My Favourite Meaningful Quotes and Lyrics

Below is a list of my favourite quotes and lyrics (and there's also four that Mollie thought of, and one by Pete - they're my girlfriend and best friend respectively, for those unaware) that have meaning to me, so no jokey ones (Bowling For Soup, I'm looking at you!) or anything like that. Please do tell me your favourites in the comments section below this blog entry! Enjoy, and, as always, thanks for supporting my blog in any way! :) <3

I am not afraid to keep on living, I am not afraid to walk this world alone. <"Famous Last Words" by My Chemical Romance>

As my memory rests, but never forgets what I lost. <"Wake Me Up When September Ends" by Green Day>

You'll have bad times, but it'll always wake you up to the good stuff you weren't paying attention to. <Sean Maguire (Robin Williams) in Good Will Hunting>

Nothing in this world that's worth having comes easy. <Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins) from Scrubs>

There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. <Aristotle>

Imagine all the people, living life in peace. <"Imagine" by John Lennon>

Who cares what statistics show!? Look at medicine: 80% of people with pancreatic cancer die within 5 years, and 95% of appendectomies occur with zero complications, but we both know pancreatic cancer patients that lived, and appendix patients that unfortunately passed. Statistics mean nothing to the individual. <Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) from Scrubs>

It's hard to say what happened for sure. For the most part it depends who you ask. There are as many sides to a story as there are pairs of eyes - it's always been that way. <Irv Harper (John Beasley) from Everwood>

Wouldn't it be nice to be proud. <"Wouldn't It Be Nice To Be Proud" by Evan and Jaron>

Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same. <"All At Once" by The Fray>

To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world. <There doesn't seem to be a definitive answer as to who said this, but the two most likely people seem to be: Dr. Seuss and Brandi Snyder>

If you stay I would even wait all night, or until my heart explodes, how long? Until we find our way in the dark and out of harm, you can runaway with me anytime you want. <"Summertime" by My Chemical Romance>

I've found a reason for me to change who I used to be, a reason to start over new, and the reason is you. <"The Reason" by Hoobastank>

I guess we all want to believe that what we do is very important, that people hang onto our every words, and they care what we think. Truth is, You should consider yourself lucky if you even occasionally get to make someone, anyone, feel a little better. After that, it's all about the people you let into your life. <J.D. (Zach Braff) from Scrubs>

You need to see what I see when I look at you, so go look in the mirror, right now! keep looking until you face the truth: you're truly beautiful. <Bright Abbott (Chris Pratt) from Everwood>

Actually, there is a word for that: it's "love". I'm in love with her, okay? If you're looking for the word that means caring about someone beyond all rationality, and wanting them to have everything they want, no matter how much it destroys you, it's "love". And when you love someone, you just, you don't stop - ever! Even if people roll their eyes, or call you crazy - even then, especially then. You just, you don't give up! Because if I could just give up, if I could just take the whole world's advice and move on and find someone else, that wouldn't be love. That would be... that would be some disposable thing that's not worth fighting for. But that... that's not what this is. <Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) from How I Met Your Mother>

When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door, that we don't see the one that has opened for us. <Helen Keller>

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift: that's why we call it the present. <B. Olatunji>

When no one else can understand me,
when everything I do is wrong.
You give me hope and consolation,
you give me strength to carry on...
...And when you smile the world is brighter,
you touch my hand and I'm a king.
Your kiss to me is worth a fortune,
your love for me is everything.
I guess I'll never know the reason why you love me as you do,
that's the wonder, the wonder of you. <"The Wonder Of You" by Elvis Presley>

Map out your future, but do it in pencil. The road ahead is as long as you make it - make it worth the trip. <Jon Bon Jovi>

The best and most wonderful things can't be seen, or even touched - they must be felt with the heart. <Helen Keller>

But love doesn't make sense. You can't just logic your way into or out of it. Love is totally nonsensical. But we have to keep doing it, or we're lost and love is dead and humanity should just pack it in. Because love is the best thing we do. <Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) from How I Met Your Mother>

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but rising every time we fall. <Confucius>

Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different. <C.S. Lewis>

We stopped checking for monsters under our bed when we realised they were inside us. <The Joker (Heath Ledger) from Batman: The Dark Knight>

Be yourself, don't take anyone's shit, and never let them take you alive! <Gerard Way>

You only hear the music when your heart begins to break. <"The Kids From Yesterday" by My Chemical Romance>

Fear does not prevent death, it prevents life. <Naguib Mahfouz>

You're only given a little spark of madness. You musn't lose it. <Robin Williams>

Promises mean everything when you're little and the world's so big. <"Wonderful" by Everclear>

Keep your hopes up high and your head down low. <"All I Want" by A Day To Remember>

Don't waste your time on me, you're already the voice inside my head, I miss you. <"I Miss You" by Blink-182>

If you're lost and alone, or you're sinking like a stone, carry on. <"Carry On" by Fun.>

You're out of sight, but not out of mind. <"Fell For You" by Green Day>

If you're not scared, then you're not taking a chance. If you're not taking a chance, then what the hell are you doing anyway? <Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) from How I Met Your Mother>

We may be miles apart,
I'll keep you deep inside, you're always in my heart.
A new life to start,
I may be leaving, but you're always in my heart.
<"Miles Apart" by Yellowcard>

I'm a stitch away from making it, and a scar away from falling apart. <"The (After) Life Of The Party" by Fall Out Boy>

We're looking up at the same night sky
and keep pretending the sun will not rise,
we'll be together for one more night,
somewhere, somehow.
<"Ocean Avenue" by Yellowcard>

Stop your crying, helpless feeling, dry your eyes and start believing. <"The World Is Ugly" by My Chemical Romance>

I still believe in the need for guitars and drums and desperate poetry.
I still believe that everyone can find a song for every time they've lost, and every time they've won...
...Who'd have thought that, after all, something as simple as rock 'n' roll would save us all? <"I Still Believe" by Frank Turner.

If only sorrow could build a staircase, or tears could show the way, I would climb my way to heaven and bring him back home again. <"Suicide Season" by Bring me the Horizon> Credited to Mollie Star.

I'm a fool, I'm a flop, I'm a failure, but you should never judge a book by its cover, cos there's a heart that beats inside of me. <"A Heart That Beats" by Lee Evans> Credited to Mollie Star.

I think, there's no way to say "the best way", because there is only "your way", but if it is what you REALLY want, then you will find "your way". <Crispin Freeman> Credited to Mollie Star.

Don't ever let the media tell you what your body is supposed to look like. You're beautiful the way you are. Stay beautiful and keep it ugly. <Gerard Way> Credited to Mollie Star.

If everyone needs a crutch then I need a wheelchair. <"In Remission" by The Menzingers> Credited to Pete Machin.

The heart is not so easily changed, but the head can be persuaded. <Grand Pabbie from Frozen> Credited to Jessica Hughett.

