Tuesday 30 December 2014

Windows 10 - News of it

So it seems Windows 8 operating system actually IS a failure, and i'm now finding out why.

Microsoft, the company behind Windows, recently announced that they would be releasing "Windows 10" (whatever happened to 9?) and it's not long coming after they launched Windows 8, which was supposed to change the way we used our computers.

Windows 8 is the operating system that has never been liked. It's appearance is not your typical "Windows" appearance, more based on what you'd expect from your mobile phone. The reason it didn't get loved is because when people buy Windows for a laptop or a computer, is that you don't want your mobile phone screen popping up infront of you. You want the little start button at the bottom left, you want shortcuts on your proper desktop, none of these "apps" and stuff. You want Windows to look like Windows and work better than expected, which it's a shame to say.... Windows 8 doesn't.

I recently started using my new laptop which has Windows 8 on it. As a platform, i'm not too keen on it. These app's can be a nightmare to use and most are pointless, some programs are impossible to shut down, meaning I always need my task manager open so as I can shut them down. It's too different from what I actually want from Windows, and while it's a shame it's like that... I cannot wait for Windows 10.

Windows 10 itself should be coming out in about March time of 2015 last time I heard. Let's hope they can make people fall in love with Windows again.

Monday 29 December 2014

Gay men and drugs.

This morning I logged in to Facebook to see that i'd been taken off my usual news feed (most recent) and put onto that one that shows you posts from ages ago. Oddly though, a post from a friend was the top one, which told of how a friend of their's had passed because of steroid use and how they'd been used to seeing his body which was always looking good.

This isn't a new thing though. I've been reading about "gay men and drugs" as a topic for quite some time now and I agree with my friend, this is a topic which we need to talk about more often, because it seems it is beginning to cost more lives than it is worth. So, does the gay community have a problem? Do we need a group booking for rehab?

The answer is a resounding.... no.... well.... most of us don't.

For the whole part, most gay people I have met will look after their body, but not be too bothered by it. Maybe spending a few hours a week at a gym, or doing some form of exercise, but it's not a way of life to be pumping muscle. I can see though that a large amount of gay people do. While this problem isn't specific to the gay community, I do feel that times need to change. Look at this video below.


This is a video which once again this Christmas did the rounds and i'll admit, as it was my first time watching this I was a bit like "phwor".

The problem with it though is that it falls foul of what many gay publications do. Ignoring what normal gay people look like and only showing you the "finest" that the gay community has to offer. We have people who look into the gay community, either doing some research or by way of trying to find acceptance of their own sexuality. These sorts of video's and posts, which speak volumes about how you need to be all muscles etc, are only going to cause damage as people begin to think that this is what the gay community is all about.

One way of course to get one of these "dream body's" is to begin looking at medication along with your daily/weekly visits to the gym. These items of medication are sold to you everywhere you look these days, and in very large quantities, and they tell you of how they can help you body to look better after a work out.

Question is, we look at these items, some people use these items, yet very few can name you all the stuff in the mixture and what each one does to your body. Infact many people refuse to accept that they can work out without using such items, but the truth is.... your body responds better to a good bit of exercise, than it does to any form of steroid.

Now of course we have covered there about people who look after their body a little bit too much and how they can be prone to heart attacks etc.... is that it? Is that the gay communities problem solved right there?

No.

Chem Sex.

Yip, you read it right, chem sex. I'm with you, I didn't know what it was until some of the gay media began to report on it. It is the use of chemicals, in sex. The most popular being "poppers". I'll admit, I have used poppers myself in the past, not for sexual stuff though, just because of the buzz it can give you while on a night out. It is perfectly legal and is available in newsagents and sex shops almost world over these days.


I think this video is perfect and sort of lets you in a little bit as to what is happening and the risks with this Chem Sex stuff.

Look, this post IS targeted towards the gay community, because it needs change.... but there again, so do all communities. Very few magazines, cat walks, fashion segments on tv etc.... very few of them show us "normal" people, what our bodies are like, how we can take care of ourselves without the need for drugs.... and who is talking about sex these days?

Instead of looking at a community, I think we need to look at the people and change our media, world over, to stop making people think that being skinny and having muscles is the most healthy way to live. We need to show people how to have protected sex... and above all... people, need, some, self, respect.

Tuesday 23 December 2014

Christmas 2014 and why i'm scared by it.

I should admit something here, infact, I think to close friends and family I have admitted that the past few christmas' haven't felt much like Christmas at all. I'd gotten to a point where I thought I'd lost the festive feeling, that it had been pushed back into the closet I once stepped out of and left in there to be gone forever. I'd enjoyed seeing others enjoy their Christmas and for some reason, the enjoyment they we're getting out of it made me reflect on my own lack of enthusiasm for the event.

I had enjoyed most looking at the Leffew family video's of their Christmas, once mine was all done with. I enjoyed seeing their video's from several points of view really. You have 2 fathers in their family who we're seeking enjoyment out of seeing their children being beyond happy with their presents, opening their gifts from Santa and sitting back to see their hard work pay off, I mean, let's be real for a moment here, who's heart can't that melt?

I had enjoyed seeing indeed their children, who I presume would have been like me, where the night before Christmas day is one of sleeplessness, too excited for hearing Santa's sleigh on the roof, hearing him creak around the house to nibble on his mince pie and drink the sherry. Unfortunatly for me, I was never awake when he came, but I believe some children have been! Seeing the Leffew video's of Daniel and Selina, still in their pj's going to open their presents and being amazed at what they had been given was melting my heart every year.


In 2014, my Christmas events are set to change, as has been the theme for my 2014 year. In little over a week after Christmas, i'll not be watching the Leffew family and their Christmas adventures, instead, i'll be in a pub in London with them, probably having mulled wine, trying to calm myself down, because meeting them is a huge deal for me.

It's also more different for me, because for the first time in my life, I'm in a relationship over Christmas. Little un-known fact here that I have never been in a relationship over any sort of event. Valentines, Christmas, Easter, even my birthday, I've always been single. As it is our first, I've wanted it to be as special as I can, while keeping up little promises over the years I have made. What sort of things? Well, me and my family kind of struck a deal that over the years, my nana has always done what she can for all of us, and as much as it pains us to admit the truth, we know one Christmas, she won't be there, so, we do what we can to make Christmas as special as we can for her. Lot's of presents, terrible jokes, party crackers, and most importantly, to make memories.

For my relationship point of view, it's the first one with my boyfriend. He's met my family who's coming to Christmas, he knows what we're like and I think he'll have a good time with us, but I want it to be special for him, and he, for me. It's one of them things that you have to get right, so as in years to come you can look back and say "Do you remember our first Christmas together" and use it as a comparison to how our lives have changed over the years, and yes, I'm looking at the long term with him, which is why I say this.

I won't go into his own reasons as to why he's not spending it with his own family, because that's his own story to tell, but rest assured, he'll be made to feel a part of my family.

I really do hope you all have a wonderful Christmas this year. My blog on Youtube, "life with Bev" is back next year and I hope you're all excited for it, I know I am! This has been a year of change and rants, I think by reading back on my posts you'll soon be able to agree on that! Wherever you are in the world, enjoy your time this Christmas. Enjoy your friends, family, food... whatever it is you have.

If you have been a regular reader of this blog this year, then I thank you for being on the journey with me. I can't wait to see what is in my future and I hope you'll stick with me for it.

Until 2015, thanks for everything....

Bev x

Friday 19 December 2014

Has school changed, or me?

I have on a few times, gone back to my school days on here and been trying to come to terms with some of the stuff that happened during my time in the education system.

One of the main problems I faced was to do with of course me opening up about my sexuality. It was difficult to understand what I had let myself in for when it came to my sexuality, because I didn't understand anything about this "gay community", I didn't have many people I could speak to without everything I said managing to be twisted and turned against me by those who didn't wish me well.

School, in essence, was terrible. I wasn't popular, I didn't feel loved and I was still developing a personality to speak of.

This was always still how I have perceived myself to be with all school children, to this day, well, I say to this day....

I was given the task of babysitting, well, not babysitting as such, more just looking after a teenager, who's mum is friends with my mum, while her parents went to see a show. I didn't mind, I know the girl well and I like spending time with her, because she's a little bit like I was in school, a little bit different, and not afraid to stand out.

It was quite early on in the evening and as I sat back with my beer and watched frozen, she told me about what her friends had said when they found out I was babysitting her.... and it was all good things!

