10. All Things Royal and British.
If you thought last year was the best year for Britain’s monarchy (what with Prince William tying the knot with Kate Middleton), this year beat it soundly. Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Diamond Jubilee (60 years on the throne) in style. Family members spread out to visit all corners of the Commonwealth. Even though Prince Philip ended up in the hospital, festivities continued and Britons celebrated their queen. Then the scandals began to hit. First, Prince Harry is caught on camera in the middle of naked romp in a Las Vegas hotel room. And then Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, was caught topless while vacationing with William in France. They were published in a few magazines and the Royal family sued. Things have calmed down…well, with one exception. But that’s for later!
9. Lance Armstrong is Disgraced
Lance Armstrong was an American hero. He made us care about the Tour de France. And he powered his way through testicular cancer to come back stronger. Using his celebrity, he created a group to fight cancer—Livestrong. But then allegations of doping—using an illegal performance enhancer—began to emerge. Armstrong denied them and began to fight the claims. More and more allegations and proof came to light and Armstrong stopped fighting. He was stripped of his Tour de France titles and lost his corporate deals. And he lost many people’s respect.
8. 50 Shades of Popularity
I honestly could no go anywhere this past summer without seeing or hearing about this book. After reading some excerpts, I decided it wasn’t for me. While I cannot grasp why the book has become popular (and don’t feel the need to “enlighten” me. I have read—and heard—many reasons why people like it. It doesn’t mean I suddenly understand it), many people clearly enjoyed it. So here’s to
7. Farewell to Twinkies
This year, Hostess’ workers went on strike. When a deal could not be reached, Hostess announced it would have to close. Immediately, people worried about the fate of Twinkies. We’ve joked for years they would survive the Apocalypse along with cockroaches. Now, it is the end of Twinkies as Hostess has gone out of business. There are rumors other brands will buy Twinkies but nothing seems concrete. And just as pot was legalized in a few states as well…
6. Last Flight of the Space Shuttles
With NASA retiring space shuttles, the last remaining ones were sent to other places to be displayed. The Enterprise was flown to New York City to be displayed at the Intrepid. The modified Boeing 474 buzzed several New York landmarks and people lined up to watch it. A few months later, the Endeavour flew to its final home in California. There was some great footage of the space shuttle flying over Epcot in Florida and then flying over the Magic Kingdom in California days later. Once again, people gathered to watch its journey.
5. Embassies Attacked in the Middle East
September 11th isn’t a good day in America generally. While nothing has come close to the darkness of the day eleven years ago, this year was second. Riots spread across the Middle East, mostly because a government run TV station in Egypt just so happened to air a translated version of a YouTube video no one knew existed. A YouTube video which insulted the Islam religion. Outraged, the people took to protesting outside American embassies, demanding the government take down the video (either ignoring or completely ignorant of the fact that the relationship between our government and the internet is different from theirs). As the protested gathered, news came out our embassy in Libya was attacked and our ambassador was dead. We’re still sorting everything out. But it was a terrorist attack. That much we know.
4. Obama Re-elected
I thought this election would never end! This year seemed one of the nastiest I ever saw. But Lord did it have some funny moments. Like Mitt Romney’s dog tied to the roof of the car. Obama’s dismal performance at the first debate. Joe Biden v. Paul Ryan. The folders of women. And many, many more. Come Election Day, I went up to take a shower and Romney was winning in the Electoral College. I came down after and Obama was winning. He went on to win the night, proving one thing: Do. Not. Mess. With. Big. Bird.
3. Wills and Kate are Pregnant!
Told you the British Royalty would be back on this list! And last year, I believed I would have Royal baby news on this list. Looks like I was right. Earlier this month, the palace announced Kate was pregnant after she was rushed to the hospital with severe morning sickness. People over the world were excited and began placing bets on the baby’s sex and name. But there was a damper on the good news. Two Australian DJs managed to fool the hospital staff into thinking they were Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles calling about Kate. The next day, one of the nurses involved was found dead in what is believed to be a suicide. As the world mourned, the royal baby took a backseat. But now we await a royal bundle of joy!
2. The Year of Shootings
It was a year where people got trigger happy. And that’s not a good thing. A troubled young man walked into a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, CO, and shot up the theater. Twelve people died and many more injured. Out of respect, all the movie studios refused to post the overnight numbers and revealed the box office intake on Monday. New York City increased police patrol at all theaters, fearing a copycat. We still don’t know his motivations.
There were shootings in a Sikh temple and an Oregon mall. And then on December 14th, a young man walked into a Connecticut school and opened fire. When the smoke cleared, 26 people lay dead as did the shooter. Twenty of them were children, none older than 7 years old. The nation—and the world—reeled. As we mourned, we also wondered what to do next. And took inspiration from stories that emerged from the horrible day: the teacher who hid all her children before the gunman took her life, the theater who hid with her students in a bathroom and told each other them she loved them so if the worst happened it would be the last thing they heard, the man who found children who escaped the massacre and took them in until they could be returned to their parents, and many more.
1. Superstorm Sandy
Oh, Sandy.
Hurricane Sandy was a late hurricane, forming in October, that worried meteorologists when they realized it was going to combine with two other storm systems. They believed it would be worse than the Perfect Storm of 1991. And it was aimed at New York and New Jersey. We hunkered down and once again, public transportation was halted and bridges were closed. Zone A was evacuated. The wind grew stronger and more fearsome as the day pressed on. A tree in our backyard was bent like it was a straw but it held. We lost power around 9:15PM on Monday. My family lit every candle we owned, powered up the flashlights and read Christmas memories.
In the morning, we still had no power. But my grandmother did. So my sister went there to do her laundry (her college had “strongly urged” everyone to go home and she did. With laundry). Around 6PM, I noticed our living room lamp had turned on. Our power was back. Which meant the news was back with pictures rather than the radio we had been relying on. We were able to see the devastation. The rollercoaster out at sea. Houses buried in sand. Or houses moved from their original place. Places still flooded. Places gone, swept out to sea. South Ferry train station under water. People without homes. And so much more…Months later, people are still trying to rebuild their lives.
So, there you have it—my top 10 stories for 2012! Agree? Disagree?
And now, some honorable mentions:
Olympics
Whitney Huston dies
Doomsday
Last, but not least, let us remember those we lost this year:
Joe Paterno, Penn State Coach
Etta James, singer
Patricia Neway, actress
Don Cornelius, TV host
Whitney Huston, singer
Davy Jones, Daydream believer and singer
Mike Wallace, journalist
Dick Clark, World's Oldest Teenager
Maurice Sendak, Author
Vidal Sassoon, Hair product visionary
Donna Summer, singer
Robin Gibb, singer
Richard Dawson, actor
Kathryn Joosten, actress
Ray Bradbury, author
Caroline John, actress/Liz Shaw
Rodney King, LAPD victim
Andy Griffith, actor
Ernest Borgnine, actor
Nora Ephron, Author and director
Sherman Hemsley, actor
Gore Vidal, author and playwright
Tony Scott, director
Marvin Hamlisch, composer
Neil Armstrong, astronaut
Michael Clarke Duncan, actor
Chris Stevens, ambassador
John Ingle, actor
Phyllis Diller, comedienne
Russell Means, actor and Native American activist
Larry Hagman, actor
Jack Klugman, actor
Charles Durning, actor
H. Norman Schwarzkopf, general
They will be missed. As will 2012.
Bring it on, 2013.
1 comment:
Nice and informative blog. Helpful for everyone to review their 2012.
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