#139; My Moments of 2010

When I decided to start up this blog I promised myself not to do loads of them posts where everything is about me me me and talking about me. If there’s something I have a great weakness over it’s expressing my feelings clearly but for once I wanted to simply look back at the past year and look at the moments I’ve had that have meant a lot to me and really stood out over 2010. Maybe it won’t relate so well to you guys reading wherever you may be but I thought it’d be nice, even on a personal level, to look back at what moments mattered and what moments have made 2010 a good or bad year. I hope you don’t mind me doing this! It’s kind of like a retrospective really. But here are some personal highlights of the past year.

Goodwood Festival of Speed 2010 – July

This year happened to be my second time attending the wonderful Goodwood Festival of Speed back in the summer and somehow it managed to be even more incredible than my first year in 2009. every single day was an absolute delight seeing some amazing cars, some amazing people and spending some time away with an amazing girlfriend but it was just a wonderful weekend. Some of the highlights were definitely some of the individuals we met along the way – 5 Live individuals definitely, with David Croft being a downright lovely bloke and Holly Samos being wonderfully sweet even remembering our presence when we bumped into her later in the weekend – but the whole event is just one of the highlights of the year without a doubt. What I love about Goodwood is the fact that it’s so open to the fans, the fact you can have a chat with these motorsport legends and big names and the fact everyone is there for the same reason – a passion of motorsport. Plus there is something so appropriately British about the whole weekend but I’m not sure why, not that it’s a bad thing. Really, really enjoyed my weekend away in Havant and Chichester though and definitely going to be there in 2011 too, hopefully including train trips that go the right way this time.

See more:
#93; A Retrospective of Goodwood 2010

Spa Francorchamps, Belgian Grand Prix 2010 – August

Again it’s motorsport related but it was my first ever trip to a Grand Prix and it was just the most brilliant experience. It rained and rained and nuch walking and tiredness ensued but that couldn’t detract from the fact that sitting at the best Formula 1 circuit on the calendar watching a fantastic race and having a great weekend made it just a wonderful weekend. The best thing about it though was having this time away with a group of marvellous friends from Sidepodcast and everyone getting so well. Some of us had only met for the first time yet it felt like we’d known each other for years. But that made it even better, the fact that you could be going to your first grand prix at such an amazing circuit with such a lovely group of friends. Plus there were some very memorable moments I’m sure none of us will ever forget including Burb and his mad rally bus trips. Sure it rained a lot and I admittedly got a bit grumpy at times from the combination of uber-tiredness and being soaking wet but it certainly didnt detract from the fact all of us had a fantastic few days watching the sport we love with our jaws dropped at this beautiful, magnificent environment and most importantly having a wonderful time away.

See more:
#110; If You Went Down To the Woods Last Week…

Jonsi and his gigs – April, December

I shall just throw this out there now. I love this man. Not in the same way I love my girlfriend of course but it is impossible to not love this man once you have experienced his glorious album Go and seen him live. Although I liked Sigur Ros anyways, 2010 has definitely been the year of Jonsi musically for me, as his album came out around April or May time and since then it has been musical bliss, so much so to the point he’s nearing Muse on my last.fm. And that’s just his album alone – I haven’t even gone into detail as to how incredible his gigs were in 2010. Myself, Lou, Emily and Bassano went to his gig in Kentish Town, London soon after the release of his album and it was just a mindblowing performance; a visual delight and a musical dream. This was further compounded by seeing him again just a few weeks ago and it was still the most mindblowing performance, and just a wonderful experience. As I say, it’s very much been a year of Jonsi for me and I will more than happily take that because of how much I love his solo stuff as well as his previous history with Sigur Ros. Hopefully Jonsi will get more gigs organised soon because I must see him again and again!

See more:
#83; Recovering From the Gig Like No Other…

Games of the Year – Red Dead Redemption/Mass Effect 2/Alan Wake

I’m sure you know full well by now that I’m a big gamer. I do very much love my games and if you were to ask me what my favourite games were this year, these three would be my winner. Before I go into further detail, I just want to clarify these are my own personal games of the year, I’m not saying they’re anyone else’s. Nevertheless, my third best game would be Alan Wake because I really, really enjoyed my time on the game. It seemed to be a marmite type of game with reviewers and gamers but every single moment on the story I loved, and it had this incredible soundtrack that interweaved into the gameplay beautifully as well as being really gripping. Others may have been anniyed by it but I loved every second and it’s definitely one of my gaming highlights for 2010.

Next up was the second installment of the Mass Effect series, with mass Effect 2 taking everything that was right and everything that was wrong about the original and making this fantastic sequel. Definitely a worthy sequel in my eyes, the whole story of the civilizations of the ME universe, the story of Shepherd and the varied past he has, the gameplay and the environments and just everything about Mass Effect 2 makes it a total pleasure to play. I adored the original so it’s something to say just how much I enjoyed it’s sequel.

Finally, my absolute game of the year just has to be Red Dead Redemption. I mean, what a game. Rockstar games created something else with Grand theft Auto IV then they go and make Red Dead Redemption which is the better game just a stunning achievement. There is just something about it that is totally engrossing, the Wild West world being created so lovingly and the game itself being jampacked with so much to do. It’s just a stunning game and one that should not be missed at all. Honestly one of the closest games to perfection you will find on a modern day console.

