Review of 2012

Ben's 7th Annual Review of the year

2012

In my review of 2011 I claimed 2012 would be the year of Ben - so was it?

2012 was the year that:

I proposed to Clare on our 10th anniversary and 4 months later married her in Las Vegas.

I did the massive road trip of America that I'd always dreamed of.

Directed new short film 'The Balance' with a bunch of talented people.  
(Out January 2013)

Some weddings and pregnancies.  I.e: Everyone getting old and boring.

A lorry driver drove into the back of me on the way to my stag do.  That wasn't the only thing that went into the back of me that weekend if you know what I mean.

Lucasfilm was bought by Disney and Star Wars: Episode Freakin' 7, 8 and 9 were announced.

I visited this wonderful, magical, holy place:

(San Diego International Comic-Con)

Good Times

The Proposal - 15th March 2012
Around summer 2011, during the initial planning stages of our USA trip I toyed with proposing to Clare over there, most likely at the grand canyon.  As our 10th anniversary approached in March 2012 I thought it would be best to propose in March after our meal leaving the option open to get hitched in Las Vegas.  Though in hindsight it would of just been cool to have a spur of the moment marriage in Vegas without the proposal part and come back and be all like 'Surprise! We're married!' but it didn't quite work out like that.  

Our 10th anniversary didn't start great, the bus was running mega late to get into town for our 8pm dinner reservation so we arrived at 8:20 all puffing and panting after running to get to the restaurant on time, we were told they didn't even have our reservation!  Can't remember the restaurant name or I'd totally name and shame them.

We ended up going to the Italian across the road.  it was fine but a little busier and less intimate than I would of liked.  Liam's stag was the next day and i had folk phoning me every 2 minutes trying to organise travel which was very annoying as I was about to propose, I led Clare up to the esplanade at Edinburgh castle for a wee walk, I was looking for a nice wee bit overlooking to city but Christ it's dark up there at night and all the walls are surprisingly high and there's trees and stuff.  

Clare was a bit drunk and was ranting about how she hates the bridezillas that come into her work and doesn't understand how people could get so worked up about marriage, (er going well so far, I thought) eventually found a spot with enough light.  And then I hit her with the line, which I'm very proud of.... 'Wanna put your finger in my ring?'

USA Road Trip - 23rd June-16th July 2012
Initial Itinary:  San Diego - LA (Lit concert, Van's Warped Tour, Disneyland, Hollywood, Universal Studios, Grauman's Chinese Theatre) - San Francisco (Alcatraz, Disney Family Museum) - Las Vegas (married, general Vegas stuff) - Grand Canyon - Monument Valley - Phoenix, Arizona (Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure movie locations quest) - San Diego (Comic-con).  All in all about 3,000 miles.

Our Edinburgh-London flight was super late due to poor weather so we missed our London-San Diego glight which resulted in much Heahtrow unhappiness and a missed day of our epic holiday, we missed the Lit concert too but made some friends who were in the same situation.  

We had originally planned to stay the first night in San Diego and then take our time driving up to LA the next day, because we missed the first day I had to drive straight up to LA (3 hour drive) late at night, after a 11 hour flight, on the other side of the road than I was used to and then got up early the next day and drove another 2 hours (turned into 5 hours due to traffic) to the Warped Tour and then back at night.  Those 48 hours are probably the most hardcore 48 hours of my life.

Warped Tour: Terrible traffic getting there resulted in us missing most of the bands but caught I am the Avalance, Taking Back Sunday, Mike Hennera, The Used and bits from other bands.  Met Polar Bear Club but was too late to see their set.

Vinne from 'I am the Avalance' somersaulting into the crowd at Warped.

Check the palm trees and shit, so surreal being there after being stranded in Heathrow only a day before.

Disneyland:  Disneyland has 2 parks in LA, Disneyland and California Adventure Park.  We spent a day at each.  Disneyland was great and everything you would expect.  Whiplash on the Thunder Mountain Railway sucked and Star Tours seems so much shorter now than the last time I went in 2000 (I know it's been updated since then, but that's no excuse!).  The Matterhorn was probably the best ride that I managed to get on but it was a great (very hot!) day.  California Adventure Park has recently been renovated with CarsLand added.  Due to this, it was absolutely rammed and we only managed to get on 2 rides before giving up.  Should of came much earlier.

