Refection

I do hope that everyone has had a wonderful Christmas and I am guessing that you are all now getting ready for New Year Eve but before we even get there I would like to take some time to look back at some of the good things that have happened this year.

The main events for everyone are two of biggest events to happen within the United Kingdom and will be on the top of everyone’s list and those are the Queen’s Jubilee and the Olympic games as a whole, to me these two events weren't that big for me due to the fact that I have never been into sports and I never liked the idea of having the Olympics coming to this country to bring with. When It came to the Queen’s Jubilee I was happy to hear that she had made sixty years on the throne and I do hope that I can see history when she becomes the longest reigning monarch but that is some time off but getting two extra bank holidays that I felt like where just two normal days to me with a lots of rain was something that I felt wasn’t as a bigger deal as everyone else believed.

One news story this year that disappointed me the most was to do with Lance Armstrong and him losing all seven of his Tour De France titles, for years Lance Armstrong had battle Cancer and continued to train and win races only to be accuse year after year that he used performance enhancing drugs when he was tested at the end of each race and was cleared of them. To me this should never have happened and I will always believe that he won those seven Tour De France races.

The last think that most people well member about 2012 was the release of a fan fiction called Master of the Universe (Fifty Shades Trilogy) that has now allowed book shops to carry mild porn novels on their shelves (The less I say about this the better it will be for all of us).

The last news related story that was a big deal this year for me and I hope everyone else remembers it, is the death of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon.

Now that I have covered the main stories that everyone will remember this year I will now take some time to look at some stories that weren’t that main stream that I will remember 2012. The first two that I wish to have a look at where two televisions show that came to an end this year.

The first on my list was Chuck and for those that have not seen or heard about it, in short it is about a nerd that becomes a government spy and falls in love with his handler Sarah. I will be honest with everyone that when the first series came out I watched it and wanted to know what happened next but due to the fact that I was then unable to watch the rest of the show due to the person I was dating at this point in my life I had only started re-watching the show from the beginning when the fifth and final series began, so I was lucky neither to see the show from the beginning to end and the way in which it end was great for me because it was left open for the fans or the creators to continue the story the way in which they want to.

The next show that came to an end was Eureka and this was a show that I made sure I watched every episode when it came on and I just loved every part of it. The shows cancellation came out of the blue last year but it wasn’t until this year that the show ended and like Chuck it finished on a high as well as coming full circle, if you want to know what I mean then go watch the show from the beginning to the end and you will see what I mean.

This year I was unable to watch as many films as I wanted to but I hope to correct this going into next year but the films that I did see I would recommend you to go and see them. The first three on my list consist of three films that I wanted to see in the cinema but only ended up seeing two of them, when I first heard about The Hunger Games I wasn’t too sure about the film but after seeing the first trailer I knew that I was going to like this film and after seeing it in the cinema I just couldn’t wait to see what will happen next (plus when I get some money I will be buying these books).

The next film on the list is the highest grossing film of the year and that is the Avengers Assemble, if you are like me and have enjoyed the Marvel films so far you will love this film and if you haven’t seen it I think you should go get the DVD and watch the film right now.

The last film in this group and the only film that I didn’t see in the cinema was director by the same person that did the Avengers Assemble movie, the film was called Cabin in the Woods and let’s just say this isn’t your normal horror movie. When I first say the trailer I knew that it was going to be something different and as soon as it came out on DVD I watched it and enjoyed every minute. Best way I can describe this movie is a horror movie that is unlike any horror movie you have seen before plus it has as massive twist.

The last three films that I saw this year were all movies that to me where done very well but at the same time were not received very well by the public. The first of the three was Prometheus which is a prequel to the Alien movie which was created by Ridley Scott but shows you the events that lead up to the Alien movie but then goes in a completely different direction which is good. If you liked Alien then you should go pick up this up on DVD.

The Last film that I saw in the cinema that wasn’t reviewed very well was Looper. Now the reason that I enjoyed this film was because it actually got me thinking at the end and also because I very much enjoy time travelling films, it was also nice to see Bruce Wills playing a bad guy.

Now the last film that I saw from this year’s collection was Total Recall, now it has been sometime since I have seen the original so to a point I went in blind when I bought the DVD last week to watch but I really enjoyed the cast and the way in which the story went. The film isn’t as bad as everyone has made it out to be but if you are unsure then I would say wait a month or two to buy it at a cheaper price.

