one day at a time evan.: opinion

Showing posts with label opinion. Show all posts

Tuesday, 31 December 2013

2013!

2013 has been a weird year, to say the least. It's been great in some respects, seeing musicians I can now call friends grow and succeed. Learning to drive has been great so far and looking forward to doing my theory/practical soon etc. and of course, I've been on the biggest trip of my life! There's been a few other things as well that have made my year an alright one, BUT 2013 has also been a pretty bad one too.

The challenge I originally set myself was to take a photo every day for a year, I ended up starting a daily blog, which went weekly when exams and A Level stress kicked in, but this blog has opened up so many opportunities for me! I thought it'd be an easy thing to do as it doesn't take much to click the shutter on a phone/camera/iPod and it's something I enjoy doing. Obviously, I had no clue what was going to happen this year, and it prove to be more of a challenge than I thought! The blogs have changed over the year; with them getting better (hopefully you agree too :/) and dipping at the end of the year - sorry about that! Some of the photos have been appalling cop-outs, but others (I feel) have been some of the best I've ever taken! I'm really glad I've done it though, I've been able to sit down, especially in the last few weeks and read through what I've done this year.

The more the year went on, the less I wrote and the more vague the blogs got and the less enthusiastic I was to get the photos/blogs up on time. This year has been a long one for me and especially my family as a whole.

I've struggled with stress of exams and exam results (panic attacks were a great running theme through the summer-thankfully dying down after my A Level results), I've vented many frustrations (exams, sports results and injuries, coursework, A Levels in general etc.) but I've also tried giving an insight into what I've done each day/week.

I've done so much this year, half of it I'd never imagined I'd be able to say I'd done! I've organised a fundraising dinner and live music evening, with (quite a bit of help) from my friends (and family!) but that went insanely well. I've also been to loads of gigs/concerts, Frank, Lauren, Gabrielle Aplin, Girls Aloud, Saint Raymond, Billy Lockett, Andreas Moe, Shannon Saunders, Lewis Watson, Orla Gartland, Daniel James, Izzy Bizu and The Boxettes (to name the ones that really stood out to me). I've seen quite a few good films this year, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Life of Pi, After Earth, Monsters University and of course the much anticipated Hunger Games: Catching Fire. There's also been the massive hype about the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary and saying goodbye to Matt Smith as Twelve last week.I just about got through my AS exams with two Cs and two other grades, I've dropped two subjects and picked up a subject that I'm enjoying - so all's good! My plans for the future have changed A LOT over the year, I'm avoiding Uni for a bit and seeing what opportunities open up, whilst hopefully getting a job/work experience within media or just something that helps me pay for concerts and everything else! I've also been on the biggest trip of my life this year, I've flown for the first time (which was pretty scary!) it was also the first time I'd been further than France. I can't even begin to explain how amazing the Kenya trip was, it's definitely changed my perspective on things, seeing how they live and still continue to be so positive was eye-opening. It was one thing I've always said I've wanted to do and now I can say I have!

Next year, is hopefully going to be a good one! I'm going to continue blogging each week, but not as much about me and what I'm up to and not as many photos, because I want to focus on getting good content out and worthwhile photos. Main things for me in the new year, is to pass my A Levels, get a job/work experience, play at least three cricket matches and stay positive. I've had a nice break from cricket this season, after 10 years of playing pretty much once a week, if not 2 or 3 times, all year round, I'd got bored/fed-up and didn't enjoy it, so hopefully that changes this year! Failing that, I'll take up jogging or something - anything to get fit - I don't enjoy getting out of breath after one flight of stairs (you think I'm joking!)

Thank you's of the year go to my Gran, she's the bravest woman I think I'll ever know, she's had the worst year, but she brushes it off like it's nothing and keeps on going. She's ill, she's fighting but she's smiling. <3
My Mum's been pretty impressive this year too, she never stops and she always puts others first, thank you! <3
Obviously a massive thank you to other family and friends that support me in what I do, got me to Kenya etc. also a massive thank you specifically to Evie, Soph, Mads, Isy, Phil and Lai and a big thank you to Sophie B for all the creative help etc. as well as everything else! I don't really know who reads this, as it's not something that I enjoy talking about and it never comes up in conversation, but to all those that read it - thank you! If this is your first time reading or your 150th, if you've liked any of the photos on FB, shared any links/downloaded or listened to any of the music etc. - thank YOU!