See more:
#97; The Tale of Alan Wake
#85; Rockstar Games’ Duelling Banjos

Being With Lou – Urm, the whole year

I’m going to get a bit soppy now and whatnot so if you’re into this sort of thing then feel free to jump over to the next bit, but I could not go into detail about what made 2010 such a fantastic year and completely ignore my lovely girlfriend. As of writing Lou and myself have been together nearly 20 months which is awesome enough and the whole year I still find myself on cloud nine knowing I’ve found someone special. Even though we’re still apart in distance it never feels like I’m lonely thanks to our bond and every opportunity we get together has been so very special and I just wanted to thank my lovely partner for being so wonderful and hope that we have many more years together. I know Lou’s had a very stressful year with final school exams and adjusting to uni life but she’s got through both remarkably well and is just an incredible person whom I admire so very much. Our times away like at Goodwood and Spa have sprouted many wonderful memories and I just love an absolutely ridiculous amount. Sadly we couldn’t get the opportunity to spend some time together over Christmas (damn snow) but that doesn’t affect another wonderful 12 months of our relationship. Thank you for being so truly wonderful. <3

Graduation – September

Well, I finally did it. After 3 years of moaning, frustration, moments of utter delight and surprise and finally relief, I graduated from university with a 2:1 degree in Computing (BSc). Goodness me, it’s very odd now to look back and say I’ve actually graduated and that’s all a part of my past but 2010 also saw the completion of my dissertation that I was hugely proud of. My eventual final piece saw my work focus on the use of computing and IT in a primary school environment and the work used to help special educational needs in these environments, and it was something I put a lot of heart and effort into making it as accurate and informational as possible. Some wonderful days spent with the most charming and delightful children in these schools and meeting teachers and headteachers alike all contributed to this final submission of work and ultimately I came back with a high level B grade which I’m very proud of. It’s a shame it;s all over because I met some lovely people at uni that I haven’t had the chance properly to see since we’ve all left but to focus on the positives, the rewards finally came out of all that hard work and it was a very big day to actually graduate. It even got live streamed and everything! Technology these days.

See more:
#91; And The Results Are In
#109; Gradutation

To round off my recap of 2010, here are some notes and bits and bobs about some more things over the past year that have been very nice or quite awesome or whatever reason…

• It’s been a good year to be an F1 fan I reckon because it’s been a super exciting season with so many unpredictable moments. Although I still preferred the 2009 season and the Dream Team unleashing madness on the world, so many different things happened throughout this season that it could have gone any way at the end and we’ve had some really good races too. Times are looking good!
• Rubens beating the Stig on Top Gear and being the fastest Formula 1 driver on the show ever was totally awesome and a huge surprise I must admit. But he’s just lovely and it was awesome to see him on there even if Ben Collins threw the mystery away for his benefit and Clarkson kept saying Barri-chello as in a cello violin. Silly!
• 2010 also saw the quite surreal conversation I had with former WRC champion and nearly FIA president Ari Vatanen which was quite incredible and as long as I keep in contact will lead to myself and Lou visiting the Monaco Grand prix in 2011 to meet Mr Vatanen. He was a really lovely guy on the phone and has been in emails sent too, and having someone like him actually trying to phone me and leaving voicemails was the most utterly bizarre thing ever. Total legend.
• Doctor Who was just awesome this year. Such a fantastic return to form after the odd specials of 2009 and how awesome is Matt Smith? What a find from Steven Moffat and what a show the two are creating since the re-branding of Moffat’s control of the show. Absolutely loved the series that took place over 2010 and cannot wait for the Christmas special. Plus we all got to meet the lovely Rory.
• Asides from Go by Jonsi absolutely blowing me away there’s been some cracking albums that have been continuously played on my iTunes following their release this year. Brandon Flowers’ first solo album Flamingo had me a bit wary at first but the more I listened to it the more I fell for it. Postcards of a Young Man by the Manics though immediately had me hooked and it’s such a good album, as expected from that fine Welsh band. finally, my other stand out album of the year in this respect was The Suburbs by Arcade Fire, the album which spawned the ridiculously addictive Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) and a fabulous soundtrack to suburban life.
• Finally, I thought I’d quickly give a small pointing out towards the two films which absolutely blew me away in 2010 – Inception and Scott Pilgrim vs The World. Following Inception, both myself and Lou came out of the cinema totally blown away. Geniunely speechless, and I have never, ever watched a film and reacted like that. almost an out of body experience to be so stunned at a film but it was just so good. Scott Pilgrim is easily one of the most fun and stupendously stylish films I’ve ever seen and, following the graphic novels I’d read early in 2010, it converted it perfectly to the big screen. Two completely wonderful films that made my year at the cinema.

So that was my year. If you’ve got this far then fair play to you seeing as this was very much a personal recap of things. I think it’s been a marvellous year myself. I just need to get a new job in 2011 and we’re all sorted for an even better year. How was 2010 for you?