2011 Review : December

Finally December to conclude my review of 2011. First of all a note on why i did this, apart from instant nostalgia of course. All the information i have used for these reviews is available from my Facebook and Flickr accounts and my blog. Thus it shows just how much information you can put about yourself online. Now of course a lot of these data on the likes of Facebook require context and memories to make any sense of them but someone who didn't know me could probably put together a reasonable review of my 2011 too, i hope this will therefore be of use to future historians.

December involved a third trip to Worcester this year, this time taking my Mum to do some Xmas shopping. I also attempted some Xmas crafts using pine cones, they didn't turn out quite as well as i hoped but at least it wasn't as weird as last year's nativity scene with dinosaurs. After Xmas i paid a trip to Wilmcote and retraced the steps Mary Arden might had made down to Stratford. Well i walked along the canal of course, which didn't exist when Mary was around, she probably took the bus or train. I also paid a short visit to Whitehouse Common in Sutton Coldfield.

December was marked by a rediscovery of Lego. I bought a Star Wars Lego Advent Calendar and also bought some (and was bought) other sets from the City and Star Wars ranges. Lego is a key aspect of geek-dom after all.

Song of the month was "Magic" by Ladyhawke. My music blog has a review of music in 2011.

2011 Review : November

The penultimate month of the year saw me travel to Milton Keynes (for the first time, as opposed to just travelling through to and from London) for the first day school of my current Open University course. Both MK and the OU campus are rather strange places to be honest, naturally i got lost. The day school was an interesting experience however, once i found where i was supposed to go!

I also returned to Worcester, this time walking the canal there and went to Stratford for what i thought would be my final visit of the year (though i went there again today so obviously it wasn't).

I launched a new blog, spinning my comic reviews from my music blog to their own dedicated home. Take A Clean Sheet Of Paper is the new blog and hopefully it will also be a success. I completed a Bristol F.2B kit and then called an end to my 2011 Airfix modelling campaign. The outhouse where i do my kits is just too cold in Winter to sit there and hold a paint brush steadily. I shall begin the 2012 campaign in March perhaps.

Song of the month was "I love boys" by Amanda Applewood.

2011 Review : A-Z of 2011 Pop

I put together a playlist on Youtube bringing together an A-Z of bands i liked in 2011. I drew a blank on Q, U and V but the other 23 letters stand for some pretty good bands and songs. Check them out!

2011 Review : October

October was the month i had been awaiting all year with trepidation. Why? Because of my 40th birthday. I officially became an old man. I could have taken stock i guess, but didn't. Or had a mid-life crisis, this i did but of course my crisis was in my own unique style. I bought a record player and some 7" singles.

For my birthday i went to Oxford for a very enjoyable break, there i took many photographs of the dreamy spires and the canal using the new Nikon DSLR camera my wife bought me for my birthday. Later in the month i also went to Hatton again.

Other highlights of the month included seeing the Tintin movie (in 2D natch) and seeing my first ghost. My house is haunted and for years i have felt a presence and sometimes also heard things, one night in October however i saw what looked like a Victorian lady in a bonnet by the side of my bed out of the corner of my eye. When i turned my head she was gone though. Later on i saw her again. Luckily there haven't been many hauntings since.

I had my first eye test for a couple of years, once again i came away without needing glasses though the optician told me i might need some after i came again in a couple of years time. Getting old see?

Song of the month was "Helas" by Young Michelin. Completed kits were a Hurricane I and a Hannover Cl IIIa, the latter had wonderful paintwork which took ages to do but it was worth it afterwards, more or less.

2011 Review : September

September began with my first visit to Worcester (that i can remember anyway, i may have come before as a kid). A very nice city Worcester is too which i like indeed, so much so in fact that i returned twice later in the year! Another trip was further afield, this time up to Wigan for my cousin's wedding. While i was there a horse in the field outside the hotel window looked me in the eye and then had a poo. I consider this horse the most honest creature i have ever met.

At the start of the year i made for myself a (short) list of three targets for canal walks in 2011, on one day later in September i managed to cross off two of these targets by completing the Tame Valley Canal (it is the canal neared to my work so i walk along a short stretch of it very frequently but had not yet walked the stretch from Great Barr to Walsall - well until September 24th anyway). In doing so i was also able to walk the Walsall Canal and cross that target off too. The other target, the Dudley Canal, can wait until 2012...

