I've only been writing this blog for just over three months, but I did indeed live throughout the entire of 2006. For me, it's been one of the busiest years of my life to date.
In rough chronological order, the significant personal events for me were... Put an offer on a house, shipped Burnout Revenge 360, spent over a week in Rome with my girlfriend (my first ever trip abroad and my first ever flight!), bought a house (no more rent, yay!), went camping in Yorkshire, lost nearly a stone in weight, built a shed, spent two weeks in New Zealand, got engaged to Katherine, attended two lovely weddings (including one I helped a little to organise), started a blog, attended one stag weekend, put on nearly a stone in weight, did the full Woolton 13 and overall I worked too much overtime with more responsibility and pressure than ever.
So, at this point in a review post, people would generally list their best and worst movies and music, so I shall stick with convention.
Film
I didn't see many films this year (half of those I did see were on a tiny LCD screen on the flights to and from NZ), but the film I enjoyed the most was Mission Impossible 3 as it was a really well executed action film, with Miami Vice coming a close second. The worst film by far was Ice Age 2, which was so dire I'm not sure even children would enjoy it. Cars was good, though (like The Incredibles) a bit of a let down by Pixar standards.
Games
For someone in the games industry, I played shockingly few games in 2006. The only game I've played from start to finish is the rather curiously named Half Life 2: Episode 1 which (as usual for a Valve production) was really good and still plays well on my aging PC (even with HDR rendering turned on). The new Sam & Max game is good so far, though a little easy. Other than that I've wasted too much time playing Minesweeper Flags on MSN.
TV
Again, I've not watched a huge amount of TV this year. Torchwood and Dr Who have been about the only things holding my attention of late. It's low budget sci-fi twaddle with unconvincing characters, poor stories and logical plot holes all over the place, but somehow remains remarkably entertaining.
...and 2007?
So, what am I planning to do differently this year? First of all, I'm resolving to stop working twelve hours a day, six days a week ever again. How successful I'll be in that I'm not sure. Also, I'm planning on getting married - which means I really want to lose weight again. Other than that, I want to keep writing this blog and generally take time to relax more. I've barely spent any time watching movies, TV or playing games in 2006. I truly believe that this escapism is one of the main things that keeps us sane and centred in the modern world.
Dude, while I was working with you I vowed never to do crunch. And I didn't.
Did you see me struggle to get my work done (no smart-arse responses!)? Nope. In fact, I had more time than others, AND helped a few other people around the traps get their bits done too. It just goes to show, crunch doesn't work. So do what I did, do your core hours, and you'll find that you don't feel as shit as you do when doing crunch, and your productivity stays high! When crunching, feeling like shit and performing poorly is inevitable.
Bring on 2007!!! This year is MY year, and you may well be lucky enough to be part of it ;)
All the best for 2007 my friend! I hope you find the time for relaxation that you deserve :)
Well, none of us crunched particularly hard on that project, though you're right that crunch all bit kills motivation and productivity, which is why I've resolved not to do it any more.
Anyhow, one thing I forgot to mention in my main post were the books I've read in 2006. Although I've not found time for much entertainment that involves a screen, I have read many books (mostly either a chapter or two before sleep or whilst sat on the bog).
Probably the best book I've read is This Thing of Darkness by Harry Thompson which tells the story of Charles Darwin and Captain Robert Fitzroy, their journey around the world on the Beagle and the fallout as Darwin rejects religion and discovers natural selection. Fascinating stuff, and (apart from some dramatisation) all true.
The worst book I've finished is Starter For Ten by David Nicholls (it wasn't published in 2006, but that's when I read it). It tells the story of a bored english student who ends up in the University Challenge team, spends most of the book chasing some beauty who barely notices he's there, and almost totally ignores his best female friend who is of course his perfect woman. Essentially it's a totally predictable romantic comedy. I think a film of it either came out recently or is coming out this year, but I wouldn't bother with it.
The worst book I read at all was Whisky Galore by Compton MacKenzie. It's about the inhabitants of two remote Scottish islands on which there is a drought of whisky, then a big boatload of the stuff wrecks off the coast and they drink it all. What ought to be a quite simple and funny tale is totally impenetrable, and after slogging half way through it I gave up. I get the feeling I may have missed the point with the book, but I didn't find a single one of the lifeless characters endearing or funny.
Watch the film of Whisky Galore, it's pretty good; one of the classic Ealing comedies.
Yeah, I'll give it a watch if it pops up one Sunday afternoon on BBC2 or C4, but I wouldn't recommend the book.