Luis Suarez, and related thoughts

Luis Suarez has been in the headlines a lot this week.  He has recently been banned by the FA for ten games, for biting an opponent in a match last week.  He was previously banned for seven games in 2010 for biting, while at his former club Ajax.

There are several point to make in reaction to this.

1.       Biting is not appropriate on any sports field.  In football, it is classed as violent conduct, warranting a red card and at least a three-match ban.

2.       Players sent off for violent conduct are often banned for more than three games by the FA.  Di Canio was banned for 11 games for pushing a referee in 1998.  Prutton was banned for 10 games for the same offence in 2005.  Thatcher got 8 games for elbowing Mendes in 2006.  In most non-sporting professions, such offences would warrant a sacking.  Why not in football?

3.       This is the longest ban a player has been given for violent conduct against another player in England.  The only longer bans are for acts against referees, fans, or for drug offences.  The exception is Joey Barton’s 12-game ban, but that was for two counts of violent conduct rather than one.  Why has this offence been given a significantly longer ban than many other counts of violent conduct?  What is inherently worse about biting than stamping, spitting or headbutting?

4.       Jermaine Defoe bit an opponent in 2006 and was given no ban because the referee saw the incident, and FIFA have a policy that means that players cannot be retrospectively punished by football associations if the referee has already ‘dealt’ with the incident.  This policy is understandable, because they want to empower the referees.  The policy is also laughable because the best way to empower referees is with a system of TV replays and challenges, a system that shows no signs of becoming available.  Referees should be able to use replays like in rugby, for incidents such as infringements in the penalty area or when players are accused of something like biting.  Team captains should be allowed, say, two challenges per half, like in tennis, to challenge decisions like dives and offsides.  I have made this argument so many times, I am getting sick of it.

5.       There are two issues here – that of retrospective punishment, and that of the length of Suarez’s ban.  Much of the discussion over the ban has been to do with consistency.  Why ten games, where similar incidents have warranted fewer?  Is biting an opponent worse than racist language but not as bad as pushing a referee?  Is this a longer ban because it is the second time he has bitten an opponent?  If so, why has this not been clarified?

6.       The bottom line is that Suarez should be banned, but he should be banned in a way consistent with other similar incidents.  On a related note, the way games are refereed needs to change, and has needed to change for a while now.

Standing ovations

I have never given a standing ovation.  Yes, I've stood and clapped people.  But only in situations where I was already standing (like a gig) or needed to stand to see, because everyone else was standing (like a football match), or because I'm asked to (like a wedding).  I've never stood to applaud someone because I thought what they had done was worth it.  I've come close a few times, but I've never been so jaw-droppingly overwhelmed that I feel the need to acknowledge it with a standing ovation.
Maybe I'm overly harsh.  I probably am.  I certainly have very high expectations.  I thought the other day that the one time I would probably have given a standing ovation, I never got the chance.  If there had been a chance to stand and applaud Colin and Margy Stephenson, the couple who led the youth camp Hebron, to recognise what they had given to teenagers and adults over twenty years, I think I might have.  The chance never arose, so I remain a standing ovation virgin.  For now.

Martin Smith

I saw Martin Smith (former lead singer of Delirious) perform with his band last week.  The gig confirmed my theory that he is the best frontman I have ever seen.

Some of the reasons for this are:

• He seems to really enjoy performing live.  He has a good time on stage.  This makes him really good to watch.  I'm sure many other people also enjoy performing, but it doesn't show as clearly.
• He engages with the crowd like no-one else.  He doesn't just talk to the crowd, he converses with them.  He shakes hands, makes jokes, stands on shoulders, takes song requests.  It's like watching your mate play a gig in the local pub.
• He makes great use of his body when performing.  Many frontmen will just stand there and sing (think Liam Gallagher).  Martin Smith will jump, dance, kneel, crouch etc.
• He is creative with his music.  The other day, he sang History Maker, though a different version without the classic bass/synth intro (creative), but then he sang God is Smiling over the top of it (more creativity).  Some of the times he does this, I'm sure it is planned.  Sometimes, I'm sure it is spontaneous.

I really have seen no-one else like him.  He is the best at what he does.

