MY SONG OF THE YEAR: 2013

So, as a music buff, I always try and find new songs to fall in love with. And this song could come from any genre at all. I'm a rather open minded person when it comes to music.

But this year was tricky as so many good songs came out. So, as always, I had to make a shortlist.

*Disclaimer: This shortlist reflects my own personal opinion. No-one elses*

The first short list was:

'My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)' by FALL OUT BOY
'The Paddington Frisk' by ENTER SHIKARI
'Always' by KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
'This Is Gospel' by PANIC! AT THE DISCO
'Biblical' by BIFFY CLYRO
'Resist' by TESSERACT
'Radioactive' by IMAGINE DRAGONS
'Never Never' by KORN
'A Light That Never Comes' by LINKIN PARK X STEVE AOKI
'Conquistador' by THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS

As you can see from these 10 songs, they're incredibly diverse. And I love each of them for many reasons. For example, I love My Songs Know by Fall Out Boy because it was their comeback single. I wasn't particularly keen on the album that followed but all the same, I thought it was a great song.

But from all of these, I had to pick my favourite. All of them were fantastic and it was really hard to choose my favourite. But I have done. And I'd like to briefly explain why.

My SONG OF THE YEAR 2013 is awarded to:

'RESIST'' BY TESSERACT

The song is a short song by the British prog metal group and isn't perhaps as complex as much of their other stuff. Which is why I like it. It's quite simplistic in its instrumental and its words are just stunningly beautiful. Considering the other stuff that the band turn out, it's definitely a more laid back song which is what makes it special to me. I fell in love with it the moment I heard it. And, also, who doesn't like 7 string guitars right?!

So here's the song! See what you think! What would you choose as your song of the year? Let me know!  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwBdKC4EwSs

See ya next time folks!

Nobody (A Short Story) [Originally written 2nd November 2012]

The sun shined all the way over the city skyline as a young man sits at a bus stop. It’s 7am and he’s ready for a weekend back at home. Seeing old friends, seeing family and staying somewhere familiar. He’d loved moving away but he missed home too. His job at a law firm was stable and paid well but that was only because he was alone. He hadn’t had a partner in a long time and he felt like no-one would ever love him. He lived alone and spent his nights in front of the telly watching Dragons Den and TOWIE and ate mostly take-aways. Any time he didn’t spend doing this he was at the gym working off last night’s pizza or something.

Despite only being away for a year he was starting to feel afraid for himself. 6 months previous to today, there’d been a murder on his estate. He was petrified of going out at night and got 6 extra locks fitted on his door so he could feel safer. It seemed that the city wasn’t the safe haven his ex-girlfriend had told me.

“I grew up there. And I didn’t turn out bad did I?” She once said to him. But after moving there, and their break-up, he tended not to listen to that. She lied to him about so many things before why not lie about this as well?

Soon after this over-reaction, he became almost completely withdrawn from everyone. His boss at the firm invited him out for late night drinks after winning a high-profile case but he refused out of fear for his safety. He also refused to go out with some friends who lived not too far away for the same reasons. Instead they would have weekly nights in. Which annoyed and concerned his mates. But this was ill-fated because soon after they got girlfriends. Leaving him behind a little bit more.

Alone in his flat, he continues to sit there munching on chow mein, drinking Becks, trying to forget the life he’d made for himself. And it was so promising. Good grades at school, great friends, some fantastic memories. And the he got the law apprenticeship in the city. So he packed up his old life and tried to start anew. But he didn’t realise it’d be this hard. He didn’t realise the real world was so strange. And sometimes he’d felt his parents had lied to him.

“It’ll be fine”, they’d say, “you’ll get a job, get a house, a car, then you’ll meet someone who’ll one day be your wife. Or husband if that’s what you’d prefer. Life works out in the end”.

Well it’s alright for them, they’ve had a stable life for 21 years. Married for 25, together for 28,  two kids, two cars, house, mortgage, proper picket-fence life. But what has he got? A flat, a job, a bed, a sofa and a Prison Break box-set. This is not what was promised to him. This is not what his parents meant at all. He felt insignificant, a failure, someone that didn’t matter. A nobody.

And so, he gets on the bus at 7:11am with a backpack on his shoulder heading for the little rural town he called home. He wasn’t sure what he’d expect when he got home and he didn’t want to let onto his parents that he was struggling with things. His sister may cotton on but she won’t say anything. She’s got a kid to worry about now. But he stops thinking about that for the moment. He sits down and tries to find something to make him smile. He looks around for inspiration but finds none. Desperate to think something happy, he picks up a newspaper. The front page says “Soldier killed in Afghanistan by rogue police officer”. Definitely not something to make him smile. So he gives up looking and decides to carry on with the journey, whatever shit it brought to his day.

