Thursday 28 May 2015

May Spotify Playlist

Hey everyone :)

may spotify

It's that time of the month again ... PAY DAY! Well and the music I've been listening too!

This month been quite interesting - I started listening to Shania Twain again - and if you know me it means I've played her to death - at work in the office, in my car, at home and funnily enough I have her on now.

I'm listening to her older stuff at the moment and it's just really catchy - I really wish I had seen her when she was on tour.



Favourites have to be:

- Thank You Baby!
- C'est La Vie
- I'm Jealous
- Waiter! Bring Me Water!
- I'm Not in the Mood

If I'm really, really, really honest with you - this is the only album I've been listening to all month. Apart from the odd song I hear on the radio in the office at work - this is it! 

Boring for you perhaps unless your on Spotify now looking for Shania Twain!

Let me know what you've been listening to this month.



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Wednesday 27 May 2015

NEW Tesco Smoothie Mixes!

Hey everyone :)

So if you read my post last week - I've gotten into drinking and trying lots of different smoothies.

I decided to pop to Tesco to get some frozen mango and when I got to the freezer section - Tesco had a new range (well there is only 2 types) of frozen smoothie bags.

Basically it's a bag of frozen mixed fruit and they are in a resealable bag. You add 80g of the mixed fruit to a blender with 150ml of apple juice then blend and enjoy :)

Currently Tesco has two different flavours and you get 500g for £2.20.

strawberry and banana smoothie mix

mango and pineapple smoothie mix

tesco smoothie mix bags

As you can see from the pictures there is: 

Strawberry, Pineapple & Banana and Mango & Pineapple flavours.

At the moment I have tried both with the apple juice and they taste really good. I have found that you need to blend them until all the lumps are gone. I also found that the measured quantities are quite small for 1 portion so I double the quntities and use 160g of the mix and 300ml of apple juice. This gives me a suitable amount for my Starbucks cup.

I'm going to start trying different juices with it - I have some orange juice and also some apple and blackcurrant juice that I got in Asda last week so I will see how the flavours change when I replace the plain apple juice. I thought I might try it with milk to see if it makes it creamier.

I have heard some people say that you shouldn't buy frozen fruit and you should buy it fresh however that is costly and this frozen fruit is picked when its ripest and then flash frozen straight away so all the nutrients are locked in and not lost.

Let me know if you've tried anything like this before or if you know of better priced frozen smoothie mixes out there.


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Tuesday 26 May 2015

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water

Hey everyone :)

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water

Sometimes when I come home from work I don't necessarily want to shower straight away but because I work in a warehouse I feel dirty and horrible.

I wanted something to lift the dirt and grime from my face and someone asked if I had a cleanser in my routine to which I said no and they recommended this lovely product.

I bought this in Boots for £4.99 and you get 400ml which is a big bottle (the picture doesn't do it justice).

I will admit that this product is aimed more at woman who wear makeup but its still good for just lifting the dirt, oil, grime, grease or whatever is on your face and leaves your face feeling cleansed and soothed.

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water


I think the main attraction to this product is that there is no rinsing involved - you take a couple of cotton pads, soak them and wipe your face. I like to do it twice - once to wipe away gunk, dirt, grease etc, then a second time to cleanse. Might seem pointless but I know I'm not on the only blogger/youtuber to do this :)

I bought the Garnier brand as it was on special when Micellar water became popular. But there are lots of other brands - some drugstore and some high-end but to me they all do the same thing.

Let me know if you have a cleanser in your routine or use one at all?


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Thursday 21 May 2015

The Scottish Tag

Hey everyone :)

So I last week I couldn't think of a video to do and so I opted for a tag as they are always good fun.

I wanted to do something homely so I found the 'Scottish tag' on another YouTuber's channel and used that. If you want to check her video out - it's HERE.

If you don't know I was born in Scotland and I am Scottish (duh!). I moved to England nearly 4 years ago this August. I currently live in Hemel Hempstead which is about 30 mins from London by train. It's a lovely little countryside town and I love it.


