YouTube

A Whole New Social Media?

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Social Media Logotype Background

I’ve posted about Social Media before, and no doubt, there are countless blog posts about this subject all over the World Wide Interweb. But ever since I published my previous Social Media posts, things seem to have changed. A lot. Social Media has darkened, it has become a place of confrontation, trolls and sarcastically dry humour. And I love it.

Social media, it seems, moves with the tide of ever-changing society and it, again, seems to evolve and adapt to current affairs and, more importantly, how and why people react to things. That’s why it’s such an important aspect of modern life. It’s an entirely organic form of web-interaction.

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When it comes to so called social media ‘trolls’, the most important thing to do is simply to ignore them. It’s so easy to keep replying to the bait, to keep feeding them more ammunition so that they can continue to ‘troll’ (or just bug the hell out of) you. I always find it curious that people become so wound up, or hurt or are emotional because of internet trolls. Let’s use Twitter as an example here, Twitter uses the system of following, so that each member of the Twitter society can follow each other and see what all of their favourite people are up to. Unless of course you want your social media private, in which case there is the private option, whereby only people you allow access to your feed, get to make any contact. You can also ‘Block’ and even ‘Report’ any suspicious or potentially harmful activity, or for the sake of this paragraph, any Trolls. This is the case for almost all social media website these days, so there really is no excuse to allow internet trolls to have any affect on you.

My favourite form of Social Media has, for a long time now, been Twitter. Facebook is old and out-dated; it’s struggling to keep up. Vine burned bright and extinguished hard and fast. And Tumblr is massive, but I still think it needs time for everyone to actually know what it does and more importantly, how to use the damn thing. In fact the only form of Social Media that seems to be keeping up with Twitter’s appeal, in my opinion, is Instagram, which, ironically, is owned by the incredibly dull and very tired Facebook.

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Although it faces the same level of so called ‘trolling’ and sees a never ending stream of bad feeling in some comment sections, YouTube still has a wonderful sense of community to it. If you’re a fan of YouTube; and by fan I most definitely do not mean watching cat and angry  driver videos. I mean if you are a fan of YouTubers who upload regularly to their channels and create consistent and entertaining content for dedicated viewers, then you’ll know what I mean about a community feeling. It’s really quite a marvellous thing. But as I said, you won’t know if you don’t watch YouTubers. Their fans are some of the most loyal, dedicated and often ruthless people. Sometimes more so than fandoms of pop-stars or actors. These people will defend their favourite YouTubers to the end and it’s a relationship between YouTuber and fan that only grows organically over time, that lasts. Fascinating really. There is no room for a ‘viral’ YouTuber. And certainly (for most fans) absolutely no room for ‘vine’ users to think they can become YouTubers. Leave it out.

Isn’t it weird how society has moulded itself around social media. In some ways it’s rather concerning, I mean, we spend more time speaking and interacting with people on social media rather than people in real life, and by doing so, gradually distance ourselves with the more important things in life. But on the other hand, you could say that we meet new people all the time on Social Media and really it’s not as dark and scary as your parents want you to believe. YouTube is such an amazing place to find new friends, I mean like real friends, not cyber friends. I’ve met a few people through YouTube and they’re the best. So it can be a good thing, when you actually end up meeting your YouTube friends, but when these people remain on the internet, it’s probably time to get out of the house.

Social Media is very quickly becoming one of the most common forms of interaction between young people. It has its ups and downs, its pros and cons. It has it’s wonderfully innocent and beautifully like-minded communities and it’s incredibly small-minded internet trolls. One thing is for sure though, it’s growing, and it’s growing fast.

Here are a few statistics:

  • YouTube has over a billion users–almost a third of all people on the Internet–and every day, people watch hundreds of millions of hours of YouTube videos and generate billions of views.
  • YouTube overall, and even YouTube on mobile alone, reaches more 18-34 and 18-49 year-olds than any cable network in the U.S.

And of course, the big statistic…

  • The number of channels earning six figures each year on YouTube has increased by 50% y/y.

YouTubers are earning BIG. And it’s only going to get bigger. TV, watch this space. This YouTube Space.

I love mostly everything about social media and am a self confessed addict.