Half an hour later he got off at the bus station and walked through the city centre to get to the station. But on his way, he passed a mother and a child. The mother was trying to carry all the shopping bags while trying to call a taxi to pick them up to take them home. The child however had other ideas and was trying to get out of his buggy. He tugged at the strap keeping him in his pram and tried to struggle free. After a short while he managed to. And started to run towards the road.

Slightly further up the road, a bus was driving down. The man looked and realised that the child would be hit by the bus by the time he got onto the road. And then he suffered a conflict of interest.

“Do I try to stop that child…or do I stand back?”

After a split second of thought, the man dropped his back pack and ran for the child. And then it was down to chance. If he was unsuccessful, at least he tried. And you can’t do anything but try right?

The man ran as fast as he could towards the racing child before the bus got to him first. He hadn’t run this fast since Year 8 sports day when he won the gold medal for the 100m. Would he be able to do it again?

People started to notice the situation and started to scream for help. The mother of the child turned around and realised. She cried frantically for her child to come back. But the child was blissfully unaware of the fate that awaited him.

The man finals got to the road. Seconds away from what could be the worst day of his life. He raced forward some more and grabbed the child. He continued to run to the other side just as the bus passed them. With centimetres to spare. They both fall to the floor and try to take in what just happened. People were surprised at to what this man had done and started to congratulate him. He looked at the child who was crying from fear.

“It’s ok little man…you’re alright. Just don’t do that again yeah?”

The little boy nodded. The mother ran over and grabbed the child from the man’s arms and comforted him. She looked to the man who had rescued her son and gave him an evil look.

“And I suppose you want a reward or something?”

The man looked shocked. He shook his head confused.

“No. I’m just glad you’re sons alright!”

She looked at him snobbishly again.

“Well…thanks I suppose!”

She grabbed her sons arm and stormed away. People looked disgusted about her reaction and continued to congratulate the man for what he’d done. They then soon went back to their daily lives. He got up, brushed himself down and walked back across the road to collect his backpack. Next to his backpack was an elderly man with a walking stick. Of 80, maybe 90. He smiled at the man as he picked up his back pack.

“That was quite something you did there son”.

The man looked at the elderly man and looked confused.

"Maybe. I’m just glad the kid’s ok”.

“Yeah. But she could’ve been nicer about it!”

The man nodded as he slung his bag over his shoulder. The elderly man continued.

“I just wanted to say something to you. I wanted to say that I’ve only ever seen something else like that once before in my life. It was on the beaches in 1944. There were bullets everywhere, German and our own. Bombs going off, people losing arms, legs and everything else. Body parts everywhere. It was worse than hell itself. I was about your age at the time. I got onto the beach eager to hunt some Jerrys. I was on the beach for 20 seconds when a bomb went off near me and sent me flying. I landed on a spike and it went right through my right leg. It was the single most excruciating experience I had ever felt. And where I’d landed was in a vantage point for the enemy. I was a sitting duck. But then a young man came over to me through the bullets and chaos and came to help me. He became a sitting duck too. I told him to go but he refused and he lifted me up off the spike. He then ran me over to the medic who managed to patch me up. After dropping me off, I thanked him and he ran off back into the battle. I took his name. Corporal James Hunt was his name. I tried to find him after the war. But I found out that he was killed shortly after helping me. And I couldn’t do anything to stop it”.

The man looked upset by this story. But the elderly man smiled.

“But do you know what the good thing is about this story? Corporal James Hunt saved my life that day. And I was able to thank him. And although that little boy can’t thank you in person, he will one day in absentia. And it was nice to see a Corporal Hunt again. You are the sort of person we fought that godforsaken war for. It’s for people like you that we won it for. And it’s for people like you that we did win”.

The elderly man walked off and left the man on his own. He reflected on what the old man said and he realised something that he’d needed to realise.

He wasn’t a nobody anymore…

The Day Of The Doctor - Review (May Contain Spoilers!)

Ok. Now that I've calmed down from the weekend, I can write this without fan-boying again. Though, actually, on second thoughts, that might not be possible in the long term...

So. Saturday was probably the most important day in the history of living Whovians. Our favourite show and our Time Lord turned 50 years old and, my God, was there a celebration.

