2010 in review - 12 days too late!

Why hello there - I'm impressed that you're still reading.

2010 was in many ways a great year because nothing happened. Life was the same and it was fine: London as interesting as ever, work OK, all of that. No big upsets, no drama. The best moment was somewhere in the Swiss Alps on a train. The worst was becoming completely disillusioned by a political party, after finally letting myself 'get political' here in the UK after nearly 10 years of living here. See previous post for optimism and idealism: that's all gone now.

Here's what I liked...

Movies

This was not a great year for film to be honest. The blockbusters (Iron-Man 2, Inception) were dissapointing and there was only a scattering of indie films on the scene and they. And they were mostly boring. However, I did really love "The Kids are Allright" for showing an America completely free from gun nuts, Glen Beck and social networking. Oh, and speaking of social networking, "The Social Network" was pretty snappy as well.

Other winners included "The Secret in their Eyes" - a moody, stylish thriller from Argentina and "Please Give" - featuring some pleasantly neurotic New Yorkers.

Music:

Oh god was this my most apathetic music-year yet? I am very tentatively slightly creeping back into it due to Spotify, but in 2010 I really found myself lost beneath a lot of old stuff and struggling to find new stuff I really connected with. For what it's worth, I liked the new Goldfrapp, and the new Pink Martini, and my Spotify outings with Broken Bells and The Clientele have been pretty satisfying so far.

Gig-wise, I'd have to vouch for the Kate McGarrigle tribute concert at the Festival Hall. As you can imagine it was pretty emotional, but funny, sweet and beautiful too.

Art:

Another year of dissapointing blockbusters, especially concerning those two old friends, Van Gogh and Gaugin. But there were some gems, specifically Alice Neel at the Whitechapel, Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde at the Tate and Decode: Digital Design Sensations at the V&A. I am so geeky that I saw Decode twice!

Books:


I'm looking forward to getting completely stuck into my new Kindle in 2011 and not having to worry about waiting for the paperback - liberation!

The only real 'published in 2010' book I can think of that I'd recommend wholeheartedly is Barbara Demick's "Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea", which was completely fascinating and heartbreaking. I also quite liked a few other recent books, like Lionel Schriver's The Post-Birthday World (which led to an ongoing minor obsession with watching snooker on TV), The Song Before it is Sung, by Justin Cartwright and Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger.

My best book memory of 2010 is sitting in the middle of the Thames at the Teddington locks, reading Dodie Smith's 'I Capture the Castle', which, though it's from 1948, was definitely the best thing I read all year. If you haven't read it you need to!

Food and hotels and other stuff:

Food-wise my best dinners were are The Glasshouse in Kew for my birthday dinner, and a slap-up meal that I won (thanks NomNomNom and @anniemole) at 2-Michelin starred Le Gavroche - I am still thinking about the passionfruit souffle with hand scooped white chocolate ice-cream. Yum! Oh, and I've had a few memorable dim sum outings at Pearl Liang in Paddington: have the wasabi prawn dumplings and seafood noodles.

Outside of London, I think my best meal was at Cafe Italiano in beautiful Florence.

Best afternoon tea was at old-skool family owned hotel The Goring, which was a pleasant surprise. And N thought that some American tourists mistook me for a minor celeb. So that was exciting too.

As far as hotels go, I have a new favourite in the UK and it's Cotswold House in Chipping Campden, which serves up a wonderfully relaxed country-townhouse feel without any attitude. Rooms are great, the food's awesome and the spa is lovely, and you can do any amount of beautiful walks from there. Do go!

Righty-ho - that's about it for 2010: year of stasis. You could say stagnation, but a lovely stagnation. Time to bring on the drama for 2011!