thought i'd try doing something new ...

Sometimes I get bored and I am the kind of person that has a load of crazy ideas in my head .. and I needed to get them out. So, I got together with some friends and made a short film thingy :) check it out ...

This is the story of one man's journey, to that most valuable of all treasures - a jug of icy water...

simple

Music's got control, and I'm never letting go, no, no, I just wana play my music.

contemplating

Today I played a gig at the 360 Club in Leeds which was recorded for BBC Introducing. Wow.

It's made me think, I love what I do more than I actually realised. Sure enough, I'm not the best at it, but what does that matter? If I put a smile on one persons face in a night due to my music, then I've made a difference, that's what is so rewarding about music.

I've always come across people that put me down and said, look give it up Natalie, you're not going to make it. For some reason, people always just assume that I want to be the next biggest star. That's not what drives me. It's the feeling that I get when I play. It's my own world where I can relax and be myself. Watching other people enjoy it with me, well thats a bonus.

Life lesson: Never say never. Don't ever give up because you hit a wall or fall at the first hurdle. Because at some point, it may be a small step forward but it will come and you just have to build on it to achieve your dreams :) it could take days or years. You never know.

South America politics and poverty - Research

Poverty in South America is primarily perceived as an urban phenomenon as 70% of the population live in cities. But in the rural areas poverty has become a more problematic issue. The indigenous peasants are the poorest people. The poverty is caused due to many reasons mainly unequal distribution of wealth.

Poverty in South America is also a result of migration, internal conflicts and structural adjustments. In spite of having most of the natural resources South America is the home of the miserably poor people. Colonialism is not the soul reason behind this poverty. Higher fertility is one of the causes behind the Poverty of South America.

South America Poverty is becoming a threat to social and political stability as well as public security. Drug addiction is a result of this poverty. It is also leading to environmental issues. To solve this problem is one of the major duties of the government, which needs international help in this matter. The food supply capacity is inadequate. This can affect the international economy and environment on a global scale.

To find a permanent solution to this problem of poverty in South America, the government should take all necessary measures. This problem is not only affecting the countries but the world. So solving this issue has been a great challenge to humanity.

South American Politics in today’s world enjoys a certain democratic political rule but it is gained by the continuance struggle against the decades of dictatorship and the country has passed through a lot of political crisis. Poverty and inequality were the outcome of the left influence as it was highly corrupt and inefficient at that time. Though the Politics in South America has grown economically from the past 20 years but still today the conditions not in much proper shape as it was in the 1950s.

Latin American Politics has experienced a continued period of economic and social deprivation and thanks to the export facilities that had saved it from total destruction. Despite all the evil circumstances Latin America tried to live and lived even in the broad process of Democratization. Political parties and youth organizations around the South America are Argentina-2, Nicaragua-1, Suriname 1, Peru-2, Brazil1.Political scenario in South America has witnessed the involvement of women's over the past ten years.

The percentage of women in South American Politics is 15% in the executive power and 13-14% in legislative power. According to the sources 5% of the total power in the municipalities is led by women folk. The contribution of women in the South American Politics has lead to the major developments mainly during the wars against the dictatorships.

South American Politics is governed by numbers of political leaders who looks after all the aspects in the political arena. Ten years can hardly make difference in the South American Politics but this region has gained an economic growth for two years and it’s a great achievement in the history of American Politics.

What is faith?

Now i know it has been a while since i last wrote anything. the reason being i have been out enjoying summer holidays :)

Updates; I passed my exams so i'm now studying at University of Leeds. Story of my life right there.

The reason that I am writing right now is that a topic has come into my mind, and it is all due to the Pope's recent state visit here in the UK. Over the past few months, we have seen and heard about the child abuse scandal involving priests and the church itself.

Religion has been brought up so much that there have been debates and people my age have been asking themselves what faith really is, does it exist and what are we doing following something that might not be real?

Firstly, what is faith?

In my eyes, faith is something that brings hope to hundreds of people across the world. There are many different religions; some believe in Jesus and some don't, but what they all have in common is that they believe in a God who is their saviour. Somebody who will help them when times are tough or when they need a prayer to be answered.

For years the debates have been heated between science and religion. The atheists believe that our species came around due to evolution whereas the theists believe that we were created by God in 7 days. In both sides of the arguments, there are valid points which counterbalance each other. On both sides of the arguments, certain ways that words are said can make one question their beliefs.

But my question is. Why should people spend so much time arguing and trying to convince each other that their belief is the right one?

because sometimes it seems as though that respect between views has been lost. As much as a believer has the right to believe what they want, they must remember that the non believer has just as much right as them.

A situation that would cause a non-believer to suddenly turn around and pray? a miracle to improve their health or that of someone they love. That is what i mean by the meaning of Faith. It fills somebody with hope, suddenly there is a light in the dark. A last chance.

Should we be believing in something that we don't know is real? I think we should. What have you got to lose by just having hope. Miracles do happen, people become converted. How can this just be an act of coincidence or irrational thinking?

