Year 6 On WordPress! Its Anniversary Time Again!

Howdy ladies and gentlemen, what’s going on? As you can see from the title I’m just making a quick little post about the fact that this blog is celebrating an anniversary. It feels crazy that another year on this blog has passed since I last talked about my fifth year on WordPress but hey, I’m still here in year six so let’s talk about it! 🙂

You know I had to get a good meme for this anniversary post haha. 😀

So like I said before, it feels mad that a whole year has passed since the last anniversary. Time moves far too quickly, blink a several months go by especially between the summer and autumn/fall, and I almost forgot my anniversary was today until I stopped and thought about it and then looked on WordPress just to be sure, and indeed today was the day.

Now as I’ve mentioned before this blog has changed a lot since it’s inception, between 2012 to 2014 was my most active periods in terms of content and interaction from followers/visitors, and since then I don’t post nearly as much. And that’s just because of life as an adult working a lot and not having the same amount of time I did when I was at university, plus I’m just mentally drained these days in ways I never thought I could be and so I just don’t post that much these days. That being said I haven’t given up on this blog, regardless of how little viewership and interaction that I get on here, I will stick around because blogging is something I still enjoy a lot.

So what’s next for this blog? Well just like last the TV season is coming back and I am hoping to do reviews for several returning shows including Arrow, The Flash, Lucifer, Blindspot and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and many more. Also the film reviews will be around for certain films of note in the cinema and finally I’ll be showing off more of my podcast, Film Focus on here in the following months so look out for that when it comes.

In conclusion, to all of you who still swing by this blog and check out my material after all this time, thank you and I hope you will continue to support my content in the future. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

FIVE Years On WordPress! Anniversary Times!

Howdy ladies and gentlemen, how’s it going? As you can see from the title above, today marks the five year anniversary of this blog’s existence and so I just wanted to do a quick post today and reflect on the years that’s gone by. 🙂

I needed a good meme for this occasion and this one jumped out at me so much.

It is crazy to think that today marks the five year point for this blog, I remember joking around back in university in my first year that I’d be doing this blog for at least three or five years, but look at where we are now. It’s 2016 and this blog is still operational! Madness! Haha! 😛

Now it does have to be noted that this blog is not the same blog it was three to four years ago, between 2012 to 2014 were my peak periods in terms of content, viewership and interaction from followers/visitors and I have seen a decline since then. Why bring that up? Well It does feel a little disheartening to work for so long and have a decrease in engagement. I know that’s partly my fault for the lack of content, but with the amount of followers I have and keep getting over time, I’m surprised there are not more people stopping by. But hey I guess my blog isn’t powerful/consistent enough. Oh well, I still have the odd new person, friend or regular follower that still swing by for a bit of discussion and at the end of the day that’s all I could ask for. 🙂

So what’s next for this blog? Well the TV season is back in full swing so the weekly reviews will be back in play, I’ll also be trying to get back to doing more cinema reviews during the Autumn/Fall season and there will be some more podcast stuff coming too so be sue to look out for that in the coming weeks/months.

In conclusion thank you to all the people who are still checking out this blog, I love ya haha. And here’s hoping we can keep this blog going for another half decade! Until next time, laters! 😀

 

QUICK REVIEW: Bomba Estéreo & Will Smith – Fiesta (Remix)

Howdy people of the interweb, time for a music review and today I’m gonna do a song review for the recent release of “Fiesta (Remix)” by Bomba Estéreo & Will Smith. Obviously the news of this song’s existence and official release has been out for a few days, but I couldn’t sit around and not about it considering how big of a Will Smith fan I am. So I’m just gonna give my quick impressions on it.

Check out the song below:

So what were my thoughts on this song after hearing it for the first time? Well I was pretty much like, “Fuck yes, Will Smith still sounds awesome, I want more.” The fact of the matter is that this is primarily just another modern EDM track that just happens to feature Will Smith rapping for the first time in 10 YEARS! And he still sounds awesome. For me that is reason enough to celebrate this song’s existence.