See, I had been (in drag) at the family's Halloween party earlier this year, and granted, I was a little bit drunk, I was in charge of games and getting the kids shouting and jumping around etc. It seems that what has happened is that... I've become liked.

It strikes me that either my personality has changed, or, school children have, maybe both?

I think acceptance of LGBT people still isn't taught, but it is spoken about more at home, well it's bound to be isn't it? We've had same-sex marriage, press coverage about the still existant gay blood ban etc. Is it possible that gay people are finding better acceptance by younger people these days?

Is it down to me? I know I have changed a hell of a lot since school, I'm more confident, out going and not afraid anymore.

I'll leave it for you to decide, but I was just really happy with this!

Saturday 13 December 2014

Online Piracy - Police VS The Internet.

When i was growing up, piracy happened mainly on the radio, by people recording onto tape, the top 40 on a sunday afternoon and then giving copies of the tapes to a friend. Infact, my mum sent a tape over to some of my relatives in Canada, that they still have to this day and guess what... Un-paid music sharing... PIRACY!

In modern day terms of course though, Piracy online is seen as sharing downloadable files, such as games, music, pictures etc and it's a battle the police have been trying to battle for a while, but, failing to win at.

The most recent of these battles was against a website which has long been the target of the police and corporations from around the world. The news hit us all the other day that yet again, the popular download website "The Pirate Bay" had been taken offline and it's servers seized by police. Why? Well, while the pirate bay doesn't actually have anything on it you can download, it does sort of, hook you up with peoples computers which do hold these files, from which, you can then download the item, this is called a peer to peer service, so think of it as the pirate bay was the middle man, you'd tell them what you'd want and they'd see if they knew anyone who had it... to put it in really basic terms anyway.

What is more worrying about this, is that the police and corporations from around the world STILL believe that they can do battle with online piracy as we know it, and win. The truth is, they can't. They will tell us all of how many billions of dollars are lost per year by online piracy, and will sometimes go as far to claim that it causes damage to the industry... the truth is, it doesn't. The movie industry for example, is still worth billions and generates more profit than you'd think... yet they still moan about losing a VERY small percentage of their income to piracy, something along the lines of about 2% of their income.

The truth of the matter is, it doesn't matter how many website's come down, online piracy is going strong. For every website that comes down, theres another 3 popping up in its place. What the movies industry should be doing, along with other industrys, is to work with the piracy industry and make changes!!!!

So, farewell for a while my piratebay friend, you've been amazing and I'm sure the one remaining creator of you that isn't in prison will have you back up and running soon.

The truth about Sian.

People who know me well, know that i'm almost in a heterosexual relationship, infact no, more, marriage... because we don't do sex with each other, plenty with other's though... besides the point...

Anyway. She's the grace to my will, she is the linda to my tom, the pasty to my edina... she is... Sian.


Now, not many friends could sing that to each other and still be able to say they have a good friendship, yet, we do... and we can truely mean each of those lyrics to each other, it is crazy, but it's what we've both become used to. So... where did all of this begin.

Well, back in 2000 and something, i started a job at my local KFC. Hardly the most glam job to be doing, but it was a complete change and i was happy to be doing it. I remember not long after i started i was on a shift one night and the member of staff saying how it was one of the other staff members parties and how they were going to go once we'd finished and that i could come along. At this point in my job i was abit kind of.... affraid to fart still, so, i didn't want to go really, because who else would i know?

Over the next few months i of course started to let my guard down to people i was working with, during the more quiet times we'd all stand around and have abit of a natter about stuff and i got talking to one of the girls in there. For some really odd reason, we ended up going to a party together, and i don't think i'm wrong when i say this, but neither of us can remember what was said for us to both end up going together, considering at that time, we'd only really spoken in work, and that wasn't loads.

Anyway, we went and i discoverd that SOMEONE had never been drunk before, so of course, Bev's mission for the night.... get Sian pissed. To my glory... i managed it. We actually had a really good night and if memory serves me right, it's from that moment on that we started to hit it off as friends.

Over the next year-ish, we became closer and closer as friends and began meeting up outside of work on an almost regular basis. Nights out, nights at my mums getting told to stop talking as loud... you name it, we did it. It carried on like that until Sian had to leave her job and go off to uni.... in Bangor, Wales. I'll admit, i was abit gutted about it, although i didn't say so at the time, it was abit like.... we've built up this friendship and now it's going to fizzle out to nothing.

Off she went to uni and i went on with life as usual, only we'd spend most of our time talking about utter shite on the phone or skype for about 3 or 4 hours at a time... infact, come to think of it, yes, Sian did indeed used to fall asleep on skype to me. I'm not even THAT boring!!!! Then of course came the day i had my meeting in KFC. The manager of the store at the time, joseph, had never liked me and had found a way he could get rid of me, so we all knew what was happening, but formalities are as such, so i had to go into the store early and have this "meeting" which resulted in my "contract being terminated". I wasn't too botherd by it all if i'm honest, but of course the night before Sian had reserved the first phone call by me, to be the first one i told and said "i'll be really upset if you get sacked". I called and i remember she was on her way to lecture and had to take the day off because she was upset over me no longer working in KFC.

We carried on talking over the next week and i'd not seen her at this point from when she left for uni (if i remember rightly). So 7pm came on the day i recieved my final pay cheque from KFC and i was on the phone to Sian who said something about being in Bangor for the weekend. I don't know what it was that made me go, but i did. I jumped on the bus, the train, another train... and at about half 12 that night, i rolled into Bangor station and there was Sian to meet me.... and we even managed a few hours clubbing that night before going to bed too! That was a really good weekend too, just, unplanned, laid back (minus the 12 mile hike she took me on), but just... perfect.

The following january and i treated Sian to a sort of my Bangor trip, to the gay village in manchester. We met up with some friends of mine and had a really good few days and nights... even made it onto tv too!!!


Since then of couse, i've spent my time out of work, i've been on my own journey's too, moving house, family arguments, operations, romances... you name it and at the end of the phone or by my side, Sian's been there.

Don't get me wrong, we do have our own love and hate thing going on. We'll spend tonnes of time arguing and falling out over the most silly of things, but our (now spoken) rule of thumb is, doesn't matter if we're talking or not, if something is up, call the other one. Besides, we'll always make it up anyway in the end.

Personally, i don't think Sian knows the impact she has on other people. She spends too much time on the phone to me saying "I feel like i'm always moaning" or something along those lines, but the truth is, she could moan all that she wanted.... i'd still be there to listen. She has very little idea about the nice thing's she does for others, which she might have forgotten about and thought others had forgotten about, but, we don't.

Like the time she thought i might need some extra money on my way home from bangor, so slipped me a few extra quid to make sure i got home ok. The time's i've been feeling down and she's gone to mcdonalds and KFC to get us some food, so we can just chill out, watch some crap and have a natter. The times when she's been upto her eyes in uni related work, but still makes time to listen to me, or just let me ramble on about shite and then say 5 minutes later "sorry, what did you say, i wasn't listening".

Thing is, i'm writing this in june, the week before my birthday. This won't be coming out until december 13th (Sian's birthday), and i know she'll be reading this. There may even be tears (although that might be her reaction to my spelling, it normally is). So...

Sian, happy birthday. You've no idea how much you mean to me and you know i love you with all of my heart (Is this where i propose?). It's been a long journey has our friendship, it's had more ups and down's than a pair of saggy boobs during a marathon, but, i know no other way of saying this, so.... take it away freddy....


Wednesday 3 December 2014

A health scare?

Well, yesterday I was at the doctors because last week I had some blood tests done (Yes eww, and yes I felt it) and the results had come back in.... but it wasn't all good news.

See for me, my Cholesterol level was showing as normal, but high... yeah, that's what I thought too. I met with the dietitian at my GP's who went through the results with me. I never knew that there was different type's of cholesterol, some are good and some are bad.

Now the good ones, are all as they should be, below the limit's set out for whats good for you, but one, which is the bad one that's known to be bad for your heart, is over.... by quite a lot.

The limit is set out at a 1.7 score, mine, was 3.0.

Now, although this ISN'T a huge problem, it is a wake-up to me that I need to be taking better care of my health. I managed to get a free membership to a gym out of this, which I'm made up about. My weight has been climbing for some time recently, and it is something I'm going to be working on.

