Here’s some of my favourite stuff from 2014.
Cultural Highlights of 2014
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Monthly Archives: January 2015
The Daily Mash on phone-recorded gig films
The Daily Mash has really grown a beard in recent years. Once, it was merely an embarrassingly sub-standard attempt to do a British version of The Onion. Now, The Onion has disappeared behind a paywall and no-one’s reading it any more, and it’s The Daily Mash which gets shared virally around social media. Not only that, but the quality of its articles has vastly improved: its choice of satirical targets is spot on, its insights into the absurdity of contemporary politics and society are razor sharp.
For example, there’s this little gem: “Friends enthralled by gig filmed on phone”. Gig-filming is one of those phenomena which are especially bewildering, because everyone agrees it’s shit and people should stop doing it, and yet lots of people still do it.
New Year’s resolutions 2015
Here are my resolutions for 2015:
1. Read and see six Shakespeare plays.
I’m going to repeat my successful 2014 resolution and see six more. Again, the focus will be on comedies. Shakespeare’s Globe, which I love, is doing Measure for Measure and As You Like It. The Lion and Unicorn is doing The Taming of the Shrew. I’d still like to see an RSC production in Stratford, but their summer 2015 programme is no good to me. Others I’m interested in include: All’s Well That Ends Well, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and The Two Noble Kinsmen.
2. Repair my ZX Spectrum and complete The Lords of Midnight.
Having failed to do this in 2014, I’m having another go.
3. Crawl through the ventilation shafts of a large building.
This has been one of my life’s ambitions for many years. In 2015 I’m going to make a definite effort to achieve it.
New Year’s resolutions 2014: end of year review
Let’s review how I did on my 2014 New Year’s resolutions.