2013 - Year in Review

So, in keeping with the fast pace of modern life, it appears we have blinked and 2013 has turned into 2014.

Some years in history leave a bigger mark than others, whether its events of historical or cultural significance that stand out bigger than others. It is certain that 2013 will go down as a big year for a number of people, with a lot taking place that the future will look at as surprisingly significant.

At the very least, 2013 will go down as a more eventual start than 2012, which took a while to get going. The year had barely blinked into life when Britain's news channels were crying foul at the horse meat scandal.

This was mainly played by many for its comedic potential - top marks go to university students that dressed as a pantomime horse and loudly shouted "WHERE'S MY MUM?!?!?!" in the frozen food aisle - but it also provided plenty of thought and comment on food standards.

With banking and political figures taking hits since the start of the global recession in 2007, this duly increased the scope of doubt and agitation at major players in public life. Grumblings had been loud and vocal with the tax-dodging affairs of various banks and high street presences like Vodafone and Starbucks, but this exacerbated the misery and it was only going to get louder as 2013 went on.

January got plenty of mileage out of horse meat but just as it seemed to run out of steam, February provided a whirlwind of stories for media mileage.

Roughly in order, things began in the middle of February when North Korea commenced further nuclear testing. For a nation already ostracised by everyone, this was a bold move. It duly allowed North Korean supreme leader Kim Jung-Un a chance for some fairly by-the-numbers rhetoric about "crushing our neighbours in a sea of holy fire". More or less.

Only a few days later and television news suddenly turned apocalyptic. Mercifully, it was nothing to do with the North Koreans lobbing nukes, which turned out to be a damp squib as expected. Instead, similarly astonishing scenes from Siberia were broadcast of a meteor plummeting from the sky into the ground outside a town, causing scenes of destruction.

February continued another bad year for British politicans, with the UK losing its triple-A credit score. Chancellor George Osborne had an awful year in 2012, ranging from being booed at the Paralympic Games to getting in trouble for trying to dodge the first class fare on trains, and this was duly the icing on the cake of a terrible time of it.

Things improved a little for him when the UK avoided a triple-dip recession, which he duly claimed as a victory in December, but with growth slow at best and still struggling outside London, its questionable how much of a victory it is for people that don't work in banks.

British politics had another terrible year, with the credibility of mainstream politicians continuing its seemingly unstoppable erosion. But while the Tories were the main party to get a kicking in 2012, this time it was Labour who took it in the neck the most. Political sniping, problems with unions and the like meant Ed Miliband's third year in charge was not a comfortable one, and at times it led to the Tories getting an easy ride despite their increasingly ugly polices.

The Liberal Democrats had an easier time of it, but only because they really have now hit rock bottom and nobody cares anymore. The main story for them in 2013 turned out to be the jail term of former cabinet minister Chris Huhne and his ex-wife Vicky Pyrce, who were jailed for a myriad of stupid incidents.

Political apathy led to the rise of UKIP, who were big winners in May's local elections but its questionable how much of an impact, if any, Nigel Farage's party can make. If anything, as the year wore on, the bubble seemed to burst and UKIP began to slide back out of the pitcure.

February hadn't even ended when one of the surprise stories of the year emerged, with the sudden news of the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI - the first pope to voluntarily resign from poping in just under 720 years.

This was particularly interesting given the continuation of the litany of scandals the Catholic Church has found itself pursued by in the early part of the 21st century, and has dealt with poorly. The resignation was officially put down to "ill health" but some people cried conspiracy following 2012's Vatileaks Scandal in Italy, which accused the Catholic Church of corruption and blackmailing.

After a few weeks deliberating, the Vatican people bought in their new Pope, as Pope Francis I took control in early March. This has led to the creation a whole new image for the Church, which has been a lot more human-looking since the Argentine took office, much to the displeasure of the right-wing religious zealots on Fox News.

April saw tragedy strike America, when explosions injured over 260 people at the Boston Marathon. This was duly followed by a manhunt across half of Boston, perhaps not helped by repeatedly inaccurate speculation passing as news on CNN.

Across the Atlantic, Britain took to mourning the death of Margaret Thatcher in a very divided way. This perhaps was in keeping with the character, who divided the nation in spectacular fashion when she was leader - a split that has perhaps never fully healed.

While the media and (most of) the South East took to mourning and eulogising the one-time Prime Minister, the North of England opted to dust off the champagne bottles and begin celebrating. This drew plenty of self-righteous opposition fury and similarly self-righteous defending of these actions. In truth, this divisive celebration felt appropriate for a politician who was loved and hated in equal measure, and who is not really accepted north of Nottingham.

The funeral, by contrast, passed by relatively event-free as the woman was laid to rest to a crowd of well-wishers and PR-hungry Tories.

May was a month of finales for football, with a number of players making their big exit. David Beckham, Michael Owen, Paul Scholes and Jamie Carragher were four of the big players who all ended their stints as sport stars. But no departure captured the public imagination quite like the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson.The Manchester United manager called it a day after 26 years at Old Trafford, and signed off in the traditional style - with a Premiership trophy added to his collection.

