Its 2013, it’s a year that features a number that some may consider unlucky, but let’s not start of the year with worry. It’s the first time since 1987 that the year features four different digits, while it’s been 26 years since that last happened, you’ll have to wait until 2020 until the year next features a double digit.
The United Nations have declared it International Year of Quinoa, so I throw out the challenge for you to come up with any many uses for the South American grain as possible. Don’t just limit yourself to salads, think big.
It’s also International Year of Water Cooperation. Having lived a significant part of my life on the high seas I was fairly convinced that you couldn’t get water to cooperate – better to just go with the flow, but upon further reading I’ve discovered the UN declaration is actually more about nations cooperating to bring water to people who desperately need it, which is indeed a worthy endeavour.
In Western Australia it’s probably fair to call it the year of the election, with both state and federal polls guaranteed to occur this year. You’d be blind to not have noticed the proliferation of candidate’s posters and billboards springing up all over the city. It’s also obvious that one political party has a lot more money to spend on the election than the others.
The press releases about politicians opening envelopes, cutting ribbons and meeting every community group under the sun are also coming thick and fast – but much less information about policies and what people actually stand for. Looking back at the vaudevillian performances of both our state and federal politicians over the last few years it’s not surprising that we may have given up on politics to some degree.
If politics doesn’t grab you and you like to keep things superficial it’ll also be the year of the One Direction tour, Beyonce will be performing at the Super Bowl and Lady Gaga is set to release a new album. Here at OUTinPerth we promise to treat all of the above with equal attention in the year ahead, except maybe the quinoa.
Graeme Watson
editor@outinperth.com
