2009: The Year in Pictures

In which I look back at some of the most memorable moments (for me) of the last year. Well, the ones I have pictures for anyway.

My friends are key to nearly all these photos, whether we're messing around outside, or having a laugh indoors (usually at someone's house).

OUTSIDE

"Look, a Tesco!" "We made it back to civilisation, then?"

This is the first time I wore a chullo. As you can see I am very happy about it.

Mykel and Louis: The best couple I have met for pulling weird faces.

Heather is also good at awesome faces.








HOLYSHIT YOU GUYS THIS COFFEE IS SO FUCKING GOOOOOD








Sometimes we like to get in touch with the great outdoors so much that we even stay there for a while. As a result there exist a lot of camping photos from the last year, of which a few are shown here:

                                  The witch coven and I.

"CHEAT!"

Making s'mores is a precise and fine art.








Later in the year (about a week and a half ago) we had some snow! This made for some even more brilliant pictures:
Simultaneously the strangest and best face I have ever pulled.

Everybody was snowball fighting!

Bravely running away.

"You'll never take me alive!"

"Can we come in now? It's bloody freezing."



















We also have a lot of fun making arses of ourselves indoors, especially round people's houses.
INSIDE

"Did someone just take a picture?"

Louis realises a lifelong dream of wanting to sound more attractive to birds.

HAY GUISE

Positively terrifying.

I can't remember what I was laughing at but it was clearly hilarious - maybe Mykel's Halloween costume?

Well that's enough excitement for one day.











A lot of this year was spent at college, so a lot of photos were taken in and around there. The best ones happen when we're desperately trying to find something to do with ourselves.
COLLEGE

Sudoku: A lot harder than it looks.

...You had to be there.

Two hours later and I still haven't finished the sudoku.

When boredom sets in... badly drawn (and sideways) band logos happen.

No matter how stupid they look, they always manage to brighten up my day.








Over the year various amusing happenings also happened in the world of cyberspace. I present to you some of my favourite screenshots (and the like) from 2009:
INTERNETS

The face rape makes her happy.

O RLY? YA RLY.

I don't really have an explanation for this one. You can't really argue with a horny Ponyta though.

What is known technically as a Maths or Algebra penis... yeah. Thanks Sam.

It's amusing how long Wikipedia took to edit this page back to normal. Maybe they liked my improvements too.

Amy struggles under the weight of her GIANT ACOUSTIC GUITAR!







A few pictures were taken with family this year too (I tried as hard as I could but it's impossible to avoid). A couple of them are surprisingly good:

HOLY SHIT THESE CRASH HELMETS ARE SO FUCKING EXCITING

What the crash helmets were used for.











I'll leave you with a few group shots of the people who have made this year: my friends.

Starting a mosh pit at Kayleigh's and Sarah's birthday party was definitely a very good idea - even if me, Chris and Adam were the only ones cool enough to be in it.

Tom's birthday party - an altogether more civilised affair.

Getting a bit over excited...

At the end of the year, we're all together again. A musical blog post will be arriving tomorrow!

Merry Christmas!

Hope you all had a good one and got everything you wanted. I know I did with the exception of one thing, but I wasn't expecting to get it (if I did I'd be a very lucky boy indeed). I'm not going to go into that further here, it's kind of a secret.

It seems a bit ridiculous that we only have one week left until college starts again, I always forget how quickly the holidays go. I still haven't done any work yet, I'm determined to start tomorrow though and carry on throughout the week (though that probably means I'll think about it tomorrow then delay it until Thursday or something). I'm very bad with procrastination (actually I'm very good at it, but that's the problem...) and to give an example I had this blog window open for about an hour before I actually started writing. Speaking of Thursday, I really do hope something fun happens for new years! Whatever happens, it's bound to be better than what happened to me last year, it seems very strange that a whole year has passed since all that happened... Oh well, I can say it's really far in the past now and move on (though I've been over it for a while now, this feels like proper closure). I'm considering letting people come to my house, as it was such a success at Halloween... is that really a good idea? I'll have to think it through.

Whatever you're all planning, I hope it goes well! I WILL start on the end of year blogs this week, I promise.

The people I know are some of the best people around

Quote of the Day - "I built my dreams around you" - The Pogues

16:16 I finally seem to be coming out of this stupid illness (suitably dubbed 'winter man flu') so I am attempting to blog again. It's actually pretty annoying, this year's Christmas holiday would be one of the best I'd ever had if it wasn't for the fact that I've been ill for well over a week... Oh well, this year's holiday has been bloody brilliant already, despite that. The reason for this is my fantastic friends. I have already mentioned that I went with Amy to see Paranormal Activity recently and in that post I focused mostly on the film. However we would have had just as good a time even if we hadn't seen it, simply because she's so brilliant. Last Friday (originally the last day of college, but got canceled thanks to snow lulz) I went out to see all my college friends (well, they were nearly all there) despite the fact that I felt like death, only with more of a runny nose. We had coffee and exchanged secret santa gifts, amongst other little things. I personally enjoyed it a lot because I got to see my little group of college friends again, after not seeing them for a few days thanks to the winter man flu. It's a little bit weird, I didn't think I'd miss their company as much as I did while I was stuck at home endlessly blowing my nose. We just all get on so well, and have such a good group dynamic. Someone even commented that our little meeting in the coffee shop was like an advert for an English version of Friends and I can't say I disagree with that analogy. We then went outside to play in the unbelievably thick and wonderful snow that was literally everywhere. We hardly ever get snow over here and whenever we do it is never this good (I don't think I've ever seen it snow so much in my entire lifetime). Playing in snow is one of the most fun things you can do, I reckon. It was like we were all kids again, just writing this makes me wish I could go back to that afternoon and do it all over again.