I personally, still do not know what I believe, but I still have hope and faith. Because if there really is something out there? Well, like I said. What have I got to lose by believing and hoping?

Leave your comments on your views. It would be interesting to see what other people have to say.

Peace out. x

a simple act of kindness can go a long way for someone.

consider it.

pause for thought

sitting here looking through orchestra tour photos from Switzerland 2010 a thought occurred to me.

many times in my short life, i have come across musicians who will judge you because they are of a higher standard, or maybe they are younger but can play better than you.

a question: why do we seem to let this get us down? humans have a way of letting these things get to us, but really we shouldn't. The reason?

each person has a talent to the best of their ability. Someone who is younger but can play pieces of a higher standard, can look at me and say 'oh my, she must be bad if i am playing grade 8 pieces, when she is only studying grade 7'.

Truth is, yes, they may be more advanced than me but then think about how much more advanced you are than so many other people.

Your talent is YOUR thing. In your case, there may be someone who is amazing at Art, can paint like there is no tomorrow, whereas you can paint, but cannot seem to produce pictures of the same standard. However, the person you are comparing yourself to, my lack in a completely different talent that you own. Such as Maths. You could have the mind where you understand outrageous algebra, which leaves the artist completely astounded and confused.

Back to my comparison about music, Yes, they are many people who are younger than me, but can play so much better. I look at it this way; I can play instruments that the majority of people struggle to get hold of, I have managed to understand how to make a sound and music out of them. Many people just can not get a hold of co-ordination of their left and right hands when playing an instrument.

I may not be able to learn as quickly as some younger musicians than myself; but goood golly! i have a talent that many other people would love to have. I count myself lucky :)

peace out x

Life does balance itself out.

haven't blogged in a while

ah. so right now, life is pretty hectic haha. EXAMS EXAMS EXAMS. i can't wait for it all to be over!!!

got some neat projects lined up for as soon as exams finish, not going to say too much yet. still in the planning stages!

if anyone is good at revising, revision techniques would be greatly appreciated!

pretty darn excited for exams to finish, and then Orchestra tour to switzerland! Gives me something to look forward too :)

peace out x

Bullying

Ok, so the main reason that I decided to start up this blog is because, I was on Twitter and noticed a post that someone had said. The link is here for anyone that wants to read it:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1262487/Phoebe-Prince-9-US-teenagers-charged-suicide-death-Irish-new-girl.html

I honestly think that it is really sad that people could be so horrible to one other.

Most people have been confronted with bullying at least once in their lives, and anyone who has gone through it will know that it is a horrible experience to go through.

I guess I have always struggled to understand why some people will bully others. The only conclusion that I have is that a bully is someone who is insecure about themselves, they want to be respected and fear the idea of rejection. Their way of securing their popularity is to put others down.

I'm only 17 now and I wouldn't claim to have been a big victim of bullying myself, like any person, I have been teased; I remember that people would laugh at me because i used to wear the one jumper. No one seemed to listen when I explained that my parents were giving me a choice; either new clothes or they continue to pay for my music lessons. I chose music, which i do believe was the right choice to do and i am so overly happy that I didn't let the comments of my friends change what I wanted to do.

I remember once when I was in a P.E lesson, and some girls looked at my shoes and started questioning me on why I wasn't wearing Nike or Adidas trainers. I saw them laughing to themselves. And I remember saying, why would I spend a great deal of money on shoes that I would probably lose and never wear outside of school?

One memory that did hurt me was once when I was around 12 years old, someone hacked onto my MSN account and began saying very rude things to people that I wasn't really friends with, obviously these people were angry, believing it was me that had said it and I remember them running towards me, shouting at me, threatening to beat me up. Obviously at the age of 12, it's not really a very fun thing to go through. To this day, I do not know who it was that decided to hack my MSN and I have always remained confused as to why they would do such a thing.

I guess, I have the kind of mentality that I let things fly over my head. I'm a relaxed person and it does take a lot to get me down. I am human so there are things that happen and I wont always be happy with them.

The reason that I am actually writing all this is that I personally think that there is not enough awareness about bullying in schools. There are many kids that will choose to suffer in silence, and there is something that can be done to help them. If it's talking anonymously to someone to ask for advice, or anything.

We have a voice, so might as well use it. I used to use the excuse of, I'm only one person, just me won't make a difference. But if I say that, then that gives someone else the excuse to say it and that starts a chain reaction. It's time to actually do something :)

Peace out.

Hey :)

right, well, i'm a bit of a writer. I like to write down my thoughts and feelings, so when i accidently came across this blog I thought, this is cool, I can write stuff down on here :)

As I write, I am aware of the fact that sometimes there are people that may know me and will tell me how stupid I am for doing this, it has been said before; doing something that I wanted to do, just because other people may not be in the habit of doing it. I think that I have learnt from the past to not listen to what other people say.

I'm pretty boring, don't expect anyone to actually read this, but I think it will be interesting to see haha.

www.twitter.com/NatBurtenshaw

Peace out.