My Top 10 Favourite Derp Crew Town of Salem Games of 2015

Hey guys!

So indulge me here while I make a list of my top 10 favourite Town of Salem games this year. I made a steadfast effort this year to save all my favourite Let’s Plays into a playlist on Youtube and definitely one of my favourite series has to be the Derp Crew playing Town of Salem.

If you’re unfamiliar with Town of Salem, I made a post a long while ago about it that you can read here and familiarise yourself with. I used to be so addicted to this game late last year and earlier this year and played it continuously. It was so addictive; it feed the logical and curiosity-driven side of me. Long story short, it is a lot like the game Werewolf – or Mafia – or Polar Bear, depending on how it is called when someone probably taught you about it.

All of this being said, here is the countdown to my favourite episode of them playing it. I’m not going to describe any of what happens. Discovering the roles and what happens in the end is the best part after all. Plus, when I go back and watch this I want to be surprised all over again.

10. Grandma The GodFather (The Derp Crew: Town of Salem – Part 59)

9. MIND BLOWN: The Plot Twists! (The Derp Crew: Town of Salem – Part 29)

8. Pokemon Murder Theme! (The Derp Crew: Town of Salem – Part 86)

7. PART 100 SPECIAL!(The Derp Crew: Town of Salem – Part 100)

Note: Referring to the first game only (0:00 – 20:48)

6. MY BEST GAME! (The Derp Crew: Town of Salem – Part 37)

5. THE TRANSPORTER GOD! (Town of Salem QUAD FACECAM w/ The Derp Crew Ep. 29)

And to watch it all unfold from another perspective: The Ultimate Mafia Plan! (The Derp Crew: Town of Salem – Part 30)

4. PIE WARFARE! (The Derp Crew: Town of Salem – Part 48)

3. The Fail Highlight Episode: ZePeePee and Kim Jong Un Dong (The Derp Crew: Town of Salem – Part 32)

Note: Watch 2:25 into the video till 4:53.

2. LoveMyNuts: The PERFECT Game (The Derp Crew: Town of Salem – Part 78)

1. How To Get a BoyFriend (The Derp Crew: Town of Salem – Part 61)

And to watch it unfold from Ze’s perspective: THE EXECUTIONER’S CHOICE! (Town of Salem QUAD FACECAM w/ The Derp Crew Ep. 58)

Well, that’s all from me! Hope to come back to these videos next year and watch them all over again. And, while this list is mostly for my amusement, if you end up watching all of the episodes, do let me know which one you would consider your favourite. 🙂

Till next time!

cumuloq ❤

Favourite Albums of 2015: Whispers

Hey guys!

So this is another album that I just fell in love with in 2015, even though it came out in 2014: Whispers by Passenger. This indie pop/folk album is as much love as the previous two albums that I’ve mentioned, and it really doesn’t disappoint in terms of lyrics and melody. Passenger continues to be just amazing in terms of both songwriting and vocals. Mike’s voice is just so uniquely soothing and heartbreaking.

This is the perfect album to listen to when sitting in a coffeeshop trying to contemplate where you’re going to head next in your life, or backpacking in the Europe countryside, trying to find yourself. It’s better to think of this album as one collective set of journeys and stories than to separate individual songs, better to blur them together into one painting, but that’s my suggestion.

However, here’s my usual ranking of the songs, favourite verses included once more, so you can choose which one strikes you more:

11. Start A Fire

My cliff face is crumbling
Silently tumbling
Down to the water below
And if I light a match I’ll be able to catch
The last sun before it goes

10. Riding To New York

Through the fields of Ohio as the sunshine paints them gold.
I run just like a river runs, rapid, quick and cold.

9. Bullets

He’s been collecting since the age of nine
Every shiny bullet that he could find
Built himself a house with the wooden floors
Put the shiny bullets in a chest of drawers

8. Thunder

Hey I go chasing thunder
Go dancing under
Go falling free
Hey I go running in circles
Like baby turtles
Down to the sea
Down to the sea

7. Rolling Stone

Sometimes I feel like I’m falling
Falling fast and falling free
She said my darling you’re not falling
Always looked like you were flying to me

6. Golden Leaves

Now my dear we are two golden leaves
Clinging desperately to winter trees
Got up here like a pair of thieves
While the sirens blare outside

5. Coins in A Fountain

There’s a sad old sea but my love is an island
Wild and free like the hills in the highlands
Hope is a breeze that brings me back to dry land
Where the flowers grow

