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?!

Eminem LIVE, July 2014 (My 4th Concert)

So........ the big event of the summer that me, Kurt and Lewis were buzzing about turned out... pretty okay. Yeah! You see for my 4th Concert, Me, Lewis and Kurt went to see the "Rap God" himself who returned to Wembley Stadium after 13 years and did an outstanding performance but the only catch/ downfall and error in this whole experience was the poor sound quality!
But it wasn't all doom and gloom, seeing Slim Shady for the first time ever, I actually enjoyed it and here's why.

On Friday 11th July, I had booked the day off to go and see Eminem "Marshall Bruce Mathers III" or best known as his alter-ego "Slim Shady" at Wembley Stadium with my buddy Lewis (who showed me everything about him and his music a couple years ago) so seeing as the doors wouldn't open till around 5.00pm, we thought let's make a day of walking around the streets of London?!

We finally met up around 1.00pm, after Lewis had spent some time with his family after retuning from uni and we made our way to London and I fancied popping to the Comic-book store Forbidden Planet over in where Kurt buys his comics and figures from (a lot of the stuff from MCM Comic-Con can be found there too. Anything Star Wars, Doctor Who, Adventure Time, Anime, Video Games, Films, TV-Series related really). Oh my god, it was heaven and had 2 floors! Upstairs was figures which were bloody overpriced and looked beautiful and downstairs was the biggest comic-book store I've ever seen in my life. Of course I'm going back there again and this time Kurt and anyone else we can drag along will all go crazy!
Anyway, my purpose there was to look for a special "Amazing Spider-Man" comic-book for Stan Lee (Creator of MARVEL) to sign tomorrow at London Film & Comic-Con. Soon I did find it (though it had a different cover than expected) but I bought it anyway.

Soon after, Lewis wanted to take me to a special Burger restaurant called "Five Guys" which he had spotted while we were navigating where "Forbidden Planet" was after leaving the Leicester Square Underground. We popped inside and saw the bloody expensive menu but I was really impressed by the restaurant itself, he ended up buying a Hotdog with some good extras for £4.25 while my Little Hamburger, Regular Fries and unlimited Drink was a whopping £11.25!
Sure it was an outrage but once Lewis and I saw the Coca-Cola machine that people went to fill up their drinks... it was like discovering the greatest machine in the history of mankind! It had almost every type of soft and energy drink and had a rough 5+ variety of flavours, we were experimenting the flavours and we both really enjoyed the Fanta Zero Grape flavour, oh god I want another one now. We intend to go back again and show others whenever we visit. One thing that was everywhere were little sign cards with review from critics or magazines which have tried out the restaurants gourmet (I lost count after counting 40+ on both floors of the restaurant). There were even a lot in the toilets and I saw one which said and I quote "Five Guys could take over the burger industry and universe in under a decade!" Lewis and I both agreed "Yeah if they bump the prices down!"

So at 5.00pm, we headed all the way to Wembley Park Underground station and were getting overcrowded with fans and party boys who were all keen and excited as we were or even more. I saw a Merchandise store and jumped straight in the que which was a big mistake. The queue took 1 hour for me to get to the front and every shirt was beautiful and awesome and all ranged £25 except for the Slim Shady Detroit Jersey which was £80, but I went for the one with the cool picture of him performing back in 2001 at Wembley and it had tour date details on the front.

Here's a Panoramic picture from where we were sitting.

What me and Lewis were excited and curious about was the fact that when I bought the 2 tickets (£260) the day before world-release on Stubhub.co.uk, when the tickets came in the post at the end of June, I got a message inside saying "You have been upgraded from Level 5 seating to Level 2 Suite area seats!" These were a face value of £99 but I got em for free thanks to purchasing that one day earlier before general release. We were shocked and honoured and thought we'd go in a box or a room with exclusive seats, turns out we were just sitting on the Level 2 seats and we realised we'd have to suffer a little because one of the Bass Tower speakers on the ground was directly in the centre of the stage so we had to rely on the screens for the night.

