The highs, the lows, the bad times, the good, the laughter and the tears, our year has been one of propulsive polarities, with friends lost, friends found, huge highlights and lousy low points, while as we amass our annual address, despite the all the negatives, we will be firmly focusing on the positives in this, our first in a series of review round up’s of 2012.
In a rollercoaster ride that has been part & parcel of our world for a score of seasons, to say our year has been like riding the stormy seas, does little justice to the lousy lows we have faced, an unrelenting wave of woes that have come crashing onto our shaken shores for the vast majority of 2012. Yet while we have all too often focussed on & have been drawn into the downs, there have been nearly as many up’s, a mound of magical memories that, for as many reasons as the myriad of moments we would rather forget, have made 2012 an unforgettable year. And while we may be saying now & have been saying for a while, “Roll On The Next”, given the huge highs that have made this year unlike any other, we couldn’t let 2012 pass without looking back on some of the biggest & best and in so doing, giving you our personal reflection of those magical memories that will live with us for a long long time. We will be hailing the prolific players & incredible individuals that have made a massive difference to our 365 days and who have also, perhaps inadvertantly, made this, the first of a sequence of “What A Year” reviews possible, four picture painting paragraphs for each quarter of the year, capturing the moments that moved our world the most, this a departure from our usual alternative to the queens speech annual address, rather a review reflection of the year from a personal perspective, while we finish with our own special New Year honours list.
Well, where do we start? At the beginning we suppose, 2012 having gotten off to the best possible start, even if we were a little drowsy & dazed from yet another best, what proved to be the best NYE house party we have ever savoured, the ritual that has become clubbing on New Year’s Day morning, once again manifested in a trip to Beyond, while later that day we were to be simply stunned by a “Safari” inspired WE Party event, our privileged position on the stage next to both Steve Pitron & then Carlos Gallardo one of those life long memories we will never forget. But after that superb start, the year would take a nose dive as serious family issues dominated both January & February, this followed by our own on-going health complications that have beset our world since, a series of hospital visits continuing to leave our lives on an unstable footing, the very instability of our terminal condition of continuing concern. Yet with a flock of friends showing their support in one form or another, but with two in particular making all the difference in these initial four months of the year, it would be a period that would see us step into a cinema for the first time in recent memory, “The Descendants” soon followed by “The Best Exotic Marigold Wedding”, two movies that not only tumbled those trademark tears of ours, but have had an indelible influence on us since.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDY89LYxK0w [/youtube]
As the year progressed and winter moved to spring, then to early summer, there was much for the country to celebrate, the Royal Wedding, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the coming Olympics, it was evident that we were far from an sort of celebratory mood, still struggling, some five/six months into the year, to find our usual top gear on many fronts. So, while our writing was right off the boil and our scene step outs became fewer and far between, the ones we made seemed to be every bit as splendid as before, some even more so, a purple patch period of both Beyond bashes & PLAY>TIME parties hitting the high notes, the now infamous “chases”, “cups”, “tears” & “tickles” a fabulous feature of this part of our year. And with certain characters at the centre of our cavorting, Steve, Celso, Bel, Zach, Luis, Sophie & Jeovanne very much part & parcel of all these clubbing capers, it would be Beyond on 13th May that would rove the highest of highs in this second seasonal slice when, post Steve’s set, we were plundered with plumes of Pitron pranks, both in & around the main floor, out on the terrace and everywhere between, those tickling frenzies that were so much a part of our year, evident in the extreme here. But PLAY>TIME would be responsible for as many memory making moments, literal tickling chases around the club, sinking of shots & superb sets from both Steve and our premier protégé player, Zach Burns, terrific times indeed, while the everlasting magical memory of this period will be the chance meet with a fellow South African, Nico coming into our lives briefly yet with a brilliant bang, he somewhat sweeping us off our feet, well stepping on them actually, this invoking an enthralling evening which led to a couple more that we will both savour & remember with real fondness.
