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I want to start off by saying that 2016 was an interesting year. Not only did this crazy year see the death of actors like Alan Rickman and Carrie Fischer and musicians like Leonard Cohen and Prince, but it also some Twilight Zone vibes like Donald Trump getting elected as the next president of the USA. The best word to describe 2016 would probably be “surreal”.

On the 2016 cinematic front, movie lovers enjoyed films like Captain America: Civil War,  Deadpool,  The Arrival, The Conjuring 2, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Extraordinary Children, The Nice Guys, Sausage Party and The Accountant and had mixed feelings about films like Batman Vs Superman, Suicid Squad, the Ghostbusters reboot and Fantastic Beasts & Where to find them. If you ask me, Hollywood seems to be running out of original ideas, but I’m hoping that 2017 will bring us some great original movies.

I’ve already made a list of the Top 30 Songs of 2016 that you should listen to. This year saw the the release of new albums from Pixies, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blink 182, Garbage, The Strokes, Jake Bugg, Metallica, Billy Talent, Biffy Clyro, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wolfmother and various other international artists. On the local front Made For Broadway released their debut album. There were also great releases from Southern Wild, The Tazers, Matthew Mole, Shortstraw, New Academics, Albert Frost, Boxer, Sol Gems, Grassy Spark, Hellcats, Crimson House and many others. I think it’s safe to say that when it comes to music, 2016 was not that bad.

I don’t write much about politics, but I think I have to mention that this year was proof that voting  can make a difference in South Africa. Thanks to the 2016 Local Government Elections, the Democratic Alliance gained control of the Johannesburg & Pretoria (Tshwane) metropolitan areas in Gauteng and also the Port Elizabeth (Nelson Mandela Bay) metropolitan area in the Eastern Cape and positive changes are already happening…

On the flip side, I’ve had a lot of fun this year. It was fun dancing in the rain at the Mumford & Sons concert, rocking out to Iron Maiden and Blood Brothers at Carnival City. It was also fun enjoying great live music at Park Acoustics, partying my butt off at Mieliepop, Parklife and Lush Festivals and getting my dust, music and Jose Cuervo fix at my 18th Oppikoppi festival. Thanks to everyone who made this possible. I’m looking forward to enjoying good live music and taking photos of artists in 2017.

This year saw some personal ups and downs, but in the end everything turned out okay. Being without a car for nearly 8 weeks did suck, but support from the love of my life (she knows who she is) and my friends made it bearable. Thanks peeps. You guys  and girls rock!  On the professional side, I did work very hard in 2016 and I’m looking forward to the challenges that 2017 will bring. Thanks to my work colleagues for their support this year.

2016 was a great year for Running Wolf’s Rant. We did not win any awards this year, but this year saw an increase of interest in our articles and competitions. Thanks to everyone who contributed and visited the site. To date this site has had more than 550,000 visits and over 800,000 pageviews in 2016. Things can only get better in 2017.