How Man U fans wish it didn't end now, given that David Moyes has begun life roughly with a number of defeats against opponents United were beating comfortably and regularly in previous seasons.

The 2013-14 football season, when it began again, is so far proving to be refreshingly unpredictable. While it was easy to predict the ebb and flow at times at the end of the previous year, a whirlwind of managerial changes, new players and more trust in team's attacks means that its been harder to predict results, but its proving more fascinating to watch.

The month ended in much more bleak fashion, when a British soldier was killed in South East London by a man with an axe. With the trial ongoing, reporting on the sorry saga is tricky, but it was certainly a hugely unpleasant sight to see and hear about, and a sight reported in huge detail following a cavalcade of video footage. Three brave women who confronted the killers certainly deserved commendation.

June saw the internet shit hit the fan big time. CIA intelligence contractor Edward Snowden leaked news of the depressingly-huge array of intricate spying techniques. Revelations from this continued in their thousands of files throughout the rest of 2013, along with associated issues including the detention of David Miranda for carrying the files on his laptop on a flight to South America, and the pointless interrogation of Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger by MPs who seemed to be reading a script provided by the Daily Mail.

In terms of the revelations themselves, it is worrying just how far they go in eroding liberties. But its equally bizarre just how little surprised people are, given that it could well be their Facebook, Twitter, Google, Skype and other accounts being monitored.

There have been films that are based on the premise of constant surveillance, and the idea of it has certainly been given legs by various familiar online concepts, such as cookies, Google advertising and even something as humble as your search browser remembering your search history.

Even so, its questionable how much of this spy hardware is actually beneficial to the war on terror. The National Security Agency in the USA admitted it only caught one terror suspect, and its questionable at best if terrorists use Facebook to plan atrocities.

June also saw another huge surprise, as a British tennis player finally won the men's singles tournament at Wimbledon for the first time in 77 years. Andy Murray had come so close to victory in the same field in summer 2012, although he did win Olympic Gold and the US Open later that year. But this time around, the Scotsman secured the victory that Britain had been hoping for.

British sporting happiness would also continue that summer with a win for the British & Irish Lions in Australia, in one of the team's biggest ever wins, and a second successive Brit winner of the Tour de France in the form of Chris Froome. There was also another Ashes victory over Australia, although this would later backfire in a return series Down Under that the Aussies have already won after 3 tests.

Britain had another go at this celebration lark in July, as the world decided the imminent arrival of a new Royal Baby was worth flying thousands of journalist to London and queuing in a strong and surprise heatwave, and providing hour on hour of inane dispatches.

Eventually, Prince George was born on July 22nd, and will undoubtedly not become the first Royal that grows up to live on a council estate with 16 children.

August saw the headlines eventually come to be dominated by one very stupid thing. There had been a minor musical storm over Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines, which would eventually be the year's highest selling individual song despite its extremely questionable lyrical content and the lawsuit from Marvin Gaye's estate about copying his musical style. But at the MTV Video Music Awards at the end of the month, the song's notoriety reached peak exposure thanks to Miley Cyrus, a skin-coloured latex bikini and the "twerk".

This proved to be one of the year's dodgiest and dumbest moments, with acres of trees chopped down for comment on how Miley's influence is harming the new generation. As well as that, it also was a prime example of how much news values have changed, considering it happened on the same weekend as a harrowing chemical weapons attack in Syria yet dominated Twitter and other new-news media for a few days.

The crisis in Syria has been going on since 2011, and has now surpassed the 1,000 days mark. August ended with the shocking news of a massive chemical weapon attack and calls for yet another Middle Eastern war.

But the calls for once were not felt unanimous. While the Americans and French were practically loading the bombers, others felt not so sure it was a good idea considering the recent track record for Middle East intervention has resulted in the destruction of Iraq's political system and a 10-year long conflict in Afghanistan that seems to be ending with the Taliban returning to power.

With these kind of recent failures playing on their minds, the British government surprised everyone by voting not to engage in a conflict. Even more surprisingly, a Russia-led attempt at a peace summit and getting Syrian President Al-Assad to give up all and any chemical weapons he owned.

Similarly peaceful deals were brokered in Iran, which points to hope under the new Iranian President. But the Syria deal was still not playing well with the American leaders that had moved their fingers towards the triggers.

A miserable time for Obama was then further exacerbated in October, when a Republican Party that had spent most of the year blocking all his reforms decided the bet way to fight his signature healthcare policy was a government shutdown after a failure to agree financial policy for 2014.

Ultimately, this backfired more on the Republicans, who ended up giving in and essentially gaining nothing. Not that Obama could toast victory, given that his Obamacare site - the thing the whole charade was centered on - has yet to work properly, with the site subject to repeated glitches and faults in its roll-out.

In Britain, dissatisfaction with politicians was still carrying on. It reached a surreal point in November, when Russell Brand attempted to position himself as a political figurehead and the voice and leader of a revolution.

With faint predictability - this is Britain, after all - he was duly scorned by other comedians and by political figures. But this is as much telling of how little pop culture is willing to go about politicians. For every satire like The Thick of It or The Daily Show, you're more likely to get standalone comedies and dramas about the everyday matter as much.