(It wouldn't be a One Day at a Time blog without music/a video/exciting stuffs so here you gooooo...)

2013 video...

2013! (link)

Music of my Year!
I thought I'd put music to represent/cover each month from 2013! Enjoy!

January: Amethyst Blue - Skylarks

Amethyst Blues - Skylarks (link)

February: Dreams - Bastille & Gabrielle Aplin

Dreams - Bastille & Gabrielle Aplin (link)

March: Collecting Sunlight - Andreas Moe

Collecting Sunlight - Andreas Moe (link)

April: Black & White - April Keen

Black & White - April Keen (link)

May: Tiny Chemicals - Frank Hamilton (link)

Tiny Chemicals - Frank Hamilton (link)

June: Care - Hudson Taylor

Care - Hudson Taylor (link)

July: 17 - George Barnett

(skip to 44:15)

17 - George Barnett (link)

August: Summer - Frank Hamilton

Summer - Frank Hamilton (link)

September: Keep Your Head Up - Ben Howard

Keep Your Head Up - Ben Howard (link)

October: Paki Rwoth - Watoto Children's Choir

Paki Rwoth - Watoto Children's Choir (link)

November: Bonfires - Saint Raymond

B onfires - Saint Raymond (link)

December: Lonely This Christmas - Frank Hamilton

Lonely This Christmas - Frank Hamilton (link)

Exciting Stuffs... Next year brings more challenges, I will be writing for two blogs and there's an opportunity for me to write for a music website too!
One Day At A Time is moving, and will be written by four different people, Philippa, Isy, Sophie and Me (Evan), we'll be covering different subjects, food, music, art and quotes/lifestyle. So there we go!

Links will be put here very soon, when the links are all set and launched! But for now, keep posted for the last and first as we cross from 2013 to 2014! Happy New Year to you all and see you in the new year, probably on a new blog!

Thanks for Reading!

Find me and final updates here: https://www.facebook.com/onedayatatimeevan

Also, if you enjoy reading this blog/like music then head to my other blog!

Find my other blog and updates here: http://musicintimeblog.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/MusicInTimeBlog

31st December 2013: thank you and goodnight 2013!

The last couple days of 2013 have been pretty average...

Yesterday, I got up pretty late, because of the long day and late night Sunday. I sorted out blogs, went out to run some errands with Mum, sent an email and got a reply, more about that in the end of year blog... Played some tunes on my uke, played against Misty on a few of her new games, had more wind and rain, so weren't too hopeful about electricity being around for long, but luckily the wind and rain died down and it didn't come to anything! Sorted out a few more things for next years blog and sorted out end of year video stuff a bit more. Chilled in the evening, finally downloaded spotify onto my iPod, if you like music, which in pretty sure a lot of people do, it covers all genres/artists, it's basically great and I'd recommend it to anyone, it's also nice and easy to use!

Today, I woke up half an hour before my driving lesson, and got up even closer to it... That went ok, then came home and started sorting out blog/photos etc. Then spent most of the day sorting those out! Haven't really done much else, listened to quite a bit of music and gone through a lot of photos...

Photos...

30th December 2013: exciting emails, editing and chilling.

31st December 2013: thank you and goodnight 2013!

Thanks for Reading!

Find me and my photos here: https://www.facebook.com/onedayatatimeevan

Also, if you enjoy reading this blog/like music then head to my other blog, I'll be going full out on it next year, if things go to plan!

Find my other blog and updates here: http://musicintimeblog.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/MusicInTimeBlog

Sunday, 8 December 2013

8th December 2013: the start of xmas shopping.

It's been a bit of a weird week overall, I've had another week where I can't particularly remember what I've done, purely because it hasn't been that interesting...
I've had quite a few English Lit lessons where I feel like I've been patronised every time I make a comment, it must be really surprising that I can spell/do work when I understand what we're doing!!
I've also prepped many emails to be sent, but not got round to sending them, too many days later...

