Elementary, My Dear Watson!

WARNING! CONTAINS MILD SPOILERS FOR THE SHOW 'ELEMENTARY'

Hello readers! Firstly, apologies for the late post, been a busy few days which I'll talk more about next week in a more personal post- I've decided to alternate the personal posts & more general posts to add some variety to the blog, plus talking about what I've been up to every 2 weeks will give me a bit more to talk about.

Anyway, enough of my rambling, let's crack on with tonight's blog post:

Those of you that know me in real life will know that over the past few months I've been watching 'Elementary', the American modern-day Sherlock Holmes. I finished watching season 2 last week & I have to say that I am very impressed with this show & would definitely recommend it to all the 'Sherlock' fans out there!

Now I can guess what you're thinking- it's probably the same as what I thought when I first heard of the show:

• "But it looks like such a Sherlock rip-off!"
• "It's American & I bet they've ruined it!"
• "Why is Watson a woman? That's not right!"

Yes, the above 3 were some of my initial thoughts when I first ever heard of the show's existence. I first read about Elementary in the TV book when it first aired, & being a 'Sherlock' fan (& seeing as the BBC adaption was around first), the "rip off" thought instantly came to mind. I was then put off by the fact that Watson was now a woman- myself at the time stood by the tradition that it was meant to be John not Joan Watson & thought it was ridiculous that had been changed this way. Also, having seen some of America's adaptation of 'The Inbetweeners' & not enjoying it, I just got the idea that this American version wouldn't be that great.

That was my thoughts about 2 years ago. This year, I decided to give it a chance. After the end of 'Sherlock' series 3, I was left wanting more having been on a 'Sherlock' high since before Christmas. This was when I decided to give 'Elementary' a try, as I was craving more deductive skills & I knew 'Sherlock' wouldn't be back for another couple of years. I was interested to see how it had been done & to test if my previous preconceptions of the show stood true, & I'm thankful to say that I was wrong to judge so hastily! Allow me to elaborate:

For starters- it's not a 'Sherlock' rip-off.
Although the two follow the same characters & the same style scenarios, they are both completely different in the way that they are portrayed. In the BBC's 'Sherlock'- Sherlock is portrayed (& very excellently, I must add) as a rather arrogant yet striking & likeable genius, who comes across as cold & harsh to his peers. It is shown that he is a nicotine addict, but this is a minor detail which that merely plays homage to the original Sherlock's drug addiction. This trait has a stronger role in 'Elementary', where Sherlock is a recovering drug addict. Although still portrayed as an arrogant & inconsiderate genius, having this issue in place allows for a deeper back-story which allows the viewer to see a more human side to the character of Sherlock Holmes, a side which I feel isn't shown as much in the BBC's 'Sherlock'.

Meme showing the two Sherlocks- kind of goes with the point being made above.

Secondly- it's not completely American & it isn't awful.
Ok, that sounds bad, like I assume all American TV is terrible (which I don't- reflecting on this makes me realise it's probably just their comedy remakes). I will admit though, I was pleased when I discovered that our protagonist kept his British origin, it keeps some of the charm of the character that I feel could have been lost as an American. It also allows the show to link back to it's roots rather than to completely relocate & re-culture it. Still, American culture isn't that different to the British really, & the crime solving is pretty much the same as the BBC version.

Lastly- Joan Watson works.
Admittedly it takes a while for Lucy Lui's acting to improve (in my opinion anyway), but Joan Watson works splendidly with Sherlock. She is there as his sober companion, hired by his father to make sure Sherlock keeps his sobriety in check & later becomes his partner detective. She definitely develops as a character as the seasons go on as well as being a crucial element for the development of Sherlock's character, not to mention her compassion & medical knowledge compliment Sherlock's brash nature & deductive skills.

So which do I prefer, you might ask- 'Sherlock' or 'Elementary'? The answer is neither- I think both are brilliant for their own reasons.

The way I see it, 'Sherlock' is the original modern adaptation, & there's no denying that Benedict Cumberbatch is a superb Sherlock- with his fast deduction skills & striking appearance really engaging the viewer & making him fascinating to watch. Jonny Lee Miller's Sherlock has a slightly more casual appearance & isn't as overly as brash as Cumberbatch, but is still a fantastic character & I think Miller's portrayal is equally as brilliant as Cumberbatch's.