4. Whispers

Well I spent my money, I lost my friends, I broke my mobile phone,
3 a.m. and I’m drunk as hell, and I’m dancing on my own,
Taxi-cabs ain’t stopping, and I don’t know my way home,
Well it’s hard to find a reason, when all you have is doubts,
Hard to see inside yourself when can’t see your way out,
Hard to find an answer when the question won’t come out …

3. Scare Away The Dark

Well, we wish we were happier, thinner and fitter,
We wish we weren’t losers and liars and quitters
We want something more not just nasty and bitter
We want something real not just hash tags and Twitter

2. 27

27 birthdays, 27 new years
30,000 quid, just so I could have a few beers
Ever dying old hopes, ever growing new fears
Don’t know where I’m going, but I know how I got here

1. Heart’s On Fire

Well I don’t know where and I don’t know when
But I know we’ll be lovers again
I’ll see you some day before the end
I don’t know where and I don’t know when

For me, “27” and “Scare Away The Dark” seem to be echoes of one another, but not necessarily thesis and anti-thesis; they seem to be both angry-happy-sadness at what has passed and how we should be living our lives. Meanwhile “Bullets” and “Riding To New York” are clear narrative-based songs that tell stories of people who seem to have lost everything except something small they cling desperately to that keep them going.

Anywho, if you want to listen to the full album, Passenger nicely has it all up on their Youtube channel. So you can check it out here. Another album you should check out, and that I have yet to get myself acquainted to is “Whispers 2”, which is here. This one came out this year – but apparently I’m a year slow for all most of my albums.

I hope you’re enjoying these new albums so far.

Well, till next time!

cumuloq ❤

Christmas Reflections: You are not your own

Listening to …

It’s been a really long time that I’ve just sat down and reflected on this blog. I guess the past few blog posts are welcome distractions to the cloud of thoughts coffining my head. Today I woke up, warmed something up for lunch, made tea and sat down and watched the Vlogmas videos I’ve been missing. All welcome distractions.

I found myself gravitating towards the Michalak videos as opposed to the Sacconejoly or Zoella ones. Their Vlogmas videos are a struggle. And – I liked that. And not in this sadistic way where I like to see people stuck in difficult situations, but in a way that I related to them trying to just make it through every day with these real world obstacles. It felt honest, real. No fancy tinsel and mistletoe – just peaks and troughs.

I’ve had some really wonderful Christmases in the past. Christmas is so sacred to me. Admittedly because of the elaborate commercialism surrounding it. But also because of how it somehow just makes everyone kinder and more generous and warmer. December seems like this shining orb that just cannot be touched by any of the troubling worries of humanity. Even if you’re in it for the Christmas lights, shopping deals, presents, family and friends, holidays and free time, the kindness and love – the message of what Christmas truly means just permeates through – hopefully.

But this year Christmas feels so different for me. It feels like a reality check. It feels like a reminder that the world is not kind all the time – even during December. And, worse of all, it’s a reminder that as kind as you try to be and as generous as you try to be and you try to hold onto something pure within yourself … some things just don’t work out.

You are not your own [… or …] You do not belong to yourselves. – 1 Corinthian 6:19

The full verse: Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.

I understand that this verse is supposed to be positive – that nothing can claim you but God. And since God is Love, nothing can claim you but Love – that there should be no one else on earth, nothing else on earth, that should be able to claim yourself but Him. It means you are in safe Hands.

But when I first read it, it was not a good feeling. Maybe because of the person I am – I feel like I’m constantly pursuing something idealistic, perfectionistic and, sometimes regrettably, individualistic. I seek shelter and secrets and some sort of magic that sometimes disappears from the world so completely I feel lost.

More than anything, I feel like I belong to people and things that claim me as theirs and pull me in so many different ways, when I just want to hold myself together. My brain is not my brain, my heart is not my heart, my house is not my home, my experiences are not mine. This view is not my view, this song is not for me to love, this book is not for me to keep close to my breast, these phrases are created not for me to use.

And I know it’s stupid to want to keep them as mine – to not share them with others, but it also makes me question who am I if I do not belong to myself – if companies and money and corporations seem to own me and everything I “possess”. These words are not even my own, this website I’m typing on is not my own, these thoughts – are they manufactured too? What is completely organic and whole and of the earth anymore?

I want to find it – but – it requires things that are not mine. And if that’s the case, is that experience in itself not mine? Is it claimed by the people and the objects that brought me there?

I feel changed, that’s all. Like I’m looking at everything with questioning eyes. Because I feel like I need to reassess what I’ve built up as my own. Like I need humility and modesty and I need to figure out whether I’m okay with the constructed nature of societies – and belonging in one, and how to keep myself sane in one, and to not lose groundedness. And, I guess, to accept the fact that only God can claim me. And that that is a good thing.