This collaboration I did not expect at all and while its Bomba Estéreo’s song, it’s Smith’s contribution that makes it special. Smith raps like he never lost a step, the guy’s aggressive, stylish and sounds like he’s having fun on the track. He’s main verse makes me so happy, it just sounds like Smith never left the world of music and the fact that he raps both in english and spanish just makes him even cooler. OH and Will Smith says “shit”, and loads of people are freaking out about it. The reason its a big deal is because Smith has never swore in his songs (besides “Tell Me Why” where the “fuck” in bleeped out), but all I have to say is that times have changed and if Smith wants to say a swear or two then let him. With EDM songs I can go either way, some of it I absolutely love for the beats, rhythms and layering, and the way it makes me want to dance. On the other hand some of it makes me sick as its so repetitive, lacking in originality and sounds like noise more so music. This falls into the former category. The has a lovely opening guitar riff, has good layering and some fist bumping beats.

If you couldn’t tell already I’m a massive Will Smith fan, I grew up with him as both a rapper and actor, and some of today’s kids won’t know or appreciate why Smith is such a big deal, but for everyone who knows about his work back in the late 80’s, 90’s and early 00’s he is still a big deal. For me and a lot of other fans across the world, we’ve been wanting Smith to get back to rap for AGES, there’s been rumours and talk of the guy getting back in the studio, but nothing solid has come out of that. But to hear him rapping, even if it’s just a cameo appearance on another person’s song is enough. Now I know I want more, and I need more and I’m sure many other fans would be inclined to agree with me. And with there now be talk of Smith recording new music and planning a world tour, his comeback couldn’t come any sooner.

In conclusion “Fiesta (Remix)” by Bomba Estéreo and Will Smith is a pretty good jam. Besides having a nice sound, Smith’s rapping is on-point and gives me hope for the future. Some may argue that Will’s too old to be rapping again or just don’t care about him, but to them I say go away and let us fans revel in the fact that we have our man back in the world of music.

So what do you think of this song? Is it your cup of tea and do you welcome this a return to rap for Will Smith or not? Whatever your thoughts are leave me a comment below and be sure to come back next time for another song review yo! 😀

 

My 4th Year On WordPress! Anniversary Times!

Howdy people of the internet, just wanted to do a quick post today in celebration of my 4th year with this jolly old blog of mine. Today marks the day I started this WordPress blog back in September 2011 and it still feels good!

I just had to use this because it made me grin.

Every time I think about it I still feel surprised that this blog is alive and running. While I’ve never wanted to give up on it, there have been times where I just haven’t been too motivated to make content. But then after a while I feel the need to come back and write something because I have an opinion and love to spread it around and see who hollers back. 🙂

My blog has and always will be used for the purpose of fun and discussions, I tend not to get lost in the analytical stuff, though I do pay attention if I’m having a good day/week/month. It should be noted that this blog is at its lowest point when it comes to viewership and blog posts though. I used to be a little more active and the amount of people that used to come by were at least a little more significant than they are now. That being said, things change and at the end of the day I still have some loyal followers and dare I say friends who still swing by and comment on my stuff and to them I say thank you very much, you know who you are and you’re appreciated tenfold.

So what’s next for this blog? Well the film season is gearing up and well as the return of some of my favourite TV so expect a tone of review from October through to Christmas. They may not be consistent or frequent but they’ll be there. Plus I have some cinema-based films from the summer I need to catch up on too so expect some of those over the next month or so.

In conclusion, thanks to all my supporters and anyone who’s read this blog over the last four years and here’s to the future! Until next time, peace out! 😀

 

The End of An Era: Finishing University

Howdy ladies and gents today I just wanted to make a short blog post about something that has been on my mind recently and that is the fact that the university part of my life is over. Now I’ve made one or two blog posts about becoming free of university and embracing the real world, but at times, I still feel like I haven’t escaped that lifestyle yet and while I don’t miss the educational side of things, I miss the city of Sheffield and all of my peeps. But after last week, I think I can say that I am just about ready to move on.

Now last week was pretty hectic week for me, I went to see someone about an internship, then saw Jack White at the O2, and even went for an interview for a job on a farm in the middle of nowhere, but none of that was as significant as Thursday, the day I graduated from uni.

That’s how I felt when I got my moment in the sun on graduation day.

