Gemma's Office - Beware Of The Muffins [And The Insanity]

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Welcome everyone Gemma's Office - Beware Of The Muffins [And The Insanity] 436937

Wow, I actually gots myself an office - I must say, I'm rather pleased. Now this is a place from where I can start my world domi- uuh, my muffin baking plans. Do you want one, maybe? They're really special, family recipe and chocolate and all that...
*smiles innocently and offers plate*
There you go. NOW LEAVE! I need to work in here, for the Penguins' sake.

Aaah, peace. Now what do I do in here, exactly? Work, ha, as if. Why did they create minions anyway? I didn't sign up for this, after all.

Wait, I did. Damn. I bet they lured me in with the muffins, though. They must have. Hmm, maybe I could make a Muffin's World column? Not that my world consists of much, though. Reading. Writing. Loving. Sarcasm & Irony. Making and eating food. Internet. Sleeping. School. Work. Music. Then again, that's quite something at least. I am after all never bored. Mainly. At times.

Yep, I'm crazy. Glad you figured xD

Article Muffins
No, they are not related to Plot Bunnies

F1 & The Glock Debate
Did Glock grant Hamilton the F1 Championship 2008? Why do [grown up] humans act as stupidly about something rather minor like this? Is it necessary to bring countries' history into sports? Oh, and did Glock do that on purpose, possibly? Why would or wouldn't he have done that?

F1 Afresh or How Things Change While You're Gone
I used to be an intense fan years ago, watching all the races and cheering for Ferrari and M. Schumacher, naturally. But BANG, when I left the world of racing and quick cars for a while [yes, some years can be a while] and came back without a clue, Germans practically seemed to flood the course. Alas, I was happy to find some names I still knew, but they were far from plenty. Even the teams seem to have changed and now I need to get back into the whole thing - or needn't I? Why watching F1 is more fun without preferences and likings....

Sporadic Sports - Something Actually Happened!
Sporadic reports whenever there seems to be an actual important event in the world of sports all over the globe. May include Olympics, Championships of various kinds, hugely blown up little things and whatever else is deemed important by enough people. Suggestions always welcome Gemma's Office - Beware Of The Muffins [And The Insanity] 436937

Freshly Baked Sports: Try This
An introduction of sports that seem unusual and not all that popular to me. Theoretical descriptions, pictures possibly, and my deepy honoured opinion. As a muffin who shivers at the mere thoughts of physical exercise. Shouldn't that be fun? xD

30 Days At The Brink Of Sanity (Merlin Beware!)
A report about the insanity that is NaNoWriMo, and how one threatens to become just a regular insane sane person while trying this project. Possibly interviews, opinions, a summary of the event itself, personal experience if I ever get around to actually putting pen to paper [or keyboard to word document], and so much more that could be added. Or hey, I could just write my 50,000 NaNo words about someone struggling to finish NaNo grin

Another Perspective - HE Through The Eyes Of Newbies
According to the fossils who were there from the beginning in 2006, the HE seems to be subject to rapid change and rapid growth especially. While we who are already here and have gotten used to what we started with might adore the news, those who are just starting afresh might be rather clobbered over the head by the extensive amount of stuff. What do they think? Would they like more help around? Is the guide too hard to find when you're lost as to where to look anyway? A study on fresh blood within the castle's walls Gemma's Office - Beware Of The Muffins [And The Insanity] 13

Gemma's Office - Beware Of The Muffins [And The Insanity] 13

Future - Fiend or Friend?
Possibly a series on what HE members expect of the future. Related to the forum, of course, but also the general world of HP, and also even the general world. What would we like to see brought to us, new exams, an eighth book, one currency all over the world? Could include polls, surveys for all members, Opinion thread within the Pensieve quarters, and much more.

HE & the World
Something like a series on different countries being represented on here, general stuff about the world, like why we need so many different currencies and languages [the time zones I accepted at last xD], prejudices all around the globe...just an altogether global kind of thing. Maybe even an Opinions article thingy on one thing or the other, or an online survey to be PMed to every member, and hopefully to be filled out by many...?

Interactive Section
Something like quizzes, sudokus, crossword puzzles, word searches, maybe even comics and a continuing story!? Well all that good stuff I know our weekly newspaper dedicates an entire site to - or was it two, even? Who knows, it could work. As far as I know we also have horoscopes, that could fit together. Sections are nice things anyways ^_^

to be continued...

*whispers*

June does the Fanfics.

But i LIKE the rest!!!

I'll be getting started any day now, I will I will I will. Surely. I promise. To myself, that is. I'm always the least annoyed one when not keeping a promise xD

But really, I'll do something as soon as my darling dearest's on the way back home and I'm over and done with this week's work. Which should be on Tuesday evening, Wednesday, or Thursday. No writing on Saturday, though, probably, alas I'd better get myself working soon.