I received my MA materials ahead of the start of the course in October. After nearly a year off study (my final exam on my BA was back in October 2010) getting started again as a student was a bit daunting. Analogue TV came to an end in the Central region, thus the teletext age ended for me. Although i only read the letters page on P145 at the end it was still a sad loss. Completed kits in September were a Grumman Gosling and a Spitfire Vb.

Song of the month was "Careful what you say" by Class Actress. I discovered the joys of neo-synth pop, a genre i would be listening to a lot more in the months to come.

2011 Review : August

The month of rioting, i did not of course as i'm not a gimp. Instead i discovered the joys of Wilmcote which became my new dream place to live. Not far from the station along the canal i came across a spot of total tranquility, no traffic noise at last! For someone who has grown up within earshot of the Spaghetti Juncrtion all his life that is a big thing. Another place i visited was Warwick and its canals, another nice place. I managed to fit in trips to Curdworth and Stratford-upon-Avon too!

After my wars against the moths in July (which still rumbled on into August) i was called upon to deal with another infestation, this time of mice at my Mum's house. I had to kill a mouse which was running along her bed, i felt so bad afterwards to be honest but it had to be done. Mum found 2 more dead mice in the weeks afterwards but none since so hopefully that has been sorted out now.

I completed a Fairey Fulmar kit and my song of the month was "A key turns" by The Depreciation Guild.

2011 Review : July

The heat was on, especially at home where i had a moth infestation in my living room! I spent all of the month hunting the things down, luckily by the early Autumn it seemed like they were all gone. I ended up breaking my vacuum cleaner during the early battles but it was an ill-wind (sorry) as i was able to purchase a Henry as a replacement!

One experiment in July was to take a photo every day during the month, the results were mixed with some days i was finding it hard to think of something interesting to photograph (and it makes it look like my life revolves around canals and coffee which is probably true) but you can see them all here. July was a busy month for going places and hence for photography, i took 932 photos (the most ever in a month) including photoshoots in Leamington Spa, London (including the Imperial War Museum), the Soho Loop in Birmingham and Hatton.

I also went to a few cricket matches including T20 and 2nd XI action at Edgbaston and Walmley, the former was a televised match and i was able to spot myself in the crowd later on when Sky replayed it, the first time i've ever seen myself on TV, mind you i was just a blur in the crowd which is probably a good way of summing up my life.

Model building continued, i finished a lovely Spitfire Ia and started a Fairey Fulmar. Song of the month was "Cold colours" by the Trembling Blue Stars.

2011 Review : June

The midpoint of the year was marked by two genuinely life highlights. During the month i saw the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart in concert (my review here) thus marking the first time i had actually seen whom might be considered my favourite band at the time live (and not cheap has-beens as usual). I also was able to finally attend a graduation ceremony when i was awarded my BA History. For various reasons i never attended a ceremony when i got my BSc Software Engineering at BCU but now finally i was able to don the gown!

It was a good month for canal walks and photography, i took no fewer than 623 photos this month including walks around Curdworth, Stratford, Whitehouse Common and up the Tame Valley Canal in ..er.. Perry Barr.

I bought a new electronic toy at the start of the month, an iconic HP-12C calculator. Reverse Polish Notation, natch. I developed a new way of budgeting using post-it notes on the wall, and it seems to work quite well. I continued my model making and completed a rather unwieldily Supermarine Walrus.

Song of the month was "Heaven's gonna happen now" by The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart.

2011 Review : May

The weather improved and the cricket season properly got underway. I am a member of Warwickshire County Cricket Club and try to get to the Edgbaston ground at least 6 or 7 times a season (plus a 2nd XI game at Walmley) my first match being a CB40 game against Leicestershire. I also attended a day of the county championship match (my favourite competition) against Durham.

I conducted a foodtography experiment in May, for a week i photographed every breakfast, lunch and dinner i had and uploaded to a Flickr set. I might do the same next year and then i can compare if anything much has changed food wise but i doubt it. I went to Stratford-upon-Avon at the end of the month, the first of 4 trips to the town this year. Its become a bit like my second home i guess. I also paid a trip to the Kingfisher Country Park in east Birmingham, not far from where my Nan used to live.

During May i finally got some Flash training after years of asking work for it! Better late than never i guess but i haven't actually used my Flash skills (careful) since attending the 2 day course. Its all HTML5 nowadays of course, well not quite but it will be soon. Perhaps the training was simply a present from work as i passed my 10 years of being a BCU employee in early May.

My Airfix model planes continued to roll off the production line, i completed a Gloster Gladiator and a Fairey Battle. Song of the month was "Welcome to infinity" by Hyperbubble.

