Thursday, 1 January 2015

Year 2014

An illustration of showing what all happened in the year 2014. I do not own any pictures (besides the pictures that I took), these are just showing all the wonderful events of 2014.
Hi everyone! We are coming to an end right with Year 2014!! What a REALLY great year it has been! There were some sad moments, but also some happy moments that have happened during the course of the year. This year I, again, had New Year resolutions. The resolutions I made did actually work out in the end.

Now to get on with business, here are some highlights of what happened during the course of the year:
  • The FIFA World Cup was held in Brazil this year.
  • Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire was released this year in November.
  • At The Oscars, Ellen DeGeneres took a celeb-filled selfie, which set the most retweeted tweet of all time.
  • The Flappy Bird game was removed from the App Store.
  • The TV show "How I met your Mother" had its series finale this year in March.
  • The Agonist lead singer, Alissa White-Gluz, replaced Arch Enemy's lead singer, Angela Gossow. Angela Gossow then became Arch Enemy's band manager.
  • The famous an talented Robin Williams passed away in August this year.
  • We also had to say goodbye to other celebrities who passed away: Joan Rivers, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Mickey Rooney, Carol Ann Susi, Marcia Strassman and Polly Bergen. There were many more deaths, and my heart goes out to everyone who have lost someone in their life.
  • Justin Bieber was arrested in Miami. He was charged for driving under the influence (DUI) in Miami.
  • Facebook bought Whatsapp for $19 Billion on the 19th of February this year. 
  • The Walt Disney movie "Frozen" ranked a staggering $1.274 Billion worldwide, making the movie the highest grossing animated film - and also the 5th grossing film of all time. Frozen is also "in the works" says Idina Menzel (the voice of Elsa in "Frozen").
  • On Halloween, J.K. Rowling released, on the Pottermore website, a 1700 word short story of Dolores Umbridge.
There was also a good couple of movies that also released this year. I am going to name some of the movie that were nominated for awards, and also movies I enjoyed watching: Maleficent; The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies; The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1; X-Men: Days of Future Past; Penguins of Madagascar; Transformers: Age of Extinction; Guardians of the Galaxy; Annie; Into the Woods; Captain America: The Winter Soldier; Godzilla; Dawn of the Planets of the Apes; Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb; The Amazing Spider-Man 2; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; The Lego Movie; Dolphin Tale 2; The Boxtrolls; Big Hero 6; How to Train your Dragon 2; The Fault in our Stars; The Imitation Game; The Expendables 3; Noah; Panes: Fire & Rescue and the list goes on and even more on. I may have not watched all these movie, but I can say I watched the trailers of these movie and the movies looked good to watch. I did hear comments that the movies I did not watch, were fantastic!

Posters of some of the movies that were released in 2014.
There were also quite a very good variety of music that was released during this year. I am naming all the music albums that were released this year, from what I can remember. I am naming the artists, and then the albums name: Arch Enemy - War Eternal; Epica - The Quantum Enigma; In This Moment - Black Widow; Within Temptation - Hydra; Heffron Drive - Happy Mistakes; One Direction - Four; Lea Michele - Louder; Pharrell Williams - GIRL; Lucy Hale - Road Between; Lana Del Ray - Ultraviolence; Amy Lee - Aftermath; Ariana Grande - My Everything; Maroon 5 - V; Flyleaf - Between the Stars; Idina Menzel - Holiday Wishes; Taylor Swift - 1989; Nickelback - No Fixed Address; Anette Olzon - Shine; Amaranthe - Massive Addictive; MaYaN - Antagonise and once again, the list goes on and on. All these music artists I have mentioned with their releases of their new albums are all fantastic singer, with such talent! I would definitely recommend giving all of them a listen. Many of these music artists are also songwriters, which I find inspiring. The music artists write about their experiences they go through in their lives, and to also stay strong and be positive.

Album covers from some of the music artists whose albums were released in 2014.
Arch Enemy released their new album in June this year. They currently have 3 singles off their new album "War Eternal", with one of the single's names "War Eternal". The other two single's are "You will know my Name" and "No More Regrets". You can view them here:

Amaranthe released their new (very amazing) album this year. The album "Massive Addictive" does have a different sound to it, but you can still hear the Amaranthe melodies in the new songs. "Massive Addictive" currently has 2 singles out:

Epica has released their new album "The Quantum Enigma", which currently has 3 singles, they are "Essence of Silence", "Unchain Utopia" and "Victims of Contingency". "Unnchain Utopia" was going to be released as a music video, but was instead turned into a lyrics video, with features and footage from the music video. Epica has also said that the new album is different to the other Epica, with being more heavier than the other albums Epica has released, which is true! I love the new Epica music! Here is Epica's new music video and lyric video: 

On a more personal note:
I would say this year I met more celebrities than what I did last year. Last year, KDay (a music festival run by the radio show, which is my ultimate favourite radio show, KFM) was cancelled, but KDay was back this year. I saw celebrities I already have met before, it was good to see them again, and to also see them perform live on stage. It was also nice to meet new people and share our experiences. Now when I say experiences, I am referring to meeting celebrities, going to music festivals, travelling or something to that effect. I did meet many new people at KDay who loved the design I made of all the artists that were at KDay and said they might even do that exact idea in the new year. I was also an extra in an episode of  anew TV show called "Dominion". For those who are interested, I was in episode 4, but I am blurred in the background, so you have to look really hard.

