2015 was...

...simply EPIC; a much over used word, but I think thoroughly justified in this case, as evidenced below. Here we go...

...escaping the gas leak at the NYE party, hooking up with Optimus Prime again (getting the year off to the best start), looking after Mr Ginge for an evening, finding (and booking) our Wedding Venue, broadcasting live on whether or not 'Gaming is a Sport' with BBC Radio 5 Live from the Blue Room in Salford, taking the fight to a corrupt company (we think they've gotten what they deserve; don't mess with me when it comes to a paper trail), a Trek around Hoo Moor rounded off with a well deserved pint, steak and chips, ordering my Starfleet uniform only to find it resembles a tent-with-arms and needs serious tailoring, Valentines Thai-treat, finding that I have a natural talent for flower-arrangements, having a garden invasion and subsequent 'Alley-Gate' war with the neighbour, Combiner Wars Optimus Prime, making a cameo on BBC Midlands Today and getting a sneaky Transformers reference in there (even though I only had 4 seconds air-time; quite impressive I thought), Astrotrain, a Safari Birthday treat for the Lady, subsequent car repairs due to Baboon damage, our third entry into the London Sci-Fi 48 Hour Film Challenge; a very rushed and last minute effort which saw Hazel on Camera as I was taking on the lead acting role!, applying for that whole marriage thing officially, Alty Market House, The Age of Ultron, a Great Gatsby Party (oh my hair!), inadvertently stealing Gin at a house party, farewell to the game-changing Canon 5DMKII (a faithful weapon and friend), the Home Stag!, finding a Ring Of Power, assisting in building a Cinema (Room), beaming down with the crew for the Away Stag on Planet-Amsterdam (which featured beer bikes, pie hats, red shirts, a menacing staircase and a lasting ankle injury)...


...Sheffield Doc Fest, the most amazing Smoke BBQ, Alley-Gate (Again...), the Sony A7S arrived!, THE WARHURST WEDDING (featuring such escapades as the great-dress-swindle, a Starfleet Uniform which turned out great in the end, a fairy-worthy ceremony, a Mighty Assembly of Superheroes, three wedding cakes, chip butties, lovely speeches, a Light That Never Goes Out, a Fresh Prince and for one glorious moment, we were All The Warhursts: Goo-Go-Ga-Choo)...


...then a minor trip around Europe for FOUR WEEKS!, The Algarve, with it's Non-Alcoholic beer, Fiesta, Tapas, Peri Chicken, Beers on the Beach, Guitar in the Moonlight, Dolphin Rides, Pina Coladas, Jager-Bombs, swimming pools and epic apartment and Brazilian BBQ, a return to Amsterdam featuring Steak, Jazz, a Cat Museum, Cruises and Canals, then Berlin with a manic train journey, late-night Wheat Beer, scorching hot bus tour, Dentist-escapades, a stroll through the gorgeous Großer Tiergarten, the Brandenburg Gate, the City Centre Beach, Berlin Wall and Jazz Band, followed by Medieval Prague with it's meaty market food, architecture, sculpture and historical central square, beer sampling and street food, tower climbing, castle exploring, stop watches and super steaks, then to the Far East (of Europe) with the amazing Krakow with our High-Tech Hotel, pizza in their medieval square, a sombre experience at Auschwitz Birkenau (a pilgrimage every member of Humanity should undertake), the Jewish Quarter with their amazing ale and beer, Salmon Tartare (!) and Chess Games, the Mines of Moria (well, actually, the Wieliczka Salt Mine), then the not-as-great-as-it-sounded night train to Budapest, which after a rocky start in turn featured Grand Plaza hotels, Ruin Bars, Dinner on the Danube, Castle Climbing, Cat Cafes, and Coladas to finish before moving onto the Croatian leg of the tour, starting with Zagreb where we finally got some special treatment from a hotel (What? We are on Honeymoon! We got flowers from the amazing folks at Hotel Jägerhorn) it's amazing Markets, Main Street, a thousand festivals across the year which meant Dance, Jazz and Folk music for us around every corner, a moving Museum, Pizza Street Urchins, the most amazing 'Street-Food bar' in the form of Mundoaka (seriously; if you are in Zagreb, you must go!), and yet more Pina Coladas to finish before ditching the trains for coaches and heading into the Croatian wilderness for Plitvice Lakes National Park which featured us almost getting abandoned, a log cabin hotel, the most stunning natural landscape you could imagine, steak and red wine to finish a hard days hiking and boating, before luckily stumbling across a taxi to get us to the coach stop to carry on towards the stunningly beautiful Zadar, where of course we headed straight for the Roman old Town for amazing pasta before getting onto the Sea Organ and Sun Salutation at Sundown (a perfect series of moments; amazing),...