BUT I do remember what I did Wednesday, I had a day off (because I had no lessons) got quite a bit done in the morning, had a driving lesson, which went ok, got laughed at quite a bit (no surprise there) mainly because my patience was non-exsistent whilst driving through town. Did club and then went with Evie to go and watch Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I thought it was a pretty good film, although most scenes I think I'd seen through multiple previews here and then, or was it moments of de ja vu? Still, it was close to the book, and lived up to my expectations, I thought it was better than the first one in many ways, and went well with how I imaged the scenes whilst reading the book. It's definitely a good one to watch at the cinema!!

Thursday, I had two English Lit lessons, two frees and a lunch spent playing ukulele, singing and struggling with other people harmonising. Then went to pick Misty up from school and walk her home. I had an evening sleeping, then watched I'm A Celeb, which I've got into this year, then headed upstairs to bed, checked my ipod and a notification came up saying that Nelson Mandela had passed away. As a world, I guess we shouldn't have been surprised, because he had been ill for quite some time and he had lived 93 long years. Saying that, I was surprised at the reactions it got, most people were respectful and stuff, but there were a few views that I'd been oblivious too in the past. I've been taught that Mandela was a well respected man, that fought for freedom for his people etc. I learnt Thursday that people saw him a terrorist etc. and that he killed innocent people, which yeah I guess he did, but he served his time in prison and became one of the most inspirational people not only for black people but for the world. Even the words legend and inspiration don't do him justice in my eyes.

Friday, I got up late, got some stuff done in the morning, went in for Media, got quite a bit done. Had a chilled lunch, walked down to Costa with Lai and Max for a hot chocolate, which was nice. Went to tutor, although they're really starting to annoy me now, don't see the point in going to them, but they're compulsory, so I have to. Went and picked Misty up from school again, went home, had a sleep, did club, came home, watched I'm A Celeb again, my preferred top 3 for the final. Then sat for an hour and a bit planning things for next year, mainly blog things.

Saturday, today's blog prepped, sorted out my room a bit, started getting together photos for end of 2013 video and that was about it.
Sunday, I got quite a bit of work done, sorted out some videos for a friend,filed loads of work into my folders, got a bit of christmas shopping done (still feeling like a scrooge). Also, started planning an exciting project that could be happening and starting to sort stuff out for next year's big blog announcements... :)

Music of the Week!

First up is the credits song from 'Hunger Games: Catching Fire', I've waited out to put this in my blog, so that it went with the one I saw the film in! I am slightly obsessed with this song! :)

Atlas - Coldplay (link)

The official video for this song was released this week, and it's one that crops up on a lot of adverts, especially in last couple of months. It's a song I've loved for ages and is one of my favourites from her album.

Salvation - Gabrielle Aplin (link)

Next is an older song, but it was rediscvoered when someone played it earlier in the week, and I went home and listened to it over and over again, because that's what I like to do. This guy mesmerizes me and manages to chill me out, whatever mood I'm in.

Pure Imagination - Jamie Cullum (link)

Penultimately (good word that :P) is from a guy that I've been listening to for the past few weeks every day. I love this genre of music anyway, Sigur Ros, Soley etc. but Bon Iver stands out as one of the best. It's the kind of music you can listen to, fall asleep to, have in the background whilst doing work, or just chill out to. I found it hard choosing a song, but went for this one in the end, just beating Holocene.

Towers - Bon Iver (link)

Last but not least is a remix of a song that I love at the minute, but this remix has been on repeat every time I've gone on the computer. It's chilled and keeps the key to the original but it's also clearly a remix.

I See Fire (Kygo Remix) - Ed Sheeran (link)

Photos...

2nd December 2013: another monday.

3rd December 2013: getting stuff done.

4th December 2013: a day off and catching fire.

5th December 2013: bon iver, fruit tea and sleep.

6th December 2013: busy morning, hot chocolate and club.

7th December 2013: work, chilling and plans.

8th December 2013: the start of xmas shopping.

Thanks for Reading!

Find me and my photos here: https://www.facebook.com/onedayatatimeevan

Also, if you enjoy reading this blog/like music then head to my other blog, I'll be going full out on it next year, if things go to plan!

Find my other blog and updates here: http://musicintimeblog.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/MusicInTimeBlog

Wednesday, 6 November 2013

When The Mzungus Went To Kenya. (pt. 1)

The next three blogs will include parts of my African adventure, the second one will be the longest and most likely the most interesting, but that doesn't mean the others are boring! The tense changes quite a bit because I'm typing this straight from my notebook that I took out with me. There is stuff that will have been written as it was happening, a few hours after and in some cases the day after... Enjoy!

