Hey Everybody!
Welcome to Part 2 of my Review of 2013. This post is your ticket to the most glamourous awards show of the year- The FOT! Awards. An expert panel of my brain cells (yes, all 4 of them) has compiled a series of awards in various different categories as a gesture to the achievements made by certain groups and individuals throughout 2013. Without further a do, let's get crackin'
Travel
Best destination- Mallorca Runner up:Bilbao
I've had a very Spanish year so Mallorca had to be top. Recently voted 2nd in the world in a survey for quality of life, Mallorca has something for everyone be it a mad night out in Magaluf, a beach holiday with the family, hiking in the various mountains or a cultural experience
Best Journey- My flight home from Mallorca to Liverpool John Lennon Airport
(read all about it here)
No excess baggage fees, early departure and arrival, discount running shoes bought at duty free, Spanish conversation and incredible views overlooking Mallorca and the Pyrenees plus meeting Chris Froome. This flight was pretty much perfect, hoping for a few more of those in 2014.
Best Souvenir- My Bilbao BBK Live 2013 Wristband.
Although I can't remove it without breaking it, this wristband reminds me of the summer I had every-time I look at it. It will be a sad day when I finally have to cut it off
Worst Journey- Bus Journey from Manchester to Bilbao
3 buses each way, over 24 hours, frantic connections at each stop, an arrest holding up the journey home by 2 hours, crazy families, crying babies, nasty smells... so many things didn't exactly go to plan on this journey although it was certainly a memorable one.
Best Travel Accessory- My Camera (Canon Ixus 510 H5)
Cameras are essential for recording your travel and it turned out the little Canon I got for my birthday is indeed an superb one. Optical zoom, tonnes of memory space, in-built editing features, special effects, decent recording functions for my Youtube videos. It has everything you could want in a camera and is very easy to carry around with you as well.
Best Travel Picture
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| A rainbow in the Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca |
Sports
Best Sporting Moment- Andy Murray-Wimbledon Final
77 Years of Britain waiting for another Men's singles champion at Wimbledon ended when Andy Murray beach huge rival and friend Novak Djockovic in the final. It was the most viewed TV event on British Television and after the agony and tears of 2012's final, it was much deserved.
Funniest Sporting Moment- George North giving Israel Folau a fireman's lift. Australia vs the British & Irish Lions 2nd Test
2nd Test match, stakes are high, Australia's fullback goes to tackle North but the huge winger just picks him up and takes Folau with him. Priceless. Watch it here
Goal Of The Year: Jack Wilshere vs Norwich City Runners Up: Robin Van Persie vs Aston Villa, Jonny Howson vs Manchester City
In Arsenal's 4-1 thumping of my beloved Canaries they scored one of the greatest team goals of all time. No matter how well Norwich defended there was just nothing they could do against Arsenal's pinball style passing and Wilshere's perfectly placed volley.
Team Of The Year: New Zealand Rugby/The All Blacks
First team with a 100% win ratio in a calendar year. An incredible feat
Race Of The Year: ITU Men's Triathlon World Series Grand Final, London
The World Series came down to the final race of the season in which any of 3 different triathletes could win the world title-Jonny and Alistair Brownlee and their big rival Javier Gomez. Neck and neck between the trio up until the final transition when a reoccurrence of an ankle injury meant Alistair dropped completely off the pace leaving Jonny and Gomez to a sprint finish for the title which Gomez claimed. Absolutely captivating despite the agony of the Brownlees both missing out.
Best Match Of The Year: Ireland vs New Zealand, November 24th (Rugby)
Ireland leading 22-7 at half time before a tremendous second half fightback that went beyond the full 80 minutes only for the All Blacks to win 24-22 and finish off the very first perfect year in history.
FOT! Sports Personality Of The Year: Andy Murray Runner Up: Mo Farah
Simply for finally proving that he can deliver with the weight of a nation on his shoulders and the media circus that surrounds Wimbledon each year and having to deal with the demons of many near-misses in previous years. Also, for a man who is famous for having no personality, he has become a lot more media-savvy in the past year and can now even make the odd joke or emotional expression!
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| Love this Adidas advert |
Music
Album Of The Year- Opposites by Biffy Clyro
Runners up: AM by Arctic Monkeys , Days Are Gone by Haim, Modern Vampires Of The City by Vampire Weekend
A really tough decision but in the end I've gone for Biffy's 'Opposites'. The ambitious double album has something for everyone whether it's the heavier tracks like 'A Girl And His Cat', 'Little Hospitals' or 'Sounds Like Balloons' for the hardcore Biffy fans or the more mainstream rock sounds of 'Black Chandelier', 'Biblical' or 'Pocket' or the heartbreakers 'Opposite', 'The Fog' or 'Skylight'. It may have been overlooked for the major awards but overall this is a great record that hasn't received the credit it's due.