Universal Studios:  Actually preffered Universal Studios to Disney, probably due to the fact we got there early.  Despite my hatred of the films the Transformers ride was superb, perfect mix of simulator and rollercoaster.  The Jurassic Park log flume was a good laugh due to how much Clare got soaked.  The same day we went to Grauman's Chinese Theatre to see Dark Shadows and we were the only ones there, film wasn't great but was pretty sweet being one of few people in such an iconic cinema.  We didn't get as much time to see some Hollywood sites as I thought I would.

San Francisco:  My favourite city of the tour, it was pretty overcast when we were there - reminded me of Scotland!  Loved the streets and architecture.  Alcatraz was an experience I'd certainly recommend.  The Disney family Museum was brilliant and very informative about a man you'd think you'd know everything about.  It's kind of hidden away so it was pretty quiet.  We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge just for the sake of doing it but ended up having dinner at Bar Bocce (Boke!) in Sausilito next to the river, which was delightful.  A highlight in San Francisco was a homeless guy telling us to eat some cherries that had been trampled on the ground "They're still good!"  After San Fran we embarked on an epic 11 hour drive to Vegas.  It was damn hot in that desert.

Driving over the Golden Gate Bridge, we didn't need to go over to get anywhere we just thought we should.

$6 to cross the bugger though.

Las Vegas:  I was quite disappointed in Las Vegas as a place, it's so busy you struggle to walk at more than 2mph on the pavement (sidewalk!), though we were there during Independence Day so might have had something to do with it.  Our Wedding at Graceland Chapel wasn't too exciting, it was over in 10 minutes!  As soon as we left the chapel there was an ominous wind blowing and then it started chucking down, it was the only day the entire trip it rained.  God was angry.

Grand Canyon:  When you see the grand canyon in pictures, you go "That looks cool".  In person it is genuinely awe inspiring, its just so.... so.... big, it just goes on and on.

Monument Valley:  This was quite an experience, I just stood there looking at the rocks thinking I can't believe I'm here after growing up and seeing the place in so many films.  It really was in ass-end nowhere though and had me a little worried that if we broke down in these parts we would be pretty screwed.

Phoenix, Arizona:  Our seeking out Bill and Ted's movie location (Film takes place in San Dimas but was shot in Phoenix) didn't go quite to plan.  Clare got some bad food poisoning from a spicy pizza and the heat in that place just made us ill in general.  I've been to Africa, but I've never experienced heat like I did in Phoenix.  46 degrees celcius!  We did got to go to the Bill & Ted mall though.  It doesn't look a bit like it did in the film Beethoven wasn't around anywhere!

San Diego International Comic-Con:  If you have any passing interest in pop culture then I cannot stress how much you need to visit this wonderful place once in your life.  I met 2 of my heroes (Weirdly music related) - Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine) and Claudio Sanchez (Coheed and Cambria) and I got the breath the same air as a lot of my other heroes, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenneger, Tim Burton, John C Reilly, Sam Raimi, Guillermo Del Toro. the cast of Breaking Bad, the list goes on.  Also got to see the Twilight panel which was... an experience.  Its brilliant to mingle with lik- minded geeks and just get your self all worked up about gloriously geeky stuff.  Its the best event/con/festival/experience I've ever had and I will do it again.  Special thanks to Clare who earned her awesome wife award for trekking around the place and waiting in line without too many complaints.

 Blurry photo of Arnie and Stallone during Expendables 2 panel.

The arrival of the Breaking Bad cast.  Jesse and Walt in Hazmat suits.

The filming of 'The Balance' - 19th & 20th May 2012
I began writing 'The Balance' in 2009, originally it was to be set in a restaurant  but due to the fact I'd need like 50 well-behaved extras and constantly reheated food as a prop I dropped the idea and set the plot during a picnic scene instead.  We literally found the right locations days before shooting started.  The weather on the Friday before was an absolute downpour and I was a real low, ready to pull the plug on the shoot.  However due to everyone's schedules, including my own, pulling the plug wold have set the shoot back many months.  I'm so glad I didn't pull the plug as the shoot went incredibly well, the weather brightened up (still a little cloudy), everyone brought their A-game (big shout out to Natasha Stiven who went through a lot of abuse).  

