How Sez Sees It

It is customary this time of year to look back at all the things we have done and all the things we are going to do in the future. I am no exception so here is what I remember about this year. January: I started the year all nervous because I had a job interview. It happened to be the day that the rain began to fall and caused a load of flooding. Needless to say I did not get the job. The person who did get the job no longer does the job. Ok then. February: The floods drained away and I was able to make it into Southampton to see the favourite one...aka, Luke Lucas (alright, that isn't his real surname but it is the one he goes by on stage). My favourite band had announced their split the year before and this was their farewell tour. Luke gained a unicorn t-shirt and I gained a right laugh. Then I took a trip to Bristol and pretended I wasn't actually stalking him (ok I actually wasn't but it was a long way to go for one gig). Dave and I stayed there and met some lo...

I am gradually creating a series of videos on how I put my cosplays together. I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you about some of the things I have done to put them together so far and share some hints and tips that I have picked up along the way. Getting started: How does one start cosplaying? Well, I would ask you to think about what you are really in to. Are you a gamer? Do you like anime/manga? Do you like sci-fi? Do you like fantasy? Action movies? In all honesty the possibilities are endless. I have a love of anime and manga myself so I have chosen characters from there at first. There are other things I would like to try in the future too though. I love the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and have always had the idea to try out an elf. Taurel from the latest Hobbit films would be a good one. As you can see, inspiration can come from anywhere at any time. Where can I buy stuff? In all honesty the possibilities are endless here as well. You might find that you alre...

Back in August I was walking through a local supermarket and noticed that there were already Christmas items for sale. I commented to my fiance that this was far too early! Roll on a few months and I am now very much in the Christmas spirit. I can't wait to get the decorations up and to celebrate with friends and family. How early is too early to put up decorations though? I have noticed in my local towns that the light switch ons were during the last couple of weeks of November. However, it seems that people decided, in the same time frame, to put up decorations in their house. Is this too early? In my house there was always a tradition of putting up the decorations in the second weekend of December. My father took this to an extreme last year when he put the tree up on 1 December and we all thought that was early enough. How soon do people put up decorations in your house? How early is too early to do that? Are you full of Christmas cheer or Christmas jeer?

I am 28 years old. I have been fortunate enough since turning 20 to finish university and find a good job (well several since then) and find a wonderful human to spend the rest of my life with. I am about to go house hunting in the new year and I have (hopefully) a long life ahead of me. Sophie Lancaster should have had that too. Her birthday (26 November) is exactly 10 days after mine. Today (26/11/2014) she would have turned 28. All those things I wrote about doing since I turned 20 should have been things she had a right to as well. Sophie has never had those opportunities as her life was taken away by the stupid and cruel actions of a bunch of teenagers. The thing that makes me most angry is the reason why she and her boyfriend were attacked that night. Walking and minding their own business this group of kids took offence at them because they were members of the alternative community. By this I mean they had dyed hair, piercings and listened to rock/metal. As a member of thi...

There has been a lot of work this year around feminist action and the word 'feminist' has really come to the front of many people's minds. However, one magazine dared to ask the question: 'should we ban the word 'feminist' next year?' I see myself as a feminist. As I see the world there is still so much work that needs to be done and the only way this can be achieved is by men and women working together. There are women I know of or I have read the works of who are anti-men. The way I see that attitude is that men will be alienated and this can only lead to a back step in rights for everyone! Men are just as important in the fight for women's rights as women are. Only when we see equality regardless of gender will we be able to truly say that feminism is not required. The best example this year has been the ' He for She ' campaign. This has been adopted by celebrities and politicians alike and was kicked off by the actress, Emma Watson, who m...

I know from talking to young women my age or a little younger that there is some fear about going to the nurse or doctor for cervical screening. I want to tell you now that it is totally not a big deal. Honestly! I have just made an appointment for my second ever cervical screening. I actually can't believe that it has been three years since the first one! Wow, time flies! Let me tell you about my experience so you can see it really isn't a problem at all. Basically you go in to see the nurse (or doctor) for about 5 minutes. Honestly, that is all it takes. I turned 25 three years ago and got my first summons. Basically you get a letter through the post from the NHS with a leaflet that tells you all about the screening process and why it is important. When you are 25 you get the first one and then you go back every three years until you get a little older and then you go back every 5 years (eventually you don't have to go at all). Once there your nurse will either just...

Today the hate group (yes I call them that freely) Britain First posted this letter template on Facebook saying that parents should use it to get their children out of Religious Education lessons that would encourage children to join Islam or some such nonsense. I do not post this here to encourage or condone their words. In fact, my response is below. I fear that my liberal and well reasoned argument will be deleted from their page and so I post it below for you to read. I add that people are free to make up their own minds about everything and if your view is different from mine then you are entitled to it. I just hope that you will respect my view. 'Anyone who uses this is never going to solve anything. When I was at school Religious Education was only in Primary School and dealt mostly with Christianity as taught by the local Methodist and Holy Trinity churches. When I went to secondary school we had Religious Studies, which I took to GCSE level (as it was an option).  Th...