21:59 On Saturday Mykel hosted a really fancy dinner (I had to wear a suit and everything!) that I was lucky enough to be invited to. It was like a real life episode of that Channel 4 program Come Dine With Me, only good. We had traditional Caribbean dishes (she's from around there) so I hadn't eaten anything like it before, it was all delicious though. Probably one of the best dinners I have ever had, really. After the meal Hannah and Yaz proceeded to have a laughing fit that went on for a good few hours (it actually started while we were still eating) which was obviously really fun for all those not involved... I was originally going to sleep round (Mykel lives like a bajillion miles away and I didn't fancy walking that far in the ice and the dark) but then Heather and Ness decided to get a taxi, so I went with them despite having no money (yet again, the amazingness of my friends shines through) because I decided I would very much like to sleep in my own bed, what with the feeling pretty ill. I paid them back yesterday, I'm an honest lad me.

On Monday I saw Avatar in 3D! I'd been looking forward to it for ages, but it wasn't quite as good as I'd hoped it would be. This was pretty much all down to the story being ridiculously cheesy and very very clichéd. The CGI and the landscapes were better than I thought possible though. It's easily worth seeing for the visuals alone, even with the off plot you get the feeling you're watching a masterpiece. When I look back I realise that I had stupidly high hopes for it, which I suppose is probably because of the huge hype machine that surrounded it when it was being released. I thought it was a bit silly that James Cameron (and all the other main players in the film) were all acting like the film wasn't a big deal, even going so far as to be trying to calm the hype down. This was silly because they were all clearly loving all the attention it was generating, I'd be surprised if their supposed nonchalance fooled anyone. These people are supposed to be actors as well! (some of them are, anyway). I greatly recommend it though, you'd be missing out on something quite special if you didn't see this while it was still in the cinema. If you can see it in 3D, then even better.

Yesterday was the best day of the holidays yet. Me and my college friends organised a 'Family Christmas Dinner' (brilliant, I know) where the basic idea was to have a traditional family Christmas but without the family part. To be fair though, our group is so tightly-knit now that we are like one big family. I know it sounds a bit silly, but I really do love 'em. It started off just like that traditional English Christmas; drinking in the early afternoon, bad dancing to very old songs, terrible festive costumes (apart from Heather who came as a fantastic Tiny Tim... you all looked stunning though) and more food than 20 people can eat... you get the idea. The dinner itself worked out brilliantly, compliments to the chefs! No one even cared that we were all squashed into Hannah's tiny front room eating off of paper plates... in fact that probably made it all the more better. Of course, the evening did quickly (almost frighteningly so) degenerate into an incredibly messy house party (we can't help it, we're built for this kind of stuff). I mention the mess because it really was one of the messiest houses I had ever seen, there were bits of Christmas crackers everywhere! It was a very long day and a lot of things happened (I was there from 5pm-2am, some people were there even longer) but it sadly all went too fast and before I knew it I was sitting on the floor in Hannah's front room playing strip cheat. Yes I typed that correctly, we played strip cheat. It was going to be strip poker, but no one could remember how to play poker (a fact which I find hilarious). I'll skip all the nasty details and get right to the end, when me and Heather won (because you can't play cheat with two players). I only won because no one ever called me and I have no idea why (maybe I just have a very trustworthy face?) and Heather won because she was sitting next to me and I never called her, instead playing my cards right away before anyone else could. We made a pretty amazing team, to be honest. I never thought I'd feel so awkward while still fully dressed. It was fucking weird. After that the party started to wind down, but I don't think I ever truly stopped singing and/or dancing until I got out of the front door. I could have slept over, but my parents were expecting me back so if I did they'd be all "where the fuck is Harry?!" in the morning, and we couldn't be havin' that now could we? Luckily Heather had to be going back too, she had a 9am coach to catch to Manchester this morning (not so lucky for her, a 6 hour hungover coach journey must be terrible in anyone's books). So we did eventually end up leaving at the early time of 2 in the morning, walking back along the icy roads together right in the middle. There was no traffic and it is bizarrely the only situation I've been in where it's safer to walk right in the middle of the road than on the pavement. We sang a bit of Fairytale of New York (the best Christmas song) with me singing the female part and Heather singing the male part (obviously) which reminded me of how brilliant The Pogues are. I have been listening to them for most of the day and it's taken me back to being a small child again, so thanks Heather. A sweet ending to a fantastic night.

A good time was had by all. In the words of Tiny Tim (Heather to me): God bless us, everyone.