Stupid off me to not have taken the album to school on my MP3 player, or else I could do the review now. Yay for teacher's being absent and lessons not taking place - especially if it's Advanced Spanish, double period, as right now xD

Assorted Quidditch Bits'n'Pieces
by Gemma Cullen-Malfoy

Blistering cold cuts one's face, cheers and hooting sail trough the air alongside wrapped up packages of different colours, and somewhere in the middle of it all, two black orbs go trashing about. What might sound fairly weird and even somewhat violent to the unknwoing is nothing else but Quidditch, of course, our well-beloved main HE sport.

Or is it? With the many disciplines the Olympics offer at the moment, and the seeming withdrawal from everyday events like classes, some might say Quidditch is suffering as well. There used to be somewhat more activity in those matches, and maybe also a little more accuracy as the increasing forum size seems to take up more and more time of those in charge.

And yet, those who manage to remain faithful should, if my opinion counts anything, rejoice. Last term, activity used to be strong in many of the matches, but there was also a certain annoyance present in the usage of extremely short posts, and many of them. Now, as once new people have come to fit in extremely well, there is a new air to all of Quidditch. And for my part, I can only say that while I sometimes wished for more participation [on my part, even], I am glad that those times are over where you went offline for a few hours and came back to be struck by countless new posts to the match.

That said, onto the current standings and such. Unluckily, only two matches have yet been graded, with twelve matches already opened [if not all finished]. As of now, standings are this:

Hufflepuff: Played 1, Won 1, Lost 0 :: Total: 253
Slytherin: Played 1, Won 0, Lost 1 :: Total: 249
Ravenclaw: Played 1, Won 1, Lost 0 :: Total: 331
Gryffindor: Played 1, Won 0, Lost 1 :: Total: 181

Of course for a real prognosis there, we'll have to wait for some people to send in their scores, but until then just from looking at the matches, I'd say participation is dropping in all matches. There were more than fifteen to each match, two times more than thirty, as the season rolled into excistence, but now it's going down to some numbers between five and ten posts. If things go on like this, will Quidditch die? Will there even be so much as a deservig winner at the end of the term?

I cannot answer these questions now, just as I cannot really fulfill the original purpose of this article, informing on the latest happenings in Quidditch: really, there isn't much to it at the moment. If you read this, and are on one of the teams, please try and make Quidditch alive again. I'm trying, too, but I find it hard with real life interfering in all of my team, and you probably all know problems of that kind. Regardless of it, let's try together. What fun would Quidditch be without players on the field?

If you aren't on a team, and have read this still, consider it. Consider signing up for your house team and supporting them in the cause of keeping Quidditch alive and your house winnig those valueable house points. In our Slytherin team, it's come down to the exchange of award points for participation. Sad, really, that this might need to go on to keep people playing, when originally it should all be for the sheer fun of it. Can we really let Quidditch go down like this?

What will we do once the Olympics here are over? Shall we all just sit in our Common Rooms then, getting fat and fatter in need of the regular exercise? Shall we just close up the Quidditch forum soon, saying 'Ah well, it was nice while it lasted. It's not you, it's me. This just doesn't work out anymore!', as if it were a relationship we wanted desperately to get rid off? Reconsider, if you can, and help getting Quidditch back to life.

This looks good Gemma... Ill add this to the paper and Etta said that you were also doing a CD review too that's suppose to go under her CD review article

Yes, that's still only halfway done but I promise I'll finish it in time...didn't want to just put some rubbish in a hurry, and at school when I wrote the above I didn't have the CD and my already written notes with me :/

Thats okay Gemma... so long as its finished in time I wont mind XD

Code:: [color=green][center][size=14][b]An Earful of the World:
Pink - "Funhouse"[/b][/size]
[i]by Gemma Cullen-Malfoy[/i]

Two years after her last album "I'm Not Dead", Alecia Beth Moore alias P!nk is back. And while the latter was published shortly after her getting married, "Funhouse" with its timing just has to be made of break-up, with depressing ballads and whatnot - right? Well, let's just hit play and see...

