2009 What a Year
I love this time of year because it’s an opportunity to look back and review everything that has gone right and wrong in the last year of our decade. Every news show on TV today has their own reviews; many of them are closing out the decade by sharing all the things that made our first decade of this millennium so special.
It’s amazing to reflect on my decade. I graduated college, had 4 successful careers (two of which were 2 years or more), had many girls enter and exit my life, met my wife (who will hopefully not exit), got married, owned 3 different cars, lived in 5 different addresses, bought my very first home, lost some loved ones (including my grandma Betty) and I hopefully made the difference in the lives of people who I care deeply about. I feel like I matured, I’ve made my family proud and I’ve encouraged people to look at the world in unconventional ways.
I am putting my own spin on what has occurred in 2009. Please take this journey with me.
THE YEAR IN MUSIC
Without having all the facts, which is what’s nice about having a blog as opposed to professional column, I will say that 2009 was a big year for Lady Gaga, Adam Lambert, Katy Perry, The Killers, Alicia Keyes and Coldplay to name a few.
It was not such a good year for pop sensation Rianna, who was sadly physically abused by her boyfriend, Chris Brown. Brown, who apparently has musical talent that missed my radar screen, had more hit punches than hit records in 2009 and should be forever banned from ever performing again. Honestly, I hope he gets blackballed. Our children need role models to look up too. As for Rianna, she is now more famous than ever and she can actually sing a little bit too.
It was also a good year for Taylor Swift. Up until the point where her accomplishments were interrupted by Kanye West on the MTV Video Music Award Show. He ended up looking like the worlds biggest jackass and Taylor Swift has since sold over 3.6 million albums. Plus she is dating teenage vampire heartthrob Lucas Till, which has become the envy of every vampire tween in America.
Then there was Susan Boyle. Never in our lifetime has an individual been so revered for having the unique qualities of both singing and being ugly at the same time. Usually those combinations are hard to find. With her beautiful soothing voice and her constant repeat performances of the “Les Miserable” classic “I Dreamed a Dream.” It’s amazi
ng how she memorizes every word and manages it to stay in tune every though she remains being attractively-challenged. She now has a new album out called “Wild Horses.” Let’s see how she tackles original songs.
Then there were the razzy pop tunes that can’t escape our minds in “09”. My personal favorite was “My Life Would Suck without You” by Kelly Clarkson. Not only because I have a secret crush for The Clarkster but because I think the song is rather funny, catchy and different than much of the other blah songs I hear on radio. Then there was Miley Cyrus and that melodic song about climbing mountains. Truth be told I think she is TERRIBLE actress and simply an ok singer. It doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the value of her songs being real karaoke pleasures. Then of course we can’t help dancing to the Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling.” Even when things looked bleak in 2009, I always had a feeling that “today was gonna be a good day.” Can’t wait to hear what 2010 brings to my ears.
Of course the biggest story in music of 2009 and perhaps of the entire decade was the death of Michael Jackson. You can read my blog from back in June to get my true reflections of Michael Jackson the man but from a strictly musical perspective, there has never been anyone more captivating then Americas favorite boy-lover. When it comes to true geniuses of music, you have the great composers (i.e. Mozart, Bach, and Handel). Then you have the soothing voice of Frank Sinatra, and then of course the King of Rock, Elis Presley, who oddly will always be connected to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, if for no other reason then the daughter of Elvis was briefly married to Michael Jackson.
There was wall to wall coverage of Jackson’s death, which included helicopters tracking his body being transported to the coroner, followed by allegations of physician mistreatments, followed by the parading of his children during the tribute concert. We also had radios, television stations and even jail cells immortalizing, imitating and replaying his many hit records. Michael Jackson was creepy but interesting, enigmatic and of course controversial but he also reshaped and redefined the way we listen to pop music today.
THE YEAR IN POLITICS
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, we have inaugurated a new president. His name is Barack Obama and guess what? He’s black. Guess what else? He is Muslim and he wasn’t even born in America. Even though he has presented his birth certificate and two forms of ID to every looney toon birther in Hicksville America. He is also a Democrat, which means he wasn’t associating himself with Muslim extremists until after he beat out Hilary Clinton for the party nomination in 2008.
