Year in review - big questions
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What was your favourite moment of 2023?
Sport: RWC qtr final.
That's about equal with convincing the government to remove a tree from the front of my house.What was the best thing you purchased in 2023?
Trip to France to play my last games of rugby. Took the opportunity to go to Portugal and Spain - both countries I'd never been before. Loved it more than I thought I would.What was the best thing you watched/read/listened to in 2023?
Book - Some People Need Killing
Movie - Oppenheimer
TV - HijackWhat are you looking forward to in 2024?
Spending more time fly fishing and improving my casting. -
What was your favourite moment of 2023?
Can a month-long holiday be a moment? If not, it was getting a phone call from the real estate agent in early March, advising that I had two offers on my house after 10 days on the market. If I can have a month-long moment, it was my holiday in the UK & France. Everything went to plan and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
What was the best thing you purchased in 2023?
- cute little 3-bedroom cottage with a big backyard in Hutt Central
- turntable, amp and speakers
- a limited edition whisky from Balvenie.
What was the best thing you watched/read/listened to in 2023?
- the NZ TV series Far North was genuinely enjoyable
What are you looking forward to in 2024?
Las Vegas for a week in early April.
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This is probably a bit early as I'm heading to NZ in a week and not been there for 4 years so this will surely have some epic moments. But here we go:
Moment.
It has to be the New York marathon. Has to be. I guess if you are looking at moments as I was 23 seconds away from my time then crossing the finish line would have to be number 2. Top spot would be finally meeting up with my wife after 45 mins at the end. Despite passing / running with probably over a million people, it's a pretty lonely place out there.
Purchased
Tesla Model 3. It's quite far from my favourite car / best car but for what we use it for, I cannot think of anything that comes close. Next generation of driving combined with some incredible tech, as a town runner car, it's spot on perfect.
Watched
The Last Dance. Story was everything I wanted it to be.
2024
Edinburgh marathon, summer villa holiday in France with friends, then up to another friends summer/beach house in Denmark.
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My best moment was really bittersweet. Ms Cato No1 had finally moved out but took her dog. Of course we miss her but bloody hell, we missed the dog. So we got him laid and he sired a litter of pups. 7 girls and 1 boy and we had dibs on the boy. Finally settled on a name for him and that was when he truly felt he was ours. 2 days later the poor lad dropped down dead playing with his sisters. We hummed and haahed about taking one of the girls and I was not keen. Anyway on the next visit one of the girls chose me by rushing across the room and delivering a flying headbutt to my guts. Outcome is we have a beautiful dog that we adore.
Best thing I watched was a rewatch of the original Tinker, Tailor. Just brilliant TV. The writing, the acting and dialogue just spot on. It shows that you don’t need lots of set piece action to make good viewing.
Best purchase was probably a long weekend in a beach house as a Christmas present for Mrs Cato. We were visited by both Ms Catos as well. Probably the last time the four of us will be away together as just us.
What am I looking forward to in 2024? Possibly retiring, not sure yet. I’d like to say I’m looking forward to England playing some rugby but that will probably be behind the sofa viewing as likely to be a horror show. On reflection it is probably planning a couple of touring holidays in France and possibly Spain to see an old rugby mate.
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I started to think about this earlier, I didn’t even get to the last three questions. As I was thinking through the year I realised that all of my favourite moments were friends and family ones, moments with my parents, moments with my children and moments with my wife. Its been an amazing exercise in realising how lucky I am. A few for my benefit more than yours:
- Taking my dad to Twickenham to watch England in the 6N, first time we’ve done it for ages. Felt like a kid again, and yet somehow a grown up.
- Eating caviar and drinking champagne in Copenhagen on a weekend away with my wife.
- Eating late night chips in a bar in soho with my wife and kids after a surprise trip to Matilda musical and night away in London - their faces when they found out what was going on.
- My kids last days at their schools, and first days at their new schools - watching my 11 year old grow up infront of my eyes as she takes her next steps into the world without needing me.
- The four of us eating pintxos and swimming in the sea in my favourite city in the world, San Seb, taking the exact same photo in the exact same spot with my youngest for the 4th time, seeing how she’s growing without me noticing.
- My youngest winning a gymnastics competition despite being shit scared about taking part, my eldest winning player of the match for her netball team the week after she was told she was too short to play much for her club (she’s 11 for fucks sake)
- A weekend away with best mates, picking apples, making and drinking cider in the sunshine and swimming in the sea in October - those moments when a group of lads pause and realise how lucky you are.
- Cycling through Times Square no handed with my best mate of 30 odd years whilst our wives were getting drunk somewhere else.