Anyway ... the 'Scottish tag' contains 10 questions created by Erin from BeautyCreep.

Question 1: Whereabouts in Scotland are you from?
I am from Dumfries & Galloway a county in South West Scotland. I lived in a little town called Gatehouse of Fleet for most of my life.

Question 2: Where's your favourite place you've been in Scotland?

I’ve been all over Scotland as my parents took my brother and me on holidays lots - I loved Ullapool which was right at the top of Scotland as well as Tain as we have family there. Also Ayr is really nice, as well as Edinburgh and I spent a year in Hamilton (which is about 20 mins by train from Glasgow).

Question 3: Where would you like to visit in Scotland?
I’d love to visit more places in the Northern parts of Scotland such as Inverness or Thurso - I’ve also never been to Aberdeen or Dundee so those are on my bucket list.

Question 4: What is your favourite Scottish film?
Is it stereotypical for me to say Braveheart?! We watched it so much at school and it was always on the television. Also a film from 2012 - Dog Soldiers - this film not necessarily my favourite as it scared the shit outta me but I still remember it.

Question 5: Do you match up to any Scottish stereotypes?
I personally don’t think so but I’m sure my friend will say I do. I don’t drink much, I don’t curse much … what else do Scottish people do apart from drink and swear?!

Question 6: What is your favourite Scottish food?
Haggis - although I will say it depends where it comes from. I’ve had some amazing haggis and some horrible haggis! Dennis Thompson who is a local butcher around Dumfries & Galloway visited the cafe I used to work in and the haggis he supplied to them was AMAZING!

Question 7: Do you follow any Scottish traditions?
Not really … I do try and have haggis, neeps and tatties on or near Robert Burn’s Day - but apart from that I can’t think of anything else.

Question 8: What is your favourite Scottish word?
Gosh - so many to choose from … probably ‘bonnie’ - that’s a proper Scottish word :)

Question 9: What is your favourite Scottish song?
Not necessarily a song … but I love Highland Cathedral played on the recorder or the bag pipes. I listen to a few different versions every so often on Spotify.

Question 10: Can you recommend any Scottish you tubers?
I actually don’t - is that bad?! I actually found this tag via a Scottish YouTuber so I’ll like her video and channel in the description box below - https://youtu.be/gQScPU0a9RM - she’s called BeautyCreep - well that’s her channel not her name. 

That's the tag complete - let me know if your Scottish and I tag you to do it too if you haven't already! 



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Wednesday 20 May 2015

Smoothies!

Hey everyone :)

smoothie

Sometimes I can be a bit obsessive. Lately it's been smoothies ... 

I was watching a YouTube video last week and part of the video was about smoothies and that's when it all started. I haven't fully started experimenting yet so expect lots more smoothie posts in the next few weeks.

For the last couple of days I have been blending frozen summer fruits (so redcurrants, blackcurrants, raspberries, strawberries etc) and orange juice and sometimes a squeeze of lemon juice.

It's simple and is 3 ingredients - there are probably many more recipes (probably hundreds) but I like the simple and easy ones. 

It's also not as expensive as people think. The main reason people shy away is the cost of fresh fruit. But I was watching a smoothie video that Jamie Oliver did and he says that buying frozen fruit is as good as buying fresh - for 2 reasons - it's cheaper and its picked as its ripest moment and then frozen - so is full of nutrients and flavour.

Let me know in the comments if you have any good recipes that I should try!


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* Oh and this isn' sponsored by Starbucks I just use my Starbucks cup for my smoothies :)
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Tuesday 19 May 2015

Origins GinZing Energy-Boosting Moisturiser - 1st Impressions

Hey everyone :)

So if you follow me on Instagram or Twitter you will know that I love Milton Keynes (which is a town/city about 40 miles from where I currently live - Hemel Hempstead). I love it that much that my boyfriend and I are considering looking for houses there - but that's another story for another time.

