Best of 2011

Best of 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and now 2011!

Best of the year 2011, this year instead of a new category I’ve removed one (DVD of the Year) as we no longer watch DVDs and replaced it with TV Show of the Year!

	Album of the Year – w h o k i l l – tUnE-yArDs Merrill Garbus’ second album is awesome. I’ve never heard her first one, this one obviously got enough air play and buzz for me to hear it somewhere (I think most likely on Adam and Joe’s radio six show which has now sadly finished). Her live performance is apparently just her on her own looping tracks and it sounds like a lot of fun to see. Hopefully she’ll come to Australia in 2012!
	Cinema Trip of the Year – Source Code I liked the premise of this movie, the idea you can be inside someones mind for the last few seconds they are alive. Basically any movie which makes you question what is happening from the out set is a good one (Matrix 1 for example). The Adjustment Bureau and the King’s Speech are probably a close second to this movie.
	TV Show of the Year – Boardwalk Empire Set during US Prohibition, Nucky Thompson, play by Steve Buscemi is a man that has his feet in both sides of the law. He’s the treasurer of Atlantic City as well as a mover of illegal alcohol. The stories are very interesting and it’s a great show currently in its second season. Other show’s we’ve loved are New Girl, Louie, Portlandia and The Thick of It.
	Book of the Year – The Lean Startup I wish I’d read this book before spending time building software. He’s admission that he could of probably spent six months of software development time sipping umbrella drinks on a beach and the company would have been in the exactly the same place was a real wake up call.
	Game of the Year – F-SIM Space Shuttle I’ve not bought any games this year, just to prevent myself from wasting time. So the games I have played have been limited to the iPhone. F-SIM is less of a game and more of a simulation. You have to land the space shuttle as it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere. The challenge is to come down on the ball bar and land the bird not too fast, not too slow, as close to the centre line as possible and not too heavy. It’s quite a challenge and really well made (it’s all by an indie developer).
	Website of the Year – Reddit This site is more of a college freshman site, but occasionally there’s some interesting information, such as AMA’s (ask me anythings) by interesting people. As well as “TILs” (today I learned) which has some interesting nuggets such as Magenta is a colour your brain makes up.
	Technology Purchase of the Year – iPhone 4s I went from iPhone 4 to iPhone 4s in only a couple of months but as one of the most used and useful tools for doing pretty much anything it’s the best technology tool I’ve ever had. Siri, although in its early days shows great promise, I can just imagine in a few years being in the car and saying “Siri, is this the best way to get to Timthanuel’s house?” (in the future people will be called Timthanuel) – and it will come back at me with a new route on an OSD to help me beat the traffic.
	Restaurant of the Year – Budda Bar This is a tough one, Budda Bar in Dubai was fantastic but we went there and were both very tired. The Green Curry Maki sushi roll was like nothing else I’ve tasted which is important for a restaurant. We went to some other good places this year, Celsius in Adelaide was fantastic and the food at Margan, the restaurant we had our wedding ceremony at was also amazing.
	Trip of the Year – Maldives We’ve been a bit lucky this year, I made a trip back to the UK, we went to Thailand for a week or two, Adelaide, Dubai and Maldives. Dubai and Maldives was our honeymoon trip. The Maldives is a pretty special place because it’s not really on the way anywhere and it has a lucky cross section of weather, water and service. We stayed at two places Baros and Soneva Gilli, both of with were amazing. More of that though in the honeymoon blog update coming soon.

Well that wraps up the Best of 2011! Have a happy new year!!