But what I want to  know is what YOU think of social media, Good? Bad? Not quite sure? Leave a comment!

 

And Until next time…

 

BYE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BINGE by Tyler Oakley

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Tyler_Oakley

I’ve read a few autobiographies in my time, most of which blab on and on about how they began from nothing and clawed their way to the top in their respected fields. I’ve never, however, read an autobiography by someone who provides such inspiration and genuine love for their supporters as Tyler Oakley’s ‘BINGE’. In his Youtube videos, Tyler exudes positivity and confidence, but his book tells the story of his life from child to present and positivity and confidence were definitely not always a part of his personality.

I won’t ruin the book by telling you everything that has happened in his personal life and career, but I will give a little insight as to how Tyler manages to take his life, however crazy it may have been so far, and set such a great example for his millions of online followers. A lot of Tyler’s followers are in fact at that age in life during which they will possibly go through a lot of what he went through, and so having someone they look up to so dearly letting them know that everything is going to be OK, is a very warming thing indeed.

Let us be honest, a book with chapters named ‘Thtory of My Life’ (dedicated to his lisp) and ‘What Michelle Obama Smells Like’ (all about his interview with the first lady!!) was never going to be boring. Tyler takes us on a VERY personal journey through his life, from eating disorders of both extremes during which time he was at at all time low, to 2014/2015; two of his most successful and influential years ever.

Tyler manages to somehow inspire his audience with every video he uploads to YouTube, and that’s possibly why he has now got 7,754,141 subscribers! He knows that they love him; adore him and would do anything for him. He says that when he feels he is in a rut he knows that he can turn to Twitter (one of his most prolific social media accounts) and whether it is 3pm or 3am there will always be someone awake somewhere in the world who will be tweeting him some sort of motivational quote, message or gif.

One of the biggest ways that he supports his fans is by telling them and reassuring them all the time that no matter what they think of themselves; or what other people think of them, they must stay true to who they are, and be unapologetically themselves. His struggle with his being accepted by certain people/members of his family because of his sexuality resonates with a hell of a lot of his fan-base, and his influence on social media has helped a lot of those people accept who they are and live with it, again,  ‘unapologetically’. He does go in to his lowest times, in which he did consider suicide.

This is where he found the Trevor Project. The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ young people ages 13-24. He called them and they helped him, like they help countless others who are so lost in life that they can only think of one way out. He now plays a huge role in lending a hand with getting the word out about The Trevor Project. This year Tyler raised $532,224 for the Trevor Project with the help of his army of loyal fans. He is very much changing the world. And in 2014 he met with The President of The United States of America no less, to try to raise the numbers of young Americans signing up for the government’s health-care plan.

The book is outstanding and if you’re a Tyler Oakley fan you’ve probably already bought it and have promptly read it twice over. But the best thing about it is that you don’t even need to have heard of him to love this book. He is a highly intelligent, modest, loveable, hugely influential loon. What isn’t there to love?

Tyler if this ever gets to you, know that I use the word ‘loon’ in the most adorable way it can possibly be used. And on behalf of everyone one of your subscribers/fans and now READERS! because you’re a freaking published author as well now!…

Thank You.

@tyleroakley

Until next time…

 

BYE!

 

 

 

Dealing With Writer’s Block

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writer's block

Have you got any idea how difficult it is to write a post about dealing with Writer’s Block, whilst at the same time suffering from writer’s block? It’s the most unproductive situation you could possibly get yourself in to. So I’m going to write this with the hope of 1. Getting out of a writing rut and 2. Possibly helping others having the same issue by letting them know how I manage to break through the ‘writer’s block’ wall; thereby killing two birds with one stone. Simple. In fact, it is possible that this might be more than just a one-part blog post. I might need two or three.

It’s also worth noting that not all people beat writer’s block in the same way and I would humbly welcome any and all comments on this post letting me know how any of you do it. Thank You.

Right, shall we begin?

If I was given a pound for every time that I stopped writing because my mind just went blank, I’d probably be a freaking billionaire by now. You see, I’ve always loved writing, but my main issue is not having the right ideas at the right time. When i’m not boosted by the right idea, the project i’m working on becomes stale through lack of motivation. But when something comes in to mind, or is given as a suggestion and I like it -this post was given as a suggestion to me- I can write non-stop for hours and it turns out OK (hopefully).

