Welcome to my first post of 2010. In the spirit of the month of Janus, I’ve decided to dedicate the first two posts of the year to looking back and to looking forward. To remember some of the events of 2009 and to look forward in anticipation to the upcoming events of 2010. Admittedly, the events that make these lists are subjective and limited (otherwise this could have made for a very long post). In the end I chose to limit each list to five in number and to those events that first came to mind.
Here is the first list: 2009 in retrospect – five cool, noteworthy or otherwise memorable events from the year.
- 14th November 2009: New Zealand wins in Wellington to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. This will be the first World Cup since 1982 that New Zealand has participated in and for a country that is not known for its football prowess, this is an amazing achievement. Well done, boys.
- Inauguration of Barack Obama as the President of the United States of America. Regardless of where one sits on the political spectrum, watching America elect Obama as their President in 2008 was a historic event. The inauguration ceremony provided the final act in this part of the story.
- Roger Federer winning the French Open/Kim Clijsters winning the American Open. I have a lot respect for Federer as a player and what he’s achieved in his career. Watching him win the French title and clinch his career grand slam was rather satisfying. Similarly, watching Kim win the US Open as a wild card and after coming back from retirement was equally as satisfying – I’m glad she’s come back to the court.
- The death of Michael Jackson. I commented on this in my first post on this blog. At this point in time, I haven’t got anything constructive to add to what I’ve already written, so I’ll leave the link to that post in lieu of a comment here.
- Celebration of Sci-Fi: Star Trek XI/Torchwood 3/Dr Who: The End of Time.
Star Trek XI. I was rather excited about the prospect of a new Star Trek movie. I had grown up watching Trek and going to the cinema to see the movies became a family tradition. So there was a lot at stake for me with this film – I was desperately anxious to avoid another Phantom Menace sized disappointment. Happily, at the end of the movie I left the cinema a smiling Trekkie.
Torchwood 3. This particular season was excellent. I cheated and record the five episodes, opting to watch them all back-to-back. I was blown away. I had watched the previous two seasons and thought the show was rather good, but this season easily eclipsed what had been before.
Dr Who: The End of Time. Much like Star Trek, Doctor Who had become a treasured memory from childhood. And as with Trek, there was a feeling of anxiety over a re-boot of the show in 2005. This passed once the show started and overall I’ve enjoyed Doctor Who under Russell T Davis. I’ve especially enjoyed David Tennant as the ninth doctor. Needless to say, David’s final episode had been eagerly anticipated (despite the feeling of sadness at seeing him leave). I thought it was an excellent finale – epic in scope (not just including the Time Lords, but with Bond as Rassilon? That was cool) and laden with emotion and pathos. The ending was particularly satisfying as it brought to a close the universe that Davis had created, leaving the way clear for the next incarnation of Doctor Who.
So there it is, five moments from 2009 that I found to be particularly cool, noteworthy or otherwise memorable. The next post will look at 2010 and five more noteworthy events that will occur this year.
What do you think of when you think of 2009? Feel free to add other events and moments in the comments below!