Thursday 24th October 2013

Thursday 24th October 2013: my first ever flight and a long day!

A manic morning! I decided to leave quite a bit of my packing to last minute. Took Misty to school - who went off surprisingly well! Then a mad dash! Got to the airport with a good amount of time, but of course leaving behind sunglasses and a belt! Had a few mini panics before getting on the plane, but got there! Now, sat on the plane, take-off was an odd experience but an alright one! I've watched 20 minutes of Monsters University, part of The Lone Ranger, which is pretty good and I'll probably watch the rest after eating... Speaking of which, the menu just came up, it's an interesting one and I'm stuck on choice!
I decided to go for beef in a sauce with some veg, so ended up eating veg and sauce, with some chocolate mousse and cherry thing, which was tasty! Been a long flight so far and still got three hours left. Unfortunately, I'm sat in the middle of the row, so no view for me! Apart from seeing Wembley as we took off and turned. It's funny how even though it's 6.20pm at home and 8.20pm where we're going, it's really dark and I'm feeling quite tired. I guess that's just because it's been a bit of a long day. Probably going to try and sleep on the next flight but I'm sure I'll be too excited!
Soo, at 11.30pm (not English time) we got in to Doha, I didn't enjoy the landing and my ears hurt! Had a nice 'best wishes' moment at the end of the flight from the person sat next to me. Then we looked round Doha airport, sat down and played i-spy and chilled.

Friday 25th October 2013

25th October 2013: Rift Valley and travelling!

Sat on the second plane of our journey to Kenya, after getting on the plane at 1.20 am (Doha time). Managed to get a window seat (which I felt would help my lack of confidence in flying - that's a joke by the way, I just thought it would be nice to get a hgih up view...) and I did! Luckily sat next to Eliott again so I didn't have some random person laughing at me and my flappy arms (and the non-stop talking). We got a seriously good beautiful view of Doha lit up, with the skyscraper style buildings and stuff. This flight I opted out of the meal, as I'd eat quite well already, plus I didn't fancy fish or lamb. I'm now chilling with a cup of water, a stunning view of the stars, although I can't see the upside down moon! (Don't ask! Haha) Now back to top up my half hour sleep whilst listening to The Croods (which sounds like a good film!)
Had a good amount of sleep on the flight, watched Bug's Life and Miranda. I had a few breaks from sleep because of the sunrise, which was beautiful. It was a pretty good landing - I think?! As we were going down we saw giraffes and a few other herds of animals, which were a light beige/brown colour. When we got off the plane and onto the bus they played Kenyan music - which was a nice touch! We got our luggage and made our way out of the airport. We then got on the 'Starbus' and headed to Nakuru.
I'm writing this whilst on the bus and it's going all over the place! We've had an exciting journey so faras well as a really odd one! The culture is great to see out here, although there is a weird divide no matter where you go, to be fair we've only been through Nairobi and a few other places, but they're all the same, just with different name and faces. Seeing slums next to high towered flats, and pretty impressive buildings just on the other side of the road/fence - it's definitely a change to London, our country's capital! The roads are a bit manic, there doesn't seem to be many laws etc. We stopped at the Rift Valley viewpoint, which was a great view and some extremely friendly Kenyans! (We all know why that was!) Whilst driving we've seen lots of wildlife, baboons in the middle of the road and they had some babies which were cute. Lots of donkeys and cows and thousands of goats. We've also just seen gazelle (I think?) and lots of zebras. Just seen the first dog as well! No cats yet... Some of the landscapes here are stunning and definitely beats most views in England! We stopped at a hotel for dinner and had a welcome and debrief about what we were going to get up to and what to expect from Nakuru and the Kenya people. Then we headed to the supermarket for water, which is VERY cheap over here! Then we headed to our accomodation. We arrived and as we were sorting out our rooms it tipped it down. We sorted out a bit, had showers, went a chilled for a bit, got a bottle of Sprite for the equivalent of 70p. We then had dinner, which was delicious! Spaghetti bolognaise type thing (with a meat that probably wasn't traditional beef like we'd have). There was a lot of time spent messing around and moaning in general... Still, we headed back to our room, sorted some stuff out and then got ready for bed. The mosquito net was a fun challenge! Highlights for the day have to be: the sunrise this morning, having little Kenyan kids waving at us and seeing the insane view at Rift Valley view point - even if the road it was on deserved to be on a Deadliest Roads TV programme! Oh, and getting to see and speak to Misty on FaceTime (what would I do without technology?)

the sunrise whilst on the plane!