One of the ways some writers will tell you is a good way of getting out of writer’s block is by sitting in a quiet room, with nothing but a pen and pad or laptop and stare at either one until an idea comes in to your head; but I disagree. How can anything of any worth come in to any mind that is simply sitting doing nothing? As a blogger who doesn’t like to focus on a single subject; I often like to post things A. Of current trend or B. Which have or soon will have importance or impact in the world we live in. So it’s not OK nor is it in any way productive for me to sit a room and wait for an idea that may or may not come to mind.

I like to search anything and everything for the latest news or ‘trends’ – please bear in mind that I hate using that word but as it is in fact currently ‘trending’ it seems fitting for me to use it. Some of the best places to find these ‘trends’ include Twitter, Buzzfeed, YouTube, and of course, the news. BBC News; because let me tell you, if you think that you’re going to find something of note, or of any cultural value while browsing through The Sun; you’re quite delusional.

A lot of the time I just like to air my thoughts on what might be bothering me about our species. Sometimes I hate humans, and honestly, I think, what with everything that is happening lately, that that is entirely justifiable. So a while ago I posted a three-part mini blog series on here called ‘Dystopia’. It’s one of my favourite movie genres and also one subject that I can not stop thinking about and so I just had to put it down in a blog post.

I love to talk about the online world and how it is shaping and affecting our minds. More importantly, I like to spend some time talking about the people who are making this online revolution happen. I’ve done posts on Jenna Marbles, Jim Chapman and KSI and am currently in the process of planning the big one, PewDiePie. I think that’s very important with a blog; to write about things which interest YOU. If you write on something that you love, then that love will show in your words and people will enjoy your posts so much more because of it.

There are ways in which you can get yourself out of a rut when it comes to writer’s block. You can plan and plan until you’re blue in the face, you might never actually get around to writing the final piece. You could sit in a quiet, empty room until a spark of inspiration hits you suddenly; but that might never happen and you’ll be sat there wondering if you’ll ever get the right idea. Or. as I often do; you can stop thinking about what others might enjoy, and just write what you DO enjoy. As I said before, if you enjoy what you’re doing, then others will start to enjoy it with you. Be yourself.

I love to hear how others manage to break through ‘The Wall’ when it comes to writing; so any comments that you feel might be helpful to others who have issues with it would be amazing.

 

Until next time…

 

BYE!

 

GQ| March 2015 |

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Whenever a new GQ comes out, I get a little excited. I don’t necessarily get excited to see the silly faced models wearing silly clothes – this month for example there’s a man dressed in a Gucci bar-code – I get more excited for the main feature article (we’ll speak more on that in a bit); the mad cars that are featured and crazy gadgets; among other things. It doesn’t matter what you’re searching for, this monthly mag has it all.

Let me quickly begin by saying that I don’t hate ALL fashion that these uber expensive designers create; there is some pretty swish style knocking about in there; Polo Ralph Lauren and Salvatore Ferragamo performing particularly well in this latest edition. I love looking at the latest styles and seeing how all the different designers go about it, but when, for example Dolce and Gabbana come along and plonk all their models in a white room dressed as bull-fighting Matadors…that’s where I have some issues. I mean really? Who’s going to dress like that? I don’t understand fashion sometimes and that’s why I tend to gloss over it when it begins to enter realms of pure hideousness. But enough of that; you can read all about how I don’t understand fashion, right here in my ‘Sometimes Fashion Baffles Me’ post.

Anyway, today we’re here to talk about strange concept cars; Britain’s 100 Most Connected Men (including Kevin Spacey) and obviously Kevin Spacey, who is this months feature interview with Alastair Campbell.