Shouldn't we hold out for the person who doesn't just tolerate our quirks, but actually kinda likes them? <Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) from How I Met Your Mother>

Nobody said it was easy. <"The Scientist" by Coldplay>

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. <Helen Keller>

I wanna be the place you call, "home". <"Hamburg Song" by Keane>

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. <Helen Keller>

With great power comes great responsibility. <Believed to originally be by Voltaire; but widely known for being said in the 2002 Spider-Man movie, by Uncle Ben to Peter Parker (who obviously becomes Spider-Man), so Stan Lee is often credited for having written it in a Spider-Man comic book>

I wake up, it's a bad dream,
no one on my side.
I was fighting, but I just feel too tired to be fighting,
guess I'm not the fighting kind.
Wouldn't mind it if you were by my side,
but you're long gone, yeah, you're long gone now. <"A Bad Dream" by Keane>

Be brave, fight for what you believe in, and make your dreams your reality. <Jared Leto>

'Cause the hardest part of this is leaving you. <"Cancer" by My Chemical Romance>

You will be shocked when you discover how easy it is in life to part ways with people forever. That's why when you find someone you want to keep around, you do something about it. <Narrator Ted Mosby (Bob Saget) from How I Met Your Mother>

No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world. <John Keating (Robin Williams) from Dead Poets Society>

Have you ever loved someone so much, you'd give an arm for?
Not the expression, no, literally give an arm for.
When they know they're your heart
and you know you're their armour,
and you will destroy anyone who would try to harm her...
...When I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn,
rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice.
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling,
and I didn't feel a thing, so baby don't feel no pain, just smile back. <"When I'm Gone" by Eminem>

The more things change, the more they stay the same. I'm not sure who the first person was who said that? Probably Shakespeare, or maybe Sting. But at the moment, it's the sentence that best explains my tragic flaw: my inability to change. I don't think I'm alone in this. The more I get to know people, the more I realise it's kind of everyone's flaw. Staying exactly the same for as long as possible, standing perfectly still; it feels better somehow. And if you are suffering, at least the pain is familiar. Because if you took that leap of faith, went outside the box, did something unexpected - who knows what other pain might be out there waiting for you? Chances are it could be even worse. So you maintain the status quo, choose the road already travelled, and it doesn't seem that bad, not as far as flaws go. You're not a drug addict. You're not killing anyone, except maybe yourself a little. When we finally do change, I don't think it happens like an earthquake or an explosion, where all of a sudden we're, like, this different person. I think it's smaller than that. The kind of thing most people wouldn't even notice unless they looked at us really close; which, thank God, they never do! But you notice it. Inside you, that change feels like a world of difference. And you hope this is it, this is the person you get to be forever - that you'll never have to change again. <Ephram (Gregory Smith) from Everwood>

I also wrote my own quote quite a long time ago, which can be seen in its definitive form if you go to my blog entry about me, entitled "Everything - and I mean 'EVERYTHING' - that you'll ever need to know about me". :) <3

My Clacton-on-Sea Trip for Mollie's 19th Birthday

I'd been to Clacton-on-Sea a couple of times before, but had never been taken here, Clacton Pier, which is where Mollie and I shared a moment we'll never forget (ALL pictures on this blog entry are taken by me on my Nikon digital camera, unless specified)

I don't know if this is profound or just stupid, but when I have to get on the first of 3 trains back to Reading (yep, 3 trains - long-distance kinda sucks!), I always feel like the saddest guy in the world whilst also feeling like the happiest! Saddest because I'm heading home from my perfect girlfriend's hometown of Clacton-on-Sea, and happiest because, well, I have a perfect girlfriend (in my oh-so-humble opinion!)! On the journeys home, I often feel like I'm on autopilot, staring into space, zombie-like, and almost unaware of anything that's happening around me! But, anyhow, back to the start: on the 18th of July, 2014, I departed for Reading Station at around 11:30am, thanks to a lift from my dad, Michael Parfett, and met up with my mum, Julie Parfett, to get a few items of clothing for the trip - that had still been at her house from when I lived there - and we had a lovely catch up before I left for Clacton. The journey always fills me with so much excitement because of how I'm heading to see my girlfriend, Mollie Star, who I sometimes haven't seen for weeks. The journey went pretty smoothly, but for anybody who can remember the 18th of July, it was a bloomin' hot day (not far from 30 degrees Celsius, I believe, which is hot for England!), so certain train journeys were uncomfortable; I drank an energy drink, pint of milk and a bottle of water - which were being handed out at one of the train stations because of the intense heat - on the 4 hour journey! A car journey, three trains and a taxi later, I arrived at the Star household at around 4pm, with Mollie having just gone to work, but seeing her later - and for the amazing 5 days and nights that would follow - was something to hugely look forward to.

A large portion of the Star family's back garden - which was the party location - with their home in the background

Shadow: the Star family's - more specifically, Ellie's - beautiful husky!
I really did get a great shot with this photo!

Whilst Mollie was at work, I spent quite a bit of time with Ellie (Mollie's sister, who's "proper" name is Helena), Kathleen (Mollie's mum), and Nathan Lane (Ellie's best friend, and a close friend of the Star family) in the garden, enjoying the weather, but being pestered by storm flies - they knew what was coming! This trip was always going to be huge for me - and, arguably, for Mollie and I's relationship - because I was going to be meeting the majority of her friends and family whilst at the party, and I wanted to make a good impression, even though I'm a fairly shy, reserved character, making this trip a very scary one for somebody like me! I just hoped that people would see I'm a nice guy, as I'm not always sure I give off the best first impression, due to my quietness maybe portraying me as being boring. If you get to know me, go past my quiet exterior, there you'll find there's a lovely, caring, fun guy, who can talk about almost any subject. The first people I would have to meet would be Eden Frost and Kane Sadler, as they were also travelling to Clacton the day before, like me. They had come from Dagenham, the Star family's old stomping ground, and Eden is a very long-term friend to the Star family, and like family to them, with Kane being her boyfriend. Eden and Kane got some food from the fish and chip shop where Mollie works, The Village Chippy, and joined us in the garden with their food. I think this was the first sign that I needn't have worried about meeting all the new people I was going to be meeting, as both Eden and Kane are sweet, compassionate, wonderful people, and this is true of everybody who chatted with me - no matter how short or long - during the time I was in Clacton. I went and tidied myself up and awaited Mollie's return. It was so lovely to see her again and give her a massive cuddle, and she came home with my dinner: spam fritter and chips from her chip shop. Before I could have my dinner, the storm came in (I had witnessed a storm the day before whilst in Reading, so it must've travelled with me to Clacton!) and was blowing a whole load of garden furniture around, so everybody had to rush out to the garden to sort things out - the bad weather was never going to be allowed to ruin the party, though! Maybe I am painting this picture with rose-tinted specs, from the disillusioned view you sometimes get whilst on holiday - as that's what trips to Clacton are kinda like for me - but these chips (along with the spam fritter, battered sausage, and beefburger I had from her chip shop during my stay) taste better than anything I've ever had from any takeaway in Reading, being soft, delicious and moreish; I can't wait to go back for more! After a very late dinner, Mollie and I went up to bed, knowing that tomorrow was a big day for the both of us.

Saturday, July the 19th arrived, the day where I'd be seeing, maybe, 70+ new people - to put it into perspective, the only people at the party I would know, are: the Star family (as in, Mollie, Ellie, Kathleen and Larry), Nathan, and Eden and Kane, who I had met the day before, but everybody else was new to me. I woke up pretty late on the Saturday, and, well, most days whilst at Mollie's house (hell, I wake up late wherever I am!) because of how we often stay up at night chatting and snuggling, which is nothing short of perfection; we know we shouldn't stay up so late, but it's hard not to when so often we're usually quite far apart (I know I can't, and won't, keep Mollie awake on university nights!). There was some repairing and re-setting up to do after the previous night's storm, including rebuilding the gazebo - where the DJ was - and putting garden furniture back out, which everybody helped with. Everybody went off to get scrubbed up for the party: I stuck on Mollie and I's favourite band, My Chemical Romance - their greatest hits CD - to keep me relaxed whilst I got done for one of the scariest nights of my life! Mollie spent a bit of time with me, but then went off to get her hair and make-up done by Ellie, Eden, and Eloise Parker (Eden's sister). I kept seeing more and more people arrive out of Mollie's bedroom window, and then, wow... I got my first look at Mollie's phenomenal hair and make-up - seriously, you did a marvellous job, ladies - as she came back into her bedroom, and, I swear to God, I'd never seen her looking more beautiful; I was an incredibly lucky guy, but, truthfully, I always see myself as lucky to have a girl as unbelievable as Mollie, and I'll never forget it! Mollie gave me a kiss and soon headed downstairs, as she was the birthday girl and numerous people were here to see her - and Larry Star, I hasten to add, as the party was also to celebrate his 50th birthday, and for Mollie leaving for the University of Kent, in Canterbury, in September - leaving me to finish off getting done, and muster up the courage to come downstairs to the party. After a little while of being upstairs, Nathan Lane and Abby Joyce came up to check on me - both real sweet people, the latter I had never met before - and I said I'd come down in a few minutes, but I knew I was waiting for one thing. Mollie came upstairs soon after - not actually to see me, but to get one of those multi-plug adaptor thingys - and I got to come downstairs with her, holding her hand, which is what I had always wanted, even though she didn't realise that. Although, she did actually text me to see if I was okay, but I didn't get the text until hours later because of the terrible signal I get in Clacton!