[u]1 Muffin:[/u]
As wannabe as Voldiepants...
[u]2 Muffins:[/u]
Did Crabbe and Goyle come up with this?
[u]3 Muffins:[/u]
Might impress a Malfoy, maybe.
[u]4 Muffins:[/u]
Snape'd be proud!
[u]5 Muffins:[/u]
Wow, this is worthy of Salazar Slytherin himself...[/center]

[b][center]Track One: So What?[/center][/b]

[center][i]I gotta brand new attitude/and I'm gonna wear it tonight [/i][/center]
[justify]Let's be honest, there'll be barely a soul out there not knowing this song yet. Energetic and just very Pink, So What portrays a woman that stands her ground despite a recent divorce - with just the slightest weakness, maybe. I loved it the first time I heard it and never got tired of it, the catchy beat and lyrics got right into my mind and whenever it's on the radio I can barely resist the urge to dance crazily. Great opener for an album that could have been all tears and whiny ballads.[/justify]
[center]4 out of 5[/center]

[b][center]Track Two: Sober[/center][/b]

[center][i]When it's good, then it's good, it's so good till it goes bad/Till you're trying to find the you that you once had[/i][/center]
[justify]When I first listened to this song, I was sure it was about being drunk, again and again, alcohol as a facade and not knowing how to feel happy without it. I also thought it wasn't really a good song, everything seemed monotonous and half-hearted. After listening a second, third, fourth time, however, I changed my mind. It seems to rather deal with general facades and acting all perfectly fine, getting lost in the cobweb of acting, and darn it's really quite good![/justify]
[center]5 out of 5[/center]

[b][center]Track Three: I Don't Believe You[/center][/b]

[center][i]I don’t mind it/I don’t mind at all...[/i][/center]
[justify]A very emotionally intense track, touching and seemingly right from the heart. The slow pace, calm music, focus on the clear vocals, all of it make it a nice ballad, but it's more than today's just too common whiny ones. It admits to problems, showing the process of denying them despite seeing them, the insecurity, not being able to contemplate and accept that the end might have come, not wanting to understand the other doesn't want to go on the way things are but he indeed means the goodbye. A good song and probably easy to relate to for any of us, for we all have made our fair share of mistakes for sure...[/justify]
[center]4 out of 5[/center]

[b][center]Track Four: One Foot Wrong[/center][/b]

[center][i]Just one foot wrong/You'll have to love me/When I'm gone[/i][/center]
[justify]Though originally about drugs gone wrong, this song also shows how easy it is in life to step wrong just once and lose everything. To me, it meant confusion and self-destruction on a path that doesn't allow trial and error, a harsh and strict path: life. And while the topic's interesting as that, the lyrics just seem a little too repetitive [apparently not much can be said about a bad trip], plus I couldn't get rid of the boring note of it. Pity it didn't get up to the first three songs' standards.[/justify]
[center]3 out of 5

[b]Track Five: Please Don't Leave Me[/b]

[i]I forgot to say out loud how beautiful you really are to me/I can't be without you my perfect little punching bag/And I need you, I'm sorry[/i][/center]
[justify]A little more of the So What style again, this upbeat track tells of hurting the other and driving him away when all you want is for them to stay. The alleged toughness and independence is something I could easily imagine Pink [and so many other humans] displaying while actually just yearning for not being left - but how to phrase that? If you ignore the annoying little dadas, this song seems emotional yet energetic and is easy to relate to.[/justify]
[center]5 out of 5[/center]

[b][center]Track Six: Bad Influence[/center][/b]

[center][i]I'm a story to tell the alibi/They wanna go home i asked them (why)/It's daylight (not night)[/i][/center]
[justify]Now what do we have here? This doesn't sound at all like any of the songs before, and indeed it doesn't even really seem to relate to the prevalent break-up theme at all. Instead we here from what seems to be a true party person talking about herself and all the partying. It might seem like a bit troubled a person, but in general it very much reminds me of some older Pink songs, say "Don't let me get me" for instance. It certainly is as upbeat and catchy, even with the little sense I myself find in the lyrics.[/justify]
[center]4 out of 5[/center]

[b][center]Track Seven: Funhouse[/center][/b]

[i][center]Pictures framing up the past/Your taunting smirk behind the glass[/center][/i]
[justify]This song once more seems to be typical of Pink, coming from a woman who spent very happy times in her home but now that those are over, she can't bear living there anymore. The good memories have become evil clowns in the face of loss, and somehow she still manages to make me feel good and want to sing along. How the woman does that, I have no idea. Great thing she does, however, and one more song I really didn't expect [though by now I know that was utterly stupid of me]. The dodos, as she uses this time around, do annoy me though.[/justify]
[center]4 out of 5

[b]Track Eight: Crystal Ball[/b]

[i]Drinking wine and thinking bliss is on the other side of this/I just need a compass and a willing accomplice[/i][/center][justify]
Now this is, in one way, more of what I expected of the whole Funhouse; a slow, emotional ballad that speaks of lessons learned and enduring the pain that comes with this process, about what little love actually requires, and how so much bad luck might come once there's imperfection, little flaws, problems - but why be afraid when so many good things could also come from a situation like this? It might not have worked out once, but if there is another chance it still might...that is my impression of what the song wants to convey. With the feelings turned audible by just one voice and those thoughtful lyrics, it might just be the most emotional song of the whole CD.[/justify]
[center]4 out of 5

