12. Obtain 40 albums in a single year (Year 1)

So, the last day of 2013 and I thought I'd share with you my list of albums I obtained during the year and how I obtained them.  I had to get hold of at least 40 albums this year because I present an annual "Top 50 Albums of [insert year here]" radio show at Northwick Park Hospital Radio.  This isn't an official top 50 - this is my personal top 50 which I like to share with those who care to listen.  Feel free to comment below about what your favourite album of the year is and why.

No.	Band/Singer	Album	Obtained
50	Diana Vickers	Music To Make Boys Cry	Bought
49	Tom Odell	Long Way Down	Bought
48	Hanson	Anthem	Bought
47	Justin Currie	Lower Reaches	Streamed
46	Avril Lavigne	Avril Lavigne	Bought
45	James Blunt	Moon Landing	Bought
44	Caro Emerald	The Shocking Miss Emerald	Bought
43	Fall Out Boy	Save Rock And Roll	Bought
42	The Feeling	Boy Cried Wolf	Streamed
41	Josh Groban	All That Echoes	Bought
40	Alter Bridge	Fortress	Bought
39	Paramore	Paramore	Bought
38	Darius Rucker	True Believers	Bought
37	Natalie Maines	Mother	Bought
36	The 1975	The 1975	Bought
35	KT Tunstall	Invisible Empire / Crescent Moon	Bought
34	Stereophonics	Graffiti On The Train	Bought
33	James Arthur	James Arthur	Streamed
32	Pearl Jam	Lightning Bolt	Bought
31	OneRepublic	Native	Bought
30	LeAnn Rimes	Spitfire	Bought
29	Joshua Radin	Wax Wings	Bought
28	Robbie Williams	Swings Both Ways	Bought
27	Bastille	Bad Blood	Bought
26	Michael Buble	To Be Loved	Bought
25	Allison Weiss	Say What You Mean	Bought
24	Goo Goo Dolls	Magnetic	Bought
23	Al Lewis	Battles	Bought
22	Miles Kane	Don’t Forget Who You Are	Bought
21	Gabrielle Aplin	English Rain	Bought
20	Charlotte Campbell	Blue Eyed Soul	Bought
19	Newton Faulkner	Studio Zoo	Bought
18	Jake Bugg	Shangri La	Bought
17	Diane Birch	Speak A Little Louder	Borrowed
16	Daughtry	Baptized	Bought
15	Orianthi	Heaven In This Hell	Bought
14	Keith Urban	Fuse	Bought
13	Gary Barlow	Since I Saw You Last	Streamed
12	Brad Paisley	Wheelhouse	Bought
11	Lady Antebellum	Golden	Bought
10	Rubylux	The World Goes Quiet	Bought
9	Paper Aeroplanes	Little Letters	Bought
8	Kodaline	In A Perfect World	Bought
7	Andy Burrows	Company	Bought
6	Lissie	Back To Forever	Bought
5	John Mayer	Paradise Valley	Bought
4	HAIM	Days Are Gone	Bought
3	Kacey Musgraves	Same Trailer, Different Park	Bought
2	Arctic Monkeys	AM	Borrowed
1	The Civil Wars	The Civil Wars	Bought

As you will see from the list, I technically obtained 50 albums - 44 of these I did actually buy.

The Civil Wars are my number 1 album because I'm a sucker for amazing harmonies, great melodies and good lyrics.  Despite the fact they're currently in a "civil war" themselves it's still a superb album.

Year 1 is DONE!

Looking forward to some amazing album releases in 2014. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR READERS!

1. Learn "Cornflake Girl" by Tori Amos on the piano (Part 1)

I have ALWAYS loved the piano part in "Cornflake Girl" by Tori Amos.  For years I've been wanting to know how to play it but never got around to learning it.  I suppose the fact I haven't owned a piano has meant that I have been unable to learn.