As stated before, there are deeper storylines in 'Elementary'- ones that link to Sherlock's past & battle with drug addiction. It's these storylines, along with the Holmes & Watson relationship (not the romantic kind, I might add) that help keep you glued to 'Elementary' & an element that I will say they did better than BBC 'Sherlock'.

Still, I stick with my opinion that both are as great as each other, but I do recommend 'Elementary' to all my fellow Sherlockians out there! It'll fill the hole left by BBC 'Sherlock', plus the next season is due to air later this year, so once you've finished season 2 you won't have to wait too long for your fix! :)

I hope you've enjoyed tonight's post & I hope that, if you do decide to give 'Elementary' a watch, you'll enjoy it!

Thanks for reading! :D

Note:
All images sourced from Pinterest, links to where I found them can be found on my board here.

"Stockholm Sweden, Rock Home Leadin'"- My Story with Blowsight & Seeing Them Live

Hey there readers! First Music Monday where I'm deviating away from the challenge I set myself, but I deviate away for a great reason. I'd like to use this post not only to give a review of the concert I attended on Friday, but to also tell you all a little bit more about my favourite band, Blowsight.

So to start off- who are Blowsight?

Blowsight are a 4-piece band from Stockholm, Sweden, consisting of Nick Red (vocals, guitar), Seb (guitar), Mao (bass) & Fabz (drums). They describe their music as 'PopMetalPunk'- if I recall correctly from an interview I read once, it's because it has "the catchiness of pop, the harshness of metal & the raw sound of punk", a combination that works splendidly in creating some truly amazing songs! I'd say they're a versatile band as well- some songs have a more rock sound, some are slower, plus they sound great acoustic as well!

The band, from L-R- Fabz, Nick, Seb & Mao
(Image is not mine, I take no credit)

And how did I get into them?
For this little section let's take a step back in time to March 2010 (this I know thanks to Facebook timeline- I posted a status on the day I discovered them & decided to look it up). A 15 year-old me is sat in her room & has just opened Spotify to see that what looks to be a metal cover of 'Pokerface' on her recommendations list. I guess it's metal because the image alongside it is a skull, who I later learned is Skully- Blowsight's logo. Wanting to hear a good rock/metal cover of said song, I gave it a listen & it was one of the greatest things I'd ever heard- better than Gaga herself if I may say! It was that brilliant that I gave it a listen a second time before checking out what other music Blowsight had done. At the time, they only had the one album released, 'Destination Terrorville', which I listened to & thoroughly enjoyed- I remember having their song 'Thought of Bride' in my head for a few days after! A month or so later I purchased the album & that's where it all began. From there came the release of single 'Bandit For Life' (which is where the fans got their name the 'Bandits' from- it's also where the first part of the title from this blog is from), their second album 'Dystopia Lane', the 'Shed Evil EP', their third album 'Life & Death' & their latest single, 'Winter Show Mercy (Thank You)', which was released to raise money for homeless charities. I remember fondly awaiting & then listening to each new album/track & immediately loving it- from the stories told within the songs to the lyrics I found myself relating to & the fantastic sound of the music!

Now you know the back story, let's continue with the story of how I got to see them live:

Again, we go back to 2010, where the band played in the UK in a city not far from where I live. As you can imagine, I was thrilled, however, I was in a play at the time & the date of the concert clashed with the final rehearsal, meaning that I, unfortunately, missed them. From that day, I promised myself that if they were to play in my country again, I would be there, even if it meant travelling a bit, I'd go. In fact, as I saw where their various live shows were over the years, I decided that I'd be more than happy to travel over to the continent to see them. I did consider going to Germany to see them last year with my Mum, but instead my whole family took a holiday.