The Sunday was a lot better as the sun actually came out for the only day in 2012, it's gonna be hell to match up the 2 days in post but it made the mood a bit better, if you watch the actors in the film you can actually notice them become more sunburnt as the film goes on.  It has been the best shoot I have worked on and with the best people.  Film premieres in late January/early February 2013 and I can't wait to relive it with the cast and crew though 2 of the biggers have/are moving to Australia!

View Trailer for 'The Balance' here

Stag Weekend - 1st & 2nd June 2012

Despite a frickin' lorry going into the back on my car on the way and suffering from whiplash symptoms (headaches, pulsing eyes) which I just put down to me being a pussy when it comes to drink the stag weekend was a complete success.  

Despite severe reluctance to go on the boat rings, once I did it it was a complete blast.  Although with all stag parties I was severely abused, I won't go into detail but it was akin to Jesus Christ on the cross only if Jesus had been statutory raped and de-pubeafied.  Sorry that was too much detail.  A lot of the perpetrators have their stags next year, I will have my revenge! Although I can imagine a lot of folk going 'Now Ben that's a bit too far!'  and I'll be all like 'C'MON!!'

Liam's Stag Party - 16th & 17th March
Liam's stag certainly gave mine a run for its money.  I drove a fucking tank.

Wedding Party - 15th September 2012
As  Clare and myself were the only ones at our wedding we decided to hold a party for family and friends back in Edinburgh.  It was a complete schemo cheap wedding held in a gym hall but it was the best night of the year, much fun was had by all.  Involving a far too in-depth best man speech from Tom Simpson.  We got Richard and Keiran to perform Brand New's Soco Ameretto Lime as our first dance as that song means a lot to us and was kind of the anthem of the first year we first started going out.  I was a complete tool and forgot to thank my mum in my speech so thanks mum and thanks to everyone who made put the wedding together and to those who came (cough cough).  The night out after was a complete drunken mess with Studio 24 somehow knowing it was me and Clare's night and blasting out some of our favourite songs.  Singing Lit's My Own Worst Enemy at the top of my lungs was an especial highlight.  I loved it.  The day after not so much...

Survivors at the end our wedding night outside Studio 24 at 4am.

New car - July
Piece of shit car got wrote off.  Got a near new car for the first time in my life, nothing exciting just a Vauxhall Astra but it has given me no problems so far! (Knock wood).  Keep reading to discover more about this old to new car adventure!!

New car is called: Lawbreaker 5: The Silver Fox for info.

Bad Times:

Losing friends
This year was the first time I ever had to cut friends out of my life which is a sad experience, especially when said friends were spoke of so glowingly in my last year's review.

Harry passing away - August
My parents have 2 springer spaniels named Sam and Molly.  My family has always had dogs but this was the first time we had them bred.  Sam and Molly had a litter of puppies in January 2010 (see the review of the year 2010) they sold them all bar one - Harry.  Sadly last year Harrry was diagnosed with a heart murmur as blood was struggling to pump into his heart.  He had 6 months to live, he survived another 14 until he passed away in his sleep one night in August.  I'll never forget his wee tufty head.

Harry is the one with his head on Sam.

Lorry crashing into the back of my car and the ensuing events - June-July
On the way to my own stag do I left straight from work, I approached a roundabout and waited for my turn, I noticed a lorry getting closer to me... and closer and closer until he went into the back of me... three times! 

The guy had a fresh cigarette in his mouth so obviously was sparking one up and never noticed me.  I drove my badly beaten car up to Perth.  Liam drove the rest of the way up north to the hostel we were staying at.  For an hour I was on the phone with my car insurance which included a very comical moment when fed up with being on hold for 20 minutes I shouted at the phone before hanging up 'FUCK YOU ADMIRAL!!!.... 'Hello can we take your policy number?' 'Oh hi there, it's...'  Really hard to talk to someone when everyone in the car is pissing themselves. 

I received quite bad whiplash (seeing stars, headaches etc) from the crash which affected me over the stag weekend which resulted in all my friends thinking I was a pussy and not being able to hold my drink.  I had never had whiplash before, I presumed it was just the case of a sore neck but I had headaches for a few months afterwards and it really sucked going on all the rides in Disneyland.

