JK Rowling

I went to the grand opening of JK Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.  I took my younger brothers of course.  We showed about 10 minutes showtime and had to wait in line to get tickets to the 3D showing. 
The boys and I absolutely loved being drawn back in to the Magic World of Harry Potter.  We loved the Beasts, the story, and generally everything about it, except for one thing.  SPOILER  Ezra's character should have survived and became a powerful wizard.  My brothers had tears in their eyes when this abused and suppressed young man ends up dying at the end of the movie.  We can hope that he shows up in a later episode.  On another Spoiler, I think I was more excited to see Johnny Depp than my brothers were.  His tiny part in this movie is one of the most memorable.

Go see it and let me know what you think!

America has spoken and Trump is the Winner.

I can honestly say that I was a Trump supporter ever since Jeb Bush bowed out of the Republican races.  I want to say that this election cycle was brutal, and I would like to say that it is over, but it is not.  He had to overcome: huge odds, media will be super critical, his family will be brought more into the limelight.

Donald Trump had to overcome a record number of participants just to become the Republican Candidate.  He had to go through more debates than any other president in modern history and his message has hardly waived.  American voters helped Trump beat one of the American Royal Families of American Politics.

The media crucified Trump over and over, taking more negative hits than Hillary along the way.  The Liberal Media wanted Trump to lose ever since Trump called the media outlets out.  It is a shame that this happened because the news is supposed to be unbiased but, sadly it is not.  I think America finally saw through this facade to make their own decision.  I truly think that many voters didn't make up their mind until they were at the voting booth, without prying eyes, and without others judging them, made the selection that they felt the most comfortable with.

I hope you are ready to learn more about the extended Trump family than you ever wanted to know and it has already started.  The media is upset that they were proven wrong after months of panhandling a loss to the Trump campaign.  The media will have more scrutiny for this family than even the Obamas.  The media was relatively tame when it came to Obamas 2 daughters.  Michelle Obama was applauded for her help with kids nutrition and her fashion sense.  Trumps youngest son was already on the front page of the USA Today's app because he yawned!!!!!!!  His wife will be attacked more than Michelle, she will not be afforded the many public appearances on talk shows that Michelle was to help get her message to the people.  I don't know what she will choose to support in her tenure as president, but it will not get the same air time.  The extended Trump family will now have a circus following them around as they continue to run the Trump empire.

I don't know how Trump will do as a president, only history will tell us that.  But as you think about how any president is doing, remember it is the others that actually make change and vote on laws.  The Congress and Representatives.... it is the Supreme Court that decides if a law is constitutional or not.  Those are the main elections that we need to focus on.  They have the power to vote, the president does not vote.

What I want to see with a Trump president.  This is hard because I personally have a bad taste in my mouth from the last president for two main reasons.  My taxes went up by about 40% and I was mandated to get health insurance.  I already had health insurance through my employer but being told I had too, I felt, violated a freedom.  I want to see lower taxes nearly across the board, increased spending in infrastructure, an increase in STEM education, even though I am 35 years away from Social Security I want to see a huge crackdown on Social Security and Medicaid fraud.  I know people that I feel are beating the system that is costing the American People money and I think that if we saved these false claims that it would significantly curb spending on these programs.  It would costs money upfront but would save us in the long term.  I do want to see some increased taxes in a few areas.... I think gambling institutions should be taxed at a slightly higher rate, Tobacco and alcohol, and medical marijuana should be legalized and heavily taxed.  Marijuana should then have to be held to the same stringent standards as tobacco and alcohol.  It cant be smoked in public because of effects of second hand smoke on those around a user... I don't want to be high!  Businesses can still halt employment to persons that use unless they have a prescription.  All marijuana prescriptions have to be reviewed every 90 days.  I want to see stronger policy on immigration.... I feel that if you are here illegally and NOT taking steps to legalize should be deported.  That being said, everyone should be given a chance to become citizens.

