12.19.18.17.16 (Long Count) - Haab: 4 Kankin, Tzolkin: 4 Cib
Well, peeps - it seems about that time, to hang the keyboard up on "Blog Is Not...". Between Facebook, Twitter and the podcast, I just don't have the time to devote to a solo blog. This will be my final post here, but I'll leave it floating around in cyberspace, if anyone wants to check the archives.
I'd like to thank everyone who stopped by and read a post or two - but especially the regular readers...all three of you! (heh heh)
It's been a wild five years and six months - although I suppose the past five months don't count, 'cos I haven't posted anything. Thanks out to my pal Singing Bear for all his quality music reviews and intelligence and poetry. I couldn't have kept this blog alive for so long without him. Thanks also to Flaming Pixie for the support and humour over the years. To Mr. McGinnis...stay silent, bro - it's been a blast!
Gregorian year 2011 seemed a pretty wacky one. "Extreme weather", the return of people-power and economic fuck-ups - and that's just about half of it!
I wish I had a "Top Ten" list for music and films for this year - but to be honest, I didn't buy enough new albums and see enough films to compile one. I even missed the final Harry Potter film in the cinema - I know, for shame. I did watch The Inbetweeners film as a DVD rental - my short review is: Not as funny as the first two teevee series, but better than I thought it would be. You're welcome. We did rent loads of Tee Vee series and films, but I can't list them all. I liked the concepts found in Inception and Source Code, but I wouldn't call either a 'classic'. I watched Senna as well, despite being berated by Pixie for not knowing who he was (sorry F1 fans).
For music - I mainly bought re-issues (as per usual) and loads of vintage LPs from eBay. I found this site as well - which carries lots of rare psych and prog records! I purchased a copy of Dantalian's Chariot's Madman Running Through The Fields 7" single and a copy of the Gentle Giant The Power & The Glory LP from the site. I found the service excellent and they even sent me an e-mail, letting me know the G.G. LP has some background noise and chopped £10 off of the price. Very cool - I'd recommend them.
Pixie and I started listening to Marc Riley's BBC6 show, which is on Monday through Thursdays from 7 to 9 p.m. Riley's hipped me to some cool new UK bands, like Dutch Uncles and Pete & The Pirates. I'm still listening to Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone as well, still on Sunday nights from 6 to 8 p.m. - but I've missed it occasionally when my yoga sessions over-run. Ah well, thankfully, it's on the iPlayer and the tracklists are always up, too. The only live show I saw the entire year was Wire (with support from Talk Normal). Kinda gutted that Bruce Gilbert left the ranks in 2008, but the other three still make a hell of a racket. Colin Newman read the lyrics off of his iPad, but so what - the guy is in his late 50s now. Talk Normal were o.k. - the drummer's pretty impressive, but the lyrics were drowned in the mix and sounded like a gutteral alien tongue.
Got a tiny bit of cul'cha in 2011 - saw the National Theatre production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, with Rebecca Hall, Simon Callow, Simon Paisley Day and the wonderful Amanda Drew, amongst others, in the cast. I saw it on a cold January evening and I enjoyed it, but some of the crits didn't like the pacing of the play, or a few of the performances. Pixie and I then saw the revival of Simon Gray's Butley, at the Duchess Theatre in London, in mid-July. This time the cast featured Dominic West, Amanda (again!), Paul McGann and Pennie Downey. Again, I enjoyed it quite a bit. West's characterisation was shouty, but possibly the role called for it. The people at the theatre were nice as well, and upgraded our seats, as the show that night hadn't sold out. We also attended an outdoor production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest, put on by the Oxford Shakespeare Company, in late August. It was held on the quad of one of the colleges, so very minimal set dressing. The performances were excellent, particularly the actor who played Algernon Moncrieff. A really enjoyable show that wasn't even dampened by a couple of light rainfalls.
I think that's about all - aside from the mundane details of life - which won't really interest any of you. Singing Bear and I are considering starting up another team blog...but it's only in the planning stages at the moment. In any case, take care of yourselves and make the most of Gregorian year 2012!!
