RIP 2016

[Bob Juch]

[SpacemanSpiff]

^ I'm Spaceman Spiff, and I fully endorse that sentiment.

[littlebeast13]

I will be happy to see a RIP on all of the trending/hipster bitching and moaning about 2016 being some kind of abnormally bad year....

lb13

[Pastor Fireball]

The bad news is that there are still 3 1/2 days left in 2016. Anything can happen. Judging by how this year has gone so far, it probably will. Yes, I know that 2017 will be exponentially worse than 2016, but there is still time for 2016 to get worse. I'm not being cynical here. I'm being realistic.

[earendel]

[quote="littlebeast13"]I will be happy to see a RIP on all of the trending/hipster bitching and moaning about 2016 being some kind of abnormally bad year....[quote]
Here in River City it has been the worst year on record for homicides. Our church puts crosses on the lawn in memory of those who died from an act of violence and we had to make new ones because we didn't have enough. Over 120 deaths this year. And in big cities such as Chicago it's worse. So I'd say that this has been an "abnormally bad year".

[Brit Canuck]

To be fair, I think we should take a moment to remember all the good things that happened in politics and the news throughout 2016. Here's my recap:

Spoiler

...










...Really? You actually clicked on this?

I jest, of course. Someone has to. Happy Holidays.

[elwoodblues]

2016 in review:

[bazodee]

A couple times during one's life, there is a year whose measure of happiness is three standard deviations lower than the mean. 2016 is such a year.

[littlebeast13]

I will be happy to see a RIP on all of the trending/hipster bitching and moaning about 2016 being some kind of abnormally bad year....

Here in River City it has been the worst year on record for homicides. Our church puts crosses on the lawn in memory of those who died from an act of violence and we had to make new ones because we didn't have enough. Over 120 deaths this year. And in big cities such as Chicago it's worse. So I'd say that this has been an "abnormally bad year".

It's called a trend, and it won't change on January 1st. Sky high murder rates have happening here for a couple years now and is a cause and effect problem that has nothing to do with randomness...

Of course, that isn't what the cool kids are waving their trending hashtag about. Celebrities are dying in more than just threes now, so the end must be nigh or something like that...

lb13

[jarnon]

Here's what Luke Skywalker had to say:

[jarnon]

Gonna be some sweet sounds
Coming down on the nightshift
I bet you're singing proud
Oh I bet you'll pull a crowd
Gonna be a long night
It's gonna be all right
On the nightshift
Oh you found another home
I know you're not alone
On the nightshift

The band over there will sound extra sweet this New Year's Eve.

[kroxquo]

Old video, but the band is even better this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IEemZ6-LZc

[BackInTex]

2016 was a fantastic year. They all really are if you've personally lived to see the first day of that year. Those who think not should evaluate themselves, what is important in their lives.

Seriously.

My oldest, a daughter, got married today. The first of my kids to get married.

My sister missed the wedding because she is probably heading back to the state mental hospital. Her son, my nephew, my daughter's close first cousin missed the wedding because he was dealing with his mother, my sister.

Carrie Fisher? George Michael? Really? You are going to rank or judge a year based on the fact that people you've never met died?

That is sad.

I rejoice in the fact that we had over 150 family and friends who could come and celebrate. My best friend in college couldn't because he had open heart surgery yesterday, another close church friend couldn't because he was having a tumor removed from his brain. Another couldn't make the wedding because his wife's father died Christmas day.

And my wife's father, my daughter's only surviving grandfather didn't make her wedding because he is in the hospital and may never leave. Yet tomorrow she will visit him and bring all the extra table centerpiece decorations to the hospital and deliver them to all the other patients on his floor who have nothing, no one visiting them.

It was a wonderful day, part of a wonderful year, while still having sucky parts. There are still 2 days left. Wonderful things will happen. Don't wish them away.

[Bob Juch]

2016 was a fantastic year. They all really are if you've personally lived to see the first day of that year. Those who think not should evaluate themselves, what is important in their lives.

Seriously.

My oldest, a daughter, got married today. The first of my kids to get married.

My sister missed the wedding because she is probably heading back to the state mental hospital. Her son, my nephew, my daughter's close first cousin missed the wedding because he was dealing with his mother, my sister.

Carrie Fisher? George Michael? Really? You are going to rank or judge a year based on the fact that people you've never met died?

That is sad.

I rejoice in the fact that we had over 150 family and friends who could come and celebrate. My best friend in college couldn't because he had open heart surgery yesterday, another close church friend couldn't because he was having a tumor removed from his brain. Another couldn't make the wedding because his wife's father died Christmas day.

And my wife's father, my daughter's only surviving grandfather didn't make her wedding because he is in the hospital and may never leave. Yet tomorrow she will visit him and bring all the extra table centerpiece decorations to the hospital and deliver them to all the other patients on his floor who have nothing, no one visiting them.

It was a wonderful day, part of a wonderful year, while still having sucky parts. There are still 2 days left. Wonderful things will happen. Don't wish them away.

The election results have me far more upset than the celebrity deaths.