Anyway, I am tired of typing, there are my 2 cents, if you have a question or comment, please let me know below, I will try to respond to all!

Movie Reviews

I have been going through a lot lately and unable to post about the great movies that I have been watching.  So here is a feeble attempt for me to catch up.

Suicide Squad

AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME.  I loved all of the cameos of our favorite heroes, the building of the characters.  The special effects were great.  I am not usually a fan of DC movies because they do not use humor effectively, but Harley Quinn has the perfect little bit of humor throughout the movie.  Go see this movie, I will be adding this to my personal library!

Bad Moms

Another fun movie, but don't make the same mistake that I did.  Don't take the kids to this one.  It was a little dirtier than I expected.  Lots of funny jokes, kept me laughing the whole movie.  It also hits home of you are a single dad or a mom that has kids in many activities or are trying to keep up with the Joneses!

Ghostbusters

Great Cast but I cant really review this one until I see it again.  We went to the drive in to see this one and it was the second movie, and I may have fallen asleep about 20 minutes in.  The first 20 minutes were great but the lack of sleep was just too powerful!

The Witch

I recenty watched the 2015 horror flick, The Witch.  While I like the period feel of the 1630's in rural England, the movie just wasn't scary to me.  I needed some jump moments, which is seriously lacking in this movie.  The only thing that this movie did for me was enforce my hatred of Goats.  Go see it if you want to see how people lived 300 years ago, their religious beliefs, and how family members interacted with each other, but don't go see it as a horror movie. 

New Single Released

One Direction surprised fans this morning with the impromptu release of their brand new single “Drag Me Down.”
 
The band dropped the song on iTunes and Spotify worldwide today with no fanfare, and before premiering it on radio or online. “Drag Me Down” is available now HERE.
 
Featuring crashing guitars and soaring harmonies, “Drag Me Down” showcases a more mature One Direction sound.
 
With sales of over 65 million worldwide and performances to over 7.5 million fans, One Direction truly are a pop phenomenon. In May this year the band won two Billboard Awards for Top Group and Top Touring Artist. 
 
The band are currently on the American leg of their massive On The Road Again stadium tour, before returning to the UK this September for another sold out arena tour.  Their fifth album is due for release this November.

Avengers Assemble!

Actually I don't the title I gave this post is ever mentioned in the movie.  I took my 2 younger brothers to see this move late Sunday after we went to the comic book shop.  There is no shortage of action in this movie.  When we got home, my brothers were still excited about the movie trying to tell my parents about it even though they didn't know all of the character's names.  My brothers are 9 & 10 and they were having trouble remembering the original characters plus the new additions, plus the new villains  etc...  The special effects were on point, the 3D was used very well, I liked the story line and humor was used to the full effect to advance the next series of movies! 

Even though I thoroughly enjoyed my 3D viewing of Avengers: Age of Ultron, I will have to go see it again.  Since Ultron is based off of Tony Stark he makes quite a few funny quips in this film, combined with the lines from RDJ I feel like I may have missed a few one liners that were amazing.  I know I missed some because the entire theater was laughing a few times and I couldn't hear what was being said.

Btw, the previews in front of this movie were great, I am ready for Pitch Perfect 2, Jurassic World, Star Wars, and AntMan. 

Rising Star!..... An Interview with Sam Wearing

I am excited to bring to my readers an interview of a rising star who is working his way up online and gaining exposure on YouTube with his videos, Sam Wearing.  I actually found him by doing a YouTube search on 'Into the Woods'.   I then discovered his One-Man 'Into the Woods' Medley video and knew I wanted to interview him for our blog.  Sam was obliged to answer my silly questions. 

 

Give us a quick bio.... Mom and dad, siblings, hometown,

 

Hello! My name is Sam Wearing, I have recently turned 21 years old and I live in a small town in the UK called Swindon with my Dad Mike and my Brother Joe. 

 
 

Tell us about some of the jobs you've done in the past that aren't music related that got you to where you are now.

