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2019 Year In Review

On January 3, 2020

2019 was the final year of the decade, which means we are entering the second decade of the new millennium (and 20 years since the “dreaded” Y2K scare). It’s still hard to tell if all of us still like each other. Political differences continue to divide us and it’s depressing, infuriating and scary. I don’t do politics on this blog so, in the words of Forrest Gump, that’s all I have to say about that. 2019 was an OK year, depending on your perspective. These perspectives is what I am going to get into for my 2019 Year In Review.

Celebrity Deaths

We lost over 150 celebrities this year. I’m not going to mention all of them, only the ones that I found particularly depressing. I’m not trying to down play the deaths of the others because it sucks when we lose anyone. Before I begin I would just like to note that Kirk Douglas and Betty White are not on this list.

Celebrity Deaths: Internet

Tardar Sauce, aka Grumpy Cat (7) passed away this year. If you don’t know who Grumpy Cat was, then you are living under a rock. Her permanent scowl was a condition caused by a genetic mutation but created thousands of meme. She was an Internet sensation.

Celebrity Deaths: TV

The television death that seemed to be most notable was the death of Caroll Spinney (85) who was the original Big Bird on Sesame Street from 1969 to 2018. Best known for his comedy on The Carol Burnett Show, Tim Conway (85) passed away this year. He was so talented and so hilarious. If you haven’t seen his Elephant Story bit from the show, you are missing out! Luke Perry‘s (52) sudden death was truly heartbreaking. He’s mostly known for his role as Dylan in 90210 and, more recently, as Fred Andrews on Riverdale.

The Star Trek Deep Space 9 series lost two lovable characters his year. René Auberjonois (79) passed away this year. While he had many television and film roles, he always has been and always will be Odo to me. Unfortunately the bad news for DS9 doesn’t end there. Aron Eisenberg (50) played the lovable Ferengi Nog on Deep Space 9; in fact he was probably my favorite Ferengi. RIP gentlemen. Thank you for the awesome memories.

Celebrity Deaths: Movies

The following celebrities are primarily known for their movie roles. We lost Doris Day this year, but she lived a long and extraordinary 97 years! Also, from the golden years of film, Peter Fonda (79) passed away; he was the son of Henry Fonda, the brother of Jane Fonda and the father of Bridget Fonda. The actor with one of the coolest names in Hollywood passed away, Rip Torn. While it really sucks that he’s gone, I did not know he was 88 when he passed. I mostly remember him from the Men In Black movies.

Peter Mayhew at the 2019 Star Wars Celebration in Chicago

The last celebrity death is the one that sucks the most. In April, just a couple of weeks after his appearance at the Star Wars Celebration in Chicago, Peter Mayhew (74) passed away. He is a legend for his role as Chewbacca and the epitome of a gentle giant. He loved his role as Chewbacca and he will be greatly missed. However, its comforting to know that now, he is fulfilling his obligation to Han Solo, and he’s taking care of the princess. RIP Chewie.

Biggs Zone – 2018 Year In Review

By Biggs

On January 1, 2019

In General Cogitation, Year in Review

It is now 18 years after the dreaded Y2K scare. I wonder if there is anyone still hiding in their bunkers. While the Y2K date issue was a valid bug in most software, it would never have caused the catastrophe the fear-mongers were predicting. Be that as it may, 2018 is over and another year is in the books. Most of us are still here but its hard to tell if any of us still like each other. Lots of people still have a hard time seeing past party boundaries and misguided political correctness. I’m going to cover a lot of the usual retrospective topics, I might throw in a couple of new items. So with that said, time for the 2018 Year in Review.

Notable Celebrity Deaths

I know this is rather macabre but I like to take this opportunity to talk about the celebrities we lost this year. I have two reasons for doing this. The important reason being to honor their memory. These people brought joy and entertainment to our lives, we owe them some homage. The other reason is merely for acknowledgement. There have been times in the past when I did not know a celebrity has passed away (e.g. when Leslie Nielsen died).

I’m only going to mention those in the entertainment industry. While I believe any person in political office definitely deserves recognition, I avoid making any political statements or allude to political leaning. Therefore I avoid mentioning specific names so as to not show favoritism toward any one political party. I will say that I appreciate their valuable service to our country and that I hope their actions were driven by their heart and values and not by kickbacks or constituent persuasion.

Celebrity Deaths: TV

John Mahoney as Martin Crane

Jerry Van Dyke (86) is widely known for his role as Luther in Coach. He was also the younger brother of legendary actor Dick Van Dyke. I didn’t watch a lot of Coach but Luther was hilarious, much like Jerry himself. Going from brother’s to father’s, I was really sad to learn about the passing of John Mahoney (77). My all time favorite show is Frasier and John Mahoney was Martin Crane, the crotchety father of Niles and Frasier. One of the most surprising facts about John Mahoney that blew my mind, he was born in the UK, he should have had an accent very similar to Daphne Moon in Frasier. Speaking of great shows from the past, Night Court was a fantastic show from the mid-80s with the honorable Harry Stone portrayed by Harry Anderson (65) who left us too soon from a stroke.

