I have booked a holiday - January (2)

So it has been another amazing few weeks!

 

The most exciting thing being:

 

I have booked a holiday!

About a week ago I finally made my first big plan of 2014 and a big plan it is indeed! I have booked a villa in Portugal with pool, pool table, football table etc. with 11 of my best mates from uni! My old flatmates!

 

 

I am so excited its going to be amazing! Its nearby to the beach and the local bars and restaurants and can hit the watersports!

Another great thing about it is that I go on my birthday wooo.

 

For me the few weeks have been great! Making new friends and meeting new people! I'm very tired at the moment which I guess is a result of being a bit ill but I am powering through some sort of stomach bug and still getting to work! Its been a bit of strange month in a way, but I have been having a great time!

At the weekend I had some friends over.

 

Some guys that I haven't seen in a long time from my course at university! It was so good to see them again and it was hilarious. I have not had such a laugh in a long time! We ended up going out and trying out the local nightlife, in which I had no idea about where to go as I am new to the area. But we followed the crowds and was pretty surprised at the bars and the nightlife! It wasn't too bad! Walking home drunk was a fun adventure and heard many a drunken secrets from my friends and chilling outside on the swing sofa was a great end to the night!

 

The next few weekends look fun and I am going to start organising my travels about the UK seeing amazing family and friends! And also may look into further travels abroad.

 

RIP Trigger

 

So quite a bit has happened since I last blogged the weather has seemed to have died down a bit here in the UK its getting a bit calmer and cooler, with little in the way of stormy weather thank goodness! But things may become a little unsettled over the weekend!

 

 

We said goodbye to Roger Lloyd Pack of Only fools and horses, who starred as Trigger. He also starred in the Vicar of Dibley, which I know him from the most and also in the Harry Potter franchise.

 

So its awards season, NTAs tonight BAFTAs soon and also

The Brits!

 

 

I was amazed and over the moon to see my favourite bands from last year nominated for Brits the most nominations than any other act. Its crazy to see that both these two acts were unknown this time last year and now they are both up for 4 nods each! Its almost unheard on for new bands! What are them bands? Bastille and Disclosure of course, they are up for the same awards so the battle is on:

British Breakthrough Act

British Group

MasterCard album of the year

British Single

Now to another band that this year looks to be a great one and who knows this time next year they may be up for a Brit?! It's:

Clean Bandits

 

 Now I have loved this song from the first hearing and its grown and grown in popularity and looks set to be numero uno this week!

The song Rather Be is not the first single to reach the top 40. Last year Mozarts House reached number 17 in the top 40! They have been around since 2006 and began breaking through last year.

If you haven't heard it! (Where have you been) Here it is:

 

Game of Thrones Trailer

 

I have finally caught up with the rest of the world and am now awaiting the new series and here is the trailer aaaaaagh:

 

 

 

A week with no technology!

 

Finally, over the last few weeks my brother has had a very different one. He has spent the whole week without using technology. No phone, no laptop, no internet, no tv. He has had to cope with getting around London, going to uni and do work without anything! See how he got on here:

 

https://medium.com/dargan-media-news/481fa98cf88d

 

So its coming up to pay day and the end of the month, lots of things to look forward too and people to see; new challenges, new experiences and new plans on the horizon!

January

Well its been a few days since my last blog and that's how its going to be, it'll probably be the end of the week blogs. I have had many things to talk about and been very tempted to blog! So here is a sum up of my week and the news and entertainment that's affected me :)

 

So its been quite a long week, the first full week back at work! Its been okay and have settled back in living over on the East Coast. A bit of drama with some of the other tenants but I just stay out the way and make sure the landlady is happy!

 

Yesterday was such a rollercoaster day. After a long day I got home and found with despair that Channel 5 have dropped Once Upon A Time one of my favourite US shows around at the moment!!!! Its very sad as there is no UK channels picked it up now!

 

Sad Farwell of Charlotte on LOST

So in my sadness I thought I would send a tweet to British Actress, Rebecca Mader who has starred in many of my favourite TV shows of LOST, Fringe and stars in the new Season of Once Upon A Time. I tweeted that its very sad that us UK fans cannot see her in the new season in the UK as nobody has picked it up!

