was given the opportunity to work there. My years at uni were not wasted and finally are getting put to use. Now I just need to build my contacts and keep my head down.

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