So the car was written off and I had to get a new one which led to this unfortunate story:

Evans Hellshaw - July
I hate spending too much time car shopping as I know what I want.  I wanted a new car, I thought a Vauchall Astra would be a suitable and reliable car and I saw a lovely one at the Evans Hellshaw at Sighthill in Edinburgh.  It was pretty sexy.  So we got pushed and pushed by the saleman into buying it, I said I wanted to go home and check out the insurance etc but the guy kept pushing and knocking money off it.  They provided a finance breakdown that seemed reasonable (they way they showed it did).  I stupidly put down a deposit.  On going home I found out that they had terrible reviews and their finance was phoney.  I calculated the apr and it came in way less that what they had just sold me.  I then found out that the car was a 1.4 engine not 1.6 as advertised. 

Long story cut short I managed to cancel the whole thing after 4 visits to the garage and numerous phone calls and a wait of a month to receive my deposit back and the finance cancelled (after much difficulty).  The car salesmen don't care and are disgusting human beings.  Don't go there for anything other than to shit through their letterbox, I hope the recession finds them.

Sore back - 3rd December to present
So one morning I was just putting on my trousers and it seriously wrecked my back, I pulled a muscle that limited my movement for over a week and at the time of writing is still giving me pain.

2012 Summary

All in all if these are the worst things that happened to me this year then all in all it really wasn't a bad year at all.  I'd say the middle of the year - April-July, September (Filming The Balance, USA trip and wedding) were some of the best times in my life... Let's try and beat them!


Goals for 2012 and how I did:

• Have the time of my life on a 24 day trip of Western America taking in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and visiting the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Vans Warped Tour and the San Diego International Comic Con. - Win!  Though it ended up being 23 days due to British Airways being pish.

• Film long gestating short film 'The Balance' with a large and experienced cast and crew. - Win!

• Attend Liam and Nic's wedding and not make an arse of myself. - Win! Craig made much more of an arse of himself that I ever could.

• Participate in a 48 hour film challenge. - Fail, the Edinburgh one was on the same weekend we shot 'The Balance.'

• Do something crazy to prove I'm still young - Win!  Proposed to Clare, that's pretty crazy.

• New car - Win!  Thanks mr. Lorry driver that killed the Lawbreaker 4 because he was lighting a fag.

• A 2011 goal was succeeded, stopped chewing the inside of my face.

MUSIC & MOVIES OF 2012

Movies

A lot of blockbusters on my list this year, it has been a great year for tentpole releases.  I know there has been a bit of a backlash against the likes of 'Dark Knight Rises' and 'The Hobbit' and some of the nitpicks I agree with but I can't deny I had a blast with them.  The Hobbit has been criticised as plodding and taking too long to get anywhere, as a lifelong fan of Tolkien and also due to the fact that Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy are my favourite films from 2000 onwards I wanted to spend as many minutes in middle earth as possible.

I love Wes Anderson's films, pretensions and the whimsy included and Moonrise Kingdom didn't dissappointed with excellent performances not just from the likes of Bruce Willis but from the kids in the film too.  Not my favourite Anderson film but a delight none-the-less.

After banging on about Joss Whedon for over 10 years now and most folk have been going 'who?' he is now finally gotten the recognition he deserves delivering the best Marvel film yet and for his part in the 'Cabin in the Woods'.  You either gonna love Cabin or hate it but if if you love Whedon's humour you can't help but love it, though a lot of recognition should go to first time film director Drew Goddard.

Everyone claiming Skyfall as the best Bond film yet are sniffing something, but I would put it down as a triumph and the best of Daniel Craig's tenure with a great beginning and end but I think the middle suffers a little.

I have been looking forward to Looper for a number of years now and it was everything I hoped it would be and firmly planted Rian Johnson as an auteur to look out for.  (His 2 Breaking Bad episodes are some of the best of the series too.)

The Imposter wins the award for documentary of the year with the most strange but true story you'll ever hear.  I won't tell you anything else about it other than see it as soon as you can, the less you know the better.

I've never been a hater of Ben Affleck, don't think hes the best actor ever or anything but his progress as a director has been mindblowing after the brilliant 'Gone, Baby, Gone' and 'The Town' but Argo is his masterpiece.  I hope he has many more.

