Another year over, a new one almost begun... So as we all face the imminent prospect of extreme party pressure it's time to reflect on the highs and lows of the last year - Matt Hobbs stylee:

First up, the lows. The economic situation is certainly a bit of a downer, especially as we chose to go job hunting right in the middle of it. Ah, if only my crystal ball had been working - must get some new batteries for it. Heath Ledger's unexpected death just before the release of his epic performance as the Joker also sticks in my mind - especially being a fan of Terry Gilliam, whose latest film Ledger stars in (and still is - along with some replacements such as Johnny Depp). On a personal note we got screwed over royally by the spineless sh*t who sub-let our apartment - Sonny, who trashed the place then did a runner without paying rent. If anyone sees him on the streets of Montreal, give him a good, hard kick in the nuts from us. A big up to Graham for coming to our rescue, and good luck with your job hunt in the new year! On which note, leaving Montreal was certainly a low as we both miss the place and our friends terribly (and the snow) but London is fun, and more of that in a mo. Oh, and more recently there was the huge disappointment of David Tennant not performing in Hamlet, after we'd been excited about seeing this top rated performance for three months. Ah well.

Now for the good stuff - first up, the obvious one. Obama-mania! Yep, we got swept along with everyone else on that one. It's great to see such a positive response to an American President getting voted in - not just because we'll all be mightily glad to see the back of the current idiot (anyone see his exit interviews? a complete absense of the decency to admit any mistakes over these ridiculous eight years - hello? 9/11 failure of intelligence? Iraq lack of WMDs? Global failure of respect for your once proud nation? Trashed economy? Grow some balls Bush and take responsibility for your actions.). Obama certainly signals a new hope for a country that needs some positive spin, both at home and abroad. Fingers crossed he delivers at least 10% of what people are hoping for right now. The only real downside of this is that the classic news based comedy shows such as The Daily Show and Colbert Report will now be lacking their greatest source of material.. sorry, writers.

Earlier in the year, after the end of a wonderful trip to Mexico with the Johnson clan, we bade our sad goodbye to our New York apartment and shipped all my stuff up into Montreal for the last time (literally just fitting in the car). Shortly after that it was packed up again and shipped over to England where it arrived safely, other than one broken bowl. Yes, the big news of the year for us was migrating to England - back in those happy days before we knew of such things as 'global economic crash'. We arrived happy, landing into a typically grey day at Heathrow and then heading over to our current abode in Southwark. Which brings us merrily to the other highlight of our year - Mr T. T'other Matt has been our guardian angel this year, helping us sort out a place to live, wheels and many more things - as well as being a generally lovely chap. Cheers, Tully!

So we had our first London summer together, and the first one for me in six years. Wandering along the South Bank. Amazing Shakespeare at the Globe Theatre (Timon of Athens & Midsummer Night's Dream). Fun with the nephews at Latitude Festival. Catching up with family. All interspersed with the stress of job hunting, as the economy gradually started to tank. Ug. Thankfully things started to come together in autumn with jobs at globally respected magazines for Miette, and a contract that turned into a job for me as well. Huzah!

There have been many more things that happened, and memories to recount, but for those of you who don't regularly - just read the rest of this blog for the year (simple, init). And now 2009 rapidly approaches, under 24 hours left to go. We're positive about the next year, even with the increasing economic down-turn. Everyone will baton down the hatches, but the world will still turn - and most people needed a good kick up the arse to stop the orgy of over-consumption we currently live with day to day. Enough preaching, on with the partying! See you next year.

Labels: new years eve, personal history

Since I'm happily on Christmas hols already, combined with last week's random purchase of a Tate membership, I decided to head down to the Tate Modern today to check out the Rothko and Cildo Meireles exhibitions. Oh, and the apocalyptic future vision currently in the turbine hall. Good fun - but have to say the Rothko didn't grab me, so no real change there. The Meireles work on the other hand was wonderful. Highly engaging conceptual art that you get to play with and enter - from rolling balls around, to fighting your way through suspended rulers to cracking underfoot glass - my favourite. Well worth a visit, but hurry - it ends January 11th.

In other random news - it sounds like David Tennant may be returning to Hamlet in the last week, no guarantees though. Of course this means there will be a flurry of activity waiting for returns, etc if it does happen and I'll find myself wondering if it's worth the, usually effective, returns queue wait. Somehow I think returns will be unlikely after all the furore thus far. Still, if he does return to tread the boards we may brave the line. And if that doesn't work, there's always Pete Posthlethwaite in King Lear at the Young Vic I guess.

