2016 — I me mine
i love lists. i love “statistics”. and so i made a list of things that made my 2016. and added some thoughts and memories and lots of photos to the mix. first i was like NAH it’s 2017 already and nobody will read this and i will spend hours putting it together but then i got inspired by the book i̶’̶m̶ was reading called Mockingbird by Walter Tevis. mankind doesn’t read nor write anymore, is drugged and isolated and doesn’t care, robots took control of the world but two main characters learn how to read and eventually write and they try to “memorise” their life. and the book is sometimes strangely foreseeing (was published in 1980). i love that about great sci-fi although it can be quite scary because the frightening things in it feel so real and possible. so, yeah, i decided i’ll “memorise” my year.
books
it’s the same each year. wishing to read more, ending reading less. only 11 books this year. one short story (Story of Your Life). even when i have free time, my workaholic brain can’t process free time, misses work, can’t focus on free time activities. hm. trying to learn this over and over again. also, i’m trying to remind myself that reading is not a competition. i read a few, but i enjoyed it helluva lot, ’cause the time was precious.
so, the list of books read in 2016:
George R. R. Martin — Sandkings (short stories collection, great one, highly recommended — mix of fantasy, sci-fi and chilling horror)
Charles Dickens — A Tale of Two Cities (enjoyed it greatly. the first sentence is unforgettable.)
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way — in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
Geoff Ryman — Air (a bit more sophisticated and unusual sci-fi)
Jack Dann & Gardner Raymond Dozois — Armageddons (short stories collection, the topic is obvious)
Kelly Link — Magic for Beginners (another short stories collection, fantasy combined with magic realism beautifully and playfully written)
Dmitry Glukhovsky — Metro 2033 (i did a feature for radio on Dmitry — Slovak only, i even got the chance to meet him when he came to our radio for the morning show /which you can listen to here, even quite English friendly/. he’s a smart guy. he’s Russian and he knows his country well. he started as a journalist, travelled the world, learned languages. knows exactly what problems his country has and he’s not quiet about it, which makes me root for him a lot. he puts the ideas in his books. it’s not difficult to find it there.)
Catherynne M. Valente — Deathless (story of Koschei and Marya Morevna set in Russia)
Steve Cockayne — Legend of the Land trilogy — Wanderers and Islanders + The Iron Chain + The Seagull Drovers
Thomas Wheeler — The Arcanum (this book was pretty amusing. the main characters are Harry Houdini, H.P. Lovecraft, Arthur Conan Doyle and Marie Laveau and Aleister Crowley is also thrown in the mix. detective story with a bit of occultism, even Cthulhu himself is mentioned:)
further reading: each Amanda Palmer patreon blog/post, each Warren Ellis newsletter, bunch of articles here on medium etc.
comics
Scott McCloud — The Sculptor (Joss Whedon recommended it on twitter so i bought it immediately online while eating at a restaurant:)
this is the part that resonated with me. i understood him.
the rest of the comics i’ve read on my ipad. some DC, some Marvel, some Image etc. some totally weird, indie stuff, some totally mainstream. the pieces that really stuck out for me were by Jeffrey Brown — A Matter of Life (2013), Brian K. Vaughan — Doctor Strange: The Oath #1–5 (2006–2007) and Andy Diggle — Green Arrow: Year One #1–6 (2007)
music
i must admit i did some catching up with 2016 music only in December but i can say it’s been a great year for music. very sad because of the losses (Bowie’s hit me hardest, i even cried when i found out), but very beautiful because of the music we got from all the amazing artists. i am so thankful. i live with music on daily bases, i couldn’t imagine otherwise.
not all the records i’ve heard enough times (yet), but i knew i fell in love when i heard Puberty 2 by Mitski which is my fave record and she’s my fave musician of 2016 and i sometimes feel like a Mitski’s witness because i try to spread the word on her music and i even got her two songs into our radio playlists and i introduce her to me friends and she’s a Libra, yay, and she’s a Miyazaki fan and her twitter is awesome (just hours before i wrote this she tweeted about a sailor moon quiz, aw ❤) and i will go to her concert in Vienna quite soon and i will try to interview her, isn’t life great?
so. Mitski. Puberty 2. my favourite record of 2016. (why is it only 30 minutes long?) all the tracks are gold, but i love I Bet on Losing Dogs the most.
other top 2016 records: Anohni — Hopelessness, Blood Orange — Freetown Sound, Clint Mansell — High-Rise OST, David Bowie — Blackstar, Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam — I Had a Dream That You Were Mine, Leonard Cohen — You Want It Darker, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds — Skeleton Tree, PJ Harvey — The Hope Six Demolition Project, School of Seven Bells — SVIIB, The Avalanches — Wildflower (this might be the most positive & sunniest record of the year, it’s so joyful)
there are some other candidates, but i haven’t listened to those records enough.
other favourite listens: Ennio Morricone, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Cliff Martinez, Nick Drake, Tim Buckley, Wolf Alice, Youth Lagoon, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Daniel Licht, Kate Bush, Hans Zimmer, Joe Hisaishi, Roxy Music, John Carpenter, Angelo Badalamenti, Porcupine Tree, Brian Eno, Kurt Vile, Vangelis etc (thank you, last.fm)
i had my hip-hop / rap days and my soundtrack days of course and i had many many ambient days which helped me concentrate on my work and helped me maintain my zen and sanity, too.
and best tracks, i only went with 2016 songs, oh, so many great tunes i could have listened to on repeat.
