Links Review 2014 was the last of the old school annual reviews. Inspired by the famous scene from City Slickers, I asked a group of guest bloggers to write about the "one thing" they think everyone should know about. The idea was to make it as open as possible and essentially give everyone carte blanche to talk about pretty much anything they wanted to.
Oh boy did people reply, with nearly thirty posts that year. Sometimes it was cultural event, a film release or book. In some cases it was something which happened in someone's own life, a wide spectrum of romance and weddings. I wrote about why I don't drink, declaring myself "fine" almost exactly a year before my first full on panic attack and the ensuing anxiety which meant I wouldn't be fine again.
But perhaps most poignantly for me is the entry written by the late Sarah Hughes perhaps best known for her recaps and other television writing on The Guardian's website. She wrote rather brilliantly about how television can create a connection with a place, a sense of belonging and how it wasn't until she settled into the change of idiom on screen that she felt like she'd properly settled in from her time abroad. RIP.
"A 101-year-old woman who had always wanted a large pine tree outside her window to be lit for Christmas has had her wish granted."
Meghan and Harry’s documentary has hit the raw nerve of tabloid prejudice:
"David Olusoga: I was an interviewee in the Netflix series. The scale and fury of the backlash to the comments on race and royals is revelatory."
"Christmas doesn’t look the same for everyone. Some families hang up some tinsel and call it a day, some pull out all the stops, and some don’t celebrate it at all."
"A: Yes, that's what it is."
"Some mums and dads said their children were left questioning if Santa is real, with one saying his 'beard was falling off'."
"Houseplant experts how to prune a Christmas cactus to keep their size in check and to encourage more flowers."
"If it includes gravy, let’s face it, we Yorkshire folk will lap it up. Be it a pie, a Sunday roast, or a Christmas dinner – the latter of which Yorkshire might well be responsible for (at least, as we know it)."
"For me, the holiday season brings feelings of anxiety and inadequacy rather than holiday cheer."
"Remember The Singing Dogs? It was a band made up of dogs, and all the songs were spliced-together dog barks. The group's Christmas song, "Jingle Bells," hit the top of Billboard's Christmas Singles chart in 1972. But don't be fooled—The Singing Dogs' Christmas album is far from the quirkiest piece of holiday music out there."
"Sumptuous costume dramas can provide a much-needed escape in troubling times, but if you’re tired of the usual assortment of airless parlours, manicured lawns, and straight-laced suitors, there is an alternative: a subset of films that play with our expectations of the genre."
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