Absolute Shambles

It's May 2017, and a new day has begun. Basingstoke Golf Club finds itself covered in glorious sunshine, yet it is unnaturally cold. From the sheds emerges a young man, still processing why he got out of bed this morning. He sits upon a John Deere greens mower and ventures into the beyond, his ears filled with the sounds of an orchestra. A stranger introduces himself as Ray Harris Jr., and welcomes him to 'The History of World War II Podcast'. Where it all began That young man was me, and this was my first interaction with the strange world of podcasts. It is fair to say that I was hooked from that moment onward. People fill their lives with drugs and casual sex in order to find happiness; I fill mine with informative and intellectually stimulating episodes on a wide variety of historical topics. 'The History of World War II' was essentially my gateway drug/podcast. I soon fell upon the BBC's 'History Extra Podcast', followed by 'When Diploma...

A POLITE NOTICE: This issue means a lot to me, and I do apologise to anyone affected by this particular topic if I sound ignorant. Just a humble blogger having a ramble. So it turns out that Harvey Weinstein, acclaimed film producer, has been sexually harassing women for many years now. Having produced films such as Pulp Fiction and The Crying Game (both great movies), Weinstein has used his power and influence to assault a number of women across his career. What an arsehole. Dick These revelations, although shocking, are not new for the entertainment industry. Powerful figures have the potential to make or break someone's career, and unfortunately some use it to advance their sexual desires. Their victims are powerless to stop them, as they could end up out of work. It's all quite sickening There have always been jokes about how actors and actresses had to go through a humiliating patch of taking up PA positions, or even doing some degrading adverts. Everyone has to ...

The scene is set. England welcome Slovenia to Wembley, with victory securing a place in the World Cup Finals. Time ticked away- England needed a hero to emerge. Someone stepped up to the challenge and, with all of his might, threw a paper aeroplane onto the pitch. The game was saved. Harry Kane scored as well, so England won. Yay! Only time I would celebrate a Harry Kane goal It says a lot about England when the most memorable moment of their crunch game against Slovenia was someone deciding to demonstrate both their origami and physical prowess. Even though qualification was secure and plans can be made for a venture to Russia, the game was dire and was, quite honestly, a waste of time. Preach Don't get me wrong though, there have been some good games involving our national football team. Cast your minds back to the pre-Euro 2016 friendlies, when we bested the Germans in their own back yard. Conquering the Welsh at said tournament was a high point (forget about losing ...

It's one of those weeks that I can easily find something to talk about, but I don't want to. I would love to rant about gun control or independence movements, but I'm tired of reading and writing about all the depressing stuff. There's only so much a man can take. 'Tis a burden upon my mind and soul. Instead, I want to focus on something else. On this exciting encounter, I will be going on about how good at adulting I have become, and how I will look back over the last year or so and realise how far I have come. For some of you, this might be depressing enough to read because being an adult sucks but fear not, because I am still struggling. The face says it all Just over two weeks ago, a notification appeared on my Facebook timeline. It came to my attention that it had now been a whole year since I graduated from Plymouth University, therefore my first year of adulting had been completed. It's been a hell of a year, I can tell you that. I even got a noti...

I love sport. I relish in the environment of teamwork and determination, as everyone bands together to reach that simple but important goal- victory (and having a good time of course). As I once again step onto the ship that will take me through the career of teaching, I also aim to become a fully qualified rugby coach. The aim is simple; teach the kids about kinship, and sticking together. If you're a fan of that funny sport the Americans play where they run around in weird suits of armour with a elongated rugby ball (as I am), then you would have seen the player protests. With the national anthem playing, these athletes made a stand (ironic since some knelt or sat down) and showed the country, and the whole world, that they were united. #TakeAKnee This type of protest began last year when Colin Kaepernick, Quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, chose to sit down while the anthem was played. In their final preseason game of the 2016/2017 season, Colin knelt during the an...