May 2019 Favourites

Hello again, and welcome to my latest monthly recap. I’ve been a bit quiet here this past month, and that’s because I had to take a step back while working on a couple of important things – neither of which I can give you a lot of detail about in this post, although I will briefly tease you about them.

A lot of my time was spent preparing for this year’s Aniridia Network Conference. Not only was I going to be capturing photos and video, but I also had to prepare and rehearse a talk of my own, about how I’ve grown in confidence with aniridia. So that was naturally on my mind a lot. The successful event took place on 1 June, and all of the talks were filmed, which I’ll be editing and uploading to the charity’s Youtube channel in the weeks to come. So I’ll share my talk with you at a later date. In the meantime, do also keep an eye out for Aniridia Day on 21 June, which will raise awareness of the condition worldwide, and show your support if you can.

I was also on camera during May itself though, for another exciting reason, because a mini documentary was made about me by a wonderful group of film students. I really enjoyed the experience, and I’m very pleased with how the film’s come out. I’ll tell you all about it in a separate post later, after the video has been published (although there is a sneaky preview in the video relating to this post). It was made for a major disability charity, so I’m waiting to see if they’ll post it first. But I have permission to publish it on my own channel as well, so it’ll end up there in due course. In any case, I’m really looking forward to sharing it with you!

Those events aside, there are still some other bits and pieces I can tell you about in this month’s post and video. As always, I’m not sponsored by anybody mentioned here, nothing has been gifted, and all opinions are my own. So let’s crack on with it, and I hope you enjoy as per usual!

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The Big Bang Theory – Finale Review

One of the big things on TV in May was the big finale of The Big Bang Theory. With 279 episodes over 12 seasons, it holds the record for America’s longest running multi-camera sitcom. But now its universe has stopped expanding and we’ve finished unraveling the mysteries, as it’s now come to an end.

I’ve not tended to be a fan of live action American sitcoms in general – I never got into shows like Friends or Frasier for instance – but I’ve always loved Big Bang from the start. It has a great mixture of characters, who have evolved considerably over the years, and there have been many enjoyable storylines, which often appeal to the nerdy side of me. There’s also a bit of drama and emotion among the comedy, which has helped to ground the series in realty, and made the characters very relatable. And overall it’s just been a great laugh. So I was very much hoping that it would get the send-off it deserves.

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April 2019 Favourites

After the madness of March, which had a lot going on, it was nice to have a relatively relaxing time in April. I still had plenty to do of course, including blog posts about March and being very busy at work, but it wasn’t as hectic and eventful.

So there isn’t quite so much to report on this time, but I did enjoy some tours, exhibitions, walks and entertainment that I want to tell you about. And as usual, I’m not endorsed or sponsored by anybody mentioned here, these are all my own opinions. So I hope you like this month’s post and video about my latest adventures.

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March 2019 Favourites

It’s safe to say that March was my busiest month since moving to London, with lots of exciting opportunities, events and activities that came along all at once. So I’ve got a lot to tell you about, including disability exhibitions and events, a few guest posts, theatre shows, museum visits, and other entertainment I’ve enjoyed.

On a few occasions I was gifted or had my blog promoted as thanks for my participation, which I’ve indicated where appropriate. That has of course been very flattering and I’m very grateful. But be assured that all opinions are my own throughout, and nobody has had any input into my content.

So I’m going to crack straight on with my recap of the month, and as always there’s a video to go with it. I hope you enjoy!

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Scam Email – TV Licence Warning

It’s time to add another message to my list of email scams. This is one that I received yesterday, and I know at least one of my Facebook friends has also received it.

This email threatens action if you don’t pay the overdue balance on your TV Licence, But it’s blatantly fake if you look out for the usual signs, including the From address, the link address they want you to click on, and the general wording of the email. So let’s check it out.

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Cheshire Chuckle Comedy Night

March was an incredibly busy month, so I’ve got a lot to tell you about, including disability exhibitions, theatre shows and museum visits. But to start with, I wanted to tell you about a special charity comedy night I went to.

The Leonard Cheshire charity provides valuable support to disabled people, helping them to live, learn and work as independently as possible. And, like any charity, fundraising is essential. So they sometimes hold special events to raise both money and awareness.

In March, therefore, they held Cheshire Chuckle, their first ever comedy night. I was very kindly given complimentary tickets to see and review the show, so I attended with my friend James. But all opinions here are my own as always. Thank you very much to the charity for inviting me along and looking after us.

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February 2019 Favourites

The time has come for another favourites post and video, looking back at February. It’s the shortest month of the year, and this is going to be one of my shorter Favourites posts, because there’s been a lot of behind the scenes stuff going on, in a good way.

