1. The emergence of BBC comedy from the Little Britain era: whilst Armstrong and Miller was hit and miss, Stewart Lee, Outnumbered and (big surprise) Miranda were all funny and watchable. There's even a decent sketch show on CBeebies.
2. Some justice at last for SPCK staff, with the Charity Commissioners stepping in to take over what's left of the bookshop chain. All in all a grim year for the Christian bookshop trade, with STL/Wesley Owen going south at the end of the year, but it was good to see something we've campaigned on finally getting some results.
3. England rediscoving how to play cricket, and that you don't need 'talisman' players (Flintoff, Pietersen) in order to win. The Ashes victory, and last weeks cracker in South Africa are hopefully the beginnings of an era of non-superstar success, where we win as a team. Delighted also to hear that the 2013 Ashes will probably be on free-to-air TV.
4. Discovering Twitter and Spotify, all the more so as the latter is starting to load up some decent back catalogues for the Smiths and Shriekback. Little Boots has been the soundtrack to the year.
5. The final 2 minutes of Ashes to Ashes. Actually most of it was pretty good, but a brilliant way to end the series. Can't wait for series 3.
6. U2's 'Magnificent', one of a couple of stand-out tracks on No Line on the Horizon. I'm hoping that some church worship groups have this on their playlists, and if not, why not?
7. Managing to scrape myself out of hospital just in time to catch Coldplay at Wembley.
8. There's a whole other top 10 of stuff with family and kids which I'll spare you from. My daughter was asked today what new years resolution she'd like me to make. 'Spend more time with us', she said, without pausing for thought. Hard to resist.
9. The whole MP expenses thing, coupled with the banking crisis, has to go down as missed opportunity of the year. There seems to have been no serious moral reformation of either politics or finance, and Copenhagen suggests that we're all too wedded to consumption and 'progress' to live within the means of the planet, and to stop stealing from future generations.
10. Being alive on 31st December 2009. Life is such a gift, and considering where in the world I could have been born, and at what times in history I could have lived, I'm blessed beyond anything I could possibly deserve. What to do with this blessing, 'what to do with the time that has been given to us', is the big question. Hoard or share? Indulge or invest? Buy off my conscience with a bit of charity in the corner, or hand my life back over to God as a daily thankyou?
Thanks for this...readable as always. As I get older and do more and more funerals, 10 gets me more than most (though 3 gives me a lot of joy as well!).
ReplyDeleteI second the U2 pick, best track on that album IMO.
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