Celebrity Deaths: Movies

I know several of the TV actors that passed away were also in movies, but they are better known for their TV roles. So, with that said, we start notable movie deaths with R. Lee Ermey (74). Everyone probably knows him best as Gny. Sgt. Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, I think a drill sergeant is a role he was most comfortable playing as it seemed its a role he

Mini-Me

was always playing. We had to give a heartfelt good-bye to “the Bandit“, Burt Reynolds (82) was definitely one of the “good ol’ boys” and watching old Celebrity Jeopardy videos will never be the same. Speaking of iconic roles, Verne Troyer (49) will always be known for his role as “Mini-Me” in the Austin Powers franchise. He brought a lot of joy to the role however, despite all that Verne Troyer drank himself to death. Please watch your friends for early warning signs of depression. There were far too many celebrity suicides this year and I’m sure it represents a mere sample size of the number of deaths by suicide in the country.

And Then There’s Stan Lee

I’ve already said a lot about Stan Lee. Losing him is a mighty blow to Marvel and comic book fans. X-Men is the only comic book I ever read as a kid and I’ve enjoyed all of the comics brought to the screen. Stan Lee inspired all geeks to be ourselves and fight for your dreams. He would have been 96 this past December; while nearly a century old, his legacy will live on for many centuries to come.

Biggs Zone – 2017 Year in Review

By Biggs

On January 2, 2018

In General Cogitation, Year in Review

I rather enjoyed writing a post reviewing 2016 so here we are again, doing a 2017 year in review. Everyone was ready to get 2016 over with because we just lost too many beloved celebrities. While 2017 also took more, it didn’t feel as though it was happening daily (more on this later). Again, I will cover NO political or hot topics, that’s not what I write about here.

Celebrities to Whom We Said ‘Good Bye’

This year it was the music industry that suffered some of the greatest tragic deaths. As a child of the 80s and 90s it was awful to hear about the passing of Tom Petty and Malcolm Young (from AC/DC). Full Moon Fever was the first cassette tape I ever bought for myself which contained Free Fallin’, one of my all time favorite Tom Petty songs. As a Country music fan, I was sad to hear about the passing of Glen Campbell; however I don’t it was as devastating as hearing about the accident that took Troy Gentry. Montgomery Gentry has some of my favorite songs and it just won’t be the same without Troy.

We lost some great names in the Movie and Entertainment industry. The biggest names that probably stand out are Hugh Hefner, Jerry Lewis and Adam West. It was awful to lose the Mayor of Quahog and the old school Batman (and a better one than Ben Affleck). Some of the lesser known, but iconic celebrities we lost this year are John Heard – the father of Home Alone, Stephen Furst – famous for the movie the Dream Team, and Peter Sallis – the voice of Wallace from Wallace and Gromit. We also had to say good-bye to the amazing talents of Mary Tyler Moore, Bill Paxton and Roger Moore (probably my favorite James Bond actor).

2017 Year in Review: Gaming

Blizzard/Activision was the big name in gaming in 2017 with the end of the current World of Warcraft expansion and the release of Destiny 2. The Destiny 2 release was probably one of the most anticipated release of the year. Console players were lucky to meet the guardian’s early while PC gamers had to wait until October. It was quite the obsession for me, until the first DLC came out and asked for another $20 from me. I haven’t played it since that time.

I’ve had a fantastic year in the Warcraft expansion. I think, not only is this the best expansion since Wrath of the Lich King, but I’ve had an awesome time with my new raid team. We have cleared all normal and heroic difficulties in time to receive the “Ahead of the Curve” achievement. We are already working through the final raid on heroic difficulty.

Blizzcon met everyone’s expectations by revealing the next WoW expansion: Battle for Azeroth. I’m not entirely sure the name of the expansion was received well. Many are on the fence about it, including myself. The content of the expansion seems a bit lackluster. I am excited to be visiting Jaina’s homeworld and the Allied Races seems interesting but I feel like it’s lacking more player content. We’ve had garrisons and order halls and then nothing. I feel like there needs to be another evolution of that system. Perhaps more will be revealed as the launch approaches.

2017 Year in Review: Star Wars

I only saw one movie in the theater this year; the only movie worth seeing: The Last Jedi. Since 2017 was the 40th anniversary of the Star Wars franchise I decided to make that a topic instead of movies. Click here to check out my review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. I was, at first, alarmed the movie’s audience rating was so low. Then I discover it was just some trolls creating multiple accounts on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes to drive down the audience rating. It didn’t work, the movie is still insanely profitable. HAH!

I cannot believe it has been 40 years for the Star Wars movie franchise. Thanks to Disney, J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson it is still going strong. 2017 was a good year for Star Wars fans, like myself. There were quite a lot of promotions going on all year for the anniversary. One promotion that I found very interesting was the Rule the Galaxy Virtual 5K. There is an organization called the Virtual Running Club where you can register and complete a 5K anywhere you want. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a limited edition medal for completing a 40th Anniversary, Star Wars themed 5K (click the image to see a larger view of the medal).

2017 Walk to Mordor

On the note of 5K races and running, I completed the Walk to Mordor challenge, again! I, honestly, do not remember exactly when this year but I want to say it was much sooner than the year prior. My ultimate goal is to be able to complete the second leg of this challenge which adds another 1600 miles. It’s going to be a stretch goal and one, I doubt, I will achieve in 2018. However, if I keep finishing the base challenge earlier than the previous year, I’m sure to get there eventually. Perhaps 2020 will be my target year for completing the extra distance.

I think I am going to end my 2017 wrap-up here. Overall it was a pretty good year and I’m looking forward to what 2018 has in store.

/cheers

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Category: Year in Review

2019 Year In Review