It's traditional for blogs to put up their reviews of the year at this point, with their favourite records/tv shows/books/whathaveyou. Unfortunately I can't do the same, as my biggest discoveries of the past 12 months have been a bloke who started releasing music when I was two years old and a tv series that started in 1994.
Not that this is a blog about tedious nostalgia with a remit that the past is far better than anything in the future, because that's frankly untrue, but this year I've totally lost the thread of what's new and cool and happening. I don't really care, either. I'll get back to it at some point.
The bloke who started releasing music in 1984 is, of course, Lloyd Cole. He started off with The Commotions and later went solo, and I suspect I wasn't the first to find my way to his music through Camera Obscura's song Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken. At the start of the year I picked up the first Commotions album, fell in love with all of it but especially the title track, and...
The rest was almost history. I wasn't going to peruse his work further until last.fm threw Lloyd's solo single Don't Look Back at me and it was like a tiny revelation. The way he sang it, and the words he was singing, did that thing that's become so hackneyed you don't think it really happens. Then it does, and for four minutes the entire world vanishes and all that matters is the song, and that you've been lucky enough to find and hear it, and it by the end you're a little bit more in love with music than you were before even if you didn't think that was possible.
After that I went about collecting his discography. I haven't found an album I've hated, and he has quite a few - Love Story, The Negatives and the self-titled solo album being my favourites. He did actually release an album this year, Broken Record, continuing in his vein of lovely mostly acoustic stuff. I will say his work isn't the most original in the world - the later solo albums sound mostly like just a man with a guitar, and the live shows this year were entirely acoustic - but there's something about it that lifts it above 9,000,000 other men with guitars. There's more to Lloyd Cole's music than I could hope to capture in writing about it. Maybe that's why I love it so much.
Speaking of the live shows, I was lucky enough to get to his gig in Glasgow. I almost didn't, due to transport idiocy and catching the plane from Belfast with minutes to spare, but it was totally worth the stress and schlepping across the country at 5am because if I ever see a better gig I'll be the luckiest fool alive. The venue, the voice, the arrangements, the love for the performer... it was an absolutely perfect gig. Also, like all the best melancholy singers, he's actually a funny bastard. He played Don't Look Back and I thought my heart might burst; he played Trigger Happy and I nearly broke my face smiling. That gig made the entire year worthwhile.
Broken Record isn't on Spotify, so here's a link to the album with Don't Look Back instead. Enjoy. Or not. You don't have to, obviously; I'm just too biased to be in any way critical!
My telly habits haven't been much better at being current, either. Unless you count mocking The X Factor, and you really shouldn't because I'm only there for the scathing mockery (I'm sure it's been covered elsewhere how unbearable that show would be without the hilarity that ensues on twitter). However, thanks to a friend selling boxsets I have discovered ER. Look, I did say this was going back to 1994. It's a very wonderful series and I only wish I'd known sooner. I love the cast, I love the characters they play, I love the supporting ensemble, I'm dying to know what happens, and I finally get the George Clooney thing although to be honest I'd rather have Anthony Edwards. I'm strange, yes, but I also love the character of Mark Greene to an unreasonable degree. Yes, I'm aware of what's coming in season eight...
Even my gaming habits aren't terribly up to date. Most of my button bashing right now is courtesy of Sonic Colours and Donkey Kong Country Returns, which at least came out in the last month, but the reason I love them is because they're so in the spirit of old-skool platformers. Oh and for Christmas? Mario All-Stars. Back to the 80s again.
It's not intentional, this being stuck in the past thing. It just worked out that way. The present isn't rubbish, and the future isn't to be dreaded. It's just not that inspirational right now. There's a whole shiny new year coming up though, to try a little harder!
Monday, 20 December 2010
Sunday, 19 December 2010
Christmassyness
My first piece is the one I was asked for - it's something I did for a writing class. The subject was "alternative Christmas", meaning no sleighbells, no Santa, no twee stuff. But a very wise band told us It's Cliched To Be Cynical At Christmas, so a bag of ire wasn't going to be much of an alternative either. So I came up with this - it's not overjoyed, it's not entirely cynical. Hope you like.
~
Christmas can be quite a strange time for an atheist, at least in the early years after you work out that's what you are. It takes a while to work out exactly what you're celebrating. Or if you're actually allowed to celebrate. In the end, as I'm on the Humanist end of atheism, I decided I'd use Christmas to celebrate people – and as a reminder.
