NEWS.
Major news stories this year: the Pakistani floods, the Gulf Oil Spill, the Wikileaks scandal, the British coalition, Student fees, Obama's health care reforms, the Haiti earthquake. But my top story, simply because I found it so engrossing and heart warming was the Chilean Mine rescue in September.
SPORT.
It was a great season in F1. Wimbledon was very exciting, and the Ashes and the Ryder Cup were brilliant but of course the big sporting story of 2010 was the World Cup. Yet, I shall not simply focus on England's dismal showing in South Africa. In fact, the biggest sporting moment of 2010 was a moment of heartbreak for Ghana. Never had an African nation progressed to the semi-final stage of the World Cup. Cameroon in 1990 returned as heroes following their success in reaching the quarter-final stage. Ghana had a penalty in the last minute of extra time, the stage was set for Asamoah Gyan, to send his team through on African soil...
But what composure the striker showed, when after missing this kick, he slotted his penalty in the shoot-out, unfortunately it was not enough for Ghana, as Uruguay progressed to the semi final. Spain ultimately won football's biggest prize, for the first time in their history.
FILM.
2010 was the year in which 3D announced itself as a cinematic force. Avatar released at the beginning of the year broke all the box office records and ran riot at the Oscars. I personally thought it was a very disappointing film, which was utterly predictable over the 3 hours which it ran for. It relied on style and synthetics rather than substance of character development and plot. Of the other 2010 films I saw Toy Story 3 was fun, Devil was awful, Nightmare on Elm Street was just ridiculous, the Social Network was very good, Paranormal Activity II was surprisingly good, Due Date was very amusing and Saw 3D just made no sense. 3D films should simply be regarded as good simply because they're shot in 3D. My film of the year comes down to two films, both starring Leonardo DiCaprio - Inception and Shutter Island. I'm going to have to give it to Shutter Island simply because of Scorcese's directing. He is one of my favourite directors. Shutter Island is well worth watching twice and DiCaprio is brilliant.
MUSIC.
I can't even remember what music has come out this year to be honest. Rihanna has become huge, her duet with Eminem in the summer, Love the Way You Lie, was one of the most popular songs of the year. Example's Kickstarts was definitely a summer tune and more recently Duck Sauce with Barbra Streistand has become my winter 2010 part tune. Did Take That welcome back Robbie...? Oh well. Plan B announced himself on the scene in the summer with Prayin and Stay Too Long. King Blues released their third album in the summer, as did the Gaslight Anthem, both of which I can't get enough of. Florence and the Machine became THE band to like. Florence Welsh's rendition of You've Got the Love with Dizzie Rascal at the Brits was one of the highlights of the year for British music. Yolanda Be Cool & DCup had the huge hit, We Speak No Americano as well. Kasabian also hit the big time and headlined V Festival. 2010 was also the first time I went to Glastonbury, and it was fantastic. Probably the highlight set was Fatboy Slim to be honest. Either that or Shakira. I can't pick a song of 2010 so I'll just leave on this, it's such a sick mash-up -
On a personal level 2010 has been a funny old year. It started sober in a Wetherspoon's car park, has taken me to Barcelona hitchhiking, Cyprus, Middlesbrough, Brixton and Dawlish Road, all via Wilmslow. My 21st in June was a birthday to forget, but shit happens. This summer was fantastic, and things seem to be on track to graduate next June (touch wood). The Thursday Night Show has been great fun, as has playing football about 78 times a week. It's just a shame Ipswich are doing so poorly. But on a positive note, I couldn't have envisaged where I'd be now 6 months ago, so I must have done something right. Here's to a Merry Christmas and Happy 2011. More of the same please.
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