Albums by year

This morning, I was challenged to investigate the years in which various of my albums had been released, and rank the years according to how strong the albums from each year are.

I listed 151 of my albums which I know best, assuming that these were generally my favourite albums (simply because I know them the best).  The release dates of the albums ranged from 1981 right through to 2013.
I wrote lists of the albums released each year.  Given that these are my favourite albums, I made the assumption that the year with the most albums would be the greatest year.  This resulted in a draw between 2002 and 2005.  Of course, this assumption is not a valid one - it could be that all of 2002's albums are stronger than any of those from 2005, for example.  Having glanced quickly at the two years, I would suggest that 2002 is slightly stronger.

Another method would be to assign each album an score and give each year a total score.  Or an average score.  This method would take more time than I have, but I can make estimates.  I estimate that, using the 'total' method, 2002 and 2005 still lead, mainly because they each have 16 albums contributing to their totals, while the next closest year, 2003, only has 11.  Using the 'average' method, a kind of indicator of the 'concentration of quality' of a year, I estimate that 1994, 2000, 2006 and 2007 would all feature highly.  1994 only has on album on the list - Definitely Maybe (Oasis).  2000 has A day without rain (Enya), All that you can't leave behind (U2), Glo (Delirious), Hybrid Theory (Linkin Park), No name face (Lifehouse), Parachutes (Coldplay) and The Father's Song (Matt Redman) - I know, right, what a year!  (Interestingly, when I just typed The Father's Song, I mis-typed it as The Father's Snog...).  2006 features Beautiful News (Matt Redman) (not the strongest start, but wait for it), Black holes and revelations (Muse), Harmonies for the haunted (Stellastarr*), Sam's Town (Killers) and Stadium Arcadium (RHCP).  2007 includes A weekend in the city (Bloc Party), An end has a start (Editors), Beyond the Neighbourhood (Athlete), Cities (Anberlin), Holding nothing back (Tim Hughes) (what a first five!), Make another world (Idlewild), The altar and the door (Casting Crowns), The Kissaway Trail (The Kissaway Trail), The scene and the unseen (Stoney), Who we are (Lifehouse).

Three points in summary:

1. There is a lot of good music from a lot of good years.
2. I like music.
3. I am still a geek, and that doesn't look like changing any time soon.

The Chronicles of Narnia

Without any explanation, and off the top of my head (which are both unusual), here is my ranking of The Chronicles of Narnia.  Do you agree?

1. The Horse and His Boy
2. The Last Battle
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
4. The Magician's Nephew
5. The Silver Chair
6. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
7. Prince Caspian

Unpredictable weather

Everyone seems to be complaining about the snow at the moment.  Everyone except me, and I’m normally the one who complains about it first.  Surprising.

When the snow comes in December and January, many people are excited about it – it looks so beautiful, it’s fun to play in, it brings the nation together and we sometimes get snow days.  Many reasons to love the snow in the winter.  I, however, don’t love snow in the winter.  It does look awesome, but this positive is outweighed, for me, by the facts that it’s cold, I don’t particularly like playing in it (because I get cold very easily), it makes it difficult to get around, and snow days are actually a pain for me.

So, it’s still snowing, and it’s nearly April.  Because this snow is not causing any significant disruption to my life, and because it’s not actually that cold at the moment, I don’t really mind it.  But everyone else seems to have an issue with it.  Common quotes go along the lines of ‘It’s nearly April, it shouldn't be snowing now’.  Snow at this time of year seems to go against people’s sense of what the weather “should” be like.  This sounds like the sort of thing I would say.  I tend to like things the way they “should” be.  But when it comes to the weather, I love how unpredictable it can be in this country.  It amuses me that it could be snowing in April, sunny in December, and pouring with rain in July.  I know the unpredictability of it can be annoying, and can disrupt plans for sport, or picnics, or whatever, and this does annoy me too.  But at the same time, the fickleness of it all amuses me.

