Reviewing the past year

2011 was one of THOSE years. You know, the type that makes one look back on having a root canal with fondness and nostalgia.

Granted, a root canal is not exactly fun, but atleast it did not entail frenzied, obsessive, week-long conversations about arguably the most boring event of the decade - The Royal Wedding.

At one point it became a phenomenon impossible to escape. There was a constant stream of blogs, breaking news updates, tweets, status updates and even fashion reports about Prince William and Kate Middleton. I swear people were even talking like they knew the royal couple personally. 

“Oh em gee! Have you heard about Kate’s wedding dress?!?!” says one frenzied woman to another, in the shoe department of some clothing store.

“Totally! And have you heard what Will is up to now?”

I still have Vietnam type flashbacks, waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, thinking about the royal wedding.

However, after much meditation, positive reinforcement and uplifting mantra’s, I managed to overcome it. But then, just when we thought it was all done and dusted, there was the OTHER royal wedding. You know, the one where Charlene Wittstock married Prince Albert. And it was William and Kate all over again.

‘Oh em gee’ did you hear about Charlene and Albert?” says one frenzied woman to another, in the make-up department of a clothing store.

“Totally. I can’t believe that Albert’s family!”

By the time we were done obsessing over royal weddings, we could only briefly turn our attention to Julius Malema’s latest shenanigans for amusement before indulging in the fantasy of winning the Rugby World Cup. We were so ready to claim that win. The words ‘Go Bokke’ were emblazoned upon every car, shop window, newspaper, magazine and billboard. We were so lost in the sweet taste of potential victory, that we did not even stop to see the warning signs. We should have known it would all go downhill after Ard Mathew’s rendition of the National Anthem. That was the first hint that not all was okay, but we refused to see the impending doom. Instead, we stared it in the face and still ended up suffering such a humiliating defeat. 

And then, to top it all off, Justin Bieber released a movie and a book. And so, it was at around this time that we began to look back upon the memory of a root canal with fondness. 

However, I cannot just ramble on about a bunch of negative things. It turns out that my cynicism might upset certain members of the public. And, as journalists, we are generally rather frightened of the public. 

You see, to upset the public would mean we would have to leave the comfortable confines of our opinionated bubble, to make amends. And so, in a half-heartedly effort, I also present to you the good moments of 2011 too.

There was Charlie Sheens' can of crazy that he unleashed upon the world. And the absurd popularity of planking (the act of lying face down in an unusual location), teapotting (holding a teapot pose in an unusual location) and owling (crouching into an owl position in an unusual pose). 

2011 was also said to be the year in which the most film sequels were released in a single year. We are talking 28 sequels in total. Most sequels lack in any form of creativity, talent or budget (Scream 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10000, 1000000) but Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides were the exceptions. Then there was also COP17, although I am not really sure whether this goes in the good or bad pages of 2011 (hippies scare me) so I will only vaguely mention it.