Mitski — I Bet on Losing Dogs, The Hidden Cameras — The Day I Left Home, Jack and Amanda Palmer — Wynken, Blynken and Nod, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds — Rings Of Saturn, Regina Spektor — While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Blood Orange — Augustine, Leonard Cohen — You Want It Darker, The Avalanches — Because I’m Me, Radiohead — Burn the Witch, School of Seven Bells — Ablaze, David Bowie — Blackstar, Anohni — Drone Bomb Me, Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam — A 1000 Times
concerts
my neat excel sheet now says i’ve been to 681 concerts since 2006 (that’s when i started going to concerts, when i left my hometown for a better life)
january = i started off with Ennio Morricone in Bratislava (what a better way to start, right? i will see him again in 2017, he’s 88 now and he’s still performing live because he lives music.) february = Youth Lagoon in Vienna. the guy ended his YL project and i was so happy to catch him live. i really like all of his 3 albums and had the third one on repeat after the gig. march = my fourth IAMX concert, Bratislava. april = Jamie Woon and WWW, Bratislava and Steven Wilson in Vienna. such a perfect concert. i cried a bit. mentioned Scott Walker and payed a tribute to Bowie and Prince (who died on that day)
may = Hans Zimmer, Vienna. oh wow. i love that film composers are now touring and playing their own film music live. this was more of a rock concert than what Ennio does but i loved it. i watched the second half of the show from the first row. i’ve been a big fan of Hans for a long time and this was a dream come true. he also had stunning visuals and the highlight was a big organ during the Interstellar pieces. Public Image Ltd., Bratislava. PIL have so many hits, it was like a best of concert. then came Nouvelle Vague and Astronautalis, Bratislava. and then i flew to Edinburgh to see Brian Wilson performing Pet Sounds. God Only Knows how happy i was to experience it. Pet Sounds is a timeless album and one of a great importance in the history of pop music. i was moved.
june = Paul McCartney — One on One Tour, Prague. seeing the legendary Beatle not even a month after BW was unbelievable. i must never be lazy and seize the chance to see any of my favourite musicians live, ’cause it may also be my last chance. this was a huge event, thousands of people, even fire on stage. my favourite moment was when Paul did a tribute to George and sang his song. music from 50 years ago came to life and it was wonderful. july = Pohoda festival, Trenčín. once again, because i was busy doing interviews i only saw a few gigs. PJ Harvey. my fave gig of the festival. she is such an amazing artist. she played all the songs from her latest record plus some older singles and i watched her from the first row with adoring eyes. James Blake. the second and the last full concert i saw. didn’t expect it to be so techno+dancey. i do not really listen to james’ music but i really enjoyed the concert. unfortunately, only caught few songs or not the whole set of The Vaccines, Saul Williams, Sigur Rós, Anna Meredith, Honeyblood, Savages, Kiran Leonard and Flying Lotus. then We Are Scientists, Bratislava. pity there were only bunch of people at this gig, WAS are a great live band and hilarious entertainers. and at the end of the month i travelled for a concert once again. Bruce Springsteen — The River Tour, Zurich. The Boss owned. he played at a huge stadium for thousands of people for three hours and a half and it was raining and it was exhausting but i could feel the love all around me. it was just amazing. i’m so thankful 2016 gave me Brian, Paul and Bruce.
august = Grape festival, Piešťany. hh, this was all work and no fun, stayed only for a day, did four interviews and caught a few songs at the concert of !!! (Chk Chk Chk). then it was Kronos Quartet, Bratislava. they performed in a church and it was a thing of beauty. hearing Death is the Road to Awe live was cathartic. september = Wolf Alice, Vienna. i really like their debut My Love Is Cool and they didn’t disappoint me. the girl can sing and the band can play. october = Koop Oscar Orchestra, Bratislava and then in ONE WEEK: Swans, Vienna and The Mission, Bratislava and The Cure, Vienna and Amanda Palmer, Vienna. crazy week. i was sick like hell when i went to Amanda, but i wouldn’t miss it for the world. both Swans and The Cure (Plainsong ❤) were 3 hours long gigs, Amanda played and talked for more than two hours and then she did a signing + meet&greet session so i waited in line to hug her and that week was insane and crazy and tiring as fuck (because i worked like a maniac on my master project) and i loved it.
november = John Carpenter — Lost Themes — A Live Retrospective, Vienna. i’ve already mentioned the touring film composers. but this is a level up, a director who is also a film composer and now thanks to his son tours and not only horror fans are smiling happily in their seats while John talks of his work and plays the themes from The Fog, Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, Escape from New York & L.A., They Live, Big Trouble in Little China, The Thing etc and his non-film music with his band accompanied by video clips made from his films. only wished this concert was a bit longer. King Crimson, Vienna. three drum sets on stage, seven exceptional musicians and kind of a best of setlist. with The Court of the Crimson King which is my favourite. standing ovation in the end.
december = i rounded my concert year off with the fiftieth gig of my most favourite Slovak band Diego. they performed in a studio of Slovak national radio, Bratislava.
stand-ups
went to my first stand-ups evrrr. and i’m ready for more, 2017, bring it.
