14 ……. in 2014 : January
Where has January gone? I nearly didn’t make posting this month’s list!
As mentioned in one of my previous posts my plan to start posting more regularly (not going well so far) is each month to come up with a list of various things along a particular theme. This months “14 in 2014” is… “Things about 2013”
Here goes, in no particular order….
1) CVC summer concert: This was the big 5th birthday concert at St David’s Hall and it went with a bang. The Addams family medley was great fun and singing “One Day More” from Les Miserables with John Owen Jones was just unbelievable.
2) Les Miserables: I saw it twice in the cinema and both times brought me to tears. I loved it. Still not keen on Hugh Jackman’s singing (his acting was superb) but the rest of it was amazing. I especially loved the fact that they combined the book and musical deaths for Enjolras and Grantaire.
3) England wins the Ashes (summer): Yes, ok so we lost them again towards the end of the year but in the summer we won and it was a fantastic tournament. I think the Lords test was my favourite (Joe Root was amazing) and also that test where Stuart Broad just went on the rampage and obliterated the Aussies in an afternoon (with able assistance from Bressie and the rest)
4) Smash (series 2): I love this show (now sadly cancelled). It was brilliant and bringing in another musical to face off against Bombshell was brilliant. Kyle became an instant favourite of mine although I could have done with Bobby showing up a little more often J
5) Bruno Senna driving for Aston Martin: My favourite F1 boy switched to endurance racing this year and had quite a bit of success. I don’t yet know what he’s doing this year but I’ll be supporting him whatever he does.
6) CVC flash mob: I’ve already posted about this but it was brilliant. Singing Queen songs outside Buckingham Palace; amazing.
7) Michael Grant “Gone” series: I’m going to have to come back and give a proper book review but this series is one of the greatest sets of books I have ever had the joy to read. Unbelievably brilliant I cannot fathom why more people haven’t read them. If you’re reading this go out and buy them; you will not be disappointed!
8) Cricket: You may have noticed that I love Cricket (if you hadn’t noticed you must be new around here as I’m really not that subtle). There was plenty to love about the best sport in the world this year. Some of my highlights though: New Zealand (my new second favourite cricket team) Joe Root’s smile, watching West Indies vs South Africa in Cardiff (it rained), England getting to the finals of the Champions Trophy (they didn’t win but they got to the finals!), my local county Glamorgan getting to the finals of something (they didn’t win but the finals!!) all the amazing coverage (IPL/Champions Trophy/ Eng vs a hell of a lot of teams)
9) Open University: getting though my first two modules and starting on my third. Trying to keep up with everything is exhausting, what with working full time, choir and hospital appointments, but I’m loving it.
10) The England Cricket Team’s message to the Lions rugby team: This is hilarious. If you haven’t seen it you really should. There were a couple of the usual supportive messages and then they let Graeme Swann and Jimmy Anderson get in front of the camera. Genius stuff and well worth a watch.
11) My new computer: My old one refused to connect to our new Internet provider and after a good few years we decided to part company. I hate spending money but I decided to splash out and get a Mac. Brilliant computer. Took a little time to adjust but once I started getting the hang of things I was away. Other computers now frustrate and confuse me, I’ve been converted to Macs and there is no going back!
12) Doctor Who 50th anniversary: OMG! I loved it! That episode was brilliantly done and the mini episode was fab and oh it was all so cool! I am now struggling with keeping which Doctor is which number now straight as I am fully accepting the War Doctor as canon which throws the numbering out of whack but is still truly…how should I put it? Fantastic!
13) CVC Christmas concert: Again at St David’s Hall, it was a wonderful night. The best moment came though when something just clicked during a song we’d struggled with all term. I had been going ok but then it just all fell into place and I think we were all in a state of shock after that (even our MD was shocked: we didn’t think we had that in us!)
14) Shoulder surgery: I had my first Arthritis related surgery in 2013 and so far (touch wood) it seems to have helped a bit. I was only off work for two weeks (rumour has it my team senior at work did a jig when I called to say I was coming back so soon) though trying to figure out how to work back all my Physio and Hydrotherapy appointments has been a bit of a nightmare. The funniest thing about this surgery is that the following night we were watching the rugby on TV and one of the Welsh internationals in the Dragons team was hurt and after the match the team doctor was on the news saying that Toby was going to be fine and it was the surgeon who had done my shoulder just the day before!
Those were just some of the things that stood out for me from 2013, who knows what this year is going to bring!