I'm a little surprised by the extent to which people are complaining about the recent snow, when they seem delighted with the much larger amounts of it in the winter.  Maybe people are just bored with it now, whereas I was already bored with it back in December.  Maybe it is simply about what the weather ‘should’ be like, and people are now longing for some warmth and sunshine.  Maybe people want either no snow or lots of snow, not these vague snow showers we've been having.  But I like it.  Not because it’s snow – as I've said, I don’t really like snow at all – but because it’s an example of our wonderfully unpredictable weather.

So there you go – a blog post about the weather.  How British of me.

Music Difficulties

I have realised that it is becoming more and more difficult for me to keep up with new music.  Over the last 4 years I have created a soundtrack of the year, and each year the list is becoming longer.  I seem to be buying more and more new albums each year.  Last year it was 21.  This year it is already 12, and we're still in March.
The root of this problem is that I am getting old, so not something I can do much about.  Because I discover new bands every year, there are more bands that I know about every year.  I rarely 'unfollow' bands, so each year there are more albums released that I want to own then ever before, as many bands I follow bring out new albums, and there are new bands to discover too..  I am starting to find that I don't have time to follow everyone.
Occasionally bands disband (see what I did there?) but for the most part, the list of people whose music I want just keeps expanding.  The fact that I'm both loyal and a completionist doesn't help.
There is no easy solution to this.  I could be more ruthless about whose music I buy, but I wouldn't know where to start in deciding who to cut out.  This is starting to worry me.  There are plenty of bands I really like and whose music I want to keep buying, but I also love discovering new artists.  It seems I have a dilemma on my hands.

Sigur Ros

Last weekend I went to a Sigur Ros gig in Glasgow.  Here are some thoughts on it.

• Doors opened at 6.30.  The support act wasn't on until 8, and Sigur Ros until 9.  This was an unnecessary wait.  Especially as...
• The support act, Banck Mass, was the worst support act I've ever seen.  By a mile.  One man, one laptop, two decks.  One thirty minute track, which was just sound.  No groove, or rhythm, or tune.  Just atmospheric synth noises.  Awful.
• The first three songs of the Sigur Ros set were played with a transparent but certainly visible curtain around the stage.  This allowed for some very cool lighting effects on the curtain, but made us feel slightly distanced from the band, especially as the first three songs were 2 brand new tracks and Ny Batteri, which takes five minutes to kick in.  However, it was worth it for the next moment...
• Up until the end of Ny Batteri, the lighting had all been blue, green and white.  At the end of Ny Batteri, as the next song started, all the lights went red, and the curtain dropped to the floor.  And, the next song was Vaka - a classic, one of my favourites and on my soundtrack of 2012.  One of the best moments of the night.
• The band lineup consisted of Jonsi, the frontman and vocalist, who played electric guitar using a bow.  Lad.  He also played piano.  Then a bassist (who also played xylophone) and a drummer (who also played piano and xylophone).  Also an electric guitarist (who also played piano and xylophone) and a fifth guy who switched between drums, percussion and piano.  There were six pianos on the stage.  There were also three violinists, a trumpeter, a trombonist/flautist and a french horn player.  Everyone also sang.  A great spectacle of musicians.
• The sound from Jonsi's guitar was very difficult to identify in the overall sound.  I could hear the drums, bass, violins etc, but not his guitar.  I assume there were huge delay effects going on and that he contributed to the overall atmospheric/synth sound of the music.  Shame though.
• During Hoppipolla, Jonsi played bass.  So there were two basses, drums, piano and xylophone.  No electric guitar.  Interesting.
• Hoppipolla was followed by Med Blodnasir, as it is on the album.  This combination really got the crowd going.  Sigur Ros aren't really a band people sing along to, but they did for these two songs.  Arms were up, lights were stunning, the crowd were almost worshipping.  Spine tingling.  Another of the best moments of the night.
• They played Glosoli.  I was not expecting this, but I was delighted to hear it.
• The band played a 3-song encore.  The penultimate song was Fljotavik, which was beautiful and calm.  The calm before the storm...
• They finished with Popplagio.  Of course they did.  And it was enormous.  Everything you would hope it might be.
• The lighting was continually spectacular, but my favourite feature was the 44 (we counted) lightbulbs perched on sticks around the stage.  They just looked gorgeous.
• One disappointment was the lack of interaction from the band with the crowd.  Jonsi only spoke to the crowd twice, and once was simply to say 'thankyou'.  I know they're not English, but they are fluent and it would have been nice to have had a bit more acknowledgement of our presence.  Having said this, they came back out after the encore to wave and bow.  I liked that.

