CONVERSATION
This Week - 10/10/2021
This week has been tough. Last week I couldn't even bear the limited amount of self-reflection it would take to write a round-up and just posted some more magazine scans. I don't know if it's the weather or the earlier nights or simply the never ending barrage of bad national news, but I've been mightily depressed.
The next thing on the horizon is the election and everything it entails. I've got a pre-selection interview next Tuesday. Then it'll be branch selection. Then, providing I've jumped those two hurdles, canvassing for the actual election. (We did a session of door knocking in South Sebastopol yesterday morning. I amazed myself tbh by knocking on about 50 strangers' doors, lol.) Then the count. I feel physically sick every time I even think about it.
I've been starting to look at job adverts for the local area, etc, because even if I make it through selection it's no guarantee. In the meantime I will try and make a doctor's appointment to ask if I can have my dosage increased again...
Today, to add insult to injury, my laptop has been on the blink and I've just noticed I have my first grey hair. It's really not been my week!
Deal of the Week -
There are also a few of freebies 100% worth getting available this week: The Beano are offering a free issue (including postage), Tetley are sending out free personalised teabags, and you can get a free personalised photo card from Hallmark (including postage) at the moment with discount code FREECARD2021.
Song of the Week -
CONVERSATION
This Week - 26/09/2021.
On the blog I posted another death on the canal case, a guide to the new playline Kid Kreations Sindy line, a cover guide to Kicks magazine, my top 20 UK refer a friend schemes, and Welsh UFO sightings from 2000. I also posted scans of Just Seventeen magazine from June 1985.
Deal of the Week -
Song of the Week -
Shaky Shaky - Daddy Yankee
CONVERSATION
This Week - 19/09/2021
It was pretty busy this week with the usual crop of online meetings and, for the first time in ages, a couple of actual face to face events. On Monday I had a school governors' meeting at Croesyceiliog Secondary, then on Tuesday we had a planning visit to the British site in Talywain.
Apart from work, I've been busy with all the regular tasks - listing stuff on ebay, scanning a bunch of magazines, getting on with research, etc, etc. I've finally decided to start a blog series on all the cases I've collected of people who have drowned in the local stretch of the Mon & Brec canal. Apparently 'normal' people think the topic very morbid, but it's not as if I've ever worried about that!
I just think it's amazing how you can have a tiny little newspaper report consisting of a sentence or two, and from that you can trace a person's whole life, discover where they lived, who their family were, if they had any other newspaper appearances, etc. We all need a hobby, I guess... xD
In other news I made a start on the Christmas shopping. I've been getting bits throughout the year so I don't have too much to do; just Marianna's presents for the most part. Of course I had to arrange it so she was born on New Year's Day so once I've trawled the net for Christmas gifts it starts all over again for birthday pressies. I'm keeping an online note of what I'm getting HERE.
On the blog I posted a guide to the new Crystalina fairy dolls, Let It Rock magazine, and Welsh UFO sightings of 1999. I also posted scans of the first issue of Kicks magazine from November 1981 and the first entry in a new series on people who have drowned in the Mon & Brec canal.
Deal of the Week -
Song of the Week -
The Prune Song - Frank Crumit
CONVERSATION
This Week - 05/09/2021
Back to school tomorrow! I would say the time has flown by but... it hasn't. :)
On the blog I posted guides to 2ge+her dolls, New Sounds New Styles magazine, and Welsh UFO sightings of 1913. I also posted scans of Patches #188 (09/10/1982), and reviews of Molded Candy and the Aquaplanet waterproof backpack.
Deal of the Week -
Song of the Week -
Gwreiddiau - Sŵnami
CONVERSATION
This Week - 29/08/2021
I'm sure I did stuff this week - I mean, I've made it to Sunday after all - but my mind is a blank!
Marianna wanted to try camping so Anthony's dad dug out their two man tent and pitched it in our garden for us. We made it to 1:00 am before Marianna asked to come back inside... I have to say I was relieved; it was bloody freezing and my back was in pieces. But then I've never been a fan of the whole sleeping under canvas thing.
(My parents will tell anyone who'll listen about my endless childhood complaints.)
We went to the park a few times. I caught up on backdating a bunch of UFO posts. I jarred my back all over again when a spider ran across my lap and I leaped about five foot in the air...
On Saturday we went to a little family barbecue at my mum and dad's. By about half seven I was sunburned, tipsy, and napping on the sofa.
On the blog I posted a guide to Mermaid High dolls, Blitz magazine, and Welsh UFO sightings of 2010.