Band of the Year- Alt-J Runners Up: Biffy Clyro, Arctic Monkeys
2012's Mercury Prize winning debut album 'An Awesome Wave' has been on repeat ever since I got it due to their unique sound and positively geeky intelligence with lyrics. They have also become more confident as a live band and their Sunday night set closing the NME/Radio 1 stage at Leeds Festival was easily one of my personal highlights of the weekend.
Male Artist of the Year- Jake Bugg
2 Hugely successful albums in 2 years have rocketed the Nottingham teen from virtually unknown to the new hope for the British Music industry. With the likes of One Direction and Union J seemingly controlling the pop music world these days, Bugg's brand of music is bringing Country, Blues, Rock and Roll and Acoustic Ballads to the masses.
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| Live @ Leeds Festival |
Female Artist of the Year- Lucy Rose
Dubbed as the new Laura Marling, Bombay Bicycle Club collaborator Lucy Rose's 2012 debut
'Like I Used To' has been another album I have been listening to non-stop throughout the year. Filled with acoustic guitar ballads and relatable lyrics, Lucy Rose's music is very easy on the ears.
Best Newcomer- HAIM Runners Up: Bastille, Chvrches
Two words- Girl Power. The Haim sisters are full of it and just have this incredibly sexy sound (I don't know a better way to describe it) bringing some much needed female representation to the Indie Rock scene. Debut album 'Day Are Gone' went straight to number 1 in the UK and further UK success is set to come with their 2014 UK tour.
Best Gig/Performance attended- Biffy Clyro, Leeds Festival
Having seen Biffy twice this year I have gone from despising them to loving them. They put so much into their live performances and Leeds was no exception. Elaborate staging, graphics, pyrotechnics accompanied a well rounded set of Biffy hits past and present along with a fair bit of passion and guitar smashing
Best Festival Headliner Set- Mumford & Sons-Glastonbury
One of those 'wish I was there' moments. Mumfords closed this year's Glastonbury in impressive style playing hits from both of their critically acclaimed albums with the usual gusto before finishing off with a cover of The Beatles song 'A Little Help From My Friends' aided by The Vaccines, First Aid Kit, Vampire Weekend and HAIM. The tribute to band member Ted Dwane after his recovery from brain surgery was also touching.
Worst song of the year- What Does The Fox Say? by Ylvis
Makes Rebecca Black's 'Friday' sound like a masterpiece.
Top 10 Songs Of The Year
10. Alpha Romeo by MT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36K2FPtgrtQ
9. Fred Astaire by San Cisco http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ultX5ZR-sQE
8. Do I Wanna Know? by Arctic Monkeys http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpOSxM0rNPM
7. Jamaica by Theme Park http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjoCAu8HPMw
6. Taro by Alt-J http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W3YQu00kXY
5. It's Time by Imagine Dragons http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sENM2wA_FTg
4. Opposite by Biffy Clyro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAWFcAfN3kc
3. Don't Save Me by HAIM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiqIush2nTA
2. Diane Young by Vampire Weekend http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG6lTQNW04I
1. My Number by Foals http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRR_pvZcu-o
Miscellaneous
Youtuber of the Year- The Vaga Brothers- BBBTV
Runners Up: Louis Cole- FunForLouis
Jack+Finn Harries- JacksGap
Back in May, two plucky brothers from California by the names of Marko and Alex won the MyDestination.com Biggest Baddest Bucket List Competition, the prize? A 6 month trip around the world stopping off in 25 different destinations of their choice. With their expert camera angles and shots from their GoPro cameras, their confident TV presenter-like delivery and extensive background research on every place they visit, it's definitely worth following the boys on their trip. So far they have traveled through the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa including places such as Ecuador, Brazil, Iceland, Istanbul, Dubai and South Africa all of which have been really inspiring on my gap year.
Blogger of the Year- Ollie Craig- Ollie Moves Abroad! Runner up-Jack Kenny- Hit the Road, Jack
Not only does Ollie write informative, funny and interesting posts for his Year Abroad blog but he also helped me get the Au Pair job in Mallorca and provided me with some handy info and advice. I can't thank him enough. Definitely owe him a drink when we're both in Southampton next September.
Funniest Moment- Josh Spivey
Like most years there has been plenty to keep me cheerful and this year my Spanish lessons with my friend Josh and the rest of my spanish crew including Natalia, Tom, Matt and Jonny have been by far the most entertaining moments however I struggle to pick one particular moment that outshines the others. Instead, I'll go back a few weeks to when I was skyping Josh in Nottingham from Mallorca and he drew on his laptop webcam only to realise it was permanent ink! The panic that ensued was hilarious to watch and yes, he did get it off in the end.