Ill

Sorry there hasn't been anything for a week, I haven't been feeling very well (bloody winter...). I will start working on the end of year review posts soon.

11 days to go...

Paranormal Activity

(Sunday night): I went to London yesterday (Saturday) to see my friend Amy (it was her birthday recently and she's one of my best friends anyway, so we figured why not) and had a brilliant time. I had to take a bit of a risk as I don't think my parents would have liked the idea of me going off to London on my own to meet someone they don't know, so I had to lie to them. I know that might not seem like a big deal to most people, but my parents really trust me and take stuff like that pretty seriously. It was totally worth it though, I got away with it as well! We walked through Sutton (pretty glamorous, amirite?) and (surprisingly) got tired of it pretty quickly. Amy suggested we go to the cinema, in fact it was the only thing she could think of doing (she planned this day well, as you can see) so we went to have a look at what was on. We went past an odd looking vending machine that vended (I kid you not) some kind of popcorn ice cream. The picture on the machine literally looked like multicoloured blobs of what can only be described as some kind of hybrid snack. They really know how to live down in Sutton.

We simultaneously decided on Paranormal Activity once we had seen the film choice (it was a pretty cool moment, we are pretty cool) and so we bought a couple of tickets. (Monday): The actual film wasn't on for about another 45 minutes though (yet again fantastic planning) so we walked around Sutton again (oh, the joy). The highlight was visiting the pet shop and watching Amy go all gaga over a chinchilla. It was pretty damn cute though (and so was her reaction). Someone should get it for her or something, she'd be ridiculously happy. After a while we trudged back to the cinema (Amy complaining the whole way because it was up a slight incline) and took our seats over to the far right.

Now, I wouldn't really call myself a very big fan of the horror genre (although I have seen a few good horror films) but Paranormal Activity was one of the best films I've ever seen, easily capable of converting even the most horror-averted of people. I won't spoil any of it for any of you readers who are considering seeing it, but it's just done so differently to the 'stereotypical' horror films you seem to see everywhere; it really does defy all the clichés. Okay, well maybe it sticks to one. The whole film is based around the classic 'things that go bump in the night' scenario and though that doesn't sound very original, it has been filmed with so much realism that you almost feel like you're experiencing the film yourself. The film gets progressively scarier as you get more and more into it, as a result the ending is the scariest and best ending to a film I have ever seen (everyone in the cinema jumped a few inches off their seats). Unlike other horror films that rely on gore, violence and vividly disgusting scenes designed to shock the viewer, Paranormal Activity relies on very basic human fears and emotions to create something that is very believable (despite the idea of the paranormal being central to the story). There is hardly any gore or violence explicitly in any of the shots, but I don't think I have ever been more scared than when I was watching it. I urge everyone to go see it, it is a thoroughly enjoyable film and a very unique one too.

Amy also took some pictures of me with her very flashy camera because quite frankly, she knows beauty when she sees it. Her camera has a very long extendable penis I mean lens, she is compensating for her tiny one. The pictures produced from this high quality photoshoot were both amusing and good, she just needs to upload them to facebook now and we can all be happy...

I'm back!

10:27 (Friday) Did you miss me?

00:45 (Saturday) Even though my original intent was to post at least once a day (this eventually decreased anyway) I'm glad I took a break from writing. Looking back on my posts from a couple of months ago I can see I was really moody/whiny/annoying and worse of all *shudder* quite a bit emo. I am sorry for that, but there's no point dwelling on the past and I wish to move on to brighter and better things!

A couple of exciting things have happened in the time I was away from here:
1. I saw Muse live on Friday the 13th (a good day to see them, apparently) of November. This is pretty huge for me, they're definitely the band I have waited longest to see and fulling deserving of their 'best live band in the world' title. I am a bit sorry I didn't blog about it right after I saw them, I could've written a corker of a post I reckon. Oh well.
2. I handed in my UCAS form (at long last!) and the offers have been rolling in already! (well, 3 out of 5 so far). To all those who don't get what I'm on about, I am basically on about my university application (or 'college' application to all you Americans). This has obviously got me very excited but also terribly nervous. I had my first interview on Wednesday as well, I was shitting myself quite a bit beforehand but I think it went alright in the end (mostly thanks to some quality advice from my father on the way there - thanks Dad).

I suppose that's about it, November wasn't that eventful really. It never seems to be a very exciting month, I think it might be because it's too damn cold and the fact that Christmas is STILL too far away to look forward to... No more though! Only 20 days to go until Christmas crackers, excessive amounts of 'acceptable' alcohol, the opening (and subsequent disappointment) of really shit presents, embarrassing aunts and far too competitive uncles. Then there's also the really shit TV (including your yearly dosage of Shrek), the one good bit of TV that everyone else ruins (Doctor Who) and the ridiculous Christmas food. I don't think at any other time of year will so much food be consumed, nor will it be combined in such a bizarre way.

Despite what I said in that previous paragraph, I do actually enjoy Christmas and I will be looking forward to it just as much as anyone else. I just can't help thinking what a ridiculous festival (and time of year) it is.