Which brings us to the present & the tale of this weekend's adventure. It began a couple of weeks before the concert, where I saw on Facebook that the band were playing live in Stockholm, with the date conveniently being on the Friday before I weekend I had booked off of work. Seeing this made me feel excited, as I wanted to visit Sweden anyway as well, so why not go over there & see Blowsight? At first, it was just a wild thought in my mind as I didn't really have the money, but thankfully I got my halls of residence contract cancelled so I had some extra money in my bank account, and what a better way to spend it than on going to see my favourite band play live? :D

To begin, I had to get tickets. I'd seen the cost & worked out in English money that they were pretty cheap, so I asked on the event page where I could buy the tickets from. I was told by the event's organiser, a very nice man who I later met named Joakim, that they were available on the door of the event. As I was travelling from England, I asked if I could reserve tickets. I then received a message from him saying that if I was travelling all that way to see the band, I could go on the VIP list & not have to pay, which was amazing news! I would have been more than happy to have paid, but seeing as I now had tickets reserved in this way- the trip was a must! I booked flights & found a hotel near the concert venue & job done!

Now let's skip forward to Friday & the concert itself. Blowsight were, & are, amazing live & the show itself was fantastic! The venue, Enarena Globen, was small-ish & allowed for quite an intimate show, which was nice as it allowed me to stand right near the front. Blowsight were one of the headline acts for the night & played third after Suffix & Overworld (the other headline act).

Blowsight's set was brilliant, beginning with 'This Pain' & followed by 'It's Me You're Looking For'. From the minute they walked on stage they had great energy & presence which radiated into the audience, keeping them hooked. They performed each song excellently & really engaged with the audience- it was great to be a part of it & to sing along surrounded by fellow fans. There was a brief line-up change for the song 'How I Get What I Deserve', where Mao's place was taken by Miche, the bassist of a band called Degraded & a guitarist from another band (whose name I cannot remember) joined too. Another element I really enjoyed about the live show was the added mini-soundtracks before certain songs, such as 'SheDevil' & 'I Wish You 666'- these gave a great atmosphere to the songs & really added something to the live experience. Towards the end of the show they played their Pokerface cover, which was brilliant to hear as it's the song that introduced me to the band, along with 'Bandit For Life' & 'The Simple Art (Of Making You Mine)' as the finishing track, which left the audience on a high & chanting for more. Overall- absolutely fantastic- would definitely go & see them play again! (My promise in England still stands- they come here, I'll be there!)

Some of the shots I got of them. :)

Another amazing thing about the night was that I got to meet the band as well! I spoke to them both before & after the show; Nick recognised me whilst I was sat down prior to their performance & came over, we greeted each other with a hug & he spoke to me & my companion (who, as much as I'd love to, I can't name for various reasons) for a good few minutes before heading off. Joakim had also arranged for me to go upstairs to where they were before their performance, where I properly met Fabz, Mao & Seb as well & we sat talking to them for a bit about various things, such as the Swedish language & how beautiful the weather was in Stockholm. It was brilliant meeting them, they're such lovely people & it was a pleasure being in their company! We took photos & hugged, I also got a signed Skully sticker & one of Fabz's drumsticks as well as buying myself 3 more of their t-shirts. To add to this, during the set, Nick changed language to English (he was speaking Swedish in the breaks in between songs) to thank myself & my companion for travelling all that way to see them, then said the next song, 'Standby Button', was for us. It was a pleasure- I have loved the band & wanted to see them live for the past 4 years, so the opportunity to do so was incredible & I was happy to have travelled all that way.

Me & Blowsight. :D

Signed Skully. :)

I'm really thankful for this opportunity. Thankful to Joakim for organising the event & for adding me to the VIP list & to Nick, Fabz, Seb & Mao for the concert & the awesome music- & to all of them for being really lovely people that I'm so glad to have met! :D

And that concludes the story of how I finally saw Blowsight live & met them, but my story with the band doesn't end there. As their song goes, "I'm a Bandit for life!", that I shall be & am proud to be & shall continue to enjoy their music!

As well as enjoying their music myself, I recommend them to all- which includes you my good readers! Click on some of the links above, go on Spotify (or YouTube if you don't have a Spotify), & discover the awesomeness which is Blowsight! You won't regret it! :D

First Week of Freedom

Hey readers, this is my first post where I'm breaking my own rules. Usually you'd see my week in review/general stuff post on a Friday, but as I'm off to Sweden tomorrow I thought I'd better blog today. I would schedule, but I want to share my post once it's done, so let's get things started:

As the title says, this week was my first week of freedom, with no uni whatsoever. It's nice being back at home, back in my own space, just chilling & doing as I please.