I'll explain that. When I was younger, Christmas was far busier than it is now in our house. People seemed to be in and out all day, in various states of good-natured intoxication of course, and there were more people at dinner, and more people to visit. These days, there aren't so many. As I've gotten older, Christmas has become smaller and smaller. It's not just rose-tinted nostalgia: so many of those people simply aren't there any more.
It's normal at this time of year, regardless of your beliefs, to get sad and miss those people. It is sad, but personally I like to remember them as they were at Christmas: happy, glad to see you, enjoying a truly carefree day. Christmas for some heralds the arrival of massive rows along with the family; but in our house it was the day when we set everything that was bothering us aside, and that's the tradition I'd like to pass on most.
That shouldn't just happen at Christmas though. Which is where the reminder part comes in. After seeing a lot of American friends celebrate Thanksgiving, I expressed the wish that we have a similar day – that we shouldn't need a reason to practice gratitude, but it'd be nice to have a day geared towards reminding us. Christmas is the same. People talk of the spirit of Christmas, of helping out the less fortunate at this time of year, of spending time with their family. All wonderful things, but they shouldn't be confined to Christmas.
You don't need a holiday to be kind to people, or to spend time with your family, or to appreciate what you have. Sometimes we all need the reminder, myself included, but goodwill doesn't have to start and end with Christmas. Handily enough, this attitude is also good for people who try to force you into their version of Christmas spirit when you really can't be arsed – if you do your best, and you know you do your best, then that's the important part and you can leave the showing it off and Santa hats to the others.
Not that there's a right way or wrong way to celebrate, or not celebrate. Religious or not religious, owner of a ridiculous hat or person most likely to be called Scrooge by your friends, it doesn't matter. Everyone gets so caught up in the hype, those who dislike it get caught up too in reaction to having the festivities shoved in their faces so often, and nobody publicly acknowledges that Christmas is a sad time of year, too. It's a strange side-effect of modern culture. But underneath all that, regardless of the differences, regardless of belief – if you strip it back enough the message is the same. Christmas is about the people you love. Not how much you spend on them, just the fact you have loved ones in the first place. If they're far away, it hurts. If they're gone, it hurts. That's normal, and nobody should have to pretend it doesn't hurt like hell for the sake of a holiday.
I'm going to close this ramble with a quote from Ben Goldacre (you know, the Bad Science guy, amazing hair). This is his response a couple of years ago when he was asked what he'd be thinking about at Christmas. "...I'm going to be thinking about what a magical and amazing place the world is without any recourse to nonsense; that people can get pain relief simply from taking a sugar pill, or a salt-water injection; that we can have an almost psychic sense that a friend is in trouble, from barely perceptible unconscious social cues; that improbable things really do happen; and people really can meet, and fall in love, with a depth so great that it feels as if it was always meant to be. These are all things to be celebrated, because even if there is no destiny and no magic, the effects are the same."
Merry Christmas, however you celebrate it, whatever you call it.
~
Christmas can be quite a strange time for an atheist, at least in the early years after you work out that's what you are. It takes a while to work out exactly what you're celebrating. Or if you're actually allowed to celebrate. In the end, as I'm on the Humanist end of atheism, I decided I'd use Christmas to celebrate people – and as a reminder.
I'll explain that. When I was younger, Christmas was far busier than it is now in our house. People seemed to be in and out all day, in various states of good-natured intoxication of course, and there were more people at dinner, and more people to visit. These days, there aren't so many. As I've gotten older, Christmas has become smaller and smaller. It's not just rose-tinted nostalgia: so many of those people simply aren't there any more.
It's normal at this time of year, regardless of your beliefs, to get sad and miss those people. It is sad, but personally I like to remember them as they were at Christmas: happy, glad to see you, enjoying a truly carefree day. Christmas for some heralds the arrival of massive rows along with the family; but in our house it was the day when we set everything that was bothering us aside, and that's the tradition I'd like to pass on most.
That shouldn't just happen at Christmas though. Which is where the reminder part comes in. After seeing a lot of American friends celebrate Thanksgiving, I expressed the wish that we have a similar day – that we shouldn't need a reason to practice gratitude, but it'd be nice to have a day geared towards reminding us. Christmas is the same. People talk of the spirit of Christmas, of helping out the less fortunate at this time of year, of spending time with their family. All wonderful things, but they shouldn't be confined to Christmas.