 

 

 

 

Well to my surprise I got a message back!!!! Now anyone on twitter knows how rare it is for your favourite celebrities to acknowledge a tweet nevermind personally tweet or message! So I was over the moon now. The reply and tweet for all her 54 thousand followers to see was only "No :(" but it was amazing to know she had seen my tweet and personally replied. Someone who has starred in Iron Man 3 and my favourite ever show LOST as Charlotte! #ThisPlaceisDeath She had read my name, seen my tweet and felt she had to reply! I love her, I am proper fangirling right now!

 

My twitter then went into meltdown with loads of people retweeting, favouriting replying and adding their despair at the news of OUAT in the UK! Later in the day I mentioned how one of my favourite actresses from my three favourite shows had tweeted me earlier and without tagging her in it (@BexMader) or mentioning who, it was favourited by none other the fabulous lady herself!

 

It was an amazing day for such a big fan of all 3 shows in which she was involved!

 

 

Okay, okay I will stop fangirlling now.

 

And I will start again.... Game of thrones!!!

 

OMGeeee its back on April 6th with a trailer coming this Sunday! Well I say back, I'm still currently on Season 3 catching up with the repeats they are putting on Sky Atlantic but wooo will be a good transition from Se 3 into the new season! (UK wont be long after) 

Anyway did you know! That a slug discovered this week has been named after a Game of thrones Character:

 

Via: @DailyMirror on Twitter

A newly discovered sea slug has been named after Game of Thrones character Daenerys Targaryen.
Also known as Khaleesi in the series, she is played by Emilia Clarke and has long bonde hair which researchers have linked to the pale appearance of the slug.

The slimy creature is the newest addition to the Tritoniidae family, and has been aptly named Tritonia khaleesi. The Tritoniidaes live in warm seas and have a pale white body and small fins.

 

It was discovered off the northeastern coast of Brazil.

According to Brazilian reports, the Tritonia khaleesi is easily distinguishable from other sea slugs because of its 10–14 rows of denticles on its inner lip, different teeth and absence of stomach plates.

 

 

Other amazing news this week is that Bastille have been given 4 nods for this years Brit Awards. Alongside Disclousre (also brill) they both lead with the most nominations and both are new to the music scene this year. They are nominated for Best Breakthrough, Best Album, Best Single and British Group!

Good luck to them both its has been an amazing year for both and are well deserved. But for me Bastille have to get some awards for their amazing year!

 

Other news that's caught my eye is the British storms:

December and January have been horrendously stormy months I cant believe how bad its been, from the Storm surge along the East Coast to the constant battering along the West and South Coasts since New Year with surges and high waves.

 

 

December was actually the windiest since 1963, the wettest since 1993 and saw the worst storm surge on the East Coast since 1953. But there are likely to be more records broken as the storms continue to wreak havoc. Tens of Red "Risk to life" flood warnings were issued along coastal areas with over 200 warnings and alerts nearly every day during the storms. Unfortunately 8 people have been killed in the Storms since 21st December.

 

 

These pictures via BBC show the impact its had on our natural coastline and how huge amounts of rocks have been eroded away.

 

 

Somebody managed to capture the moment a huge section of cliff collapsed in Aberyswyth that's coast was devastated by the waves.

 

 

 

This video shows Blackpool area affected by the Storm surges, high tides and rough seas. For a place that I have been to many times it was crazy to see! To say the sea at Blackpool is normally 1 mile offshore and just flat sands it was mental to see how bad it was.

 

 

Hundreds of millions of pounds of damage has been caused by the storms to properties and businesses. Even now though weather is calming down flooding is continuing and worsening in places. The Thames is flowing ten times more water than average!

 

Over in the US a "Polar Vortex" has seen temperatures lower than on the surface of Mars at the time. Down to -48C with heavy snowfall and dangerous freezing temperatures. Videos of freezing clothes and freezing water have been seen online and this satellite picture shows the extent to the storm which saw a town named Hell covered in snow which led to many news channels visiting stating that "Hell had frozen over"

 

 

So it has been a crazy few weeks! But things are settling down now, both in terms of weather and post Christmas / move activities.

 

Hope you have had a good start to the year!

Dream Diary: 2013

So over the last year I have been posting blogs on some of the epic dreams I have. I have been told that I must have a very good imagination to have such exciting and detailed dreams. Now these are the dreams I have remembered the most and of which are the most exciting.