Dylan Moran, Bill Bailey and Jimmy Car in Bratislava and Louis C.K. in Prague i laughed so hard i thought i’d need a new jaw
film
on to more statistics, hooray!
i’ve managed to watch 96 films in cinema in 2016, attending Art Film Fest always helps me enlarge the number of films seen. watched one film on my notebook, bonus for Dead Like Me TV show.
these i enjoyed watching the most, for one reason or another (in no particular order): Angel Heart, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Big Short, The Boy and the Beast, Furiant, Hardcore Henry (f u n), Spotlight, Finding Dory, Ikarie XB 1; I, Daniel Blake; The Exorcist, Warcraft, Doctor Strange, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
if i was to pick one (with 2016 date, as i’ve seen many old classics), i’d go for I, Daniel Blake. i hope many people will go see it once it goes to distribution here in Slovakia. Dave Johns, who plays Daniel Blake is a stand-up comedian and this was his first proper film role and he’s so genuine and funny although the film’s topic is a very sad one.
honourable mentions: Bridge of Spies, Crimson Peak, Room, Phoenix, Deadpool, Creed, Zootopia, Barefoot Gen, The Karamazov Brothers, Body, Yallah! Underground (a document), The VVitch, Victoria, The Jungle Book, 10 Cloverfield Lane, Cool Hand Luke, Easy Rider, Captain America: Civil War, Modern Times, Green Room, Youth, 24 Wochen, High-Rise, Tangerine, Bacalaureat, Toni Erdmann, Under the Shadow, The Conjuring 2, SPL 2, Assassination, The Neon Demon, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, One More Time with Feeling, Captain Fantastic, The Beatles: Eight Days a Week — The Touring Years, Moana, Carol, Nocturnal Animals
oh yes, that many. i really enjoyed great many films in cinema this year.
tv series
i finished Wonderfalls and after quite a long time of disinterest, Daria, which i liked much more once i got into it properly. i started Dexter — finished first three series and True Blood — finished first three series and started the fourth. also, Bryan Fuller (now next to Joss Whedon) is my “new” favourite creative TV person.
travels
i’d love to travel more but my second job is so unpredictable that i cannot simply book a flight and disappear for a week or two. so i mostly travel in pursuit of cultural events, especially concerts. went to Edinburgh/Scotland and Zurich/Switzerland for the first time in my life. flew to London twice (those were business trips). spent over a week in Košice (Art Film Fest) and loved it there. and that’s about it, really. went to Vienna and Prague few times, but i don’t count that anymore :)
work & personal shiz
became a 30 year old.
got my first smartphone ever. my third cell phone ever.
wore a dress once! still, i had to be really persuaded to do that. a picture was taken.
went to protests. against fascism and polish abortion ban.
attended four film festivals. Febiofest. Art Film Fest. Japanese Film Festival in Bratislava. Queer Film Festival.
worked. A LOT.
i’ve been in Rádio_FM for 9,5 years (another Radio_Head Awards behind us) and in dubbing for 3,5 years
in 2016 i worked on seven films — Zootopia, The Jungle Book, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Finding Dory, Pete’s Dragon, Moana, Rogue One, even had a tiny tiny role in Finding Dory, jeez! translated Rogue One, both subtitled and dubbed version.
i interviewed — music — Anna Meredith, Eagulls, Honeyblood, The Vaccines, Kaytranada, !!!, Jake Bugg and MØ & film — directors Stephen Daldry and Alan Parker (if interested, listen here — Slovak only)
also had a chance to meet writer Dmitry Glukhovsky and David Harrington of Kronos Quartet when they were guests in our radio
i’m so happy i have my jobs. i’m so grateful i can work with music and film and even with books now. because last year i kinda got the second and a half job, i became a tiny tiny specialised book editor. i think i read and corrected 6 or 7 books. yep, crazy person, doing too much work. but the work i love dearly, thank the maker.
went to film quizzes with my friends, the brave Committee for the Liberation and Integration of Terrifying Organisms and their Rehabilitation Into Society
went to conventions. friend’s book release event. Albín Brunovský exhibition.
loved every moment i got to spend with friends, with my brother, my grandma, those precious minutes i was with my mum. thank you for your time, guys. thank you for you.
You’ve read this far? You’re braver than I thought.
first time in my life i’ve told someone (ok, ok, I wrote it, but still!) i loved them. it went GREAT. i’m still single. it was probably the biggest step out of my comfort zone and i was scared like hell, but I’m glad i did it. it was hard and painful at first but then it kind of set me free.
and i guess that’s about it.
fin.