Deal of the Week -
Song of the Week -
Seagulls! (Stop it Now) - Master Yoda
CONVERSATION
This Week - 22/08/2021
I've not done one of these posts for a while now... The changes to the Tots100 chart disillusioned me a bit with blogging and I've been on a fandom kick for a few weeks instead - to the tune of around 50,000 words over the last month. Mostly for a distraction from the real world, probably. My head's not been good, my general health's not been good, and the news is just so unrelentingly miserable. *sigh*
Anyway, what we did this week: On Monday we took Marianna to the cinema to see Spirit Untamed. I was given some money for my birthday so I splurged on drinks and popcorn and stuff, and - though I may have rested my eyes for just a short amount of the film (!) - Marianna had a really good time.
At home we did some crafting, etc, and some much needed sorting. How do we accumulate so much junk all the time? I've no idea. Mostly it's felt like I spent the week following the news coming out of Afghanistan. There are no words really. I think what hits hardest is watching in real time how little value is placed on human life: people being literally crushed to death while governments around the world insist on the correct forms being filled out in triplicate before doing anything to help them...
Marianna and I stayed at my mum and dad's for the weekend. Rhys and Hannah took her swimming yesterday, actually distracting her from roblox for a couple of hours, and I binged a whole bunch of crime drama including The Loch and The Pact. I managed to get lots of work done, and finished reading The Sheik too. Even by the standards of the time (1921) it is absolutely dreadful; I couldn't make myself care about any of the characters, except perhaps poor little Zilah, and when Diana suddenly decided she loved Ahmed after he shot her horse... Yuck.
On the blog I posted a guide to Na Na Na Surprise Teens dolls, Noise! magazine, and Welsh UFO sightings of 2009.
Deal of the Week -
Song of the Week -
Kentucky - Donkeyboy
CONVERSATION
Review: Glitterify Me Glitter Tattoo Kits
Marianna was super impatient to try out the glitter tattoo kit we were sent to review. The range offers a variety of kits designed to help you create your very own glitter tattoos. Being new to the process - and dubious of my artistic ability! - I went for the 'My First Glitter Tattoo'. Even I couldn't mess that up, surely?
Design chosen, you simply peel and stick it into place. That done you use the bottle of glue provided to apply a thin layer - it's just like applying nail varnish, but without having to worry about staying in the lines...
Marianna loved it, and I was so impressed I gave myself a lizard tattoo. Even his little claws (fingers? whatever they are) are defined. ♥
The other thing to note is that the tattoos really are waterproof. You can exfoliate them away easy enough, but just being in and out of water - or even washing with soap - will do little to remove it, meaning you can keep them for days without needing to reapply.
For more like this, please click the picture below:
Okay, I still lacked faith in myself, but I was so pleasantly surprised when I actually got started. You can't go wrong. Seriously. The most difficult part of the process was getting Marianna to decide which design she wanted.
After you've given the glue a few minutes you then get to apply the glitter. Marianna decided she wanted half of the seahorse to be blue, and the other half to be red. Again, I was really pleased by how well the glitter stuck to the glue. I had kind of been expecting to end up with glitter absolutely everywhere, but instead the clean up just involved a tissue.
Finally it was time for the moment of truth. As I peeled off the sticker I braced myself for the kind of disappointed whinging that only comes with the end results of the 'we can do it ourselves at home' philosophy. But!
Just look at this seahorse:
Marianna loved it, and I was so impressed I gave myself a lizard tattoo. Even his little claws (fingers? whatever they are) are defined. ♥
The other thing to note is that the tattoos really are waterproof. You can exfoliate them away easy enough, but just being in and out of water - or even washing with soap - will do little to remove it, meaning you can keep them for days without needing to reapply.
So, final thoughts: These kits are awesome. Whether you're the super crafty kind who wants to make their own stencils, or the totally craft averse who just wants something to turn out like the promo picture, these glitter tattoo kits have you covered. Our kit came with dozens of designs, four colours of glitter, the glue and an application brush - aka everything you need. And the process is so simple kids can even do it themselves and achieve great results.
Check the available sets out for yourself at Glitterify Me. There is free UK shipping on all products, and right now there is also a sale on. The kit we tried makes up to 25 tattoos; so at the current sale price of £13.56, that's less than 55p per tattoo!
* We were sent the kit to try out, but all thoughts and opinions are our own. *
CONVERSATION
This Week - 13/06/2021
Overall it's been a pretty good week! I won a Singer sewing machine in a competition (find it on ebay), was offered a few pieces of blog work, and I had one of my stories podficced for the first time. :)
In work it was education scrutiny committee on Tuesday and Wednesday. To be honest I was planning to kind of coast the meeting and just ask a couple of questions, enjoying the first one I've been to where I don't have to chair. ...So of course the chair couldn't make it and I was nominated to sub for her. It kept me on my toes, I guess!