[T_Bone0806]

2016 was a fantastic year. They all really are if you've personally lived to see the first day of that year. Those who think not should evaluate themselves, what is important in their lives.

Seriously.

My oldest, a daughter, got married today. The first of my kids to get married.

My sister missed the wedding because she is probably heading back to the state mental hospital. Her son, my nephew, my daughter's close first cousin missed the wedding because he was dealing with his mother, my sister.

Carrie Fisher? George Michael? Really? You are going to rank or judge a year based on the fact that people you've never met died?

That is sad.

I rejoice in the fact that we had over 150 family and friends who could come and celebrate. My best friend in college couldn't because he had open heart surgery yesterday, another close church friend couldn't because he was having a tumor removed from his brain. Another couldn't make the wedding because his wife's father died Christmas day.

And my wife's father, my daughter's only surviving grandfather didn't make her wedding because he is in the hospital and may never leave. Yet tomorrow she will visit him and bring all the extra table centerpiece decorations to the hospital and deliver them to all the other patients on his floor who have nothing, no one visiting them.

It was a wonderful day, part of a wonderful year, while still having sucky parts. There are still 2 days left. Wonderful things will happen. Don't wish them away.

Good points, and a good reality check. My year personally was better than my last few, so I'm thankful for that.

Of course I have had concerns with the divisiveness this country has seen this year, world affairs, etc. It can be frightening. I can only hope and pray that enough sanity is maintained that, in the end, we'll still be OK.

As far as celebrity deaths, well, a lot of talented people were lost this year. It definitely got to the point of ridiculousness..can't recall another year in which this many of this magnitude of success left the world. But yeah, to judge a year based solely on notable deaths is silly...but I doubt that, at the bottom of it all, many are actually doing that.

If I need a reality check on that subject, I need only to think of a good friend of mine, one I've known since Kindergarten. A little over 2 months ago, she lost her mother, who was her best friend. Then 10 days ago, her son passed away unexpectedly, leaving 2 small children behind.

THAT is a bad year.

[Brit Canuck]

2016 was a mixed year for everyone, depending on your own personal experiences. Some people had a great year, others had a really bad year, and some had a so-so year. And some people are judging 2016 on how it's ending (Drew Carey just ended his TPIR 'Best of 2016' edition with - what else? - a DOB). The merits of 2016 will be debated long after Kathy Griffin finishes embarassing Anderson Cooper in Times Square tomorrow night. All I can say is that I know for a fact that 2017 will be an absolutely wonderful year...

Spoiler

...for the first 19 days.

[silverscreenselect]

The election results have me far more upset than the celebrity deaths.

The worst year in my memory is 1968. Assassinations of RFK and MLK. Riots at the Chicago convention. Bad election results. The Tet Offensive in Vietnam, the My Lai massacre and their aftermath. The Soviet crackdown in Czechoslovakia.

And some run of the mill celebrity deaths that year:

Nick Adams
Tallulah Bankhead
Bea Benederet
Neal Cassady
Edna Ferber
Yuri Gagarin
Dorothy Gish
Helen Keller
Trygvie Lie
Marion Lorne
Charles Mayo
Thomas Merton
Upton Sinclair
John Steinbeck
William Talman
Franchot Tone
Lurleen Wallace

So 2016 has a long way to go to catch up to 1968.

[SpacemanSpiff]

All of these darn celebrity deaths and not a Kardashian in the bunch.

[Vandal]

[mellytu74]

As big a fan as I was of Debbie Reynolds, John Glenn, Nancy Reagan's style, Gordie Howe, Arnold Palmer, Ali, Bob Elliott, Prince, David Bowie, Merle Haggard, Madeleine LeBeau's joining in on La Marseillaise and Father Daniel Berrigan, 2016 started out with a terrible death that will overshadow all of them for a long time.

Boonie's grand-nephew Jake died in February. He struggled with recovery and mental illness. He was several months short of his 30th birthday.

So, sss is correct in that 1968 was probably a worse year.

And BiT is also correct -- Wonderful things will happen. Don't wish them away.

And, even if they are the smallest things, wonderful things will happen for all of us in 2017.

Felice anno nuovo, my Bored paisans.

[Bob Juch]

As big a fan as I was of Debbie Reynolds, John Glenn, Nancy Reagan's style, Gordie Howe, Arnold Palmer, Ali, Bob Elliott, Prince, David Bowie, Merle Haggard, Madeleine LeBeau's joining in on La Marseillaise and Father Daniel Berrigan, 2016 started out with a terrible death that will overshadow all of them for a long time.

Boonie's grand-nephew Jake died in February. He struggled with recovery and mental illness. He was several months short of his 30th birthday.

So, sss is correct in that 1968 was probably a worse year.

And BiT is also correct -- Wonderful things will happen. Don't wish them away.

And, even if they are the smallest things, wonderful things will happen for all of us in 2017.

Felice anno nuovo, my Bored paisans.

I've had worse years but this is up there. Feliz Año Nuevo.

[Bob Juch]

[Bob78164]

I will be happy to see a RIP on all of the trending/hipster bitching and moaning about 2016 being some kind of abnormally bad year....

lb13

Looks like you're right. --Bob