Next month’ll be a new list and also that review of Michael Grant’s “Gone” series (if I remember and not leave it so late again)
As mentioned in one of my previous posts my plan to start posting more regularly (not going well so far) is each month to come up with a list of various things along a particular theme. This months “14 in 2014” is… “Things about 2013”
Here goes, in no particular order….
1) CVC summer concert: This was the big 5th birthday concert at St David’s Hall and it went with a bang. The Addams family medley was great fun and singing “One Day More” from Les Miserables with John Owen Jones was just unbelievable.
2) Les Miserables: I saw it twice in the cinema and both times brought me to tears. I loved it. Still not keen on Hugh Jackman’s singing (his acting was superb) but the rest of it was amazing. I especially loved the fact that they combined the book and musical deaths for Enjolras and Grantaire.
3) England wins the Ashes (summer): Yes, ok so we lost them again towards the end of the year but in the summer we won and it was a fantastic tournament. I think the Lords test was my favourite (Joe Root was amazing) and also that test where Stuart Broad just went on the rampage and obliterated the Aussies in an afternoon (with able assistance from Bressie and the rest)
4) Smash (series 2): I love this show (now sadly cancelled). It was brilliant and bringing in another musical to face off against Bombshell was brilliant. Kyle became an instant favourite of mine although I could have done with Bobby showing up a little more often J
5) Bruno Senna driving for Aston Martin: My favourite F1 boy switched to endurance racing this year and had quite a bit of success. I don’t yet know what he’s doing this year but I’ll be supporting him whatever he does.
6) CVC flash mob: I’ve already posted about this but it was brilliant. Singing Queen songs outside Buckingham Palace; amazing.
7) Michael Grant “Gone” series: I’m going to have to come back and give a proper book review but this series is one of the greatest sets of books I have ever had the joy to read. Unbelievably brilliant I cannot fathom why more people haven’t read them. If you’re reading this go out and buy them; you will not be disappointed!
8) Cricket: You may have noticed that I love Cricket (if you hadn’t noticed you must be new around here as I’m really not that subtle). There was plenty to love about the best sport in the world this year. Some of my highlights though: New Zealand (my new second favourite cricket team) Joe Root’s smile, watching West Indies vs South Africa in Cardiff (it rained), England getting to the finals of the Champions Trophy (they didn’t win but they got to the finals!), my local county Glamorgan getting to the finals of something (they didn’t win but the finals!!) all the amazing coverage (IPL/Champions Trophy/ Eng vs a hell of a lot of teams)
9) Open University: getting though my first two modules and starting on my third. Trying to keep up with everything is exhausting, what with working full time, choir and hospital appointments, but I’m loving it.
10) The England Cricket Team’s message to the Lions rugby team: This is hilarious. If you haven’t seen it you really should. There were a couple of the usual supportive messages and then they let Graeme Swann and Jimmy Anderson get in front of the camera. Genius stuff and well worth a watch.
11) My new computer: My old one refused to connect to our new Internet provider and after a good few years we decided to part company. I hate spending money but I decided to splash out and get a Mac. Brilliant computer. Took a little time to adjust but once I started getting the hang of things I was away. Other computers now frustrate and confuse me, I’ve been converted to Macs and there is no going back!
12) Doctor Who 50th anniversary: OMG! I loved it! That episode was brilliantly done and the mini episode was fab and oh it was all so cool! I am now struggling with keeping which Doctor is which number now straight as I am fully accepting the War Doctor as canon which throws the numbering out of whack but is still truly…how should I put it? Fantastic!
13) CVC Christmas concert: Again at St David’s Hall, it was a wonderful night. The best moment came though when something just clicked during a song we’d struggled with all term. I had been going ok but then it just all fell into place and I think we were all in a state of shock after that (even our MD was shocked: we didn’t think we had that in us!)
14) Shoulder surgery: I had my first Arthritis related surgery in 2013 and so far (touch wood) it seems to have helped a bit. I was only off work for two weeks (rumour has it my team senior at work did a jig when I called to say I was coming back so soon) though trying to figure out how to work back all my Physio and Hydrotherapy appointments has been a bit of a nightmare. The funniest thing about this surgery is that the following night we were watching the rugby on TV and one of the Welsh internationals in the Dragons team was hurt and after the match the team doctor was on the news saying that Toby was going to be fine and it was the surgeon who had done my shoulder just the day before!
Those were just some of the things that stood out for me from 2013, who knows what this year is going to bring!
Next month’ll be a new list and also that review of Michael Grant’s “Gone” series (if I remember and not leave it so late again)