Now onto the opening acts, Lewis made me aware of 2 nights before the show that Danny Brown and Odd Futures were the opening acts which I had no idea and clue who they were. But when they came on, I couldn't understand a god damn thing thanks to whoever organised the sound system for the night, that dumbass had f***ed it up and I couldn't hear the music and understand the lyrics that well at all. Lewis and I feared this would ruin the whole night if we couldn't hear Eminem that well too!
Danny Brown seemed fairly okay and started the show at I think it was 6.45pm, but Lewis was sad a little that he couldn't understand anything due to the poor sound quality but Danny was being funny by sticking out his weird tongue a lot which looked a little like the shape of a tooth. And after he and that annoying DJ were done by 7.30pm, the stage was graced with a big inflatable O and F which looked like a Simpson's donut styled font which of course was meant for the logo of Odd Futures.
What can I say about those guys? Same thing really! Bass was too much, couldn't work out a thing from what they were saying but they seemed better than Danny Brown and put some comedy into their act except for when they kept swearing a lot (but what should I have expected?!)

Eminem - Bad Guy (Outro) (Opening)
This was a video I had to edit because the video got split into two, so I fixed it a little.

Eminem - Won't Back Down

So at 9.04pm, a huge white curtain fell from the stage ceiling and on came a long 2-3 min video opening like a Life-Story about Slim Shady and where is he along with some interviews and a news report/ history lesson on his work while being monologued like the "Breaking News" format (it even mentioned Stan in the video). Then the curtain came down and the endless screaming began and went on for 5 minutes and covered the first 2 songs. It was an unbelievable and unrealistic feeling for a couple seconds for me to realise that I was here... at Wembely Stadium... seeing Eminem... LIVE!
He opened up with the ending to "Bad Guy" and then went straight to "Square Dance" and then a real hardcore and one of my personal favorites came on to always hear (especially at the gym came on), "Won't Back Down"! Setlist is here. All my vids start almost precisely when he begins the song.

Slim Shady's hype man for the night was his old friend Mr Porter AKA "Kon Artis" who's formerly from D12!"

 Eminem - Rap God (Started right here)

Eminem - Don't Give A F*** & Still Don't Give A F***

Eminem - The Way I Am

Eminem looked on fire (not really, just literally) because he rapped and shouted so powerfully and made everyone head bang when I looked around the seating area. That man played 35 songs for us within 2 hours because a lot of songs were cut short so that he could squeeze in so much for everyone to enjoy and scream our hearts out to when our favourite songs came on.
While I was there, I was recording 1 minute and a half or 2 on every song and recorded all of a couple songs while I shouted at the top of my lungs along to all the songs I knew and remembered. I kept looking at Lewis for help as I admit that I didn't know everything or couldn't understand which song it was due to my lack of knowledge from some of his older work before "The Eminem Show" and it was due to the sound quality and sometimes he just jumped straight into another song without warning which muddled up my video recordings and has left me having to edit them as some of them have 2 songs on 1 recording (that's frustrating).
I had my doubts and dishearten beliefs that I wasn't a true fan for not knowing all the words or not recognising so easily as Lewis to which like always he offered some good and peaceful advice "You are here mate! You came to see him! You may not know everything or a few songs, but you came because your a fan! So don't worry and stop doubting your dedication and love for this amazing man!" So that washed my disbelief and doubts away after 1/4 way through the show already.

Eminem - Still D.R.E (Feat. Dr. Dre)

Eminem - Forgot About Dre (Feat. Dr. Dre)

By the time the 17th song came on, we were even more shocked and surprised to hear Eminem shout out "People, make some noise for DR. DRE!!!!" And the man himself came on stage through the smokescreen and busted out rapping to the songs "The Next Episode" then "Still D.R.E", "Nuthin' But a "G" Thing" and "Forgot About Dre" while Slim was helping him out with backing vocals and collaborations too. That was a real strike in the review of the night, because even I had a feeling that a surprise guest would turn up. Shame that Rihanna didn't make it too because when "Love The Way You Lie" came on, I thought to myself "Oh I hope what I think is gonna happen, happens!" Sadly it didn't but it was still just as great because Eminem got all the ladies involved in the chorus and dedicated the song to them too. The woman who provided backing vocals was a nice touch, too bad I couldn't hear her at all.

I actually had fun singing out to the songs "Won't Back Down", "3 a.m", "Don't Give A F***", "Rap God" (that was the greatest thing about the night, he sung around midway through the song till the end and sounded exactly how he does on the album! However I noticed him miming a couple times throughout the night but I kinda understand that he can't always keep it up), "The Way I Am", "Love The Way You Lie", "Sing For The Moment", "Like Toy Soldiers", "Berzerk", "Survival", "The Real Slim Shady", "Without Me" and "Not Afraid" (I think I've just listed half the setlist already). He even did the song "Forever" which is a big deal seeing as the original was done by Drake and the song features Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Eminem, only he had none of them with him... that would have been the icing on the cake for me and Lewis.
Rap God and some of the above were the highlights of the evening that I favour and treasure the most thanks to how the audience got involved too despite the annoying sound quality on most of the tracks. Oh how I wish I could upload every video, but I'll try my best with as many as I can over time.

