What an electrifying year it has been! The last twelve months had been explosive, exhilarating and in some ways, excessive. This year had been a core-shocking one as the world saw events on extreme ends of the spectrum. From the grandeur of the Royal Wedding to the devastation of the nuclear plants in Japan to various technological advancements, to more floods and earthquakes in various areas that some people believe to be signs of the forthcoming doomsday,2011 has been everything but lackluster.
Before saying goodbye to the thrilling year that was 2011, let the Thinking Toast take you on a wild ride while looking back at the events that made this year more than memorable for all.
A Year of Adversity
Devastating as it is, various calamities struck parts of the world this year. While some believe that it is all a price people have to pay for destroying the delicate balance of nature there are those who are most certain that the floods, earthquakes, storms and other adverse events from nature are signs of the impending doomsday in 2012.
But whichever side you believe in, there is no denying that these natural disasters destroyed not only land, livestock, and businesses, they also claimed thousands upon thousands of lives.
Quakes and Domino Effects
Possibly the worst disaster of the year is the Japan Earthquake on March 11. The 8.9 magnitude earthquake would have been bad enough on its own but it also triggered a tsunami as high as 30 feet leaving 15,000 people dead. Even worse is the nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima power plant that created much uproar worldwide.
Drought and hunger
No one can forget the drought that devastated East Africa this year. It stretched over Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti over the summer leading to waste of food and water supplies all over these territories which resulted to one of the worst famines in decades.
Storms and flooding
Weather disturbances shook the world this year and Thailand experienced the worst flooding this year. With over $45 Billion worth of damages, it is one of the costliest disasters according to the World Bank.
A rather recent tragedy hit the Philippines just this December as Typhoon Washi hit Mindanao in the dead of night. As soon as the storm made landfall on December 16, it took only 12 hours for 8 inches of rain to pour resulting to flashfloods and landslides—all while most of the Filipinos were asleep.
A Year of Farewell and some good riddance
This year the world bid their last goodbyes to people of importance. While the loss of the likes of former Apple CEO Steve Jobs in October, musician Amy Winehouse in July and Olympic boxing Joe Frazier in November led many fans to tears, some deaths are considered to be good riddance. This includes the demise of terrorist Osama Bin Laden in May of this year.
A Year of Amusement
With all the shocking and devastating news that made this year’s headlines, it seems some comic relief is nowhere in sight. But thank heavens for the little things that amused and even frustrated the world in a good way at some extent.
Slingshots, Birds, and pigs
Rovio’s Angry Birds took the world by storm. With its addictive game play of flinging multi-colored birds via slingshot towards green exasperating pigs, the game went past half a billion downloads this year with 100 million dollars worth of revenue.
But the craze didn’t end in hours upon hours people spent hunched over their phones and computers trying to destroy the pigs’ towers. Novelty items ranging from plush toys to cake decorations to viral Youtube videos caught everybody’s attention and still does.
Singing about days of the week and getting albums
Who doesn’t know Rebecca Black? For those who’d been under their rocks for twelve whole months, she’s the girl who posted her video of the song “Friday” on Youtube that created quite a buzz.
And while the song didn’t get any awards aside from snide comments from viewers, Ms. Black did get signed for her own album and she got to be in a Katy Perry video to boot!
Lying face down
Some people call it crazy, some people call it fun but whichever you choose to describe it, planking still made 2011 a lot more…err…interesting. You basically lie on your stomach with your hands on your side. But the catch is you have to do it on a very unusual place and post it online.
This game started in 2009 but most of the incidents that the world actually took notice of happened this year. According to Wikipedia some of these events are:
· * On 13 May 2011, a 20-year-old man from Gladstone in central Queensland was charged for allegedly planking on a police vehicle.
· * On 15 May 2011, Acton Beale, a 20-year-old man, plunged to his death after reportedly "planking" on a seventh-floor balcony in Brisbane, Australia.