Mollie and I at the Star party to celebrate Mollie's 19th birthday, Larry's 50th birthday, and Mollie leaving for university in September. Mollie looked so incredible, but, of course, I always think she looks beautiful! I actually got a lot of compliments for my LEGO Star Wars T-shirt during this trip, and some for the Ralph Lauren Wimbledon jacket! Photo credit: Kane Sadler (thanks, mate, we both have always loved this photo so much!).

Mollie had saved me a seat with all her close friends that were at the party, so I sat down there, nervously, and she kindly went and got me a pear cider: my alcoholic drink of choice, she knows me so well! The incredibly lovely Jay Honeywood (one of Mollie's close friends - although, honestly, I now hope Mollie's friends see me as a friend, too, as I know that's how I look at them) introduced himself to me almost immediately, which was nice, and Larry's mum came over and said "hello" - also giving me a kiss on the cheek - which was sweet of her. I sat there slowly sipping on my drink - not that I'm a quick drinker even at the best of times - but it wasn't long before people were chatting with me. Sarah Johnson started chatting to me about football - one of my loves in life, which she knew because we had been Facebook friends for a couple of months already, thanks to her kindly adding me around the time I got into a relationship with Mollie - and we had a fun discussion about the best Premier League strikers ever: I said Alan Shearer before I had said Thierry Henry, which, jokingly, didn't go down too well with an Arsenal fan, although she's obviously biased thinking Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp are the best (hehe!)! I then started chatting with Glyn Moore and Jay about all different types of music, our favourite bands, and so forth, and it was really refreshing to hear Jay - who likes music ranging from classical to heavy metal - say that if he hears a song and likes it, then he really doesn't care what genre it's in, and I know that's a philosophy that Mollie and I agree with because of how we like everything from pop to metal, old or new. I also had chats with a couple more of Mollie's friends, Fiona Chatten and Cheryl Johnson, with topics including Sherlock (the brilliant TV series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman), The Beatles, and Nintendo games; it turned out that Mollie's friends like a lot of the same things as me, so there was plenty to chat about, and they really are a caring, fun and amazing group of people! So many of Mollie's family (way too many to name - sorry!) kindly introduced themselves, some briefly, some for longer, and I can only apologise to anybody that I didn't really talk to during the night, but hopefully there'll be times to correct that in the future. I didn't eat or drink too much, to be honest, due to nerves and whatnot, but I did have a lovely couple of pear ciders, and a Disaronno and coke from Mollie's secret stash (with her permission, of course)! It was about midnight before I had something to eat, but I did eventually enjoy a couple of hot dogs and burgers. I want to say a massive thank you to Kane and Larry for being on barbecue duty, the DJ, the whole of the Star family for putting in an insane amount of effort in order to host an unforgettable party, and everybody who came and enjoyed themselves regardless of the weather!

Horses in a field at the end of the Star family's back garden. On the day after the party, a load of us were feeding them apples, hence they had come over to say "hello"!

I left for home on Wednesday night, and Wednesday was one incredibly fantastic day, but more on that in a bit. I'm not going to lie, I really didn't do that much between Sunday and Tuesday, spending it all either in the garden or house, but it was still lovely. You see, even things like watching new episodes of Family Guy seems perfect when you're doing it with somebody you're in love with, and, in our case, somebody you don't see a huge amount. Be it watching TV, listening to music together, or enjoying each other's company in any other way, shape or form, it is truly bliss, and I wouldn't change it for the world; Mollie has truly become a best friend. Whilst I was still at the Star house, I was drinking leftover alcohol quite a bit, which was awesome, and we even had another barbecue on the Sunday: the lamb burger was phenomenal! On the Sunday was when I got the pictures of Shadow (the dog) and the horses.

Mollie and I's shadows at the end of Clacton Pier

Wednesday was always going to be a day that ultimately ended in sadness, but we were determined to make it a good one. Mollie and I got done whilst listening to some Elliot Minor (a band I absolutely love to bits and have seen live 3 times, including having written a blog entry about them, which you'll find on this blog. Mollie also loves them), and then caught a bus into Clacton town centre. I bought myself a new video game in GAME, we grabbed a drink in McDonald's, and then headed off to Snappy Snaps where I got an amazing photo frame for the photo of Mollie and I from when we were going on the London Eye (the very first time we met, which was scary, but it was just such a perfect day: I could write a whole blog on it!); Mollie has since bought the exact same photo frame! We then headed down to the end of Clacton Pier - somewhere I had never gone before - and, even with the wind attacking us, we shared a moment we will never ever forget; it was just one of those moments where the person you're with, the place you're at, and what you're doing, just all comes together to create perfection!

Wind farm off of Clacton Pier, with a seagull photobombing!

We met up with a few of Mollie's friends who I'd met at the party, who had kindly come out at short notice, for a meal and some drinks at "The Moon and Starfish" - a Wetherspoon's - before I had to say goodbye. I had some chicken strips and chips, with a Kopparberg strawberry and lime cider to drink, and Glyn got a couple of pitchers in containing "The Godfather"; which was made-up of Jack Daniel's whiskey, amaretto and Pepsi! It was a truly wonderful day and evening, but I had to say goodbye to Mollie's friends and head for Clacton train station. Jay kindly walked with Mollie and I to the station so that Mollie didn't have to walk back to the bar/restaurant by herself. He then gave Mollie and I a few minutes to ourselves, and knowing I'm leaving to a place that is over 3 hours away from where she is, is just a pain I can't even describe. I dried the tears from her eyes, gave her some kisses and cuddles, and shouted "I love you forever" before jumping on the 10:05pm to London Liverpool Street (followed by two more trains to get home). A huge thank you to Jay for supporting Mollie and helping her back to the comfort of all her friends. When I got home at around 1am, my older brother, Daniel Parfett, kindly came and picked me up from Reading Station in his new car.

I just wish to say an enormous thank you to all of Mollie's friends and family for being so lovely to me, Mollie's close family for putting up with me for 5 days and nights, and to Molls for being the most loving, sweet, amazing, fun, beautiful and thoughtful girl I have ever met in my life! <3 <3 <3 Without all of you, this trip wouldn't have been the unforgettable trip that it was! I'll be honest, I actually dove straight into writing some of this whilst on the trains home (yes, I really did start writing this that long ago!) because otherwise I'd have been in tears! I guess my initial point at the start of this blog can be broken down like this: short-term sadness, long-term happiness. Yes, Mollie and I are both a mess when we have to leave each other, but we'll see each other again, for many more perfect times! And, besides, what is it they say: "absence makes the heart grow fonder."

War memorial gardens

2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Review: A Classic World Cup?