Let’s talk about that special 100, shall we. Because I have one or two bones to pick with you, GQ. Bone number one, Alfie Deyes. I used to like Alfie aka PointlessBlog, but recently he and a number of other large YouTubers have unfortunately become very aware that they are in fact, famous. This isn’t a bad thing in some cases; i’m sure some of these YouTubers are very intelligent and have worked hard for a very long time to achieve great things; but Alfie…i’m not convinced. You see (and i’m not trying to be too horrible here, so stay with me on this one) Alfie was rather young when he began YouTube and still is, really; and this is bad for a couple of linked-up reasons. He isn’t experienced in being ‘famous’, doesn’t know how to handle himself in many different situations and isn’t very intelligent, at all. You see Mr Deyes is a fine definition of making stupid people famous. Please stop it, and GQ, i’m disappointed.

Actually the rest of the 100 hundred seem like pretty decent choices. So i’ll leave it there. Perhaps GQ were running out of ideas when they came to Tech and Social Media.

Let us move on to one of the most unusual concept cars I have ever come across. The Chevrolet Chaparral Racing 2X Vision Gran Turismo. That’s quite a mouthful. But it’s quite a car; and very unrealistic (i.e will never happen).  Let me show you this bug-like creature.

Chevrolet Chaparral 2X Vision Gran Turismo Concept chev2 chev3

Kind of speaks for itself, really. GQ themselves have this to say…

“There are pies in the sky overtaking flying pigs that are more realistic prospects than this”.

You can’t really blame them for thinking this, either. The driver sort of wears the car like an exo-skeleton in a pod, which will inevitably turn in to a burning pod of death at the side of the road, as this is more of a super-bike/hyper-car hybrid. Not good, and rather ugly as well for a hyped-up concept.

So before I leave you i’ll say a few words about Kevin Spacey. The perfect choice if you’re looking for a dark and mysterious character; someone outright scary but with that look in his eyes that gives his enemies a minor touch of hope, before he destroys them. Spacey is currently playing Francis Underwood in the Netflix original series ‘House of Cards’; I wont give any spoilers because I just want you to bask in its magnificent glory as a series. Underwood is a man who will stop at nothing to get everything and cares little for the well-being of others (this is apparent from the get-go, so I haven’t given away any spoilers). Spacey is the king of Netflix at the moment and House of Cards is an amazing series of drama, politics, money, love, death, the lot. Get on Netflix now and binge watch the lot.

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Well GQ, you’ve given us another edition of some wild fashion, wild cars and wild actors that can keep us busy with debates for weeks. Thank You.

If you people have anything you’d like to say, feel free to leave a comment and like and follow my blog. It helps me out a bunch and I get all excited when I gain a brand new follower.

Until next time…

Bye!!

 

We Need To Talk About Jenna and JJ

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Alright, let’s try and do this without being cliché, or cheesy, and without looking like too much of a kiss-ass. We’ll make this nice and short…

Let’ get cracking!

I’ve written posts about YouTube; who my favourite Youtubers are and how YouTube has become the largest video sharing platform on the planet. But what I haven’t done- to my knowledge – is tell you guys why I got in to YouTube. I want to tell you straight about the two people who inspired me to make my own channel; and who both equally –however modest they may be –  inspire millions of people every day to do whatever they want to do and never take no for an answer.  Jenna Marbles and KSI have two of the largest subscribed-to channels on YouTube, KSI with 7.2 million and Jenna with a whopping 14.1 million subscribers. And that’s not counting KSI’s second channel which has over 2.8 million; each of them with over 1 billion total views to their names. So now the numbers are out of the way, let’s get talking about them, shall we.

 

Jenna Marbles

OK so Jenna Marbles (I’m going to call her Jenna from now on because adding Marbles every time is just far too time consuming) was the first ‘Vlogger’ I fully got in to. I found the YouTuber Caspar Lee through a FIFA video he did with KSI and then on and on until I found Jenna; whose videos I thought absolutely rocked and I subscribed straight away. They might not be educational (although Jenna’s Drunk Art School taught me ever so much) but if you’re having a slightly bad day, or you’re feeling a bit miserable; her videos are sure to brighten it up.