Marianna had a teacher training day on Friday so I took her to the Bron Afon litter pick in the morning. She was less than impressed with the idea - her argument was "I don't want to go, I don't want to be part of a community" - but I think she had a decent enough time once we got there. At least it meant she didn't spend all day playing Roblox / watching Youtubers play Roblox.
On the flipside I felt really ill on Thursday and ended up sleeping through a meeting - which might sound great if it weren't for the freaky nightmares I couldn't wake from. I always get really panicked when I sleep that heavily, afraid it means a backslide to chronic fatigue and just losing huge chunks of time to exhaustion. (Seriously, I just don't remember 2013.) Marianna came down with a cold though yesterday which made me feel a bit better, as it was probably just cold germs and not anything more serious.
The other downer was the announcement by TOTS100 that they're switching from being a blog chart to an 'influencer' chart. The biggest weight will now be given to your Instagram account. I rarely even log into Insta unless it's to enter a competition so I dropped 382 places in the new ranking. So, yeah, I deleted my TOTS account because, what's the point? If I was into pictures and social media I wouldn't spend all my time on long form writing. Sigh.
On the blog I posted a guide to Crayola Colour n' Style Friends dolls, my top ten hits of 2008, scans of Just Seventeen magazine from 17/04/1985, and Welsh UFO sighting reports for 2020.
Deal of the Week -
Song of the Week -
For more like this, please click the image below:
Deal of the Week -
Song of the Week -
So Far Gone - Thousand Foot Krutch
CONVERSATION
Hits of 2008
My top ten favourite tracks of 2008!
5 Years Time - Noah and the Whale
This was originally released in 2007 but failed to chart. It proved to be second time lucky, peaking at #7 in the UK and #10 in Ireland. I liked the recognition of the uncertainty of thinking ahead into the future. It's easy to say 'we'll be together forever' or whatever, but nobody really knows, do they?
So What - Pink
I've always loved Pink, right from 'There You Go', and this is one of my favourites.
Fascination - Alphabeat
Who doesn't love a bit of Danish power pop? Alphabeat originally released this one to the home market in 2006, then in 2008 it reached #6 in the UK.
Viva La Vida - Coldplay
I'm not a big Coldplay fan, but I'll make an exception for this one.
What's It Gonna Be - H "Two" O ft. Platnum
I played this so much when I was stuck in the library studying back at university, dreaming of being somewhere - anywhere - else.
Nine In The Afternoon - Panic! At The Disco
Definitely their best song, in my opinion.
Black and Gold - Sam Sparro
Still such a fantastic track. <3
Heartbeat - Scouting For Girls
I went straight out and bought their album on CD which was already becoming a rarity for me by '08. No regrets though!
Wearing My Rolex - Wiley
It might have been, in the inimitable words of Dr. Syntax, watered down grime pop - but I still enjoyed it!
I Kissed a Girl - Katy Perry
It spent five weeks at #1 and outraged morally conservative types everywhere.
What was your favourite hit of 2008? Let me know in the comments. :)
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CONVERSATION
This Week - 06/06/2021
Another half term holiday completed! We didn't do anything particularly exciting, but I tried to make it a bit special for Marianna - we had a picnic, a movie night, had the paddling pool out one day, etc. One day she had free reign of the remote to play all her favourite songs on YouTube and dance along, which reignited the ol' 'everything she listens to is completely inappropriate' arguments...
At the moment she's obsessed with Melanie Martinez, Billie Eilish, and Ashnikko. Because they all dye their hair/wear wigs, dance, dress up, and act out fantasy scenarios... I kind of feel like if I make a big deal about the lyrics being unsuitable it would only draw her attention to them and make them seem all the more exciting / glamorous or whatever for it. As it is she's never asked what any of it means and instead is like, can we watch the Melanie Martinez one where she's a doll? (Dollhouse) Or can we see Ashnikko when she's the pirate? (Deal With It)
I dunno, I feel like it's done way less damage than some dumb video she watched about haunted chucky cheese and ended up afraid of all her own teddy bears for a month...
Other than entertaining, I've managed to get some more UFO research done and list a bunch of stuff on ebay. It sometimes amazes me our house is always so cluttered when we're always getting rid of things!!
On the blog I posted a guide to Curli Girls dolls, my reading list for May, Welsh UFO sightings for 2019, and Just Seventeen magazine scans from 19/06/1985.
