Five movies, five different dates - choose the one that suites you!

Congratulations - you secured a date! And you also agreed on going to the cinema. Well, this may have been a mistake but if you play your cards right you can still turn this around and make it a successful night! I had a look at the movies that are currently shown, here are five movies and whether or not it is a good idea to watch them on a date: 

Frederike dishes the dirt: I went on many dates!

When I met Frederike, 25, the first time she won me over with her calmness and confidence. She felt comfortable in her own skin and was open and friendly to everyone. Now, two years later, we are good friends and have been through a lot of situations together – and going on dates (and discussing them afterwards) was definitely one of them! That’s why I decided to pick her brains about romantic dates and what she ultimately had learned from them.


Picking her brains in a relaxed atmosphere



Marketing your blog - a step by step introduction

Everyone who also writes a blog knows the feeling: you have put a lot of work and thought into every post and really want to reach people and do well but your page-visitor-statistic stays completely stagnant. You are not getting the word out there and people just don't read what you have to say. Well that is sad but you can do something about it: Market your blog and get people on board. Here is a short step-by-step on how to become a successful blogger:

picture from profy.com

The new iPad 3 - better than ever!

It is here – the new iPad from Apple (they dropped the number so it is simply an iPad but would be version Nr. 3). And because Apple has some very clever marketing people launch day was a massive event all over the world. Big queues were formed outside the Stores - everyone wanted to be the first one to hold the very new iPad. Promotion T-shirts were given away as well as Apples to 'feed' the waiting masses.



In Hamburg, Germany, is looked like this outside the Apple store



In Munich the first people entered the Apple store

Singapore



A History of Dating

Going on dates and being in a relationship has not always been as casual and unstained as we know it nowadays. For a very long time it was not even possible for two unmarried people to be in one room without anyone keeping an eye on them (and mostly that was either the mother or the governess - imagine taking them on the date with you...).

So I thought I would look into the history of dating and romance and related to that the history of marriage. Here is a time line for you - I hope you like it!



ca. 1550–1070 AD  In ancient Egypt 'marriage' actually only meant moving in together. There is no proof that there has been any sort of civil or religious ceremony like a wedding. Furthermore marriages were not necessarily arranged. There is a tale about a girl falling in love with a slave. When the parents realised there was no way to change her mind the father set him free and gave him money to start their life together.

There are reports that infidelity was punished very hard. Cheating women were sentenced to death and cheating husbands beaten with a cane thousand times. Apparently wives accepting their husbands affairs were punished as well. I guess those Egyitans were very loyal married couples.



He doesn't look very happy...

2nd Century AD In Rome marriage was holy. Like in Egypt there was no official ceremony or religious ritual. The legal age for a woman to be married was between 12 and 14. Most of the marriages were arranged however if the girl dislike her future husband too much unbeseeming to make them getting married. Cheating wives were not executed anymore but had to pay high penalties - how romantic.

How To Survive A First Date

DOs:

• Pick the girl up AND be on time.  Men, show off the gentlemen in you and pick the girl up. This first off all avoids misunderstandings about the meeting point and gives the girl the chance to catch a glimpse of your outfit – smart, casual or tracksuit bottoms and trainers – so she can decide on the appropriate shoes. Don’t be late, that is just rude however it is even worse to be too early because the girl will definitely not be ready yet and your chances to get a second date have suddenly gone towards zero.

For everyone who needs advise on how to be on time

Look, something to light up your day:

I came across this blog that is just fantastic: Dear Ryan Gosling.


And like the title says already: it's about Ryan Gosling. The Ryan - the Notebook - Gosling. Perfect, amazing Ryan (sorry boys!).
I love the post - it's a great mix out of comedy, truth and lovely pictures! 
He seems to be the perfect man to have a stress-free and great date with. 
Check it out and enjoy it - let me know what you think!

Just an Album review for you!

Music is very important. That's why I thought I would review one of my favourite albums for my reader:

Band: Arctic Monkeys

Title: Suck it and see (2011)

Label: Domino

The Arctic Monkeys are one of the most famous Indie band in the UK at the moment. The band came to fame back in 2002 when publishing demo tracks online. They introduced their 4^th studio album called Suck it and See in 2011. Many people have been waiting for this moment especially after their previous album Humbug did not live up to the expectations from the first two albums bringing the Arctic Monkeys fame and popularity. Despite the critics of Humbug the Arctic Monkeys managed to be the only band to produce four straight Number One Albums next to Oasis. The band started off as a group of four guys from Sheffield trying to find their own sound. Especially singer and songwriter Alex Turner coined the very characteristic sound of the band with his guitar play and his lyrics that deal with adolescent problems and growing up in Sheffield, especially on the first two records.

Oh wow........

....was what I thought when I heard the following stories. I work on the Radio and had people 

e-mail me some of their date stories.

Look, there is more - my five favourite Blogs about Horror Dates!

I am not the first person to have this blog idea. I've listed a couple of blogs that deal with the same topic, so have a look around!

One of the first websites coming up on the blog search is www.abadcaseofthedates.com . The reader sees on the first sight what the web page is about: ‘Bad Dates. Funny Stories. Daily’. The blog is clearly aimed at women but everyone is encouraged to send in stories which does not make it gender exclusive. This blog’s design is simple and clear which makes it very pleasant to use, it is hard to get lost anywhere. It also seems to be very popular as nearly every post gets comments discussing the story told. The only distracting thing on the page is the advert that takes a lot of space and can keep the reader from reading the important stuff.

On the website http://disastrousdates.blogspot.com/ even more stories about the dark side of dating can be found. The web page design again is very clearly structured however it is rather difficult to read the texts as it is white writing on black background. The contact button is quite hidden and the site does not really invite the reader to participate and send in stories. A post history makes it easy to navigate through the posts and invites the reader so have a look around. 

The German Blog called http://horrordates.de/  is a very simple websites with the posts on the right sites and “post your story”-box on the left site. There is not a lot else to the site, people can rate and comment on the stories and share them on Facebook or Twitter. The page is free from annoying adverts; the only graphic seems to be the websites logo which shows a rather ugly girl which is a little bit off putting. 

http://onlinedatingdiaries.blogspot.com/ is a blog that does not seem to be very much used. The author posted a couple of stories about dating in L. A. but it seems more like a personal blog rather than communal work where everyone can participate. The Headline ‘Dating is Hell’ gives the theme of the blog away and makes it clear what it is about. However it sounds rather bitter. However it appears like the writer created a new blog which might be worth checking out.  

My personal favourite about terrible dates is the very neat and simple 

http://disasterdatestories.com/. Not only does the headline already explain the purpose of the blog also the first look already leads the reader to the “e-mail in” button. The page design is very simple but still catchy. The ready does not get disturbed by any flashing adverts or pictures but can completely concentrate on the stories. Also the posts can be filtered by attributes like “family and friend set up”/”bling date”/ “online date” which makes it even more fun to read the different stories. 

So snoop around and read through the stories - some of them are hilarious.  

Welcome

Today is the day - lovebirds sing, Cupid's darts are flying through the air and world is pink and glittery. Obviously it is Valentine's Day! This is the perfect day to launch this blog - telling you stories about everything that could possibly go wrong on a date. I will collect those stories around the Campus of the Swansea University. But you are very welcome to email me your own stories. There are never enough date disasters to be told.

I hope you all take this blog as a chance to laugh at those stories, relate to them and make you feel better about ruined dates and special nights - because you are not alone! 

Have fun reading and keep the stories coming!

photo by ButterflySha on Flickr