A Short Review of the Year 2006

As with last year, I feel a review is in order, so here goes:

FAVOURITE EVENTS

Well it's been a bit doom and gloom but David Walliams swimming for charity was good, as was the return of this anti-hero of sorts.

PEOPLE (AND ANIMALS) WHO LEFT US IN 2006, WHO I WILL PARTICULARLY MISS

Steve Irwin
Coretta Scott King
Adwaita
Lizzie Bolden
Jennifer Moss
Tony Banks
Linda Smith
Tom Bell
Alan Freeman
Robert Altman
Syd Barrett
James Brown
Dame Muriel Spark
Anna Politkovskaya and Alexander Litvinenko
Desert Orchid
Glenn Ford
Shelley Winters
Peter Boyle
J.K. Galbraith
Betty Friedan
Gerald Ford


FAVOURITE FILMS OF THE YEAR

Casino Royale

You, Me, and Dupree

The Queen

FAVOURITE PEOPLE

Gordon Brown (again) (For just being a good Chancellor (again))

Paul McCartney (for coping with another major tragedy in his life. I think he was wise and brave not to respond publicly to the accusations made)

MUSICAL INSPIRATION

It's the old timers again. The Beatles for the innovation of their Love album and Queen for... (well actually do I need to give a reason?)

But praise must also go to Keane for cracking that second album

POLITICIAN OF THE YEAR

Gordon Brown and Hilary Benn for not rocking the boat till it capsized and offering a post-Blair agenda

PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR

Starting a relationship with S, getting a new job, getting involved in 18 Doughty Street and also being interviewed by them, being forced to rethink my political future, being propelled into the lay ministry in the Methodist Church

BLOGGERS OF THE YEAR

LABOUR: Kerron Cross-The Voice of the Delectable Left

CONSERVATIVE: Iain Dale's Diary

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT: A Liberal Goes a Long Way

OTHER: Jonathan Chilvers/Paul Linford

NON POLITICAL: Cally's Kitchen

ISSUE: Living Ghosts Endurance Challenege

INNOVATIVE: Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog

(Apologies for those who feel left out, will compile a blogging list in the New Year)


FAVOURITE QUOTES

"Would you like me to be a cat?" - George Galloway

"Guardian newspaper? Well, I don't read that newspaper often" George W. Bush

(FAVOURITE BLOGGING QUOTE OF THE YEAR)

"Monday - 8.30am to the town hall for the executive meeting. It’s the first one since the election, at which we moved from minority administration to opposition to a minority Lib Dem administration. I’m one of two Labour members without portfolio, so our job is to represent the views of Labour voters and the group. Primarily that means arguing for more housing and better waste collection and recycling in Oxford, all of which the Lib Dems are apparently reluctant to do. There’s also a review of community grants on the agenda, and with diffculty I resist the temptation to argue for funding for a three storey building to house lesbian mothers’ self-insemination workshops. The meeting goes on until about one o’clock, I have lunch with the other Labour member and go to my real, paying, job. Monday is a rare night off, so Jo and I promote lesbian lifestyles by going to the supermarket and blatently buying groceries."

Antonia Bance responding to some people's fascination with her private life and refusing to be simply defined as a lesbian. You can read the full post here.

And if you are going to be away from a computer between now and 2007, a Happy New Year to you all.