Saturday 26th October 2013

26th October 2013: Adventure Day!

We woke up at around 6am, I got up at about 6.30, went for breakfast at 7, it was sooooo good - I know now that even if dinner/lunch aren't great, breakfast will be! We had mandazis, which is basically an unsweetened doughnut, we also got a slice of toast with it! It was then an early trip to Lake Nakuru National Park, which wasn't very far down the road from our accomodation. We saw quite a few of the animals, but only a few of the big cool animals... It was still really cool to see animals you'd normally see in a zoo in their natural habitat. We saw lots of birds (surprisng amount of magpies and pigeony things around) Then a list of animals: zebra, black rhino, baboons, lots of buffalo, guinea fowl, velvet monkeys, white rhino, a mongoose thing, a few lizards, waterbuck, a tortoise, lots of birds of prey, giraffes, gazelle/antelope things, lots of impala, not as many flamingoes as I thought there'd be but still lots, warthogs, and some dik-diks - although annoyingly I didn't manage to get a photo of them, due to two people in our minibus getting excited. Then a trip to the equator, where we got a demonstration of the experiment of the water going clockwise one side and anti-clockwise the other way, then staying still in the middle. We then attempted to teach some kids some dancemoves, but that didn't go as well as we thought! Then onto Thompson Falls, and on the way lots of kids shouting, running and waving 'Mzungu!' even though this is all going on, right now it still doesn't feel like I'm in Kenya. Still, the falls were great, we walked down all the way to the bottom (which was muddy and wet) but we got a great view! The walk back up wasn't as great, and we came across a mouse! Then a pretty long mini-bus ride back with lots of singing! Dinner which I didn't enjoy, it was rice with beans, sauce and veg. Then I had a shower and after went to the bar area to watch footall highlights. Then had a bug drama, which was basically me sorting out my mosquito net a bug ending up on my bed, trying to catch the bug in my soap case, catching it, it climbing out even though that seemed impossible! Losing it - getting the boys to look for it, they couldn't find it, so left, Tilly and Lai got into bed, it took me an hour to work myself to get back into bed, as I kneel on my bed to get in under the net, the bug climbs up from the side of my bed, I grab my shoe and whack it, it falls on the floor, rolls around a bit, and then I hit again so it's dead and won't share my bed again! Sorry, and karma will probably getting me back for that - but there was no way it was staying in our room to find it's own way out alive!

white rhino, zebra and flamingoes at Lake Nakuru National Park.

at the bottom of Thomson Falls.

Sunday 27th October 2013

27th October 2013: church, cards and chilling.

Woke up at 6am on the dot, yet again and couldn't get back to sleep so wrote up yesterdays entry. Whilst getting ready we could hear some gospel style church singing which helped us get in the mood for a Sunday! Because we forget the clocks changed we missed breakfast, luckily we weren't too late and we still got some toasted sandwich with fried spam stuff in! We headed to the church, in a church bus which was renamed the 'Jesus Wagon'. Three hours of singing, clapping and dancing, it was definitely an experience different to my local church at home! We then headed back to Kivu Retreat (where we're staying) chilled for a bit, had a game of pool, played cards whilst it rained, then went to the supermarket to get some water and snacks. We then went back to Kivu, had dinner, which wasn't great, dry mash stuff with stew. Then we had a quiz, our team came third, which wasn't too bad out of 6/7 (can't remember how many teams there were!) No bug drama tonight, a FaceTime with Dad and a fairly early night ready for tomorrow, the first day at our projects!

to be continued...

Thanks for Reading!

Find me and my photos here: https://www.facebook.com/onedayatatimeevan

Find my other blog and updates here: http://musicintimeblog.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/MusicInTimeBlog

Sunday, 20 October 2013

20th October 2013: warm drinks and rest.

