Happy 2023!

 Happy New Year readers!

It's that time again where we celebrate the start to a brand new year after a night of boozing in town and singing Auld Lang Syne or however one prefers to celebrate. It's also the time when we reflect on what's happened and what we'd been through over the previous year. In addition, it's the time to plan some New Year's Resolutions. This might be one of the lengthiest posts I've ever published, so grab yourselves a cup of tea or something as we go through the highs and lows of 2022.

So, where to begin with how 2022 went? Well I feel that one should start with the negatives and then the positives as it's always best to end on a positive note. So here goes.

Firstly, I'll start with those who passed on over the last year. These include;

June Brown

Bernard Cribbins

Angela Lansbury

Jet Black

Robbie Coltrane

Lynda Baron

Meat Loaf

Christine McVie

Ashvin Luximon

Terry Hall

Matt Zimmerman

Vivienne Westwood

Maxi Jazz

Raymond Briggs

Mike Hodges

Angelo Badalamenti

Christopher Tucker

Bill Treacher

Jerry Lee Lewis

Kevin Conroy

Jason David Frank

Wilko Johnson

Irene Cara

Olivia Newton John

Raymond Allen

Jean-Luc Goddard

Coolio

Wolfgang Peterson

Taurean Blacque

Pat Carroll

Gabrielle Beaumont

D.H. Peligro

Sonny West

Jack Ging

Harry Landis

Andy Romano

Louise Fletcher

Virginia Patton

Jerry Allison

Joe E. Tata

Robert LuPone

Alan Blaikley

Lenny Von Dohlen

Alan Grant

Nichelle Nichols

Hilary Devey

Frank Williams

Alan White

Andy Fletcher

Dennis Waterman

Gilbert Godfried

David McKee

Bamber Gascoine

Ivan Reitman

Mary Routh

Robin Parkinson

Kay Mellor

Colin Cantwell

Greg Jein

Gary Nelson

Patricia Blake

Nehemiah Persoff

Jack Higgins

Sonny Caldinez

Eric Chappell

Andrew Woolfolk

John Stahl

Tony Walton

Tim Considine

June Kirby

Emilio Delgado

Scott Hall

Melanie Clark Pullen

Robert Blalack

Douglas Trumbull

Beryl Vertue

Gary Brooker

Anna Karen

Sidney Poiter

Gary Waldhorn

Stephen Churchett

Ronnie Spector

Yvette Mimieux

Peter Robbins

Rolf Zehetbauer

Robert Wall

Leonard Fenton

And of course, Queen Elizabeth II.

I thought I'd save her majesty till last since unsurprisingly, it was indeed big news, not only for the United Kingdom, but the whole world in general. Even one of my friends who resides in China agreed how sad the news was. I can remember the day I was about to set off for work and hearing that Elizabeth had been rushed to hospital, and hearing about her passing as soon as I returned home. In-between, I had doubted that she would survive considering that after all, she wasn't getting any younger.

Of course, Elizabeth was in her 90s and on a brighter note, 2022 was the year of her Platinum Jubilee. She is one of the very rare monarchs, worldwide, to have surpassed her 70th year on the throne; 2nd longest running behind King Louis XIV of France. She even beat Queen Victoria as the longest running British monarch. But I'm sure Elizabeth would agree that life does go on and now, and as I had that feeling it would happen someday, Prince Charles, or should I say King Charles III, is in charge. So I wish good luck to the guy.

Speaking of the Royals, I heard a lot of negativity inflicted towards Prince Harry and Meghan. As many of us know, they made their decision to step down from royal duties for independence. Excuse my French, but I don't get why this has since pissed off people and the media. I didn't watch the documentary series, Harry & Meghan and I really don't think they needed all the heckling they got from journalists. They did make their decision after all and no matter what the circumstances, they have my support.

In addition, I can't defend the cost of living crisis; for those of you who don't know, I originally voted to stay in the European Union. I personally didn't think Brexit would work and from what I've seen - rises in petrol costs and food shopping, even the fruit juice in Tescos has risen by 10p a carton, it's making more sense. Nor can I defend the war in Ukraine and the way the Russian government has picked on those poor guys living there. But I do think there's been too much bullying going on through the year 2022.

How did the year go for me personally? Well, I can't say it's exactly been my best year. The low points are justified by a period of counselling, a failed relationship, illness within a family member, stress from work-related paperwork, one bike stolen and one car vandalised (see my poem Think Again). Of course, as a result to the latter two incidents, I had to purchase alternative methods of transport. But the deliberate destruction of my previous car still led a heavy impact, hence the stress of seeking a new insurance company. And if the guys working for Sabre Insurance Ltd and other similar insurance companies are reading this; you guys need to re-consider overcharging innocent drivers who have caused no damage to their own vehicles. These people make claims for a reason; because their modes of transport are no longer driveable, let alone repairable. Those incidents they've fallen victim to are incidents, not accidents and they're not at fault. You should really think carefully before taking such actions. End of statement.