· * On 29 May 2011, Max Key, son of New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, uploaded to Facebook a photograph of himself planking on a lounge suite, his father standing behind him. After the photograph was reproduced on the front page of the New Zealand Herald two days later, the Prime Minister's office initially declined comment. But later that day, confirming that the photograph was indeed genuine, Mr. Key remarked that he doesn't see anything wrong with planking when done safely and that it was he who had actually introduced Max to planking in the first place, having seen a video of the phenomenon on YouTube. Key was criticized for his appearance in the photograph with some going as far as to comment that he "killed" the meme.
· * On 2 September 2011, Dwight Howard and about 100 of his fans planked in Beijing, China.
A Year of Entertainment
Airwave Chart Toppers
Rolling in the Deep is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele for her second studio album, 21. The song was written by Paul Epworth and Adele, who described it as a "dark blues-y gospel disco tune". It was first released on 29 November 2010 as the lead single of the album.
Box office hits
We’ll surely never forget how this year’s movies made us weep, giggle, aghast and every sentiment that hid underneath our nerves.
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 is a 2011 epic fantasy/drama film directed by David Yates and the second of two films based on the novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling. It is the eighth and final instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman, David Barron, and Rowling. The story continues to follow Harry Potter's quest to find and destroy Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Principal photography began on 19 February 2009, and was completed on 12 June 2010, with the final day of reshoots taking place on 21 December 2010, marking the series' closure of ten years of filming. Part 2 was released in 2D, 3D and IMAX cinemas worldwide from 13–15 July 2011, and is the only Harry Potter film to be released entirely in 3D.
What’s with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 2?
Everyone knows Harry Potter. We have witnessed Daniel Radcliffe from being a kid to awesome-sexy-gorgeous man. But everything comes to an end, as we say goodbye to Harry Potter and his friends; let’s see how far this movie has reached.
The colossal achievement of this series really is something to wonder at. The Harry Potter movies showed us their characters growing older in real time: unlike Just William or Bart Simpson, Daniel Radcliffe's Harry was going to grow up like a normal person and never before has any film – or any book – brought home to me how terribly brief childhood is.
In this final episode, Harry (Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) continue their battle to find and destroy the "horcruxes" that the sinister Voldemort needs so he can stay alive for all eternity: these are objects in which the fragments of souls are trapped and whose vital, spiritual force Voldemort, that hateful parasite, can siphon off for his own ends. Harry and his friends track down these horcruxes, but the last one is a puzzle. As the forces of good assemble at Hogwarts for the final showdown with Voldemort and his hordes, Harry knows only that the most vital horcrux is actually in the castle, very close at hand.
2. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a 2011 American science fiction action film based on the Transformers toy line. First released on June 23, 2011, it is the third installment of the live-action Transformers film series.
Like its predecessors, Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,Transformers: Dark of the Moon is directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. The film's story is set three years after the events of the second film, with the Autobots, during their collaboration with the NEST (Networked Elements: Supporters and Transformers) military force, discovering a hidden alien technology in possession of humans, which had been found by the Apollo 11 in the Moon 42 years prior. Meanwhile, the Decepticons unveil a plan to use said technology to enslave Humanity in order to save the home planet of the Transformers, Cybertron.
What’s with Transformers: Dark of the Moon?
Time will tell whether Transformers: Dark of the Moon really is the final Transformers film for both director Michael Bay and star Shia LaBeouf, but it's certainly the best one in this hugely successful, but widely loathed franchise. It's devoid of deception testicles, Autobot heaven, offensive robots and of course, Megan Fox.
There are genuine stakes this time, and it's the first Transformers film where you actually get some sense of physical or emotional consequence to the events that transpire.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon may not be a great film, but it is largely great fun. In a summer movie season that's only had a handful of films that have really offered that, it's nice to see the Transformers exit the screen (at least for now) on a high rather than low note.
3. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn
Breaking Dawn is the fourth and final novel in the The Twilight Saga by American author Stephenie Meyer. Divided into three parts, the first and third sections are written from Bella Swan's perspective and the second is written from the perspective of Jacob Black. The novel directly follows the events of the previous novel, Eclipse, as Bella and Edward Cullen get married, leaving behind a heartbroken Jacob. When Bella faces an unexpected situation, she does what it takes to undergo the ultimate transformation and fight the final battle to save her love.
Breaking Dawn was released on August 2, 2008 at midnight release parties in over 4,000 bookstores throughout the US. From its initial print run of 3.7 million copies, over 1.3 million were sold in the US and 20,000 in the UK in the first 24 hours of the book's release, setting a record in first-day sales performance for the Hachette Book Group USA. The book was highly successful, selling over 6 million copies in 2008, and was the third best-selling novel of 2008 behind Twilight and New Moon.
What’s with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn?
People would love to see Edward and Bella’s wedding. That’s the wedding of the year, dude! A marriage between a human in the form of Bella Swan and the ever-gorgeous-handsome and his shining, shimmering and splendid vampire body, Edward Cullen.
Marked by a canny mix of violence and chastity, the franchise has always had plenty of broken heads to go along with its pure thoughts, but here it also features a marital bed reduced to kindling after a rough night. If that doesn’t sound like the series that has kept millions of prepubescent viewers virtuously rapt, you’re right. But little Bella is all grown up now, and while Edward is still more zomboid than juicily predatory, this time not everything else on screen is dead too.
As 2011 ends let’s take a glance on the songs that banged as the whole year. We’ll get MTV’s top 3 picks that shook us over the last 12 months.
MTV correspondent Sway Calloway arbitrated a spirited roundtable discussion with some of MTV’s very own experts: James Montgomery and Rob Markman (MTV News), Yomi Desalu and Malika Quemerais (MTV Music and Talent) and Tamar Anitai and Nicole James (MTV.com). The panel managed to narrow it down to their top 10.
Rolling in the Deep, Adele
Rolling in the Deep is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele for her second studio album, 21. The song was written by Paul Epworth and Adele, who described it as a "dark blues-y gospel disco tune". It was first released on 29 November 2010 as the lead single of the album. The song has been acclaimed by music critics. The single has peaked at number one in some countries in Europe, as well in Canada and the United States. As of December 2011, "Rolling in the Deep" had sold 5,680,000 copies in the United States, making it Adele's best-selling single outside her native country, topping her previous best-selling "Chasing Pavements".
What’s with Rolling in the deep?
“An epic, foot-stomper of a pop anthem with thumping piano and a vocal you would expect from a veteran of 20 years on the road," this words best describe the Rolling in the deep according to The Sun. There’s no doubt why Adele got the number one spot. Hey! Everybody knows her songs. Rolling in the Deep dominated 2011 making it the Song of the Year.
Rolling in the Deep has reached number one in 11 countries and top five in several other countries. The song has also become Adele's first number-one song in the U.S., reaching the top spot of four Billboard charts. It’s definitely Adele’s year, the girl who excavates the blues out of us.
Super Bass, Nicki Minaj
Super Bass is a song by Trinidadian-American recording artist and songwriter Nicki Minaj, from her debut album, Pink Friday. The song impacted radio as the album's seventh single on April 5, 2011 and was released on May 13, 2011. Written by Minaj, along with Daniel Johnson and Ester Dean, the song includes additional vocals from Dean. Production of the song was done by Kane. According to Minaj the song's lyrics tell the story of a boy that you have a crush on and are about wanting to get intimate but instead taking a playful approach. The song draws from the hip hop, R&B genres while infusing elements of pop and Minaj's rap.
Super Bass received mainly positive reviews from critics. The song was complimented for its memorable hook, lyrical context and for its chorus. It garnered attention by pop stars such as Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez. The song has peaked at number three on the United States Billboard Hot 100. A music video for the single was shot in March 2011, by director Sanaa Hamri. It was initially expected to premiere on BET's 106 & Park on April 27, 2011, but the video's premiere was later pushed to May 5, 2011 for unknown reasons. The video received generally positive reviews from critics, most of whom complimented the "eye candy" and colorful visuals seen throughout the video.