Brand is probably not going to be the head of any revolution, but its hard to say at face value that he was not reflecting the fact people are increasingly unhappy and annoyed at the political system.

As the year was ending, the news began to get increasingly bleak. September saw the unbelievable horror of the raiding of a shopping centre in Africa by Somalian terrorists, who executed dozens of people, while November was begun with a typhoon in the Philippines, and shocking scenes of cities reduced to rubble.

The Philippines disaster was among a number of horrible natural disasters to take place in 2013, in a year that is now seeing climate change returning to a point of mainstream discussion. Meanwhile, the media in the UK missed the mark badly on their coverage of the Nairobi mall massacre by claiming it was masterminded by the widow of a 7/7 bomber, only for it to be revealed she'd had no involvement.

November and December in the West were dominated by drug stories, which was oddly fitting for a year where marijuana became more and more legal in America. The criminal lawsuit around former aides to Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson became a bafflingly huge news topic following revelations that Lawson took coke to cope with her violent husband, while drugs also bought Canadian politics to surprise prominence after Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was caught doing crack, among other increasingly bizarre antics.

Attempts to purchase crack and crystal meth also bought shame to Co-operative Bank chief Paul Flowers at a time his bank was failing. This saga is hardly one to put trust back into the banking system, which still has a poor reputation following the 2008 financial collapse.

Drugs had also provided the basis of one of the unlikeliest TV phenomenons of recent years, as the acclaimed drug-based drama Breaking Bad finished in 2013. This bought to an end to the adventures of school teacher turned drug kingpin Walter White. It also marked a year when streaming became more popular, with the exclusive deal to show Breaking Bad one of the things that made Netflix a major player in TV.

Television had another unusual year, with fading old baggy shows long past their prime cluttering the schedule. The X Factor continued to soldier one despite fewer and fewer people caring, while The Voice was practically dead on arrival. More recently, Homeland continued its plummet from grace, with a show once described as Barack Obama's favourite programme becoming universally despised after its 3rd season climax.

November saw the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, with the legendary sci-fi hobo in a blue box engaging in an epic adventure that finally filled in some of the gaps between the 8th and 9th Doctors (or is Christopher Eccleston now technically the 10th Doctor?)

It also set up the Christmas special, which will see Matt Smith leave after almost 4 years in the TARDIS. His departure was only confirmed by a leaked e-mail by careless BBC staff, but he will be replaced by Peter Capaldi. The Scot does have potential to be an interesting helmsman, but will sadly not be likely bringing over some of the moods that defined his most famous role as foul-mouthed spin doctor Malcolm Tucker.

Meanwhile, the drug that is technology continued its latest attempts at trying to advance the cause of human kind one expensive and some might say needless innovation at a time. While Apple and Android continued their war of minimally advanced smartphones - this time on the shelves rather than in the courts - in November, Sony and Microsoft launched the Playstation 4 and the XBox One next-gen gaming consoles. The gaming press and general reception has given PS4 a slight advantage, but with neither title's game launches that good, it means it'll take time for a console wars winner to emerge.

Particular proof of the minimal advance is FIFA 14, which isn't quite fully revolutionised. The version that has made it to PS4 has some incredible detail on replays and in cut scenes. But in terms of gameplay, it feels to have made a step backwards from FIFA 13 and the actual main play graphics look no better than the PS3 version of the same game. FIFA 15 may bring an improvement but until then, who knows.

Other entertainment forms struggled. The stellar success of Iron Man 3 and Despicable Me 2 hid the fact 2013 was not as strong a year for cinemas. The likes of Oblivion, World War Z, Man of Steel and Pacific Rim were all much hyped but flattered to deceive at the box office, while comedies such as The World's End and Anchorman 2 were funny but not the home run that their advance reputation suggested.

The music industry stayed in its usual state of flux, with EDM pop acts beginning to lose their lustre. The much anticipated Lady Gaga album turned out to be an uninteresting dud, while the move to disco-inspiration proved to be the winning formula for the much reviled Robin Thicke and the almost-universally adored Daft Punk.

It appears that Beyonce is set to eclipse all in the pop world before her, with the star's surprise album earning rave reviews. Meanwhile, rock enjoyed an odd year, with established acts like Queens of the Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys and Kings of Leon enjoying good album sales but few breakout stars truly emerging.

December then saw the death of Nelson Mandela. The South African President was an inspiration to many figures and his death was a time for the world to mourn the passing of one of the 20th century's most iconic individuals.

This was marked by a funeral week which included a public memorial service at the Soccer City stadium that held the 2010 World Cup Final. Such a venue proved more bizarre moments, with a handshake between Obama and the Cuban President Raul Castro providing attention, along with the odd sight of Obama, David Cameron and the Danish Prime Minister going for a selfie.

All in all, it helped to contribute to the end of a surreal and confusing year in news. 2013 will be marked out for a number of momentous events, and the deaths of some of the 20th century's most iconic political figures. It remains to be seen what 2014 will provide, and this year promises to provide yet more momentous events.

All we can do now is wait for them to happen.