 

It’s the same story with KSI…

 

KSI (JJ)

KSI or KSIOlajideBT to give his whole YouTube name is by far and away my absolute top YouTuber. He is a gamer who focuses mostly on FIFA and GTA V and then supplements it with any random online games he can find. His videos are funny; and that’s exactly the point. In no way are they supposed to teach you ANYTHING, well maybe how to lose a race on GTA…

I watch all of his videos and they either cheer me up when I’m feeling down or just add to a great day. Now I found KSI through a friend of mine who told me to watch his video called ‘Two Blacks VS the World’. Now this is a bit of a strange video title but it was basically him and his brother playing FIFA online, and every time his brother messed up he whipped out the BB gun. From that moment on I was beyond hooked on his comedy/gaming/commentary videos and that was that.

One of the reasons I love these two so much is their utter randomness. For example; Jenna’s latest video ‘This are This’ a sequel to ‘What are This?’(I won’t ruin it for you; watch it) features two of her dogs, little puppy Peach and still little but older dog Kermit. We follow Peach being shown around the house by Kermit who is pointing at everything saying (well Jenna saying, in the weirdest accent ever) This are This. And that’s about it, then it gets a little creepy, but I’ll let you guys find that out for yourselves. If her videos don’t cheer you up or make you happy; there’s something wrong with your brain…

Then you have KSI who basically screams everything and shouts at everything and breaks everything for five minutes… But I love that. And for extra dose of ‘BANTER’ in your day, this is the channel for you, for sure. He often records videos with six of his fellow YouTubers, all of whom I watch avidly and whose videos are all equally well crafted; they call themselves the SIDEMEN, Subscribe to all of them at…

Vikkstar123

Zerkaahd – Main channel – Zerkaa)

BlueJumperGaming – Main channel – Woretoshaw)

Beh2inga – Main channel – Behzinga)

TBZJLPlays – Main channel – TBJZL)

MM7GAMES – Main channel – MiniMinter).

So go subscribe to those guys as well because they create some great content.

 

 

Until next time…

 

Bye!

We Need To Talk About Jim

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Jim

For all the messy-haired, skinny-jean wearing ‘stylish’ hipster YouTubers there really isn’t a very big selection who manage to remain stylish in a classy and refined way quite like Jim Chapman. He’s been in GQ’s best dressed list I don’t know how many times now and whenever you spot him on the red carpet or at any event, he’s rocking an outfit that just screams traditional English Gentleman. If you’re a fan of YouTubers (like myself) you’ll know that there are far too many bandanas and snapbacks knocking about these days and style seems to always take second place, but Mr Chapman seems to be subconsciously rebelling against this declining fashion sense among his fellow YouTube creators and is paving the way for the more fashion conscious.

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It’s also worth noting that Jim is one of the most genuinely nice guys on the planet. There doesn’t seem to be a bad bone in his very well-dressed body, and it’s quite clearly not a front, either. He’s an inspiration to such a large following on Twitter and YouTube and, well, any other social networking site you can think of. But back to the main point; he manages to film videos, present TV shows, and be everywhere all at the same time AND still manages to do it looking snazzy in Burberry, or Aquascutum or any other iconic brand; incredible. Oh, did I mention he also has his own blog. What else can you do Jim? Are you a professional jet-pack racer? I wouldn’t be surprised; Chapman seems to excel at anything he puts his mind to.

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There aren’t many YouTubers who I would say were particularly inspirational, but I’ll list a few of them below.

  1. Jim Chapman (obviously)
  2. Mr Ben Brown
  3. Louis Cole (fun for Louis)
  4. Tyler Oakley

ben and louis tyler

This very short list of people consists of those YouTubers who I believe inspire millions of people in many different ways. Tyler Oakley has been an inspiration to the entire gay community as well his other legions of fans; Ben Brown and Louis Cole inspire budding travellers and send out daily ‘positive vibes’ to their followers and Jim is an absolute role-model to his entire fan-base, and of course, fashion lovers world-wide.

This hasn’t been a long post, nor has it been particularly about fashion; but I just felt like I needed to, at some point, write about Jim. He deserves everything he has and as an avid viewer of his, I’m very pleased for him.

Oh, and nice suits, Jim.

 

Until next time…

 

Bye!

River Island Bargains!