What’s with Super Bass?
“Boom badoom boom, boom badoom boom bass,” surely this line instantly sinks into your head urging you to sing along.
"When the song returns to the rapped verse it is another lesson in the Nicki Minaj skill. she doesn't simply rap the words with rhythmic power. She manages to masterfully manipulate the mood and the meaning of the words through shifts in emphasis, intonation and phrasing.” Bill Lamb from About.com praised Minaj for vocal "power" writing.
Typically, cheery-sounding pop hits aren't so edgy, but the Harajuku Barbie has successfully elbowed Nicki Minaj on her way into the spotlight alongside starlets like Katy Perry and Taylor Swift — and has done it her way, MTV says.
Infectious song that will really make you sing and rap even if you don’t how to that’s what Super Bass is.
3. We Found Love, Rihanna
We Found Love is a song by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna, from her sixth studio album Talk That Talk (2011).
The song features British/Scottishproducer/singer Calvin Harris. "We Found Love" was released as the lead single from the album and premiered on September 22, 2011, in the United Kingdom on the Capital FM radio station and was made available to download on the same day. The song has met with mixed reviews from music critics, who praised the song's composition and Rihanna's vocal performance, however, some critics felt that the lyrical content was sparse and came second to Harris' production. We Found Love reached number one in its sixth week on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Rihanna the record for a solo artist to have amassed twenty top-ten singles in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 in the shortest amount of time and Harris his first number-one single. With the song becoming the singer's eleventh number one single, Rihanna has become only the seventh artist in the 53 year history of the chart to amass at least eleven number one singles, as well as tying her with Whitney Houston in third place for females with the most number one singles, behind only Madonna and Mariah Carey.
What’s with We Found Love?
A reviewer for GlobalGrind commented about "We Found Love’s lyrics, suggesting that there is perhaps an underlying message in the song for ex-boyfriend Chris Brown, in the line "We found love in a hopeless place". This further raised suspicion when Brown re-tweeted one of Rihanna's tweets, which read "Sometimes it feels like we found love in the most hopeless place".
It took pop's obsession with dance music to the next level thanks to its killer production. Sparse at times and completely enthralling at others, "WFL" is sad and joyous all at once, MTV stated. Shows that got us hooked on the telly
So what TV show engrossed us this 2011? The following top picks was brought by www.spoilertv.com a site which attracts real interest from TV Networks and other Internet based sites in helping to promote shows and articles.
Supernatural
Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester andJensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they hunt demons and other figures of the supernatural. The series is produced by Warner Bros. Television, in association with Wonderland Sound and Vision. The current executive producers are Eric Kripke, McG, and Robert Singer; former executive producer Kim Manners died of lung cancer during production of the fourth season.
What’s with Supernatural?
What’s the strapping force that made this series to the Top 1 spot? Yes, it’s horror and everybody loves it. The last season, which was the season 6, let loose the indignation of some viewers for the new show runners, as they said, did not think of the storyline before embarking on episode after episode particularly on the Winchesters fighting monsters. But burly elements played well for the show -- the characters, which both regular and recurring and the certain episodes. Surely this series will keep your fingers crossed that it returns to its glory days of seasons past.
Season 7 will measure how far the Wichester brothers are willing to go in order to stop their once angelic friend from wreaking devastation on Earth. With passing shots of Death and Crowley returning, it quickly becomes apparent that it’s going to take more than just two boys from Kansas to bring down this heavenly father.
Here’s the link for the Season 7 teaser.
Here’s the CW Description for the Season 7 of Supernatural:
Season seven finds Dean and Sam reeling from reeling from the loss of their friend. Sam’s violent memories of Hell threaten to overtake him, threatening not just his life, but his brother’s as well. Meanwhile, Dean struggles under the weight of a secret that threatens to tear them apart. And even as the brothers traverse the back roads of America, hunting things that go bump in the night, something is coming for them. They are about to face an enemy more canny and adaptable than any they’ve come to rely upon will be stripped away. Our heroes, like so many outlaws before them, will find themselves utterly outmatched and outgunned, with no one to rely on but each other.
