Preparing For My Late 21st Charity Tandem Skydive Challenge

Source: www.headcorn.com

Hey everyone, my Charity Tandem Skydive for my late 21st birthday is finally happening and I'm raising money for National Autism Society!
So now I've set up an account on Justgiving.com and have booked September 17th at the Hardcorn Skydive Centre near Kent and now I cannot wait for when I take the fall out of the plane and fall back down to Earth in style ha ha.

I've been stating since June about my intentions to Skydive as it's a personal challenge that I've been waiting to finally do. I've mentioned in some posts like 5 Centimeters Per Second with my fascination with the sky and how it makes me daydream about soaring around and escaping from reality. Now I finally have the chance to do the only sport that's similar to that dream, only this time I'm falling from the sky.

I discovered the Headcorn Skydive Centre through a good friend Anthony from my IT BTEC class back during my College years who did a jump with them back near the end of March. I asked him in May about where he did his skydive with and he pointed to them. Cheers Ant!


This extraordinary challenge and the fact that I'm fundraising for a charity that's personal to me is an even better idea. I wanted to do it for National Autism Society because seeing as I have Aspergers Syndrome which is a form of autism, then who else would I fundraise for?
Well that doesn't mean I can't do other good causes too in future such as Help For Heroes, Cancer Research UK, Macmillan or even the global Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis otherwise known as Motor Neurone Disease) which everyone is encouraging everyone else to partake in. I can't wait for my turn to be nominated and then I too can partake in the chilly and well worth it cause and watch everyone laugh at my turn/ reaction and soon they too will suffer after being nominated by me ha ha.

Every penny I raise is going to the charity as Mum and Dad have paid for the skydive itself.

Because I've been doing so much with my life this year so far (as you all know from my stories on AsperJosh), this here will be maybe the test of my life as it's a challenge and slightly dangerous sport that has a 50/50 chance of me splatting the ground which of course I won't be doing, I have a parachute luckily.


My friends, Jody and her boyfriend Sean (whom I'll be seeing both near end of September for the first time) have both done it in Essex and both said it was the most amazing and adrenaline rushing experience of their lives yet. They both keep going back for more jumps because they say it's addictive ha ha. Even I wanna do more jumps in the future and someday I hope to be qualified enough to go solo and see how that turns out, maybe even take a GOPRO and make a video with cool music and show different angles of me falling with style someday.

So today, everyone Friends, Family and people who read AsperJosh I'm asking for your support! Please can you donate whatever you can to Justgiving.com (use the link at the top). Any donations will be much appreciated!
Thank you for reading this and I hope you can donate whatever you can and soon you'll read all about my experience on here after 17th September. ;D

5 Centimeters Per Second (Anime Review)

This film sums up what my life with Aspergers is like most of the time when I think deeply about the future or some philosophical topics. Here I want to talk about this film and how it relates to certain feelings I feel deep down sometimes.
Last weekend, I discovered some news that was painful to accept but you have to accept it anyway. I found out that a girl I fancy and wanted to ask out was now in a relationship, but all I can do is wish her happiness and I'm used to it anyway. And that got me thinking about this Anime film that I saw 3 years ago which without a doubt is the accurate truth about the journey of life, the unexpected changes and how coping with it all is tough. The film is called 5 Centimeters Per Second and it's one of the greatest films I've ever seen and here's why.

Guardians Of The Galaxy (Film Review)

When the galaxy is threatened, it's up to five outlaws to buck up, team up and gear up and take responsibility for their actions and learn to make the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good... their selfishness.

MARVEL have done it again and graced us with another smash-hit blockbuster that in my opinion almost rivals Marvel Avengers Assemble only this one has a bit more comedy and I feel focuses on a more teenage/ adult based audience. See here why Guardians Of The Galaxy is unique in it's own way.

My Little Fishing Trip At Oceania Club, Greece 2014

Here's a little adventure that I didn't expect this year during my Greek holiday. I went on a small fishing trip with Dad and another family we've been meeting on holiday for several years now, Gavin and his son, Will.