2011 Review : April

The Spring was here and the walks began in earnest, i walked a few footpaths around Curdworth and Sutton Coldfield and visited Coleshill a couple of times. I also managed to fit in a canal walk along the Tame Valley Canal (for a change). 317 photos in total were added to my Flickr account, including some of an airship that flew over my house. I did wonder if we were at war with the Kaiser again.

A notable thing i did in April was register for my Masters degree with the Open University, that i finally began in October. Apart from that though it seems a pretty mundane month. I built 2 kits, a Canadair Sabre and a Gloster Gladiator. The latter my first biplane for some time.

Song of the month was "nothing new" by April March.

2011 Review : March

As the Winter receded and Spring approached things picked up on the activity front. I did my first canal walks of the year, visiting the Titford Canal in Oldbury early in the month. I also visited the Plantbrook Nature Reserve. After just a handful of photos uploaded to Flickr in February there was a whopping 228 uploaded in March!

My wife Arlene became a British citizen in March, attending her citizenship ceremony was interesting. It was all very New Labour, smiley and friendly but with strict rules and little tolerance if you deviated from them. Other highlights of the month included setting my mortgage on a new fixed rate for 5 years as i thought the base rate was long overdue a rise, now in December the base rate still hasn't risen and analysts reckon it won't rise for a while yet. Ho hum!

I resumed model building after the Winter break and completed an Bf109 and a DeHavilland Comet. I applied for Olympic tickets (though was ultimately unsuccessful) and tried to change the toilet seat in the bathroom. Problems with the screws meant i gave up for the moment... unfortunately the moment to resume has not come yet!

This blog was created in March, another attempt to create a personal blog and its still going so maybe this one will finally work.

Song and artist of the month was Susan Fassbender and her hit "twilight cafe".

2011 Review : February

February was a busy month work wise, the University held its graduation ceremonies and i joined the PR team there to take some atmosphere and additional photographs. I was able to meet a pop star, a Lord and a film legend. I won't say who they are as i'm not a showbiz namedropper!

I went through a Gerry Anderson phase and bought the complete Thunderbirds and Stingray boxsets and then proceeded to devour the Supermarionation action within a couple of weeks. I'm unable to answer the vital question of Penelope or Atlanta though. The Killing also kept me gripped.

Photography wise it was a very poor month with just 7 photos added to my Flickr (for comparison in July i added 932!) The best of the lot was probably this one of a narrowboat on the canal.

The Depreciation Guild was my band of the month with their "Crucify you" my favourite song.

2011 Review : January

As i live such a varied and exciting life i have decided to do a monthly review of 2011 to show off just how cool i am. That is irony of course but i am indeed embarking on a review of my activities in 2011 of which this is the first part. Mostly this is for myself as an aide memoire, this blog is my new media diary after all, but maybe it will be of interest to others too...

January was cold, the cold snap continued over the Christmas and New Year break which meant we were not able to go up to Lancashire and exchange gifts with our relations up there until late in the month. In hindsight this was a good thing as it meant there were a couple of presents left to open a couple of weeks after all the others.

Early on in January though i was adjusting to life as the owner of a shiny new iPad (Xmas present). I can't emphasis how much this changed my life to be honest. Its one of that small elite group of technological toys which generally did make a difference. Its never far from my side at home, which means i can write rubbish on Facebook much easier of course. I also got a Kindle in January and this was another wonderful toy.

In the mid-part of the month i went down to London to see my in-laws and enjoyed some strong wind assisted fun around Canary Wharf on a Saturday night. Luckily i didn't get arrested and executed as a terrorist.

Looking back at my Flickr archive it was a quiet month on the old photography front, probably mostly because it was so cold. I did capture one of the British Waterways service boats on the local canal, i remember the crew told me they were on their way to clear a blockage in Saltley! I also took a photo of one of my cookery experiments, this was supposed to be red cabbage with blackcurrant which i believe actually turned out not too bad! One highlight (?) in the month was joining my PR colleagues in the Brains of BCU Quiz, i believe we came third.

I broke my 3D movie virginity by seeing Tron (though this also remains my only movie experience avec les specs) and also saw The King's Speech. Tron was a good film though when i saw the 2D version on DVD later in the year the lack of the extra dimension it did not spoil my enjoyment much at all and i remain to be convinced of the benefit of 3D in movieland apart from the makers' bank balances. On TV i began my love affair with The Killing and Sofie Gråbøl.

Harper Lee was my band of the month with their sublime "I don't need to know about your wonderful life" my pick of the pops. How is that for irony?!