Where the HECK has this year gone?! It only seems like yesterday that I was waking-up from a Crabbies Ginger Beer-induced hangover on January 1st (and no, I wasn't at kick-ass New Year's Eve do, I was on my own at home, gaming, scoffing a Tesco Chinese meal for two and getting drunk off several bottles of, well, all kinds really but I felt the Crabbies the next day!)
So let's recap this year... firstly;
My Life
For me personally my medical condition flared up giving me the worst six months of my life (although it's settled down again now in preparation for flaring up when I least want it to... as is it's wont as the most annoying medical condition known to mankind).
I finally gave up Sky TV in the pursuit of other avenues of entertainment (thanks to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Youtube, Twitch and gaming in general) but BOY did Sky try to keep me on! Despite my rants about excessive ad-breaks, no decent English Rugby coverage and me refusing to personally subsidise their obsession with throwing money at the Premiere League footy (which has gotten shit by several orders of magnitude over the last decade). Even after cancelling I got missed calls everyday until I blocked their number, now I await the reams of offers of half-price membership via snail mail.
I gave up my gym membership after 15 years, doing so has probably condemned my body to a big bout of weight gains but I've made my decision and am trying really hard to get an outdoor regimen going, especially as I'm off skiing in 2017 for the first time in 10 years.
Sport
Our national sport when through it's usual highs and lows - UK had a good showing at the Olympics with the best medal haul in modern times. England Rugby: Six Nations Slam, whitewashed the Aussies in their backyard, England Footy: Shit ('nuff said), Cricket: I don't really care tbh (I don't like it), they played some games, probably lost. Wasps, (I am a season ticket holder) finished 3rd, Allez Allez Allez!
Gaming Wins
Pokemon Go launched this year, took a BIG bite out of my time and still continues to do so, in fact, I have to say that it is the single biggest positive thing I can take out of this year and would like to take the opportunity to thank Nintendo and Niantic (and I suppose Google too) for creating such an engaging, enjoyable and, quite possibly the healthiest game around. I say 'healthiest' because no other game gets you out and about walking so much! I'm well on my way to doing 1000 KM's in-game and, even though I already do a lot of mileage walking due to commuting, Pokemon Go has added to that significantly and I'm soo much fitter! Plus it's part of the reason why I decided to cancel my gym membership simply because I've been out catching Pokemon during the times I would be at the gym! I've been to places I wouldn't normally go, I've gotten semi-lost in a marsh and almost run-over a couple of times... all in the pursuit of catching them all!!
Gaming Fails
No Man's Sky launched to a big fanfare and after only a couple of days failed big time... in my part I mostly tried to stay positive about the game and posted about it in this blog but now, even I have to agree that the gameplay is not what it was advertised... I'll still play it occasionally though.
Technology Wins
Virtual Reality - a technology that's been pottering about in the background of the tech world for decades finally exploded to the forefront this year. Previously, it's been the exclusive plaything of Silicon Valley, insanely rich pharmeceutical research companies and Hollywood but now thanks to HTC, Sony and Oculus it's affordable for us plebs to have a go... and Microsoft aren't far behind with their Augmented Reality tech too. It's about time the tech industry got us something interesting... rather than pushing unappealing pap such as 3D in cinemas and TVs... and glasses that do nothing except invade people's privacy for the sake of pushing ads.
Technology Fails
Apple brought out the latest MacBook Pro, with an LED emoji strip instead of function keys (I say that because that's all it'll become, despite what Adobe say with Photoshop support). Four expansion ports that require at least a hundred pounds' worth of adapters for all your currently owned peripherals (including iPhones FFS) and an Intel processor that's one generation back from the current line, well played Apple.
Entertainment
Several high-profile music/movie/TV celebs died (RIP Terry Wogan, Alan Rickman, David Bowie et al). Actually, in this case life isn't fair - we lost some good people but GAINED some Kardashians, how can that be fair!? Kim got robbed and it was no surprise considering she kept flashing it all over Social Media, served her right really and now she's gone dark. Kanye West has been sectioned - again, not surprising really, anyone connected to that family needs to be institutionalised. I know, I know... I don't need to read about them but I look at Google News every day and they're all over the fucking feeds! It would be a good year if they all just faded into the background, live quiet lives with all their money and we never heard from them again, I'd consider this a good year of that started to happen.
Politics
We had Brexit (and we'll never hear the end of it either), we've got a new Prime Minister - Teresa May... who, I have to say, I've been impressed with so far, I think she's doing her best in a very difficult climate. We gained a new Opposition Leader in Jeremy Corbyn who I simply can't find it in myself to dislike! I doubt I'd vote for him but he really doesn't offend me, I think he's good for British politics in that he keeps the majority in Parliament on their toes.
America chose a former reality-show former-failed Billionaire for POTUS, and I think our Brexit somewhat influenced them to do that, I guess they're just as fed-up with the political elite taking the piss as much as we are.
In conclusion it has been a very interesting year with the Brexit and Donald Trump being elected as the two 'stand-out' events, certainly they will make for a strange 2017!
As for me, well, I think I'll end 2016 with a more gaming, a Tesco Indian meal for two and a crate of Carling, enough to knock me into a senseless state to not be able to hear the fireworks at midnight.