[b]Track Nine: Mean[/b]

[i]We opened up the wine and we just let it breathe/But we shoulda drank it down while it was still sweet/It all goes bad eventually[/i][/center]
[justify]Now, go and rule out that last sentence about the last song. Just as I thought I'd found the emotional pearl of the CD, I got proven wrong: no matter how much more of a ballad "Crystal Ball" was, this one is even so much more beautiful...It shows a lot of feeling without being slow or dragging along endlessly, and I could whole-heartedly understand the wondering and hurting. How come a relationship just changes, and for the worse, without you yourself wanting it to or even so much as realizing it does until it's too late? Why is it that something beautiful just turns into mean behaviour, doubts and mental abuse on both parts? And once it had indeed happened, what's left to do about it? On top of this touching lyrics, the music and vocals compliment each other really well, which makes it all the more intense.[/justify]
[center]5 out of 5

[b]Track Ten: It's All Your Fault[/b]

[i]I would never pull the trigger/But I've cried wolf a thousand times...[/i][/center]
[justify]Blame me for being stupid, if you will. I think it took me an estimated ten to twenty times of listening to this song and at least three times of more or less closely reading the lyrics before I figured out what seems to be the actual content. I did grasp a concept of having changed for a loved one only to find out that, once all's over and he won't come back, one can't go back to being as before. I did, however, blatantly miss the implications [were they even such?] of leaving behind that life altogether only to realize one couldn't even do that at the current point. And really, it's all just the other's fault for being ood and nice and then leaving. Another energetic yet emotional song, which I love, but could someone please tell her to finally cut out those dadadas?[/justify]
[center]4 out of 5[/center]

[b][center]Track Eleven: Ave Mary A[/center][/b]

[i][center]Where does everybody go when they go/The go so fast I don't think they know/We hate so fast/And we love too slow [/i][/center][justify]
I'm really usure as to what to make of this song. It does rock and is catchy in a somewhat different way, but it did confuse me a great deal when first listening to it. And, being the nagging thing I sometimes am, I sorted through the lyrics carefully to untangle the retelling of today's mad world, the global chaos and problems that must surely lighten up soon, because this cannot be anything but the darkest hour. And really, the rather quickly sung words portray that fast-paced lifestyle we inherit today quite well, whether intentionally or not.[/justify]
[center]3 out of 5

[b]Track Twelve: Glitter in the Air[/b]

[i]Have you ever fed a lover with just your hands?/Closed your eyes and trusted, just trusted?[/i][/center][justify]
These questions Pink asks here, most of them demand me to answer "No, I haven't." And then, they make me wonder why I haven't, just as she lets me know that it isn't too late to do that stuff - yet. Then I marvle a little at her intriguing voice, fall in love with the music, and then I think about her questions again. And maybe, just maybe I should do some of it, because it seems they're things that make her feel really great, and I wouldn't want to miss out on such opportunities. Nice and made to evoke thinking, what a great way to wrap up a CD. And still something small seems missing to me, which keeps it from being the perfect end.[/justify]
[center]4 out of 5[/center]

[b][center]Overall:[/center][/b]
[justify]There is one major problem I see with this album: it wasn't made for people like me to review. Not that I want to complain, but I change my mood like others change their facial expressions, and these songs are all so multi-faceted that every time I listen, I think differently about them. If I would start now again at the first song to re-check my review, I'd probably end up turning it upside down all the way and change every single rating. But in its way, that's one hell of a good thing, since I'm sure I'll never get tired of Funhouse.
And also, the songs never seem to get worse. They change, most often for the better, but they're quite great as they are.[/justify]
[center][b][size=13]That's 4 Muffins![/size][/b][/center][justify]
And me saying buy if you liked anything by Pink so far, but stay away if you loathed all her songs. Or if you want a pained, self-pitying, self-loathing break-up album. Surely those have their advantages, but you won't find such here...And now, if you'd please excuse me - I need to find some glitter![/justify][/color]

Wow, that took...like...forever to type up. As I concluded, no good for mood-changers like me. And I changed my mind along with my mood several times just during typing this xD

Also, I wasn't sure the code would help, but I figured maybe it would, since for some reason my other entry was green and centred and all that, but had no bold title or bold house names in the Quidditch standings.

If the code's annoying and useless, though, tell me so I won't add it the next time around ^_^

And now, leave. I need to come up with new ideas; next edition can't be too far away Gemma's Office - Beware Of The Muffins [And The Insanity] 410894

Etta locked the forum so i can't add your article right away... but i did send her a pm seeing if she'll still add it

Also I must add that I did forget to bold some of the words... sorry... Ill try to get that changed before it gets posted in the notice board XD

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