So, let this be a very different Christmas. Let me discover what I want to keep and how much this will cost me and how I can lose “myself” and find myself in return. These moods in the past have tried to destroy me … but I think this time there is silver Christmas lights still flickering in the dark.

Till next time,

cumuloq ❤

Favourite Albums of 2015: Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness

Hey guys!

Back with another album I absolutely fell in love with in 2015: Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness. I say this because the album for today is a bit of a cheatsy-doodles. It came out in August 12, 2014. But I only discovered it this year and fell in love with all the songs. Like literally all of them. I had to stop myself from inserting it into every freaking one of my Youtube playlists. I feel it warrants being in this overview of my favourite albums of 2015.

If you’ve never heard of Andrew McMahon, maybe you’ve heard of Jack’s Mannequin or maybe Something Corporate, all punk-rock bands from the 90s and 20s. He was the lead singer for those bands, and this is his wonderful indie pop baby post-punk-rock-band-days. These songs are perfect to listen to while travelling – on a train, on a bus, in a car, on a plane. The lyrics are just filled with images of long car rides, looking out of the window, missing loved ones and wonderful barren scenery.

The first song I heard off this album was “Cecilia and the Satellite” and I listened to every single version of the song over and over again. I then went to check out more of the songs in the album and loved all of them just as much.

Here’s the ranking of the songs in the album, favourite lines and verses included:

10. Canyon Moon

She couldn’t handle another season
Another ocean of fiction blue
Said a prayer to a dashboard Jesus
Death Valley and worn out shoes

9. Driving Through a Dream

Straighter than the flat line freeway
That’s the way your hair falls down
We could watch the trains from the tightrope
Chase the dark

8. Rainy Girl

The sun is coming up for me
Blackbird on a wire sings a song
So blue

7. Halls

When I left town we were heading for the altar
And I told you I’d be back before too long
Cut my hair and I found me a new girlfriend
Thought a broken heart could write a perfect song
And it did and I was right so now you’re gone

6. Black and White Movies

As the summer came and left with the rain
Pushing shadows down the road
In this old beach town when the sun goes down
All the gray turns into gold

5. High Dive

Headlight in the driveway
You stand in the window waiting
The stars are out tonight
One million fires burning

Out there on the high dive
You dance with your headphones on
And I could watch you all night long
Dancing to someone else’s song

4. See Her on The Weekend

And I’m alright, I think we’re good
Yeah, I drink more than the doctors say I should
I’ve been a little hard to reach, but my girl is at the beach
And I’ll see her on the weekend

3. Maps for the Getaway

Following the outline of your face
I can see your breath move in the dark
Through all the autopilot years
The tears of joy, the face of fear
Now that we’re not hiding
Somehow you’re still riding in my car

2. All Our Lives

I thought “If I could tell her something I would tell her this
There’s only two mistakes that I have made
It’s running from the people who could love me best
And trying to fix a world that I can’t change.”

1. Cecilia and the Satellite

Through all the things my eyes have seen
The best by far is you

As mentioned, all the lyrics are just beautiful. I guess that’s a definite criteria for me for a good album, just something with so much meaning in every line. Honestly I feel like every song in this album is almost on par with one another. Whereas Fall Out Boy’s album I could easily divide the songs I could love forever and the songs that I’m not that fond of, this album has every song fighting for attention. Even when ranking them, one particular song, “Hall”, just stood out as something special. I have a feeling that if I listened to this album just a couple more times that song will just crawl up to first and beg for attention.

If you want to listen to the full album, you can listen to it on Youtube here (though I’m not sure for how long, ’cause it’s not an official link).

Honestly, so ridiculously in love with this album and I hope you fall in love with it too if you already haven’t.

Till next time,

cumuloq ❤

My Ranking for 2015 Movies Caught out of Theatres

Hey guys!

So continuing from the movies I’ve watched this year in 2015, here’s the list of movies I watched out of theatres. I had a few goals for movies I wanted to conquer this year, part of it was watching staple movies that are shameful I have yet to watch, like notable sci-fis and 80s teen movies – so I did my best in that arena, and then there were just mindless trashy flicks that I went on marathons of like romcoms and Disney original movies, so those are there.

For some reason I’ve really enjoyed the movies I’ve chosen this year. And there are definitely some movies that will rival my favourite movie of all time, Pan’s Labyrinth. Studio Ghibli’s Howl’s Moving Castle is definitely one of them. I plan to rewatch that in the near future – again and again. Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom is another one. Other movies I intend to rewatch in the future include Two Night Stand and Clueless, definitely some mindless chic-flicks I’d add to my list.