Monday involved me ordering my Krona, driving again & sorting my room. The driving part involved me reversing my car from the garage & parking it, which was pretty nerve wracking as I haven't driven a car since I started uni, so my skills were rather rusty. Sorting my room- urgh what a pain! Ideally I would have gutted the place & organised every element methodically, but seeing as I barely had room to move myself, the day's task consisted of mainly sorting out my wardrobe (which is now nicely organised, I might add).

Tuesday saw me going for lunch & a catch up with my friend Georgia, which was really nice, as we hadn't seen each other for a few weeks. We went for fish & chips in a pub-restaurant then made our way to a seaside cafe for ice cream, all in all a great start to the afternoon! :D

Later that afternoon I decided than rather continue to clean my room, I would give myself a break & sort my old PC out for being solely used as a Sims PC. After an afternoon of fearing for my PCs life after crashes & failed starts, I got it in working order & installed my game, only for it to crash on me, twice.

Wednesday was the day where I had excellent timing with public transport on my journey into town & back to collect my Krona. I know that isn't that exciting, but I just felt rather impressed by it. That evening I cooked a garlic & potato soup for myself & my Mum, a recipe I got from a student cookbook which is very nice. Here's the end result:

Which brings us to today, where I have been getting bits sorted for Sweden & painting my nails like Blowsight's Skully, as they're the reason I'm heading out there. You can have a pic of the nails for today, but I'll tell you more about the concert on Monday. :)

(Here's their logo for a reference)

That's all for this week. There's another little project I've started, but I think I'll mention it once it's a bit more substantial, so in my next 'week in review' blog.

I shall leave you there for today. Have a good weekend readers, I look forward to telling you all about Sweden on Monday! :D

Weekly Music Challenge #1- My Favourite Song

Hello readers & welcome to my first Music Monday post! This series of posts begins with the challenge I mentioned in my Intro post, with the first topic being my favourite song.

Now this is an interesting topic to begin with as I don't actually a favourite song- I do in fact have several. Honestly, I can't choose one specific song to be my favourite, as I always end up with different songs stuck in my head that could be deemed favourite for various reasons for the span of the days/weeks etc. they're on loop in my mind.

But that aside, there are songs out there that I do consider to be favourites, therefore in today's post, rather than pick just one song, I'm going to give 5 of my favourite songs, each from a different artist. So in no particular order, let us begin:

1. 'Loss of Control' by Green Day
The reason why this is a favourite of mine is because I relate to it. I'll admit, I'm an introvert, was never popular in secondary school & couldn't really give a damn about the vast majority of my year group & I feel that the lyrics reflect this side of me. Especially the verse that begins with "Hanging out all by myself..."- this is me & my thoughts towards certain people down to a tee.

2. 'Dystopia' by Blowsight
To me, this song is epic- a fantastic ending to an incredible album! (Dystopia Lane) The instrumentals are brilliant & help to create an atmosphere that enables this song to stand out. These plus the power & emotion in Nick's voice are what makes this song so amazing! This song also includes a lyric that I relate to a lot, which is,

"The antidote of pain is the parody of life,"

This is a statement I believe to be true & to me, this lyric means if you can have a laugh & take the mick, it'll reduce the pain of the situation. A statement to live by, if I should say so myself.

3. 'A Gorey Demise' by Creature Feature
Despite the rather morbid subject matter, this song never fails to make me smile. In fact, I'd say it's one of the most cheery & upbeat songs about death I've ever heard & this dark sense of humour really appeals to me. Not to mention a character in the beginning says about it "being a bit dead" before the song actually starts- oh I do love a bit of word play!

4. '21st Century Slave' by Dope Stars Inc.
What I really like about this song is the character built within it. The whole album itself (which shares a title with the song I'm currently talking about) to me speaks of a dystopia, where the people have become drones & slaves to the mega-corporation that's taken over. This song builds on the slave idea, telling us how these kinds of people have been brainwashed & their personalities erased by the powers that be, how even their freedom & rights are being controlled. I like how the character has been built upon through song, with the industrial instrumentals helping to create an angry, dystopian atmosphere.