Best Food- Frit.
This cheeky little dish of chips and assorted peppers get pretty addictive. So irresistible
Best Drink- Kalimotxo.
Red wine and coke, it is the local drink of the Basque Country which I discovered whilst in Bilbao this summer. A quick way of getting emboracho, drink responsibly!
Best TV show- New Girl Runner Up: Fresh Meat, How I Met Your Mother
I haven't watched a great variety of TV this year but I must admit I became addicted to New Girl. Zooey Deschanel's quirkiness as lead character Jess is one of many reasons to watch it along with Max Greenfield's role as Barney Stinson-esque ladies man Schmidt. Lamorne Morris (Winston) and Jake Johnson (Nick) make up a hilarious cast and with cameo appearances from Taylor Swift this year and Prince in 2014 what is there not to like?
Best Film- We're The Millers Runners Up: Anchorman 2, Django Unchained
I do love a bit of comedy and We're The Millers was as good as they got in 2013. Don't know whether it was because of Will Poulter being cast, but the film had a distinct feel of British humour about it in which the writers knew where the comedic line was and then proceeded to cross it repeated times. Very rare for an American film, absolutely brilliant comedy.
Best Book- Swim, Bike, Run by Alistair and Jonny Brownlee
I admit to not being the keenest reader and I have had very little time for it this year but when the Brownlee brothers book came out at the start of summer I just had to buy it as they are two of my favourite athletes. The book divulges their training regimes, rise to success, mindset of a top endurance athlete and has some handy tips for budding triathletes. It has certainly encouraged me to try out the sport at some stage in the future.
Most famous person met- Chris Froome Runner Up: Jake Bugg
As I may have mentioned once or twice, I met Chris Froome during my flight home from Mallorca. He seemed like a very humble and nice guy and I have so much respect for him as a sportsman and a cyclist.
And now, what we've all been waiting for...
Top 10 Best Moments of 2013
10. Homebrew Fest 2013
Probably the best gig I've ever played and one of the most enjoyable
9. Great Manchester Swim
My 2nd Great Manchester Swim was much tougher than the previous year however I am proud to say I did it and that I raise so much money for Cancer Research UK.
8. Theme Park Gig
Excellent gig in what was a lovely small venue (Ruby Lounge,Manchester) making for a very intimate performance. Was also a real pleasure to meet Miles,Marcus and Oscar afterwards too. I'm a huge admirer of their music and they always look like they're enjoying themselves on stage.
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| Oscar |
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| Miles |
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| Marcus |
7. Trip to Southampton
It wasn't really until my Interview trip in February that I decided Southampton Uni was the place for me. Having seen from the inside what it is like to be a student there, I can't wait to get stuck in come next September.
6. Mallorca
So many great moments to choose from in Mallorca but I decided to go with the whole thing. Whether it was playing live music in the bars of Palma, swimming in the Bay de Pollenca, hiking in the mountains of the Serra de Tramuntana or playing/watching football, I always had something to do and it was the perfect start to my gap year.
5. Winning the Intertown League
Not until this year had Marple SC won the league so to be a member of that winning team in my final full season with the club was something really special and a highlight of my swimming career with notables wins and races vs Romiley, Ashton, Saracens and at the Celebration Gala.
4. AQ Leavers Ball
Over the past 2 years, Aquinas has changed me so much as a person and I always knew it would be tough to leave so the Leavers Ball was certainly the perfect way to go out: in style
3. Leeds Festival
Leeds this year was a really interesting experience working as a volunteer and allowed me to meet so many great people and see tonnes of my favourite bands for free! I almost definitely intend on doing it again next year.
2. Bilbao BBK Live
Bilbao BBK wasn't just a great festival but a mini-adventure with many ups and downs. A truly brilliant international experience that I won't forget.
1. A Level Results
If you read my previous blogpost (Review of 2013 Part 1), then you will know that much of my year has been dedicated to studying in order to gain access to the University of my wishing-Southampton. To finally receive my A levels knowing that I achieved the goal I set out to accomplish two years ago is a huge relief and proves to me that all those hours of note making, essay writing and Spanish/French conversation have been worth it. To read my A level results post click here
Well, that's been 2013 and with the New Year just hours away I'd like to say something. Thank you to everyone who has been reading my blog since I started it in September be it all 22 posts or just this one. Since I've been home I've received some genuinely nice comments from various people about it which I must say is really unexpected but I am grateful nonetheless. I will continue to blog in various forms in 2014 so I would love it if you kept reading.
Wishing you all a very happy new year and may 2014 be kind to you!
lots of love,
Fraser x
FP
#FraserOnTour
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