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best of 2013 – games
This is the final section I put together for the ‘Best of 2013‘ post for the Forbidden Planet International blog, which never appeared due to length. I play various video games, but not as much as my husband Martin, who has offered a selection of titles he’s enjoyed this year, which are mostly PC-based and/or Indie. BioShock Infinite was considered (and not included – and we were both fans of the previous games), and we haven’t played The Last of Us. I can certainly vouch for the first game on the list. Tomb Raider Genre: Action/Adventure Designer: Darrel Gallagher Writer: Rhianna Pratchett Developer: Crystal Dynamics; Publisher: SQUARE ENIX, Eidos Interactive…
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best of 2013 – music
This section didn’t appear in my ‘Best of 2013‘ piece for the Forbidden Planet International blog. That’s because when I checked the original request (after I had written this up) I realised I had written way more than I’d been asked to supply. But that’s what my blog is for: the extra features. A caveat: music is a huge field, and I’m concentrating specifically (barring one album) on the category I attend to most often: soundtracks. They’re what I listen to when I write, so I’m always looking for new and evocative ones for inspiration. Not surprisingly, I find the soundtracks to genre movies the best ones for my interests.…
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best of 2013 – TV
Here’s my unedited selection of picks of the top TV from my ‘Best of 2013‘ post on the Forbidden Planet International blog. This is the category I found the hardest to cut down – television is producing some of the best dramas currently. Hannibal Developed by Bryan Fuller I came to this sceptical as I didn’t think new life could be breathed into the franchise based on the Thomas Harris books, but Hannibal defied all my expectations and offered me some of the most memorable television in 2013. Apart from the intense central performances by Hugh Dancy as Special Agent Will Graham and Mads Mikkelsen as Dr. Hannibal Lecter, and…
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Best of 2013 – films
Here’s my unedited selection of films from my ‘Best of 2013‘ post on the Forbidden Planet International blog. Of course, this is just what I enjoyed, and your mileage might vary… Cheap Thrills Directed by E.L. Katz, and written by Trent Haaga & David Chirchirillo This dark film with streaks of black comedy is an astonishing debut from E.L. Katz, which basically consists of four people in a room for the majority of the piece. It’s a riveting drama about how the wealthy can manipulate the disadvantaged for their jaded entertainment. There are outstanding performances from the entire cast, and combined with effective direction and strong writing makes this one…
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Best of 2013 – comics
Today my ‘Best of 2013‘ post on the Forbidden Planet International blog went up. In it I pick three pieces of entertainment in various media that I enjoyed throughout last year. After I was asked to do this exercise I went a bit into overdrive and started thinking about loads of categories and works I’d liked over the year. I then assembled a much longer list, and when I re-read the original email I realised I’d have to cut it down extensively. So, over the coming days I’m going to post my unedited list in the various categories: comics, film, TV, music, and games. Today it’s comics: Lighter Than My…
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favourite images of 2013
I take a lot of photos throughout the year, using both my mobile phone and compact camera. So, instead of writing a blog post about what I’ve done or achieved during 2013 (most of which has been reported here already), I thought I’d highlight some of my favourite photographs from 2013. It also inspired me go through my collections and upload ones that had been languishing on my hard drive. Perhaps my favourite image of the year is this one from my trip to the Louvre in Paris this autumn. It’s in the gallery of Greek/Roman statues, which contains outstanding examples of sculpture. Here, I love the light, the statue…
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Goodbye 2012
I took this photo a short while ago so I’d have a beautiful image to celebrate the passing of 2012 and the arrival of 2013. I’ve a bottle of Perrier-Jouët champagne in the fridge, ready to wet the baby year’s head. I’ve had a good year overall, and early in 2013 Twisted Fairy Tales will be published. If someone had told me this time last year that by the end of 2012 I’d have a collection written and nearly published, I’d be short-listed for an Eagle award, and have written part of a play that would be performed in London I would have been rather sceptical. It makes me wonder…
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Yule Gold
It’s a gorgeous sunny Yule eve in the West of Ireland, which is most welcome after a long parade of wet, dull days. Since the light was so good I took this picture of a rose from a mixed bunch of flowers I’m bringing to holiday celebrations. Good luck and happiness to all this festive season! I’ve been busy these last couple of months, as well as being ill twice – once with a head cold, followed by a flu (only just abating). This is probably brought on by the travelling I’ve been doing in the last five months of this year – three trips to London, one to Leeds…