So last weekend I we took a trip to Milton Keynes - now I hadn't been since Dave left in December so this was the first time we had been back since December ... not much has changed.

Now my current moisturiser - Clinique's Moisture Surge is running dangerously low and so I decided that it was time to purchase a new moisturiser however I decided against a re-purchase and thought I would try something new. I will add that there is nothing wrong with this moisturiser - I just like to try new things.

I've been hearing great, great, great things about the brand Origins. I will admit that they are a tad expensive (in my opinion) and are just at the top of how much I'm willing to spend on beauty products however from the reviews I've been reading the quote 'it does what it says on the tin' pops into mind.

If you are reading this post - I want you to understand this is not a 'review' but a 'first impressions' post as I've only been using it for a week and don't think I can really give a proper review yet.

Origins GinZing Moisturiser

Origins GinZing Energy-Boosting Moisturiser - 1st Impressions

Origins GinZing Energy-Boosting Moisturiser - 1st Impressions

I purchased this product in Debenhams for £25.00 for 75ml. This is a special edition/special price Origins are doing at the moment. I believe (don't hold me to that) that it's the same in other shops like John Lewis and even Origins' website). The website mentions that 75ml should be £34.50 normally.

The product is from Origins GinZing range so this is an orange and white coloured packaging. There is also a eye-cream available and a facial scrub in the range too with the same colours. Hopefully if my skin is happy with this moisturiser I might buy the other two. So first impressions of the packaging:

- it's bright
- i like the coffee bean design
- i like the mix of orange and white - reminds me of ying/yang
- nice sized product for the price

Origins GinZing Energy-Boosting Moisturiser - 1st Impressions

Origins GinZing Energy-Boosting Moisturiser - 1st Impressions

Inside the box we have the product. Again keeping with the ranges colour theme. The main 'housing' of the product is a lovely bright, vibrant orange colour with white writing and then the lid is white with the coffee bean design similar to the outer packaging.

I definitely think the product screams - high end. I never thought I'd be someone who would buy Origins. It always viewed it as one of those products celebrities used and that was too expensive for people like me.

Origins GinZing Energy-Boosting Moisturiser - 1st Impressions

Origins GinZing Energy-Boosting Moisturiser - 1st Impressions

So the first thing I noticed when I removed the lid and cover was that the product 'housing' is thin - you might not think of this but the thinner the tub the more product is inside. I've noticed other products that have big tubs but it's thicker inside so there is less product - so bad!!

The main reason I loved Clinique's Moisture Surge was due to the fact that it wasn't a cream - it was more of a gel which I loved as I hate that thick, greasy, heavy feeling some creams have.

As you can see in the pictures above the moisturiser looks like a cream when it was in tub and I'll be honest I was slightly disheartened. But when I popped some on my finger to test it - it's nothing like a cream. It's like a white gel - very similar to the Clinique Moisture Surge.

A major difference is the fragrance - Clinique market a fragrance free product whereas the Origins GinZing is a lovely orange-zesty smell. The whole GinZing range is orange smelling and it's marketed this way as when you wake up you're tired and sleepy - and the smell of oranges and zest is supposed to make you wake up and liven up.

So overall my first impressions are very positive - the packaging and the product are top notch and I'm excited to continue using them. As I mentioned above I've been using it for over a week now so I will continue using for the next couple of months then pop up a post about how my skin is doing :)

Let me know if you've used or are considering buying this product in the comments below.


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Thursday 14 May 2015

BeckyBoop Takeover



Hello readers of ShoutJohn!

BeckyBoop is taking over for today…Parrtaaay…shhh, he’ll never know!