A little over a year ago someone I admire and have so much time for asked me to help him out. He had left the band The Dead Lay Waiting and was setting off on his own. This would end up being collaborations with other talented muscians, new friends and working with all sorts of artists. Today the fruit of his labour is released into the world and we all get to find out what he has been up to. When I was asked to help promote things I didn't ask questions, I simply sat back and waited to find out what he had in store for the world. I am as excited as anyone else for today's announcements and I hope anyone reading this will join me in wishing him luck. Why would I follow someone blindly and help to promote something I know practically nothing about? Because I have faith in this human being. He has been there for me through an awful lot and he is one of the nicest, most talented people I have had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with. I support him because I believe he is ...

Recently I have found the confidence to enter a world I have always wanted to enter, the world of cosplay. I guess the best way to start is to try and explain what 'cosplay' is to the uninitiated. 'Cosplay (コスプレ kosupure?), short for costume play, is a performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character or idea that is usually identified with a unique name. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture centred on role play. A broader use of the term cosplay applies to any costumed role play in venues apart from the stage, regardless of the cultural context.' (Taken from Wikipedia.) Basically you can take any character you like. It could be from your favourite film or manga or anime or cartoon or comic...literally anything you can think of. The next step is to build your costume. Some people go to great lengths to do this and meticulously put together their costumes over month (and sometim...

Yesterday (18 September 2014) Scotland decided to stay in the Union. This is the outcome that I wanted as I stated at the time that I have a personal passion for the country. I am glad that the majority believed that the UK is better together and that we can work towards a brighter future hand in hand. What about people who voted ‘Yes’ though, what does this mean for them? Well many will be hoping that they will be able to at least have more powers after this vote. The problem here lies with Westminster though. All new bills will have to be passed in Parliament based in Westminster and it is uncertain how keen the politicians will be to grant the new powers to Scotland. The main thing with the vote, whichever way it went, was that there will be a divide. Actually there will be a couple of divides. The English will be thinking that there were over 1.5 million Scots who voted for independence and do not want to be a part of the Union. Could this create some ill will between the ...

I am a woman living in the South of England so how does the Independence vote in Scotland affect me? Well apart from being a life long Labour Party supporter and having worries that a 'Yes' vote will mean that Labour will never come to power again (in which case I am moving to Scotland...you have been warned) I have been thinking more on this issue. I could spout off like everyone else does about politics and economics, but I think I have done that to death now. I would like to talk about what Scotland means to me. To me, Scotland is a beautiful country that I have visited a couple of times and would like to visit more. I have a lot of friends in Scotland that I have made over the internet and then met in real life too. They are wonderful, bright, talented people who I am better for knowing. I don't want there to be a divide between us, I want to feel closer to them. I want to be able to freely travel into Scotland without any restrictions such as using a passport at ...

In no particular order and by no means the only films I like I thought I would share with you some of my favourite films. There are too many to list really so here are 10 highlights: 1. White Christmas This is my all time favourite Christmas movie and I always watch it on Christmas Eve as it gets me in the festive mood. One of the few films that is a remake and is better than the original (see Holiday Inn). Two male entertainers take up with two female entertainers and stay in a ski lodge where there is no snow. They find out it is owned by their old commander and swear to put on a show and get people to visit the lodge so he can make some money that year. Does the snow come? What do you think? 2. Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring I love the whole trilogy, but the first one really captured my imagination and sucked me in so it is the favourite. Frodo (a hobbit) inherits a magical golden ring from his Uncle Bilbo (The Hobbit) and finds out it is the one ring of power...

I did this on Twitter earlier but it might need some explaining so here it is:             I taught myself some key words in Welsh so I can recognise them written down and understand them when they are spoken but I can’t write it or speak it though.             I love Japanese horror films and detest the American remakes. I don’t see the point in them and they are never as good. See Ringu / Ring and Ju-on / Grudge for examples.             In the car with dad we once almost ran over Frank Lampard and John Terry on the same day but on separate occasions as they stepped out in front of our car.              I have a favourite Japanese actor called Tatsuya Fujiwara . I discovered him in Battle Royale when I was 14/15 and have seen almost everything he has been in either on DVD or online. I am catching up on a couple of films I have missed because sometimes ...

Blasphemy! You are no fun and not taking part in something that can change lives and make a difference to so many other people! Look, I am prepared to piss people off with this view. I understand what the challenge is for. If you don't you can find out more about ALS or Motor Neurone Disease here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amyotrophic_lateral_sclerosis http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Motor-neurone-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx If you want to give to the wonderful charities that are looking for a cure and helping support those with the disease there is a list of places to do so at this article:  http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/how-to-donate-to-als-no-ice-bucket-challenge-necessary-to-help-motor-neurone-disease-charities-9690499.html Also, as an aside, Macmillan are also getting people to do the ice-bucket thing and their link can also be found in the article above. Now why won't I participate? Well, it feels as though the hyp...

I haven't blogged in a while and I didn't really know what to say so I thought I would just make some observations. I went to see Lee Evans recently as I needed a laugh. He is still the best comedian I have ever seen. If you are in Britain and Ireland and you are going to see him perform his arena tour (Monsters) then you are in for a real treat. How he is going to keep it up for 2.5 hours a night for 65 tour dates is beyond me. His physical style of comedy is so intense and brilliant. If you couldn't get tickets then the DVD will be out in November which is shortly before the tour is due to finish! Men of my age don't seem to get the whole breast feeding in public thing. I think this is very sad. Comments by one fairly high profile person recently were along the lines of breasts being sexual organs and he wouldn't go getting his nob out in public so why do women do it with breasts? This shows that women are still seen in society as simply sexual objects and th...