Major Update: July 2015

It’s been a long time since I last did one of these; but I’d say a lot has been happening over the past few months and indeed over the whole year from September 2014 to now. Here’s another update on what I’m up to and the moment and what I have planned for the rest of the year.

So what’s going on with me right now? I’ve finished my second year at Bournemouth University, coming out with a solid 2:1; there’s just one more year to go for my degree in Multimedia Journalism, where I hope to obtain more work experience and work towards some major projects. I’ve also managed to land a job as a retail assistant; the first job which I feel has really challenged me as well as put my basic maths skills to better use after rarely using them for several years.

The next step in my time at Bournemouth University, as hyperbolic as it sounds, is one of the biggest I’ll ever take. I’ve been accepted onto a study abroad program and am headed to Toronto in Canada this September for three months. Yes, I’m headed to this incredible looking city to study some extra units as well as work towards a big university project called an MMP (Multi-media project). The work I hope to do will involve a documentary of sorts, though I’m also considering other avenues such as an extended feature if the documentary goes slow while I’m over there.

In addition to meeting all sorts of new people, exploring new places and discovering new things, heading to Toronto opens up another opportunity for The Cainage Critique; the Toronto International Film Festival will be returning to the city in September soon after I arrive. I’ve been to events such as Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, but never have I been to a festival as big as the TIFF. It’s one of the biggest film events of year and perhaps the most prominent festival which is open to the public. While I’m not quite press material, I’ll definitely make it a point to get a public ticket to check out the festival while I’m over there.

The other major project on the cards right now for me is a new blog; one that I want to focus on the areas of journalism I’d like to get into in the future. These include business and finance, science and technology and a bit of global affairs. When I first started out on forging my career as a journalist, I had mostly focused on the entertainment scene (which this blog is based around), but I want to expand beyond that, to challenge myself to cover more serious and topical issues which I feel people need to be informed about. The blog will be called “For the Road: Journalism by Robert Cain”; the name “For the Road” comes from the idea that life itself is a journey which holds many discoveries, events and stories to tell. I’m aiming to get the whole blog set up by the end of next week, so keep an eye out for that.

There’s just one more thing to talk about. I’m almost at my 100^th post on The Cainage Critique and I’d like to do another poll where you lovely people decide what I write. I’m going to choose between either “Top 10 Favourite Films” or “Top 10 Favourite Games”; the poll will be up on this blog on the right hand side of my blog’s home page for one week, after which I’ll write my list, so get voting!

And that’s about it; I’ve got a lot of big events coming up and I can’t wait to share it all with you on both this and “For the Road” in the coming months. Watch this space!