Ideally I'd love to get my weight back down from the 17 stone it is at the moment, down to about 12. I used to love being skinny years ago, even when people were asking "are you eating properly", it felt good to me... thank god for vanity issues hey!

In closing, it's not a health scare as such, more just a wake up call for me to take action on this issue. I have tests to do this time next year to see if my levels are on the way down, or already down... so, diet beginning in 3,2...

Food in my life.

This may sound like a strange topic to do a blog post on, and you'd be right, it is. Only recently have I had to look at my health and the role that food plays in it (namely, all of it).

I had what some people would call a "health alert" last week, which is a blog post for on here, in progress at the moment. In brief, it was my cholesterol levels were normal over all, apart from one, which is the bad kind, known to clog up the veins to your heart and kill you... so no pressure to lose weight their at all really is there... fml!

Anyways, I was out shopping with my boyfriend before and with the changes that have happened at home recently, ie, getting an oven, I'm now able to actually cook properly, for the first time in years! I actually do preffer home cooked food. Sure, it takes a little longer than your average wait time at mcdonalds, but it fills you up for longer and actually, is a way to let a little bit of creativeness out!

I'm not set against cooking, per say, I just can't cook amazingly well, but the things that I can do well, I do really well, and other people will often comment about this. I'm always trying new things too, and telling others what I did to get some nice things on the go!


Over all, I'm still learning to cook, but only because I have to. I never really learned much in school if im honest with you, the hour and 10 minute long lessons we had once a week were just long enough to cover how to pour a can of cherries into a dish, cover in crumbs, stick it in the oven, clean up and then take it out, be amazed, get it in the fridge and go onto the next lesson... not really the stuff that is going to be sticking in one's memory for years to come.

This time while learning to cook, I really am going back to basics with food. The cook-books I'm using have been in my family for years and I can tell they're good if generations of the family are all able to say "It's bloody good food". For example, I made a cheesecake a few weeks ago, which is out of a cook-book almost 20 years old. Now granted, the recipe won't have changed that much, but I have looked online about how to do it and omg.... the variations are incredible and I like to think my old school style of cooking is going to get me back to some sort of health where I can say I'm not too skinny, fat, thin, dying... just, right.

My cooking skills, I'm pleased to say, seem to be shared by others around the world. Bryan from youtube's Gay Family Values channel is a bit like me. Can cook a good meal more than once, but wouldn't have a clue what to do if someone said "Make me a puff pastry, cheese omlette" for example, I think the pair of us would both look at our kitchen's and think.... "What the hell is one of them?". It's not to say WHY we're like that, but it is fair to say, we're both learning new things, for example, I want to try doing what Bryan got to do a few weeks ago (minus the kitchen fire).....



I suppose the next question really would be... Do you ever stop learning, when it comes to cooking? No need to worry though, that really is another post for the next time I'm bored at ten to 3 in the morning as it is now.

In closing though, I cannot explain how happy I am to be doing proper "home cooked" food. Living for almost 3 years with only basic appliances does mean you have to change what you eat and how you cook it, but now, with my full sized oven... the world is my oyster!

.... and no, I won't be doing them anytime soon, I have a habbit of giving myself food poisioning!

Tuesday 2 December 2014

Actually angry... about the homeless!

This post shouldn't be judged on it's title, nor will it be a long post, but I heard something before that both pissed me off and scared me.

An advert played on the radio and it said something along the lines of...

"This winter you'll see homeless on the street, many of these people have alcohol and drug addictions, so don't give them money, instead, give money to a charity".

It is at this point I stopped listening because I was utterly pissed off with what I'd just heard.

Problems with that?

It isn't true to say that most people who are homeless have drug and drink problems, it's simply un-founded and not true. You can ALWAYS give them food, drinks, blankets, clothing.... anything you can give them to help them.... do it!

If you give to a charity, chances are, your donations will be swallowed up by "admin fee's", known in some charity cases to take about 40% of the income to the charity... and thus, no, I don't donate.

In summery, we're going into winter, these are harsh times even for those with homes. Last year over 18,000 elderly died in the winter because they were cold and couldn't afford the cost of living, but these had homes. We need to care not only for ourselves, but others too, at this time of year.

So DO NOT listen to adverts like the one I have mentioned. I will be forwarding a complaint to the ASA (Advertising Standards Agency) over this, and I will try to update if I can :)

** UPDATE 6/12/14 **

Today I have received an email from the radio station I thought I heard it on, turns out I was correct! Their email reads as....

thank you for your enquiry via our website, it's much appreciated. Apologies for my delay in getting back to you, I have been away from the office.
I believe the commercial that you refer to is part of the Liverpool City Council 'CitySafe' campaign.
This is the 2nd year that this message has run on our stations, and is part of a wider 'social responsibility' message that the Council is keen to make our audience aware of.
The website referred to in the ad' is  - www.yourkindnesscouldkill.org.uk - hopefully this should give you all the information that you're looking to find.
If you have any further questions, please contact me on this address.

Best regards,
 
As you can see, they know which advert I'm on about, by just a brief description (it really is like no other advert).

It seems the scheme is being ran by Liverpool City Council, who seem to be behind a push on trying to make people assume that all drugs are bad, which is why they're banned and that it's the poorest of society who are having problems with drug and alcohol. Unfortunatley for them, I've delt with the Department of Work and Pensions too much for me to be able to believe the utter bullshit.

I won't be letting this just fall to nothing, this really could cost lives.

Wednesday 26 November 2014

Ferguson.

What a crazy time to be living in Ferguson hey! Luckily, I don't, because it's an area that has decended into chaos, and yet everybody has a different point of view on what is happening, and why it's happening.

We know from the outset of this case that an un-armed black man was shot dead by a police man, who was white. This is all as we know for sure, because everything that has happened since, is subject to opinion and lies, but on what side?

The police claim that there was an altercation at the police man's car, they claim this is why the officer shot the man several times. Other police only arrived on the incident scene once everything had happened and it was too late to stop the incident from progressing into a death. The police claim that the man they shot was a theif, and they even issued a video from a store where you can allegedly see the man robbing items, only, as a friend pointed out to me, you can see him making payment for the items. No complaint was ever made to the police about the incident itself.

That video should, by police accounts, show you a robbery in action. If this is the case, why does the store clerk only walk around the counter to him, after the alleged incident had taken place. Why was somebody else able to pay at the counter, because I don't know about you, but if I'm in a shop that is being robbed, I'm straight outta that store! This to me, looks like nothing more than just him being in the shop, buying something and leaving.

It's also funny that the police released this video before they released the name of the police man who's blood is now wanted by so many.

For me, this case does stink of racism. Infact it's not actually rare to find police being racist in this area at all, with a number of incidents similar to this having happened in the area over the years. You cannot be too surprised to find out that the police force for the area then, has only 5 police officers who are not white.

Now let's look at how the police reacted to these protests. Anybody notice that the police uniform was replaced with an army type uniform? That's right, because it was. All along this case the police have been too heavy handed, which signals to me.... they have something to hide here. This isn't the police wanting to restore calm and order at all, this is them wanting a fight, why else would they begin to impersonate the army?

It's now looking as if a 3rd night of riots are on the way after the police man in question was declaired innocent in this incident, something which may also prove that... racism is still supported by the legal system.

Now, the other side, have they lied?

Why was it so easy for the police to paint this man as a bad character and why have they needed to act so harsh? Why has there been buildings set on fire and looting? While I cannot find lies that have been put out by this side, I can see anger that isn't being managed well. Look, if this case is a real racism case, burning buildings and robbery is NOT the way to make your voices heard, infact, if anything, it's only going to bring out what many racists think anyway, in showing that black people are out robbing... which of course we all know, isn't the case.

Protest by all means, you have my full support for it. Fill the streets with voices, make your voices heard and don't stop until you get the justice you need, and let's see if we can't properly get this case sorted.

Friday 14 November 2014

Camelot theme park - the future!

I say the future, but I refer to something which literally hang's in the balance like the remains of the "Knightmare" roller coaster left on the site. Infact, Knightmare is quite a good way to sum up what the site is to it's current owners, Story Homes.

Story homes have owned the site for quite some time, and even operated the site as Camelot theme park, but it's view has always been to close the theme park and build homes. They used the 2012 season as an excuse to close the site as it was quiet, but what do you expect when the advertising budget expended to a new banner at the front of the site, advertising the new look website.... which hadn't changed much at all to be fair.