This year, I accomplished being a vegetarian in August as last year I became a vegetarian. I do know the milk and egg industry are cruel, but I am trying my best to go vegan. To all the new vegetarians/vegans out there, trust me when I say you WILL be mocked and made fun off, but that is the, should I say, "process" of becoming a vegetarian/vegan, but just shake it off because YOU are helping animals. What I can say, for me, is that I may consume dairy and egg, but I limit myself. I have said I am about 70% - 80% vegan as I occasionally and limit myself with dairy and egg. I was actually allergic to dairy when I was younger, so it is easier to go off diary. I also hope everyone has knowledge of what SeaWorld is really about. I do not wish for SeaWorld to be completely gone. In my opinion, I would say if SeaWorld had a massive (and I mean massive) lake, much like Disney World's lakes, that would be alright as the orca's will have free roam to swim long distances, swim away if there is a fight and to just have much more space. I would like the orca's to be free, but if people want to keep them in captivity, at least let the sea animals have lots and lots of space to swim around in. I do not though, wish for the orca's to perform tricks and jumps they don't usually do in the wild. That is basically human entertainment, the orca doesn't want to do those tricks, but if the orca does not do as he/she is told, they are then deprived of food. I just wish for the orca's at SeaWorld to have lots of space and for the orca and the other sea animals to know they can swim long distances, almost like a sanctuary, like what Disney World has for their animals at Animal Kingdom.

Aside from all of this, I promise I will blog about this event - there is just so much I have to write, so it may take a while - but for now, I will just say one of my biggest dreams came true. I have had this dream ever since I was a young little girl. My aunt and uncle gave my family the opportunity to go to WALT DISNEY WORLD!! I could not believe it myself, but the day finally came when we went to Walt Disney World! There were so many rides we did, we - well mostly me - met so many Disney characters. I was called the "Disney character queen". I was the main one who searched and found the Disney characters, and what time they were there. Well, you can also see what time the Disney characters are at their character greeting spots as when you walk into of the Disney theme parks, you can receive a paper showing where the characters are and what time they are at their spots. I wont give too much detail about the character meetings - as you can read about it in the Disney blog I will post ASAP - and also the rides. What I can say is that I spent 10 days at Disney World and that was the highlight of my life. One day when I was at Disney World, my family and I went to Florida mall as we wanted to see what else there was. None of us were bored at all, like i said, those 10 days we spent at Disney World and Florida mall were the best days of this year! Well...another best day included in these 10 days would be my 21st birthday in August. Disney World - at most places within the theme parks and at the resorts - would be that there was free WiFi. The internet was super fast and just so cool! Disney World is also super safe! You don't worry about anything and all you need to know, is to have lots and lots of fun. My family and I all kept in contact via the application "Whatsapp", we created a group and kept in contact that way, for those who would like to know how to maybe keep in contact with one another. I can also tell you the rides you should definitely do is the following: Tower of Terror, The Haunted Mansion (This ride is scary for little children, so PG is advised, and please don't force anyone to go on this ride if they do not wish to. I saw that happen and the little boy was crying. This goes for any ride), Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Toy Story Mania, Buzz Lightyear ride, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, Expedition Everest (I went on that ride twice in a row), Animal Kingdom Dinosaur ride and finally, the Dumbo ride. Overall, I am saying this again, I had the best time of my life at Disney World! It will be an experience I will never forget! I visited Starbucks - the best coffee place in the world - the service was 10/10. I bought a Starbucks cup as well. I do wish Starbucks can come to South Africa sometime soon. I guarantee you I will be a member and have a membership card. That is all I can say now about my trip Disney World.