For the last 9 years, me and my family have been returning to the same amazing Greek hotel Oceania Club thanks to the magnificent service and scorching weather, meeting other English guests and mostly meeting the exceptional staff who speak great English and are like family to us because we've got to know them over the many years.
Anyway on the 28th July, Dad had organised with our close friend on the beach who owns a speedboat and does the water sports for the hotel, Giannis, for his mate Vasilis and his daughter, Dimitra to take the 4 of us on his beautiful big speedboat out to the ocean to go fishing.

I was most looking forward to this all night when Dad told me the night before of our trip the next day.
In the morning, we woke up pretty early and headed for the beach around 10.00pm (Greek time) and met Gavin and Will and set sail out to sea.
We found a good spot that showed most of the Thessaloniki coast and the Oceania Club hotel in the faint distance, we fetched the fishing rods out and begun. Now to be honest, I haven't been finishing in around 10 years or more, I guess I lost the interest while joining Dad when I was young. Maybe it was due to my lack of patience or the fact I've become too distracted now due to gaming and other things. But after that little adventure, it certainly rekindled my interest in the hobby mostly because I actually caught a few and out in the ocean it looked more interesting and fun.

But anyway, back to the story. We ended up fishing and caught quite the load! The fish were all roughly the same kind (I can't remember for sure or even what their Greek names are) but I caught 4 small fishes (they all looked like English Perches or Roaches, around that size), Dad caught 4, Gavin caught 5 and Will caught 11... lucky bugger. I was quite proud of myself for hanging on and not doing terrible after all this time. But my good little 13yr old mate, Will was the real fisherman of the day!
I had a real thrill and chill taking a dip in the deep ocean as well as fishing and getting to know Dimitra who spoke not bad English for being 14 years old.
I'll tell you what, looking underwater below was the scariest and also magnificent thing I've ever done in the big blue. Half of me was terrified thinking a shark would appear out of nowhere (like in my dreams) but I was really dazzled and entranced by the pattern that the sunlight created by looking down into the dark abyss, I saw a beautiful pattern that swirled and gently flowed (it's hard to describe without using an underwater camera, but hopefully next year I'll have one or a GO PRO camera! But it was almost like looking at the Apple Mac screensaver with the rainbow plasma only this one was navy blue with a dark blue/ black background!) It was heart pounding as if I was looking at treasure glowing faintly in the darkness below.

Left to right: Me, Dad, Will and Gavin

Anyhow, after we fished ourselves a good catch, we headed over to shore even further away from the beach where the hotel was and soon it disappeared from my sight. We headed over to a clear water coast to go scuba diving for a while while Vasilis and Dimitra cooked the fish for us all to enjoy a good lunch. We all had a beer (except Will and Dimitra of course), a good salad, thick bread and the little fishies. It was delicious, I even ended up eating a lot of tiny bones by accident ha ha. Before that, I headed for shore and took a look at what looked like a small stick tent (you know like Eeyore's from Winnie The Pooh), I was curious as to what was inside, maybe a corpse or somebody (my expectations sound pleasant, right?!) Sadly nothing was there, but I did find some beautiful shells around the rocky shore and did my best to avoid all the darn sea-urchins xP.

So after our meal, we decided to head further a long the coast and turn into the other leg of Greece and go to a famous place called Sani Resort which is a magnificent port that had lots and lots of boats, another hotel and a nice location full of restaurants and bars. It's also the place where most of the staff at the Oceania Club go to have a smashing time. So we sped over there and I layed across the front of the boat doing the "Superman" position while the boat zoomed across the water and bouncing on the waves, luckily I didn't get whiplash and I felt AWESOME too.

We were all pointing out our future ships to purchase once we win the lottery ha ha.

As we pulled into Sani Resort's port, we saw all the million euro worth yacht's and ships. Some were that expensive and posh that they had a small dingy and 1 or 2 Jetski's on-board the ship's rear too. So we weighed anchor and decided to stop by a small restaurant and share some stories with Vasilis and Dimitra while the Dad's shared another beer and also had some Ouzo (heavy strong Greek alcohol that even I struggled to try) and me and Will indulged in some delicious chocolate cake with Dimitra.
As I took many photos of the port and some panoramic pictures on my IPhone, I was astounded by the beauty of the scenery everywhere I looked and even got jealous after seeing someone Paragliding in the ocean with another speedboat. That was something I was so keen to try out for myself for thrills but sadly I had no time and wasn't a resident of the hotel... damn it.