It was the first thing I put on my list.  The list came to pass at The World's End in Finsbury Park as my friend, Marion, was doing her 50 list.  "Cornflake Girl" came on through the speakers at the pub so I said that I'd always wanted to be able to play the song on the piano.  I then made the decision it would be a good first item to put on my own list - my 40 list!

Last month I decided to look for the sheet music.  I thought if I at least had the sheet music, it would push me to start actually learning it.  I found it after a few attempts and got it posted to me.

So, here it is.

I now need to find a piano or something similar!

In the meantime, I will keep listening to the Tori Amos version.

2. Find 40 Geocaches (Part 2)

Two weeks of Geocaching - brings me to 9 caches

After the bug of cache searching earlier in August, I wanted to try to find some on my own. There were some around my office building and I was determined to find them.  I work in Lincoln's Inn Fields in Central London.  

On 28th August I decided to start what was to be two weeks of geocaching.  I got up early to get to the first cache site before the square started to get busy and people thought I was a weirdo wandering around the greenery.

I finally found the cache - it was easier than I thought it would be.  You can't tell where it is here but it is here.

Where could you be?

So the next day I went out on my lunch break - I went a little earlier than usual as I knew it would be quiet.  This one was a very clever hide.  After following the clue, embarrassingly, I found a tin of lip balm which I thought contained the cache but it didn't and also a bag which definitely did NOT contain the cache but something a bit stinky.  I eventually found the cache. I'm not going to give it away but it was down here.

You can't tell but it is down here

I couldn't give up - there was one other cache I HAD to find in the area.  The next lunchtime I went out for a wander following my GPS and I figured out from the hint where this one was hiding.

I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes

So, after three days, the three caches nearest to my office had been found - yay me!

I love seeing smiley faces

Before the week was out I decided to find the next cache - 3rd September.  I was heading down towards New Oxford Street to my favourite street in London - Denmark Street.  This was such an easy find that I wasn't even sure that what I'd found was the cache.  It wasn't an obvious cache.  I had to write my Geocaching username, the date and what part I would play in the "Tin Pan Alley" Band.  It's not a real band though.

Band on the run...

So, here's another smiley face.

Here it is!

The first week in September I took a week's holiday from work so, on the Friday, I met up with my friend, Marion to find some geocaches in my local area.  The weather was up and down. At the start of our caching day, it was raining.  We walked down Stratfield Road (round the back of the Eastenders set) where we found our first cache of the day.  Some odd looking things in the container but we signed our names and moved along.

Cache under rocks...ain't no surprise

Odd little items in the container

We walked down to Borehamwood station to start our first ever "multi-cache".  This is a cache that can be found after solving several clues.  The following photos helped us along the way.

"Fortune and glory, kid.  Fortune and glory"

After a lot of searching, wondering if our GPS devices were working properly and having local residents thinking we were "casing the joint", I found the cache.  They hid it well!!

The weather started to improve so we decided to walk down the Watling Chase Timberland Trail around the back of where I live, which I didn't even know existed.  A huge expanse of greenery.  The sun came out as we trudged through tall grass after following the path.  The clues (and luckily GPS) were good and after what felt like an age walking we found the last cache of the day.  My phone had died by then so Marion took these photos.

"Take me to the place I love, take me all the way"

Blatantly taking advantage

We then had to find our way back to where we came in.  Marion's battery was low and, as previously mentioned, my phone was dead.  However, we worked out our way back safely!

Even though we only found three caches, the multi-cache (orange one below) had taken us most of the day.  We did good!  It was good exercise and it was a lovely day spent walking and chatting and exploring with Marion.

There's still a few to find in Borehamwood - who wants to join me? 

9 down - 31 to go!

14. Donate £40 a year to charities (Year 1)

I wanted to do some good out of my "40 List" so I decided that I would like charities to benefit by giving donations.  These donations could be in the form of sponsoring friends in their challenge events or by just simply calling the charity or visiting their website to make a donation.

So, since the start of my list which technically was my 33rd birthday, I have donated my first lot of £40.

My first donation of the year was in March this year, sponsoring my colleague Dan for running the London Marathon for the charity I work for - Joint Action.  Joint Action raises money to support Trauma & Orthopaedic research.  I sponsored him £5.