Above: the official logo of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. Below, left: the flags of the 32 countries that contested the World Cup, along with which group they were in

As I sit writing the start of this blog entry late at night, I find myself a little sad, sad because the World Cup is over and there now won't be football on the TV most nights; at least until the excitement of the English football leagues start again - with Premier League games on the TV, left, right and centre - and I return to going to watch live matches of my beloved Reading Football Club! But there's much more to my sadness than just that football won't, for now, be on the TV. You see, at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, after England (the team I support, obviously!) had been knocked out in the Round of 16 by Germany, I found myself not caring about the rest of the tournament that much. Yes, I still watched quite a few games, but I just don't recall the football being that exciting, with even the final being remembered for the way that the Netherlands kept fouling the Spanish, being lucky to only get one person sent off in the process! I guess it didn't help that there was a major incident in the match between England and Germany, an incident that still annoys me even when I see clips of it to this day; it was genuinely one of the worst officiating decisions I have ever seen in my life, when Frank Lampard's looping shot crossed the line - by some distance - yet somehow wasn't given by the officials, despite the rest of the world seeing it was a goal (thank heavens they introduced goal-line technology in Brazil!)! Oh, and how annoying were the vuvuzelas!? The one thing I won't doubt, though, is that the South African people had amazing spirit and did put on a successful World Cup, but I just think that Brazil has been on a whole different level, for the one reason that truly matters: the action on the pitch.

I'm not going to go into anything that happened off the pitch - although, having said that, despite talk of potential rioting and trouble during the World Cup, due to the problems in Brazil, this never really happened, with a party atmosphere being the order of the day. Within the first few days, you could tell this was going to be a special tournament, with attacking football being on show in so many games, and underdogs showing that they were completely up for the fight. The very first game showed me things that I both wanted to see, and things that I didn't want to see. Especially in the first half of the opening match, Brazil v Croatia, I felt that Croatia - the underdog against a team who some believed could win it - had been the better team, deservedly taking a 0-1 lead, but how this match ended up 3-1 to Brazil is down to two mistakes by the officials, with one being due to an act of cheating, both of which I was hoping to not really see at this World Cup, and fortunately both were fairly rare in the tournament. I believe that Fred went down way too easily for Brazil's penalty, and that Croatia's disallowed goal should have been allowed, both of which could've provided a whole different result. In these first few days, I had witnessed passion, exciting football, and players who genuinely cared about representing their countries. The incredible passion with which the teams would belt out their National Anthems at the start of every match, especially when I first heard Brazil do it - the music stops, but the fans (so many of them littered every stadium, whether Brazil were playing or not) and players continue to sing - it was truly a spine-tingling moment to behold!

Netherlands' first goal: Robin van Persie's phenomenal diving header

On only the second night of the tournament, one of the best matches of the whole of the 2014 World Cup occured, and I found myself having to pick my jaw up off the floor. Spain v Netherlands was truly a match I will never forget, and it seemed like it was going to be just as I'd expected as the current World Champions (at the time), Spain, went 1-0 up, but the Netherlands were not just going to give up. Just on the stroke of half-time occurs one of the many beautiful goals of the tournament (not up there with James Rodriguez's volley against Uruguay, but more on that later!), as Daley Blind sends a stunning pass over the top of the Spanish defence, Robin van Persie leaves Sergio Ramos behind, launching himself, 15 yards from goal, to loop a diving header over the top of a fantastic goalkeeper, Iker Casillas. The Dutch went on to score 4 more goals during the second half, with the fifth being another amazing goal, this time by Arjen Robben, one of the best players at the tournament, in my opinion. Running from his own half, on to a through ball from Wesley Sneijder, completely outpacing Ramos, before turning back on himself to round the keeper and expertly finish past the two Spanish defenders on the line, making the score 5-1 and leaving everybody watching the match absolutely speechless.

Who'd have thought that the Netherlands would beat Spain 5-1!? And yet there was an even more jaw-dropping match to come in this unforgettable World Cup

On the third day, we would witness two teams who would eventually go on to make the quarter-finals, Colombia and Costa Rica, with the former being very impressive and exciting to watch, and the latter shocking the world by topping a group that consisted of Italy, England and Uruguay. I could genuinely reel off a huge list of games that kept me rivetted during the group stages. I won't talk too much about my beloved England getting knocked out at the group stage with only 1 point, but, at the same time, you won't hear me say anything bad about them, either, as I believe we played an attacking style of football that was sometimes great to watch, and I'm glad that a load of youngsters (Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge, Ross Barkley, etc.) got the chance to play, and they'll all be better players for having experienced what they have at this World Cup; future tournaments could be very interesting for us, I believe.

Many other memorable matches came and went during the group stages, including the games that had the two hat-tricks that were scored at the tournament: Thomas Muller in the Germany v Portugal match (4-0), and Xherdan Shaqiri in the Switzerland v Honduras match (3-0). Three other matches that stood out for me during the group stages were: the French beating a great Switzerland team by 5 goals to 2, with all 5 goals scored by different players - Olivier Giroud, Blaise Matuidi, Mathieu Valbuena, Karim Benzema and Moussa Sissoko - although, had the final whistle been blown just a few seconds later, Benzema would've had another goal, as he sent a lovely curling shot from 20-yards, past Diego Benaglio and into the top left-hand corner of the net. The USA v Portugal match stands out for me because, whilst not in any way truly stunning, it was a match where you thought there was going to be a shock. The Portuguese went 0-1 up very early with a Nani strike, and the USA's way back into the game was another fantastic goal at this tournament: the ball falls to Jermaine Jones about 25-yards from goal, he sidesteps Nani, before unleashing a blistering shot which looks like it's going wide, before incredibly curving into the far right-hand side of the goal, leaving Beto rooted in the centre of the goal. The USA went 2-1 up thanks to Clint Dempsey, and would've won the game if not for a last-minute equaliser by Silvestre Varela, after a perfect cross from Cristiano Ronaldo, who had been quiet up until then, and one of the tournament's disappointing players. Another match which I liked was the Colombia v Japan game, as it made me think that we could have a serious dark horse here, who could potentially go the distance. It's just one of the 5 matches that Colombia played, on their way to the quarter-finals, in which James Rodriguez - the player of the tournament (yep, I said it - not you, Messi!) - shined, and proved himself to be an absolute world-class talent (and it's come to fruition that Real Madrid have signed him for about 90 million Euros, in what will be the best signing of the summer!)!

Unfortunately, there was an incident that I never wish to see on a football pitch, or anywhere, for that matter! To see a football player, Luis Suarez, bite another football player, Giorgio Chiellini, on the biggest stage of all, with hundreds of millions of people watching around the world, including impressionable kids who look up to their heroes, was absolutely horrifying! I'm not going to say too much on the matter (and I'm not putting any pictures or videos of the incident on my blog, but anybody who has seen the images/videos will know he did it), as I'd rather talk about the amazing football, but I believe he deserved his punishment (feel free to disagree with me) - the money punishment won't affect him one bit (100,000 Swiss Francs), but not being able to play football for 4 months certainly will - as it's a complete act of thuggery. We'll soon see whether or not he's learned his lesson, but he had also done it two times before - on Branislav Ivanovic in a Premier League match against Chelsea in 2013, whilst playing for Liverpool; and on Otman Bakkal in an Eredivisie match against PSV Eindhoven in 2010, whilst playing for Ajax - so, we'll see. I think what really annoyed me is that his Uruguayan team-mates/coach/president stuck up for him, which, in a way, is admirable, but how can you really stick up for somebody after they've done something like that!? I believe they were only sticking up for their star player because they knew they had no chance without him, and that was true, as they were played off the park by Colombia in a one-sided Round of 16 match. The way I think about it is like this: how would I feel if a Reading (or England) player did this? I'd be completely shocked, disgusted, disappointed, embarrassed and angry, and not want him to play for my favourite football team again. Fair play to him for admitting to it and apologising, because it takes guts to do that, but there were rumours that Barcelona said they wouldn't buy him unless he apologised and said that it won't happen ever again. Anyhow, I really hope he does get his act together, because there's no denying that he's a world-class talent who is very exciting to watch, and he was easily one of the best players in the world during last season, helping Liverpool to second in the league, just 2 points shy of Manchester City; in this time, he scored 31 goals for Liverpool, none of which were penalties, and won the Barclays Player of the Season award, even though he missed 10 games at the start of the season for, ummm... biting!