The Sani Resort Port

They weren't the best, but I tried my best to capture the environments.

The Sani Resort Pier

 Dad recorded a Sani Resort staff member, raking the sand... yep!

I did actually have a hard time in the beginning because I felt quite sea-sick because of the rough waves and how the boat was positioned after dropping anchor. But as I went for a swim twice and was distracted by the ocean's deep, I soon felt better and the boat gradually altered it's position and didn't rock around so harshly. But that was my worst moment on that day out.

 

Our departure from Sani Resort's Port

Our speedy departure from Sani Resort

So to end the day, we decided to head back for home,  I sat at the front again but this time I sat at the very end as if I was reenacting the iconic scene from Titanic where Jack and Rose head to the front of the ship and scream as loud as they can. I even said the famous quote "I'm the King of the World!" Only I was sitting at the front rather than standing. Even Dad, Will and Gavin took turns themselves and joined me like as if we were all in a rowboat position. It was an AWESOME way to return in style back to the beach while screaming our hearts out for around 10 mins.
As we arrived back on the beach, I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening telling everyone how amazing it was and all for I think it was €350 for all 4 of us. Sadly I got off the boat so quickly and carried the towels, scuba masks and bags to shore that I missed my chance to say thank you "Efharisto" to Vasilis and Dimitra as they sailed away a couple minutes after dropping us back. Dad spoke on behalf of me for such a pleasurable day. I'm sure I'll see them both again for next year which will be a special anniversary as it will be our 10th anniversary return to the same hotel in Greece.

In time, I intend to write up a post about why I've been returning here for what will be 10 years! But today I wanted to share this  memory with you all first because this really made my holiday and made this year seem like the best year yet for returning.

Before I say goodbye, I want to admit on how I've been a little busy recently with organising posts and how to lay them out over time and with making plans for my summer. But recently since Monday, I've started a new job in another department at work and now I'm working with some real descent staff (not that the ones I worked with previously weren't) but I certainly don't miss my previous job role as this new one is much easier, simple and less stress free on myself and on my Crohns Disease.
So hopefully this new role will provide a less stress free work place from now on and will keep me balanced from now on, not to mention make work less exhausting as I'm doing well already with the organising and multi-tasking.
This summer appears to be quite the summer with all my plans such as going up north a little to meet a friend for the first time because we've been chatting to each other for the past 9 months, I'll catch up with many descent people and most of all, I'll FINALLY get round to organising my Skydive within a month. I spoke to Gavin on holiday about this and he recommended turning it into a Charity Skydive so that I could reserve a booking much easier and also help raise money toward a goal that would make me feel even better helping out besides having a blast falling through the air! So hopefully not too long, then I'll be skydiving for a charity of my choice and will not back out no matter what. Let's see how this turns out.

Stan Lee At London Film & Comic-Con 2014

I thought the day after seeing Eminem at Wembley Arena with Lewis and Kurt, would be the highlight of my nerdy, comic-book knowledge and most of all MARVEL life. Turned out it to be a let down (in some way) thanks to that crushing moment when you meet a hero/ icon or famous person who you idolised and looked up to for many years turns out to be a very limited moment and you don't get to do much and your hero isn't the same as you imagined. Here I'm explaining why meeting Stan Lee at London Film & Comic-Con was disappointing for me and Kurt while the rest of our time there was good in it's own way.

You see, on Saturday 12th July (the day after our night of seeing Eminem), we made our way to Earl's Court in London to go to London Film & Comic-Con for the first time, thanks to discovering back in mid April that Stan Lee (Creator Of MARVEL) was making his last ever European visit so this was our last chance to meet him and see if we could get an autograph or a photo with him. Unfortunately it turned out to be really difficult and frustrating but don't get me wrong, Kurt and I got something signed each but at the cost of £45. But was it really worth it?