So here’s the gallery and the order I watched them in:

And here’s my ranking:

1. Howl’s Moving Castle
2. Moonrise Kingdom
3. My Neighbor Totoro
4. Hugo
5. Two Night Stand
6. Clueless
7. Heathers
8. Lemonade Mouth
9. Aliens
10. Blade Runner
11. 27 Dresses
12. Pretty in Pink
13. Love, Rosie
14. Sixteen Candles
15. Radio Rebel
16. Cinderella (2015)
17. Romeo & Juliet (2013)
18. The Interview
19. Ted 2
20. The DUFF
21. Pride & Prejudice (2005)
22. See You in Valhalla
23. The Spectacular Now
24. That Awkward Moment
25. What to Expect When You’re Expecting
26. Annie

For me, any movie below the 20 mark was forgettable. I think this year Blade Runner was the Tron of last year. I really wanted to like it, but for some reason I just couldn’t like anything past the plot line. Maybe because it just doesn’t hold up over the years, I’m not sure. (Don’t hate me, Blade Runner fans.) I didn’t think it was better than the book it was loosely based off of, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? which was also not as great, in my opinion, as it was hyped up to be – but was still pretty solid.

Let me know if there are any movies you think I’ll like based off of this list that I can try catching next year. Lately, I’ve been focusing a lot more on movies out of the cinema box office as opposed to in them. The next movie I’m currently eyeing is Studio Ghibli’s Castle in the Sky. Apart from that, I’ll just see where my browsing takes me.

Till next time!

cumuloq ❤

2015 Update: My Top 5 Favourite Female Beauty Youtubers

Hey everyone,

I know, it’s surprising. I haven’t been blogging for about two months and now I’ve posted six days straight. Maybe consider this my version of Vlogmas – just without video, and less Christmas-related and more of a review of different things this year.

So, on 25 April 2014 I made a list of my favourite female beauty gurus on youtube and I realise that a lot has changed from that list since then. Therefore, I present to you an updated list of the female beauty vloggers I watch and love watching currently:

5. Wengie

Wengie is an Asian beauty vlogger from Australia and she’s most well known for her comparison make-up videos like the one above. I’ve recently moved away from Western foundation as my face base to Asian CC creams and it’s always interesting to see how the formulas are different, so her vids are really informative.

4. Suzie aka HelloOctoberxo

I can’t really remember how I found Suzie, but I really have been watching a lot of her videos because she is really personable and friendly. I’m more of a fan of her make-up videos, like the one above as opposed to her fashion hauls. Her style isn’t really up my alley, but I could watch her make-up tutorials forever. Plus she is so beautiful.

3. Zoe Sugg aka Zoella

Yup, Zoe still stays on my list! I feel like she is a staple, especially when it’s currently Vlogmas and I squeal in the middle of the night whenever I see her new video is out. She’s just so bubbly and every single video is just bottled-up happiness. So yeah, Zoe. I love to watch all her videos really – plus her second channel videos. Actually, I like her second channel videos more for some reason. They’re wonderful to just play in the background while I’m doing other things.

2. Poppy Rawson aka MeMyMouse1

Okay, Poppy is love. Poppy is so much love when it comes to beauty vlogging. I feel like she’s always on-point with all her choices when it comes to technique, make-up brands, camera angles and make-up hauls. Of course, it absolutely helps that she has such flawless skin; every single foundation, highlighter, bronzer and blush just looks amazing on her.

1. Tanya Burr

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of Tanya Burr – outside of her makeup tutorials. But if there is one thing that Tanya does amazingly it is to create makeup looks that are just breathtaking and so precise. So I would definitely put her in my number one list for beauty Youtubers.

Again, like last time, if you know anyone like these girls, let me know. Other than that I hope you yourself have discovered some wonderful new vloggers.

Till next time!

cumuloq ❤

Favourite Albums of 2015: American Beauty / American Psycho

Hello guys,

It’s been a real long while since I’ve actually written anything specific for my “Thursday: my soundtrack” category. But since this is December and I am doing a round-up of things here and there, let me just share some of my favourite albums from this year.

I think ever since the extinction of cassette tapes and CDs, I haven’t actually been listening to artists according to their albums anymore, which is a shame cause that’s where I usually find my favourite songs – not from their breakout singles but from one of their other tracks. I have the habit of falling in love with the second last or last song in an album. Don’t ask me why, but I do.

