Goodbye to 2008

It feels like the right time to take a break from the holiday fun (such as it is, with both Karen and myself both full up with a cold) and take a look back at what's gone down with this year.
Musical Highlight of 2008
As ever, tying me down to one standout musical moment of any time period (unless it's the last five minutes) is impossible. I have a favourite song for every mood and occasion and I love them all equally on an emotional level. However, as the point of this blog is about writing I'll try and be more critical.

Usually a decade has a musical trend that defines it usually in the main pop scene but also on the underground levels. This year, I think the dominant trend is for pop to have drawn heavily on underground 80's indie sounds. The Wombats, Foals, Black Kids, Ladyhawke, Late of the Pier and Friendly Fires have all come to the fore sounding like a progression of the bands that I thought were cool and rebellious when I was in high school (which is now longer ago than I like to admit).

Its been a good year in other areas too though with bands like Hot Chip, TV on the Radio and Kings of Leon as top contenders.

Ultimately though I'm torn between two bands from the US who don't actually sound like they're from the US.

MGMT and Vampire Weekend.

I like both for different reasons. Vampire Weekend are VERY pop, but not cringily so. There's nothing wrong with catchy songs so long as they are sincere attempts at expression and not cynical productions following a formula where the artist doesn't matter. I can enjoy that kind of pop.

MGMT on the other hand represent that other side of me that just wants to rebel against the norms. They aren't rebellious in the seventies punk style, I guess its more akin to the hippie kind of anarchy that their dress style seems to represent.

If I had to choose one then it would probably be Vampire Weekend, if only because they seem to have more places to go whereas I'm not sure how MGMT can sustain their invention over more than one album. Instead I'm going to give it to MGMT for one reason only. I can't play the VW album to my kids because of the swearing, which is a shame because they love the edited versions they see on the TV.

TV Highlight of 2008
I'd like to throw up a surprise or two here but at the moment there's nothing that really touches my pick for the year. Before I reveal it though I'll give a few honourable mentions for programs that I've enjoyed even if they haven't set my TV world on fire.

Harry Hill has been consistently funny thoughout the year. His TV Burp program shows the absurdity of taking TV programs too seriously and his trick of inserting himself into the programs through clever editing tickles my funnybones in particular.

Battlestar Galactica was also an intermittent pleasure but it can be heavy going as it is quite plot driven. Knowing it was coming to an end seemed to lift this seasons episodes and I'm looking forward to the return of the final episodes in the new year.

Chuck was another show that had potential this year. It was consistently enjoyable, but not dazzlingly so. With a second series coming in 2009 aybe it can shine a bit brighter.

A late contender was Survivors but the BBC's habit of only producing a handful of episodes per series means that it was over before it began. With a second set of episodes scheduled for next year then at least we know there's more to come but it's not enough to give it top spot.

Finally we come to my actual choice for the year. With an expectation bending season that looked like it might not even get off the ground, the 14 episodes of Lost that kicked off the year set the benchmark and was never beaten. With the developments coming thick and fast we finally saw some payoff to the first few seasons and whilst some questions about the plot have been answered we still have many more questions about the characters still to go. Do they have a larger purpose in the scheme of things. Does the Island have some larger purpose or will it all boil down to some small-time ambitions. At the moment I'm as hooked as I ever was and even though I'm probably setting myself up for a fall when the final season comes along, I'm still enjoying the ride. So Lost gets my TV pick for the year.

Movie of 2008
There's nothing I'd like better than to name some obscure, foreign-language film as my pick of 2008, but unfortunately I've been cured of my movie snobbery, so I guess I'll just have to go with the film I enjoyed the most.

The Dark Knight was the years most hyped film but for me it kind of disappeared up its own backside and failed to tell a compelling Batman story. I've always seen Bats as a detective so I actually like to see him using his brain once in a while. His fisticuffs should only be employed to get to where he knows he already wants to be, the fights and gadgets are secondary to the fact that essentially he is the greatest detective mind pitting his wits against other criminal masterminds. His greates enemies are usually insane because that makes them unpredictable. Those who follow a logical thought pattern are easy to catch. There should have been a better battle of wits between the two, although I have to admit the final showdown was classic. The switch was only predictable until just before it happened and it dawned what was going to happen. Ultimately disappointing for me.

Instead another film from the comic book genre came to my rescue. Iron Man showed lots of wit and character even though the film had even more of an excuse to show off gadgets than Batman did. It also showed the difference between Marvel and DC even more so than before. Marvel's ethos has always been about superheroes in the real world whereas DC invented cities to reflect the characters they created. Therefore DC created fantasy heroes who faced fantasy villains which you knew they would escape from. Marvel however put the hero in the real world, facing real threats and you were then able to suspend disbelief that the hero was in real danger.

So the charming Tony Stark (aka Robert Downey Jr) takes my pick as movie of the year.

There you go! The top awards go to MGMT, Lost and Iron Man.

I hope the next year has more in store than this past year.