Unlike more uni’s that graduated from uni in July, mine happens to do it in November and for months I’ve been waiting for this day just wondering how it would turn out.Would I get from Luton to Sheffield on time? Would I be able to see all of my friends? Will I be able to get up on stage without doing anything embarrassing? Would I get to throw my hat in the air? Lots of questions, but no way to know until I got there.. Luckily for the most part the day was perfect. Getting up to Sheffield was a task, had to leave my house around 6:20am and drive up the motorway enduring traffic and pit stop because my family needed a toilet break. That being said, I got to Sheffield before the ceremony started, got my robes and official photos taken with time to spare. So much work and so much running around, bloody hell, I was so frantic. I got to the hall, met up with my friends again and endured the graduation of 300+ students. Luckily my department was first and we gave them a good show, but after that, the ceremony went on forever, so many students had special titles and so many of them got talked to while up on stage, it was SO painful, that being said it was fun and humourous at times. When everything had ended I got to chat and hang with me mate and take a good few pictures, it was a delightful and beautiful few moments of fun and nostalgia. I love my uni friends and seeing a few of them for the first time in four to five months was so special. After all the pictures, I went for food at Pizza Hut which was nice, never eaten so much pizza in a while.

Me on graduaion day, yeah I know, not a very flattering picture but heck I did what I could haha.

After all that build up and hype, graduation is over and my ties to university have officially been severed. Now I pretty much have no reason to  go back to Sheffield when it comes to uni and I feel like that is important factor. For months now I have been done with my course and got my grade certificates and everything, but graduation felt like the final piece of the post-graduate uni puzzle that needed to be solved, and now that part is done, I feel like everything is done and dusted. It feels mental that I can look back to three years ago and I was just starting my uni adventure, making friends, playing games and living away from home. Even though most of my time for first year is pretty hazy now, I still remember a lot of uni life like it was yesterday. Remembering the house parties, late night gaming sessions, going for takeaways, spending long hours in the library, etc. It feels like a lifetime ago now, but at the same time I can recall it as clearly as I see things in life now. Such badman times.

In the end, that point in my life has passed and now I have to grow up (unfortunately) and move on. Graduation was the final step in finishing uni and now that’s sorted, everything is complete. Thursday was a good day and I know that I’ll want to go back to Sheffield sooner rather than later, but for now I’m just glad I got through uni without falling part haha. 😀

 

Three Year Anniversary On WordPress! Woo!

Howdy ladies and gents, just a quick post today about me and this blog of mine. Yesterday marks my three-year anniversary since I joined WordPress back in September 2011. Yeah, I’ve been lurking around for that long lol.

Even though I knew that I would be doing this blog for longer than three years, it is still pretty mental to think that I’ve been blogging consistently for this long. This started out as a pastime and than evolved into something I take a little more seriously, like a serious hobby, if that makes any sense. Instead of just doing film reviews and talking about random things in my life, I’ve done month-long film and video game marathons, I’ve down reviews of TV shows and music, I talk about news relating to film and sometimes TV and video games and I have a series of rants as well. As you can see this blog went from having just one primary function to a whole load of other functions.

I’ve also learnt a lot about blogging, grammar in general (which I’m still trying to improve) and overall I’ still trying to figure out how to make this blog a successful one. Oh and obviously I’ve made some lovely online mates along the way who are such beautiful people and have cracking blogs of their own which have given me great amounts of reading material too.

So what’s next? Well I have a lot of summer plans that fell through due to me not have a laptop for almost a month, so I have a month of film reviews coming, some music album reviews and some other random blogs and rants on the horizon, so look forward to that when it comes.

In conclusion, thanks to all my blogging peeps and anyone who has read this mental blog for the last three years and here’s to three more or ten! Cheers! 😀

 

New Job, First Night Shift!

Howdy ladies and gents, time for me to divulge another chapter from my life and luckily it is one of the happier variety. Recently I just got a new job and it was honestly one my favourite first-day-on-the-job experiences I’ve ever had.

This is honestly how I felt after I got my new job. New job, new possibilities! 😀

For those who have followed this blog for a while, you may remember that I had a job back at the late side of summer, it was a hard job, but the staff and atmosphere was incredible, but I got let go in early September. To be honest it was my fault because I blogged about my workplace and used visual examples (idiot). So yeah I’ve been without a proper job for a while now, but after drifting through the ocean of unemployment, someone threw me a lifeline and now I’m back in the game with consistent work up until New Year’s.