5. 'The Way We Are' by Cinema Bizarre
This song was my 'favourite song' back when I started college, which was the time when I'd gotten into Cinema Bizarre. One lyric in particular that stands out for me in this song &, I'll admit, is the reason it's a favourite of mine, is this:

"No hiding, no faking, this life can be amazing,"

Much like the lyric in 'Dystopia', this is something I agree with. Be yourself & life will be great. This lyric is sung in a deeper voice than the rest of the song, which enables it to stand out even more & to make, makes it sound that touch more amazing. Has to be one of my favourite parts of the song.

And there we are, 5 of my favourite songs. You'll learn more about my music taste as the weeks progress, although next week I'll be breaking away from the challenge (but you'll find out more about that soon enough!).

What are some of your favourite songs? Feel free to put your answers in the comments!

Thanks for reading! :)

Three Cheers for Sweet, Sweet Freedom! (Plus an Introduction to the Blog)

Well here we are, my first post on this blog, & what a better way to begin than to celebrate the end of my first year at Uni. No more coursework to worry about, no more deadlines- it's a wonderful feeling! So far I've celebrated my freedom with ice cream, alcohol & the company of good friends as well as the blissful thought of knowing I can focus on doing the things I want over the next four months or so. I've technically been free since Monday, so my celebrating started then, although I had to stay for a mini-project up until today. Here are some photos of my celebratory eats & drinks:

Sundae from Monday- had Ferrero Rochers & caramel in it

Cocktail from the Slug & Lettuce Monday- this is a special Brazilian one called 'Blue Zombie'- comes with a snazzy glass. :)

Went to the glorious Sprinkles on Wednesday & had this strawberry & chocolate waffle- very filling & delicious!

More cocktails at The Hobbit- not all of them mine! The purple one is, & on Wednesday it's Fellowship Night so they're £2.50. Bargain! :D

So that's that. Moving swiftly on, it's now time for an introduction to my blog. As stated before, I can now focus on whatever I like now I'm on my summer break & this blog will be my main project. I've had the idea for ages to start something like this, but with being inundated with coursework I wouldn't have had time to update as often as I'd like- I have had blogs before for coursework & graphics based things which always ended up being left for ages & not been kept up to date & I didn't want this to be another case of that.

Also, I want to blog on a more personal level. As I have just said, all blogs before have been related to my graphic design & have been done as part of a course as an online, 'professional' portfolio. I found in recent months with my deviantArt account I started to get a lot more personal & less professional with my journal.

For once, I want to blog as me, not 'Amy Sheppard, the aspiring graphic designer', but as Amy Sheppard- this is me, these are my views, this is my blog. In fact, over the summer, 'Amy Sheppard, the aspiring graphic designer' does not exist. I need to take a break from my chosen career path & go back to doing art for fun & doing my own projects. I'll admit, my University course has demotivated me somewhat & a part of me has stopped enjoying what I do & I feel just doing my own thing will help to regain my passion for the subject. My plan for the summer is just to be me, as I am, focussing on the here & now & enjoying my free time.

Which brings me back to the blog. I plan to update this blog twice a week- on a Monday & Friday (although will be a day before or after if I know I'll be busy on either of those days). Here's how it's going to work:

• Music Mondays:

Yep, Monday will be the day I blog about music. Well, it will be for the next 30 weeks or so, as I plan to take this challenge:

(Credit to whoever originally made this, I just changed 'day' to 'week' in the title. Just pretend it says that everywhere else...)

I plan to do this weekly as opposed to daily to keep things consistent- I feel if I did it every day, once it stopped my blog would stop being as active. Doing it by week gives me something to focus on & a theme, although this will be broken in a couple of the upcoming weeks by gig reviews (but I'll go to whichever topic comes next on the Monday after).

• Fridays:

Fridays don't really get a special subject- Fridays will be the days where I blog about other things, which will either be insights into my week or opinions on various things.

And that's all for tonight really, & I realise I'm 10 minutes away from this being a Saturday post here in England. I hope you've enjoyed the introduction, if you want to know a little bit more about me you can find out on my 'About' page.

So stay tuned- there's plenty more to come! And I'm sure the blog will eventually look better as summer progresses!

Good night readers! Shall see you all Monday! :)