Picture of everyone who went to Disney World with me. Picture was taken just outside Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios.
For Twitter, I have accomplished reaching 1000 Twitter followers. Thank YOU to everyone who is following me on Twitter!! I truly appreciate it! I never though I would actually reach 1000 aha! Hmm... Maybe next year I might even get more followers, but we'll have to see. Thank you everyone who is currently following me, I honestly appreciate the follow back!
I also got into reading books this year (who would have thought?). I know it may be a bit old, but this year, I read all 7 books of the Harry Potter series. I cannot believe how addictive the books were, I did not want to close the book for a single second. I also read The House of Night novels and novellas. I am currently on the last book of the House of Night series. In the new year, I am planning on reading The Hobbit book, as well as the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The new music artists I have listened to has been, mainly, Arch Enemy and In This Moment. I really am loving music that has musicians who sing, and grunt/scream as well. I started listening to Arch Enemy earlier this year and I love their new album "War Eternal". There are songs that I can relate to. I did like Angela's screams on all the Arch Enemy songs in the past. When I saw the one article say something about passing the torch over from Angela to Alissa, I saw it like this: Angela was Alissa's mentor in the past, now, in a way, Angela is saying Alissa is ready to take on the challenge Angela was on since Alissa was first in The Agonist - which was sort of like a challenge field Alissa had to face - and Angel has now "passed the torch" over to Alissa. I see this as a positive event, and that is how I see it,in a good way. Now though, Alissa White-Gluz (who was originally with The Agonist, and has now joined Arch Enemy) has replaced Angela's place, but Arch Enemy hasn't changed. Sure, the vocals may have changed, but Arch Enemy's music is still so great! My favourite song off "War Eternal" has got to be "Avalanche", which is also one of Alissa's favourite songs as well. For those of you who haven't listened to Arch Enemy, I recommend you listen to the following songs: "Avalanche", "War Eternal", "Yesterday is Dead and Gone", "Cruelty without Beauty", "No More Regrets", "As the Pages Burn", "We Will Rise", "Under the Black Flags we March", "Nemesis", "My Apocalypse" and "You will know my Name".
Another band I also started listening to is In This Moment. I first heard songs off their album "Blood". The song were super catchy and I loved all the songs, so I started listening to other In This Moment songs, and now I am officially a fan of In This Moment. The band recently released an album this year called "Black Widow". I can honestly say there is not a day that goes by that I don't listen to In This moment's new album. The music, the lyrics, and the melodies - like Arch Enemy - are just beyond greatness! The songs I recommend for new In This Moment fans are the following: "Big Bad Wolf", "Black Widow", "Blood", "Whore", "Rise with Me", "Sick Like Me", "The Promise", "Forever", "Beautiful Tragedy" and "Burn".

On the sad side of this year, it is with great sadness I had to say goodbye to my grandpa. His name was Roy. We used to call him Grandpa Roy, I though, called his Grandpa. He passed away in December this year actually, and I was even there when my grandpa passed. My gran though is staying strong as I have known her to be. I am still very sad that he is gone, but what I find great is that there are all the memories that stay with us, and that is one of the main things to remember. Grandpa Roy will always be remembered.

A photo of my grandmother and my Grandfather (Roy).
Another picture of my grandmother, my grandfather and I. This photo was taken at my grandmother's and grandfather's wedding.
For those of you who would like to see some photos from my trip to Disney World, you can check them out on my Instagram page: http://instagram.com/andriamackinnon/

For those of you interested in In This Moment's music, here are some YouTube music videos from the new album, "Black Widow", by In This Moment:

If you would like to like/follow Arch Enemy and In This Moment, here are their Facebook and Twitter official pages:

One last thing that I found out this year was that South Africa has a company called "Beauty without Cruelty". Beauty without Cruelty is a company that is mainly based on approving companies that do not test on animals. On each product that you pick up,c if Beauty without Cruelty has approved the company, then there will be a logo of a bunny at the back label of the product (see illustration below). For those of you in South Africa who would like to know what is approved by Beauty without Cruelty and what is not, you can check out their humane guide. Beauty without Cruelty also promotes for going vegan. You could say Beauty without Cruelty is sort of like PETA. They are two different companies, but they are promoting the same thing: to go vegan. Pleas keep in mind though that PETA's and Beauty without Cruelty's standards to animal products are different. Beauty without Cruelty's slogan is "Working towards a cage free world.".
Beauty without Cruelty's bunny logo.
If you'd like to know more about Beauty without Cruelty, you can take a look at their website. You can also buy merchandise. I bought the Beauty without Cruelty bunny logo chain for my necklace and a t-shirt, and I have bought many other things as well, here is the website, as well as the "Beauty without Cruelty" human guide:
You can also stay in contact with Beauty without Cruelty on their Facebook and Twiiter page as well:

Overall, this year has been absolutely amazing! Like I have said countless times, my biggest highlight this year has been going to Walt Disney World, and also my 21st birthday!
I hope everyone else has had a wonderful year as well! May the year 2015 bring you even more hope's and dreams, and to also pursue your goals in life! You only live for a certain time, so make the most of your own life! With that I would like to leave you with some tips:
Do not stress about what the future holds, cherish each moment that is in the present, as I have heard Dawn from Pokemon, the Diamond and Pearl seasons, say "No Need to Worry". Lastly, be happy and stay positive about life, because good things come to those who wait and also to those who take their own steps and face their own challenges in reaching their goals in life.
Hope you all enjoyed 2014! Thank you to those who read this blog!!
Have an exciting and joyful in the brand New Year 2015!
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