 

 

Keeping a dream diary was actually a great idea, its good to go back and see how crazy your dreams have been, whether there have been any patterns and who knows someone out there may have had the same dream. I think its cool to think that when you dream there are other people out there who join the same dream and the people that you meet in the dreams and you don't know are actually other people in their dreams. Another cool thing is you can look at what your dream is telling you about your life and troubles right now.

 

So I'm going to have a read through them all, there are a few and here they are below. Then take a look and see if my dreams are saying anything about my state of mind!!!

 

From Jan 2nd 2013 "Okay so one thing I was going to do is a dream diary, one so you can have a laugh at what stupid things I dream about, another so you can appreciate how epic my imagination is but mostly so I can look back and see if there are any patterns to my dreamingness and whether I should be worried about my mental state."

 

• Worst Lost Fan: Being a huge fan of Jorge Garcia my phone would not switch off so he gives me a detention!

 

• Help my eyes are glued shut Okay now this is a bit weird, only a month later I actually had my eyes glued shut recovering from an eye infection and nasty flu! Maybe my dreams predict the future?!! This one was very weird, children playing in a river of boiling water wearing sellotape to protect them?! Weird.

 

• Now this one sounds like a lot of those "closed doors" dreams in which I tried to do something but never managed it, but there was excitement too, Disneyland and lizard warriors and the interesting fact at how I needed to be somewhere at a certain time and say a colour. Maybe the person who said it the same time as me was someone having the same dream.

 

I think that some of the scariest things are that I actually cant remember having many of these dreams!

 

• Now this one was one of the coolest and actually one I remember, I remember the feeling of amazement and awe with a hint of nerves at looking at the beautiful fiery sky. I think phsycologists might look at this and think I am worried about being followed.... "a cold gust of wind breathed down the back of my neck. I look up to see that everything seemed darker, a large dark cloud had put me within its shadow " "Though there was no sound, no thunder and no rain. Just a battle of Lightning and Fire." 
   
  
  

 

• Now I remember this one a little bit being stuck on a coach in a flood maybe this was a sign of things to come, bad weather and the coach which crashed in Italy

 

• I love that Frank Gallagher appeared in my dream, it was a typical shameless story but completely not shameless

 

• Another Apocalyptic dream, I do like these end of the world dreams.... I do see that in places current events were being incorporated in my dream, I'm sure around then the northern lights were actually visible.

 

• Now I don't remember this one. Getting through to the finals on the voice?! I cant even sing! and having a J themed show and having to change my name to something beginning with J was weird.

 

• Okay..... swimming with two whales, one of which was albino and then having an octopus jumping on my shoulders whilst my mum is filming with an xbox controller.... weird.

 

I find this so weird that I don't remember some of these dreams and don't remember writing them and cant believe they are in so much detail.

 

• This was one of the most detailed dreams and an exciting ones! Ape Wars - another apocalypse! Very cool.

 

• This was a very realistic dream, a huge pet tiger. I still feel its stripy fur! Influenced by watching life of pi I think!

 

• Watching World War Z probably influenced this one: Now this one was brill! Like a proper movie I felt the full panic and drama of a zombie attack! And the ending? well its better than TV cliff hangers! But I guess I will never know what happened.

 

• Another dream about Whales... hmm... Waking up within a dream too? Inception stuff right?

 

• Now this one was only the other month I don't remember much of it!!! But it was another exciting one. Held hostage in student accommodation? but scary stuff too!

 

My dreams are like films...

 

Top 3:

3. Ape Wars

2. Zombie Attack

1. Lightning and Fiery sky.

Interpretation results:

To see turquoise in your dream symbolizes luck, success and fortune

To see a whale in your dream represents your intuition and awareness

To see a tiger in your dream represents power and your ability to exert it in various situations.

To see the northern lights in your dream represent renewed energy, vitality, awe, insight and youth.

To dream of the apocalypse signifies an emotional and dramatic change taken place within yourself. The dream may also indicate the end of one kind of lifestyle and the beginning of another. (From student to employer?)

To see the letter "J" in your dream means that there is something that you need to hold on to and grasp, as reflected by its hook shape. Alternatively, the dream may be a pun on someone named "Jay" or whose initial starts with J.


Interesting?! Other than that there aren't much interpretations for my dreams, they are just that weird and epic.