In particular, I’ve been spending quality time with my girlfriend Claire, and of course we celebrated Valentine’s Day together, as well as meeting up regularly in general. So naturally I’m not going to write about anything personal here.

But also, a sudden influx of wonderful opportunities have come my way over the past few weeks that have filled up my calendar for March. I can’t say too much yet, but keep an eye out for a special guest post on Disabled Access Day on March 16th, a review of the Transport For London Access Day that I’m going to on March 19th, and later on some special cultural reviews. My blogging efforts have really been paying off lately it seems!

Also don’t forget to claim your free tickets for Naidex, Europe’s largest show dedicated to disability and independent living, on 26th & 27th March in Birmingham. You’ll see me posting a lot about it on social media as it approaches, because I’m an ambassador for them. This just means we exchange posts promoting each other, I’m not paid or gifted to mention them. I just really enjoyed the show last year, so I’m looking forward to going again.

Back to February though, and there are still some things I am able to write about, mainly focusing on museums and entertainment. As always, there’s a video to go with this post, and I’m not affiliated with or sponsored by anybody I mention here. So I hope you enjoy my latest roundup!

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Red Dwarf – Series 1-8 – Blu-ray Box Set Review

Red Dwarf is one of my favourite sitcoms of all time. I’ve had the DVDs of series 1 to 8 from the BBC for quite some time, along with Blu-rays of the newer episodes shown on Dave. But when they released a Blu-ray set of series 1 to 8 in January, with extra material I hadn’t had before, I decided it was a good time to upgrade.

I’ve been happily binge-watching the new set over the past month since then. It’s been a while since I last watched those earlier shows, so it’s been great to revisit them, and they’re still very enjoyable. So I thought I’d do a review of the set, along with an unboxing video to go with it. I’ve added a few short opinions of the Blu-ray sets for the Dave shows produced so far at the end as well.

The set cost me £37.72 from Amazon, and I bought it with my own money, because I’m not sponsored by or affiliated with anybody connected with the product. I just wanted to tell you about it, now that I’ve finished watching it all. So all opinions are my own.

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January 2019 Favourites

2019 is already flying by isn’t it? I hope you’ve all had a lovely start to the year. January for me was pretty busy, particularly at work, which pushed me behind on my blogging a little bit. But I’ve got plenty of things I want to post about.

So today it’s time for my first monthly favourites post of the year. They seemed to work out well during 2018, as they’re a nice way to summarise things, and I notice they’ve inspired one or two other bloggers to do monthly updates. So I’m going to carry on with them, and I hope you enjoy this latest post and video summarising my activities.

As usual, nothing in this post is sponsored or endorsed by any of the companies mentioned unless otherwise specified, and all opinions are my own.

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Christmas 2018 Favourites

Welcome to my epic Christmas Favourites post for this year! I hope you’ve all had a lovely festive season, or found some support, solace, comfort and company if you needed it. And if you were working over the holidays, especially if you’re in the emergency services and other essential jobs, you have my utmost admiration and respect.

Also a very big thank you to everyone who has supported my blog and my adventures over what has been an incredible second year in London for me. It’s been full of even more amazing surprises and adventures than the first year. Raising £920 from my charity abseil for nystagmus research and giving a speech to primary school children about growing up with sight loss were my 2 biggest and most surprising achievements this year without a doubt. But there’s been so much more going on as well, as you can see from all of my Favourites posts for the past 12 months.

I really do feel like I’ve settled into London properly now. I’ll always want to experiment with new things and meet new people, that’s one of the many great things that living in such a wonderful city enables you to do. But the foundations I laid by doing that in 2017 definitely enabled me to have more confidence in 2018, so I had a much better idea of the things I enjoyed doing most, I was less shy around people, and I made more friends on an individual level beyond just going to social groups.

And my blogging has also gone well this year. It’s only ever been a hobby on the side really, so I’m delighted that people are taking an interest. And my efforts have already been far more rewarding than I could ever have anticipated, with all the wonderful opportunities and feedback I’ve received, and the friends I’ve made along the way. I’m getting far more success and satisfaction from this than I’d ever expected. So again, many thanks to everyone for your support. It’s greatly appreciated that you find my posts interesting, entertaining and inspiring.

So with all that in mind, I’m very much looking forward to seeing what 2019 brings, and I hope you’ll stick with me for it!

But first we need to wrap up 2018, and there’s a lot to tell you about, including theatre shows, light displays, walks, food, clothing, TV & radio shows, online entertainment, music and more.  So I hope you enjoy this bumper post and video about my yuletide adventures!

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