Entertainment stuff – Snapchat, TV, Free stuff to do

Ok so I’m going to skip the intro and launch straight into what will probably be the most interesting thing about this post to most students. Snapchat.

I was sent a Snapchat life hack a few weeks ago by my friend Sassy Shelly from the Life Hackable website and I tried it and had no luck. Fortunately my housemate Susie mentioned it today and I retried it, and SUCCESS.  So here it is (from http://lifehackable.com/post/56901160743), you can now annoy your friends with pictures of your contorted face in black and white, sepia or negative.

I have literally spent the last half hour sending various pictures in all these tones. If you’re reading this and you’re my friend on the lovely app itself, sorry, not sorry. Also, if like me some of the colours are missing from your colour panel to draw with, just drag the cursor over your image and other colours like black and brown will appear.

Another tip for Snapchat is if you want to add more colours when drawing on your pictures, like black and white, try this one and a half min video. Its easy peasy.

Ok so if you’re still reading this and I haven’t lost you to that last hack, my next tip is about TELEVISION.

If you’re missing the soaps cos the lads have hijacked the tv for the match, or you just haven’t got digital since the aerials stopped working, you’ll be happy to know there’s a website out there streaming all the Irish channels for free. Aer TV (http://www.aertv.ie/) streams RTE1, RTE2, TV3, TG4, 3E, RTE Junior and a few other bits and pieces, and you just flip through them like you do on your t.v. You need never miss an episode of Nationwide again. 🙂

Finally, if you’re planning a day out around the country and have a Tesco Clubcard, it’s worth checking their days out page on their website, which you can find here. They offer free passes to a long list of places like the Zoo, The Guinness Storehouse, The National Wax Museum and Kartmania for just €2 to €3.50 worth of points on your card. There are some serious savings on passes when you consider the price of entry to some of these places, and tokens can be redeemed for normal adult passes as well as student passes. And if you do make plans to visit Dublin or a major city, check out http://www.buseireann.ie/ for their €5 expressway tickets or 5% discount on tickets bought online.

So that’s it for today but I’ll post again before the end of the week, in the mean time you can contact me with ideas or suggestions in the comments. 🙂

Lizzie.

Freshers Week 1: Getting in the spirit

The theme for my blog this week is Freshers week, as its presence is strong here in college.

Freshers week for any student is one of the most important social events of the year, along with Little Christmas and Rag Week. Bonding with your new classmates and celebrating the college life are what it’s all about, but being responsible is a must this week and a healthy balance of socialising, college and re-hydrating is the key.

But with that said, today’s blog will provide you with some information on how to make the perfect vodka jelly shots and a few life hacks regarding how to open a beer bottle without an actual bottle opener.

The perfect vodka jelly shot

Vodka jelly shots always go down well at parties, they don’t cost an arm and a leg to make and are perfect to use during drinking games. There’s a vodka kick to them, but they’re still fairly low in alcohol compared to other shots so they’re handy when you know it’s going to be a night fairly heavy on the drink.

I’ve spent years perfecting my technique and can break it down to 2 steps for getting them right.

1. Vodka to water ratio
2. Preparing the shot glasses

So when making up your jelly solution, the trick is  the ratio.

Only make 3/4 the suggested amount of jelly, with 2/4 hot water and 1/4 vodka. If the jelly packet says to make up a pint of jelly, the trick to making sure the jelly sets with the vodka added is  to only make 3/4 of a pint of jelly, with 2/4 pint hot water and 1/4 pint vodka. Jelly needs to be a little bit stronger than usual to allow for it to set with the vodka. It’s a science thing apparently.

The second part of the perfect vodka jelly shot is preparing the shot glasses. Without preparing them properly you will spend the entire night with your finger in the shot glasses trying to loosen the jelly, cursing having ever made the blasted things. The secret here, as told to me by my bar man friend is cooking oil. Wipe cooking oil gently on the inside of all the shot glasses to allow the jelly to come away easily.

1. Wrap a piece of kitchen roll or tissue around your index finger.

2. Put the tip of your finger in the neck of a bottle of cooking oil to soak it a little bit.

3. Rub the entire inside of each shot glass with a little oil, making sure to rub oil on the bottom. This creates a barrier for the jelly so it won’t stick to the edge and will fall out easily when turned upside down.

Jelly shots all ’round!!

How to open a bottle without a bottle opener.

So to finish up, I thought I’d show you some handy life hacks I’ve found online on how to open a beer bottle when someone’s misplaced the bottle opener and all hope is gone. I’ve gotten friends to try them at parties and they do work. To see the original just click on the link above the picture.

The first is from The Chive.

http://thechive.com/2013/07/19/a-few-alcohol-related-lifehacks-to-try-over-the-weekend-13-photos/alcohol-lifehacks-12/

The second hack comes from Cheats Sheeter.

http://www.cheatsheeter.com/how-to-open-a-beer-bottle-with-a-lighter/

So with that, enjoy Freshers Week, be sensible and safe, and drink lots of water.

Lizzie