During the Round of 16 matches occured my favourite goal of the tournament: James Rodriguez's unbelievable volley against Uruguay (viewable in the video over to the right. Footage is taken by a fan, as most videos that contain match footage get taken down from YouTube by FIFA)! The way the Colombia player positions himself in the space between Uruguay's defence and midfield, 25-yards out, takes a look towards the goal as the ball is headed to him, before chesting the ball and unleashing an unstoppable left-footed strike off the underside of the bar and into the goal, was simply stunning to watch, and a piece of brilliance that will be remembered for years to come. It's one of those goals where you look around the room to make sure everybody saw it, and that they weren't staring at their phones or something (something which I'll admit I'm occasionally guilty of!), and if somebody isn't in the room, you shout, "get in here quickly, you have to see this goal!!" I believe this was the best goal of the tournament, and by the best player of the tournament, too. Other goals that stand out in my mind, include: three that I've already mentioned - Jones (USA) against Portugal; van Persie's (Netherlands) first goal, and Robben's (Netherlands) second goal, both against Spain - with Tim Cahill's sensational volley against the Netherlands certainly being up amongst my favourites. Despite not being as good as Rodriguez's left-footed volley, and being about 10-yards closer to goal, what makes this incredibly impressive is that it was struck with Cahill's weaker foot. Shaqiri's first goal against Honduras was an absolute belter, Andre Schurlle's second against Brazil was amazing, and Lionel Messi's beautiful goal against Iran was needed to prevent an unlikely shock result (if I've forgotten any fantastic goals - and I no doubt have, as there were many beautiful goals at this World Cup - please fill me in in the comments section below this blog entry).

How Messi got player of the tournament (the Golden Ball), I'll never know, as I could name so many players who were better than him; hell, many of the German team were better than him, and I'd even include Schurlle in that statement, as he did so much - scored three goals, as well as setting up Gotze for the World Cup winning goal - and yet only came on as a substitute in every game that he participated in! But, being more serious, the player of the tournament was Rodriguez, followed by Muller, then Robben, in my opinion. They were the three players who excited me the most during the tournament; they were setting up goals, scoring memorable goals, and being entertaining. I'm certainly not saying that Messi wasn't good, and maybe it's because we expect so much from one of the finest football players to ever grace the planet, but he just wasn't as amazing as I thought he'd be, and was outshone by quite a few other players. James Rodriguez scored 6 goals in 5 matches, picking up the Golden Boot, scoring my favourite goal of the tournament, and earning himself a 90 million (Euros) move to Real Madrid! Seeing him come on as a substitute for the second half of Colombia's match against Japan, score one and set-up two Jackson Martinez goals, was simply amazing. His goal in this match was sublime: he points to where he wants the ball, then gets the through ball from Adrian Ramos; runs into the Japan box, turns right then quickly left, leaving Maya Yoshida on his backside; before exquisitely lifting the ball over Eiji Kawashima and into the back of the net.

Manuel Neuer, the best goalkeeper at the World Cup

I don't think many people would disagree with Manuel Neuer getting the Golden Glove (although, maybe he should've also been up for the Golden Ball award given how much he comes out of his goal!), and I don't think many people would argue that he's the best goalkeeper in the world. The biggest surprise, in terms of goalkeepers, came from Costa Rica's Keylor Navas, a goalkeeper I hadn't heard of before seeing him at this World Cup. In all honesty, I could mention so many goalkeepers that were brilliant, because so much of the football was so incredibly attacking, the goalkeepers really had the chance to shine. Tim Howard is a world record holder for his amount of saves, 15, during the USA match against Belgium, a Round of 16 match which got very exciting when USA were fighting to get back into the match in extra time, pulling one goal back - thanks to Julian Green's volley, after a lovely pass by Michael Bradley - but couldn't get the second that they needed. A mention has to go to Tim Krul, who didn't play during normal match time in any game, but was boldly brought on by the Netherlands coach, Louis van Gaal (and now the Manchester United coach), for the quarter-final penalty shootout against Costa Rica, and proceeded to save two penalties, helping the Netherlands through to the semi-finals - although, I wasn't hugely impressed by his antics towards the Costa Rica players just prior to their penalties being taken, but the referee took no action, and you do what you have to do to get through; mind games can be a huge part of many sports!

The best match of the knockout stages, and the most staggering match of the whole tournament, is an obvious one: Greece v Costa Rica... but, seriously, Germany v Brazil, of course! It was one of those matches where it almost became laughable - unless you're a Brazil fan - as scorelines of this nature just do not occur in the later stages of tournaments. The Germans absolutely embarrassed the Brazilians, with no remorse, breaking records left, right and centre as the match progressed: scoring the most goals, 7, in any World Cup semi-final; becoming the highest-scoring team at World Cups, with 223 goals in total, surpassing Brazil (really rubbing salt in the wound with this one!); and scoring 5 goals in the first 29 minutes of a World Cup match! In the 11th minute, Germany took the lead through a cool Muller finish from a Kroos corner, with the marking from Brazil's defence being ridiculously poor; to not mark one of the best players of the whole tournament - a player who's incredibly clinical and had already netted 4 goals in the tournament - is just shocking. Then, truthfully, this match was over as a contest in the space of 179 crazy seconds, as that was the [very short] time between Germany's second and fourth goals, and then it was a case of whether Brazil were going to restore some pride, or if Germany went and scored more: it was the latter of the two. The second goal was also a record breaker - albeit an individual one, not a team one - as Miroslav Klose's goal was his 16th World Cup goal in 23 matches, and 16 goals is a record that overtakes the Brazil legend, Ronaldo. Another of Real Madrid's signings, Toni Kroos, added the 3rd and 4th goals, before Khedira made it 5, with Brazil fans looking on in disbelief, shock, and some already in tears! Yes, these goals were partly due to Germany's brilliant attacking football, but so much was to do with Brazil's abysmal defending; everybody knew they were going to miss the amazing Thiago Silva, but nobody knew it would be this much. Also, with Neymar out, they lacked any sort of flair or spark going forward, which are the sort of things you expect to see from a great Brazil team, but this Brazil aren't a great Brazil team, unfortunately. Easily the best sub of the tournament, Schurlle, came on to score the 6th and 7th goals, with the latter being a brilliant strike. Oscar did get one back for Brazil, but, by this time, it really didn't matter. The Germans had been building up to a match like this, looking like one of the most impressive teams in the tournament, now they had to go on and win it, surely?

Germany celebrating winning the 2014 World Cup!

