This time last year it was all about bushfire smoke. But this year my transition week of Monday 28 December 2020 to Sunday 3 January 2021 saw almost continual light rain as La Niña made her presence felt, and continued concerns over that little ol’ global pandemic.
I think I’ve said everything I want to say about 2020 in previous posts and podcasts, especially the end-of-your episode listed below.
But while it’s obviously wonderful to mark the symbolic end of a horrible time as the calendar’s digits roll over, nothing has yet to change. I’m still not sure what to think about 2021, but then it’s only been three days.
Maybe I should just list the things, eh?
Podcasts
- The 9pm Year of Brain Worms, Drama, and Despair, a two and a half hour monster with segments recorded 17–23 December and completed on Tuesday. I enjoyed it. I hope you enjoy it too.
The 9pm Edict is supported by the generosity of its listeners. You can subscribe for special benefits or throw a few coins into the tip jar. Please consider.
Articles
None, but you can always read some of my previous writing at Authory, or subscribe to get a weekly compilation of new stories by email each Sunday morning, if there are any.
I also did a run-through of my top tweets of 2020 (Threadreader archive) which may or may not explain… something.
Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse
None.
Recommendations
These are all 2020 wraps this time, should you not be completely over it already.
- If you haven’t already done so, watch Charlie Brooker’s Death to 2020 on Netflix.
- Also watch War on 2020 by The Chaser and The Shovel on YouTube. Both of these satires on 2020 have captured so much that shitty year.
- Possibly the darkest of them all, Frankie Boyle’s end-of-year special, New World Order 2020.
- And finally a more lighthearted look back, Channel 4’s The Big Fat Quiz Of The Year 2020. Though of course it’s just a tad British.
The Week Ahead
It’s week 42 of the Quarantimes at Bunjaree Cottages at Wentworth Falls. I’m wondering whether I should keep this count going through 2021. Will it get too depressing? It’s also the week where I start gearing up for 2021.
Monday will see me going through the inbox and the to-do list with a metaphorical machete in hand. Timelines for January and February will be set.
Tuesday is about video and audio tests for all the new hardware and software I’ve grabbed recently, mostly to see if I’m missing any components.
And my plan for the rest of the week will depend on how those things go. I’ll certainly map out podcast-related things, including the now almost-certain weekly pub trivia style video stream starting in the next couple of weeks.
Yes, I’m likely to do a series of three or four episodes of live quizzes, and to help me decide which evening to run them on I’d like you to answer this tiny survey. I’ll leave it open until Saturday so I capture a whole week of people’s habits.
Further Ahead
The following week 11–17 January 2021 will likely see the first episode of the quiz, as well as an announcement of my first podcast series for 2021.
Also in the calendar:
- Key players in the Biden administration, US Studies Centre, online, 20 January 2021.
- Linux.conf.au 2021, online, 23–25 January 2021 (TBC).
- Mimecast Connect 2021, online, 25 February 2021.
- APRICOT 2021 / APNIC 51, online, 1–4 March 2010.
- Australian Cyber Conference, Canberra, 14–16 March 2021 (TBC).
- AusCERT 2021, Gold Coast and online, 11–13 May 2021 (TBC).
[Photo: One or possibly two species of lichen growing on a tree at Bunjaree Cottages near Wentworth Falls, photographed on 3 January 2021.]