The day turned out rather hot  on Saturday 12th July, I went there dressed as Iron Man (Iron Man-Armour t-shirt, with red chinos and a Helmet I bought off eBay) while Kurt went as Spider-Man (Spider-Man uniform Jersey and trousers). After we made our way there to Earl's Court, we realised we both hadn't got any money out and all the ATM machines had a queue of around 25 people... Wa-Wa-Waaah. So we backtracked to London Victoria on the tube, got the money and then returned, what a drag. Anyway, once we returned and finally entered the actual convention, we took a small browse around at all the stalls that sold memorabilia, t-shirts, small items, comics, posters, figures, weaponry, props, you name it! Anything related to Anime, Films, TV-Series, Comic books, Doctor Who, Star Wars, Marvel, DC Comics, so it was heaven haha. But our purpose was to head upstairs and look for the queue to see Stan Lee.
Once we entered the queue, we noticed a banner on the side explaining "It's £45 per autograph, and please NO MOBILE PHONES, NO VIDEO CAMERA, NO SELFIES AND NO PERSONALISATIONS!" So they basically took away all the fun and made this all strictly business... >_>
So when our time came, Kurt went first and got his A1 MARVEL "The Avengers" Poster signed by Stan and as for me, I got my A1 MARVEL "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" Poster signed that I bought with me thanks to how a special friend bought it to me back on my 21st birthday. So after Kurt went, I came up to Stan (my heart was beating heavily) and I said "It's an Honor to meet you, Sir" To which I got no response and only watched Stan slowly sign my poster and the security guards next to him shouted "Next" So there you have it!

Notice, the signature on the left!
Thank you very much, Mills for the poster from my 21st birthday! :3

But you see despite Stan not acknowledging Kurt and my polite comments, we still had an alright time. Of course at the time we were a bit bummed down and gutted because we paid the money and Stan didn't really turn out to be the "full quid" in some way. We couldn't get a selfie or even just take a picture while in the queue from the distance (without the flash as we wouldn't know what that would do to him) because that way it would have made more of a memory or proof that we were there and we just didn't understand why this special and unforgettable day was too demeaning and restricted.
But anyway, as the day went on I tried my best to make the most of it, shop around a little and maybe even get a few (actually I took hundreds) of photos and some with some talented and pretty ladies.

Me with the lovely lady, Andrea Tamme! (The girl who was selling the posters)

After Stan Lee, my biggest highlight of the Saturday was meeting a very pretty lady at a Poster stand that had such beautifully detailed and well thought-out fan-made design posters of most Animes, TV-Series, Games and Films I all recognised, I was astonished by the detail and creativity. Anyway I ended up chatting to her for a good 15 mins after seeing a "The Land Before Time" poster that I was super tempted to buy but sadly chose not to as it was too childish, we both spoke about our feelings and why we both enjoyed the film series. To be a good sport, I bought 3 posters from her for £20 as the 3rd was free. And because I really enjoyed her company and really liked her, I asked her if she wouldn't mind sharing a photo with me. She happily obliged and I got a lovely photo with her and soon found her Facebook page after receiving a contact card as I headed off with Kurt. Nothing else really happened on the Saturday after that so we just headed home and I explained everything to my parents who were astonished at how Stan Lee acted and how much money I had to spend to get something precious signed by him.
I even took a funny picture on the train home of me wearing my Iron Man helmet and wrote up on Facebook next to the picture, "Have you ever seen Iron Man take the Southern Railway before?"

Some Funko Pop Figurines

The following day, Sunday 13th July was the last day of LFCC so we ventured back up there (only this time we both agreed not to get another item signed as it wasn't worth it especially in value and how Stan Lee really was). So before that, Kurt had to head to The Emirates Stadium to buy his new Arsenal "Alexis" t-shirt. Now me being a Chelsea fan, this was going against everything and my dad would have hated me if I set one foot on the grounds haha (of course I didn't I just sat across the road from the stadium, patiently waiting for Kurt who sadly couldn't get his shirt in his size).
So we made our way to Earl's Court again but around 2.45pm, and we just did the same thing as yesterday, shopped around and took a look at the stalls. Kurt was buying several FUNKO POP Figurines (little bobble-head figures that he likes to collect specifically MARVEL ones). I was undoubtedly tempted to buy the Deadpool and Amazing Spider-Man ones but they were £75 each and were rare editions, so nope.

