Well, what a jerk of a year 2016 turned out to be. Although, having said that, I think if you look at all years, they all contain some good and some bad, so it's important do have some perspective. So, maybe let's wrap it up:

2016: A Summary.

Cons:

A lot of people that were cared about died, a lot of which were heroes of mine: special mention goes to David Bowie, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Muhammad Ali, Merle Haggard, and Leon Russell. Rest in Peace, everyone.
Some people won elections, which a lot of very rational and sensible people that care about each other and our planet didn't want to happen. You know what I'm talking about. Let's just hope that the sanity in humanity ultimately prevails.
There also seemed to be a lot of craziness in the world with terror attacks, war and aggression. Again, let's hope the compassion and common sense prevails on both sides of any conflict. Just look after each other, everybody.
I also seemed to go through a lot this year. As my good friend Emma Swift said to me recently, "2016: no-one gets out unscathed".

Pros:

A notable mention should be made in that great strides were made in medicine towards Alzheimer's prevention and treatment, which is something very close to me.
I know, it's sport, but the fact that the Footscray Bulldogs won the AFL grand final, and the Chicago Cubs won the 'World Series' after some extremely long years in the wilderness is something to cheer about.
Apparently Tiger numbers have also risen for the first time in a century, which is awesome news. They are still low, and there's a long way to go, but that's still something to be thankful for. Now, let's just save all the Orangutans and start bringing them back from the brink - stop buying food with Palm Oil in it, people. The Palm Oil industry is responsible for destroying huge areas of Orangutan habitat, so do your bit by not supporting it - buy products free of palm oil. Check the ingredients when you next go shopping.
I also released a new album this year, which you've probably all heard about, and it's got some great reviews so far. You can check it out over on the sounds page.
I was also involved in a great compilation project with a bunch of other Melbourne musicians called Warm Evenings, Pale Mornings, which featured each of us performing songs by another contributing songwriter. You can order a copy of it here.

We'll see you again in 2017, and we've got a show coming up on January 8th at The Standard in Fitzroy. Come along!