Recently by Joseph M. Jamison
At the culmination of last year's year in review, I told 2008 that I was 'glad to meet her acquaintance.' I take it back. What a jerk she turned out to be.
Music
Album sales continue to plummet while digital downloads continue to rise. iTunes reached one billion sales for the first time ever and vinyl records had its biggest year (1.88 million units) since the Nielsen SoundScan began tracking album sales in 1991.
Rage Against the Machine made waves at the 2008 Republican National Convention, solidifying them as the most prolific political band of my generation.
Chinese Democracy, the first Guns N' Roses album in 17 years, was finally released after years of speculation.
Britney Spears has seemed to turn it around, making us forget that she went completely psycho.
Columbia University graduates Vampire Weekend burst into the mainstream seemingly out of nowhere, and aren't going anywhere.
Politics
The United States of America made history this year by electing its first black President, Barack Obama.
Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich cast a dark cloud over his home state just as they were reveling in the victory of Barack Obama.
Politics and pop culture become one.
The GOP's choice of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate proves that nobody in the Continental United States has any clue about what goes on in Alaska.
The Al Franken/Norm Coleman Senate race in Minnesota Senate race still isn't over.
Sports
Our hometown Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series this year, breaking a 25 year championship hiatus in Philadelphia. There were bigger sports stories this year, but not in my house.
Sports Illustrated named 2008 the Best Year Ever. I'll leave it at that.
Film
Like last year, I didn't get to the movies too much this year. I did see a few, however.
2008 marked the year that I saw my all-time favorite movie, In Bruges.
Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight deserves an Oscar, regardless of what anyone says.
Wall-E will go down in history as the best animated film to ever grace the silver screen.
Television
AMC's Mad Men officially replaces The Sopranos as television's best show.
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow became cable television's new media darling.
Elvis Costello's new show on Sundance, Spectacle, proves that rock n' roll is intelligent.
The Office continues to be network television's best comedy, while The Colbert Report, in my view, surpassed The Daily Show.
Technology
Google continued its quest to take over the world in 2008, providing us with interesting yet frightening new technologies what seems like on a weekly basis.
Unique visitors to Facebook have skyrocketed since September 2007 (up 116%), making it the top social networking site and second to Blogger as the top social media site. With numbers like that, it won't last long.
Apple reached its goal of selling 10 million iPhones in 2008 by October while setting record profits. PC sales, especially Dells, continue to stall.
Books
Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series continued to dominate the market this year, claiming four of the top five spots in USA Today's top 150 best sellers for the final week of 2008. The other? J.K Rowling's Tales of the Beedle Bard.
The most interesting book I read this year was Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's My Stroke of Insight.
Next on my list is Malcolm Gladwell's latest, Outliers: The Story of Success.
Business
Ouch. I don't even want to discuss it.
2009...can it actually be worse than 2008? Let's hope not.
It's currently 10:00 pm on Thursday evening and there is a major winter storm headed towards Philadelphia metropolitan area for Friday morning. I am really excited!
Snow always makes me happy. There is something magical about snow that I can't put my finger on. There is a mystique, an aura that there is someone or something bigger that us. Oddly enough, it gives me faith that I'm being watched over and taken care of. The next time it snows, set your alarm for about 2 am have a seat on your front porch. Listening to the sound of falling snow in the middle of the night is an experience that needs to be relished.
The storm isn't scheduled to hit Bucks County, which is north of Philadelphia, until at least 7 am. I teach in suburban Trenton, NJ, so it most likely come until later. Nevertheless, I am hoping for a snow day. Likely? No, but stranger things have happened.
It's not about the day off; the winter holiday break starts next week. It's the spontaneity of the day off that makes it magical. There is nothing more satisfying then that 5:30 a.m. phone call. "Hey Joe...no school today."
Usually I would freak at the sound of a phone call that early in the morning, but not one like this. The above phrase in a groggy, scratchy voice brings an exhilaration that is unmatched. It's almost as if the voice says, "Hey Joe...don't worry about coming to work today. It looks like too much fun outside. And don't worry about making the day up, either. We plan for days like this by putting them into the school calendar at the end of the year, so you'll still have your last day of school as originally scheduled, or maybe even earlier! Oh, and we're going to pay you for today, too. Congratulations on being a teacher."
Congratulations, indeed. Bring on the snow. Or ice. Or sleet. Or whatever it is that'll bring me a snow day.
And don't give me this crap about how "it must be nice to have off when it snows." You chose your career and I chose mine.
Editor's note: Whenever I can't think of one specific topic to focus and elaborate on, I just choose a few and discuss each one a little bit. It's my own little Hypertext Bazaar, if you will. Read iDigress, Part 1 and Part 2.
This...
Brooke and I went to Solly Brothers Farm in Ivyland, PA on Tuesday to buy our Christmas Tree. I love Brooke to death, but she's brutal when it comes to picking our tree. Always searching for "the perfect tree," Brooke walks me through each aisle at least four times looking for a tree that "speaks to her." It wasn't too bad this year, but after making her realize that the tree she wanted could have doubled for the Griswold Family Christmas Tree, we finally found one suitable enough for our cozy apartment. We decorated Wednesday night, and I have to say, it looks gorgeous.
That...
I am a Mac and have been since 1997. On Monday, I was robbed of my manhood.
I was informed last month that my school district, in an effort to save money, will be switching from Macs to PCs in the elementary schools. D-Day was on Monday. I turned in my PowerBook G4 and received an HP Compaq 6510B. First of all, the thing is a total piece of crap; it crashed already. Second, it's more expensive than a new MacBook, so that was a complete lie. What the hell?
Frustrated and depressed, Brooke and I have decided to sell our iMac G4 and buy a new MacBook for home use. It's an amazing piece of machinery and quite possibly the best purchase we've ever made.
The Other Thing
Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings ended yesterday. While I have mocked stat geeks in the past, I am a total hot stove junkie. MLB Trade Rumors becomes my home page for the week, and I bounce around from site to site looking for latest updates. The New York Yankees made the biggest splash with their record-breaking signing of CC Sabathia, while the New York Mets improved their team the most. Our beloved World Series Champions, the Philadelphia Phillies, didn't do much, but rumors are swirling around Derek Lowe, Chan Ho Park and Raul Ibanez.
Only time will tell.
Update: On Friday morning, the Philadelphia Phillies signed leftfielder Raul Ibanez to a 3 year, $30 million contract.
This past Wednesday night, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was lit in New York City in front of the thousands that were in attendance and the millions that watched from their living rooms.
The Christmas season has officially begun in America.