I would explain who I am and my blog more, however John kindly provided some question prompts for this post which cover that anyway, so happy reading! I'm looking forward to getting to know you all better

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

 I'm Becky, from BeckyBoops. I'm a lifestyle blogger - I like to write about things going on in my life, and my interests and hobbies. I'm in my twenties, currently work in London, and live with my long-term partner Andrew. 
Beckyboops couple picture

2. What made you start blogging?

While I was at university my friend - Pip form RoanRider - suggested I start a blog about my weight to keep myself accountable, and to keep track of it. So I did (BekBek19) which later spurred me to create a second blog, about the clothes I was hoping to get back into and the clothes I wasn't able to wear anymore. This was called My Wasted Wardrobe, which then morphed into BeckyBoops, and here we are. Now I love blogging and reading other blogs, and wouldn't have it any other way!

3. What is your favourite thing about blogging? 

I enjoy the writing side of it, and I enjoy connecting with other bloggers and seeing all the different writing styles and designs on their sites! Blogging helps me to be more creative and enthusiastic.

4. Everyone has a favourite post on their blog - what is yours and why? 

My first thought when reading this question was I don't have a favourite post. Buuut, then I gave it some thought. I wrote a post about watching the musical Avenue Q last year, I felt proud of it when it was posted. Shortly after I did, one of the actors in the tour favourited my tweet - how awesome is that!!

5. If you could blog full-time - would you?

Yes! In a heartbeat. If I was earning enough from it to keep a roof over my head etc... I would need to learn a lot more about HTML, writing, and keeping myself inspired and motivated though!

6. What are your favourite types of post to write - lifestyle, life updates, beauty, fashion, gaming ...?

hmm...recently I've been favoring book reviews that relate to my 2015 reading challenge, but I've also got a beauty post in the pipeline which I'm really enthusiastic about


7. Name some bloggers whom you read/love/enjoy etc.
I read a lot of bloggers on the Bloglovin' app, I'll pick just a handful:
The Fat Girl's Guide to Running - great resource for tips on being an overweight runner
Hannah Gale - entertaining posts with some mental health reality thrown in
Bloggers Bookshelf - good team of book reviewers, I've nabbed a few good reading suggestions from them
Spot Me Girl - Health and fitness - specifically weightlifting, has some great tips and ideas
And, of course, ShoutJohn himself. A great guy, with varied and enjoyable content.


8. What do you do in your free time when you're not blogging?
When I'm not blogging I'm usually reading - I started a book club at work so I have to make sure I'm on top of that reading list! Shopping is a big vice for me - definitely a hobby. I'm a bit of a closet gamer on occasion - I blew through Bioshock Infifite when that came out. Other than that, I enjoy spending time with Andrew, my friends, and my family.


9. How would you describe your post writing process from start to finish?
I'd say it was a simple, very linear process.
  • think of an idea or be inspired by something
  • note it down on Google Keep
  • When I have some time, sit down with my laptop and draft a post. I like to finish a draft in one sitting if I can, if not I'll come back to it a few times to complete it
  • source any images I want to include
  • create any custom banners or titles
  • read through post, make any edits or changes
  • Add labels/tags
  • Hit publish
10. For someone just starting out (with a new blog) what advice would you give them?
I would advise them to not worry about the number of views and page visits, those come with time. Avoid solely writing content you think others will want to read - your writing will lose its individuality and soul. Post regularly - make a schedule if you can. This is something I need to work on! 


Aaand...that's a wrap! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it 


Huge thanks to John for letting me take over his blog! 



-------



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Wednesday 13 May 2015

Love Tanya Review

Hey everyone :)

love tanya review

love tanya review


So Tanya Burr recently released her book - well I say recently it was a few months ago now ...

As soon as the book was out I did start seeing reviews on other blogs appear almost instantly and I thought to myself how on earth can they have read that book so fast and then put together a post about it but we won't think about that (as that's not what this post is about).

So I took my time reading this book and I actually finished it a month or so ago and its sat on my bedside table - I wasn't going to do a review but I picked it up the other night and started reading through it again and changed my mind.

I'll start with a little backing story of who Tanya is - as maybe you don't know who she is. Tanya grew up in Norwich and started her YouTube channel in October 2009. I won't go into massive detail - that is what her book is for.