So, I signed in today to type this up, and saw I'd reached over 5,000 views, seeing as I don't upload as often as I did at the start, that's an insane amount, so thank you to everyone that reads this! It's weird that it's grown since I started it up, and now it's nearly the end of this year's challenge! However, I WILL be planning new things for the new year! So stick around!! :)

This week hasn't been the best, but it definitely hasn't been the worst! My trip to to the wonderful world of Africa is just a few days away... But you'll hear more about that in a special blog (hopefully will be up on Wednesday!) I'm ill, which is great! I've had lots of medicines and tried to rest (which seems to be an impossible task of mine) and my other blog has grown quite a bit this past week! Still, onwards to the daily happenings from this week! (Also, stick around for the music of the week, cos there is one song that I absolutely love and I'm sure others will - as well as the other two :P)

Monday, I got up at a reasonable time, didn't have to be in until break. So I went in, had Media, did a 20 mark test, thinking I didn't do too great! Then, I had a free, then lunch, then assembly then English Lit, which was alright. After school, I waited over half an hour to be picked up because a certain little person went to pick up one of her b'day presents! Finally got home (I'm joking Mum :P) we went out for dinner for my sister's b'day! Came home and taught Misty how to play Am and C chords on her uke.

Tuesday was a long day! I had four lessons, a free, which I did five minutes of school work in, then had a cheeky jam with Lailana then during lunch and tutor we did some filming of her session for Music In Time, so that's looking good! Didn't really do much Tuesday that I remember, just more emails and work.

Wednesday morning I woke up feeling ill. Sore throat, not knownig whether it was from singing on Tuesday (never a good idea with my throat!), whether I was having a reaction to the typhoid tablet OR if I just had a cold... I had a free day, so typically I filled it with work that needed doing! Emails, editing, media work, permission letter drafting for my English Investigation. Made myself lunch, went for my driving lesson, did some parking (which I was good at!) and lost my voice a few times! Got home, had a toffee crisp (which probably didn't help my throat, but cured my hunger and tasted great!) Had a sleep, went and did club, lost my voice another few times, got annoyed at a really cocky little boy, got over that, went home, had dinner and went to bed with a warm blackcurrant.

Thursday, woke up. Realised Kenya was a week away, freaked out, realised throat was still sore. Decided to rest most of day, had Lemsip (which tastes disgusting - no matter how much sugar/honey you put in!) Got lots of work done though! Went to homegroup, as it was my last one before trip next week. Had a few mini emosh moments - that just sort of put a smile on my face, rather than tears in my eyes - haha, and a few hugs (I just hope I haven't given any of them my cold!)

Friday, I spent a few hours in the morning resting, sorting stuff for my other blog out, started writing this one out, watched a bit of Les Mis - the half hour I watched was alright, but I was a bit confused when the character Anne Hathaway (I think) dies 20ish minutes in and she was the main character they show in the advert! Went in to school, went to Media, helped with football, went to tutor and went home, had last jab, which was a seriously painful one! Went to club, then headed off to Dad's for the weekend.

Saturday, I got up late, chilled for most of the day, went out for a hot chocolate and got some shopping, went home and chilled some more, watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which was good, caught up with the Emmerdale storyline, which was a good one last week! Then watched Strictly and X Factor after eating a delicious dinner of Cheesy Pasta!

Today, woke up thinking someone was turning the bedroom light on and off, then realised the wind and rain outside was insanely heavy, then clicked that there was a pretty impressively scary storm outside! Went and had a toasted sandwich for lunch, which was nice. Went back home and had a chilled afternoon whilst the rain was tipping it down outside! Then headed home to Mum's had dinner, had my hair styled by Misty and wrote a mini list of a few final things I need for Kenya. I must admit... I'm looking forward to Thursday and everything but I'm looking forward to getting in the minibus in Kenya and knowing I've got three airports and two flights out the way!

Music of the Week!

Ok, so I went on to YouTube to listen to music whilst I was typing up this blog and found this and it's insane! I love the song anyways, but this cover is pretty impressive! Saying that, I'm slightly irritated Becky Hill doesn't get any recognition in the title as she's the one that sings it all the way through! Still, here it is!

Counting Stars - Becky Hill ft. Wilkinson (link)

Next up is a song that I only heard yesterday, and thought it was pretty good...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHjUuojffds

Last up is a song I've had in my head for ages!! I've seen her live twice in the past month and thoroughly enjoyed both sets, and she was lovely when I was spoke to her at both gigs! Also, the video shows three other familiar faces to this blog! Enjoy!