As a whole this year hasn’t been as bad as everyone has believed it to be, the world is still here and we are still over populating as we normally do. If there is one thing that I have learned over the years is we have the power to make a year good or bad. I know that personal issue do fact into it a lot but at the end of the day it is you that has the choice to make your life and year into what you want, plus there are events and other forms of entrainment to help you out too.

For those that have been reading my blog I hope that you have a good New Year’s Eve and New Years Day and if there is one think that I want you all to take away for this blog is that you control what next year is going to be like.

Until next time

Christmas

These last two week I haven’t been the best for me, due to me not feeling too well but at the same time it gave me some time to think about different types of topics and today I wish to share one with you all.

As we all know Christmas is almost upon us and the one thing that everyone is after is getting the right gift for their love ones, friends and family. Now I will be honest with you that even I have spent a lot of time thinking that way and in the process I have also discovered something that a lot of us seem to over look quiet badly and when I look back at my younger life I will admit that I never gave it a second through and that was spending time with my family.

I want everyone that does read this blog to think back to their childhood and think how much time you spend thinking about what present you were going to get from your parents to who much you valued your family time over Christmas.

I know that I didn’t spend that much time valuing my family when I was younger and that it wasn’t until I was in my earlier twenties that I took the time to value every minute of my family.

Now I know that the world around us does everything it can to drive home the fact that Christmas is about three things, the birth of Christ, spending time with family and giving of gifts to each other but somewhere along the way I believe that the family part of Christmas got lost for the other two part. We should all know this by now because if you look at any other holiday though out the year it is the same.

If there is one think that I would like you to take away from this blog is that you value the time that you spend with your family even if you don’t really want to because deep down you never know what could happen.

Until next time

Christmas Spirit

Last weekend was my works Christmas Party and for the record I would like to point out that the company I work for like to have their Christmas Party on the last weekend in November or the first weekend in December. The other part that I would like to mention is that I to didn’t go to this year’s Party for my own reason which is all I am going to say on the matter.

The first thing that I would like to throw out there is that I do like a good old Christmas Party for two reason, one being that you get to spend a night with the company you are working with eating food and talking to those that you don’t normally get a chance to and second the night always turns out to be good.

Now you might all be wondering what is the catch is and you would be correct but I should point out that this is not aimed at everyone but what I have seen for my owns company’s Christmas Party. I am fully aware that you are going to say that how can I talk about something that I wasn’t at and the answer to that question would be pictures post on a lovely little website called Facebook.

Facebook is a lovely little website where everyone wants to be your friend and they send you friend request where you then except it and then read them (if you are like me) once a day, finding out how bored someone is or posting pictures to try and justify a point. (There I have gone again going off topic so let’s get back on topic shall we.)

So I never went to my company’s Christmas Party but from what I seen from the picture it showed that everyone was at least having a good time and that they were enjoying themselves but for some reason something didn’t look right in some of them. It wasn’t till later that I then realised that there were people at this Christmas Party wearing Jeans.

My question is this to everyone, how did you get the idea that wearing a pair of jeans to a Christmas party was the right decision? I have spend a few days trying understand the logic behind this and I just can’t find one, I could have over looked the whole thing if they were wearing smart trousers and a smart shirt without a tie but the jeans.

Yes I am fully aware that UK fashion has changed a lot and that is a topic for another time but there are standards that should be followed especially for events like these.

Now as I said earlier in the blog I do like Christmas Parties and I have always had fun at them and on some occasions they have been interesting and that I would always encouraged those that think about going to them to go because you have no idea what could happen. Plus I find them to be the gate way into the festive season because once you have been to one you seem to be more the mood for Christmas than if you haven’t been to one but on the flip side if you have it too earlier you can lose the magic of Christmas before you even get close to it.

On a final note how many times a year do you get to the chance to dress to impress or to have something happen that stays with everyone for years to come. For those that have or haven’t had your Christmas Parties yet, I do hope that you have enjoyed or will enjoy them.

Until next time

Holiday season

With tomorrow being December the 1^st and this also being the first weekend in December it’s that time of year where we now place up are Christmas decorations and start getting ready to celebrate this festive season.

