October has come and gone, and with another month of the Gregorian calendar in the books means that it's time for the latest installment of The mj15 Blog's "End of the Month," where I break down the month's biggest news stories and most memorable moments into one convenient list. Because we're already into the tenth day of November, way past the column's recommended posting time, I'm just going to go straight to the good stuff. Enjoy:
END OF THE MONTH:
Deaths of the Month: October was filled with a lot of notable deaths. Here are the four most notable ones:
a. Steve Jobs: co-creator of Apple and former CEO before resigning in August, who died at the age of 56 after losing his lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer. The man was a genius, plain and simple, who helped revolutionize the way we as a culture use and operate technology with products ranging from the Macintosh computer to the iPad, all while turning his once underground tech company into one of the world's largest public companies.
b. Muammar Gaddafi: infamous dictator of the country of Libya for roughly forty years before finally getting killed and treated like a piece of meat by a pack of Libyan rebel forces, officially ending the eighth-month long conflict between his supporters and anti-Gaddafi protesters.
c. Al Davis: former AFL commissioner and longtime maverick owner of the Oakland Raiders, who saw his team win four championships (including three Super Bowls) and postseason appearance in five different decades thanks in large parts to his "Just Win, Baby" attitude under his reign. Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the early '90s, Davis was one of the most influential figures of the sport in the last fifty years, even helping in negotiating the monumental AFL-NFL merger of 1966 that arguably helped make pro football into the beloved American institution that it is today. Just a shame that this is one of the last images we will remember him.
d. Dan Wheldon: 16 time Indy Car race winner (including two Indianapolis 500 victories) who died at the age of 33 in a horrific accident while racing. Truly, one of the saddest moments in a sport that is very notorious for drivers risking their lives in the name of driving at 200 mph for a prize.
TV Premiere of the Month: "The Walking Dead": Season Two
Hmm, let's see: 7.3 million people for the initial airing, 11 million people including replays, and, oh yeah, a 3.8 18-49 rating. Yep, I'd say that America's love for zombies is stronger than ever! Now, it's only a matter of time before broadcast networks starts exploiting this love for zombies by creating a bunch of "The Walking Dead" rip-offs for next year. Then, it should get interesting...
Video of the Month:
-The Most Unprofessional: "Cameraman Takes a Tumble"
A terrific metaphor for TBS's entire coverage of the MLB postseason since 2007.
- Lost in Translation: "Shooting Fish in a Barrel, Why Is It That?"
Destroying all idioms, one step at a time.
- The Best "Moneyball" Parody Yet: "Too Much Moneyball"
This story mirrors the actual story of "Moneyball" in so many ways. For example, the Yankees heading into 2009 was kind of like the A's heading into 2001, and, um...well, that's about it.
- The Most Ecstatic: "Lilly's Disneyland Surprise"
Great kid, great reaction, great unofficial Disneyland advertisement.
- The Best Accident (Or Was It?): "CNN Apologizes After Playing R.A.P.E.D. Track for 103 Year Old Lady"
Makes you wonder just why CNN saved this song in their music library to begin with.
- Won't Somebody Please Think of the Children?: "Ave Maria Gone Wrong"
Little did that mother know how she just created a future Pitchfork writer.
- The Best Music Video: "Beyonce- Countdown"
Probably the best example of showing off your awesome pregnancy figure that I've ever seen.
- The Illest (Do Kids Still Say That?): "Epic Rap Battles of History: Columbus vs. Captain Kirk"
These guys managed to make Columbus look like the Eminem of the Renaissance. And that's why I love them.
- The Most Wicked Clevah, and NO ONE DENIES THIS: "The Real Housewives of South Boston"
I don't know where the reality ends and the satire begins.
- The Best Prescription to a Fever: "The Walken Dead"
Ironically, this clip has more action than the first four episodes of season two combined.
- The Drowsiest: "Harry Belafonte Falls Asleep Waiting For an Interview"
"Wow, our show is just that entertaining." From the looks of it, pretty much.
- The Most Thankful: "How Will Ferrell Touched Me"
Wait, it's about a letter he sent? Thank God! That title was quite misleading.
- The Funniest: "My Grandfather's Video Will"
It's the thought that counts?
- The Best Product Advertisement: "Michael- PS3 Long Live Play- Full Length"
I don't care who you are: a PS3 player, an XBOX 360 player, a Wii Player, an Atari player, whatever. All of us can at least agree on the ad's awesomeness.
- The Most Awesome: "Herman Cain: Now is the time for action!"
(0:53-0:56) Even I feel sexually assaulted by him with that smile.
Announcement of the Month: Obama Announcing End of Iraq War, the Return of All Remaining Troops From Nation
An announcement nine years in the making. Let's hope that we don't have to go back there anytime soon.
Family Arrests of the Month: Lindsay Lohan on October 19th and father Michael on October 27th
Like father, like daughter.
Stories of the Month:
- The Biggest Verdict: Amanda Knox Acquitted, Leaves Prison
Where's Hayden Panettiere? That girl's got a new Lifetime TV movie to star in!
- The Second Biggest Verdict: "Underwear Bomber" Abdulmutallab Pleads Guilty, Ending Trial on 2nd Day
Now, officially the second thing related to that day that was "brief," if you know what I mean.