In all, a very worthwhile evening.  If you ever get a chance to hear Blanck Mass, eat your own heart out with a blunt spoon instead.  If you ever get a chance to hear Sigur Ros, do it.  If Blanck Mass is supporting Sigur Ros, just arrive at 8.45 and you won't miss a thing.

Les Miserables

I saw it last night.  A few comments follow.
It was, overall, excellent.  The cast do a great job.  Russel Crowe is fine, nowhere near as bad as people have made him out to be.  Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman are just as good as everyone says.  Jackman's probably even better.  Amanda Seyfried particularly impressed me as this is the only time I've seen Les Mis (I've seen it 4 times now) and haven't got fed up with Cosette's drippiness.  It's strange that I, as well as many others I have spoken to, normally root for the young Cosette but the adult Eponine.  Here I rooted for the adult Cosette as well.  Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter were hilarious, and Eddie Raymane was very good.
Obviously, the music was superb.  That's kind of the point.  But I thought the volume was too low.  I don't know if it's the cinema we went to or the film itself, but I was occasionally underwhelmed.  I sometimes felt a little distanced from the screen in a way that doesn't normally happen, because of the low sound levels.
Yes, I cried.  And, because people will ask, I cried at I dreamed a dream, Did you hear the people sing?, A little fall of rain, Drink with me, and Finale.  I was particularly gutted that they only did one verse of Drink with me.
There were some negatives, but the main one is not the fault of the film itself, it's the fault of the source material.  I always think that after the climax of The final battle, the sewers, and Javert's suicide, the show takes too long to end.  Empty chairs is excellent, and I guess Every day is necessary, but Turning is excessive and Beggars at the feast just doesn't fit with what's going on.  It spoils the mood.  Because the film includes everything in the musical, it has these weaknesses.
I've noticed how often this is the case.  Lord of the Rings is such a good film because the source material is so good.  I enjoyed the middle section of Life of Pi but thought the first act was boring and the ending just laughable - but that's more the fault of the book than the film adaptation.  The weakness in the Les Mis film is, similarly, down to the source material rather than the film itself.
However, overall, it was excellent.  Let's just say that the pre-race favourite, The Desolation of Smaug, certainly has it's work cut out to be named my film of the year in 12 months time.

Films of 2012

31. Shaft
This was just utterly boring.  An awful film.  Avoid.

30. Coriolanus
If tried and tried, but I just don't like Shakespeare.  I thought the plot of this was average to poor, and I can't stand the whole Shakespearian-language-in-a-modern-setting thing they keep doing.

29. The Lord of the Rings
No, not the new one.  The 1978 animated one.  Really very poor.  Laughable in fact.  Thank God for Peter Jackson.

28. Alien: Resurrection
Ludicrous.  Didn't even make sense.  Some cool action, and Sigourney Weaver, were the only positives.

27. Dante's Peak
Similar to above but slightly less ludicrous and without Sigourney Weaver.

26. 12 Monkeys
I've seen it twice and I couldn't tell you what it's about.  Very forgettable, except for Brad Pitt's brilliant performance - the only thing that saves the film.

25. American Psycho
Christian Bale is superb as always and the film is strangely gripping, but in the end it's not much more than a load of rubbish.

24. Source Code
A brilliant idea which falls apart when it runs into logic.  Not an awful film but far from satisfactory.  Some good ideas, but in the end, I felt cheated of an actual storyline.

23. Drive
I quite liked the first half, mainly because of Carey Mulligan.  The second half kind of fell apart, and not even a bit of Carey Mulligan could hold it together.  Half of a reasonable film.

22. Nativity 2
A few hilarious scenes that had me laughing out loud, but the ridiculous plot means that this is not a good film.  Entertaining, but not quality.

21. The Wolfman
This was ok.  Not particularly good, not particularly bad, just ok.

20. Spartacus
Long, but I don't mind that.  Some pretty dramatic stuff.  Just not that inspiring or gripping in the end.  It's like the Tesco Value version of Gladiator.