And it's obviously no secret that they did go on to win it (the picture above is hardly a spoiler!), but the final was far from the excitement that we had witnessed in that semi-final. The first thing I think of is that I bet Gonzalo Higuain wishes he could have back his first half chance which he squandered. Early in the second half, Messi had a chance, but he put his shot wide with his usually deadly left foot. Before the match, the talented midfielder Sami Khedira got injured in training, so the Germans replaced him with Christoph Kramer, who got a blow to the head and replaced by Schurlle. The Germans never let this bother them, though, and it was in fact the man that I have deemed "best sub of the tournament" that set-up the World Cup winning goal: Schurlle bursts down the left wing past two Argentinian players, crosses the ball in-between two players, and into Gotze, who sublimely chests the ball and then, on the stretch, lofts it over Sergio Romero with his left foot, for the sort of technically-beautiful goal you'd want to see win a World Cup that has just been so interesting, unpredictable and unforgettable! Yes, it wasn't perfect: any game that involved Greece wasn't exactly rivetting, Cameroon and South Korea were pretty boring and poor, and Belgium - despite all their phenomenal players, like Eden Hazard, Vincent Kompany, Axel Witsel, etc. - failed to excite me, despite reaching the quarter-finals; rubbish games did exist, but very rarely. I'm only 27, so not old enough to have seen England's stunning 1966 World Cup win, but this has definitely been the best World Cup I have ever witnessed during my time on this planet. There were teams who did much better than expected - like Costa Rica, Algeria, etc.; there were goals that will forever replay in my mind; there were matches that were so mind-blowing, that if somebody didn't know the result and you told them, they'd think you were lying to them! The only way this World Cup could've been better is if England had done better, but, still, from the point of a massive football fan, I'm glad I wrote this blog, as I will forever be able to relive this classic World Cup!

Let me know what you think! Best goal of the tournament? Best player? Best goalkeeper? Best match? Best team? Biggest surprise? What you thought of the tournament? Thanks for reading, it's hugely appreciated! :) <3

 

The World Cup trophy along with the official ball of the 2014 World Cup Brazil

Everything - and I mean "EVERYTHING" - that you'll ever need to know about me

Firstly, if you're here then I'm guessing you at least know my name (even if you didn't already, it's in the title of my blog, so you really should do, haha!)! I'm a nice, caring, honest, passionate, loyal guy, aged 27 and from Reading in England. I'm over 6ft tall with blue eyes and ginger hair. I'm pretty shy when I first meet people, but if you get me out of my shell, you'll find I'm a decent guy who's always up for a chat - I become my true self once you've got to know me. What follows is a piece of writing that I wrote a little while back - slightly edited - and it is a quote, or maybe an outlook on life. Then I talk about my favourite things in certain categories - like music, TV, movies, etc. - as well as my hobbies, occupation, family and friends, etc. But, first, here's the quote that sums up me as a human being:

"Always be yourself, and what you know you are - don't change to fit in with what other people believe, do, like, or how they act. Bad things will unfortunately happen in life - that's inevitable - but come back from them fighting, and come back a stronger, better person; never believe that it's time to give up, and that what has happened is the end of your world. Even if you're lower than you've ever been before, keep believing that there's a way to a better life, and certainly don't ever be afraid to ask people for help if you need it: it is NOT a sign of weakness, and loved ones (friends or family) - the people who truly care about you - will be there for you during those bad times, as well as the good times! I genuinely believe that you discover who your real friends are when you're at your lowest. Never let anyone tell you that you can't make it, as chances are they're jealous of your ambitions, and have nothing better to do than to try to bring you down to their level! If you want something bad enough, go out there and put everything you've got into making it happen. Is it going to be easy? No, things that you really want in life are never easy, but the end goal will be all the sweeter when you make it. If you don't make it at first, keep trying! The people who live their lives not even trying, are the people who will get nowhere; and remember that you regret the things you don't do in life, not the things you do do. Love deep, honestly, and for real, never forget how important your friends and family are, and give as well as take. Do good things because - even if you don't believe in karma, and that it'll make good things happen to you - it'll make you feel good about yourself, happier, and it'll improve your relationships with the people around you. It doesn't hurt to be nice! I'm a firm believer in the saying, 'treat people the way you want to be treated.' Always be truthful, for it is better to be hated for who you are, than loved for what you are not; and the genuine relationships you can build, due to being your honest self - and, therefore, finding out that certain people have the same beliefs, interests, personalities, etc., as you -  will be the type of relationships that you wouldn't want to change for the world. Maybe most importantly: never judge somebody before you've got to know them, and never judge somebody for the things they like/do, as, until you get to know somebody properly, you could be completely wrong about that person. Be strong, be yourself, believe in yourself, and always strive to be the best you can be!"

An absolutely beautiful photograph of the place where I go to watch live football, the Madejski Stadium, Reading FC's stadium

 
I've always loved football (To my lovely American/Australian readers: I'm talking about European football, so what you call 'soccer'), having played it throughout my childhood, as well as having always supported my hometown team of Reading FC since I was just a little kid (and England, of course!)! Had a season ticket since the Elm Park days - and have been going to football matches for about 19+ years, I believe - having seen us play in the Premier League, Championship (previously called 'Division 1'), and League 1 ('Division 2' at the time). Current favourite players are: Danny Williams, Chris Gunter, Adam Le Fondre, Jordan Obita, and Jem Karacan. I love Formula 1 and support all the British drivers on the grid, but my favourite driver is Lewis Hamilton: I hope he wins plenty more World Championships - to go with his 2008 win with McLaren - and 2014 with Mercedes is certainly looking very promising! I'm a fan of tennis and will forever support Andy Murray in his quest to win his first Grand Slam (I wrote this ages ago and he's, obviously, since won the gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics, as well as winning the 2012 US Open, and Wimbledon in 2013!! I kept this tennis bit of this blog unedited from my 'About Me' section on Facebook - first written in 2008 - to show I supported Andy Murray before he had won any majors)! I support every English - or occasionally 'British', as is the case in some sports - athlete/team when it comes to ANY sport, be it football, tennis, golf, Formula 1, cricket, the Olympics, rugby, etc.; I'm just a huge sports fan!

Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes Formula 1 car

I also love writing, acting, the internet (obviously!), cinema/movies, music (a hell of a lot!), TV, computer games, spending time with friends, etc. I play the guitar, just not hugely well, at the moment! My favourite ever computer game is Resident Evil 4 - an absolute masterpiece by Capcom, which they have never bettered - followed by Zelda: Skyward Sword, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Metroid Prime, and Super Mario Galaxy! Zelda and Resident Evil are definitely my two favourite series of games! Currently playing the addictive Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, as well as the fun Mario Golf: World Tour, both on the Nintendo 3DS, and the imaginative Super Mario 3D World, as well as the amazing Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut, both on the Nintendo Wii U! I have played on pretty much every games console since the original Nintendo (the NES: Nintendo Entertainment System) - so, machines by Sony, Microsoft, Sega, etc., too - but I'm a Nintendo fan at heart. I love reading the Official Nintendo Magazine UK - and even tried to get a job working for them - and try not to ever miss an issue, but I don't really enjoy reading books that much, in all honesty. My favourite movie is definitely Avatar, followed by Django Unchained, and then the 'proper' American Pie movies (1, 2, The Wedding, and Reunion - not the spin-offs!!). You can also barely go wrong with any movie made by Disney Pixar, with my favourites being WALL- E, Up, The Incredibles, and Toy story 3. My favourite TV shows are currently The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Revenge, Top Gear, Hawaii Five-0 (the new one), Family Guy, The Simpsons, The Graham Norton Show, QI, The Gadget Show, Rude Tube (it's a clip-based show, taking clips from the internet and putting them on TV, usually in categories, like Animals, Stunts, Epic Fails, Love, etc. - it's not actually "Rude", really, haha!), Revolution, anything that involves my favourite sports, and about a million other shows, including most American sitcoms! I keep meaning to get into shows like The Walking Dead and Game Of Thrones, but never get around to it! Favourite TV shows of all-time would be Friends, Everwood, FlashForward, Gavin & Stacey, and Scrubs (and I'd expect to add The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother to this list when they end - HIMYM has a handful of episodes that haven't aired in the UK yet, at the time of writing). My favourite actors are currently Neil Patrick Harris and Jim Parsons. Favourite bands are the bands pictured below, plus a load of others (pictures may contain certain band members that are no longer in the band... hell, two of these bands aren't even together anymore, and another two took a hitaus for years, before coming back!!):

1) My Chemical Romance

2) Elliot Minor

3) Green Day

4) Thirty Seconds To Mars

5) Forever The Sickest Kids

6) All Time Low

7) Yellowcard

8) We Are The In Crowd

9) Fall Out Boy

10) DragonForce

I have seen Elliot Minor live three times, Green Day once, and McFly once, some of which I would say are the best nights of my life!! :D Having not gotten around to seeing My Chemical Romance live - I always assumed there would be more chances - I am now even more determined than ever to see my favourite bands before it, potentially, becomes too late!! Future blog entries listing and describing my love for my favourite songs of all-time may happen, so I don't want to spoil that here!