Her YouTube channel (in its earlier days) featured tutorials on celebrity make-up looks. Then it branched out into vlogs, beauty hauls, drugstore hauls - the usual thing you'd expect on a beauty blogger's channel (that sounds generic - it's not supposed to be).

She also has her blog which she started after her YouTube channel in March 2011 (you can check it out HERE) which features a wide variety of topics - I'd say this is more a lifestyle-type blog - which is a good thing - it allows you to talk about whatever the hell you want than just focus on one thing - fashion/beauty/gardening etc ...

love tanya review

Now I found Tanya funnily enough throw Joey Graceffa - as he was one of the first YouTubers (along with Shane Dawson and iJustine) that I followed. They did a collaboration (a lip-sync video together) and I stumbled upon her channel and have been a subscriber ever since.

I don't know what it is about Tanya - I just can't put it into words to describe it - but she is just so fun and crazy and happy and ditzy (in the nicest way possible). She's just one of those lovable people that I'm sure if you meet - would be best friends 1/2 an hour later.

Obviously I'm a guy (and I'm gay) however her vlogging channel is more a draw to me than her main channel as (even though I'm gay) beauty/fashion doesn't get my juices flowing (if you know what I mean). I do watch the odd one but what I'm trying to say is I love her more day-to-day life vlog type videos than her main ones (not that they're bad or anything - cos they're not).

Anyway I'm rambling about her YouTube channel and not her book - see this is why I need an editor - jesus!

love tanya review

love tanya review

So her book is split into sections - the reason I say sections rather than chapters - because with chapters I feel like you have to follow them in order. With Tanya's book I felt you could open it at a section and read and not be lost because you didn't read the section before. Obviously it makes more sense if you read it in order but still works if you don't.

So I bought the hardback version of the book. The main colours of the book are a lovely deep pink and a mellow green-turquoise colour. Each section is filled with pictures of Tanya, some of her and Jim and her friends.

You know writing this now - calling the 'chapters' - 'sections' sounds horrible ... I'm cringing right now typing it ...

So the book follows a certain template/format which is cool - I like structure - you get:

- the topic title (with a massive picture of Tanya)
- the actual information on the topic
- a top 10 of the chosen topic (ie top 10 beauty favourites, top 10 musical favourites etc)
- a blank 'notes' page so you can list your own favourites
- lots of pictures throughout



love tanya review

My favourite part of the book is the baking section. Shock, shock, horror, horror! I've tried nearly all of the recipes apart from the oatmeal breakfast smoothie recipe - which I'm planning on making tomorrow. I made the cookies today which were yummy! I did burn a couple (which you can see).
A photo posted by johnagnew (@johnagnew) on

Let me know what you thought of the book and if you bought it. If Tanya brings out another book I would definitely buy it.




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Tuesday 12 May 2015

Innocent Coconut Water

Hey everyone :)

So everyone is probably aware of the coconut water phase we've gone through - to me it felt like overnight various brands and types of coconut water just appeared in shops. For a few months I've seen posts on the benefits of coconut water and Instagram pictures of various celebrities and bloggers with coconut water.

It then died down and again ... as if overnight 'coconut oil' started appearing in shops - obviously not the same product but still similar to the water. I follow lots of healthy eating bloggers and vloggers on YouTube (Naomi Smart for one) and they started using coconut oil as a substitute for normal oil in their cooking. Lots of websites like Buzzfeed started posting 'various benefits of coconut oil' and why 'coconut oil is good for your feet'. Even a company known as Cocowhite became very popular and started selling a formulated version of coconut oil for whiter teeth and healthier mouths - I hoped on this train as soon as I could and ordered a box - so hopefully once I've finished my course the review will go up soon :)

Anyway back to the water - a month or so ago Innocent posted that they were stopping their food pots so that they could focus on what they were good at - creating waters/smoothies/juices etc.

Then last week they announced their new Innocent Coconut Water.

innocent coconut water review

I'm a big fan of Innocent - I have been since around 18 years old when I went to university and started buying my own food shopping. Some people might say they are a tad expensive but I do think that you pay for what you get and with Innocent you get good quality.