The main part of the Knightmare came in 2014, August, when the local council refused plans to turn the site into a large housing development. Their reasons for doing so is that the site should remain as basically, a place for tourists to go. Now, this news oddly doesn't feature at all on the home page or the news page of the Story Homes website... Click here to see it...

It also follows a large campaign by local people to stop the site being turned into homes.

So what is the future for the site?

As it currently stands, the only viable future is for a company to buy the site and re-generate and possibly open up as Camelot Theme Park. If invested in enough, the park CAN work and become profitable again, the fault with the previous version of Camelot was that it didn't receive the much needed investment, so people stopped going. The idea of the site being housing has always been a silly idea and still is.

There will be updates on this, so follow the Life With Bev blogger!

Thursday 30 October 2014

Why bother to vote?

This post is mainly written because in 2015 the UK will all go to vote on the election which will decide who will be next to run the country (well, to a certain extent anyway). A number of people have said to me that they won't be voting in this coming election because of ______ reason. This is just a small post to try and boost them into making a vote, for whichever party it will be.

The main reason I want people to vote is because the UK people NEED their voices to be heard for once, we need to shout out if we're not happy. If you've ever for a second thought "The price of petrol is too high" "I should be getting a better wage" "Why aren't there more creative ways of generating electricity which will be better for the environment" etc... then you NEED to vote as these are political issues.

Don't get me wrong, I can see exactly WHY these people wouldn't want to vote, because I've been in their shoes before. Just taking it for granted that the right thing will change eventually, that somebody in the government will spot the mistakes and fix them.... but you really can only go on thinking like that for so long, before something inside you makes you get out and vote.

I should also mention at this point that this ISN'T a post of WHO to vote for, this is a simple WHY you should vote. It is clear through previous (and probably future) posts exactly who I will vote for and why, but remember, I have my own reasons for voting for them, and you should have your own reasons for voting for whoever you do.

Risks we face at the current time then....

Ok well, the Economy. I know, boooooring issue, but it's true, the economy hasn't been handled well. While on paper we might be X amount of pounds better off, if you do a little digging, you'll see that we have borrowed that money to clear the debt.... so we're still in debt. The economy really isn't miles off what would be called a "Tripple/quad dip recession". Now IF this happened, we're all screwed (unless you're rich that is). IF we went back futher in to recession then we would have massive problems and money would get tight for us all, even more than it has done in the past. If you think that you deserve a better pay packet and that the cost of living should come down... then you need to vote.

Another thing? Energy. Yip, a recent news story came out recently that a little Island just off Australia managed either a weekend or a week, using only renewable energy. Don't get me wrong, they had the oil to go as a back up, but they didn't need it. Germany is doing all it can to use more renewable energy and the UK.... well... we're not really doing much are we. Infact, some survey's and leaked reports have suggested that the government has all but scrapped it's plans for renewable energy investment, instead it's now trying to do more fracking, which loosens up the land and WILL cause a lot of damage and deaths for years to come IF they can do as much as they want to. If you want a better tomorrow, we have to look at what we're doing today. VOTE.

Politics effects 99% of things these days, things you wouldn't even think about, but once you know about them and what is happening, you too will want change to come. Too many laws get past without a vote from the general public (remember the slogan, we're all in this together, well, we're not), too much goes on without us knowing. Why does it take a couple to abduct their own child before we get funding for the NHS to begin being able to do better cancer treatment?

You will eventually find your reason to vote, this post probably hasn't done anything to persuade your mind, but, you have a political voice. Use it.

Sunday 12 October 2014

Wigan, never again! (Ft Lime Bar, Mortimers)

How times have changed when I can now sit here and say I'd never care again to go on a night out to wigan.

Many years ago, Wigan's nightlife used to be among the best in the UK. Full of variety and fun, it really was a place that had something for everyone! Wigan Pier nightspot was once the UK's largest bounce club. Jumpin' Jaks really was the best party in town, Liquid would have you on it's weird shaped dance floor within a few minutes of you going in and the hub was your late night r'n'b venue that could keep you going until the sun began to rise.

These days, everything has changed, and it's not for the better, as I found out first hand, why, last night.

Friday 10/10/14 and a friend of mine invited me along for a few drinks in Wigan town center. We arrived via taxi at Wigan Wallgate train station, which of a night turn's into every out of town taxi firm's pick up and drop off point. We walked up with the other girls and some decided that they needed the cash machine at the post office. 2 of us said about how we needed the toilet and we're walking past "Lime Bar", which yes, used to be Baa Bar, but since they pulled out of wigan, a firm took over the venue, sold off half the building and basically imitated Baa Bar plc. It's easy to see why they only had in a hand full of customers at the time, as we were shouted at by the doorman, that this venue was not a public toilet and we should continue to wherever it is we were going.

His general attitude basically summed up wigan in one... "we don't want your custom".

That incident btw, has now been reported to Wigan council, SIA and the bar in question. It will be investigated and I should hope, delt with, because it is not acceptable.

A short walk down onto King street, which is wigan's main night-life strip, and you'll soon see how the "life" has left the "night" there. Many bar's are now closed on a regular basis, and those that are open have had to cut their losses and put on offers to try and get people to go inside and spend money. You'll not only find out about them, but as is in our case, be stalked by their promotion staff, who will literally not stop hounding you on the street.

So what is open on king street and what do I think of them?

Reflex - Once an 80's themed bar, these days you will find they will play any sort of music out of their half working sound system, and try to take you back to the 80's, with the 3 remaining disco lights that actually work. It's rarely clean and they don't really do any amazing drinks offers, so why anybody would like to go in there, is passed me.

The Berekly - It's your typical pub, food is available and I must admit, the food is, and always has been quite good. IF they have any entertainments on, it's your typical DJ who was available low-cost and who has a joy in playing all of abba's greatest hits. Drinks wise, again, it's your typical pub. It's clean though and you can often have an enjoyable night in there.

Ibiza Bar - Recently in the news itself having been found guilty of watering down it's drinks, this is now one of Wigan's low points. It's music might be still old and cheesie, but so is the dirty décor and even more dirty attitude you can expect to receive off the staff.

Maloney's - Well, i'll be honest, I've never actually seen why this is sold to the public as an American/irish themed bar, because nothing of their clubland music or drinks, manages to join in with the dark décor of the venue. It's toilets are often crowded and yes, that will be a puddle from the over-flowing toilet, or where it's coked-up customers just couldn't be bothered to actually aim at the toilet. Downstairs has various levels, meaning that after a few drinks, you can sit back and enjoy the view as a number of people per night will trip over and injure themselves. It's smelly, loud, expensive and in my opinion, a living hell bar.

Jaks - Once billed as "the best party in town", I'd rather they took that sign down, because it's false advertising. This did indeed used to be Luminair leisure's "Jumpin' Jaks" bar, but these days, after several years of no cleaning and no re-furbishment, you can be assured that their crappy music and false drink offers, will have you angry, before you get drunk, or even served at one of the club's 3, understaffed and often closed, bar's.

Mortimers - This is as it always has been, a pub, that likes to think it can party. There's not much that really can be said about it to be honest. It has odd decoration, a lot of wasted space, it's dimley lit and has a lot of un-used and damaged sound and lighting equipment. This is one of them bars that will put on silly offers to try and get people to go in, rather than be reasonably priced and offer good entertainment.

Revolution - Yes, the copy of Baa Bar is still going strong in wigan (although Christ knows exactly how). While it's drinks are VERY creative and VERY nice, the price will mean you're either going home sober in your taxi, or, you're walking, pissed. Entertainment wise, it's nothing special. They might stick a good DJ on every now and then, but that's about as good as it gets.

The Hub - Only open of a night or weekend now, the hub used to be open as a pub during the day, showing all sports matches, serving food etc... but that side of the business has been cut right back and although they have now moved the DJ box to where the 2nd bar used to be (still is, but it never gets used), it's still not a really amazing place to be. It's lighting system is made up of various parts, some of which are new, but oddly placed and not really able to add to a good lighting show. It's "drinks offers" only bring the prices to just slightly above what you'd expect to pay anyway, and from a technical point of view, it's sound system still needs updating and fixing up.

Libertines - Now I always get confused, if I remember rightly, this was Chicago rocks... was. A while ago now the firm pulled out of the venue, due to increasing costs and lower than expected custom. This bar now is never a "nice" place to be if I'm honest. Last time I visited, the club's drainage had been having problems, so much of the building actually smelled like rotten shit and in my opinion, shouldn't have been open to the public. No sound or lighting has been recently updated, infact, nothing has changed about the venue at all.

