You know the score as well as I do here. Another year down the road, another year older, and still we look back and wonder where all the time really went. I’d like to stick around for a while longer if at all possible, and I also want to be able to do the fishing I so love to do for as long as I am able. I know that I am only going to be able to do that by keeping as fit and strong as possible. My running addiction continues to grip me and I am now running an average of 100kms+ per month (this doesn’t include a hell of a lot more miles of dog walking and fishing I might add). I managed a 16k run in the summer, and most weeks I will do a 10k plus various 5k and 7k runs. When my hamstring is back to 100% I’d like to take myself off and see if I can manage to run a half-marathon.

Getting a 5k in after smashing a bunch of striped bass out in Canada in June 2024, sorry for the awful selfie!

I love being so much fitter and also a good bit lighter, and I accept that it takes a good bit of work to stay like this. Running has become my go-to way of keeping fit and much trimmer than I was. I also go to the gym once a week to do a pretty intense heart based rehab session where I do my best not to let the physiologist see how much I am sweating due to pushing it so hard on stuff like that horrible stairs machine! Gotta be able to get up and down the cliffs and over lots of rocky ground for a good while longer. Let’s get going then with the Non-fishing Stuff of the Year 2024……………

Film of the Year 2024: Civil War

I read mixed reviews of this film, but I loved it, and the feelings that are evoked have stuck with me. I tend to watch more TV series than films these days, but Civil War is up there for me.

TV Series of the Year 2024: Black Doves

What more do you want? Huge fun, amazing acting, I don’t much like London but wow Black Doves makes the city look incredibly appealing. Yet again Netflix seems to know exactly what viewers like me want to watch. The algorithms rule which is increasingly scary if you think too much about it.

Book of the Year 2024: All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Witaker

“A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession, and the blinding light of hope”. I couldn't have said it better myself. All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Witaker is a true epic that grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go, this is a great novel. I literally found myself choking with a mixture of emotion and not wanting the book to end the whole time I was reading it.

Album of the Year 2024: The Imperious Horizon by Winterfylleth

The mighty UK black metal band Winterfylleth came roaring back with their new album “The Imperious Horizon”. Nobody does this “grandiose” style of black metal better in my opinion, and that’s saying something in a year which has seen some incredible extreme metal released. Heavy, catchy, groovy, great production, this is how I like my music to be. Awesome. Highly recommended other albums are “Coma” by Gaerea, “Die Urkatastrophe” by Kanonenfieber, “Nocturnal Will” by Dödsrit, “Pro Xristou” by the mighty Rotting Christ, “La France des Maudits” by Seth, “Songs of Blood and Mire” by Spectral Wound, “Stella Pandora” by Arkona, “Nadir” by Groza, “Death Devil Magick” by Servant, and “Blazing Inferno” by Yoth Iria. Put that lot on rotation and I can guarantee you an awesome life!

Podcast of the Year 2024: Wisden Cricket Weekly Podcast

Hours and hours of in-depth chat and analysis about cricket, and especially Test cricket. Utterly glorious if you love cricket. Which I do.

Another Podcast of the Year 2024: The Wild with Chris Morgan

Wonderful tales and interactions etc. from the glorious outdoors, the host Chris Morgan is a Brit who lives in the Pacific North West of the USA. He comes across so well and I do love to immerse myself in the world he evokes with this excellent podcast.

Best Buy of the Year 2024: Hoka Clifton 9 running shoes

Not cheap, but damn these Hoka Clifton 9 running shoes are comfortable for pounding those road and pavement based miles. I do feel sorry for my running shoes with how un-runner like I am, but I do believe that good shoes are important if an old bloke like me is going to do what I do. I can’t praise these Clifton 9 shoes enough. I go one size over my UK shoe size if that is any help.

Another Best Buy of the Year 2024: Covacure Walking Pole (used as a wading stick)

Back in March I took a punt on these Covacure Walking Poles to try it out as a wading stick. I will do a blog post about this sometime soon, but in a word - wow. Cheap as chips, you get two collapsible walking sticks to use as wading sticks, and for the two of them it’s under £25. I am still on the first one because it refuses to give up the ghost after some hard use in a saltwater environment.

Another Best Buy of the Year 2024: Neewer Portable Desktop Mini Tripod

I needed a portable little camera tripod that could do a bit more than the excellent Smallrig Mini Tripod Tabletop Tripod I had been using with no complaints at all. I did a bit of research and came up with this little Neewer Portable Desktop Mini Tripod and I could not be happier with it. I shoot a lot more photos of myself fishing these days and this small and pretty lightweight tripod really helps me out.

Another Best Buy of the Year 2024: Wireless Shutter Release Camera Remote Control

I have finally found a fairly logical way to reliably shoot proper casting photos of me. Thanks to this Wireless Shutter Release Camera Remote Control I can now get the shots I need. I use it on my Sony cameras with whatever lens I choose to use, often a 70-200 f2.8 when it comes to casting shots. If there’s a more logical way to shoot self-portrait style casting shots then I am all ears, but for the time being this is what I use to help me achieve what I need to get done.

Biggest piles of Crap of the Year 2024: Gladiator 2 and the Roadhouse remake

Who doesn’t love the original Gladiator film, and who wouldn’t follow Russell Crowe into the colosseum when he speaks? If my wife and I had not booked a restaurant table for supper I’d have walked out of Gladiator 2 after about ten minutes. I hated every single thing about it. I can’t believe that a lesser rehash of the first film’s story was the best they could come up with after more than twenty years, and I thought the lead actor was incredibly weak. I wouldn’t have followed him into a public toilet, let alone the colosseum. I could watch Denzel Washington all day long - Training Day anyone? - but to me he dialled in a really weak performance which annoyed me even more with how many people were raving about him in the film. What a pile of crap. As for remaking the stone-cold classic Roadhouse, and whilst you’re at it include one of the worst acting “performances” I have ever seen in what Conor McGregor does in the film? An unforgivable load of crap. I have just about washed all traces of both films from my mind. You all have a good weekend………………

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