With the onslaught of summer came rain, rain and more rain, a damp jubilee followed by a July that was one of the wettest on record, many areas of the country suffering floods like never seen before, while the stamen of the summer was the 2012 Olympics in London, the expectation of deliverance weighing heavy on the shoulders of Lord Coe & the organisers, while many were shouting from the sidelines “…how will the opening ceremony top China’s…”, that responsibility placed in the hands of film director Danny Boyle. Yet, while we dosed off half way through the team parade, nibble size tweet (another prolific part of our year) calls to wake us in time for South Africa’s appearance, the ceremony itself was a stunning sight to behold and then gave way to two weeks of sporting highlights that truly floated our boats, boat being an optimum word for the resplendent rowing, another b standing for bikes hitting the mark, both in the Veladrome & out on the roads, while who will ever forget Mo Farah’s victories on the track & all the drama of Usain Bolt. But with some going into Olympic overload, by the minute commentary on Facebook, we often switched off, other sporting events taking memory making precedence, Wimbledon consuming us from start to finish, while a thrilling Formula 1 season would also dominate our summer Sunday’s. Sport aside and in amongst on-going personal & family health issues, we did make it to the dancefloor too, August proving our busiest month of the year so far, prolific parties at PLAY>TIME on 3rd, Beyond on 11th & ClubNation on 18th all huge highlights, while three prolific “Summer” podcasts , two from Steve Pitron & the other from Adam Turner, all helped while away our woes, this on top of another summer highlight, a second in a row Lovebox scoring superbly, not least due to the fabulous presence of two brilliant Brazilians in our lives, Bel & Luis.
September started on another huge high, probably one of the highest of the year, a towering trip to Brighton Pride with Steve, Celso, Bel & Jess, one of the most entertaining car journey’s we have ever had, while with so many more people part of this Pride picture, Adam, Tony, Chrissy, Steven, Altina, Zach, Dan, Peter, and more, the park & being on stage in the dance tent with Steve proved another mass minutes of memory making moments that will live with us forever. But with an evening into the morning in the company of our Milano man Danny Verde, Brighton certainly played a pulsating part in the final four months of the year, while of all the four seasons, this has been, without doubt, our best, other huge highlights being Florence & The Machine in concert to a select crowd at the Rivoli Ballrooms in November, very much blowing us away (and knocking over the red wine – the poor 80 year old ballroom floor), while Robbie Williams at the BBC Radio theatre in December even topped that. Then there was WE, the “Bitches On the Beach” bash one we definitely want to forget , although that awfulness was replaced by resplendence, the fantastic “Formula 2” turn simply sensational & looks set to be DM’s club event of the year, yet another stage appearance next to Mr Pitron leaving us feeling so very privileged to be his pal, his devoted podcast also a Y.E. chart topper) far & away delightfully consuming and captivating our lives from November into December . And it would be his birthday bash in October that, without question, would be & is our highlight of the year, meeting Claudia Bruken, of Propaganda fame, at his party, this yet another lifelong memory moment, this leading to a sequence of special others, her interview on the brilliant “Barking At the Moon”, her amazing new album, but the surprise of the year and our best birthday present ever, the signed & framed Propaganda “A Secret Wish” cover picture still leaving us speechless & watery eyed. But through a friendship that delightfully dominated our year, other events such as ice skating at the Natural History museum, more of those cinema trips, films “Untouchables”, “Taken 2” & “Argo” tree top choices, we would never have made it through 2012 without the, generosity kindness & support of Steve & Celso, whom we remain eternally grateful for being there for us through the tough times, as well as being at the epicentre of the best bits of our year.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34WIbmXkewU [/youtube]
So, all in all, what a year it has been, we perhaps a little too guilty of dwelling on our health & other issue negatives, while there have been so many positives to draw upon, not least those included above. With a long list of many more, including a Halloween party with painted faces that produced a new & valuable friendship that has since flourished, while plenty more pals often proved our saviour, some companionships developed deeper, a few others either re-kindled, re-formed or repaired, it would be inevitable that friends some would fall by the wayside, one in truly dramatic fashion. However, as we prepare to wave farewell to a year that for lots of reasons we want to forget, reflecting as we have has made us realise that 2012 has given us plenty to celebrate and while we didn’t travel anywhere overseas this year, as we had done in 2011, 2013 is already a brighter prospect in this regard, trips to Paris, Antwerp & home to South Africa already filling our first three months and with more to come for sure, while we have a feeling that the new year will bring new ventures & break open new horizons. As for 2012, if we were to summarise the year in just one short positive sentence, it would be a year indelibly indented with fantastic friendships, scores of prolific players & incredible individuals having touched our lives, so while many mentions and moments may have been missed in our year of polarities, we extend our thanks to each & everyone that helped propel the positives & dispel the negatives, not least to those on our heartfelt honours list below. (DISCO MATT)
Personal & special 2012 thanks go to the following – Steve Pitron, Celso Moura, Maibel Sbardelotto, Zach Burns, Tom Fuller, Jamie Head, Mike Dower, Max Sanna, James Dawkins, Peter Graham, Steven Galo, Adam Turner, Jamie Feldman, Steven React Sharp, George Sharp Mitchell, Reggie Taylor & Danny Verde.