 

I  have actually only had one job in my entire life to date. It was my first ever job interview too and I was absolutely terrified! Luckily it went very well, and I was given a job at River Island, which is a fashion store based in the UK (RiverIsland.com). I started working there on a 4 hour contract, which meant I only worked 4 hours a week every Saturday morning. At the time I was living in London too, studying Musical Theatre at the BRIT school Monday – Friday, so I was travelling a very large amount back and forth between Swindon and London on a weekly basis.

 

In 2012  I graduated from the BRIT school. I was then given the opportunity to progress at River Island and work full time, so I moved back home to Swindon and worked, which I did until September 2014. I then moved back to London to study a degree in Musical Theatre at the London College Of Music, but I sustained a serious knee injury and had to leave the course in November 2014. Before you ask, I was asleep in bed, and injured my knee rolling over. (No word of a lie). So I then found myself needing surgery to repair a torn and displaced Meniscus in my knee. After about 10 weeks recovery and not being able to walk, I am finally up and around again, and it feels amazing! I do plan on studying a Musical Theatre degree again in the future at some point, but I need to focus on my recovery, and getting back to doing physical activity again very soon.

 
 

Funniest story?

 

I love questions like these! I think one of the funniest (yet embarrassing) stories is when I was performing in a professional pantomime in Swindon. The show was Aladdin, and of course there is a scene in the 'cave of wonder' which involved a lot of dry ice (Dry ice is the low lying smoke/fog effect that is used in many film/TV/stage productions). The machine that was creating this effect started to leak water all over the stage, obviously we were in the middle of a performance,and also the actual dry ice itself was covering the huge pool of water in the middle of the stage. So unaware of the swimming pool created in front of us dancers, we carried on as normal. Now you can imagine, dancing + pool of water on stage = Not the best situation to be in. By the end of the song, all 12 or so dancers had fallen over at some point and were trying so hard not to laugh on stage! Fun memories. 

 
 

Biggest celebrity encounter?

 

A few quite well known people I have been fortunate to work with are: Shaun Williamson (Barry in the UK soap EastEnders), JLS (Former UK boy-band) and Britt Ekland (Former Bond Girl). These  were all in professional working environments, and I was also quite young so I didn't fully understand or appreciate who I was working with, but they were all lovely and I have fond memories of working with all of them.

 

 

Other than Youtube, where have you performed?

 

I have actually been VERY lucky with opportunities of live performances in the past. In early 2011 I performed various solos at the 02 Arena in London as part of the “Voice In A Million” concerts, which was a very overwhelming, but so rewarding experience. Also in 2012 I was selected by the BRIT school to perform solo at the Royal Festival Hall in London with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and this has to be my favourite live performance experience to date. Performing with a live orchestra in a concert hall was incredible. 

 
 

What one artist do you look up to the most and why?

 

John Barrowman. He is one person I have always admired and been inspired by. He is loved by so many people, and has had a very successful career. He started in Musical Theatre, which is what I really want to do. He then went on to do to a lot of TV appearances, and also his solo albums & concerts, which are also some of my aspirations in life. If I could be any bit as successful as him, I will be one happy guy! 

 
 

Biggest hurdle of being a musician?

 

I would have to say a hurdle I have discovered through my personal journey on YouTube so far is being different. You need to have something people will remember, and want to watch again & again. When I started my YouTube channel back in 2011, I started by posting generic pop covers. This was my way of trying to please a wide audience, with as many people as possible. I then started recording acoustic versions of pop songs, versions not many people have heard, and this then started to gain a little reaction from people. For some reason, I was quite hesitant to post musical theatre covers, but when I finally branched out and started posting them I suddenly found myself with a target audience of Musical Theatre fans to focus on making videos for. Since then I have not written off covering pop songs, but I will cover the songs I feel suit me, and that people will enjoy watching. So yeah, make yourself a bit different, and know who you want to reach out to. 