- The Least Shocking: ESPN Pulls Hank Williams Jr. From Monday Night Opening After Calling President Obama "Hitler"
Honestly, what did you expect? The guy looks like the vice president of an NRA group.
- The Most Melancholy: The Case of Lisa Irwin's Disappearance
- The Most Skeptical: Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh Says He Will Step Down
Considering how he said this before in August and has yet to do anything following the news since, this news, more than anything, should be taken with a grain of salt.
- The Most Daring: Woman Gives Birth After Running Chicago Marathon
I feel bad for baby June. For the rest of her life, whenever she will say "no" to all of her requests, her mother will just keep guilting her with the story of her birth.
- The Most Misplaced Use of Inspiration: Man Throws Hot Dog at Tiger Woods Because of "Drive"
And here I thought it's because the hot dog was a symbol of the thing that got Woods into the most trouble.
- The Most Violent: Cairo Clashes Leave 24 Dead After Coptic Church Protests
Mubarak may be gone, but the new problems in Egypt have only just begun.
- The Most Religious: First Catholic Bishop Charged With Sex Abuse Cover-up
Well, look at the bright side. Oh, wait, there isn't.
- The Strangest: Three Ohio Amish Men Arrested For Cutting Hair of Other Amish
Hey, man: what happens in Bergholz stays in Bergholz.
- Speaking of Ohio: Police Kill Dozens of Escaped Exotic Animals From Reserve
Lions and tigers and bears, goodbye!
- The Most Devastating: Turkey Experience 7.2 Magnitude Earthquake, Hundreds Killed
There's nothing to add here. Let's just hope that the nation recovers as quickly as possible.
- Five Years Too Late: Lindsay Lohan Agrees to Pose For "Playboy"
Because paying a million dollars for someone who looks like she's aged thirty years in five is the epitome of "perfect timing."
- The Ballsiest:Nevada Man With 100 Pound Scrotum Seeks Money For Removal Surgery
On the bright side, at least he's got an official theme song.
- The Best One Involving Tex Mex: Georgia Man Firebombs Taco Bell Over Chalupa Portion Size
That man was obviously not thinking outside of the bun.
- The Most Historic: Human Population Reaches Seven Billion
I'm not sure whether to be proud of how far we have advanced as a culture, or terrified of it's inevitable impact.
Product of the Month: The iPhone 4S
Even without Steve Jobs, the cult of Apple lives on.
Labor Dispute of the Month: The NBA Lockout
We're currently entering day 133 of the lockout, and so far not much has changed with both the NBA owners and the NBAPA still a long way from reaching an agreement. In the process, all preseason games have been cancelled along with any regular season NBA action until November 30th. And now they're still in negotiations, even after last night's 5 p.m./ET deadline that was set by David Stern to reached an agreement, which shows some optimism. However, considering all that has happened in the past month and a half, I wouldn't be so shocked if that optimism self-destructs in the next few days.
Protest of the Month: The 'Occupy' Movement (highlights here)
Over a month and a half, and this protests continues. I guess these people really do care.
Person of the Month: Republican Presidential Candidate Herman Cain
I don't think I'm lying when I say that October was a pretty satisfying month to be the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, outside of how it ended with the sexual assault allegations. For months prior to this round, Herman Cain basically remained in the bottom of the barrel of the Republican presidential race, joining people like Newt Gingrich, John Huntsman and others in the background as it looked like it was going to be a two-man race between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, with Michelle Bachmann and Ron Paul acting as wild cards. But then, something strange happened. Maybe it's because the anti-Romney supporters that had decided that former flavors of the month like Michelle Bachmann and Rick Perry were actually terrible choices, or maybe it's because they started to like Cain's "Washington outsider" image, but the guy actually soared in the polls!
It all began in late September when, to the shock of many, Cain upset the field to win the Florida straw poll on October 25th. That win proved monumental for Cain, as it helped him soar to third in the polls by September 30th. Then, as the month went on and attention towards him strengthened, so came the increase in popularity. By the middle of the month, many polls had it neck-to-neck with Romney at the top of the polls, with some even having him surge past Romney for the lead. Even when many members of the media started to closely examine Cain and his policies, including his famous 9-9-9 tax plan (which has been bashed from almost every major economist in the country from the Tax Policy Center to the New Yorker's John Cassidy ), and the sexual allegation charges started to get released to the public, his popularity among Republicans has remained high. Not only has he won additional straw polls in states like Alabama and Illinois, but he remains high in some of the most important polls in the country, including the CBS News/New York Times poll from 10/25 and in the Iowa Republican race, where the all-important caucus polls are set to open in less than two months.
So, from a distant long-shot to number one in the polls and becoming the media's newest Republican sensation, Cain has gotten himself pretty far in October. Now, time will tell whether Cain's support from the month of October will carry itself when it really counts, the not-too-distant primary season that begins once 2012 is underway.
This week's NFL predictions column will be posted shortly. In the meantime, here's Childish Gambino (a.k.a. teh very talented Donald Glover from "Community") in a music video to his latest single, "Bon Fire." As with every Gambino song at this point, it is fantastic. Not sure what the video has to do with the lyrics, though....
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
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