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If you have read my other posts about fashion and you’ve checked out my YouTube channel’s video ‘Our Favourites’ over on https://www.youtube.com/user/siblingjunction then  it definitely will not come as a big surprise that I love the clothing chain http://www.riverisland.com/. There are such good reasons for this store being my absolute favourite; but just for now, i’ll let you in on a fantastic bargain of a get-up that is perfect for the weather we’re having. It’s so easy to get intimidated by the big brands who charge two million pounds for a T-Shirt, but stores like River Island allow everyone to dress to impress for less; simple. You can find everything that the expensive brand’s offer but at much lower prices.

 

For today’s style i’ve gone nice and plain again, but to be honest, I prefer that. There really is nothing worse than seeing someone who feels the need to wear everything they own, just let everyone know that they own a lot of clothes, it’s pointless. So something easy, and light, something airy but with pure contemporary style at amazing prices. Here we go…

 

A nice T-Shirt is an absolute must-have essential for your summer wardrobe, but why go out and spend hundreds of pounds in top brand stores when you can go out to somewhere like River Island and get more for your money.

river teeThis ‘Red Marl’ crew-neck Tee from River Island (of course) features a simple clean-cut design, comfortable slim fit, is a perfect staple for your casual-wear collection and is only £8.00!! EIGHT QUID! If you went in to somewhere like John Lewis they’d charge you over £40.00 for the same thing. Like I said in my last post, look around for bargains, they’re everywhere.

 

River chinosI have a little bit of an obsession at the moment with chinos and boat shoes, which probably means that in the next few days i’m going to find myself buying some chinos and boat shoes. These chinos are a great colour; River Island call them ‘Stone’ and that’s the perfect name, as they’re are a solid addition (see what I did there?) to your trouser collection. £28.00

 

river boatsYou may have guessed that these would make an appearance at some point in this post, I mean I did say that I was obsessed with them. You can get away with wearing these boat shoes with so many different combinations, allowing you to really get your money’s worth. Just roll those chinos up slightly and let these boat shoes (NO SOCKS)  and the rest of the outfit do the talking. These boats shoes are another bargain as well, at only £45.00.

 

I love simplicity when it comes to summer style, and River Island lets anyone, with any price range, get the look they’re after for an absolute steal.

Follow this blog for more of this kind of post, and next time i’ll be posting a smarter outfit, for a casual evening look.

 

So until next time…

 

Bye!

You Me At Six

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This is a shorter post to explain to you all why You Me At Six are my favourite band. I first heard of them in around 2009 and since then they’ve been a staple ingredient in my iPod. When I heard their album ‘Take Off Your Colours’ I was amazed at how good they were, then Hold Me Down came out and that’s when I truly became a ‘Sixer’.

But it’s their last two albums that really sets them apart from everyone else; ‘Sinners Never Sleep’ was a risky album in my opinion, it was edgy and different to their other two more lighter albums. It was Sinners Never Sleep that made them the band that could potentially go forever. That’s not to say the other albums were not good, they were; but this album is what, in my opinion really shot them to new heights.

The most recent album ‘Cavalier Youth’ was to be another big deal; in fact it was to be the biggest deal in YM@6’s career. This was the album that would get the band their first No.1 Album in the charts. You Me At Six were a very well established band already by this time, but this was something different. Somehow they were now part of ‘popular music’ which could have been dangerous; if they were any other band. You see, this was the moment when You Me At Six needed to show the world that they were here to stay, and thankfully Cavalier Youth managed just that. In fact, I believe this album has cemented You Me At Six in the rock history books for good.

Now unlike a lot of bands, It really is hard for me to pick any song that I like best by YM@6. They all have a brilliance about them which you really can’t say for many bands, or any artist in fact. I think my favourite album is Sinners Never Sleep, but I love ‘Hold Me Down’ and Cavalier Youth is growing on me very very quickly. Maybe they’re just all on par with each other. Josh Franceschi (lead singer) would tell you that he doesn’t like Take Off Your Colours because it’s childish and old; but I think it’s really good; yes the other albums show their maturity but that was their debut album and they should be proud of where it got them. They were always going to improve. It’s a good album, they all are; just listen to a few of their songs and you’ll be hooked yourself.

