Alright, unlike last year, the list will try to center around non-personal news stories for yours truly. God knows that, if I did a list with personal stuff on it, #1 would be a shoo-in. Lets get to it.
Top Ten News Stories Of 2006
[10] Britney And K-Fed Split
-- Why is this one of my ten biggest news stories? Because Britney is, once again, available and K-Fed got OWNED. Seriously, I don't think any man has ever come back from that kind of ownage. Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe's divorce is a close second, because Reese is back on the market.
[9] Kramer Is A Racist
-- Michael Richards, aka Seinfeld's
Kramer, introduced himself to immortality, although maybe not in the way he would have wanted it. During a normal stand-up act for Richards, a couple of black people start to heckle Richards. Now, if you're a good stand-up comedian, you'll simply ignore it and continue on with your schtick. But oh no, not Kramer. Instead, he responds in kind, going on a racist tirade the likes of which has rarely been taped. I would say that Richards' career is over but, lets face it, after Seinfeld, he had no career.
[8] Cheney's Got A Gun
-- Quite easily the most overblown story of 2006, Dick Cheney accidentally shot his hunting partner Harry Whittington in the head, neck and torso with birdshot pellets. People made such a big freaking deal out of this story because it was Dick Cheney, but it did lead to Jon Stewart coining the now famous phrase "Cheney's Got A Gun". The coining of the phrase led to a song parody of the same name and an INCREDIBLE cartoon with Dick Cheney as an Elmer Fudd-like hunter.
[7] Top Of The Pops Broadcasts For The Last Time
-- I'm sure it's a bigger deal to the UK than it is to me, but the original Top Of The Pops was an institution in the UK, airing for more than forty years. So when I heard that it was being cancelled, my heart dropped.
[6] Death Of The Crocodile Hunter
-- I'm still trying to process this in my head. From all of the information I have compiled about Steve Irwin's death, the gist of it is, Steve Irwin, aka
The Crocodile Hunter, was filming footage for a documentary when he started filming a stingray. He accidentally boxed in the stingray, the stingray raised its spine and penetrated Steve Irwin's chest and heart. Irwin pulled the spine out of his chest...and poof, he's dead. The reaction for his death, especially in his home country of Australia, was immense and beautiful. The world(well, most of it) misses him.
[5] Rumsfeld Resigns
-- I was actually contemplating putting this at #1 for a while, but I just couldn't justify doing it. On November 7th, the House and the Senate shifted(thankfully) to Democratic control. The VERY NEXT DAY, Donald Rumsfeld resigns. The absolute suddenness of his resignation is the main reason this is in the top five, because I did not see it coming, especially after Bush said that he would stand by Rumsfeld for the rest of his term.
[4] Google Buys YouTube
-- I'm still in the minority in that I think Google's resources could help YouTube big time in the long run, but I digress. It was still a HUGE deal when Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion.
[3] Bob Barker To Retire
-- Look, I don't care if you've never seen The Price Is Right in your life, chances are, you've heard of Bob Barker. His imminent retirement was the saddest news for yours truly this year(well, entertainment wise). Chances are that i'll never be able to see Bob Barker in the audience of TPIR and that's a shame.
[2] Saddam Sentenced To Hang
-- The most interesting news story of 2006 saw the sentencing of Saddam Hussein and his subsequent sentencing to hang. However, it better happen sometime before April 28th, 2007, because if it doesn't, Iraqi law FORBIDS the execution of people 70 years old or older...and Saddam turns 70 on 4/28/07.
[1] The Changing Tide(Motorhead, TV On The Radio, Muse, Mastodon Invade)
-- Alright, alright, this is, technically, a personal news story, but this had more of an impact on me than anything else this year, for three artists I didn't really care about before(and one I obviously did care about beforehand) came into the forefront and changed the way I listen to music. Mastodon came along and rocked my world with their intense and brutal metal, TV On The Radio brought its uniqueness down upon me and Muse returned and dominated my music taste. But it was Motorhead that, arguably, left the biggest impact on me in 2006. It started with "Overkill", which I first heard on the video game
SSX On Tour. It then led to me seeking out and listening to "Ace Of Spades", Motorhead's biggest hit. I fell in love with it immediately and it might just be my most listened to song of 2006. I seeked out Motorhead's greatest hits compilation
No Remorse and I was HOOKED. Just this Saturday, on my celebration of Christmas, I got the ultimate Motorhead collection,
Stone Deaf Forever! I am now forever a metal fan thanks to Motorhead and their rise to prominence in my music taste was, by far, the biggest entertainment-related story of the year.
Alright, the big two are coming up. I'll see you guys sometime soon with the FreeWave Countdown Top 40. And a BIG thank you to everyone who has commented and all of that stuff. I enjoy doing this so much because you guys care. Thank you.