Well it has been fun sharing my dreams with you and even more fun looking back, I would highly recommend doing them!

My 2013

So can you believe it? It has been a whole year, since I have started blogging!

A WHOLE YEAR!!

 

And I had almost 11900 views!

 

And I have actually really enjoyed it! I've blogged about allsorts, including blogs about my favourite films, TV shows and music.

Brought you blogs about the earth and environment along with the great British Weather! Talked about some of the main news stories through the year. And I have shared some of my great experiences that I have been challenging through this year. Not only that but I have also shared some of my crazy dreams in my Dream Diary blogs. It seems such a long time since My first blog. The following links take you back to blogs I put up about myself throughout the year!

 
2013 for me was a rollercoaster of a year. I started off with a new job, a short term contract at the Centre For Ecology in Lancaster as a field and lab assistant. I joined a family in their home to rent a room, of which were really nice and made me feel very welcome. I was back in the city I loved, of Lancaster, and still had friends around that were still studying. I extended my university experience and saw the university from a whole new side. The job was great, the people were great and I got a good experience of how research projects work some of the real life laboratory tests needed. I went on some  amazing jobs in the field which saw me collecting soil samples from the field. I got completely muddy, working in all conditions from snow, rain, wind and sun. Going across the UK to collect samples in farmers fields of crops, grassland and arable. Staying in some beautiful places!
 

I had some great nights out with friends from university and friends from home across the UK. In January - February I had a big night out in Sheffield and a big night out in Leeds both of which had significant snowfall, I was surprised I made both journeys. But it was good and we went sledging and made a snowman. There was a period of time in which I was completely down with some sort of flu, I was off for almost a week and have never felt that in a while and had to miss a few days at work. Following on from that I ended up getting an eye infection in which my eyes were glued shut in the morning!

I had some great adventures up in the Lake District and saw some spectacular views amongst the snowy mountains. At the end of February I went on a field job with work to Wales! Driving through the Welsh mountains was amazing and I had an amazing bison burger along the way. Arriving at Bluestone and our log cabin. We got all the work done in time and even got a free activity, which was Outdoor Laser Quest while we were there which was fantastic! Was great to do something like that with work!

I was back in Wales at Easter with family and we had booked out another lodge in the middle of the Welsh mountains this time with a Hot tub! :P During the winter I was wanting to go to a log cabin in the alps, chilling in a hot tub in the snow in the mountains. I did not expect to be doing exactly that, in Wales at Easter! The snowfall had been significant over the week before and I had never seen it so deep. In some of the villages nearby there was huge dumper trucks and JCBs used to pile up the snow. The mountains looked stunning and there was some really nice places. Some parts reminded me of New Zealand! The Welsh mountains are definitely underrated!

At the beginning of May my contract ended at Lancaster. I had a great time and didn't want to leave but was excited about what I could do next. I returned home and began the search for the next job. I got a temporary job at a local company in the meantime whilst looking!

At the end of May I had a very swanky weekend. I went to Cartmel Races and stayed at a friends house on a very sunny weekend. Was great drinking in the sunshine trying to put bets on horses and walking in the countryside! We had some very dry and sunny bank holidays and after the coldest spring in 50 years we had a very hot and dry summer with some areas experiencing a heatwave! I enjoyed the sunshine lots! :) and the many BBQs. I also went to Go Ape which was great, with uni friends. The funniest bit being one of my friends getting stuck!









As we entered June, I went White Water Rafting! I was back in Wales and it was a warm and sunny day. It was a great laugh and would love to do it again! Did get a bit wet, after falling in and getting stuck under the boat before flowing downstream! Here I am, as it happened.
 







The following weekend was another exciting one, I went down to Kingston-upon-Thames to see where my brother would be going to university but also went to the Harry Potter Studio Tour! Another fantastic day out. Got to see all the props and sets from my favourite films. Even had a butterbeer!



At the end of June I went to sunny Spain for a week. Chilling in the sunshine with Sangria and San Miguel! Hiring a car we got to see the nearby towns and beautiful beaches which were massive! I had some amazing food, got burnt within the first 3 hours after falling asleep but had a really good time! There was also one of the nights in which thousands of people went down to the beach to make hundreds of bonfires. We were amazed to see so many people but understood that it was a traditional Spanish Celebration!