As I took photos of some of the impressive props that were at LFCC such as a HUGE Dragon Skull Head from Game Of Thrones and some of the Transformers cars along with the beautiful and amazing cosplayers who were all having a "whale of a time" (that's a weird phrase, right?!)
Kurt and I noticed many actors, directors and famous celebrities who had turned up for the weekend and were doing autographs like Stan Lee but they were all charging too and several were allowing no photographs too, for f*** sake. Some guests there were: George A. Romero (director of Dawn of The Dead and all the other films), Brooke and Lita (famous female wrestlers), Adam Brown (plays Ori from The Hobbit films), Kenny Baker and Billy Dee Williams (who play R2-D2 and Lando Calrissian from the Star Wars films) along with Colin Baker (who played the Sixth Doctor in Doctor Who, too bad Tom Baker wasn't there) and Vincent Ward (The Walking Dead). I even heard rumours that the actors who physically played Boba Fett and Darth Vader (Star Wars) were there too but I couldn't find them, damn it.

But the real highlight of the Sunday was getting several photos with some very famous and talented cosplays who turn up to many conventions across the world. I first encountered Kelly Jean at a stand who was dressed as "Marvel Girl" and I had a small chat with her as I asked her to sign an A4 poster print of her cosplaying "Poison" from the Mortal Kombat games. She was very lovely and polite and a real talented lady. I even got a photo with her too (Y)












I also noticed 2 more famous cosplayers there too who were both cosplaying 2 characters from the famous Vocaloid (singing voice synthesizer computer software) that use Anime girls as humanoid personas or just character icons/ mascots. They were "Luka Megurine" (the pink haired lady) and the main girl "Miku Hatsune" (the aquamarine/ turquoise haired lady) who both turned out to be the cosplayers Masubi and Nethicite that I later discovered through their facebook pages on a picture on their stands. They were both very pretty and I'm happy they allowed me to have a photo with them both together.
So Sunday was another good day for meeting new acquaintances, taking some really cool photos and just gaining the courage to meet some really nice people, have a chat and maybe even have a photo with them (it's the safe atmosphere as MCM Comic-Con is on in May and October every year).
So despite the expensive demand for someone's autograph and the neglection and the photograph restriction with the man that would have been the highlight of my comic-book life I did have a good time. But something important slapped me in the face a week ago which was a very important fact that someone told me.

The other day (back on Tuesday 16th), I spoke to a work colleague who I discovered went to LFCC too on the Sunday and got a photo with Stan Lee through the £35 Photo shoot. However after I told him my story, it was thanks to his "eye-opening" and "wake-up call" that I was reminded that the man is 91 years old and he was probably suffering from an illness or most likely Jet Lag!  But he was most happy about walking away that day with something that he will treasure forever. Now why couldn't I and maybe Kurt have felt the same way so easily? Was it because of the restrictive atmosphere that us and the other fans were suffering at the time? The excessive cost that it was for getting Stan's autograph? Or the fact he didn't say a word when I got him and said "It's an honour to meet you, sir!"? I reckon its all of the above, but my friend is right. We did walk away with something (at a terrible cost that's for sure) but surely we are lucky to have been there and saw him in person, it's just unfortunate that it wasn't his and our best moment and most likely because he's been doing this for years. It's just too crushing to accept right away seeing as our only moment in our lifetime was downright depressive. Another thing my friend pointed out was the fact that Stan had been touring most of the United States of America for a couple months (he had found this out on Stan Lee's facebook page) so that would also explain why he was so tired and bummed down himself.

But then why is it from some of the pictures of the girls/ famous cosplayers I met first time at LFCC that when they had their photo with him, that he smiled and put on such a good picture? The answer may be clear as daylight but hey, we got something at the end of the day, and that's the most important thing to remember forever. I just hope that in my future Cons and experiences that if I meet other heroes/ actors or most of all The Avengers or even "Agent Coulson" from MARVEL: Agents Of Shield that they will be more good sports and turn out to be very polite for the fans (especially for me and whoever else comes with me) and won't turn out to be completely different people, my expectations seem a little high but it would be sensational to meet Robert Downey, Jr or Chris Hemsworth!!! I mean who wouldn't?!