There is a few other venues, including what used to be liquid - Now kept closed apart from the odd event here and there, where attendance is VERY low and the business won't be open much longer, and I'm confused as to why anybody bought it knowing how much the outgoings are (business rates etc). There's also a "gents" club along the street, which I won't be going into, as it's sign outside is saying how they're "always looking for female dancers", so yeah, it's going to be one of them grubby venues that possibly hire's hookers to service paying men's needs.

Anyway, all them, along with a growing number of closed kebab houses, makes for a pretty dismal atmosphere and image. We proceeded (stalked by libertines promo staff) into Mortimers bar, where their offer was 3 for one on ALL drinks. Yes, 3 pints of beer, for the price of one... and yes, you guessed it, the cost of the pint is only slightly higher than what you would expect to pay in the first place.... so it wouldn't be supprising to me to find out that their drinks were watered down, because after 6 pints of beer and 2 shots... I wasn't even feeling tipsy!

In the beer garden I was hounded by people who were wanting me to give them cigarettes or buy their fake branded one's which the person also claimed that he sold them to the security staff at the venue, which is less suprising when you look at the activities of the door staff, who spent more time watching the girls dance on the poles, or talking to random people, than actually looking at what the other customers were doing, which involved mass-drug taking in the toilets and over-crowding of the smoking balcony at the back. When you were on the dance floor you could experience the dodgy wiring of the sound system in full effect, that would often mean the dance floor area of the sound system was often not working and the lights, while most worked, you could tell that a lot of the LED's needed to be replaced.

After 6 drinks, we decided to move onto another popular venue, Bamboogy. Bamboogy is actually what happens when a struggling bar is taken over by owners who understand the market and react to it. I have never seen this venue left dirty, I've never seen broken lights, I've seen some good offers on at the bar, but you can easily see the profit margins on their drinks (if you know about that kind of thing) and you can see that profits from the venue are pumped back into it. I didn't enjoy my time in there though, but that was because of my general mood by this point. I'd had enough of wigan, and I just wanted to go home.

So there you basically have it. I am left feeling like I don't want to return to the failing nightlife scene and don't think i'll bother worrying now when I see that certain bars and venues are closing down again.

Friday 3 October 2014

The IS manage to bring out Ignorance in people yet again....

Tonight, we're all given the news that it looks like IS have beheaded another hostage. This time it's Alan, who was an aid worker when he was taken hostage. I'd like to state right here and now that I of course do not condone his death at all and feel it very sad that his life has had to end over such a pathetic cause.

That said, tonight's twitter and facebook has shown how yet again, people think it is just us being hard done by. Its like when on social media you post something about 9/11, you'll soon get people shouting the odd's off about how so many thousand people lost their lives on that day... yet almost everybody forgets to mention the almost half a million people that the US and UK have murderd in places like Iraq, as we seek to "end terrorism", which, well, that campaign is going well isn't it.

You see, it's funny to me that for years now, we've had our troops in Afghanistan, with a speech once or twice a year, in which the UK's prime minister or America's president will say about bringing the troops home, and that's all it took really, they didn't have to do much else, people would just be happy to hear that, but not follow it through.... well, minus a few people. So our troops are kept out there and with no sign of actually coming home and out comes a new threat to us.... the "Islamic State". I use them marks around it's name, because I personally refuse to call it Islamic State, since nothing of their actions represent Islam, like, in the slightest.

It's clever though, i'll give them that, because our governments can now panic people about how there's this new threat... even better than that, it's built upon pre-existing fears, since we're all still to believe that it was these muslim terrorists that brought down the twin towers! Only, as we've already gone through on this blog, I've reason, infact, we've all reason to believe that it wasn't, but back to the main story here.

Tonight's killing isn't the first by IS and I can already confirm to you that it will not be their last either. However, do we forget that America has "gone back" into Afghanistan, with their explotions already killing people in their hundreds and soon to be thousands. Do we forget that the UK parliament has voted to take direct action, meaning, we've now fresh blood on our hands too.

Now of course some fools would dare to argue that these innocent people will need to die in order to prevent terrorism, do they? The innocent have to die do they... Riiight, ok, well, let's just hope that the next time theres a terrorist plot having been found in your country, that you and your family aren't blown to pieces during the night, you know, in order to prevent terrorism from spreading.

So tonight, people are of course going to make their voices heard, in that the killing of this british aid worker should never have happened and how bad the situation must be over there, but, are you aware at the same time that in places like Afghanistan, we are the terrorists. We really are, we're the one bringing buildings down, murdering innocent people, destroying lives and for what?

Oil, in my opinion.

So, when you see in future that IS has claimed another life, just remember, they've got a lot more killings to carry out before they get to the same number that we've killed.

Wednesday 24 September 2014

Life With Bev video's are back!!!

So, it may come to some, as a bit of a surprise that my video version of this written blog IS now ready to make a return... but not just yet...

In short, yes, the video blog is back and is actually going to be getting off to a BIG start, in an episode where I'm going to get to meet the Leffew family. Yes, gay family values / depfox, my gay community idols, I'm getting to meet them! I can hardly wait myself!

The only problems that I'm having in making the video's is that basically, it's taking me FOREVER to make one video at a time. Put it this way, to make a 9 minute HD video for one of the episodes, it took over 14 hours for the editing programme to complete its actions, and even then, it missed off the visuals for the titles in the video... so yeah, it's not great.

What's this about meeting up with Depfox then?

Well, yeah, they're coming over to the UK and as soon as I found out about this, I was straight away messaging Jay asking if we could all meet up, and he said yes!!! The plans, as of yet, are abit sketchy, because of course, I won't be the only one who wants to meet them. Jay's suggested going out for a meal, which I'm all up for doing, so we'll just have to see closer to the time! But I could not be more happy to be able to say.... I'm going to meet them!!!

Now, will they appear in the video with me, you may ask? Well, it's abit up in the air, until everyone knows what they're doing, then I'm not sure if they'd want a camera shoved in their face, because let's face it, they're on holiday, would YOU want a camera shoved in your face while you were on holiday? Probably not, so, who knows! Although I'm getting pictures! That's my diva demand! haha.

So, in short, life with bev, the video's are back on, the launch date for the first episode back is going to be the 7th of Jan 2015 at 10am, GMT.

Monday 22 September 2014

A love deal already????

Some of my followers on social media will now probably be aware that yes, I am indeed in a relationship. It's been just over a month of actual relationship, after about 2/3 weeks of meeting up and that was after months of talking online. Tonight, something happened in my mind that made me sure of how I feel about him and I kind of want to explain it to you, more so I can make sense of it myself (writing things down often helps me get my thoughts right).

Basically, I was working behind a bar in a members lounge, it was a quiet night with hardly anything to do and next to nobody to serv. About 9pm and in walks a man and his... well, I presume dad, but I couldn't be sure... an older gentleman anyway. Anyways, so they both order their pints and I got a look at the younger guy, probably about, what, 28 ish, piercing blue eyes, short dark hair, a small amount of stubble and for a while I was stood there thinking "hmm, he's actually not that bad looking". As soon as them thoughts began to enter my head, I remembered my boyfriend. I could actually imagine what he looks like when he first wakes up, which is when I find him just adorable... and usually makes me want to jump on top of him for hugs and a big "awwwww, you're soooo cute of a morning", said with my vile morning breath.

Now before I met my boyfriend, the thoughts would have been with me for a while longer about how good looking the guy in the bar was, but now, I find my thoughts drowned out by images of my boyfriend, and when that begins to happen, I feel a sort of, sadness, because he's not there with me, and I'd love for him to always be with me.

Granted, it's still early on in the relationship, and of course nobody is here to say that the relationship im in is going to be around forever, but, I know what it feels like to be in love and I think... wait, know, this is it.

It's scary though because usually I am very held back with my emotions, infact it has been said in the past that it's easier to get emotion from a stone, than it is from me, but that's because I don't like to commit to certain feelings unless I'm sure they're there, and when I'm sure they're there, they're there to stay.

With my boyfriend I am looking forward to the future, were taking things as slow as we can, because we both know that if you rush into things, chances are, you're going to rush back out, but it's been long enough for me to get to know his personality. We've only been meeting up a short while, but already I feel like I've known him a life time, and it's feelings like that which make me think.... this is love.

Thursday 18 September 2014

Can a failing NHS be saved?