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Now playing: Air - La Femme d'Argent
via FoxyTunes

Merry christmas everybody!

I'll be blogging again after the holiday season.
Have a great time!

Regards,

Chris

Shopping in merthyr

It feels like no matter how far ahead we prepared for christmas we've spent every day this last week getting 'one last thing'. Well that ends today. I want to actually enjoy christmas!

Regards,

Chris

Dog Years No.1

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Now playing: Folk Implosion - Natural One
via FoxyTunes

Giving Bush the Boot

If you want a snapshot of everything that George W Bush represents and how the US government have handled the war then the shoes thrown at the outgoing US President is just the kind of moment you'd ask for.

I couldn't believe someone had actually done it. Bush just stood there dumbfounded and later brushed off the incident.

My immediate response was to cheer. The Iraqi people have suffered a lot under Saddam and life hasn't really improved since the invasion. They've been trapped between the occupying forces and those who want to 'Free' Iraq. The symbolism of Bush finally getting a taste of what the people he has crushed with his ignorant regime actually feel might cause some remorse, but I doubt it. Instead, hopefully, it will be something the country can rally around in order to pull itself back together.

Maybe it is the beginning of true independence for Iraq once more.

Certainly the treatment that the reporter who threw his shoes appears to have gotten does not indicate that Iraq is as free as America would like every one to think it is. We all know that modern politics isn't about dealing with real problems, its about putting the right PR spin on things so that it looks like things are being done when they aren't.

I would like to think that the people of Iraq are ready to stand up to the US and that other countries would back them and support them. The US has ruined the world as its ideas of 'Democracy' and Capitalism have been shown to be hollow of meaning.

But what can take it's place? Does Barrack Obama have anything different to offer the world? Can he pick up the pieces of his countries past mistakes. It won't be long till we find out.


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Now playing: DC Talk - Mind's Eye
via FoxyTunes

TV Meview 13-14.12.2008

Only one weekend left till Christmas! Am I really going to commit to posting about everything I watch over the next week or two with all the specials and Christmas themed programmes I know my wife and kids are going to want to watch? Bah! Humbug, says I!

Well at least there's one less thing to watch each weeknd for a while now. X-Factor went out with whimper and a wail on Saturday as the person I DIDN'T want to win went ahead and won it. How thoughtless of them. Can I ever pick a winner? Just once?

Although I predicted Eoghan would win it last week my heart was really with JLS. Do we really need another strong voiced female singer belting out yet more pop ballads? Have we not had enough of those this year with Beyonce, Leona, Gabriella Cilmi, Duffy, Adele and others? I wanted a new generation of boy band to get the win. There's such a dearth of talent in that niche that Westlife could afford to take a year off and let Take That and Boyzone come back and get some love. Okay, so they would have Louis Walsh looking after them so they probably would have ended up sounding just like Boyzone and Westlife, but maybe not.

I liked the choice of single they have for release this year, 'Hallelujah' by Leonard Cohen, appaently. I've not been a fan of the last couple, but out of the two I definitely felt JLS' version was better.

In between the performances and the results show was 'The Girls Aloud Christmas Party'. A total cheesefest purely designed, in my opinion to inspire future talent show contestants that they really can become superstars. It was almost a throwback to the kind of 70's shows that people like Cliff Richard used to do where they'd sing songs, on their own or with guests, and have a few 'humourous' sketches peppered in between.

Has variety made its comeback complete? Is Harry Hill the new Benny Hill? Who's going to volunteer to be the new Jim Davidson?

The show wasn't as bad as all that as it relied quite a lot on the Girls Aloud back catalogue and their performances. At the end of the day even if you don't like the music you can't deny they're great to look at!

Sunday was Fringe-less so instead we had to find something else to watch. FX came to our rescue with a couple of episodes a supposedly hit NO.1 US show (although I'm not quite sure how they qualify that as I think it's broadcast on Cable over there). Burn Notice is something I've heard rumours about although I couldn't quite remember what they were.

Upon watching it I realised its probably been championed by rabid Bruce Campbell fans who think this guy is the best actor on Earth. Well, if earth is some sort of 'medicinal herb', like grass, which no-one else in the world partakes of, then yes that would be a correct statement.

Burn Notice came across like the The A-Team or Macgyver, but with Noughties production values, even if it's directorial flourishes were straight from the Eighties.

That said, I can't quite say I didn't enjoy it. Recognising it for what it was meant you could actually suspend your critical faculties and say okay this is just meant to be a bit of fun. Enjoy it!

I don't know where in the series I came in, but by the end of the first episode I knew who everyone was and what their roles were in the show, even if I didn't catch on to the overall plot driving the show until I watched the recap at the beginning of the second of the episodes.

This might keep me going till Fringe returns. My wife liked it too, so if we can usually agree on something then it ends up getting watched regularly.

Come the new year though Sundays are going to be all about the Abrams!


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Now playing: Underworld - Surfboy
via FoxyTunes

Another post from my phone!

This time with a picture.