Some Highlights of 2009 (updated)

Cultural Highlight: my sister Catherine's wedding
I'm biased here of course, but the selection of music was excellent, performed by members of Essex Concert Band and Colchester Choral Society, beautifully complimenting the occasion.

Musical Moment of 2009 (excluding the above)
Susan Boyle's appearance on Britain's Got Talent, triumphantly puncturing the general snobbbishness in the music business, reminding us all that singing should be about singing and not about looks.

Theatrical Highlight of 2009: Depot
For the best, and the worst of reasons.

Most Memorable Sporting Moment:
Norwich City 1 Colchester United 7 - though you'd expect me to say England winning the Ashes.

Favourite Film of the Year: Star Trek
Not a particularly brilliant film actually, but the opening scene had more excitement than most of the Star Wars prequels, and in my opinion this is the one film that comes closest to capturing the spirit of the original TV series.

Curiosity of the Year:
Anthony Gormley's One and Other at Trafalgar Square












I'm only sorry I wasn't involved in it myself.

Worst Moment of 2009: Nick Griffin's appearance on Question Time

Good Things: 18

Boots!

(the footwear that is, not the chemist)

Particularly the ones with strong grips to deal with all the ice and snow, because boy have they been needed at the moment.

"Page the Oracle"

That used to be the slogan of ITV's teletext service, which has now passed the way of all things non-digital. I can't help wondering how unnecessary a loss such a useful and entertaining information service this is. In its heyday, there would be frequent occasions when I would turn on the television just to look at the Ceefax/Oracle pages rather than the programmes.

I can remember first looking at Oracle 30 years ago in 1979, when TV strikes were about, but in between the periods off-air we occasionally got snatches of this exciting new ASCII coloured screen with a "Reveal" button for various answers to questions or (more often than not) jokes - back in the days of the new fangled "Teletext Television Set". Nowadays that term itself is now default, and defunct. The digital box and the in-built digital channels will soon rule the roost, though they have their own hang-ups too, and have generally not been as reliable as Teletext was.

Natalie Portman in 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' ....!

.....so it says according to Variety magazine.

With a title like that, I shall have to see it once out of pride (being a fan of Natalie's.) If I see it twice, I'll probably have my prejudices. And to see it a third time, I will probably have to become a zombie.

Berlin (BBC documentary)

Before heading on a trip to Vienna last month, I came upon this compelling documentary series telling me about a Berlin that I can relate to more than the popular image of the pre-WWII Weimar Berlin (with its high life and cosmopolitan decadence), or the Berlin of the Cold War (with the Wall dividing East and West.)

Journalist Matt Frei, I gradually realised, is German-born, and looks at the city from a refreshingly different home-grown angle, and though I feel his outlook on the Berlin of the 1930's strays towards the negative, as a local I would think he's entitled to that.