It was my worst and toughest academic year yet, but equally just as rewarding (well, at least, I try to remind myself of the rewards, 43 cushions later). It was the year Australia voted in* its first female Prime Minister. It was the year a Queenslander hacker brought too much attention to himself by leaking a heck of a lot of alarming cables. It was the year Bruce Wayne returned as the Batman, and DC Comics went nuts, or rather, Grant Morrison was permitted to go nuts.

All things considered, it was just another tumultuous year. So here’s a summary of what made 2010 for me.

You may have also noticed over the week that I’ve overhauled Evening Hour ‘s layout a lot. I’m slowly converting this blog into a review blog, since it’s all I seem to be doing anyway. It’s still under construction so there may be errors or blank spaces here and there. Watch this space!

* = “voted in” in the truest sense is questionable, as former PM Kevin Rudd was ousted by his own people, rather than the public, therefore we really had no choice…

Last night, all was crowded on the Palace front. My uni buddies and I sidled into a space at the front, watching the opening band, Seja, perform (who was good in a mellow, Au Revoir Simone synth-pop/electronica way, if a little shaky) but we were really just  impatient for Goldfrapp.

The roadies unveiled a giant shimmering silver nylon/spandex set prop shaped like a gramophone horn. Just a teasing prelude into what the night ahead promised. Given the physical limitations of the stage I was a bit apprehensive about how it would all turn out. But come half an hour later, boy did I have absolutely nothing to worry about, because as soon as “Voice Thing” started sighing through the airwaves and the lights flashed and the dry ice made a smoky haze, it was just one continual stream of dazzling, palpitating, hallucinogenic spectacles after another.