For readers outside of the UK, this refers to the UK's National Health Service, or, NHS for short. Over recent times it's become more clear of how services are being carried out over-budget, but with nobody able to identify exactly where the money is being wasted.

It could simply be a case, as is in my personal opinion, that the NHS is being cash starved, so eventually it will be "saved" when it is sold onto private firms, to carry on delivering a service.

It's a very sad thing at the moment, how the NHS is being seen. Only 2 weeks ago I was in a hospital with a relative, and able to see myself the dedication that the staff have. We were at the Aintree hospital, Aka, Fazakerly hospital. We arrived at about 3 ish if I remember correctly, and from the moment we were in the hospital, not one member of staff could have been more polite, nor done enough for us. It was actually a massive thing for me to see, because it made me, as an outsider of the NHS, want to fight to keep the NHS alive, and of course, get it's staff better treatment (IE, better pay and better working conditions). Everybody from the woman who came round with free food and drink, to the Dr's, who's bleepers kept going off telling them of major trauma cases coming into the hospital, made all people feel that the patients health was number one, at all times.

Don't get me wrong, there's a few thing's Id change, like a patient wouldn't be moved wards past say, 9pm, or something like that, because being woken up in the middle of the night and either moved or discharged from the hospital, is not a good thing, that said, I'm sure those rules are not created by the doctors and nurses who have to carry out the work.

The question of this blog post is, can the NHS be saved, or is it too late?

Firstly, we need to identify where the money is going.

Granted, there's been (in my opinion) some VERY foolish spending on the part of the NHS. For example, I don't think breast enhancements should have ever been available, for anybody. I do believe that the way the management has been set up within the NHS has been wrong in the past, and in some area's, still is, and as we all know, managers in the NHS do not come cheap! Yet there's been reports of some workers in the NHS having 3 managers at the same time.... well WTF? Who decided that any role, would require 3 managers, at any time?

There's MANY rumours going around about where the money is being wasted, but if you speak to any employee of the NHS, either past or present, they will all have their own view, and the reason's are vast, but do seem to make sense... but all have one thing in common... Their idea's, if spoken about, fall onto deaf ears, somewhere along the line. THIS is where the money is being wasted. Look, the NHS has some of the most talented dr's and nurses in the world and they really could change the NHS for the better.... if only somebody was listening to them. Don't get me wrong, many are signed up to union's, but they only seem to deal with the pay, work environment and a little about the future, but even their suggestions are falling on deaf ears.

Secondly, we need to look at the NHS budgets themselves. As we know, over recent years, the UK has seen ALOT of new people coming into the country, and of course over time, these people are going to require health care, be it a simple check-up at the Dr's, or a full on session at A&E because of an emergency, so, have the budgets been increased in order to deal with this new demand? By how much have they been increased or decreased?

Finally, I will say, the NHS DOES have a future, but it needs people's idea's to be listened to and a governing body that will act upon idea's and not just push them to one side. It needs support.

So my message on all of this is, if you see any NHS petition's, look into it and sign it, we need more people to begin screaming to save the NHS. We have a wonderful thing, lets not let it go to waste here.

Saturday 30 August 2014

Taking on "Britan First".

In my own little battle against modern day racism and extremism, I like to keep an eye on who or what is the cause of it. It was at one time a joined battle of the BNP (British National Party) which has since folded and the EDL (English Defence League) which as with the BNP, has folded.

They're not completely gone however. Literally over night these two forces came together to create "Britan First", which to the outsider may well seem like a possible political group, is actually these days one of the most racist groups you can find, with their actions being along the lines of those of the KKK in America, which yes, is still going strong to this day.

So what is Britan First?

Britan first has a fairly strong hold on social media, especially facebook, where they would upload pictures for people to share, these could literally be about anything, but it was getting the name out there and of course people agreeing with what the group was saying. Then, as they grew in numbers, the group began to show exactly what they were about. Standing up against immigration in full, saying that it is standing against terrorism and extremism, without realizing the irony that their own actions cause terror and are indeed extreme.

Britan first does NOT want to put britan first, it wants to put forward its own version of bigotry forward, first.

So what am I doing?

I'm taking my time to try and educate people on what britan first actually is, what it stands for, who its members are and what they are up to. They seem to say one thing, but then do another, which I guess they learned from the EDL, who would kick off because a poppy was burned on memorial day, but then at the memorial services of the first world war, they had several members urinating on memorials.... Yeah, that kind of thing.

On social media it is hard to push forward the education of who this is, unless you have a better platform than I do, so, who can tell you?

Hope Not Hate is a social media collection of people who aren't afraid to point to racist people and say "Shh". Almost daily, you can find them posting something about britan first, and to be fair, the news they post signals to me, that it is a group that is full of trouble makers, but will never really get anywhere, and as with the BNP and EDL, it will fizzle out as time goes by. If for any reason I say this, it's because the group are already in boiling hot water, for their use of the royal crown, without consent (which yes, is still a crime in the uk). Government bodys are now involved and action is soon to be brought about against the leaders of the group, should they (which they will) fail to co-operate.

You can click here to be taken to the Hope Not Hate twitter account.

To finish off, IF you see anything by britan first on your facebook, or twitter, use that space to educate people that storming a mosque during prayers is classed as an extremist action and that britan first is supposed to be against extremist actions. Educate people that the level of immigration into the UK is not the reason why the country is in debt, or got into debt, or why there seems to be so few jobs around. Use the space to educate people that they should look into what actual Islam is, instead of being afraid of the unknown, that muslims do not hate dogs, that they are peaceful people and that most importantly, most muslims do not support things like the Islamic state.

Monday 25 August 2014

Missed the point of Pride.

Recently Manchester celebrated it's annual pride event (it's always held over the bank holiday in august) and I've seen thousands of pictures and video's from it, but I can't help but think... most people who went have missed the whole point of us having a pride event.

What IS gay pride then?

There's several reasons why the gay community holds a pride event, anywhere in the world. It's to feel united for once, to take stock over the progress towards equality and what's happened in the past year, it's to get our brains thinking about what we need to do next in order to gain equality, it's a time to take a reflection about what has happened to the community over the past, it's to inspire.

Tonight, on the Monday, the pride will close and as always, it's a candle lit vigil in a park, where if you want, you can light a candle and join in the service, and to be fair, is one of the most beautiful parts of the whole pride week.

A week. Yes. That is how long pride goes on for in Manchester.

Not a lot of people know that, because it gets over shadowed by the "big weekend", where there's the parade, celebrity's and live music. It's the time that the pubs and clubs cash in on pride and of course these days, it's where pride makes it's money to help fund it through the year.

The big weekend helps people to come together, but there's nothing said about what has happened to the gay community over the past year, there's nothing about what we want to happen in the next year. While yes its all singing and all dancing, it's missing the point. Most people will only go to the big weekend, because they want a drink and a good time, they actually don't care about the gay community and the strives towards equality. Most gay people these days will say that they are treated equally, yet, look into the law, we've still got a long way to go.

Blood donation - Gay people still have to prove they've not had sex for a year before they can donate blood.... good look proving that.

Marriage equality - Gay people can now get married to people of the same sex, but look into the divorce side of things. Did you know you can't file for divorce if your partner has cheated with a person of the same sex?

General public safety - Any straight couple in the UK can walk down any street and hold hands, you try doing that with your partner of the same sex in most of the UK's council estates, you'll soon find yourself in hospital or a mourg.

Employment - While legally no, any employer can not terminate your employment in the UK based on your sexuality, they can and will look for other ways to get you out of working for them, if they don't like your sexuality, infact in many cases, you won't get the job at all if you "appear to be gay".

The wider community - In other parts of the world, people are still hunted down and killed because they're believed to be gay, as a gay community, we need to stand up for these people and push our MP's to make change happen, in places where they can't.

5 examples there of things we need to change, and yet, most gay people wouldn't know or care about these issues until it has an effect on them. Now don't get me wrong, there's people working behind the scene's to make these changes happen. Many organizations and charity's are trying to change laws and keep people safe... but you need to be aware of these issues in order to be safe.

Going to the big weekend at pride, because some good singers are on, is not going to change anything, nor does it educate people. So sure, wear the colours, shout out loud, be proud... but educate yourself at the same time.

Manchester pride and the people who work for it and support it, is brilliant, but I feel it's letting people miss the chance for education on what are still violent issues. Equality can only be reached by us knowing and dealing with the issues.