Labels: Art, Celebrities, London, Shakespeare, Theatre

And last night the answer was, unfortunately, 'not'. As has been widely reported, David Tennant has had to pull out of his acclaimed and rapidly sold-out performance of Hamlet in London until at least Christmas. For those of us who had been excitedly waiting to see the man himself in action, having been fortunate enough to get tickets in the few hours they were available, this was a bit of a blow. Thankfully, the rest of the amazing cast put on a show that will not soon be forgotten, and his under-study - thrust unexpectedly into the limelight before a London audience for an extended run - does a bang up job. He's not Tennant, although at times you feel from his mannerisms he's trying to be, but Edward Bennet carries of a complex role with aplomb.

Aye, the play's the thing, and all the world's a stage. So what of it? The stage opens dark and mysterious, lit just by the lights of the soldiers on the battlements, and it is then you notice that the entire stage is semi-mirrored as the soldiers' lights bounce off the ground onto their faces. This amazing setup is used to great effect throughout the play, with minimal stage furniture and subtle lighting you are transported to a gothic castle at various times of the day. The huge mirrored panels at the rear rotate, allowing people to enter and exeunt at various times in different ways - and semi-mirrored glass gives us the necessary arras to hide behind. Later, the rear glass itself becomes even more of an actor - refelecting the sudden death of a key character. I feel that we were lucky in the Grand Circle - seats C11/12 - in that we literally had a perfect view down onto this mirrored stage, seeing the actors from both sides is grabbing and makes you appreciate what can be done on stage.

Against this stunning scenery, the players are caringly lit as they deliver characters with such precision and emotional force that you're swept along. Patrick Stewart's Claudius is at times the caring father, at others the malevolent plotter, and at all points believable. Polonius, played by Oliver Ford Davis is a revelation - a stumbling buffon who mutters and loses words that can still be heard across the auditorium (thankfully unlike the time he has to stage whisper words to Laertes stand-in). Hamlet's mother Gertrude was engagingly played by Penny Downie, capturing to full effect her concerns about Hamlet's mind and soul. Strong players all, and the only flat spots seem to be where the understudies are having to find their feet suddenly as all the roles shift. So what of the biggest shift? Our new Hamlet was spot on - word perfect and emotionally ranging. Perhaps he's not quite as mercurial as we would have expected Tennant to be, but he's starting to make the role his own - and hopefully by the end of his run he will have done so. Even at such short notice he delivers the goods. Encore!

So, to David - get well soon, we hope to see you on stage somewhere somewhen. To the rest of the performers - thank you for popping my Hamlet cherry with a stunning show.

Labels: Doctor Who, London, Shakespeare, Theatre

This inspiring Obama mural is highly prominent outside the Art Basel show in Miami right now. It's another great example of the Obama fervour that is consuming the US and the rest of the world right now. Of course some folk are looking at the administration team he's put together and saying "More of the same then..." as it's so Clinton-esqe, and this resonates badly with Obama's campaign cry of "Change". For my mind we'll have to wait and see, and given the amount of obviously disruptive legislation the Republicans are throwing up in their last few weeks, that wait might be a while. We can only hope part of the promised change includes suitable impeachments for people who felt that the US was allowed to operate outside of the moral consensus in its pursuit of so-called terrorists. Somehow I feel we'll be disappointed on that front. [From coolHunting].

Labels: america, Art, Politics

There's one thing you can guarantee about an Eddie Izzard gig... that there will be a wide selection of animals exclaiming about some issue affecting their lives, oh and a healthy dose of history. Guess what - he still delivers all that, and much more, but what's missing is his usual choice of sparkly clothing. For some reason, Mr Izzard is now cutting a suave figure in jeans, white shirt and a long backed jacket for his Stripped tour in London. This shouldn't come as such a surprise, since last time we saw him in Montreal he was wearing much the same, but tonight was a much, much better show. Tighter, more laughs, and more cute animals complaining about over-crowding on the ark.

Stripped is standard Eddie fare, ramblingly hilarious discursions on how the world can be put to rights, how cool iPhones are and how giraffes hide. What's good to see is that after so long punting the LA stand-up scene, he seems very happy to be back on home ground. The jokes seem more relevant to a UK audience, although at times the American references passed most of the audience by. That said, the audience didn't seem to mind - and that audience included random celebrity attendees Lenny Henry & Dawn French.

So another big thanks to Mr Izzard for another splendid night, and to those of you who don't have tickets - get your arses down to the returns queue like we did and keep your fingers crossed! It's worth the wait.

Labels: comedy, Genius, London, Theatre