The fact is, not many TV shows can run for 50 years. In fact, I think the only drama to match it is Coronation Street which has been going slightly longer I think. But still, this was a day not to be missed if you were of the Whovian persuasion. I'm going to talk about my day and then move onto what I thought of the episode itself.

It started on my friend's sofa. I'd stayed round his the night in Southampton after going to see his band perform on the friday night. As I was seeing Who in Southampton anyway it made sense to crash. The band, Siberian Noise, did very well indeed and I was glad I went. I was woken by my friend Kayleigh, who accompanied me, in a Matt Smith outfit. Tweed, bow tie, fez. We chatted for a bit before I also got changed into my David Tennant outfit. My brown pinstripe suit felt so good when I put it on. I always feel good when I wear it and Saturday was no different. It was the one day I could wear it in public and get away with it because, even if you didn't watch it, you knew what day it was.

However, tragedy struck. I'd stupidly forgotten to pack my Brown Trench-coat the day before and it was still hanging in my wardrobe back in Winchester. I was gutted. The one day I should be wearing it and I completely forgot it. I couldn't go back to Winchester then because I had plans. So I had to hold back my sadness and carry on as per normal. Even though I was wearing the clothes of my Doctor, I felt kind of...naked.

Most of my day was spent with Kayleigh, my friend Millie and Kayleigh's friend Katie in Southampton. Gravitating around the West Quay shopping centre and christmas market surrounding it. It was a tad cold but I couldn't feel it. Kayleigh got many compliments while she paraded her fez around the city, whereas when I put it on I was confronted with "Shit! It's Tommy Cooper!"

"Fuck you..." I said under my breath.

The day seemed to go so slowly. It always does when you're looking forward to something. Especially when you've been waiting a whole year for it. The hours literally felt like days on saturday. But I was in good company so I didn't think much of it.

When the time came to meet Kayleigh's flat mates at the train station, people were still looking at us oddly. But we didn't care. We were Whovians. Why would we? It turns out the flat mates missed the train they were going to get, which meant waiting another half an hour or so at the train station. But again, good company.

When we all met up, it was time for Millie to go. I volunteered to walk her back into city centre so she could catch her bus. I wasn't comfortable with her walking on her own for some reason...But it was as we cut through West Quay that I had my first nice experience of the night.

We had just walked in when I saw, coming in the opposite direction, a little girl with her parents. They were all holding hands and they looked very happy. But the reason this little girl caught my eye was because she was wearing a little tweed jacket and a little blue bow tie. She was dressing up as Matt's Doctor. And she looked very good! It was quite sweet that she was happy to go out like that. She must have only been 5/6 but it was still sweet. As we came close to passing them, the little girl noticed me. She looked me up and down and realised who I was dressing up as. She must have been a bit confused. A grown up dressing as The Doctor? They do that? Anyway, she looked up at me and we just smiled at each other.

I realise how creepy that must look/sound, but it wasn't anything untoward. It was the fact that, even though there must have been nearly a whole lifetime between the pair of us, we were both dressing up for the same reason. And we both approved. It was nice to see that. The fact someone as young as she wanted to do that and take the time to appreciate the show. (In her own little way of course).

We got to the cinema a bit later on and waited in the warm until the screen was available to sit in. I noticed another little person dressed as Matt and thought it was sweet. (Same reasoning as the other little person). And we noticed a man of about 40 odd dressing as Eccleston. I resolved to get a photo with him after the episode but he eluded me. (Past regenerations do that). Surprisingly, I was the only person dressed as Tennant. Most people were 11. Actually, come to think of it, there were very few cosplayers. But everyone was very nice and there a kind of magic in the air. We were all there for the same reason. And it didn't matter who or what you were. It was nice to feel and see that sense of union even if it was only for a couple of hours.

OK. So. The episode.

There aren't many things about the episode I can fault. Overall, I think it was completely amazing. So much better than I thought it'd be, considering Moffat's track record, but it really was incredible. I was immediately pleased they'd used the title sequence from 1963. I thought that was a nice touch as well as the policeman walking past the sign for Totters Lane, then Coal Hill School. The going from black to white was a nice touch also as it was a large nod to the first few moments of the first serial "An Unearthly Child" by Anthony Coburn. Shortly after, I got a little bit worried when the scenes with the Tardis being picked up and the National Gallery started to jump about at speed but it soon levelled out again and settled in.

The first scenes of Arcadia and the Last Days Of The Time War were faultless. The Time War is the one thing that has eluded Whovians since the show's return 8 years ago and, finally, after years of waiting we got to see the fabled Time War. And where better to set it than against the backdrop of the Fall of Arcadia, first mentioned in 2006 by David Tennant in Doomsday.