Now, I haven't tried coconut water at all. I remember the first brand appearing in shops were VitaCoco - but that was before I started blogging and I have to admit it seemed quite expensive for some water from a coconut. But curiosity got the better of me and I was in Asda the other night and thought I'd try it and let you guys know what I thought.

So this is available in most supermarkets - I got it in Asda and 500ml was £2.25. (Obviously this might be an introductory offers so it might change afterwards).

Ingredients are simply: 100% pure coconut water from 2 1/4 tasty coconuts.

We do get a little backing story - that Innocent met up with some people in Thailand who are fussy about good tasting products just like they are. These people helped them come up with this lovely coconut water drink. It's a unique blend of selected varieties of coconuts and a secret coconut which they can't tell us the name of.

They also give us 4 good reasons for drinking coconut water:

- it's made from the water of 2/14 tasty coconuts
- naturally supports hydration
- 26% of your daily potassium per glass
- low calorie and fat-free

innocent coconut water review

So to review:

- the packaging (as always) with Innocent is great - we have their signature little angel on the front with a halo and the bottle design is (I assume) a beach with a blue sky and palm trees to mimic the coconut theme going on.
- the packaging is very simple and I like that - I've seen VitaCoco and other brands and they're too busy (if you know what I mean).
- the colour (of the water) is similar to a cloudy lemonade.
- the smell is sweet and flowery to me.
- the taste - if I had to compare it to anything is the 'taste of the leftover milk when you've had cheerios' - i know this sounds weird but that's my opinion.

I did enjoy the coconut water but it's probably not something I'd drink everyday - I'd probably consider mixing it into a smoothie in the future.

innocent coconut water review

To round it all up - if you want something to drink that's not full or sugar or fattening - then give coconut water a go. It's a bit better than plain old water and healthier than sugary coke :)

Let me know if you've tried it and your thoughts! 

If you want to check out Innocent's Twitter it's HERE.
More information on their Coconut Water can be found HERE too.

Just so we're clear - this is NOT a sponsored post and Innocent haven't asked me to write this - I just wanted to share with you something that I've experienced :)



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Thursday 7 May 2015

Sad Moments 2

Hey everyone :)

tv saddest moments

A month or so ago I did a post on sad moments in television/film that really got to me and the post was really popular. So I thought I'd do a second post as I found some old clips of sad moments I did for a project years ago. I watched them over and had a little sniffle to myself.

Charmed - Goodbye Leo
I watched Charmed religiously - I had all the boxset and one of the main reasons I watch Pretty Little Liars is because Piper from Charmed is in the show. Anyway because of the sisters screwed up Destiny - Leo gets frozen to save his life and Piper gets told that if the girls succeed he will be returned. So Piper says her goodbyes while Phoebe and Paige watch - they're in tears and I'm in tears - everyone is in tears. It's really upsetting as if you've watched from the beginning you'll know they've been to hell and back to be together.

The OC - Kirsten's Intervention
The OC was one of the first ever boxsets I bought when I started my first real job and I enjoyed the show immensely. It was one of those weird moments in my life where I pretended in my dreams that I was Ryan (the pool house boy) and some rich family adopted me and I lived in Orange County - anyway back to reality. I can't remember the exact reasons - theres a lot of shit that goes down but Kirsten turns to alcohol and after a car accident - the family decide she needs help. It's so upsetting to see each of them speak and tell them she needs help and she obviously lashes out until Seth (her son) tells her she needs to do it and she breaks down - a very emotional episode.

Desperate Housewives - Rex's Death
If you ever think of Brie from Desperate Housewives - she was always the prim and proper housewife - never a hair out of place. If you watched the show her first husband 'dies' although if memory serves (it was in Season 1 which was years ago) the crazy doctor killed him or swapped his heart pills - I can't remember. The scene shows Brie cleaning her wedding silver in the dining room and she gets the call to break the bad news. She goes back to cleaning the silver and finishes, she closes the box and puts it away and sits back down at the table and lets out this bloodcurdling howl - this was the moment when I burst into tears. It was just the way the actress showed the emotion of death in that one howl - the camera then moves out and shows their wedding picture.