Deal of the Week -
Song of the Week -
New Friends - Maty Noyes
CONVERSATION
This Week - 23/05/2021
It was a pretty busy week. We had the Council AGM on Tuesday morning, and the latter half of the week was swallowed up with the interview and appointment process for the deputy headteacher at Maendy Primary. It's the second SLT appointment panel I've been on and it's amazing the difference not having Covid at the time makes. This go around was about 300% less terrible!
Marianna and I then spent the weekend at my parents. On Saturday we all watched Eurovision and Marianna, despite my best attempts, was resolved to support the UK through the contest. I actually thought our song was okay this year for a change but, obviously, we have gone out of our way to make ourselves hated across the continent. Even Australia wasn't won over enough by the prospect of decimating our farming industry with Bozo's proposed trade deal to give us a point.
My favourites were Italy, Iceland and Lithuania. (I have waited my entire life for men's flared legged business suits to come back into power - think Robert Powell in 1972's Asylum - and this Eurovision gave me real hope. There were flares everywhere.) I really didn't think a lot of the French entry though...
On Sunday we had entertainment on the doorstep when a bunch of lads ran past with baseball bats and balaclavas! Seriously, kids lately seem to think they're living in inner city London instead of suburban South Wales. The Mayhill riots in Swansea are fresh in everyone's minds so Gwent Police decided to come down hard and fast. Apparently there were armed officers out in Sebastopol - last time I remember seeing armed police locally was like three or four years ago for a drug raid - and they had the helicopter out and a bunch of squad cars.
Anyway, these lads were running past then a squad car came to a stop right outside my mum's house, in the middle of the street, and the dog handler got out with this proper terrifying looking Alsatian. Most of the boys ran, but one obviously didn't fancy his chances and just went down on his knees, hands in the air, like something out of a movie!
Molly, of course, barked ceaselessly throughout the whole event at the outrage of the police dog encroaching on her territory. She obviously has no real understanding of the size differential between herself (chihuahua) and an Alsatian. xD The 'copter stayed out for a while but that was all the drama we saw. Gwent Police made nine arrests and have put a dispersal order back on the town centre and part of Southville today. Northville was left out which seems kind of weird given the ongoing problems it already had around St Woolos Green...
I dunno, it's not scary exactly, but it is worrying. I don't think youths are inevitably going to cause trouble or anything like that, but what we've seen from Belfast, Swansea, London, etc, over the last few months is that it's easy to rile up a crowd into doing things they normally wouldn't. I guess we just have to hope that the police response proved the quick sharp shock that's needed.
On the blog I posted a guide to the A*teenz dolls, my top ten hits of 1985, and scans of Just Seventeen magazine from 16/10/1985. This week's Welsh UFO sightings were from 1985.
Deal of the Week -
Song of the Week -
Discoteque - The Roop
CONVERSATION
Hits of 1985
My top ten hits of 1985!
19 - Paul Hardcastle
Stayed at the UK #1 spot for five weeks and for many years as a kid represented just about everything I knew of the Vietnam War. It's still pretty powerful to listen to, though I'm not sure if the embedded video will play - YouTube gave me a warning message that it was only suitable for older viewers!
Running Up That Hill - Kate Bush
Just as hauntingly amazing now as it was then.
The Whole of the Moon - The Waterboys
Peaking at #26 it would later go on to reach #3 when it was re-released in 1991.
Holding Out For a Hero - Bonnie Tyler
❤
Kayleigh - Marillion
Single handedly responsible for putting Kayleigh in the top UK girls' names lists ever since.
We Built This City - Starship
This US #1 peaked at #12 on the UK charts. At least until LadBaby covered it in 2018 but, surely, the less said about that the better!
Don't You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds
The Breakfast Club soundtrack for the win.
Merry Christmas Everyone - Shakin' Stevens
1985's Christmas Number One.
You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) - Dead or Alive
It took 17 weeks to get there but Dead or Alive inched up and up the charts until they hit the top spot in March '85.
Frankie - Sister Sledge
You've got to love a bit of Sister Sledge! This one hit #1 in the UK chart.
What was your favourite hit of 1985? Let me know in the comments. :)
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CONVERSATION
This Week - 16/05/2021
This week has been kind of boring on an individual level. Various online meetings, trips to the park, UFO research... same old, same old. There was some good news politically though. Drakeford has appointed Torfaen's MS, Lynne Neagle, as minister for mental health and wellbeing - it's great to see it being taken so seriously at such a senior level.