Now for obvious reasons I’m not gonna disclose any information relating to my job in case someone’s watching me from the shadows (and waiting to try and mess me up). So all I will tell you that the job is similar to stuff I’ve done before and the location I work at is proper fancy and cool.

Last night I started my first shift there and it was first of many night shifts! Now I’ve always heard a lot about night shifts and had been curious to try it out myself one day just to see if I’d survive. My dad had been doing it for years and I always thought he was hardcore for doing so, I think he was my inspiration for taking on this type of work. So let’s just say that my job requires me to continuously keep moving and help out of people, it is crazy, busy, chaotic and can get messy. However once you get into the groove of things, it’s actually pretty fun and I had a good session. It helped that the music was varied, cool, nostalgic and got some oft he other staff dancing. And speaking of the staff they’re some of the most helpful, funny and coolest people I’ve come across in any job for a while. They were great and to be honest I couldn’t have asked for better people to work with.

My work hours was initially meant to be from 7.30pm to 6am! That scared the life out of my at first, but it wasn’t that bad, plus I got left got slightly early at 4am which was wicked. I pretty much slept like a brick until around 4pm today, so I obviously haven’t been up for that long haha.

The only thing that worries me about this job is how it clashes with my 3rd year uni work. My animation module is getting proper crazy with the deadlines and presentation at the moment and in all honesty I’m not sure how I’m gonna juggle it all, but hell imma try. Gotta survive and rise above! 🙂

 

I Want the Summer Now

Just recently me and my flatmate were having a conversation about the potential fun times we could have in the summer and it’s not the first time. We’ve had many conversations about how we miss the not only the summer sun and its warm weather, but also the fun times and feelings that came with it. I mean back in the first few weeks of university with a lot of that summer-based weather still available to us was incredible, we all chilled outside eating cereal or drinking coffee and talked with the people around our flat’s complex, you could just sit outside and look at the stars and in general there was just a lot more places and opportunities open to you. It was the perfect place, Sheffield kicks ass in the summer time.

This smiling sun perfectly represents exactly what the summer is about and how I feel about the summer season. Good times all around.

However these days we are still in the what could be described as the later part of the winter season where times are cold, wet, snowy and less fun. I don’t know why but this time of the year tends to be really boring and you really want to get past it and into the much better times ahead. Maybe its just me who feels that way but right now in life things are just dull, with just a few moments of awesomeness sprinkled in to save me from depression haha. And its strange, I never used to be that fussed about this time of the year because I always had something to preoccupy my time like school and college, but since I have so much more free time due to my university schedule I find myself inside hiding away from the world because I have next to nothing to do or there are those moments when you have an urge just to do something productive to pass the time… That is my life nearly all the time; just lazing around or just scrambling for something to do. But I believe that it’s the time of year and the winter season that is truly preventing me from having proper fun and I also believe that if it was the summer then my fun times would return and that I would never be out of things to do. If you’re lucky enough to afford it going on holiday in the summer is usually a recipe for success whether it be with your family or friends, it’s always good stuff! And let’s also not forget that the summer time is the best time for partying as it is just a continuous set of weeks over a few months to go out and party in the clubs and in my experience the summer parties always create the best memories.

Just thinking about the summer makes me so happy, just all of the possibilities could take places just fill my soul with happiness. Me and my friends have talked about going to the park and having football sessions or talking about the prospects of having a barbecue party and then there’s also the fact that we have to move into our new house this year and while we haven’t decided on a place yet, we have been talking about all the stuff we would do and it just makes me so jolly. But unfortunately that point in life is still so far away in the future and February is taking too long so the boredom continues to set it. I can’t see my life getting fun until February ends and March begins because at least at that point it’ll be my time for fun coz it’ll be my birthday!! 😀

 