Devil On My Shoulder - Orla Gartland (link)

Photos...

14th October 2013: happy bday misty and 10 sleeps to go!

15th October 2013: full day, singing and filming.

16th October 2013: losing my voice, emails and driving.

17th October 2013: work, rest and losing my voice still.

18th October 2013: lemsip, school and club.

19th October 2013: chilling, hot chocolate and willy wonka.

20th October 2013: warm drinks and rest.

Thanks for Reading!
Have a good week!

Find me and my photos here: https://www.facebook.com/onedayatatimeevan

Find my other blog and updates here: http://musicintimeblog.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/MusicInTimeBlog

Sunday, 13 October 2013

13th October 2013: technology failures, rain and a headache.

Pretty random week to be honest. I've been really, whilst having some chill time and getting on with random things to do with just under two weeks away... (You'll find out more about that later!)

Monday was a long day... I tend to struggle the day after a gig anyway and I got to bed fairly late after 7 hours of being pretty uncomfortable with my surroundings (no idea what I'm gonna be like in Kenya!) Still, I didn't have to be in for a lesson until 11, so I had time to get ready and everything! English Lit wasn't too bad a lesson (for once!) and managed to get on with the work etc. I then had a free, which I used to chill. Then I had English Language, which again wasn't too bad! Went home and attempted to do some homework (obviously didn't try hard enough...)

I had a really long day Tuesday, not much sleep and a full day (meaning I had 4 lessons and I worked through my free and lunch). Double Media was alright and so was double English. Apart from work adn rest - I don't think I did much else.

Wednesday was an alright day. I went in first thing for English (feeling increidbly full of a cold), it was a pretty good lesson. After that I went home, sorted out some emails and blog stuff out. 12.30 came and I went for a driving lesson, it wasn't one of my best and I nearly got out the car and refused to get abck in (but luckily that didn't happen) I stayed in the car and stayed just about calm enough adn the 20 minute drive home was a lot better. Didn't do much in teh afternoon apart from more emails and blog stuff. Club went ok as well.

Another long day on Thursday. It started with my penultimate jab for my trip, then in to school (late) for a rubbish hour of English Lit, after that 4 better hours of English Language. Then home for a really nice dinner - cottage pie, brocoli and cabbage - thanks Mum! Then off to a family friends house for two hours for them to help replace my LCD screen on my camera - which now works and can be taken to Africaa - thank you very much!

Friday was a bit of a crazy day! I ended up recieving a total of 14 important emails, 3 of which I got whilst I was sat in my sister's school harvest service...
I had a pretty busy morning planning what I will be doing blog-wise for the next 3 weeks. Then I went in to school for media which was a good lesson apart from the public motivational speech my teacher gave me *still not over it*. After that I had a free, so sorted out more emails and a group of us decided it was too cold so we had some 'quiet time'. Lunch involved me doing football training in the rain :/ Then tutor fighting my corner about a possible non-uni future. Mum picked me up and we went to my sisters harvest festival. Went home, did even more email stuff, had macaroni cheese for dinner, did club, came home, sorted my sister's b'day present and sorted some other stuff out.

Yesterday was an interesting day. We lacked electricity for most of the day! Still, I got up fairly early adn went to watch my sister and her friends do some horse riding. Headed home, played dinosaurs and twister with the not-so-little sister, and made Gran, her and me lunch. After that we went to get Misty sorted with a bike fitting didn't really know there was an official thing!) We then headed to watch a ice0hockey, which our home team won! Whilst, Misty and her friends were cheering them along (maybe a little too enthusiastically at times - to the woman next to us' disgust :P)

Today has been alright, got a fair bit done. Was in a horrible mood this morning, when trying to sort out video files etc. and the rain meant my mobile connection was pretty poor. Still, I manage to sort both out eventually, went shopping for a few bits for my trip. Came home and started sorting this blog out... Haven't done much else!

Music of the Week

First, is an 'old song' for those of you who put best before dates on songs... But it's now under two months til the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special... I'm getting a bit impatient (but excited) about seeing it and thought this song was pretty good to put in here, plus the music video is pretty good too!