Armageddon - Harry's Sacrifice
An oldie - I remember watching this film at home with my parents and trying to hide the tears. Harry promises his daughter - Grace that he would come home but when the remote part of the bomb stops working it means someone has to stay behind to detonate it. AJ (Grace's boyfriend/fiance) gets the short straw but Harry takes his place so that he can go back to Grace and spend his life with her. They have a tearful good bye over the video/radio and when he presses the detonator his and her life flash before his eyes as the bomb explodes - really sad part of the film.

Scrubs - Laverne's Death
You wouldn't ever think that Scrubs would do anything emotional - it seems like a comedy show. I recently read an article on Buzzfeed on 'when Scrubs got way too emotional' and I think Laverne's death was one of them. Perhaps that why they do it so well because its 98% funny most of the time but when they need to get serious they do it brilliantly. Laverne is a strong believer in jesus and that everything happens for a reason and she tells us this in the monologue over the course of the episode and then if I remember correctly in the next episode she was hit by a car and was pronounced brain dead. Everyone says their goodbyes and it takes Carla a long time to do it but when she does Laverne passes.

So hope you enjoyed 'part 2' of my sad moments and in case you wanna get all upset and emotional most of these clips are on YouTube (just saying)

Let me know in the comments if you have any other sad moments you think about or remember from telelvision shows.



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Wednesday 6 May 2015

AppleWatch

Hey everyone :)

So if you follow me on social media - then you will know that I took the crazy-assed plunge and bought myself an AppleWatch!

I know I shouldn't have and I know I can't afford it but I couldn't help myself ... thanks PayPal Credit.

Firstly I will apologise for the quality of the pictures you're about to see - these were exported frames from the short unboxing video I did - I was too excited to take pictures and then my camera battery died - I mean what a time to die battery!

applewatch shoutjohn sport edition

applewatch shoutjohn sport edition

So I didn't do a big talkative review on my unboxing video - because - well it was an unboxing video not really a talk-review video so I thought I'd pop a more detailed analysis in my blog post.

Firstly as always - the packaging was amazing. Apple do know how to present their products to the customer. The sport edition comes in a longer narrow box compared to the other two editions which I believe are more square.

As you can see above we have a lovely white box, which 'AppleWatch' embossed on the top lid. It was sealed by cellophane and inside a cardboard box (for delivery) those are unseen as who cares about those.

applewatch shoutjohn sport edition

applewatch shoutjohn sport edition

When the lid is lifted you are greeted with a hard plastic box - containing the watch which has two tabs so you can lift it out the main cardboard box.

Underneath the watch box is the usual pouch with the paper instructions and you also get a second strap for the watch. I currently have the S/M strap so inside was the M/L strap. My wrists are quite small so I'm sticking with the S/M strap for now.

applewatch shoutjohn sport edition

applewatch shoutjohn sport edition

In the bottom of the box we have a magnetic charging cable which is similar to the magsafe cable on the MacBook. You just hold the circular connection to the back of the watch and it'll magnetically click on and start charging the watch. A full charge is estimated to give you 18 hours of life - obviously excessive use may mean less battery life. The cable is also 2m long - it's very long compared to the short cables you get with the iPhone.

They have also redesigned the plug you get - as you can see above in the picture the plug is 'open' but the prongs actually click into the housing of the plug meaning it takes up less room. So that's new.

applewatch shoutjohn sport edition

Now the moment you've been waiting for ... as you can see again - fancy plastic covering on the box - you need to rip the seal off which you can see above. So I did that and threw the plastic to the side.

applewatch shoutjohn sport edition

applewatch shoutjohn sport edition

There we have it - in all its awe and glory. The AppleWatch! Again packed tightly into its case and also covered in plastic coating to keep it protected so as you can see I ripped that off pretty quickly.

