magictreehouse | 2010 retrospective (this is the last one!)

In retrospect, 2010 was a great year for me. I accomplished a lot in my own little way. I think this has a lot to do with it being my first full year in Leeds and realising that living in a city totally works for me simply because everything I like doing is a city. So I got to see a lot films at the cinema and otherwise, saw tonnes at the theatre which I love and went to more gigs than I usually do, even if that meant travelling to Manchester too often (although with Leeds arena on it’s way I won’t have to do that much more hopefully).

I got to travel more this year than I ever have which is exactly what I’ve always wanted to do, and seen some amazing and diverse places. I never thought that I was a warm holiday person but going to Cyprus made me realise how much I miss having a proper summer in the UK. And it was the most brilliant mix of culture, history, sunbathing and food. And it was so good going to an island small enough to explore all of it (and we did do it all, even going to the occupied North which was interesting but scary).

Bruges on the other hand was a different kind of visit. Going by over-night ferry was a bit of an experience and although the holiday was short we made the most of a beautiful city. Going to a chip museum was a highlight obviously. Going to Denmark in December was a dream. I’d been to Iceland before this felt like ‘proper’ Scandinavia (even setting foot on Sweden for a day was a joy!). Although next time I definitely want to visit the northern Europe in summer for a change! It was a great holiday though.

I graduated (again) which was a nice day although I didn’t at that point feel it had done me much good. I feel better about it now though, having secured paid library to start in January. Finally! There was also the James-and-his-hernia debacle and although it was a minor operation, the lead up had been a bit traumatic. But I’m quite proud of myself for looking after him (seeing him after the op was heartbreaking and I had to put his provided tea together for him which was weird), not falling apart and helping him to recover, especially when he couldn’t bend in the middle or do anything for himself really.

Music-wise it’s been a weird one with my favourite albums seemingly coming out of nowhere. Artists I’d written off came back with brilliant stuff (Scissor Sisters, Kylie and Kelis. The latter having a good-album-bad-album policy) while others I wouldn’t usually go near blow me away (The Hoosiers! And Ke$ha, who made an excellent mainstream pop album). Kim Wilde made an excellent pop-rock album even though she’s the same age as my Mum while Gabriella Cilmi who’d I’d always liked but never loved released what may be the best single of the year with On A Mission. It wasn’t bad for newer acts. Hurts, Marina and Delphic produced good albums and I’ve only just got Janelle Monae’s and Tinie Tempah’s which are proving to be quite good. There was the Gaga and Beyonce Telephone video of course (amazing) but really the year belonged to Robyn, whose Body Talk three-parter and lack of singles probably crippled her chances of making her final release a top seller (criminally) but what an album. Also – amazing live. Possibly my favourite gig this year and I’ve been to some good ones.

My Top 15 albums of 2010:

1. Robyn – Body Talk
2. Scissor Sisters – Night Work
3. Kelis – Flesh Tone
4. Goldfrapp – Head First
5. Ke$ha – Animal
6. Hurts – Happiness
7. Yeasayer – Odd Blood
8. The Hoosiers – The Illusion Of Safety
9. Kim Wilde – Come Out And Play
10. Marina and the Diamonds – The Family Jewels
11. Gabriella Cilmi – Ten
12. Kylie Minogue – Aphrodite
13. Delphic – Acolyte
14. Example – Won’t Go Quietly
15. Pipettes – Earth vs The Pipettes

Songs that floated my boat in 2010

Robyn – Dancing On My Own
Kylie – All The Lovers
Tinie Tempah – Pass Out
Kim Wilde – Lights Down Low
Lady Gaga and Beyonce – Telephone
Rihanna – Rude Boy
Katie Melua – The Flood
Marina and the Diamonds – Oh No
Ke$ha – Your Love Is My Drug
Goldfrapp – Alive
Dragonette – My Things
Alphabeat – Hole In My Heart
The Hoosiers – Choices
Hurts – Wonderful Life
The Pipettes – Stop The Music
Scissor Sisters – Sex And Violence
Yeasayer – Ambling Alp
Kelis – Acapella
Gabriella Cilmi – On A Mission
Example – Kickstarts
Dragonette – My Things

Films I saw in 2010 (c) = saw at the cinema.