"I was there at the fall of Arcadia. One day I might even come to terms with that..."

The first glimpse of the War Doctor in action showed him borrowing the gun of another Gallifreyan, shooting the wall to make the words "No More", before going back into the Tardis, breaking through another wall taking out a Dalek squadron and landing on a deserted part of, what is presumably, Gallifrey with 'The Moment'.

Tennant's first few scene show him being as hopeless as always, trying to work out whether Queen Elizabeth I is really a Zygon. He seems very sure she is after she accepts his marriage proposal, before realizing that it was not her at all. His first reaction being "I'm going to be King..." It soon involves more of Tennant doing the same old running trying to relocate the escaped Zygon across a copse and, after an embarrassing incident with a rabbit, he eventually finds 2 Elizabeths, both claiming to be the same woman. What is a man to do? It's at this point that a time fissure opens up and a Fez falls through...

Skipping the narrative for a little while, the first meeting between Tennant and Smith is nothing short of comic. Tennant doesn't yet realise that his future self has just fallen flat on his face through a time fissure and ends up realizing when they start comparing sonics. The whole thing was typically British as Matt happily demonstrates his sonic can extend longer. Also typically British, is Tennant's reponse.

"Compensating?"

The whole scene where they first meet is not entirely far from the meetings between Pertwee and Troughton. Smith keeping up his Troughton influence while Tennant attempts to remain level headed and the authority figure in the area. Something which quite clearly shows when they try to reverse the polarity, together.

"I'm reversing it and you're reversing it back. We're CONFUSING the polarity!"

Then comes Hurt...

The Doctors eventually learn to get along with one another and bring a stop to the Zygon's plan to take the Earth. (I'm not going to tell you how that ends. Watch it and decide for yourself).

The best part for me was when Hurt, Tennant and Smith gathered on Gallifrey for the Moment onwards. They are all prepared to detonate Gallifrey once more when Clara makes them think about what they're really doing. The alternative plan they come up with is incredible.

This next bit, was for me the defining moment of the entire episode.

The scene is the war room on Gallifrey. The General and Androgar are trying to deal with an increased Dalek assault while trying to contain them in the Sky Trenches above the Capitol on Gallifrey. It is here that the Three Doctors get in contact and unveil their plan to save Gallifrey. The General, not impressed there's 3 Doctors now in the picture, ridicules the plan and tells them it would take too long to make the calculations. This is where I melted.

If you read my last blog post about Who, you'll know that I had paranoid depression when the show came back and it was ultimately Doctor Who which saved me from doing something stupid. Whenever I heard the theme tune of the Tardis, I felt safe because I knew the Doctor would save me. I stopped believeing this many years ago when I grew up but at this moment, I felt like a ten year old again.


The moment when Hartnell appears, addressing the war council, followed by every other classic Doctor, I myself went back in time and regressed back to that first day I saw Doctor Who in 2005. I suddenly felt safe again. I believed again for one impossible moment that the Doctor would always save me like I did back then. Seeing and hearing every Doctor from the past 50 years made me feel safe. And I cried. I'll happily admit that. I suppose it was also relief as, up until that point, I didn't think the classics would get a mention at all. But all 12 Doctors teaming up, or should I say...13? Was something every die-hard Whovian wanted to see. And it was incredible seeing all 13 Tardis' going into the eye of the storm and take down the Daleks, together.

When all the goodbyes and everything happen and the end of the episode comes, and the Doctor finally realizes his new mission in life thanks to a rather mysterious and familiar face, the Doctor joins his 11 predecessors once more to a beautiful speech at the end.

"Clara sometimes asks me if I dream. 'Course I dream' I tell her. 'Everybody dreams'. 'But what do you dream about?' she'll ask. 'The same thing everybody dreams about' I tell her. 'I dream about where I'm going'. She always laughs at that. 'But you're not going anywhere. You're just wondering about!' That's not true. Not anymore. I have a new destination. My journey is the same as yours, the same as anyone's. It's taken me so many years, so many lifetimes, but at last I know where I'm going. Where I've always been going. Home...the long way round..."

That final shot when all 12 Doctors stand there triumphantly in the shadow of Gallifrey, it proved that the 50th had happened and that the story would continue. It was over. And my God was it worth waiting for. The whole cinema screen I was in clapped and cheered as loud as they could and I gladly joined them. It was everything we could've wanted and more.

Thank you everybody who worked on Doctor Who. It was Fantastic!