Now I will be honest with you that for me Christmas is one of those times of years where while I was growing up I always enjoyed myself but within the last ten years I have started to dislike the hype that comes with this time of year which bring me nicely to what has ticked me off so far this year.

Most of my problems come from the retails who have decide that it is best to place up their Christmas decorations up in the middle or end of October which to me is far too earlier for them to be doing so. I just get the feeling that they want to drag out the season as long as possible but as soon as Christmas day or New Years Day has been completed they pull it all down. If I was given the choice I wouldn’t allow retails to place them up till at least the middle of November at earliest which also bring me to Christmas music.

If you are going to play any Christmas music then at least start doing so on or after the 1^st of December and not how I discovered in the middle of November were almost every five stores I walked into was playing some form of Christmas music.

I don’t want to give the believe that I don’t like Christmas full stop but when it comes to the build up or the hype I just believe that there is a time and a place of all of it and that the closer it is to December the more Christmassy it is.

The one thing that worries me the most is a lot of people seem to be doing the same thing and the best way that I could explain this to you is when I was driving home from work at the beginning of the week the amount of house that had already placed up their decorations was unbelievable to me. It is as if they believed last weekend was the beginning of December.

All I will say is good luck to all those that will attempt to place up there Christmas decorations this weekend and I do hope that you also enjoy yourself.

Until next time

Are we going backwards?

Once you start reading this week’s blog you might get the idea that I am on another rant but I do hope that it’s true and that you can understand why nowadays I stay away from the comment section of most websites and why I don’t touch forums anymore.

Today I will be looking at the news media and the way in which headlines are used to gain read ship and how the younger generation and current generation can't seem to understand how it all works.

First off I will admit that I never took a media course while I was at school but I did spend two years helping my friends out with their coursework and learning some very basic, if not obvious knowledge behind media. 

Now if we take a moment to looking back in time you will see that if you wanted any form of news you only had two ways in which to get it, one was from newspapers and magazines and the second was from the scheduled television times for the news. Now the easiest way of getting the news was from papers and magazine but it also bought with it a choice. Every paper and magazine had its own view point and that they needed to come up with away to get new readers and keep the ones they have already collected. The way in which they did this was to have exclusives and bold headlines that where eye catching and sometimes unbelievable.

When it comes to newspaper you can now understand why their headlines are always so bold and why the front page will always have the most catchy headlines and a stories that they believe their view ship what’s to read. Now when you are next out and about pop into your newsagent or supermarket and take moment to look at newspaper stand, what is the first think that your eyes are draw too? I will be honest with you that ninety percent of you will be draw to bold text that covers the front page and that if the headline appeals to you then you are more than likely to pick up that paper and read the rest of the story.

 
If we jump back to present day you will notice that everything I have said so far still happens to this day but with only a few changes when it comes to the internet format. (Yes the internet is readily available and a lot of people read it.) If you go to a news website you will still see the bold headline and a very small amount of text that starts off the article and like I said earlier if the headline says what you want it to say you are more than likely going to click on the link to read the rest of the article.

Now this is where it get very interesting and the reason that I say this is because if you happen to be like me you will read an article that appeals to you but you want take it at face value. Why is this you may ask? Simple I know that the story is from a view point of that person and that if I was to read the source that they link at the bottom of the page I will end up reading that as well. If it doesn’t take me to the source I will spent a bit of time reading up on the news event before drawing my own conclusion, this is what I would like to call not taking it at face value and find out what the true is.

As you could guess, articles are used to draw their views and new readers to their site, which in turns boost the traffic to their site and the way in which they do this is to twist articles to their own view point and this is where I get a little bit lost. Why do people that know that the story has been twist go on to throwing hate comments to the site and their readers? If you already know that the story has been twisted and is telling their views what they want to hear, why leave comment saying that they are misinforming you and that they are a bad company. As I said earlier, the story and the headline are there to draw you in to read what that person’s or companies view point is on the topic. If you do not agree with it then leave the site and go somewhere else for your information.

I hope that kids and adults that should know better by now understand two things now, one being that news outlet, company and website are out to get you to read and stay at their site which in turn get them more money and second that if you want the true you sometimes have to go looking for it yourself.

Until next time