January 04, 2005

Reflections On Shameful Events

Thanks for the overwhelming response to this year's “Shameful Events” list. A few follow-up notes:

- Yes, as you may have noticed, the list gets bigger every year. Last year it was 30, the year before 25, and so on. I guess it’s just that each year is more shameful than the last.

- No, I didn’t think the Red Sox winning the World Series was itself shameful- in fact, it was probably the news event that made me happiest in 2004. It was the “years of denial” thing that merited its inclusion, along with the Rose and Bonds admissions.

- Why Jessica Simpson and not Ashlee’s lipsynching incident? I guess I’m just mystified by Jessica’s success, as she was a teen-pop also-ran until this year, when she inexplicably became a superstar despite being just as untalented as before. I left out Ashlee because the lip-synching thing was more humorous than anything else, because her music’s a little bit better, and because I kind of think she’s hot.

- I tried to keep the list generally nonpartisan, or at least bipartisan. That’s why I left out such events as Bush’s re-election, Kerry’s flip-flopping, Jenna and Barbara’s freakish RNC speech, and every time Teresa Heinz opened her mouth. I also left out most specific sports team beefs that weren’t national stories, such as Oakland’s Hudson/Mulder trades, Isiah Thomas’ Knicks tinkering, and about a half-dozen references to Mike Tice.

- Lots of people seemed to want more Israel references, but think about it- there was a lot less terrorism, the Hamas guys all got bumped off, and Arafat died. I’d say the Jewish State had a pretty good year, yes?

Nominations are open for ’05- despite the lack of an election, we shouldn’t have any trouble coming up with 40, I don’t think.

Posted by Stephen Silver at January 4, 2005 12:03 AM
Comments

Your shameful events are abou tthis that happened in 2004, so the the denials shoul dhave left back in 2003...meaning the red sox winning is INDEED a shameful event onto itself.
Also, I wonder if Becca appreciates you saying Ashlee Simpson is hot...is SHE on your wheel???

Posted by: A at January 4, 2005 12:38 AM

I know it is early in the year, but I cannot fathom any other words pieced together that can be more shameful than "But bin Laden's message was anything but trivial. And its very presence is a reminder that the tsunami and terrorism are related." Thanks to CNN, that is what the masses get.

Posted by: Wes at January 4, 2005 10:15 PM

Ashlee Simpson, hot?? Ewww.... She's not good looking and she has NO talent. Orange Bowl halftime show??? Horrid. I've lost all respect for you. I think Becca should dump you for bad taste.

Posted by: Les at January 6, 2005 10:07 AM
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