IslayBlog.com -> 2011 ->
Disathairne, 31/Dec/2011
2011 on IslayBlog.com
No, this isn't really ‘the’ Islay blogging roundup, just a roundup for this year on this blog. Last year I did Armin's completely partial Islay (and Jura) Awards 2010, the year before I had 2009 on IslayBlog.com with a review by topic. For this year I decided to return to a monthly format, kind of similar to what I did with 2008 on IslayBlog.com. Just shorter.
If I counted correctly there are 320 (incl this one) entries on the blog this year. Some not very good (probably), some decent (I think) and some good (I hope). Let me pick three from each month I personally liked and/or enjoyed writing for one reason or another:
- 05/Jan/2011: Carlos Gardel Statue in Bowmore, Islay — enjoyed the detective work to find out what this was about
- 10/Jan/2011: Singing at Colonsay Ceilidh — because the 10yo boy just sang so beautifully
- 26/Jan/2011: Do nothing on Islay for 3 minutes — a video born out of a stupid idea, but still one of my favourite Islay videos
- 01/Feb/2011: Gate at Kildalton, Islay — a video about the small and often overlooked things
- 05/Feb/2011: New Islay Distillery Panorama - Laphroaig — one of my favourite Islay panoramas this year
- 22/Feb/2011: Carl introduces Islay to the Germans — nice to see Islay being introduced to the Germans in a non tourist board style
- 02/Mar/2011: Bruichladdich flicks the Switch for Biowaste — because I know how much this means to Mark Reynier
- 17/Mar/2011: St. Patrick's Day with a Laphroaig — I had to chuckle when I read the tweet
- 28/Mar/2011: Help Islay Students to go on Mission:Explore — for the simple reason that we were successful and two weeks I later I helped taking the books to Islay
- 01/Apr/2011: James Bond Movie to be filmed on Islay? — one of my favourite April Fools so far
- 26/Apr/2011: Windows into Islay's Past - Preview — one of my favourite Islay photography projects this year
- 27/Apr/2011: Inver Hydro Project on Jura — a fascinating project on Islay's neighbour Jura
- 12/May/2011: Bear Bones in a Toy Shop — probably my favourite band with an Islay connection, also one of my favourite music videos of the year. Simple but great
- 16/May/2011: Underwater Wildlife and Seascapes Video — an insight into a fascinating world most of us will never get to see
- 17/May/2011: Major Wildlife's Islay Pictures — Some of the best Islay wildlife pictures I've seen this year
- 19/Jun/2011: Return from the Islay Beaches — return from a nice holiday despite illness
- 20/Jun/2011: HitchHop to Visit Islay (and more) — a great project I was able to follow and provide a tiny bit of support
- 21/Jun/2011: Great Moment at Islay Beach Rugby 2011 — one of my favourite moments of the year
- 05/Jul/2011: Sean O'Leary's Paintings in the Islay Hotel — some of the most famous paintings on Islay
- 27/Jul/2011: Philip Gray's Islay Photography — because I think Phil is a nice guy and good photographer
- 30/Jul/2011: Islay Night Sky Timelapse — probably the shortest video I've linked to this year, but also one of my favourite topics/sights
- 01/Aug/2011: Young People's Views of Islay — a unique insight into what young people on Islay think
- 02/Aug/2011: Islay Pipe Band - Grade 3A European Champions — the biggest success of the Islay Pipe Band to date
- 15/Aug/2011: Creating the Laphroaig Islay Windows into the Past — an update on my favourite Islay photography projects this year
- 08/Sep/2011: The BMW Z4 Forum visits Islay — a fabulous visit to Islay with some very nice cars
- 14/Sep/2011: Gallop along Machir Bay, Islay — just because it's nice (and my sister would have enjoyed it if it wasn't blocked in Germany because of the music)
- 30/Sep/2011: Friday Islay Picture(s) #211 - the islay Hotel 2007 to 2011 — getting ready for a big event…
- 02/Oct/2011: the islay Hotel is Open — finally the big moment had arrived
- 10/Oct/2011: More From ‘the islay’ Hotel Opening Day — more from the big day
- 31/Oct/2011: Back from October Islay Holidays — another great holiday on Islay, despite rather mixed weather
- 01/Nov/2011: The Islay Hotel restaurant and bar are open for business! — my first own impressions of the reopened The Islay Hotel
- 03/Nov/2011: Nice Pinhole and Analog Camera Islay Pictures — sometimes I love old technology. Especially when brought into the modern world
- 22/Nov/2011: More Gaelic with Port Ellen Primary, Islay — I just loved this, primary school children learning Gaelic while utilising modern technology. Not to mention that they helped me to be confident I'm doing it right
- 10/Dec/2011: Supporting Cancer Research & Care — a non-Islay post, but very important to me
- 21/Dec/2011: Islay, Jura and the Draft Ferries Plan — potentially significant changes for the ferry services to Islay and Jura
- 24/Dec/2011: Unboxing my Laphroaig Christmas Hamper from Islay — I think this post made quite a few people jealous…
That's it, 36 out of 320 I picked for this year. Did I pick the right ones or would you have picked any others?
A huge thanks to all my readers and commenters, be it on here, on Twitter, on Facebook or on Google+. Without you it wouldn't be half as much fun doing this. Thank you also to all the other bloggers, tweeters, facebookers, blipphotograpers, tumblrs, G+ers, YouTubers, flickrers and anythingIhaveforgotteners out there, without you it wouldn't be possible. If I had to pick one, I think the Islay Birds blog would be the one I couldn't live without. Ian and his crew of contributors both local and visiting are just doing a fantastic job.
Now it's time to move on to 2012…
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