I returned in July and brought the sunshine with me and had my belated graduation. I did graduate in 2012 but did not have a ceremony as I was away on holiday so graduated this year. Which gave me good closure from my time at Lancaster though it was sad that none of my friends were there.

I enjoyed the rest of the summer with the wonderful sunshine and had my birthday. Though summer wasn't full of joy and happiness. Behind all these exciting events I was feeling down on the fact that I just wanted a permanent job and to begin my career. Settle down and enjoy life! Looking for a job was exhausting and painstakingly slow. I had a few interviews to no avail and didn't hear back from the tens of jobs I had been applying for. I kept plodding on but hope for my luck to change.

At the end of August I took a trip down to Lincoln to see a friend and had a good trip on his canal boat down the canal. Even got towed behind the thing in a rubber ring at one point as the weather was still lush! A pub crawl along the canal was a great idea :)

My brother left for University in September and it made me feel even sadder at how good university was and that I miss the easy life and being with friends. I cant believe that time has been and gone, it went so quick.

At the beginning of October, however, it seemed my luck had changed! Finally after a long time, I got the phone call I had been waiting months for. I had finally got a permanent and dream job! For a global company in an area I am really interested in working in laboratory which would then go onto becoming an offshore geologist. It was very exciting! The only catch was that it was right on the otherside of the country. 5 hours away on the most Easterly point of the UK in Great Yarmouth. I therefore had to find another place to live and went for a houseshare again. I found a lovely huge Victorian house in Lowestoft and has some great tenants.

The house is in a lovely area in quite a nice town and has the beach at the end of the road! The beaches around here are fantastic, clean and golden sand and I cannot wait for summer! Its not been so great being by the sea during this crazy and stormy weather we have been seeing with this coast taking a battering by storm surges and waves. I have settled in well and am loving the job.

I went down to see my brother coming up to Christmas in London. I had a great time and got to see all the sites again and chill out with my bro and have a few drinks in the pubs along the Thames. Then that night I had one of the best nights of my life. He got some tickets to a roof top party overlooking St Pauls Cathedral. The ticket was cheap, included mulled wine, entrance, snow machine, and vodka ice luge! The tables and drinks were a little expensive but partying with the rich and famous in that amazing place with my brother and his uni mates was great! Getting home was good laugh, getting lost and walking across London in the middle of the night! Really good time!

Christmas was good for me, being back home and having a good time with family and friends and my dog! It seemed that I was at home for a month or so but it was only a few weeks. I found it hard to come back and know that I am leaving them all again and that I am so far away. But I am excited to go back to work and see what this year has got in store for me. I think its going to be tough, being so far away from home and not knowing people. But I will power through.

Overall 2013, was pretty good year. A year in which I got my dream job, had some great experiences and I even wrote a plot line to a film and even wrote two amazing songs! (Which I have not yet revealed :P)

2014 for me though is going to be a great one! I haven't got any set plans as of yet. But I plan on going on holiday with friends in a villa and possibly go and visit Japan! It looks to be very exciting and interesting to see where this job takes me and what summer is like on this side of the country!

But the question is.... will I continue blogging?! Well 2013 was the year of my blog. The year of blogs and boulders. And I have really enjoyed it but question whether now I should let it be and stop. So I have come to the decision that I will not be blogging in 2014 as much as I was in 2013! I am going to focus my blogs on my personal life rather than all the amazing things I find, that is unless there is something ultra amazing! So 2014 will see my personal blog year, but I will only do one a few times a month, rather than one every day almost, like this year!
 
I hope you have enjoyed my blogs from 2013 and hope you can join me next year and see where my path is taking me. I have a few other blogs coming up in the next few days about 2013 but for now I shall blog again soon and let you know how I am getting on.

However, if you cant wait weeks to hear from me, follow me:

 

Twitter: @Adam_Dargan

Instagram: adam_dargan

Now I will leave you with this, a quote I really like and one that I put in my very first blog.

 

 

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain

My Top 13 films of 2013

So there have been some pretty good films out over the last year and here are my top ten of my favourites that I saw last year.

There were many however, that just lacked something. World War Z and The Hobbit were good but didn't follow the books as hoped.

Oblivion, Saving Mr Banks and Captain Phillips all were powerful, with good actors but the storyline wasn't the best it could be even if some of them were true stories.