Eminem - Love The Way You Lie

Eminem - Stan

Eminem - Like Toy Soldiers

Eminem - Berzerk

 Eminem - Survival

 Eminem - 'Till I Collapse

Every song had a cool video display which was either a Boom-box with Eminem's name on it or some graphics design locations like the inside of a warehouse, the rooftops of a city or even an industrial estate were all mesmerising and intriguing to me because it felt like just a random location where some people would imagine where he may have come up with these songs or they just represented an atmosphere for the song of choice. The light show was a little overwhelming and messed around with my sight a little but it was a big deal so the spotlight people must have wanted to make it look as dazzling and epic as possible, I guess.

Eminem - The Real Slim Shady

Eminem - Without Me

Eminem - Not Afraid

Eminem - Lose Yourself (Encore)

After Not Afraid was done, you better believe that nobody was full and we all shouted "We want more!" And we were given it, as soon as the intro began to what could possibly be Eminem's most iconic and famous song of all time began, we all knew what was coming and were all so hyped and began screaming again as he came back on for an encore (ha like the name of one of his albums) and he performed "Lose Yourself" from his tough and inspiring film, 8 Mile! This was Lewis's highlight besides Rap God because to him, this song is all about trying your hardest to pursue what you want no matter what. You need to get back up and try again to seize whatever it is you want or who you want to be. That's an inspiration!

Now besides the whole sound issue, I actually had a little tough time recognising what was playing most of the night (as I've mentioned already) that because of the sound issue and the fact he kept jumping onto the next song so quickly that I was barely lucky to understand at all.

Another surprise for my time there, was the fact a woman behind me tapped on my shoulders during Like Toy Soldiers and asked me if she could get my contact details at the end of the night and if I could send her my video recordings online as her camera died 3/4 way through the show. Course I couldn't turn down an offer like that and I was more than happy to help and I was given a hug by her and I quickly got her facebook details (thank god for facebook!) luckily I did as my IPhone 5 battery was 1% by the end of the show. I asked her for a photo so that I could recognise her when searching for her so she shared a photo with Lewis,  and I found her when I got home and have been fixing the videos, writing this out and chatting to her ever since.

Me and Kurt

The journey home was tough and over-crowded to the max (luckily we weren't claustrophobic on the tube journey back to London Victoria, however we missed the last trains home to Horsham but luckily Kurt found me and Lewis at London Victoria. He had spent all day since 8.00am in the que trying to get close to the front on the ground to see Eminem, and he did which I'm happy for him and glad he's alive. I thought it'd be hell/ dangerous down there, but he held in there and had a blast. Though he shared the same feelings as me and Lewis about the sound quality too. So we made our way back to another station, parted ways with Kurt (we were both heading back up to London the following day for London Film & Comic-Con) and Lewis and I got a lift home from his dad who picked us up at 1.00 in the morning from Gatwick Airport. So we got home alive and had an amazing time, sure we wish it could have been a little better, but what can you do but hate someone for mucking up one of the most important nights of every fans lives who were there too?! This was Awesome no matter what!

The newspaper company "The Independent" posted this on Facebook which Lewis found on Sunday which sorta sums up a lot of people's feelings and reactions to Eminem's performance. Mine however is mutual on both sides as I feel bad the night was afflicted by the sound system, however I was there in a moment in music history where he gave it his all and returned to the same stadium 13 years later. Dr. Dre made an amazing surprise guest appearance and we were all awarded the song "Lose Yourself" which hasn't been played live in the UK since his last time here in 2001. So of course it's another memory ticked off my bucket list and despite the errors, it turned out really great and it's one of my proudest moments of my life to have witnessed.

Sorry this all took almost a week later guys, but I've been have trouble editing most of the videos, been patiently waiting for the bloody things to upload onto Blogger and I've been uploading the pictures from London Film & Comic-Con on my facebook. LFCC is another upcoming post which was an okay thing too and you'll see why when the story is revealed and how I should have been more careful on getting my hopes up and expecting the full package.
But anyway, hope you've all enjoyed this. Will write up LFCC story asap, but for now, I'm heading over to Greece on Friday 18th July till 1st August for my annual family holiday. The place were heading to may even have a story too in time (with the manager's permission) and people still don't see why we keep going back to the same place for almost 9 years straight?!