Sunday 24 August 2014

Delay to Life With Bev on Youtube.

Yip.

What?

The title kind of says it all really.

Ok, you want the full story then? Well...

Earlier this year I had a really good laptop, an acer aspire 5058t or something like that, it was literally the bomb, nothing could go wrong with the software on it, it could knock out a 5 minute full HD video in under half an hour, it was perfect... But the laptop had been failing for some time in the physical sense.

Some screws had come loose in 2013 at the base of the screen, it had 2 metal arms that hold the screen to the laptop, so of course when several screws came out of one arm, it cracked the plastic screen frame and of course then put more pressure on the other arm, which after a few months, became detatched from the screen itself. I didn't have the money to get this fixed, so of course the antenna for wifi snapped, meaning it couldn't get much of a signal, the wires for the screen went, so the screen stopped working.... meaning I had to use an external screen.... which over the course of a few months, the connection for began to come loose.... It all came to a head when I opened up the laptop to try and fix it. A billion and one screws had to be undone and most broke due to the age of the laptop, and that's where the laptop is upto as we speak. It's in several bits.

Now, my facebook friends and twitter followers maybe, know that I'm now in a relationship, and with a guy who knows about computers a little bit more than me. So I borrowed my friends laptop and have since pimped it up with different versions of windows and of course, tried to get some video editing software put on it... which I managed to do on one version of windows... before it broke the laptop.

Because of all this, Life with Bev has been put on hold. I'll admit now, theres 2 episodes already filmed, so these should be coming out as soon as I can get some video editing software to work.

So the video blog of this, WILL be making a return.... just not anytime soon....

Saturday 16 August 2014

Is it just me?

The world at the moment seems to be quite a mixed up and messed up place, and it's not looking as if it's going to get any better any time soon, infact, my gut tells me, war is looming.

We have religious based groups trying to take over parts of the world to enforce their version of the faith's rules upon us. We have the likes of Russia who resorted to shooting down a plane. We have public cases where racism shows it's head and that it's still alive within our police services.... all horrible stuff, and I've not even scratched the surface here.

You know what I find more disturbing? The fact that we can't just see people for what they are... people. The saying is true that we are all just human being's, trying to be. We are all equal and should be treated as such, yet, we're not, far from it infact.

When I look at a person, I don't see a race, I don't see a sexuality, I don't see a sex... I see a person, whom, until they piss me off, should be treated with the same respect that I expect to be treated with... and doing this for years, has done me quite well.

In short, I'm worried about where we are headed at the moment as a human race. Are we really going into a world war to try and end all wars? Are we really going to allow the murders of innocent people for much longer, in any part of the world and for whatever reason?

This has all got to stop.

3 rules to live your life by.

Wednesday 30 July 2014

There's times i wish hitler was around again....

No matter where you've been over the past few months, you cannot have ignored the assault on Gaza that has been launched by Israel. People on both side's of the fence with this are often very vocal and don't want to listen to what the other side have to say, yet, me being me, I have tried, really I have, but then I read a story and saw the video's about a young boy who if I remember rightly was 12 years old, and lost 17 members of his family, because of an attack by Israel.

This news article here shows you exactly what people in Gaza are having to deal with, click here to see it (video).

Now what you're seeing there is still of course only one side of the story, and yes, I admit here, Gaza have launched their own attacks, with next to no effect and from what I can see into this, only as a retaliation to the attacks Israel are making.

It seems Israel wants rid of Gaza, and this is where my train of thought is coming from on the topic, because Israel is mainly made up of people of the jewish faith... so surely that community should be more resistant to wanting to rid the world of any people.... yet, it seems not so much.

I'm not against the jewish faith as a whole, I'm sure that as with other religion's, the faith is made up of all sorts of people, yet, I keep seeing stuff over and over again which I don't like.


... Like that video for example.

So why do I sometimes wish hitler was still around?

Because he is the PERFECT reminder for a place like Israel people and supporters, that killing somebody is NOT an acceptable thing to do. Israel has other options, it never had to take this to war, yet, it chose to, just as hitler chose to order the killing of people because they followed the jewish faith.

Plus I'm sure at the moment Gaza would hire him....

Moving on from this, it's important that we balance the books, so to speak. We ALL need to understand the argument from both sides, ask questions and all push for a peaceful, quick and long term effective end to all this trouble, because too many innocent people are losing their lives and it is NOT acceptable.

I will also point out here that the west doesn't seem to have gotten involved much, apart from America which has funded Israel's arm's... but nothing gets said about that in the media... And WHY haven't we got involved yet? Because... there's no oil involved.

Sad, but it's true.

If we want to push our countries in the west to be getting involved more to help working this into a peaceful ending, we need to take our arguments to the street and show that we, the people, will not sit by and watch this happen... DEMAND ACTION.

Friday 18 July 2014

Did Russia shoot down a passanger plane?

You know me with my opinion's and YES i've seen the news recently and YES i'm going to rant on about it.... but nothing will change.

Russia has invaded the Ukrane. No point in trying to dress it up anymore, i think even Russia has admitted it now, but, their recent action's are NOT acceptable and they MUST RECIEVE PUNISHMENT FOR THEIR ACTIONS.... oooft, feel the anger there?

I've kept it no secret, i don't like Russia for what it has done over recent years. I think putin is lower than dog shit and his "government", well, even hell would reject them for their crimes against humanity. Yet amazingly, they managed to sink to a new low recently, by shooting a passanger plane out of the sky.

When i first heard this news, you can be sure that yes, i was shocked at first. I actually thought it was some kind of sick joke, because yet again, it's Malaysian Airline's, who's track record of sucsessful flight's is beginning to dip. Alas.... not a joke.

News first reached me when Gay Family Value's youtuber Jay, posted on facebook asking "Why are they calling it a crash?". Now, i know that he works as a policeman, so is going to come across road traffic accidents.... but post about them on facebook? No... he wouldn't. I began scrolling through the rest of my facebook to see something about Russia... and a plane... i checked the BBC news and there it was, breaking news, Russia shoots down aircraft with the quote "don't fly in our air".

Our Air?

Exactly who the fuck does Russia and it's fighter's think they are? They think they own airspace now do they? Me think's mother nature might need to step in and remind them exactly who is in control of airspace maybe... but that's for another venture of my good friend, Karma.

So what appears to have happened here then?

Well, a flight has been going over and SOMETHING has made it fall out of the sky. Now, as a none-plane expert here, i can personally assure you that nothing "technical" made the plane come down. It wasn't pilot error, it wasn't a wing falling off... The Russian's used something, a device, to shoot the plane down. Recent reports say that they thought it was a cargo plane.... ERRR, COS THAT MAKES IT OK DOES IT?

LIKE FUCK!!!

Russia has now lost ALL credability for what it's doing, more people are going to bed tonight hoping that the russian economy does fold in on itself, hoping that putin gets a violent case of diorriah and that he shits out vital organs, leading to the collapse of his government.... or is this just me?

Look, seriously, their action's are out of order. As if starting this "war" that it's turned into wasn't bad enough, they should ALL now be accountable for mass murder, because that is what they have caused. Of course my thoughts will be with the friends and family's of those who have lost innocent loved one's because of all of this, and i hope that now our world leaders will actually impose some restrictions on russia. Infact no, i hope now, out of a reaction for their action, i hope we fuck russia over.

Go for it.

Monday 7 July 2014

Nurse Trey, if you please.

It's no secret if you've been following my facebook or twitter recently, to know that... I have a cold.

I really hate being un-well, with a passion, because it's always when i'm at a busy point in my life, i can't ever seem to get enough sleep and nobody seems to be able to look after me how i need it.

This time however, i am ill for the first time with Trey, my sort of, flatmate, if you please. I know from in the past he is rubbish with looking after me when im hungover, and to be fair, he's not doing much of a better job now that i'm unwell.

I've been feeling under the weather for about 4 days now, and gradually it's been getting worse and worse. Today however, is the worst, so maybe this is a sign of it getting better soon! Anyways, how has Trey been looking after me?

Well, i still have to feed and water him, so, he's not done well on that front. When i've been blowing my nose, he's been looking at me as if i'm a freak from another plannet and staying away from me for a while after i've blown my nose.

The times when he does come over, he can be found rolling on my head or face, or cuddling up next to me, before jabbing a paw into my tummy as he feels the need to stretch himself out. He's also spent most of the day looking at me in the bathroom blowing my nose and coughing my lungs up, from on the bed, where he's also been asleep, after last night meeting a new doggy for the first time, and being knackerd.