19. Juno
A good, fun, lighthearted film.  I enjoyed watching this, though I probably wouldn't bother watching it again.

18. The Recruit
This was a reasonable film.  Some very gripping moments.  But ultimately, it's a spy film, and I don't really like spy films.

17. Phantom of the Opera
This was reasonable.  Really good music, nicely done.

16. Life of Pi
Great effects, though that's not unusual these days.  I really liked large chunks of it, but it had a lame ending. and not a great start.

15. Looper
Some excellent moments, and they really tries hard to make it a sensible film.  It was great to watch, but met the obstacle that every time-travel film meets: its doesn't make any sense.

14. What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
This would be a lot lower if it weren't for Leonardo DiCaprio.  He is amazing in this.  Other than him, it's not that special, but his performance is outstanding.

13. Contagion
I missed this in the cinema so was happy to see it on DVD.  It's exciting and gripping.  A good film.

12. The Wrestler
This was very good, very watchable, but had a disappointing ending.

11. Phone Booth
What a brilliant idea, and really well done.  Very exciting, and Colin Farrell is excellent.

10. An Education
This is a decent film.  But Carey Mulligan is, as always, brilliant.  She makes this film.

7=. Brave
Pixar never really fail do they?  Good plot, great animation, watchable, funny.

7=. Alien
Some amazing scenes and great acting.  Completely gripping.  Limited by poor effects, but that's about it.

7=. Alien 3
More like Aliens than Alien, but not quite as good as Aliens and about as good as Alien.

6.  Aliens
Bigger, more exciting, more impressive than Alien.  And therefore slightly better.

4=. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Quality.  In pretty much every respect.  A really, really good film.  David Fincher is definitely one of my favourite directors.

4=. Holes
Wow.  Quite simple, and quite a small film, but really good.  Very deep and thought provoking, and also very entertaining.

2=. The Hunger Games
Great plot, great action, great characters - a great film.

2=. The Dark Knight Rises
There was a lot of pressure on this film, but it delivered.  All round excellence.  Review here.

1.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
No, it's not LOTR.  So far, it's certainly not as good as LOTR.  But it still does almost everything better than almost any other film.  If most films are on Earth, and LOTR is on another planet, then this still is one of the films that is on the moon.  Review here.

Albums of 2012

Here is a ranked list of the albums I have got this year.  Just in case anyone cares.  Bizzarely, there are three times as many albums on this list as on last year's.  It seems I have acquired a lot of new music this year.

21.  Northern Lights - Someone Else's Eyes
This is ok.  Some nice tunes.  Just not very interesting.

20.  Jamie Hill - One Day
Meh.  It's just ok.

19.  Phil Joel - The Deliberate People
Some reasonable songs here.  Nothing special though.

18.  Sigur Ros - Valtari
Other than () and Takk, I'm not too fussed by Sigur Ros.  Those two albums are incredible.  This one is ok.

17.  Soul Survivor - Soul Survivor 2011
This is quite mediocre.  The best songs on here are the ones of Matt Redman's album or One Thing Remains - all of which I already knew.  Not that impressive.

16.  The Gentlemen - A Candid History of Faith, Hope, Love
This is cool.  Not as good as their first album, but not bad.

15.  Bluetree - Kingdom
Quite underwhelming after their impressive first album, but some decent songs here.

14.  Syntactical Sugar - The Deuteronomy
This is pretty cool.  Not amazing, but no weak points.

13.  The Last Spectacular - The Last Spectacular
A nice album, featuring, but unfortunately dominated by the outstanding No Resistance.

12.  Jenny and Tyler - This Isn't a Dream
Some really nice songs.  A good album, though it doesn't hit the heights of some of their other stuff.

9=.  Jenny and Tyler - Open Your Doors
Slightly better, including the lovely Skyline Hill.

9=.  Bloc Party - Four
This is certainly no Weekend in the City, but it still has some really good songs.

9=.  The Birthday Suit - A Conversation Well Rehearsed
Solid.  Just very solid all round.

