What was good in 2011

My rather inconsequential review of 2011 follows......

Theatre - I had a great year as far as theatre was concerned.  I think there were several highlights in terms of what I was personally involved with as well as what I watched.  The Globe Theatre production of Henry IV Part one was my ultimate highlight.  Roger Allam as Falstaff was stunning, and the hours spent on the feet flew by.  It was particularly good to spend it with eldest.Other highlights were seeing the Tennant/Tate Much Ado, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and felt that the critics ignored, not because of what they actually saw, but what they felt about the celebrity casting.  I feel they have forgotten where Tennant and Tate came from.  Anyway...rant over....It was also excellent to see Eldest absolutely own the stage in a performance of The Likes of Us.  I still get a shiver up my spine thinking of her on that stage.  I am so very proud.  I had three of my own plays performed this year, and I was pleased with them all in equal measures.  It hasn't put me off of continuing down the writing path!

Television - Well my eyes have been opened up to all sorts of things this year, but the stand out series (I don't do "Seasons") had to be Game of Thrones.  I don't really do fantasy science fiction as much as I once did, but I make an exception in this case.  It was just so much fun, and wonderful to watch.  I have spent more time watching news programmes and documentaries than drama or comedy though, and there were so many highlights looking back at those that it is difficult to name any favourite moments.  However, the newsnight episodes that dealt with phone hacking were extremely entertaining, with Paxman getting better and better.  

Books - Where to start?  I discovered Kindle and e-books this year, so I have read far more than I expected to.  I think my personal favourite read this year has been Caitlin Moran's book, but honourable mentions must also go to Emma Kennedy for the Tent the Bucket and Me, and John Niven for Kill your friends.  

Sport - Well my beloved Spurs have been excellent this year, and it will be a year that I suspect I will treasure the memory of for a long time.  Seeing Gareth Bale torment the best defences in Europe in the Champions League will last for ever!  

Film - I have never been much of a film buff, but have managed to catch up on an awful lot this year.  I will include films that I have seen this year for the first time, and mention Four Lions, A Prophet, The Godfather (Yes...I know!!!!!), Inception and Submarine.

Music - Because I have done less in the way of listening, I have really gone back many years and revisited much.  I have been to see little in the way of live music, with Carter USM being the only fully fledged gig of the year.  In terms of music on the iPod, it has been the Smiths again, with the remastered collection.  I have also spent lots of time with the Super Furry Animals, the Manic Street Preachers and the Stone Roses & Happy Mondays, for nostalgic reasons.  New music has been hard to come by this year in terms of quality.  I enjoyed the Horrors album, Noel Gallagher's solo wasn't half bad, and the Vaccines got a few airings.  I am not sure that age is necessarily the reason, but I do feel that much new music has passed me by.  I think, like anything, you need to work hard to find the real quality, and my energies have been employed elsewhere.  I have enjoyed some classical this year, in particular, Vivaldi, who is not challenging enough to disturb me when writing.  I have dabbled a lot, and listened to much that I cannot remember, but did have a long period of listening to Brahms, which was enjoyable.  There was much that was released and lauded that was poor.  I wont jump on the anti Coldplay wagon as there is much out there that has been worse, but I do feel that many bands have stagnated.  REM called it a day, which was not totally unsurprising, but rather sad all the same.  I quite liked their last album.  

Podcasts - Richard Herring and Andrew Collins have provided me with much entertainment over the years, so it was sad to see them fall out this year.  I hope that the recent return to podcasting will be a long one.  Herring's continued solo podcasts and Edinburgh ones were excellent as usual, and I enjoyed the sheer insanity of his recent Snooker podcast.  I also enjoyed the Desert Island Discs podcasts which meant that you could listen to some interesting people without having to hear their terrible taste in music too much.

Radio - When I did listen, it was exclusively to Radio 4

Comedy - I have been to one comedy gig this year, which was again Richard Herring.  I love the man.  He makes me howl with laughter, and what a nice, unassuming gentle chap he seems when meeting him afterwards!

Posted via email from Mr Plug's posterous