- FaceTiming my eldest from a rooftop bar in NY so she could see ‘the friends skyline’
- Picking my brother and his fiancée up from Heathrow at 5am when I hadn’t seen him for so long.
- Drinking with my oldest school mates last Friday night with guest appearances from the Australian and Northern contingents.
I know I cheated but fuck me that list could have been longer. Wow
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@Dodge said in Year in review - big questions:
I started to think about this earlier, I didn’t even get to the last three questions. As I was thinking through the year I realised that all of my favourite moments were friends and family ones, moments with my parents, moments with my children and moments with my wife. Its been an amazing exercise in realising how lucky I am. A few for my benefit more than yours:
- Taking my dad to Twickenham to watch England in the 6N, first time we’ve done it for ages. Felt like a kid again, and yet somehow a grown up.
- Eating caviar and drinking champagne in Copenhagen on a weekend away with my wife.
- Eating late night chips in a bar in soho with my wife and kids after a surprise trip to Matilda musical and night away in London - their faces when they found out what was going on.
- My kids last days at their schools, and first days at their new schools - watching my 11 year old grow up infront of my eyes as she takes her next steps into the world without needing me.
- The four of us eating pintxos and swimming in the sea in my favourite city in the world, San Seb, taking the exact same photo in the exact same spot with my youngest for the 4th time, seeing how she’s growing without me noticing.
- My youngest winning a gymnastics competition despite being shit scared about taking part, my eldest winning player of the match for her netball team the week after she was told she was too short to play much for her club (she’s 11 for fucks sake)
- A weekend away with best mates, picking apples, making and drinking cider in the sunshine and swimming in the sea in October - those moments when a group of lads pause and realise how lucky you are.
- Cycling through Times Square no handed with my best mate of 30 odd years whilst our wives were getting drunk somewhere else.
- FaceTiming my eldest from a rooftop bar in NY so she could see ‘the friends skyline’
- Picking my brother and his fiancée up from Heathrow at 5am when I hadn’t seen him for so long.
- Drinking with my oldest school mates last Friday night with guest appearances from the Australian and Northern contingents.
I know I cheated but fuck me that list could have been longer. Wow
sounds like you spent half of 2023 drunk, sounds like my kind of year!
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@dogmeat said in Year in review - big questions:
Otherwise a street walking tour in Penang that included the best single dish I've ever tasted was memorable.
What was the dish? I did a street food tour of Penang in 2019, still talk about the egg samosa that I had. Amazing place.
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https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/post/901316
Been in Malaysia Had the best single dish of my life in Penang from a Michelin bibbed street stall. A Laksa but with a broth of salted herring rather than coconut cream. The depth of flavour was amazing just kept on developing. The char koay teow with duck egg was damn fine too. Malays really know how to enjoy their food.
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@dogmeat said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
@Nepia It's a very descriptive name - Penang Road Famous Laksa.
Just beware it's not actually on Penang Road! 5 Lebuh Keng Kwee
Thoroughly recommend the food tour
Penang: Afternoon Walking Foods Tour
Best $60 you will spend. Go hungry!!! -
Best thing you ate would be a good addition.
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Favourite moment: went camping in the Blue Mountains with my daughter, then 15. After the sun set, we chilled out on a canvas tarp looking up at the stars and taking about life, the universe, and everything. I am repeatedly amazed at her emotional maturity.
Best purchase:
got my old car a new stereo? A couple of camping bits and pieces. Not much to mention really.Best media:
I'll say dead heat between Oppenheimer and The Barbie MovieLooking forward to:
A new car in 2024, and an EV at that. -
My best moment - on a selfish/personal level, hard to go past finishing the Port Mac Ironman. I won't forget the red carpet experience at the end in a hurry (nor the limping around like a cripple for 2 weeks afterwards). Had lots of great family moments, usually revolving around a holiday, watching my girl run, or my oldest lad playing gigs. Nothing really on the sport-watching calendar in 2023 ranks up there for me - yeah the QF was solid, but it already feels overshadowed by the F.
Best thing I watched was Drops of God - cracking series, can't recall if I posted about it or not. Highly recommend.
Best purchase - can't think of anything of significance that I bought this year other than 3-4 pairs of running shoes (a weird fetish of mine).
Looking forward to in 2024? Fuck all new stuff to be honest. No milestone events ahead, no major holidays planned. I'd love to be back here in 12 months answering Q3 with "My new Kamado Joe", but that's probably not going to happen. 2024 looks like more of the same, and to be honest, that's probably pretty OK with me.