Moonraker
Letters To Santa
For Your Eyes Only
Octopussy
Nine (c)
Avatar (c)
Baby Mama
Call Me Clause
Face/Off
Up In The Air (c)
A View To A Kill
Sunshine Cleaning
Broken Flowers
Never Say Never Again
Ponyo (c)
The Princess and the Frog (c)
Micmacs (c)
The Taking Of Pelham 123
License To Kill
Broken Arrow
Sherlock Holmes
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (c)
Goldeneye
An American Werewolf In London
Tomorrow Never Dies
Right At Your Door
The World Is Not Enough
Right At Your Door
Alice In Wonderland (c)
I Love You Philip Morris (c)
A Fish Called Wanda
The Broken Hearts Club
Iron Man
Iron Man 2 (c)
Die Another Day
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life
Prince of Persia (c)
Four Lions
Michael Clayton
Sense and Sensibility
Bird On A Wire
Dreamgirls
Chocolat
Lethal Weapon
Lethal Weapon 2
Lethal Weapon 3
Mad Max
Lethal Weapon 4
Loaded Weapon 1
The Graduate
It Happened One Night
Inception (c)
Toy Story 3 (c)
Educating Rita
Silence of the Lambs
Bubble Boy
Camp
Salt (c)
The Girl Who Played With Fire (c)
Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (c)
Lorna’s Silence
Wallace and Gromit: Curse Of The Were-rabbit
Let The Right One In
Three Colours: Blue
Red
The Kids Are Alright (c)
Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs
A Town Called Panic
The Secret Of Kells
Black Sheep
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
Persepolis
Unstoppable (c)
Die Hard
Die Hard 2
Total - 76

Books I read:

Charlie Brooker – Dawn Of The Dumb
Jen Yates – Cake Wrecks
Sarah Waters – The Little Stranger
Louise Gikow – Sesame Street: A Celebration of 40 Years of Life On The Street
Brian Lynch – Angel: Smile Time
Michael Palin – Around the World In 80 Days
James Lever – Me Cheeta: The Autobiography
Tim Moore – Do Not Pass Go
Andrew Marr – A History Of Modern Britain
Michael Crichton – Sphere
Dean Koontz – The Key To Midnight
Michael Crichton – Pirate Latitudes
Julian Clary – Murder Most Fab
Joanne Harris – Chocolat
Nick Lake – The Secret Ministry Of Frost
Kathy Reichs – Death Du Jour
Jules Verne – Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea
Gyles Brandryth – Oscar Wilde and the Ring of Death
Virginia Woolf – Orlando
Arthur Conan Doyle – A Study In Scarlet
Robert Louise Stevenson – Treasure Island
Steven D Levitt – Superfreakonomics
Ian Sansom – The Bad Book Affair
Tanith Carey – Never Kiss A Man In A Canoe
Julia Stuart – Balthazar Jones and the Tower of London Zoo
JM Coetzee – Disgrace
Charles Schultz – The Complete Peanuts 1950-1952
Hilary Mantel – Wolf Hall
Charlaine Harris – Real Murders
Charlaine Harris – A Bone To Pick
Charlaine Harris – Three Bedrooms, One Corpse
Charlaine Harris – The Julius House
Jasper Fforde – Lost In A Good Book
Sandi Toksvig – The Chain Of Curiosity
Jasper Fforde – The Well Of Lost Plots

Total – 35 It would have been more if it hadn’t taken me two months to read that Andrew Marr book! And Wolf Hall took me a month too.

Theatre stuff I saw:

Oscar Wilde’s Lord Arthur Saville’s Crime
The Canterbury Tales
Oklahoma!
The Count Of Monte Christo
Me, As A Penguin
Billy Elliot
Hairspray
Hay Fever
Spamalot
Britain’s Got Bhangra
Bedroom Farce
Agatha Christie’s Witness For The Prosecution
Legally Blonde
Avenue Q
As You Like It
Billy Liar
Spend Spend Spend
Rocky Horror Show
The Habit Of Art