Most Things Happen For a Reason

It has been something I have thought about for quite some time now, but only in more recent times in my life has it become more and more obvious. The whole concept of “actions have consequences” or believing in fate, regardless of what you call it, in my life it seems like that stuff actually applies a great deal. While most may call it a series of highly coincidental occurrences I say that sometimes some of that stuff actually happened for a reason and in a lot of cases my life has been better for it. Like how in the world of education I never got the grades I wanted after school so I had to take additional courses in college to get the qualifications necessary to get to Level 3 and while it was a pain to see my mates from school advancing I can’t regret my movements in college. I met so many lovely people who became my friends, I learnt so many additional skills that lent themselves to my later courses and in the 4 years I spent at college I got so many more opportunities than I would have if I had gotten super high marks in school, so in a way I’m sort of glad of my failure in a way haha. And that also applies to university as well. I had applied for uni in 2010, but then bailed before making my full application through UCAS at the end of that year, so throughout the academic year of 2011 I took a year out and did volunteering. And those days were some of the best times of my life, gaining more skills, getting work experience, networking and so on and so forth. Even when I applied to Westminster and didn’t get in there but was accepted at Sheffield Hallam University I was thinking maybe things would be alright. After all that I knew that this was all part of the bigger picture. So then I went into uni in September and since I have made some incredible new friends, I like my new course and living the university life is an incredible experience.

But sometimes the things that happen in life may not be as big, in fact it could just be the little things like meeting up with friends or certain people in those random locations are the things I find really special. So many times I have been late to a place or chose to take another direction to go to a certain place only to find an old friend or a mate who I haven’t seen in months or years and it feels so good to hang and talk. Back at Christmas I met up with an old friend who I hadn’t seen for 2 years and I was just mentioning him in a conversation with another friend when he just appeared out of nowhere. On that day I know that fate had a plan. Or take this more recent occasion when I was getting off the train I happened to spot my friend’s girlfriend and him on the other side train and we got to catch up again. Now this guy is in the army and it’s normally around 6 months before he comes back to visit, so after I saw him in December I thought there wasn’t gonna be a chance for me to meet him for ages, but there he was on the train with his girlfriend. And to think if I’d gotten the train I originally set myself for an hour earlier then that wouldn’t have happened. Again it had to be fate calling and it felt so good. While most of these occurrences have just been by chance or a strange twist of fate, they really have made me happier or made my life better in some way shape or form.

Sometimes however one has to endure times of great pain and struggle and suffer some of those days where you wish you hadn’t gotten up in the morning. Those are the days that frustrate you, depress you, hurt you, possibly make move you to tears or leave you in an emotional state for some time to come and that’s when you start to question whether things were meant to play out like the way in which they do. God knows I have done that on plenty of occasions. In my life I have suffered with my education from school right up until now in university, also for some reason I can’t seem to keep sustainable friendships with my older friends as they continuously drift out of my life through no fault of my own or take for instance that I used to be completely obsessed with drawing and making things within the area of art and cartoons, but these days I barely do any of that stuff and I’m lucky if I find the time or the effort to draw something truly meaningful. So one does wonder is this the life I should truly be living? Is there something better? Do I have to sit through all this shit before the good stuff comes around?

So right now I am thinking that maybe there is a reason why everything in my life has played out the way it has, I’ve always been a man who has liked to roll the dice of life and see where it takes me and for the most part every move has been a good one. Though I have rolled and lost many times, but as with most things in life not everything is gonna be happy-go-lucky all the time and you gotta go through a lot of shit before you make it through the other side. Though there are some who don’t have that problem, some make it though life without any problems or worries, I call those people rich people. But forget them, fate is a thing that I believe to some degree, though it is highly questionable with the way in which certain things go down in the world. Some may say that fate doesn’t existence and we ourselves make our own luck/fates and while I agree with that totally, I can’t help but feel that there is a greater force making sure I land in the places that I do.

 

Just not feeling the Christmas season

It’s weird, at this time of year I’m normally very happy, besides the Expo and my birthday, Christmas time is when I am at my jolliest and yet in 2011 I feel next to nothing. It’s not like I’m emotionless, but let me put it into this context; I used to love this time of year, it was always about the merry songs, togetherness with family and friends, getting fat over the amounts of food that you would consume and watching specific television shows, oh and getting some presents too 🙂 Though I can’t say I’m an overly materialistic kind of person because I don’t mind what I get for Christmas, heck I don’t mind if I get next to nothing because in the end my general love for this time of year would normally cancel everything else out. As said before I was just in it for the love of the season. But now I’m not bothered, besides seeing family and having time away from uni Christmas this year has been pretty ordinary. I’m sort of happy about it but at the same time I’m not overly fussed.