 
 

Where are you playing next?

 

I do not have any current plans for live performances at the moment, but it is something I want to do more of in the future. My ultimate goal in life is to have my own live concert, singing songs I love, to an audience that have chosen to come and watch me perform. It WILL happen one day!

 

 

Biggest inspiration?

 

I am going to have to say my Mum. Unfortunately she passed away in 2011 from Cancer. When you loose someone so close to you, such as an immediate family member, it just throws everything up in the air. This was the reason I started making my YouTube videos, to give myself something to keep me busy, to monitor my own progress, and also for my own enjoyment. She was the only person who would never tell me to stop singing around the house! She was always encouraging me to take part in performances and really gave me so much belief in myself. Luckily the last time she saw me perform was at the 02 Arena in London, so it's nice to know she has seen me at a highlight in my life, and hopefully there will be many more highlights to come, so that I can continue to make her proud and do what I love. 

 

What can your fans learn from you, or what have you learned from them? 

 

One of the things I have learnt in life, that I would love to pass on to others, is that life is NEVER straight forward. One of my favourite quotes is : “Everything happens for a reason, even if it takes time to understand why”. It sounds cliché but is so true. Everyone goes through struggles and has difficult times, its just what happens in life. The most difficult times are those that give us the opportunity to thrive and come out a better person. I myself, have had set backs, but I can now look at all of these experiences, and know that these have helped me become who I am today. I am very lucky to be in a position where something positive has started to grow from a difficult time in my life. I have even received messages from people who say that I have had an impact on how they deal with difficult situations, which is an incredibly humbling feeling, and one I will probably never get used to. To be doing something I love, and being able to help others too is an awesome feeling.

 

 
 

Rapid Fire: Favourite: (one word answers)

 

Animal

Unicorn (Does that count!?)

 

Color

Blue

 

Food

Chicken Nuggets

 

Sports team

My dad supports Everton F.C,  so I have to say that!

 

Song

“Pretty Funny” from Dogfight.

 

Sport

Ice Skating

 

Artist

Sam Smith

 

Actor/Actress

Eddie Redmayne 

 

Number

16

 

Astrological sign

Capricorn

 

Movie

The original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

 

Book

“Is It Just Me?” By Miranda Hart

 

Drink

Fresh Orange Juice

 

 

Favourite music collab you've done? (Or want to do)

 

I have not done a collaboration to date, but I would love to do a live acoustic cover with someone who can play  guitar or Piano. I am working on learning to play the piano at the moment, and I envy those who can play, it takes so much practice. 

 
 

What advice would you give to someone just starting out?

 

Do what YOU love. There will be others out there who love it too, whatever it is. Gaining exposure online and also in person is VERY difficult so do not be afraid to reach out to people who may enjoy your material. If you know your target audience, use social media to invite them to watch. 

If you think they will enjoy it, ask them, you never know you may get yourself a new supporter.  Be proud of what you create, just be very careful how it comes across online, as sometimes it can come across as very arrogant or brash. In my experience, social media (Especially Twitter & Facebook) have been brilliant platforms for me to reach my audience, and gain support. Also try and do current things, these are what get more views as people are searching for material at that specific time. One last VERY important thing to mention.. NEVER give up! And always strive for what you want to do in life, it will be worth it in the end.

 
 

What is one fact about you that no one else knows, not even your close friends and family?

 

I get VERY excited about food. I try to hide it (and I think I do quite well) but especially when I am super hungry, I just get so excited when I am about to eat. Weird? Okay I didn't just say that... 
 

 

Where can we find you ? What is your twitter handle, Facebook, youtube, etc.....

 

YouTube.com/MrSPW2011

 

Twitter.com/SamWearing or @SamWearing

 

Facebook.com/SamWearingOnline

 

Instagram - @SamWearing

 

Soundcloud -  soundcloud.com/SamWearing2

 

 

Sam's latest video is his One-Man "Into the Woods" Medley and you can watch it below!