'TomKat'
Of all the celebrity gossip this year, no news could possibly have made more headlines than Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. In June, Cruise proposes to Holmes from the Eiffel Tower. In October, Holmes declares she is pregnant. But before all of that, in May Cruise made an absolute ass of himself on Oprah. This parade of self-loathing will never end - at least the general public hopes so.
'Everybody Loves Sex'
In September, the Emmys rolled around once again. Next to the Billboard Music Awards, Tonys or Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards, the Emmys are the lamest red carpet soirée. However, this year's show featured goodbyes to "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Sex and the City." Three of the major awards were given to "Raymond" while none were given to "Sex."
Rusesabagina sets record
With a crowd of 3,103 people on hand, "Hotel Rwanda" inspiration Paul Rusesabagina spoke for the Forum on Nov. 2. The stands were sold out and it was the biggest Forum event in more than four years.
Eau Claire gets Facebook
Ah yes, Facebook arrived in EC toward the end of last April. We can barely remember a time when we were unable to publicly embarrass our friends by referencing their drunken slip-ups on their walls or figure out if Sally and Joe, who have spending too much time together, were finally making it official. Plus, never before has it been so easy to look up that kid's name who you have been talking to all year, but awkwardly can't remember if it was Hank or Henry. Truly, anyone who spends hours searching for old high school buds and stalking their GE crushes lives life to the fullest. THE fullest.
Mash leaves
For 33 years, Chancellor Donald Mash was the "Tom Selleck" of campus with an even bigger heart and sexier 'stache. As the sixth chancellor in UW-Eau Claire history, Mash was a big presence since taking office in 1998. He had to move on to bigger things in late February, and we had to admit, he deserves the best. We said goodbye to Mash in spring, but he'll be in our hearts for much longer.
Police pulled over and forcibly removed the wonderful representative of the 3rd ward - which includes the university - from his vehicle after he refused to cooperate on Oct. 16, according to police. He said another side of the story would come out and that he only had few drinks earlier that day. Blowing a BAC of .24, maced in the face, alleged empty containers in the car - there's no other side of story, you drove drunk on a Sunday afternoon. You stay classy, Toby Biegel.
Many moons ago
On Nov. 1, there was big news for astronomers worldwide: Pluto has three moons and not one. While these moons are tiny and were given numbers instead of real names (how embarrassing), this was pretty big news. To the small orbital body's dismay, however, Pluto is still coming to terms with the fact that it's probably still not a planet.
The 2005 Lindsay Lo-down
"Mean Girls" was last year and "Herbie" sucked, so why write about Lindsay as a big thing in 2005? Because according to VH1 she is hot, and we agree. This deep, intelligent and all around worthwhile human being, whose 2005 exploits including dyeing her trademark red hair blonde, filming a movie in the nearby Twin Cities and getting into two car accidents while being followed by the paparazzi, is never far from the media's eye. Funny, Chris also is in the media, got in a car accident, and lived in the Twin Cities this summer - they have so much in common!
Shafted again
Well, the Oscars rolled around again in spring of this year, and Martin Scorcese was nominated once again. While the old saying goes "Third time's a charm," maybe seven was going to be a charm for Scorcese and "The Aviator." But Clint Eastwood - that sneaky *** - churned out a much better film and stole the award from Scorcese. Better luck next year, Martin. Try making something good next time. Otherwise, do as George Lucas would and re-release "Taxi Driver." The Academy can't be wrong twice.
Deep Throat revealed
After more than 30 years, the Washington Post finally revealed the identity of FBI source "Deep Throat." W. Mark Felt was a key player in the exposure of the Watergate scandal and Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman needed him dearly. Or wait, was that Woodward and Bernstein? It's hard to remember. In similar news, the documentary "Inside Deep Throat" was released this year. Don't expect anything similar to "All the President's Men" in this film, however.
Break-ups hard to do, fun to watch
So the Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston breakup was highly publicized to say the least, plus the introduction of Angelina Jolie was an awful marketing ploy for "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." However, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey breaking up has been an even more hilarious formula in hindsight to a TV show. Admist all of the breakups, Prince Charles getting married to Camilla was a high note in this year's relationships, and that's just really sad.
Britney baby
Sean Preston Spears Federline came out of where so many man have dreamed about getting in last September. Little Sean will have to get used to the hard life of getting all his material wants met, but being followed everywhere by the media. Yeah, we don't feel bad for him either.
Irish culture and oxygen
If we were Irish, could afford to pay too much for beer and food, 40 years old and a little bored on a Saturday night, we would totally hit up Dooley's, but until that happens, we'll be at the Joynt. And as far as paying for air goes … we're stupid, so we'll try it and live with the regret for the rest of the week.
Natural disasters
We suppose the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina got some significant media play this year. While it's something we aren't likely to forget, President Bush seems to be taking it all in stride. Kanye West seems to be OK with the situation as well.
John Roberts
In a surprise move, President Bush chose a conservative Republican to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court in July. The final decision was made because of the respectful way Roberts refuses to show his teeth when he smiles.
Terry Schiavo
On March 31, Terry Schiavo died after her feeding tube, which sustained her for over 10 years, was removed just weeks earlier. Her right to die was subject to national debate and prompted millions of 40-somethings to write down what they want done if they are incapacitated.
Runaway bride
Jennifer Wilbanks of Duluth, Georgia planned an effort to escape her own wedding earlier this year. The media dubbed her the "Runaway Bride," but never compared her to Julia Roberts in any way. In an interesting twist, Wilbanks received much more media attention than Roberts did for a sub-par performance in an equally crappy film.
Alcohol is bad
In a town famous for its bars per capita, there is a college. A college notorious for its wet campus status, where one can buy beer in the student union and at some campus events. At this fine institution of higher learning a grant of $300,000 over a two-year span from the U.S. Department of Education is in place to attempt to reduce underage drinking and high risk drinking. Well, you can hang some posters, you can hold discussion groups and you can hire more University Police to crack down, but in the end, right or wrong, this college in this town probably will always be a drinker.
courtesy of www.spectatornews.com ![Star [star]](/emoticons/emotion-30.gif)