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Best moment - it's fucking sad, but it really was probably RWC QF... it was such an unexpected result, with the pure sporting fan pleasure - but also watching it with 2 uni mates, the 3 of us not having had been together for a couple of decades - and then just over-celebrating afterwards
Best purchase - a backpack. Again - sad. A ridiculously priced backpack/rucksack. Half-a-grand worth of motorcycling backpack. But it's fucking awesome. Kriega shit is quality. Went to pick it up from the local store having ordered it in, and the girl asked "Oh - is that the gold-plated one?" - obviously disapproving. https://kriega.com/riderpacks/roam-34-backpack
Best watch/read/listen - had to lean back and think... and nothing stands out. Sad again - but maybe Succession or the not-zombie-but-fungi series? The Last of Us - had to look it up. Or - I could just cite all the shit from previous years - which are better than anything which came out this year.
2024 - trip to Vietnam/Laos in Feb - riding dirty dirt-bike over the Ho-Chi-Minh trail, and a legitimate Cu'o'ngs t-shirt (a-la Christian Slater on Archer). And possibly a move to Vancouver, for improved access to Class-A drugs. Expect my posts to become vastly less coherent, until I sell my work laptop.
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@Kruse Van‘s drug culture is unusually super sketch. Fentanyl induced coke ODs. Can’t take a slash in Whistler without getting interrupted by some Aussie liftie offering you that same dodgy blow. Next morning you won’t be able to help overhearing the saladdodging 16 year old lasses whining over their bonanza of mickeyD’s:
I’m never doing special K again! Shit makes my ass hurt.
Yeah it gives me the runs too.
Nah Bitch! every time I do that shit, I wake up with a dick in my ass.
You’ll love it Kruzie.
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I been thinking on this on and off for a few days, and decided I might be a boring old fart!
I was struggling to think of a real best moment , probably came with some of time I spent with 4yo great grandson.
Genuinely sadly I haven't made any great purchases that I can think of this year, actually can't even recall bugger all purchases I have even made, I pretty boring just get what I need when I want, so perhaps I don't take possessions as much to worry about. Ok, now I remenber I bought a Naki rugby jersey, which is a first really buying a jersey that is similar to playing jersey, just into the NPC etc so much broke my rule.
Best watch/listen etc, Live would of been NPC final (but most Naki games I went to I loved), Show we went to in Wellington with Kiwi musos doing a Fleetwood Mac thing, (I not a huge Fleetwood Mac fan, have seen them etc but just good not great) and when they started show 4 of the Musos came out and started with 'Albatross' and nailed it, finished the night with 'Oh Well' so was even better show then I imagined. On TV best thing I enjoyed was Top Boy, really enjoyed it.
Looking forward to in 2024, I genuinely don't know, I actually turn 70, so will see how it goes.
In summary been a in my opinion a bloody good year this one really not a lot of highlight moments etc, me and wife celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary (very quietly) and in quiet times I tend to sit here and think how bloody content I am with her and I just being us. -
Here we go:
Favourite moment: Being part of a team raising £60k in 5 months to replace the fast-disintegrating roof on the village hall. Awesome to work with such committed people.
Best Purchase: Suzuki Vitara. Not flash, just solid and perfect for living deep in the country. Vast improvement on the crap, unreliable, over-hyped VAG SUV it replaced.
Best thing I've watched/listened to/read: Slow Horses. Think I've found a TV series which rivals the 40 year old Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and may even be better.
Looking forward to: (a) trying all-grain brewing (b) exploring more hidden country inns and (c) 6N's and SH Rugby kicking off.
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It's been a rough old year if I'm honest. The cost of living and rising interest rates have hit me hard so there's been less money for trips and purchases. I've said farewell to eight good friends, including two wise old bastards who were great drinking buddies and who I'm missing a lot. Without going into the details, events in Ukraine and the Middle East, for different reasons, have made my life a bit tougher.
That said.
Favourite moment: Watching the kids grow up. Getting them to sleep and reading them good night stories is an enormous privilege. They're much wiser and kinder than their dad. I'm proud as can be that they are enjoying school and doing well. I've enjoyed lots of long walks with the dog and setting the world with all its many troubles to rights. Mrs Sparky continues to be the perfect person to spend my life with.
Best purchase: New sofas for the front room that arrived just before the RWC started.
Best content: Jonathan Freedland's The Escape Artist is one of the most exciting, sad and moving books I've ever read. I enjoyed watching the re-runs of I, Claudius.
Looking forward in 2024: it looks like I'm going to be in Normandy for the D-Day 80th anniversary in June so I'm looking forward to learning a lot more about what I thought I knew.