All in all, he's not botherd to look after me, clearly he's realised that he is immune to what i have, so is spending his time laughing at me as i suffer, and plotting what he can do next to make my time worse.

Lovely.

Thursday 3 July 2014

Mixed up world - and i don't like it!

Today, has been one of the most worst days for news today, leading me to think that this world we live in is utterly fucked up and i really do not like it.

Let me start with the bad news, there's been the story run recently about a guy who while being in police custardy had his photo taken and when posted on the police facebook page for that county in america, the picture went viral because everyone thought he was so good looking. I've since seen other pictures of him, and he's really not.

But today's news is... he's been offerd a modeling contract... while he's in prison! WTF? Who in their right mind is going to want their brand to be advertised by such vile scum? Who is going to want a picture of him anyway? His victims?

It's a disgrace.

But the news for me just got worse.

A little while ago, around being 1 year old, Millie-Rose was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, which is basically, a very aggressive form of cancer which is more often found in children than adults. After being diagnosed of course treatment started straight away, as did fundraising, as the family were thrown a life-line in the form of an operation that could have taken place in europe, which could get rid of the cancer, and no, the treatment is not available on the NHS in the UK, nor, would any funding be available from the NHS.

Fundraising was doing well, up until about a month or so ago. Millie began to become ill with infections, but, she'd prove all the doubters wrong time after time and would bounce back. Only, recently, she became ill again and the decision was made to make her unconcious while the hospital tried a whole range of medication to try and beat off this round of infection. A few days ago, there was a slight sign of improvement, but, tonight, Millie-Rose passed away.

We all have a certain amount of fight in us, there really is, only so much we can take, this latest wave of illness was just too much. It hit me really hard though, because 3 years old is too young to be passing away, and nobody, ever, should have to say goodbye to a 3 year old. It's just not right or fair.

Which for me, brings into question, where is this "god" figure that we hear of? Hmm? I mean, god is supposed to keep the good ones here with us, and smite those who commit acts that... well... piss him off, isn't that the way it goes? And i'm on about all religions here... why would ANY god want to take a child away?

Yet here we are, 2014, a criminal getting a modeling contract and an innocent child being taken away.

There's really not alot i can say in this post, because i'm still abit in shock and truth be told, in need of a beer or two and a bloody good cry.

So that's it. Day's with news like today are not good days, and it makes me question what sort of world we live in.

Friday 20 June 2014

Blackpool Pleasure Beach - How the birthday went.

For my birthday in 2014 me and some friends had decided a few months before that we'd spend the day at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. It's a small amusement part located in the north-west of England. To my knowledge, it currently holds the record for being the most compact theme park in europe/the world, and in certain parts, you can see why.

In the morning we all met up having pre-booked our tickets and i was amazed at how friendly the staff where when we arrived half an hour before the park opend for the day, even the security guard wished me a happy birthday as i walked through their body scanners.

We made our way over to some of the rides to find out that apparently, rather than do it like other theme parks have done in the past, BPB staggers the opening of their rides, so some will open at 11 when the park officially opens, others will open at half 11 etc, some rides it seems.... are still being built.

One of our first rides was a visit to Valhalla, an indoor water coaster which has to be seen to be believed, and it's certainly one hell of a good ride. It tells the story of the vikings and i presume their battles against dragon's and such. Since the ride's opening and my last visit, more has been added to this ride, with the addition of flame throwers outside the front of the que area. My only criticism, is that they didn't seem to have many boats in operation. If my memory serves me right, the ride station always used to have boats in, getting people in and out of the ride all of the time... yet there was periods where the station would have no boats in, which was abit annoying to see, when you're in a que and just wanting to get on with the ride. Of course though, this ride lived up to it's expectations in every sense of the word (minus the one flame effect, which is cheap and tacky). Going around the final few corners and seeing fireballs exploding right next to you, just added to the whole ride.... and i loved it!

We had a go on the derby racer (as has to be done in a blackpool visit, because it's just a classic ride!) and we then met up with my other friends who'd spent the pervious two nights at Alton Towers resort (another rival theme park).

We made our way over to the newly refurbished area of the park now known as "nickeloden land" or something like that. Our first stop was to what used to be the gold mine train, now re-furbished to being the wallace and gromit ride... you travel around it in a slipper, it's VERY cute and a really good ride... i loved it!


We made our way down into the "new" area and i was abit taken a back if i was honest with you. For the new area don't get me wrong, theres several new rides, one of which i think is a great addition to the park especially for a hot day, but theres alot of the same OLD rides, which have seen a re-paint and maybe a few bits of new theme stuff added to it, but, it was just the same old ride.

I was sad to see aswel that the classic space mountain is no-longer in operation. I had previously read somewhere that the ride was under-going some heavy maintenance work and would one day be re-opening, but the outter part of the building has been coverd in some bright colour theme stuff for nickle' land, and i noticed later in the day, the old "space mountain" ride sign was gone too, of course meaning one thing only.... it ain't going to be coming back anytime soon!

Futher round the park and of course we had to go on to "the big one" as it's now known, although i noticed some pepsi max sign's are still around, so it's abit confusing if the ride is still a pepsi sponsored ride... or is it to just be called "the big one". Now, in the past with this ride, it's always been enjoyable... this time... not so much. We sat at the back of the train and all's i can say is... in future... don't, it hurts. It just seemed to me that the ride wheels weren't smooth at all, because we vibrated all the way around. We didn't enjoy it and i'm sad to say, didn't go back on it.



We visited "the steeple chase" ride next, after to my dissapointment, realised that an old ride on the side known as "bling" has gone. The area for the ride is still there, but yeah, no sign of the ride itself. Steeple chase to me, has always been a painful and unpleasent ride, but as my friends wanted to go on it, i went along too... and guess what, i still didn't enjoy it. The way the horses lean for me, is done too sharp, and if you're not ready for it, it's even more painful.

We moved back around and of course HAD to call in on the Iron-Bru "Revolution", which has been re-painted a sort of silver and black... presumeably, a sign that Irn-Bru have dropped out of their sponsorship of the ride. Needless to say, this is still a blackpool classic ride and is still VERY much enjoyable.



We wanted to move back futher into the park and as we made our way around, i got to be taken on a ride which is an old friend of mine.

Years ago, the owners of BPB bought over a rival site not too far away, and opened up a new rollercoaster on the site called the "Trauma-Tizer", which was of course sponsored by the drink brand "Tizer". I used to love that ride with all my heart and of course i was gutted to hear only a few years later that the southport site was closing for good.

The owners removed this ride from the site quite quickly and took it over to blackpool, sprayed it blue, stuck a few water fountains on it and called it "Infusion". Now granted, this was never designed to be a water coaster of any sorts and part way around the track where it's constantly wet, you can hear the wheels screatch along the track... but by the christ, i've missed that ride... to the point, i rode it twice... and once on my own!



However though, time was nearly upon us. From 11am, the park was only open until 5, so we really didn't have much time at all to go and play on the rides.

We visited a few more rides, before the que area's shut and the tannoy system of the park began to tell us to leave but "have a nice day" etc.

That, was when we went onto our next activity....


Passaje Del Terror is a walk-through underground haunted attraction and trust me, is not for the faint hearted. Since my last visit to this, even i noticed a few changes that left me wishing i'd have brought a change of underware. Like the mental asylum part, where you're walking through and a killer (i cannot remember from what film) steps out infront of you. He tilt's his head and looks at the group. A split seconds later, the area is plunged into darkness for several seconds, before the "patient breakout" activity takes place and basically, you run away to go and hide and maybe call a therapist.

After we'd ran out into the bar bit (which was closed) and we made our way upstairs, we made our way over to the cars and began to head home (via a quick stop for milkshakes at Yankee's in wigan... my fave place ever).

We all made our way over to my mother's, who'd put a buffet on and invited a load of my family and friends who couldn't make it to pleasure beach and we spent the evening there (which is where i had a few vodka's and began to chill out after a day of mental ness!).

It was a really nice evening and i can honestly say, it was an amazing birthday. I spent the whole day and night with people who i know love and care for me, and whom i love and care for too. I was given some amazing presents and i'm just able to say, it was a really incredable time. If i could do it all over again, i would.... and i wouldn't change a thing.

Thank you to everyone who came and made the day what it was, it really meant the world to me! :)