Not to say that I didn't experience any high points through 2022. Because I did. These include a vacation in York, seeing The Stranglers live at De Montfort Hall, and later Dionne Warwick, a 30th, well, 32nd (to be exact) birthday party and of course, the long awaited graduation ceremony I had for my masters course in Creative Writing. The latter two events, I'm grateful to have finally had, no thanks to the lockdown we had. In addition, more highlights for me occurred through a few film projects I took part in - two features by Creativ Studios and two shorts, each time as the Sound Operator/Recordist (see my filmography for details). Film projects, whether good or bad, always make my day.

There are also bright sides for the rest of the world; one of which is the fact that Boris Johnson has now stepped down as the prime minister of the UK. Why is that a positive you may ask? I have my personal thoughts on the guy and since before his reign, I had my doubts and they were heavily justified through what was going on with the NHS, his Brexit plans, the lockdown and, let's be honest, Partygate. It's good that investigation took place in relation to the latter and my thoughts are with those whose mental health was impacted by the lockdown and those who lost family and friends to suicide. We did have our third female prime minister, Liz Truss, who only lasted just over a month, but need I express full details about her. As for the UK's now current PM Rishi Sunak, I do have my opinions on his politics and the Conservatives in general, but I do think it's great that we have a non-Caucasian prime minister for a change. Other positive points include the Chinese Olympics, the fact that many people are starting to take climate change more seriously, Charles III's position as the new monarch, some to name,... oh and congratulations to the Queen guitarist Brian May who has recently been knighted.

Now I may not be a follower to what's in the music charts, since I tend to focus more on the creativity than on the sales. However, if there's one music album I would award as Album of the Year or Best Album, I'd give the award to...

ForeverAndEverNoMore by Brian Eno 

As stated in one of my previous blog posts, Brian Eno is one of my favourite musicians of all time. I pointed out how much of a musical genius Brian is and how much of an inspiration he's been to me; I also speak as someone whose regular job involves early morning shifts. He came a long way through his music career; from his experimental collaboration with Roxy Music and those glam rock albums he released as a solo artist, each filled with such swirling guitar riffs, to his beautifully atmospheric ambient music albums. Once I listened to the song We Let It In, I felt the urge to purchase the CD and with no regrets. ForeverAndEverNoMore is a wonderful masterpiece consisting of new age style songs with an ambient feel to it. Not only does it allow us to oxygenate the instrumentation, but even releases the subtle pro-environmental messages into our minds. The themes are very relevant in today's society considering the current changes within the climate. If you listen to We Let It In, the lyrics remind us of the beauty of the sun and the vegetation that wouldn't've existed without the sun. Another thing to mention is that Brian's daughter Darla contributes to some of the vocals and the way she sings words i.e. "deep" and "sun" with enthesis on the "n" is awesome. When I heard about the fact, I was like; "gee Brian, you kept quiet about your daughter's talents". In addition, I had not known that his brother Roger was musically gifted, until they released their album, Mixing Colours. ForeverAndEverNoMore is a solid 10/10 for me. Long live Brian Eno!

As for the films released last year, the ones I watched include some of the sequels; Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World: Dominion and Sonic The Hedgehog 2, The Batman, Neptune Frost, Nope, Bullet Train and Moonage Daydream. If there's one film I'd personally award film of the year, it's...

Moonage Daydream

Not only am I a huge fan of David Bowie's work, but a part of my praise relates to Brett Morgan's unique directing and editing techniques. He blends snippets of the musician's music and segments of televised footage; including the famous 1975 interview conducted by Russell Harty. It was sort of like a remixed music track, except on-screen, and used those snippets to tell the full story based on David Bowie. I went to see this with my dad. We both enjoyed it all the way through. I'd recommend this masterpiece to anybody who's not watched it. On a minor note, it also shows that a filmmaker can achieve something as a writer, director, producer and editor all in one. As for the other films I mentioned, they are a topic for another blog post.

I realise that I have missed out certain events from last year and certain notable deaths. But there was a lot to cover. As for 2023 which has just begun, many of us will probably have thought of some new year's resolutions. I've thought of some (and no, eating less chocolate is not one of them since that's an old fashioned cliché). These include;

To continue with my career

To have a go at writing short stories - I do mostly write scripts, but I did study creative writing after all and there are lots of competitions in relation to short stories, so why not

To research certain events based on their topic relevancies before I attend them

To consider extra security to each valuable possession i.e. for my car

To use my bike more and my car less - not only will it lower my petrol expenses and mileage, but I could do with some exercise

Well, after,... quite a lot of info covered, I close this article by wishing you all a Happy New Year and I hope that 2023 proves to be a good one.