...more steak, more chips, a choo-choo-train tour, live music, more Coladas!, a day at the beach, me swimming in the sea!, more meat!, a Restaurant tip which paid off big time, then all aboard the coach again to head towards the magnificent roman fortress of Split, whereby we checked into our gorgeous luxury room then began trekking through the sweltering fortress taking in fine wine, fine food, amazing history, stunning photographic opportunities, a living Roman museum which featured archery (I was the best left-handed archer ever; that morning at least) and wearing armour, Cigars, Piano playing, and a 'secret' bars, all before boarding the coach for the final time to head towards the ancient walled City of Dubrovnik (the journey saw us technically pass through and visit Bosnia and Herzegovina, though we never left the coach, I'm counting it in the tally!) on the way witnessing the devastating forest fires racking the country, but upon arriving immediately going 'All-Westeros' by heading to the Old Town and taking as many pics in famous locations as possible, grabbing the most amazing curry (seriously, it had been nearly a month since our last one, and this was amazing!), the over the next two day climbing the towers, the walls and battlements, trying to catch a few drinks in the last few bars in town that were not hit by the epic power cuts, taking a cruise out to sea at sunset, and (because it wasn't broke we didn't fix it) finishing off with another curry, before returning home... Whereby I was immediately hit by some delayed food poisoning and laid up for a week; must have been all those Coladas finally taking their toll...


Amongst all of this, we found that we lost one of our greatest Friends;
Blue The-Wonder-Dog. I love You, and I will always miss you buddy. xxx

 .... returning home our adventures immediately continued with epic video gaming at MOSI, a trip to the Iron Men at Crosby beach, purchasing an 8 man tent (!) as I believe I am now of an age where I am entitled to buy a tent that I can stand up in, An Arkham Knight, a CBBC Game Slam, an amazing wedding for Mat & Cass in Ambleside, a showbiz wedding for Mike & Victoria, a cookout at Chateau Greyskull with all the pulled pork you could ever want to not eat, a dashing new coat, oh, Hazel and I announced that WE ARE HAVING A BABY IN APRIL 2016!!!!!


...Erm, what else... a trip to Liverpool with the gang, a Medieval Stockport Market, then to Edinburgh for Birthday No33 featuring Castles, Hills, STEAK, Art Galleries, Curries, Comics, Vader, Parks, Folk Music, Ale, PIE and Megatron... heading back for Oktoberfest Mancunian Style, then onto Belfast for the Media Festival, rounding up the year with LEDs finally installed in the Temple-Of-Primus (Transformers Cabinet), The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed, The Force Awakening, second Megatron of the Year, Spidey-Suit, our Sci-Fi film from 2014 is picked up for a Film Festival in London in January 2016 and as you are reading this I should be rounding off the year at an epic party with some equally epic friends.

This year has been AMAZING. All of it, every single bit of this most epic three hundred and sixty five day adventure has been made possible by the BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL, GENEROUS, TALENTED people I am fortunate to have in my life. My Wonderful Wife, Hazel, first and foremost. Our families by Blood, our families by Bond, our much loved nearest and dearest, and of course, I have to mention the magnificent Team Blue Room.

This year... Has set the bar. I am humbled by you all, and the adventures we have had.

So please, raise a glass to yourselves from myself, Hazel, Ziggy... and our bump. We canot wait to bring our baby into the world with this much Love and Adventure waiting for Her... xxx

Roll on 2016: The Year of TEAM ZIGGATRON. xxx