8.  Something Like Silas - Divine Intervention
Similarly solid.  I really like listening to this album.

7.  The Temper Trap - The Temper Trap
The Temper Trap are really good, and this album is really good.

6.  Tom + Olly - Spirals
I love Tom + Olly's style.  This album is packed full of tunes.

4=.  Muse - The 2nd Law
Another very strong album from the inimitable Muse.  Highlights include Madness, Follow Me and Big Freeze.

4=.  Anberlin - Vital
A happy return to form after the previous album.  Great stuff.  Anberlin back to (almost) their best.

3.  Jesus Culture - Come Away
Very strong.  Just very strong.  They really are excellent at this stuff.

2.  The Birthday Suit - The Eleventh Hour
Very surprising.  This band only appeared this year.  But this is really good.  Not quite Idlewild-good (The frontman is former Idlewild guitarist Rod Jones), but still really good.

1.  Jenny and Tyler - Faint Not
A very good album, with at least 5 superb songs, including probably my song of the year, Song For You.


It should be noted that I also got The Chilis' Stadium Arcadium this year, but couldn't committ to putting it on this list as it's a double album, which felt a bit like cheating.  I do like it though.  There were also some decent EPs this year: This is Freedom - Welcome Home; To Kill a King - My Crooked Saint; Martin Smith - God's Great Dancefloor; Lifecolour - Time to be Free; Dennis - Colliery Welfare.

The Hobbit: review

Here are my thoughts, in a slightly structured but slightly random order.  I will try to limit comments on large scale adaptation of the book until I've seen all three films in a couple of years.  Spoilers follow.

• I've seen the film in 2D and 3D.  3D still does not impress me - it just costs a bit more and makes my eyes hurt a bit.  I expect that 3D IMAX would be very impressive, but I haven't seen it.  I also haven't seen the film in 48fps, so I can't comment much on it - but I expect it looks good and I expect it to become the cinematic norm.
• It was great to see Ian Holm and Elijah Wood in the film.  It helps to connect the film to LOTR.  I actually teared up when these two came on screen.
• Martin Freeman is perfect.  I expected him to be very good, but he exceeded my expectations.  Simply outstanding.  He's a very capable serious actor but also has a great deadpan humour about him.  Sometimes it was just like watching him in The Office (in a good way).
• New Zealand looks, if anything, even more spectacular than it did in LOTR.  Some of the wide shots are stunning.
• The soundtrack is brilliant, both in it's own right and in the way it connects to the LOTR soundtrack.  Howard Shore, I salute you.
• All three LOTR films started with some sort of prologue, and the first Hobbit film followed the pattern.  It worked really well, especially with Ian Holm's Bilbo narrating it.  I also liked the bonus prologue section later on detailing Azog and Thorin's enmity (more on Azog later).
• The party scene was an excellent to introduce the dwarves.  It was full of humour but also meaty exposition.  It started to paint the picture of dwarven culture.  And it had some really good camerawork too.
• Riddles in the dark was superb.  Everything I'd hoped for.  It's one of my favourite scenes from any book, and I was not let down.  I've already said how good Freeman is, and Serkis is, of course, a master.
• The action sequences were sometimes a bit ridiculous.  The troll fight was good, as was the battle outside Moria, but the storm-giants scene and the escape from goblin-town were ludicrously overdone.  The storm-giants scene was unnecessary, and there was little chance anyone would have survived such an encounter, let alone all 15 of them.  Similarly, sequences in goblin-town were very unconvincing, especially with respect to the survival rate of the heroes.  One reviewer described these scenes as "extended, jovially bloody battle between dwarves and goblins, larded with visual jokes involving decapitation, disembowelment, and baddies crushed by rolling rocks. The sequence is more like a body-count video game than like anything in the sedate novel, where battles are confused and brief and frightening, rather than exuberant eye-candy ballet."
• The warg attack was excessive and unnecessary.  It slowed the story down.  They could have just let Radagast go back to keep an eye on Mirkwood, and have Gandalf convince Thorin to go to Rivendell to check out the map.
• One common criticism has been that the dwarves are just a bunch of personality-less simulacrums.  To an extent I agree with this.  I think Dwalin, Balin, Fili and Kili are distinct, partly because they arrive at the party in small groups, and Bofur is too, because he has an enlargened role and everyone always remembers James Nesbitt.  But the others lack screen time as individuals and lack opportunities to show themselves.  I can understand that a viewer would struggle to identify with many of them, especially if they hadn't been following the film's developments in advance.  I think Jackson could have spent more time with the dwarves, developing their characters, and cut the warg attack.
• The troll scene good - funny but also perilous, and another chance to see the dwarves in action just being dwarves - as I just mentioned, the film needed more of this.
• I liked the Radagast/Necromancer stuff.  It added an extra level of plot and peril above what was going on in the dwarves' quest, and it helped to start linking the film to LOTR.
• Azog's role was changed from the book.  This was good.  It helped expand Thorin's role and added an extra elements of suspense.  It also provided this first film with a climax - much like the character or Lurtz did for FOTR.  More on Azog here.
• The use of the orc language confused me.  In LOTR, orc and uruk-hai use the common tongue - not precisely accurate, but it makes sense from a simplicity point of view and makes the film easier to watch.  In The Hobbit, orc spoke their own language (subtitled) while on their own, and used the common tongue in scenes with dwarves.  This just seemed inconsistent with LOTR, which is a shame while most of the film is consistent.  It would have been better to just keep the orcs using the common tongue.
• Gandalf's magic seemed inconsistent especially compared with LOTR.  He uses his magic a lot more in The Hobbit, or at least a lot more overtly.  Which begs the question, why didn't he use it more in LOTR.  Again, this is a consistency issue between the two trilogies.  It will be interesting to see what happens in parts 2 and 3.
• I think they chose a good point at which to break the film - between the eagles and Beorn.
• When Thorin charges Azog at the end of the film, the music playing is the Nazgul theme.  This baffled me.  I have no idea why they did this.  Anyone care to suggest a reason?
• FOTR was practically the perfect film.  It had no weaknesses.  This wasn't as strong an opening to a trilogy as that was, but this was nevertheless an excellent film.  And I expect that the extended edition will include more dwarvishness, which I will enjoy.
• Overall - a great film and excellent adaptation.  A very promising start to the trilogy indeed.  A bit to action-heavy for me, and the action that was there was sometimes over the top.  But other than that I have very few complaints.  My film of the year, perhaps?  That list will come soon.

