HYPER-REALITY | THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER.

Thursday 23 February 2017

Harry Potter has become somewhat of a household name in the last decade; with seven books, eight movies, four theme parks and one studio experience in London, the Harry Potter franchise has identified itself to be a global brand with a loyal following. Fans of the books/saga almost belong to a world that is both fictional and real at the same time. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, located in Universal Studios has allowed fans to be transported to a completely different universe in the form of Hogwarts, through the realm of hyper-reality. In 1986, Eco defined hyperreality as being the condition where the ‘completely real’ became identified with the ‘completely fake’. The trend with hyper-reality is to provide 'hyperworlds' where the commingling of what is virtual and what is perceived as real is not obvious and thus appear to be natural (Tiffin, 2001). This is exactly what The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (TWWOHP) had achieved when the park was open in 2007. So how well does the Harry Potter theme park grasp the sense of hyper-reality and most importantly, do these form of events 'work'?

GETTING A GOOD NIGHT SLEEP WITH KALMS & #WAKEUPREADY GIVEAWAY!

Wednesday 22 February 2017

My nocturnal days have somewhat subsided since I was 18 and staying up until 4am and then waking up at lunch time, but even now I'm not one of those people who can shut everything off at 10pm and fall asleep in 5 minutes - I question how people actually do this. I'm also anaemic which means I'm pretty much tired all the time. I know a good night’s sleep is something a lot of young adults struggle with, so I've collaborated with Kalms to provide luxurious giveaway! 

THE UNIVERSITY TRIANGLE | DO YOU NEED ALL THREE TO BE HAPPY?

Monday 20 February 2017

They say you can only fulfil two aspects of the college triangle; good grades, a social life or sleep. But nowadays I feel like a lot of us have the need to go beyond this, I mean how can we have a satisfactory life just living within these paradigms of what our lives should consist of. I allocated the whole weekend to doing university work, my plan was to stay up until the late hours of Saturday and then rest and repeat on Sunday. But here I am at 4pm with my work done and no social plans for the rest of the weekend. Something I'd usually be content with considering I've been working my ass off lately and it should feel good to just chill and binge watch Riverdale all afternoon. After scrolling through social media and seeing a plethora of friends travelling, at theme parks or partying, it leaves me thinking, should I be doing more with my time? 

5 PIECES OF ADVICE FOR NEW BLOGGERS ON THE SCENE, OR FUTURE ONES.

Sunday 19 February 2017

So you want to tell the world about your love for candles and cats, all you really need is a hosting website, a catchy name and some creativity. I've been blogging for just over two years now and still feel like I'm learning and still not doing expected 'blogger' things, like making perfect flatlays and making my Instagram look like Urban Outfitters vomited all over it. I'm by no means an expert and there are so many bloggers out there who are making quite a bit of cash from their blogs and currently sitting front row at fashion week, these are just some basic things I think you need to do in order to push your blog off the ground in the first place. 

10 PEOPLE ON WHAT THEY'VE LEARNT FROM THEIR PAST RELATIONSHIPS.

Monday 13 February 2017

To quote one of my favourite movies, "relationships are messy and peoples feelings get hurt". That being said we all take something from previous relationships, may it be the realisation that you're not really that into blondes anymore or that dating a boy in a band isn't as fun as you imagined it would be when your place is trashed every week. With Valentine's Day just 48 hours away, I decided to skip the whole 'gifts for your partner' post because what's the post of being sent caviar for two when I don't even have a cat? So here's 10 people on what they've learnt from their past relationships instead!

10 MOVIES ABOUT LOVE TO KEEP YOU COMPANY THIS VALENTINE'S DAY.

Tuesday 7 February 2017

I've always been a sucker for romantic movies, not as much as for psychological thrillers but I pretty much know the script to The Notebook off by heart. I guess you could say I'm a bit of a hopeless romantic but I've never been too bothered with Valentine's Day or everything it represents. I'll probably be spending mine with the girls eating take-aways and watching 50 Shades Darker. For all of you single folks who want to spend the day watching soppy love stories, or if you're in a relationship and this is the only day you can get your S/O to watch a chick flick, then here's a list for you!

10 PIECES OF ADVICE I WISH I COULD HAVE TOLD MYSELF BEFORE STARTING UNIVERSITY.

Sunday 5 February 2017

It's finally started to dawn on me that my time at university is coming to an end, after four (pretty much three if you forget placement) rollercoaster-filled years at Bournemouth. I'll save all the soppy reflecting on my time here until the semester is over, but for now I thought I'd write this post on things I wish I would have maybe done differently, after all we only regret the things we don't do right - sorry that was cheesy. If you're in your first year of university or are just finishing a-levels, forget everything UCAS tells you about preparing for university and just listen to me ok (kidding they give you free things). Incase you're wondering what the blog photo has to do with any of this, this is 19 year old Giana the day before heading to university and little did she know she was going to spend the next day dealing with the hangover from hell on a plane to Gatwick. 

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