I absolutely love my three best friends (Pete, Chris, and Kelly. And a mention for Sarah and Alexa, too.) and would be lost without them. Pete is a legend, and the best person I have ever met in my life! He's stuck with me through many crappy times, there's no way I could ever have a better friend than him, and I could never repay him for all the things he's done for me! :D <3 I also love my Killjoy/music-loving friends who I have met online, but there are way too many of you to name (you know who you are: the, roughly, fifty people who I occasionally tag in statuses!)!! <3 I love my Molls, a.k.a. Mollie Star: she's one of the most caring, sweet, amazing, beautiful, and passionate human beings I've ever met in my life, and I know we'll have a great future together, full of many unforgettable moments!! :D <3 My family definitely need a mention for sticking by me through everything! I have the best two brothers, Daniel and Sam, in the world, and I am immensely proud of both of them! My dad for giving me a job, a purpose in life, and a roof over my head when I needed one! <3 And my mum for all the times she's fed me, looked after me when I've been ill (and in general), and for always being there if I need her, throughout my life! <3

I work with my dad at his engraving company, Kennet Engraving Services Ltd. - which he has had since around the time I was born - and I mainly do computer engraved signs, but have also done drilling, packing, cleaning, cups of tea making (haha!), and I've even done some painting; the job is different, and pretty cool! I have recently started my own blog in my spare time, which you're no doubt aware of if you're reading this right now!

I have a pet turtle named Koops - named after a particular turtle character from the Super Mario series of video games - who has been with us for about seven years! He used to have a friend in his tank, Pogo (Sam's turtle), but he sadly passed away a little while back!

Went to The Willink School where I got pretty much straight C's at GCSE. If you want to know anything else about me, you're probably a stalker, because I've certainly said enough in this blog, haha!! ;) <3

Elliot Minor: One More Time?

I love these guys: (from left to right) Ali Paul, Ed Hetherton, Alex Davies, Dan Hetherton, and Ed Minton

Saturday the 29th of March 2014 is a day that I will never forget for many reasons, and a day that I thought may never happen again. However, for a day that I wanted to be absolutely perfect, it certainly didn't start that way, as I woke up incredibly late (anybody who knows me won't be surprised to hear this!)! Still, I knew I had plenty of time and that the exciting things were going to happen late in the day. I left my house just before 4pm - yes, I really left that late for a concert - and headed for the town centre. My best friend, Pete, was kind enough to take me into town, so I bought him some late lunch/early dinner (chicken fillet bites and chips, thanks for asking!) and said goodbye. I walked off to Reading train station, thinking to myself, 'I don't think I've ever been on a train on my own, let alone into London by myself.' I bought myself a train ticket, an energy drink and some chewing gum, and boarded a train at 5:53pm. Within 1 hour and 15 minutes I had gotten a train from Reading to London Paddington, navigated the London Underground to get to Camden Town station, and was enjoying a cold, crisp, delicious cider at the bar in the Camden Underworld (the music venue where Elliot Minor were playing) - it's pretty cool living not too far from one of the greatest cities in the world!

I briefly bumped into one of my Facebook friends, Susan, who I met thanks to this phenomenal band. I went through to watch the last support act, Fort Hope, who were great and had a whole bunch of good pop rock songs, and then I waited patiently, like everybody else, for what we were all actually here for: Elliot Minor. Allow me to digress for a bit, though, for those who are unaware of the band: Elliot Minor are an incredibly talented British rock band who I got into around the time of me getting into rock music, discovering their awesome demos, and loving it when I saw their first single, Parallel Worlds, appear on the music channels. Their music is mainly guitar-driven pop rock that incorporates a lot of minor chords, beautiful vocal harmonies, piano and, sometimes, the likes of a violin! Between them, they are capable of playing guitar, bass, drums, piano, violin, cello, double bass, clarinet and saxophone. It was a joy to see their singles go into the official UK music charts - I was a fan of the charts, and pop and indie music at that time - with songs such as Still Figuring Out, Jessica, Parallel Worlds (re-release) and The White One Is Evil, charting at 17, 19, 21 and 22 respectively. After around a year of releasing singles, they were finally releasing their self-titled debut album on the 14th of April 2008, and I saw them live two days prior to this, headlining at the London Astoria (I had also seen them support McFly at Wembley Arena), which I still say is one of the greatest nights of my life! Finally having my hands on the CD of their debut album was a sweet feeling because of how long I had already loved this band. I already knew the 4 singles, plus I had heard demos of all of the 7 other songs on the album - not that that mattered because I already knew how awesome these songs were; plus, the demos are raw, mainly just guitar-driven pop-rock, whereas the album versions are majestic, with perfect production, vocal harmonies to die for, and some epic orchestral arrangements (the same can be said for their second album, too) accompanying the guitars for a sound that is incredibly unique, exciting, and often stunning. This is why when you see them live, it feels like you're hearing the demos more than the album versions, which is pretty cool, in my opinion, because it's nice to hear different versions to what you listen to all the time. I'm not sure if anybody else has ever compared them to this band, but I think that parts of some of Elliot Minor's songs remind me of the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO: famous for Mr. Blue Sky, which has appeared in movies, commercials, etc., and so you probably know it even if you don't think you do!). To me, their debut album is nothing short of a masterpiece, and I'd even rank it in my top 5 favourite albums ever, which would be: My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade, Green Day's American Idiot, Yellowcard's Ocean Avenue, Elliot Minor's Elliot Minor, and All Time Low's Nothing Personal.

Their second album, Solaris, was released on the 19th of October 2009, and is also absolutely brilliant, whilst not being as good as their debut album (I won't list my favourite Elliot Minor songs from both albums, but, instead, recommend that you check out the YouTube videos on this blog entry; you could play them whilst reading this blog!). They then released an acoustic version of Solaris on the 15th of November 2010, before going quiet for quite a while, making fans fear they were going on hiatus or, even worse, splitting up. Ali Paul (keyboard/piano player) announced on the 28th of August 2010 that he was leaving the band after the end of the tour, to go study law at university. This didn't help the speculation about the band going their separate ways, and, very soon after, it had been announced that Dan Hetherton (drums) had created a new band, The Dead Famous, with the former lead singer of GO:Audio. Ed 'Teddy' Hetherton (bass) and Ed Minton (guitarist, and second vocalist) both went off to study, and Alex Davies (lead singer, and guitar) ended up creating a new band, Spirits, all of which made a comeback seem very unlikely. However, on the 30th of November 2013 - after almost 3 years of inactivity - the band started to post teasers on their Facebook and Twitter accounts, merely saying things like "2014" and "#EMonemoretime", leading fans to speculate as to whether this was one more concert, one more tour, one more album, etc.!? We found out on the 7th of December that it would be one more concert, at the Camden Underworld on Friday the 28th of March 2014! Tickets went on sale on the 9th, but little did they know how much their passionate fans still care about them, as the 500 tickets sold out in 30 seconds, leading them to announce a second date for Saturday the 29th, which also went and sold out in 30 seconds! I was at this Saturday show thanks to buying a ticket off of a lovely, honest Elliot Minor fan, Rhiannon, who was selling a ticket at face value! They announced a third date, this time at the O2 Islington, and staggered the selling of the tickets. I knew the next three months would seem like they were going on forever, but I had something huge to look forward to - something totally unexpected - and I was just glad I was able to obtain a ticket, no matter the means! (Now you have some perspective on how much this band mean to me, and how much this concert would mean to me, I now head back to the original premise of this blog: the concert day!)