The next donation I made was for Joint Action again but this time sponsoring my colleague, Hayley, in her crazy attempt of a bungee jump.  I went along with her to watch her do it (and to make sure she didn't chicken out).  She did so well.  I sponsored her £5.

The next recipient of my generosity was a friend of my dad who is running next year's London Marathon for NSPCC.  Neil has shown me a fair bit of support in my music career so I thought I would support him right back.  He's doing a heck of a lot of training to make sure he can complete the Marathon.  He's just completed a 10k so he's working his way up - well done, Neil!  I sponsored Neil £5.

My next two donations were done on the same day.  I sponsored my very good friend, Lisa £10 for her "Race for Life" for Cancer Research UK.  My Auntie passed away from cancer so any opportunity I get to donate to it I do.  I also sponsored my friend Stu £10 for a cycle ride from London to Brighton in aid of Cystic Fibrosis.  I mainly sponsored him for two reasons: 1) because he's a friend and 2) because I'm jealous of the fact that he can ride a bike (it's still on my "40 List").

This just left £5 and it was getting closer and closer to deadline date (17th October).  I remembered that I needed to make a donation but had no one to sponsor so I decided to call the first charity I worked for and make the final donation to them - Shaare Zedek UK.  Shaare Zedek is a hospital in the heart of Jerusalem and it is known as the "Hospital with a Heart".  They have come a long way since I started working in the London office from 1999-2001.

= £40

I'm starting to make a list of charities I want to support in the coming year.  If you have any suggestions, please comment here and I'll check out the websites.  Bear in mind I have six more years to make donations.

By the time I'm 40 I will have donated £280 to various charities.  Who knows, if I'm in the money, maybe I'll make a substantial donation on my 40th birthday!!!

19. Go to 40 different places 40 miles from where I live (Part 1)

To get to see a little bit more of the UK, I thought that going to 40 different places 40 miles from where I live would be an interesting concept.  Okay, it's not exactly going very far but it's far enough and I could be living anywhere over the next 6 and a bit years (even abroad - doubt it though).

So far I have travelled 4 places 40 miles from my current residence in Borehamwood.  I'm never going to get it at exactly 40 miles so I've allowed it to be within 40-50 miles (but not exceeding 50).

My first destination was Tilbury in Essex in March of this year.  I currently work for a charity and one of my fundraisers was hosting an event to raise money for his London Marathon sponsorship.  He organised a football match and got the team together of the boys he used to manage in the 1980's.  Some of the old team members even came from abroad to support him and play on the team again.

Now, I'm not a fan of football, but this was actually an exciting match.  The pitch was water-logged but the players didn't care - all in the name of charity!  

Following the match there was a dance and a raffle so I stayed for a bit of that to show support.  

On the way back I got this photo as evidence that I was there.  I had to drive around the roundabout a couple of times to get a good shot!

On my way back from Tilbury

My next destination was Essex again but this time it was Chelmsford back in May.  A while ago a friend of mine recommended I go to Chelmsford to do a gig at Hooga.  It was a great gig but, unfortunately, the venue closed.  However, they moved further into town and became The Loop.  I booked a gig there and drove down after leaving work early.

I had a few Chelmsford-ites come down to the gig to support me.  One was my friend, Neil, who was the person who told me to perform in Chelmsford and the other supporters belonged to Hospital Radio Chelmsford (Graham and Ian).

It was a good night and you may find a couple of YouTube videos posted by Neil from the gig (also see my July blog - number 11).

I had to slow down to take this photo

This is another gig related destination - Reading - 15th June.  I was asked by my friend, Steve Morano, to be his support act at The Turks pub.  I picked up my guitarist at the time, JC, and we headed on to Reading.  

On the way, I got a FaceTime call from one Jon Barker who was editing my video for "Fragile Girl" with Paul Woods (the amazing videographer).