Fringe
Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security. The team uses unorthodox "fringe" science and FBI investigative techniques to investigate a series of unexplained, often ghastly occurrences, which are related to mysteries surrounding a parallel universe. The show has been described as a hybrid of The X-Files, Altered States, The Twilight Zone and Dark Angel. The series premiered in North America on September 9, 2008, on the Fox network. The series is currently in its fourth season, which premiered on September 23, 2011.
What’s with Fringe?
Fringe made its way to the second spot as with its ever-autumn aesthetic, paranormal occurrences, superfluous flashlight use at crime scenes, odd ruptures of humour, and constant friction between faith and doubt.
This series was said to be full of twists, turns, action and suspense. While on the other hand, or maybe I should say, on the haters side, the show was said to be obviously swill, the graphics are overblown terrible and plot is ridiculous.
Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl is an American teen drama television series based on the book series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series was created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, and premiered on The CW on September 19, 2007. Narrated by the omniscient yet unseen blogger "Gossip Girl", voiced by Kristen Bell, the series revolves around the lives of privileged young adults on Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York City.
The series begins with the return of Upper East Side "It" girl, Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) from a mysterious stay at a boarding school in Cornwall, Connecticut. Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), whom creators describe as the queen at the center of their chess game, is a longtime friend and occasional rival of Serena's, and the Queen Bee of Constance Billard School's social scene. The story also follows Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick), the bad boy of the Upper East Side; "Golden boy" Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford), Chuck's best friend and Blair's ex; and other characters of the turbulent Manhattan scene: Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley), Nate's friend and Serena's on-again, off-again ex; Vanessa Abrams (Jessica Szohr), Dan's best friend; and Dan's sister, Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen).
What’s with Gossip Girl?
Gossip Girl really made the teens gaga since it was aired last 2007. Whose super girly teen doesn’t want to watch this series?
GG got the third spot for the year 2011 because of its absolutely divine characters and the plot itself. Everybody will be hooked for it isn’t just like any typical teenage drama. It’s creative and surprising and the plot always thickens as what the viewers says.
At times, it's overboard and maybe a bit giggle-inducing, like watching little kids play dress-up. But overboard is exactly where Gossip Girl wants to be--and what viewers must embrace when taking the guilty plunge. Our feelings about Gossip Girl will depend on just how guilty you are willing to feel about your guilty pleasures. It can be entertaining to watch adults throw around money, attitude, and alcohol on soap operas; it can be grotesque to see teenagers doing the same things.
A Year of Technology
2011 has been a good one for consumer electronics. The popularity of smartphones and tablet computers flourished this year and will definitely continue as 2012 approaches. Never mind that some of these products could get a tad too pricey. For the real techie, being the first always means something.
An apple a day…
Following the late CEO Steve Jobs’ death, Apple’s legacy of bringing technology to the public remains. This year, the iPad2 was in many people’s birthday wish lists. As if the tablet computer’s success wasn’t enough, before the year ended, the iPhone 4s followed suit. With more memory and even better features, Christmas wasn’t the same for many enthusiasts worldwide.
What’s inside your device?
This year, the battle of operating systems was tight. Team iOS and Team Android battled it out as Apple released the iOS 5 and Android released Gingerbread.
But the upper hand actually went to iOS as it sold a total of 1.6 million units over the holidays. However Android remains a strong contender as more devices on lower price ranges entered the market from different carriers including Samsung. The Korean electronics giant definitely was a stiff competition for Apple this year with its Samsung Galaxy series that runs on Android Gingerbread.
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In just a few hours the world will be saying goodbye to the year that was 2011 and what a year it definitely was. Some events shook us while some made us smile. But either way, as the music turns up a notch and the fireworks greet the New Year with a bang, people from all over the world can say, “WE DID IT! WE SURVIVE 2011!”
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