For Fall Out Boy’s new album “American Beauty / American Psycho”, I just had to listen to the entire album – especially since they released the songs one after the other one night on Youtube and the lyrics were just so sharp and the melodies so catchy. Fall Out Boy has definitely solidified their place as such reliably amazing album churners.

So here’s my ranking of their songs off the album:

11. Fourth of July
10. American Beauty / American Psycho
9. Uma Thurman
8. Novocaine
7. Favourite Record
6. Irresistible
5. Centuries
4. Twin Skeleton’s (Hotel in NYC)
3. Immortals
2. Jet Pack Blues
1. The Kids Aren’t Alright

Honestly, I think number 6, “Irresistible”, onwards are just absolutely solid tracks that I would listen to again and again. “The Kids Aren’t Alright” and “Jet Pack Blues” are amazing emotional pop-rock ballads and “Immortals”, “Twin Skeleton’s” and “Centuries” are fist-pumping rock finishers that I’d be happy to dance to at the beginning or the end of a concert. And I won’t discount the rest either, ’cause if there’s anything I’ve learnt from Fall Out Boy albums, the more I listen to them, the more those forgotten tracks slowly crawl up to favourite status and the more the most immediately loved ones fall behind … or should I say out? Get it? Okay, I’ll stop.

You can listen to their entire album on their Youtube page, and remixes of the tracks above too. So check that out.

And till next time!

cumuloq ❤

My Ranking for 2015 Movies Caught in Theatres

Hi everyone!

So, last year, around this time, I ranked the movies I watched in 2014 in cinemas. You can check it out here. This year I’ll be doing exactly the same thing. Last year I managed to watch twenty of them, this year, so far, I’ve watched fifteen. Personally, for me, the less movies I watch in theatres the better, especially if I avoid some really terrible ones – though that can’t be helped all the time.

Again, like last year, take note that the movies I’ve watched are up till now and not for the whole of 2015. Like last year, I’m missing out on the ones in December.

So this is how I’d rank these movies:

1. Inside Out
2. Mad Max: Fury Road
3. Kingsman: The Secret Service
4. Ant-Man
5. The Martian
6. The Theory of Everything
7. Avengers: Age of Ultron
8. Jurassic World
9. Paper Towns
10. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
11. Pitch Perfect 2
12. Insurgent
13. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
14. Into the Woods
15. Fantastic Four

I have to say that this year there were a few surprisingly great movies I did not expect to love but completely did from the action genre, like Mad Max and Kingsman. And then there were some movies that were just downright disappointing like Scorch Trials and Fantastic Four.

Stay tuned for my list of movies I watched “out of theatres” next week! There’s a whole lot more this year and I’m honestly a lot more excited to share those ones with you guys, because I definitely struck off some great movies I’ve been wanting to watch in a long while.

Till next time!

cumuloq ❤

3 Days, 3 Quotes: Book Tag (Day 3)

Hi everyone!

And this is the last day of a very short challenge. But, at the same time, I guess it kind of reminds me of the books that have stood out the most for me in the last few, most recent years, and I guess it also singles out what books left a lasting impression on me by the words they had in their pages in the most perfect sequence.

The Rules:

Thank the person who nominated you.
Post a quote for 3 consecutive days (1 quote for each day).
Nominate three new bloggers each day.

So today I wanted to change it up. I guess the most accessible quotes have been those that are ambiguous and can be applied to almost any context, at any time and space. Something useful. But I think sometimes we also need quotes to remind us of the situations of others, minorities, the overlooked. And that’s why I want to end this challenge with a quote that reflects on the absolute hate of the human race from a young black woman who was just trying to live a life of her own.

“It was awful to be Negro and have no control over my life. It was brutal to be young and already trained to sit quietly and listen to charges brought against my color with no chance of defense. We should all be dead. I thought I should like to see us all dead, one on top of the other. A pyramid of flesh with the whitefolks on the bottom, as the broad base, then the Indians with their silly tomahawks and teepees and wigwams and treaties, the Negroes with their mops and recipes and cotton sacks and spirituals sticking out of their mouths. The Dutch children should all stumble in their wooden shoes and break their necks. The French should choke to death on the Louisiana Purchase (1803) while silkworms ate all the Chinese with their stupid pigtails. As a species, we were an abomination. All of us.”
― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Nominated bloggers today:

1. khrissycorruption
2. Janika Senados
3. Journeytotruthblog

Please feel free to accept or disregard the challenge. 🙂 And, now I’m done! Again, thank you The Ultimate Book Geek for the challenge.

cumuloq ❤