The Year in Blogs: 2014

I had high hopes for 2014, but when I started the year by almost killing myself with alcohol it sort of set the mood. Despite that little hiccup at the start of the year, a lot of effort went into the first few chapters of the Two Doctors’ World Tour, I dipped my toes into the world of podcasting and also managed to write some blogs, too. Here’s a recap on some of the things I produced (aside from alcohol-induced bile and vomit).

Manchild at Play: Paint Your Own Gromit (Peppa Pig) – 09/01

There was a young family member who was obsessed with both Peppa Pig and the Gromit Unleashed event in Bristol, so it made perfect sense to me to mash the two together as a nice Christmas present for Xmas 2013.

Game Guides for Non-Gamers: Hitman – 08/02

In the first of a series of blogs aimed at folks who are not so familiar with video games, I summarise my favourite murder simulator while trying to justify all the murder as “if you kill a lot of people then you’re just not trying very hard to be a professional killer”.

Derren Brown is a Malevolent Supervillain – 07/05

There are a lot of crackpot conspiracy theories out there, but this one is 100% true (probably). Once you have read it, you will see through the lies and believe! Or, in the very least, believe everything Derren wants you to believe.

Manchild at Play: Ghostbusters LEGO – 11/06

I sate my desire for children’s building blocks while also padding out my growing collection of LEGO sets based around classic films.

UX: The Invisible Developer – 19/06 (Work/Portfolio)

In the first blog I’ve ever written from the perspective of the web development industry, I highlight my views on how user experience should work.

The PAYNEful PodSPLOSION #01: Liquid Snake’s Arm Across the Eighth Dimension – 24/06

My first foray into producing recorded media is a rambling, messy, cluttered exercise in trying to play Minecraft while holding a conversation with my other half. Oh, and I tried to explain the stupidly convoluted story of Liquid Snake’s severed arm within the context of the Metal Gear Solid universe.

The PAYNEful PodSPLOSION #02: Grand Theft Scavenger Hunt – 01/07

Not to be deterred, we returned for a second week! We didn’t play a game while we were recording! We had an agenda! We’d found somewhere to record away from our pet birds! And we still rambled on about football, Discworld, Grand Theft Auto V and (my favourite topic) video game scavenger hunts.

The PAYNEful PodSPLOSION #03: Chitty Chitty Bond Bond – 14/07

With the vague theme of “Ian Fleming”, me and Sam talk at length about (mostly) James Bond and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

The PAYNEful PodSPLOSION #04: Spaceships in Space – 13/08

Having just seen Guardians of the Galaxy, I gush at length about it alongside Sam while also touching on our other favourite series featuring “a bunch of dudes cruising around on a spaceship”.

Game Guides for Non-Gamers: Metal Gear Solid – 17/08

I desperately attempt to condense the nigh-impenetrable wall of series lore that is the Metal Gear franchise, with some reasonable success (i.e. I barely scratch the surface).

I Did the ALS/MND Ice Bucket Challenge (in Style) – 31/08

In which I shamelessly hop on a passing bandwagon and, at the same time, do the tiniest slither of good in the world.

The PAYNEful PodSPLOSION #05: A Tale of Two Controversies – 20/09

If you don’t know what #GamerGate is, join the club. I spent about an hour and a half of discussion with Sam trying to figure out exactly what it is/was and I don’t think we were any the wiser afterwards. Oh, and I briefly touch on John Constantine (Hellblazer).

Spammers Say the Creepiest Things – 04/10

Most blogs try and avoid spam, but I collect it and publish it because I’m mad. As a sequel post to a previous “spotlight on spam“, this time I was focusing on the creepy, slightly off spam I’d received.

Murdered: Soul Suspect, as Lifeless as the Ghost That Stars in It – 11/10

I was not impressed at all with the massive waste of potential that was Murdered. It’s alright, I think I’ve just about gotten over it now. Barely.

Pulling the Plug | Creepypasta – 31/10

The first part of this year’s Halloween double-post special was a short story I put together (only to immediately realise afterwards that I’d basically subconsciously nicked the plot from an old Hellblazer comic, d’oh!).

The PAYNEful PodSPLOSION #06: Creepypastaganza – 31/10

The second part of this year’s Halloween double-post special was an extended podcast of me reading out some choice spooky stories plucked from the web to Sam.

How to Improve the John Lewis Christmas 2014 TV Advert – 08/11

The John Lewis TV ad was nice, but I thought it just wasn’t gay enough (in both senses of the term).

So I Built a Fake French Accent Translator – 16/11

I find writing comical French accents a chore (as I’m sure many other people do) so I built a little web interface over the course of a weekend to help with that exact problem. No no, the pleasure is all mine, I realise how much easier I have made your life by building this.

How to Improve the Sainsbury’s Christmas 2014 TV Advert – 22/11

Having helped John Lewis, I decided that Sainsbury’s controversial advert could have used a bit more comedy (you know, just to liven up the grim event of WW1 a bit).

Facebook Doesn’t Know How to Talk to Its Users – 29/11 (Work/Portfolio)

Facebook managed to arbitrarily offend me by mismanaging their message system. It’s alright, I’ve got a hard skin, I’ll let it off this time.

Game Guides for Non-Gamers: Shadow of the Colossus – 07/12

I explain the fairly simple plot of one of my all-time favourite video games (and optionally spoil the living hell out of it too).

Manchild at Play: Paint Your Own Gromit Redux (Dick Dogstardly the “Bad Dog”) – 23/12

I spent many weekends this year in my parent’s kitchen, painting my very own Gromit. I made him evil as hell, obviously.

Post by Sean Patrick Payne+ | January 1, 2015 at 12:00 pm | The Year in Blogs | No comment

Tags: advertisements, Derren Brown, GamerGate, LEGO, podcast, yearly summary