Have you seen the adverts lately saying Expendables 2 is 'THE ACTION MOVIE OF THE YEAR!'?  Yeah it was enjoyable for the craziness that it was but whoever claimed it was action movie of the year obviously hasn't seen a single minute of The Raid.  Made for pittance by a Welsh director living in Indonesia The Raid takes you on a ride unlike I have seen in cinema in years.  No 12A punches are pulled here.  The fight and action choreography are out of this world and the director Gareth Evans puts all his limited pennies all up screen.  I haven't heard the original Indonesia release soundtrack but Mike Shinoda, Chino Moreon and soundtrack is brilliant.  Listen to it.  See it.

I'm very surprised at 'The Master' not making my top 10 list (it would be number 11) as Paul Thomas Anderson is one of my favourite directors and the film is a masterpiece with spellbending performances, not just from the 2 male leads but from Amy Adams (there is one bathroom scene that pretty much declares that she is 'the master'.)  However the film is pretty hard going and I don't think it will be entirely rewatchable.  I would rather the film solely followed Joaquin Phonix and have Philip Seymour Hoffman as a supporting character.  Still a classic and very muchworth watching, only once though in my opinion.

My Ten Favourite Movies of 2012

10 - Moonrise Kingdom

Director: Wes Anderson

09 - Cabin in the Woods

Director: Drew Goddard

08 - The Avengers

Director: Joss Whedon 

07 - Skyfall

Director: Sam Mendes

06 - Looper

Director: Rian Johnson

05 - The Imposter

Director: Bart Layton

04 - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Director: Peter Jackson

03 - The Dark Knight Rises

Director: Christopher Nolan

02 - Argo

Director: Ben Affleck

01 - The Raid

Director: Gareth Edwards

Honourable mention 1: Ted
When it was first announced I had zero anticipation for this and thought I would despise it due to Seth McFaralane's smugness and Family Guy's spiral into downright mean-spiritness but this had warmth and heart to go along with the dick jokes.  It also has the most joyful scene of the year in the Flash Gordon party.

Honourable mention 2: La Luna
An absolute delight of a short animation that played before Brave.

Most overrated: Room 237
The Shining is my favourite horror movie of all time and greatly anticipated this but a lot of the theories about the film are just mental.

Most underrated:  Dredd

Disappointments:  Prometheus, The Amazing Spider-man, From Up on Poppy Hill, Seven Psychopaths, Room 237


Others worth checking out:
The Master, Shame, Dredd, Headhunters, Silver Linings Playbook, The Grey, Innkeepers, War Horse, Fat Kid Rules the World!, Brave, Killer Joe, Lawless.

Films I was looking forward to in 2012 and how they turned out:

10 - The Amazing Spider-man (Dir: Marc Webb) (5/10)

09 - The Innkeepers (Dir: Ti West) (7/10)

08 - The Cabin in the Woods (Dir: Drew Goddard) (8/10)

07 - The Brave (Dir: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman) (7/10)

06 - Skyfall (Dir: Sam Mendes) (8/10)

05 - Django Unchained (Dir: Quentin Tarantino) - Out January 2013.

04 - The Avengers (Dir: Joss Whedon) (8/10)

03 - Prometheus (Dir: Ridley Scott) (6/10)

02 - The Dark Knight Rises (Dir: Christopher Nolan) (8/10)

01 - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Dir: Peter Jackson) (8/10)

Television of 2012

Breaking Bad.

That is all.

Music of 2012

You'll notice over the past few reviews of the years my music taste has mellowed  (I'm listening to the Beatles just now for Chrisake!), not that I don't like to headbang anymore I just find that metal is a bit thin on the ground in terms of new releases whilst lighter fare are really hitting my buttons just now.

It was hard to come up with a top 10 gig list this year as every gig has been one to remember.  Any of these gigs would have been my number 1 in another year.  I have truly been spoiled.  I've also been reliving my younger days and going up to the barrier at gigs these days rather than being an old fart at the back and it does improves the concert being right there screaming along with the singers.  First time I attended a gig/festival outside UK this year as well - The USA warped tour which I gotta be honest made me feel very old.

Anyone who was the gig cannot dispute my number 1 gig choice, watch the video and tell me that's somewhere you don't want to be.

Really regret not seeing the Alexisonfire and At the Drive-in reunion/farewell shows at Brixton Academy.