I don’t want to dive too deeply into his politics but I will say it’s been a busy year. Much of it was spent trying to overturn many of the poor policies of the last 8-years. Yes I recognize my statement be seem hypocritical but I can at least acknowledge that George Bush was born in America and isn’t a Muslim fundamentalist. The new president has spent the last year spending. Literally, he has bailed out banks, car manufacturers and the housing industry. Whether you agree or disagree with his philosophy, the truth is our economy is back to recovery. He is also the first president to get healthcare reform passed. Once again, you can agree or disagree with the components of the bill but the bottom-line is no other president has done this…ever. So 2009 was quite an eventful year for the Obama’s. They also got a dog and planted an organic garden. Did I mention Obama also ordered the Navy to shoot down some Somali pirates? Not a bad 1st year for a socialist, communist, fascist with the middle name of Hussein. Oh yea, he also won a peace prize this year. Suck on that
Meanwhile, in the politics as usual department, my old pal John Edwards was on Oprah denying that he is babies’ daddy even though the child has his perfectly wavy hair. Also, more statesmen revealed their infidelities, including the governor of South Carolina, Marc Sanford, who clearly has an appetite for women in the Appalachian Trails.
In the sad political news of 2009, we saw the imminent death of a Kennedy. Fortunately this one was not caused by a bullet or faulty helicopter. This was due to an incurable cancer of the brain, which in reality was sad and devastating as Edward Kennedy was the true “lion” of the senate. He was well-respected from both sides of the aisle. He was the last great Kennedy and was pretty instrumental in helping Barack get elected in 2008.
THE YEAR IN SPORTS
There is only so much you can say in sports. There was the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. There were no underdog champions in the 4 professional sport championships. Steelers beat the Cardinals for their 6th overall NFL Super Bowl, which is the most in the leagues history. Yankees won their 27th World Series, which is also the most in their leagues history. Proving that money can truly buy championships. The Lakers won their 15th title. Although they’ve appeared in more NBA finals than any other team in the league. Lastly we saw the Penguins hoist the cup for the 3rd time in 20 years.
The true fun was watching the journey of sports throughout 2009. Brett Favre’s retirement versus unretirement fluctuated more than Kristie Alleys body weight. The year 2009 also became the year Michael Vick demonstrated courage (according to his teammates) and Michael Phelps did not demonstrate restrain when it came to bonging it up. Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez continued to taint steroid usage in baseball and Lance Armstrong gave it one more try on the French circuit to no avail.
It also was the year that Serena Williams got mouthy with a referee and Plaxico Burress gets to spend time in prison where guns don’t accidentally go off in your pants, unless you share a cell with Bubba, if you know what I mean. Lebron is still the greatest human being to ever touch a basketball in my lifetime and the one guy faster than a bolt is actually named Hussein Bolt.
Then there were sports stars acting inappropriately. There were sex scandals surrounding Steve Philips, Rick Pitino and Tiger Woods. I should clarify that all these scandals were not inter-related. I will say that Tigers demise was perhaps the worst on many levels.
Tiger has been the darling of golf since he graced the stages of late night television at age 3. He was a prodigy of the sport and perhaps the greatest sales tool for Nike and a plethora of other products. Until that one day Tiger realized he should get married. That one decision proved to be the worst of his life. Its ok to be a celebrity slut and sleep with every gal you can find (see Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Timberlake). But the only reason these guys can pull this behavior off with such grace is because…. (Drum roll please… They are not married. Plus they are Hollywood actors so sleeping around with other actresses is perfectly acceptable in that circle. So this was the year that we found out that a Tiger is really a Cheetah and maybe his best bet of avoiding embarrassment and scrutiny is to be like Hollywood and stick to his own kind. Next time he should live it up with Paula Creamer instead of some cocktail waitress media whore.
Then there was the story of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews. It was one of the oddest things I’ve ever encountered. There is no doubt that every guys desire to see hear naked but under her own wishes. One peeping Tom made this possible by videoing her without her consent through her hotel peephole. Although these pictures were available on every trashy website, guys around the world banded together in an unspoken code of honor and decided that by viewing these pictures were committing a crime ourselves. I too showed restraint. I would have only looked at a naked Erin Andrews if that was her intent. I’m not that big of a scumbag. Besides she is not just a pretty gal, she is actually a really terrific reporter. I just hope that Tony Siragusa is not stalked in his hotel room in 2010.