As we were arriving in Reading I told JC to be on the lookout for a "Reading" sign.  JC asked how I knew there would be a sign and I replied there must be.  I was right and we almost missed it but JC (who already had his camera out from taking photos on the journey) got a great shot of the "Welcome to Reading" sign.

So, we finally got to Reading and picked up percussionist extraordinaire, Anthony.  We drove around for a bit trying to find parking and, after several circuits of Reading City Centre, we found somewhere close to the venue.

The lovely Marion came to see us play and we whipped the crowd into a frenzy near the end of our one-hour set.  It seems the favourite song of the night was "The Drink Talking" - go figure! 

I also got to view the "Fragile Girl" video on my phone for the first time on this night.

A great shot taken by JC with his pro camera.

On Saturday 30th June - a glorious sunny day - I headed to Radnage in Buckinghamshire for the Radnage Beer Festival.  I got the gig from doing a few open mics at The Swan in Beaconsfield.  It was a solo gig and I was a little nervous about it.  It went well though and had a few musician friends who were also playing on that day who supported me. 

During "The Drink Talking", I plugged the wine that one of the wineries had brought to the festival and scored a free glass of it.

It was also great to see the mega-talented, Glen Kirkham, there and have a good old natter with his lovely girlfriend, Cher.  He wasn't due to perform but James, the organiser, managed to slot him in which pleased me no end.

I nearly missed this sign - it's not exactly a big sign but it's not exactly a big place

So, now I have to figure out some other places to go to that are 40 miles from Borehamwood.  One suggestion has been that I head out to Windsor to see Marion's neck of the woods and maybe a spot of geocaching (two birds / one stone) if there are any nearby.  However, it's just shy of 40 miles so might need to make a detour!

Any other suggestions would be most welcome.

2. Find 40 Geocaches (Part 1)

This was originally "Find 10 Geocaches" but it was so easy to find two in one day, I increased the number.

For those who don't know what Geocaching is, let me explain.  Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a GPS or mobile device to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", anywhere in the world (thanks Wikipedia).

The caches are of varying sizes and with varying difficulties of finding them.  There's usually a logbook inside where you sign your Geocache name (your username registered on their website) and the date you found it.

One lovely summer's day - 11th August 2013 - I met up with my lovely friend, Marion and we decided to go on the hunt for caches in Finsbury Park before heading to our beloved "W.E. Love Sundays" acoustic night at the World's End (if you've never been, you should come along - it's FREE and you get free roast potatoes, yorkshire puds and sweets).

Anyway, we decided on which caches we were going to attempt to find.  We used our Geocaching iPhone apps and found the first location...at least we thought we had.  We read the description and thought that we weren't really in the right place.  I looked up and said that it must be on the bridge above us.  We eventually figured out how to get up there and it didn't take us very long to find my first cache!  It was very exciting.

My first "cache"

We took it from its hiding place and found a few goodies in there that people had added to it.  I didn't want to feel left out so I signed the logbook and added my own "trinket" to the pot.

Look at all the goodies inside...

So then, along a stony pathway (which was surprisingly a nice little walk) to the next cache.  We were looking for a slightly smaller one this time.  We walked past where it was at first but managed to find it in the end.

Ah there you are

Tatty log book :^(

When you find your caches you can select "Found It" on the iPhone app and it logs that you've found it.  I did a screen shot of our finds.

Smiley faces - brilliant!

Whilst we were on a roll we decided to have a further jaunt to Finsbury Park itself to find our third cache.  There was a crazy festival/party going on in the park.  Loads of BBQ's, live reggae music and activities - quite unexpected and the BBQ smelled amazing, once you got past the smell of dope!

We didn't get involved - we were on a mission.  We started our hunt and started to become quite frustrated at not being able to find our third cache of the day.  Marion was so engrossed in her search she didn't notice the company she had behind her. 

When you've got to go...

A great couple of hours in the sun with a good friend!

Since then I've tried to find others on my own near my office but I'm probably being rubbish and my lucky charm (Marion) hasn't been with me.

2 down - 38 to go!