Not a great deluge of album releases I loved this year but the top 4 in my list all alternated at number 1 for a while but after listening to them back to back the number 1 choice will be clear.  Lets faces it I'm pretty predictable.  Any year Brand New or Deftones release an album they are always going to be number 1.  'Koi No Yokan' is my 2nd favourite Deftones record after 'White Pony'.  That's 3 masterpieces they have now if you count in 2010's 'Diamond Eyes'.

A couple of great Scottish EPs this year, Frightened Rabbit and emerging Glasgow band 'Bear Arms' who released an infallible collection of 4 tracks (and a secret one).  If they can release an album of the same continued quality they'll soon be on everyone's musical maps.

Wrecking Ball properly introduced me to Bruce Springsteen, a truly stonking album that is both a love letter and acceptance of the demise of the American dream.  A couple of truly brilliant Tom Morello guest solos don't hurt either.  At the beginning of 2012 I would never of thought of shelling out £70 to see a Bruce Springsteen show but thanks to that album I have.

The Gaslight Anthem, have delivered their most confident and assured release in Handwritten (though I would claim '59 Sound' and 'Sink or Swim' beat it).  Not to sound like a hipster but sadly they are no longer that wee band that I used to like that no-one would listen to when I recommended them. They are now on the verge of hugeness and arenas beacon, thanks to this album.

Soundgarden's long-awaited return 'King Animal' was everything you wanted it to be.  Sadly that was a blessing and a curse, it was the same Soundgarden you know and love but after 16 years I had hoped they would of maybe added more to their repertoire .

The Menzingers weren't on my radar at all until the release of 'On the Impossible Past' which I can only describe as a perfect mix of punk and Indie.  Keep an eye on these guys.

At first I hated the new Muse album but on a couple of listens it really one me over, even the dubstep track at the end.  Far superior than their album before 'The Resistance'.  Still think the lyrics on 'Survival' are painfully silly 'IT'S A RACE, IT'S A RACE!'.  The awesome guitar bit at the end saves it though.

The biggest surprise in my top ten is the inclusion of a new Lit album that's every bit as good as their classic 'A Place in the Sun.'  Yes it's cheesy, yes it sounds like 1999.  But goddamn it, that's what I need in my life sometimes.

My Favourite 10 Albums/Eps of 2012

10 - Muse - 2nd Law

09 - The Menzingers - On the Impossible Past

08 - Lit - The View From the Bottom

07 - Bear Arms - New Skin EP

06 - Frightened Rabbit - State Hospital EP

05 - Soundgarden - King Animal

04 - Coheed and Cambria - Afterman: Ascension

03 - Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball

02 - The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten

01 - Deftones - Koi No Yokan

Honourable mentions:

The Offspring - Days Go By & Linkin Park - Living Things

Not great albums but they will always remind me of the USA road trip.

Other mentions: 
Slash & Myles Kennedy - Apocalyptic Love, Matt Skiba and the Sekrets - Babylon, Prize Fighter Inferno - Half Measures EP, Bad Books II, Fear Factory - The Industrialist, Stone Sour - The House of Gold and Bones Part 1, Circa Survive - Violent Waves, Down - The Purple EP, The Used - Vulnerable, Black Light Burns - The Moment You Realize You are Going to Fall, Foxy Shazam - The Church of Rock N' Roll, Hot Water Music - Exister, Alexisonfire - Death Letter

Disappointments:
Green Day - Uno!, Dos!, Tre 
Spineshank - Anger, Denial, Acceptance
Say Anything - Anarchy, My Dear

I don't usually put live albums or bests ofs in my top ten but they've been a few crackers this year I'd like to give a shout out to:

Thrice - Anthology
Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day
Rage Against the Machine - XX

Polar Bear Club - Live at the Montage

Favourite songs of the year:








Most anticipated music of 2012 and how they turned out:
(Can't believe Deftones or Soundgarden wasn't on this list but thought they'd be 2013 releases - like most of my anticipated albums turned out to be!)

10 - Crosses (No album but the 2 eps were 8/10)

09 - Killswitch Engage (2013 release)

08 - Slash (7/10)

07 - Say Anything (6/10)

06 - Coheed and Cambria (9/10)

05 - The Gaslight Anthem (9/10)

04 - Biffy Clyro (January 2013)

03 - Frightened Rabbit (February 2013, State Hospital EP (8/10))

02 - Pearl Jam (2013 release)

01 - Brand New (2013 release hopefully, who knows!)