In sports we lost a few notables. It’s hard to imagine baseball without hearing the great voice of Harry Kalas but even if you don’t watch the Phillies, his voice was as recognizable as John Facenda in the NFL Films productions. He also voiced the Chunky soup and Super Pretzel commercials. He is not only a Philadelphia sports icon but in my opinion an American treasure. Kalas was 73-years-old. The sports world also lost two young athletes. Most recently was Bengals WR, Chris Henry. After many years of battling legal troubles for assault, drugs and DUI, it finally appeared as though his life was coming back into focus. He was playing real well for the Bengals and staying out of trouble. He then accidentally fell out of a moving truck and died the next morning at age 26. We also mourned the loss of Nick Adenhart. He was a promising young pitcher for the LA Angels when his fate dealt him another hand. He happened to be on the wrong street at the wrong time when he was struck by a drunk driver. Adenhart was only 23-years-old. Two athletes who left us way too early.
2009 TV & MOVIES
This was a big year for Vampire movies, Super Hero movies and Reality television. Seems as though we are hung up about Jon and Kate and we also loved seeing shows about big families (from a quantitative perspective and from a weight perspective).
HBO followed up The Sopranos and an aging Entourage show with new hip shows like True Blood and Hung. This adds to their already hit collection of Big Love and of course Curb Your Enthusiasm, which came out strong in 2009 with the entire Seinfeld cast.
There were a lot of swarthy movies like Angels and Demons and a cheeky mockumentary called Bruno, which toed the line of decency but the biggest surprise hit of 2009 was The Hangover, which managed to tie sophomoric humor together in a way that can even satisfy the middle aged audience.
The big new shows of the year included, Mad Men, Glee and Flash Forward and we said goodbye to TV treasures like Monk and Without a Trace.
It appears that the Oscars are dealing with the task of choosing from movies like Up In The Air, Inglourious Bastards and Invictus. Ironically the three stars (Clooney, Pitt and Damon) all starred together in the Oceans movies. Wonder if they’ll all be seated together on Oscar night?
The big news was the lost of many of Hollywood’s talent. Veteran actor David Carradine died in an awkward and embarrassing matter and then came Patrick Swayze, who is now reprising his role of Ghost. Natasha Richardson tragically died in a skiing accident and Brittany Murphy collapsed at age 32. We also lost TV news legend Walter Cronkite. It was a tough year to be a celebrity. The toughest death may have been watching Jon Travolta and wife Kelly Preston deal with the sudden loss of their teenage son while in the Bahamas.
YEAR IN POP CULTURE
One of my favorite stories was the downfall of Miss California, Carrie Prejean. Who knew that so much controversy can come from being anti-gay beauty contestant? Her reply to the gay beauty judge, Perez Hilton, set off a firestorm that netted her time on nearly every media outlet. She needed to answer to sex tapes, admit her boob job and she even had the audacity to call Larry King inappropriate for no particular reason. I’m not saying that Perez Hilton behaved any better. I just find it fascinating that people care more about a witless bimbo. In 2008, the elephants found Joe the Plumber then in 2009 the followed up with Carrie the anti-gay symbol.
Next we have the great perils of Jon and Kate Gosselin. Anybody who has watched their show the past few years could have seen a divorce from a mile away. Poor Jon had to father 8 children before he figured it out himself. What ensued was a selfish Kate who cared more about the show itself and its subsequent pay, which kept her from working a real job then she cared about her children’s unhealthy TV exposures and ultimately children. For Jon it meant a new found freedom to hook up with every party gal in sight and instead of living in a place near his family’s home in PA, he instead opted for a party pad in New York City. Neither Jon nor Kate is deserving of a parent of the year trophies.
We also had David Letterman who was being extorted thus forcing him to admit his infidelities in front of millions of his late night fans. The fact remains his affairs were with office staffers, which made him look very creepy but yet somehow cool too. I’m just wondering if Paul Shaffer is shagging anyone in the band.
Then we had the Swine Flu take flight around the world. It is factual that people did indeed die from the communicable disease but it’s also very true that more people die from the common flu we get every year. All this swine coverage did was put panic across every person with a mild everyday cough. I believe I had the Swine flu 6 times this year.
It was cured with a drop of cough syrup.