So for the sport edition there are two different sized available:

38mm (£299 GBP)
42mm (£339 GBP)

I bought the 38mm as I do have small wrists and I didn't want the 42mm as it might have looked stupid if it was too big for my wrist. This is why you should go into the store and try them on before buying a £299 watch.

There are also different colours available with the sport edition:

- White
- Blue 
- Green
- Pink
- Black

As you can see by the pictures I went with the white version. I'm hoping it doesn't get dirty easy - I work in a warehouse in an administrative department and there is a lot of dust so we'll see how long it takes before the band gets marks or dirt. 

I like the design of the strap and how it closes around your wrist - as you can see there is a pin and your normal holes - similar to a norma watch strap. You put the watch on and choose the correct pin - it needs to be tight enough to stay in one place - it's can't really be loose fitting or shaking around your wrist otherwise the sensors on the back won't be able to detect heart rate or pulses. Once you have pushed the pin through the hole you just push the end of the strap though the hole after the pins and you're all done.

Before I move on - I wanted to mention about payment options. Apple offer different types. You can obviously pay straight up with debit or credit cards. You can also opt for Apple's Barclay Finance Agreements however if its under £350 this option is unavailable however (yes there is a bright side) Apple also offer PayPal Credit payment. Which means you basically borrow money from PayPal - they pay it for you (you have to go through a credit check) and then you owe PayPal the money. They do 6, 9 or 12 month payments and its a 14.9% APR so the watch was £299 but I pay back £314 over 6 months so around £55ish a month - which is cool I think.

To get into the technical side of things:

- The glass is Ion-X glass, which is lightweight and resistant to scratches and impact.
- The watch has a retina display with force touch.
- One side has the 'new' digital crown which works as a scroller and a button and then also a power button.
- The other side has a speaker and a mic.
- There is a built in heart rate sensor, accelerometer and gyroscope.
- It has an ambient light sensor.
- It has built in wifi and bluetooth.
- Boasts a 18 hour battery life.
- It is also water resistant to a certain degree (meaning rain or when you wash your hands, not immersion like swimming or a bath or shower).
- There is also four health sensors on the bath - two for infrared and 2 for white light.

First Impressions

So I've been wearing the AppleWatch since about 10am this morning and I'm very pleased with it so far. It was very easy to setup and took about 10 minutes to sync to my iPhone during setup. I'm very interested in the health features that Apple spoke about. The watch currently records my heart rate periodically. It also gives you health goals to achieve each day based on your age/sex/weight and height. It estimates the calories you need to burn, how many hours you should be standing and how much exercise you have done (walking, moving, stairs etc). 

It periodically tells me to stand up and move around. I get text alerts and can reply with preset messages or can use Siri and dictate what I want to reply with.

The watch also detects when you turn your wrist to look at it - so right now as I type this it has a blank screen but as soon as I lift my wrist as if I was going to look at the screen - it will light up and show me the time.

When you sync your iPhone to the watch it downloads an additional app called 'Activity' The activity data (thats my exercise, standing and calories) all syncs to your iPhone so you can view it in more detail. Some of the data from the AppleWatch also syncs to the Health app (that was downloaded in the iOS 8 update) so I can view my heart rate in the Health app on a graph. It's only been recording for 1 day so it doesn't look that different.

During the AppleWatch reveal they spoke about a new open-source framework called 'ResearchKit' - this 'tool' turns your iPhone into a diagnostic tool for medical and health research. The app hasn't bene released yet but I'm speculating you download it and 'opt in' and any data the AppleWatch records about you - like your heart rate, exercise, when your standing, moving around - all what I've mentioned above it sent to these researchers and medical professionals along with thousands/millions of other peoples and used in research for diabetes or heart disease etc. 

I'll do another post on this possibly as it's very detailed and long.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed this long review! Let me know in the comments what you think.

I am absolutely 100% satisfied and I love it.


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