An Awful Lot of Running - Chameleon Circuit (link)

Next is a song from someone I've seen live twice in the past month, and both times she's been great! She now finished school and is releasing her first EP very soon! (expected to be released on 11th November...) I like this song and the music video as well, it's got a little link to Alice in Woderland too (which just makes it that little bit better :P)

Roots - Orla Gartland (link)

The last song I really struggled to find one to use - I haven't really listened to much music that I haven't already used on this blog, so I chose a random one, it's pretty chilled, and it's a piano cover of a song I like. It's different, but it's pretty good.

Heaven (Piano Cover) - Florian Mohr (link)

Photos...

7th October 2013: feeling tired and a couple of lessons.

8th October 2013: full day.

9th October 2013: work, driving, yawning and club.

10th October 2013: penultimate jab and the two week countdown.

11th October 2013: an interesting day.

12th October 2013: lack of electricity, flat phone and an enthusiastic ice hockey game.

13th October 2013: technology failures, rain and a headache.

New exciting things coming in the next week and a half...

Thanks for Reading!
Have a good week!

Find me and my photos here: https://www.facebook.com/onedayatatimeevan

Find my other blog and updates here: http://musicintimeblog.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/MusicInTimeBlog

Wednesday, 9 October 2013

Frank Hamilton, George Barnett, Orla Gartland & Adam Double - Boileroom, 6th October 2013.

On Sunday, I met up with Lailana and waited outside Boileroom for a while, we chatted to some people outside the venue, and overheard the start of the soundcheck from Frank. Andy came out the front, gave us the VIP wristbands and ticked us off, we waited a little longer and then made our way in for soundcheck, which was pretty good! We then moved on outside, had a cup of tea, gave Frank his birthday present and card, got a signed poster and photo - thanks Frank!

Quickly caught Orla, who kindly signed my poster even though she was looking pretty tense. Me and Lai braved it and went over and had a little chat and photo with George. I then grabbed a 'fork you' t-shirt and a #TeamFrank wristband :)

We then made it back into the venue, got a good spot to watch the gig from and waited!

First up was Adam Double, he won the competition to support Frank at the Guildford date and is a familiar face if you have seen Lewis Watson live, he plays bass/keys for Lewis. I thoroughly enjoyed swaying to Adam's music, it's very chilled music. Whilst he only played electric guitar, he made it seem layered and it was genuinely a pretty good set. He shouldn't be behind someone, he can easily give a solid showcase of his skill solo.

Adam Double

After Adam, came Orla Gartland. I saw her a few weeks ago, supporting Lauren Aquilina, and it was refreshing to hear her live again. She sang my favourite songs of hers 'Devil On My Shoulder' and 'The Ground' both of which I sang along to... She also threw in some new songs, which have given me no choice but to pre-order her upcoming EP... The only negative from this set, was the choice of song she covered 'Another Brick In The Wall' for some it was probably a good choice, and I guess it's personal preference, but would have been great to have been able to sing along etc. apart from that it was a stunning set.

Orla Gartland

Next up was George Barnett. I was not ready for him to come on stage. I've got a thing about songs with lots of insanely impressive drums and percussion in... I had looked George up before I went to the gig, however his recorded songs etc. are nothing like seeing him live. The energy he had up on stage was phenomenal, there were quite a few moments I thought he was going to knock himself out by jumping and whacking his head. He was jumping, running, and 'owning the stage'. It was also great to see his band enjoying themselves. When I found out he was only 19, I was in even more shock at how good he was. Seriously, if this guy doesn't make it big anytime soon, I will have lost all faith in the music industry. (Also, I struggled getting a photo of him, as he didn't stay still for long!!)

George Barnett

After, a phenomal line up of supports, Frank made his way on stage. A pretty brilliant set from the mighty Mr. Hamilton, a few coughs here and there and a performance that doesn't let anyone down. Songs with his guitar, ukulele and electric all sounding amazing. Especially the imperssively insane solo-y bit he did on his electric, that sort of echoed round the venue. He broke the set up with a nice acoustic performance in the middle of the crowd and then got things upbeat again by singing the classic 'Tiny Chemicals' with lots of 'fork you' and 'up yours' being shouted along with him. Finishing with the rather well-known, 'Flaws and Ceilings'. A really enjoyable night, with lots of brilliant live music. If you get the opportunity to see any of these artists live, I really recommend you take it!