VILLIANS OF 2009
First we have Bernie Madoff. What a guy!! Because of him the Baby Boomers can no longer retire early. His ponzi scheme stole over 13 billion dollars from his clients. It bought him 150+ years in a federal prison and he is possibly the more hated than most indicated felons. Those felons have negatively affected the lives of a few people. Madoff selfishly destroyed the lives of thousands of investors and he’ll never see the light of the day again.
I also want to nominate Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Dick Cheney and Sean Hannity as villains. They are villains not because they are Republicans. I actually like many Republican commentators (Amy Holmes, Mike Murphy, and Todd Harris). Hek, I vote for almost every republican in the state races. The problem is that the aforementioned individuals will never compromise nor acknowledge a single good policy issue if it was introduced by a democrat. I recognize the twist side to the argument is there are people (i.e. Ed Shultz and Keith Olbermann and Air America) who do the same thing when republicans are in office. My point is that politics has become very divisive in our country, especially in 2009. It’s been impossible to agree on anything anymore. I feel like the villains are the talking heads of the opposing party, who want to revolt by denigration our leadership, hosting TEA (Taxed Enough Parties) and completely polarizing our country. They want to scar our thoughts to the point where they would criticize an opposing party for the way they kill fly’s or even show too much affection when meeting the queen. These “drive by media types” openly wish that our leadership “fails.” It’s hard to imagine this will change in 2010 but let’s hope our media voices can acknowledge success instead of praying for failure.
HEROS of 2009
Every year needs a few superheroes that don’t wear capes or spin webs. Its ordinary people who do extraordinary things.
On January 15th, 2009, we were all awestruck and captivated by the images of the US Airways flight sitting on top of the Hudson River. There were 130+ passengers huddled on the wings waiting to be rescued by New York Ferry system. The cause of this incident was due to a “double bird strike,” which ironically is what I use when cursing slow drivers on my way to work each morning. A hero emerged named Captain Sully. It’s undeniable that he was cool under pressure and averted a far superior fate. The truth is that if even one person had died then Sully and hero would never be eternally tied together. My problem is that most passengers praised his landing. I may be a minority here but you know what kind of airline pilots I praise? Ones that land on runways. I mean these poor people probably didn’t even get their airline miles as they fell short of their intended destination.
The last hero is David Goldman. I recognize his story begins in 2004 but the ending came just a few short weeks ago. This New Jersey native began a dream life by marrying a Brazilian model, having a son and joylessly sharing his love for them. Then in 2004, his wife left for a 2-week trip to Brazil to visit family with her son. A few days after she arrived, she informed her husband that she is no longer in love with him, wants a divorce and is keeping her son in Brazil. This would be every father’s nightmare. In the eyes of Brazilian law, a divorce was completed and she eventually she remarried a prominent lawyer. David’s pursuit to ever gain custody of his son seemed impossible until karma played an integral role.
Last year, his now ex-wife, died giving birth to her first child with the prominent lawyer. David felt this was the break in law that he needed. He was now the only living biological parent of Sean and he felt as though the custody would be an open and shut case. It was not as easy as one thought. Brazilian courts continued to rule in favor of the step father and this battle seemed to be a very frustrating case for me to personally comprehend on its merit. Why wouldn’t this kid be returned home? As the story turns out, courts eventually ruled on the side of logic and after 5 years of separation, 14 visits to Brazil and $400,000 in lawyer fees / missed work time / flights / food etc. My personal opinion is that David Goldman deserves to be the father of the year. In an age where women usually get the benefit in most custody battles, it’s nice to see a father do everything in his power to deservingly gain custody of the child, who should have never been taken nor kept from his for this long.
WHATS IN STORE FOR 2010
So 2010 will undoubtedly bring a new flavors and new innovations to our world. It’s tough to make any bold predictions but we can certainly surmise new stories of our US Winter Olympians, we can pray for the safe return of our men and women serving our country admirably, we will see new men and women come into government in the mid-term elections. Here in Pennsylvania, we will be electing a new governor to look over our commonwealth. Speaking of wealth, we anticipate new jobs and a recovery in our economic system. We will discover new and bright talent in the things that entertain us. We hope that we can all be concerned citizens and find energy efficient ways to preserve our environment. We can hope for new technologies to not only improve our everyday lives but to also improve our health and wellness. Happy New Year to everyone reading my blog and I hope 2010 brings joy to you and your family.