Christmas should be a jolly time for all, but not for me this year.

Now I can probably see several people coming at me saying “Scrooge! Scrooge!” But you would be wrong on many levels, I have had fun this time around, just like every year but there has been some degree of normality floating around which I haven’t been able to shake. And I think I realise today what the deal is with me. It’s that feeling you get when you realise something is missing. You know that one element that holds everything together which you normally have but don’t at that present moment. And today on Boxing Day I realise what is missing from my world that has made this Christmas so regular and not so special… It’s the magic. That’s right magic, normally at this time of year around early/mid-December there is a feeling in the air that fills your soul with happiness, this is what people interpret as the magic of the Christmas season. While a lot people claim that Christmas has lost its meaning in commercialism and all that jazz. I have never forgotten what Christmas is about. At this time of year we remember the birth of Christ (Jesus Christ for those not aware) and other than that it’s all about being with your family and loved ones and enjoying their company.

But ever since December started I couldn’t get into the groove of things. I mean I knew that Christmas was coming but I never felt anything towards it, it’s like I said to myself “I should be excited but right now I’m not bothered.” So I thought maybe that’s just random feeling. Maybe that’ll pass in time, however the days edged ever closer and my feelings did not change. Though I did get fairly jolly with me flatmates at uni when they busted out some Christmas songs and we would dance around the flat. I thought that would be enough, but even then it wasn’t. So then I thought “If anything will get me in the mood for Christmas it’ll be “Dubstep Santa” by the Daveyboys. That always works.” And so I went on YouTube and watched all 3 Dubstep Santa videos and it was lovely, I was in my element and it was creating this joyful feeling in my soul, so I thought with this maybe the magic will follow. However right up until the week when uni ended back on the 16th I still didn’t feel anything special or magical. Things were still average.

To be honest this is how I felt for the majority of the Christmas season.

So then I figured okay if go back home to familiar territory then in the last week leading up to Christmas everything will be fine, but then the travel back home happened… Ugh. The less said about that the better, I even wrote a blog on it if you wish to see my post about my suffering here: https://hypersonic55.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/my-terrible-episode-with-train-transportation/

So then after I got home I tried to get into that Christmas groove. But the feeling wasn’t coming, the magic wasn’t kicking in. I also didn’t get my normal Christmas stuff done like watching my favourite Christmas films or television specials on TV, DVD or VHS, my schedule was messed up. So over the last week I had been reacquainting myself with my family and meeting up with many friends, some of which I hadn’t seen for months, others I had seen for years. It was beautiful. I even obtained a PS3 after how many years of waiting and I even got back to the cinema for the first time in 3 months! I was having the time of my life. I even went out on Christmas Eve with my friends and even met up with several old mates while I was out, it was a great night and to be honest it was the closest feeling I got to that Christmas magic because I was having fun in the company of friends. 🙂

So then while I was out Christmas Day came and I was in a lovely groove, so with a good feeling in my soul I left my friends in town and headed home around 1am. My sister and I set up the PS3 and played Mortal Kombat 9 for a few hours while opening my presents. So after our little playing session we went to bed. Then we got up a good few hours later, opened the rest of our presents and then headed out London to hang at my Gran’s house which was the main aspect of Christmas that usually rules over everything else. And from there we had loads of food, did a lot of catching up and played card games for ages, none of which I actually won haha. However even after all of the television, food, family fun and games I wasn’t having the time of my life as I usually am, this was just an ordinary time. 😦 I think it also didn’t help that the rest of my cousins, aunts and uncles weren’t there too. In the end this Christmas was fun, I had gotten some fabulous presents and spent some great time with my family. But in the end it was nowhere near as fun or as amazing as the last few years. Unfortunately there was no magic and I wasn’t feeling the season in the way that I should be.

Anyway hope that y’all people of the world had a great Christmas and I’ll catch ya later 😀