Some epic music began to play - the theme from the movie Inception - and Elliot Minor (just to stress: all 5 of them came back for these concerts) took to the stage, met by screams/cheers of delight due to the sheer excitement of this concert for any big Elliot Minor fan. Dan fires off on the drums for the start of Jessica, before the guitars roar in, the crowd sing along, and you just know this is going to be something special! In the minds of Elliot Minor fans - including me - they have no bad songs, and there was no way that any song would get a bad reception; after all, we thought this day may never come again, so we were sure as hell going to enjoy this to the max! Even I was nodding my head and singing at the top of my lungs, and, yet, I'm normally pretty shy in public! As amazing song after amazing song came and went, the intimate venue got hotter and sweatier, but, still, hearing my favourite songs live - some for the first time, as I had never seen them tour their second album - was sending a shiver down my spine! Running Away always gets the crowd jumping, with its infectious guitar riff and catchy chorus. For me, getting to hear songs such as Shiver and I Believe for the first time live was really special, the former having one of the most epic outros I've ever heard in a song: a mixture of guitar solos, piano solos, and violins! I Believe has an epic orchestrated bit in the album recording, which is imitated well on stage. More of my favourites included Last Call to New York City (you can see the version that I saw live at the Underworld, in the video below this paragraph) - an incredibly epic rock ballad, with awesome chords and fantastic drums - and Parallel Worlds, which is quite simply one of the best pop rock songs I've ever heard, with a killer guitar solo, and it, of course, never disappoints when performed live! I swear I could talk about how all the songs had the crowd singing along like they didn't have a care in the world, enjoying every second, and it felt so brilliant to be surrounded by people who enjoy these songs as much as me. It was amazing how well they performed together after none of them having played as Elliot Minor for over 3 years; they seemed perfect together, like no time had passed at all. It was just such an epic concert, with all the songs being killer, an unbelievable crowd, and an epic vibe/atmosphere! I genuinely couldn't believe how fast it seemed to be over - 15 songs, 8 from their self-titled debut album, 7 from Solaris - but there was always the afterparty...

The ticket that enabled me to have one of the most memorable nights of my life

Everybody left the venue having had an unforgettable time. I messaged with another of my Facebook friends, Kelly, and we met up outside the venue, discussing for about half an hour about how amazing the concert was, how our days had been, etc., and it was lovely to be chatting with somebody I had never met in my life but who I felt I kind of knew thanks to sharing a love for EM - it's also scary to think I may never again see the EM fans I met on this night, but hopefully that's not the case. I went into The World's End pub, that is above/next to the Underworld, for the afterparty and grabbed myself a cider. Firstly, I saw Ed Minton chatting/hugging/taking photos with fans, and I managed to get a photo with him - even if this had been the only member of EM that I met, I would've still been happy because of how I'd never met any musicians before, let alone from a band I idolise as much as EM! This did, however, turn out to be the first of 4 photos I got with the members of EM, and I soon had my second because I got a photo with Ed Hetherton. For this photo, I handed my phone - which is what I was taking the pictures on - to a complete stranger, loving the fact you could just trust people that you didn't even remotely know, because of how everybody was there to have a fantastic time with one another! As the pub was connected to the music venue, the type of music they played in there was all rock orientated - Green Day, Blink-182, Bowling For Soup, Wheatus, and Head Automatica being some of the bands I remember hearing - and having everybody sing along to songs such as Stacy's Mom, What's My Age Again?, and Basket Case, will be a moment I will recall for the rest of my life! I saw another Elliot Minor fan, Vicky, and we hugged and chatted for a bit, as well as seeing each other off and on whilst we were both at the afterparty; she also took the 2 photos that I managed to get with Dan Hetherton and Alex Davies whilst outside the pub. I genuinely couldn't believe I had got photos with 4 guys who are heroes to me, from one of my favourite bands of all-time (shame I couldn't get the fifth member, Ali Paul, as well!), and that I even chatted to Alex for a little bit! I was on a massive high (legally, of course!), and stayed at the afterparty for so long that problems began to occur...

                                          

Ed Minton and I

Me and Ed Hetherton

Me and Dan Hetherton

Alex Davies and I

I left the afterparty at about 12:30am, knowing I had to get back to Reading - in hindsight, I should've stayed at the afterparty and stayed in London for the night, then none of the following problems would've happened. The first problem I encountered was that Camden Town Underground station was now closed, meaning I had to figure out how to get buses back to London Paddington train station, walking the streets of London, in places I had never been before. 2 buses later, I arrived at Paddington bus stop at around 1:15am, being told by some nice guy in the street that there were no more trains - I was sure that trains between Reading and London ran through the night, no matter how infrequent, so I walked over to the station. A guy in a security box outside the station told me what I kind of already knew but had tried to deny: there were no more trains! I now believe the last train left at 1am, although it just so happened to be the night the clocks went forward by an hour, and a Sunday morning, so I'm not 100% sure as to when the last train really was, but I knew I was unlucky (trains on a weekday run through the night for people who have to go to work at very early times). I phoned my dad with 3% battery - having killed my phone taking pictures and recording video at the concert, and keeping up with football/cricket scores throughout the day - and my phone died without being able to explain the full situation! I must've chatted to about 10 people around Paddington, explaining my situation, but not many people are willing to let you use their phones - would you let somebody use your phone in a similar situation? I'd like to think I would trust the individual and do the nice thing. I went into Paddington train station, which must be one of the busiest staitions in the world during operational hours, but the place was like a ghost town: a few people who had decided to sleep and wait for the morning train, and a few workers dressed in fluorescent coats, but nothing more. I found a payphone and called my dad (again) at what was now probably 2:45am (including the clocks going forward), but the phone ate my money so quickly; the payphone began to ring, and my dad had cleverly called back the payphone. Fortunately, I still had about £50 in my wallet, so it was decided that I would head for a taxi and see if that money could get me from the centre of London to the west of London, which is closer to Reading and, therefore, easier for my dad to pick me up. The taxi driver was such a great guy, letting me use his phone on 2 occasions, and confirming that he would do the trip for £40 - admittedly that's £40 I shouldn't have had to spend, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. I saw the meter when the taxi driver dropped me off in west London, it was closer to £50, so I thanked him hugely and gave him a tip. Dad picked me up from west London at 4:15am, we headed home, I thanked my dad in a Facebook status (written at about 5:30am, after I had got home and charged my phone!), and was grateful to be in my own bed, for what was left of the night (and quite a bit of the day!). Fortunately, I have the best dad in the world, otherwise this night would've ended very differently!

My Elliot Minor merch that turned up recently: a signed (and creased!) EM poster, and a very soft EM T-shirt, which I wore with pride yesterday (at the time of publishing this blog)!

So, it was an unbelievable day/night for many reasons, and a day that will live in my mind forever as one of the most eventful, memorable, and stunning days I've ever had! Of course I would want another tour, another song, another album, etc., but if this concert (and afterparty!) is a goodbye to Alex, Ali, Dan, Ed and Ed - a.k.a. Elliot Minor - then I can't think of anything that could've been more perfect.