My Top 10 Favourite gigs i attended in 2012

10 - Warped Tour, Ventura County Fairgrounds, California USA 24th June
Taking Back Sunday opener:


09 - Frightened Rabbit - Edinburgh Picturehouse 10th February


08 - Slash - Edinburgh Corn Exchange 7th October


07 - Brand New - Glasgow o2 Academy 14th February


06 - The Gaslight Anthem - Glasgow o2 Academy - 19th October

05 - Coheed and Cambria - Glasgow ABC 9th November


04 - Pearl Jam - Manchester Arena 20th June


03 - Hell is For Heroes / Hundred Reasons - London HMV Forum 24th November
(2:32 in the video below was awesome)


02 - Brand New - Newcastle o2 Academy 16th Febraury


01 - Andrew WK - Glasgow Garage 14th April

The year to come...2013

Goals for 2013:

Do something decent with my life instead of rotting away in an office or at least as well as rotting away in an office.

Complete a couple of new short film scripts.

Plan Epic Holiday: 2014 edition.

Spend more time with the awesome people and less time with the not-so-awesome people.


Things to Look forward to in 2013:

The final 8 episodes of the greatest TV series ever made - Breaking Bad.

Loads of weddings / stag parties

Finch in London, March 2013 (Bastards added a Glasgow date after we booked flights, hotels etc.)

X-box 720 or whatever it's going to be called

Deftones at SECC, Glasgow in March 2001 was my 2nd ever gig.  Deftones at Barrowlands, Glasgow in February 2013 will be my 200th gig and what a gig it will be.

So not a whole lot, well compared to 2012 anyway.

Most anticipated movies of 2013:

Downloaded (Napster Documentary) (Dir: Alex Winter) - Released ?


The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (Dir: Peter Jackson) - Released 13th December
Monsters University (Dir: Dan Scanlon) - Released 12th July
Lincoln - (Dir: Steven Spielberg) - Released 25th January
The Ganster Squad - (Dir: Ruben Fleischer) - Released 11th January


Django Unchained (Dir: Quentin Tarantino - Released 18th January
Riddick (Dir: David Twohy) - Released ?
Kick-Ass 2 (Dir: Jeff Wadlow) - Released 19th July

Sound City - (Dir: Dave Grohl) - Released February


The Wolverine (Dir: James Mangold) - Released 25th July
Star Trek: Into Darkness (Dir: J.J. Abrams) - Released 17th May


Anchorman: The Legend Continues - (Dir: Adam mcKay) - Released ?

Man of Steel (Dir: Zack Snyder) - Released 14th June)


Elysium (Dir: Neill Blomkamp) - Released September
Gravity (Dir: Alfonso Cuarón) - Released October
The World's End (Dir: Edgar Wright) - Released 14th August

Pacific Rim (Dir: Guillermo Del Toro) - Released 12th July

I've been waiting 5 years for a new Guillermo Del Toro film and this looks like it will live up to the wait!

Most anticipated music:

Frightened Rabbit - Pedestria Verse
Manchester Orchestra
Biffy Clyro - Opposites
Pearl Jam
Coheed and Cambria - The Afterman: Descension
Killswitch Engage
Alkaline Trio
The Xcerts
Jimmy Eat World
Alice in Chains
'Sound City' Official Soundtrack to Dave Grohl's Directorial Debut. featuring new tracks from members of NIN, Rage Against the Machine, Foo Fighters, the list goes on...


New hates of 2012

Evans Halshaw
Whiplash

New loves of 2012

The Cheesecake Factory (American restaurant chain)
Bruce Springsteen

Highlight of 2012

San Diego International Comic-Con
Pissing in a urinal, one man wearing only a Boba Fett helmet and gold pants pissing to the right of me and another man wearing the exact same outfit to the left of me.  A simple pleasure in a place full of them.

Outro

I said 2012 would be the year of Ben and it mostly succeeded.  I haven't got a clue about 2013 though.  2013 will be the year of...?  Tune in next year to find out.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Ben

XXXXXXXX

Hugs, Kisses and Michael C Hall stalkings,