Soundtrack of 2012

Here is my soundtrack of 2012 - the songs I have been listening to most this year.

The Birthday Suit - The Eleventh Hour (no video available)
I love the start of this song - the guitar, drums everything.  A very catchy song, with great melodies.

Bluetree - Burn Me Up
From when Bluetree weren't afraid to be creative.  I love how stripped back large parts of this are.

DC Talk - In The Light
A very funky song.  DCTalk doing what they do so well.  Great sounds, great message.

Dennis - Ella
I love listening to this song.  Very upbeat, and a lot of fun.

Dennis - Carry Me Home (no video available, but you can listen here)
Possibly my favourite Dennis song.  It's just lovely.  I love the build through the choruses near the end.

Easyworld - A Stain To Never Fade
An old song that reminds me of being a teenager.  David Ford's vocals are still ridiculous.

Jenny and Tyler - Song For You
Possibly my song of the year, and on my 'contenders for greatest song of all time' list.  It's just massive.

Jenny and Tyler - Through Your Eyes
Beautifully haunting?  Hauntingly beautiful?  Either way, this song is wonderful.

Jenny and Tyler - Skyline Hill
Not normally the sort of thing I'd go for, but this song grabbed me this year and didn't let go.

Jesus Culture - Come Away/Let Me In
Jesus Culture are so good at what they do.  I love the positivity of this song.

The Last Spectacular - No Resistance (no video available, but you can listen here)
This song, possibly more than any other song, impressed me from the very first time I heard it.  Another on my 'contenders for greatest song of all time' list.

Lifecolour - Faking Masqurades (no video available, but you can listen here)
This song reminds me of Hebron.  I don't know why.  I just love it.

Muse - Follow Me
Another great song by Muse, they just keep coming.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Otherside
An old song, but it's been in my head all year.  It has everything I love about the Chilis.