You don't need a holiday to be kind to people, or to spend time with your family, or to appreciate what you have. Sometimes we all need the reminder, myself included, but goodwill doesn't have to start and end with Christmas. Handily enough, this attitude is also good for people who try to force you into their version of Christmas spirit when you really can't be arsed – if you do your best, and you know you do your best, then that's the important part and you can leave the showing it off and Santa hats to the others.
Not that there's a right way or wrong way to celebrate, or not celebrate. Religious or not religious, owner of a ridiculous hat or person most likely to be called Scrooge by your friends, it doesn't matter. Everyone gets so caught up in the hype, those who dislike it get caught up too in reaction to having the festivities shoved in their faces so often, and nobody publicly acknowledges that Christmas is a sad time of year, too. It's a strange side-effect of modern culture. But underneath all that, regardless of the differences, regardless of belief – if you strip it back enough the message is the same. Christmas is about the people you love. Not how much you spend on them, just the fact you have loved ones in the first place. If they're far away, it hurts. If they're gone, it hurts. That's normal, and nobody should have to pretend it doesn't hurt like hell for the sake of a holiday.
I'm going to close this ramble with a quote from Ben Goldacre (you know, the Bad Science guy, amazing hair). This is his response a couple of years ago when he was asked what he'd be thinking about at Christmas. "...I'm going to be thinking about what a magical and amazing place the world is without any recourse to nonsense; that people can get pain relief simply from taking a sugar pill, or a salt-water injection; that we can have an almost psychic sense that a friend is in trouble, from barely perceptible unconscious social cues; that improbable things really do happen; and people really can meet, and fall in love, with a depth so great that it feels as if it was always meant to be. These are all things to be celebrated, because even if there is no destiny and no magic, the effects are the same."
Merry Christmas, however you celebrate it, whatever you call it.
A little trigger happy
A request to read a piece I'd written recently led me to realise I don't have a public blog for random thoughts any more. This is a strange thing for someone who's been updating online journals for over 10 years, since the heyday of (excuse me) Diaryland, through the peak of Livejournal and now onto Twitter.
Oh yeah, and about Twitter, I'm clearly tweeting too much, and I know what that means - it's because I'm not writing. When I'm not writing my tweets get multiple and my text messages get epic, so it's time to blog.
So me then. I'm Kerrie, or Kez. I like things and I'm going to write about them. More specifically I like... well probably what you like, music and telly and books (rubbish at films though so won't write about those much). I also like gaming, but I'm pretty much Nintendo only these days so if there's fun stuff on the Wii or DS I'll write about that. I also like ice hockey and might write about that occasionally, although it won't be very often.
The blog (and my twitter account, and former tumblr account) name is taken from a Lloyd Cole lyric. As is the title of this update. Be warned; you will hear about Lloyd Cole if you come back regularly, as he is my favourite musician and singer and bloke who makes jangly music.
Other than that there will hopefully be blogging on media stuff, internetty stuff, and whatever else takes me fancy. It's not much of a remit but I'm trying not to limit myself! So, welcome, enjoy, hopefully you'll find something you like!
Oh yeah, and about Twitter, I'm clearly tweeting too much, and I know what that means - it's because I'm not writing. When I'm not writing my tweets get multiple and my text messages get epic, so it's time to blog.
So me then. I'm Kerrie, or Kez. I like things and I'm going to write about them. More specifically I like... well probably what you like, music and telly and books (rubbish at films though so won't write about those much). I also like gaming, but I'm pretty much Nintendo only these days so if there's fun stuff on the Wii or DS I'll write about that. I also like ice hockey and might write about that occasionally, although it won't be very often.
The blog (and my twitter account, and former tumblr account) name is taken from a Lloyd Cole lyric. As is the title of this update. Be warned; you will hear about Lloyd Cole if you come back regularly, as he is my favourite musician and singer and bloke who makes jangly music.
Other than that there will hopefully be blogging on media stuff, internetty stuff, and whatever else takes me fancy. It's not much of a remit but I'm trying not to limit myself! So, welcome, enjoy, hopefully you'll find something you like!
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