Drakeford has also committed to running a pilot for a UBI (universal basic income) scheme, and said the UK needs to reconsider the future of devolution. :)
Glad to hear that Drakeford is already demanding a discussion about the future of the UK - and it’s only Monday. I give you the Drake(ford) meme. Enjoy. @YesCymru @Lab4IndyWales @NationCymru pic.twitter.com/vEU6DT1cpf
— the_outlaw_jonesey_wales (@Jonesey_the) May 10, 2021
Back home, my very first order from Shein arrived! I was seriously impressed with it. The clothing was much better quality than I expected for the price - I paid £87.50 including shipping for 2 longline cardigans, 2 jumpers, 2 t-shirts, a scarf, 2 necklaces, stickers, 2 headbands, 3 pairs of earrings, and 10 pin badges - and it was all packaged really nicely too. So, yeah, if you're on the fence about ordering from there, I wholeheartedly recommend the place.
I have almost completed my wardrobe update now. Basically I just wanted clothing that made me happy, so it's been out with the dull and the sensible and in with colour. Rainbow cardigans, fluffy cloud jumpers, slouchy pastel t-shirts, 50s style circle skirts... It's already been making a huge difference to my mood.
And my productivity. I spent a lot of time this week working on UK media coverage of UFOs and aliens in the 1950s. It's really interesting to see how the phenomena goes from, well, this is something that could very well be real and ought to be explored by science, to it's utterly ridiculous and the only people who believe are little kids or weirdos in the space of a few short years.
On the blog I posted a guide to Dream Seekers dolls, some thoughts on the proposed new Voter ID scheme, and scans of another Just Seventeen magazine. I wrote up the Welsh UFO sightings for 1989, and started a media timeline of UFO mentions in the UK during the 1950s.
Deal of the Week -
Song of the Week -
Northern Lights - Renaissance
CONVERSATION
This Week - 11/12/2020
(The quote is actually from a piece about Bevan by Thomas Humphrey Marshall, but the point still stands!)
The main news of the week - aside from sanity prevailing and Wales kicking out UKIP, Abolish, etc in the Senedd election - is that I got my first Pfizer jab yesterday afternoon! I'm enjoying a few side effects at the moment (man, my arm) but it's totally worth it.
It really does feel like I'm at a turning point after a pretty terrible eighteen months or so of Covid-19 crisis plus bad mental health.
The rest of the week has been kind of unremarkable. Trips to the park, trying out hair chalks and a marble nails kit with Marianna, watching Prop Culture on Disney+... I had school governors on Monday and it was only as I began the pre-committee meeting that I realised I actually had two scheduled for the same time. Given that I'm the chair at Maendy I had to email some rather sheepish apologies for the one at Croesyceiliog Secondary.
On the blog I posted guides to LIM TOYS action figures and doll magazines past and present, a round up of what I read in April, an election results post, and scans of Just Seventeen from 04/09/1985. This week's Welsh UFO sightings list was for 1995.
Deal of the Week -
Song of the Week -
Things Can Only Get Better - D:Ream
CONVERSATION
This Week - 02/05/2021
With everything going on last year, The Tiger King totally passed me by. I finally rectified that situation this week and just, wow. It's possibly the craziest thing I've ever seen. It's why I'll pretty much always go for a documentary over any other kind of show - real life is way wackier than anything you can dream up!
I had some awesome news on the comping front this week. First I won a £100 voucher for Reflex Nutrition. It was the kind of voucher that negates the free shipping deal, but I figured the £4 was easily equivalent to the multivitamins I intended to buy this month. I've listed the other stuff on ebay.
Then I had an email to say I'd won a bundle of Billie Eilish merch worth over £150!
I figured that was green light enough to get the pair of 1960s blue and white suitcases I've had on my ebay watchlist for ages. Then I got a hellbunny Elvira coat to go with them. So, yeah, cost neutral splurging for the win. :D
Then I got an appointment through for my coronavirus jab. All in all it's been a pretty good week.
...Except for Marianna throwing tantrums at every given opportunity. But, you know, things can't be going *too* well. That would just be asking for trouble.
On the blog I posted a guide to 1/12 scale DID figures, a short explainer for next week's Senedd elections, another Just Seventeen magazine scan, and Anthony's mention in Wales Online. This week's UFO sightings post listed cases from 1981.
Deal of the Week -
Song of the Week -
Because You Love Me - Joe Exotic
CONVERSATION
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About Me
Hi! Welcome to Babi a Fi, where you'll find me blogging about life, love, the universe, and everything... Contact me at jess@babiafi.co.uk
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