Rock'n'Roll Worship Circus - Everybody Awake
Fun, optimistic, and a good tune.  This was the first song onto my soundtrack this year.

Sigur Ros - Vaka
A lovely tune.  Interestingly, the only Sigur Ros song I can sing by heart in its entirety.

The Sunshine Underground - The Messiah
I love how this song is less than 6 minutes long, but feels like at least 8.  Some great moments of music here.

Things I looked forward to in 2012

About a year ago I posted a list of things I was looking forward to in 2012.  All but one of these have now happened, and the last, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, will probably get a review post of its own.

Here is what I thought of these things.

Continuing reading The Malazan Book of the Fallen - I'm half-way through book six of this ten-book epic, having taken an extended break from August to October after book five.  I like it a lot, though it's one of the hardest things I've read.  A full review might come next year.

Returning to Monday night football - it has been so good to play semi-regular sport again.  I missed it a lot.  The injury is still there and is still limiting, but I'm coping with it.

Game of Thrones series 2 - brilliant.  Lived up to expectations following series 1.  Bring on series 3 in the Spring.

Kingdom by Bluetree - a disappointment, compared to their first album.  Not completely hopeless, but much weaker than I'd expected.  Review here.

June Project - in half term! - It was great to be involved again.  I co-led team sport, as I'd done on the first JP back in 2007.  Great times.

The Dark Knight Rises - at the time of writing, my joint top film of the year.  Almost guaranteed to stay in the top three by the end of the year.  Well done Chris Nolan and co.  Review here.

Lord of the Rings Lego - I haven't bought any of it, but the models look pretty good.  Lego just looks less impressive than it used to though, which is sad.  I'm still waiting for a model of Minas Tirith.

Weddings (including one of my oldest friends and my sister (not to each other)) - really fun.  Steve's seems a very long time ago now, but it was a great day.  Jenny's was wonderful, of course.  I ushered and MCed which was a lot of work but even more fun.

London 2012 - it was amazing, wasn't it?  Though it didn't exceed my expectations.  My expectations were very high, and the Olympics just about delivered.  More here.

Red Dwarf series 10 - variable, to be honest.  Some outstanding moments, and generally entertaining, but overall not as good as the older stuff.  Most episodes tended to focus on cheap gags rather than actual situational comedy and character comedy.

Honour Spotlight: Chris Juby

Chris Juby is a friend of mine from church.  I've known him for about 6 years.  In that time I've come to realise we are quite similar in some ways.  We're both geeks.  We're both into music.  We've had the same phone as each other for the last 5 years.  Talking to Chris is something I find easy to do, but is always an 'experience'.  The guy has all sorts of bizarre and interesting knowledge.  I remember having lunch together once and covering topics such as number plates, phone numbers and postcodes.  You wouldn't think these would be interesting, but Chris has a way of making them interesting.
Chris is a really deep thinker.  I like this, because it make me feel less strange for being one too.  But while my thinking is very analytical, Chris' is...visionary.  He sees stuff I had no idea could be seen.  He even has a theology of Mary Poppins, which sounds bizarre but actually makes a lot of sense when you hear it.  Chris has so many ideas and plans and thoughts in his head that he's been thinking about and praying about and investing in - it's really quite staggering.  I don't think I know anyone else who has as much vision for things as Chris.

He is also hilarious.  He'll do or say something completely off the wall, and then laugh to himself for a few seconds while everyone else takes a while to get it.  Then you'll realise it's funny, but by that time he'll be making another joke.  When he gets on a roll he can keep me entertained for hours, just talking and giggling away to himself.

Chris leads worship at our church.  I remember talking to him a few years ago about Matt Redman, and he said 'when Matt Redman leads worship, you get the feeling he's been praying about it for, literally, years'.  I get the same feeling when Chris leads worship.  He is so good at understanding what's going on in the room and in the congregation, and leading them on.
I've always thought that Chris exudes a kind of quiet self-confidence.  He knows his strengths and weaknesses but doesn't become defined by them.  I like that.
Chris is a bit of a role model for me.  But don't tell him that, he'll be embarrassed...