 

Now you see me

 

World War Z

 

Star Trek into darkness

 

The Heat

 

Oblivion

 

Django unchained

 

Man of Steel

 

The Hobbit

 

Thor 2

 

Saving mr banks

 

Iron Man 3

 

Monsters university

 

Captain Phillips

 

The Conjuring

 

I think The conjuring was probably my favourite film of the year. Even though it scared the crap out of me, it withdrew the most emotions even if it was petrification and horror. The storyline was great and definitely one of the best horror films I have seen.

Exceptional Weather Warning

The UK has been warned of exceptional weather over the next few days with the potential of severe coastal flooding. A period of weather will include, strong winds, heavy rain and high tides and the Environment agency has issued Severe Red Warnings with risk to life for SW England, Wales and Gloucestershire. The governments COBRA emergency committee is in meeting to prepare for further storms. In some areas waves are expected to be 10m high with the worst affecting areas on Friday. Visit the Environment Agency for more information.

 

 

2013

2013: In Pictures and Videos

 
HAPPY NEW YEAR
 

January

 

Horse meat was found in ready meals from a variety of high street supermarket chains.

 

A rare event in which Sudden Stratospheric Warming caused extremely cold temperatures  with most of the UK being covered by snow. Parts of the Midlands and Wales had an Amber Warning with one of the first red warnings for 20-30cm in SE Wales. Some locations saw snowfall for more than 24 hours with some areas seeing snowfall for 3 days.

 

 

 UK was obsessed by the latest wildlife documentary Africa.

 

 

ITV 1 rebranded its logo to itv of which had to be redesigned as the t and v looked like a bottom!

 

 

Disney announced that 3 new Star Wars films were being produced, along with a further 3 character-centric films to be released each year from 2015.

 

The second stage of HS2 was announced

Last series of Shameless, one of channel 4s longest running dramas.
 

February

New Pope elected

Harlem Shake

 

Numerous landslides following on from 2012s extremely wet year killed 3 pwoplw in separate incidents.
 

Huge Meteorite seen falling over Russia.

 
March
 

An American man was killed when his bedroom fell into a sinkhole

3 people were killed in the Boston Marathon Bombings with over 250 hurt in a terrorist attack

 

One of the worst snow event was seen on the channel islands with blizzards seen across the whole of the UK with extremely large snow drifts. 

 

Ex Prime Minister Margaret thatcher died on April 8th
 

Finding Dory, sequel to Finding Nemo was announced. 

 

May

 

The Smiler the worlds first 14 looping coaster opens at Alton Towers

 

A huge tornado rips through Oklahoma causing death and devastation.

 

The UK was hit by one of the most powerful Earthquakes in the last 200 years, though still small in quake standards

 

Announced that it was the coldest spring in 50 years following on from a White Easter

 

June

 

Last series of skins

The UK saw a Heatwave!

 

July
 

3 people were killed in a plane crash at San Fransisco Airport.

 

6 people killed in Paris train crash

 

Oil train derailment in Canada saw many people killed and a town centre destroyed.

 

The New Royal baby was born on the 22nd july

 

Over 70 people were killed and hundreds injured in a horrifying train accident in Spain.

 

Coach crash in Italy killing 38 people returning from a pilgrimage

 

August

 

Peter capaldi announced as the new doctor who

 

Hundreds of protesters descended on a small village to protest against Fracking.

 

The UK saw another bank holiday with nice weather! (a rarity)

 

September

 

130 vehicle crash on kent bridge

 

 

New films based on JK Rowlings: Harry Potter world.

 

New island formed from earthquake in Pakistan.

 

Some of the worst Forest fires seen in Australia.

 

October

 

St Jude storm hits the UK killing 4 and causing power loss, flooding and damage.

There were 4 people were killed during the storm:

 

 

November

 

Mcbusted are formed

One of the strongest storms ever recorded. Typhoon Haiyan causes devastation in

Phillipines after strong winds and storm surge kill thousands.

 

Helicopter crashes into Glasgow pub killing 9 people.

 

December

 

 UK hit by severe storms piling in off the Atlantic.

One of which causes the worst storm surge in 60 years.

 Nelson Mandella passes away.

Winter storms batter over Christmas with thousands of homes without power or flooded on Christmas Day.

 

What a year eh?
I wonder what the next one will be....