One of the things I love about the band is their relationship with their fans. They have their own YouTube channel, like other artists but they actually upload videos that aren’t just music videos. I love to watch their Tour Diaries and other little things that they like to upload. Matt Barnes (bass) and Max Helyer (Guitar) even do ‘Matt and Max Munchies’ when on tour, in which they visit local restaurants and try out the food. It’s good fun,

So go check You Me At Six out on YouTube and everywhere else.

Bye! 

My Bucket List!

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my-bucket-list

I’ve always loved the idea of having a bucket list; it means that you have ambition and dreams for your life. I think if I thought about it hard enough, my bucket list would just go on and on and on. I’d find it very difficult to cap what I want to be doing. From swimming with dolphins and seeing the northern lights, to sky-diving and simply holidaying in Australia.

OK, so this post is going to be a list of 20 things in my bucket list,each with a brief reason why I want to do that particular thing. I’ll agree, most of them, if not all of them are fairly generic, but I might try and add a couple that might get a few of you thinking “Hmmm, I might add that to my list.”

So in no particular order, here we go!…

1. Go on Safari in Africa – This is a big one for me. My favourite animal in the entire world is the Giraffe, I love them; they’re just adorable. So to see one in the wild, I think i’d faint due to pure excitement.

2. Scuba Dive in the Great Barrier Reef – I’m sure this is on most peoples list. Just the feeling of being there, seeing something that amazing. The worlds largest coral reef system, which can be seen from SPACE! Plus i’d quite like to see Nemo and Dori just chilling.

3. Play Golf at Augusta National Golf Club – Only golfers will understand. But the feeling of playing the worlds most prestigious course would be incredible.

4. Publish a Book – I’m not sure whether it would be a novel or something like a poetry book; but i’d love to see my work published on the shelves of a major bookseller. It would give me tingles.

5. Go to an NBA game to see the Lakers in action – This one ranks high in my list. To actually go and see the Lakers play, with court-side seats would be out of this world.

6. Route 66 – My sister did this and she had the most amazing time. I love the idea of driving down a mega long road with nothing either side of you but baron land, wow!

7. Go to the Masters – If I can’t play the course, i’d at the very least like to go to watch the Masters live one day. Just to see all of my favourite golfers at their very best, in the most important major of the golfing year.

8. Make a living doing what I love – If I could one day forge a career out of writing, blogging, YouTubing or anything like those things, I’ll be a happy man.

9. Hold an original copy of anything by William Shakespeare – Strange one, I know, but what can I say I love the man, I even did my university dissertation on him! Someone, anyone, make this happen for me!

10. Visit the 7 wonders of the world – It’s a classic. No explanation needed.

11. Fly First Class – I mean, who wouldn’t want to do that. Actually, maybe people who don’t like flying. But I like flying, so…

12. Send a message in a bottle – I love this one. I love the idea that in 20 years or so, someone will find my message in my bottle and read it, then tell me they found it. Would be amazing.

13. Meet my favourite Musicians – Now who would I meet? You Me At Six, All Time Low, Professor Green, Rizzle Kicks, Coldplay. And i’m sure there are possibly a few more I could think of.

14. Own my own house – This might seem a bit boring to some people, but I reckon one of the best things you could do in your life is get on the property ladder.

15. Own a Dog – I had a dog when I was really little but he was a nuisance and we just couldn’t tame him so we had to give him away. I’d love to own a husky and call him Zeus.

16. Participate in a conservation project – I’d love to work with animals in Africa one day, even if it was for just a few weeks.

17. Meet the Royal Family – Now I’ve seen The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh at the horse racing, but to actually meet a member of the Royal family would simply be the most amazing experience.

18. Be in the audience for TopGear – I’d actually love to be a guest on TopGear, but since that will never happen I’d settle for watching it live in the studio.

19.  Visit the Kremlin in Russia –  It has always been on my list and will always stay there but to be honest, given the current unstable nature of the world, especially Russia at the moment, it probably might not happen any time soon.

20. Sky-Dive – Another classic. Most people want to do this; my dad did do it and loved it so I want to do it too, simple.

So there you have it, a select few of some of the things on my Bucket List. There are i’m sure, dozens more but this is all you’re going to get at the moment.

What I want to know is, what’s on YOUR Bucket List and WHY.