Is it possible to top a year like 2008? We’ve encountered everything from scandal to accidental celebrity deaths. History was made in politics with the presidential election as well as in the NFL with the league’s first ever 0-16 team. Although the recession hit hard, the entertainment industry made a few strides with superhero movies like Iron Man and The Dark Knight. Here’s a recap of what 2009 is up against.

Government officials and celebrities showed their true colors throughout the year. The true criminals and scumbags captured the headlines. Before the Rod Blagojevich controversy, there was Eliot Spitzer and his prostitute (she then made a singing debut out of the exposure). Really though, who cares about “Client #9” and Ashley Alexandra Dupré? Apparently Time believes that was the number one scandal of the year and there was no mention of our governor within the top ten.

O.J. Simpson is finally getting the jail sentence many believe he deserved years ago. I guess what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.

The good side of politics came with our new president-elect, Barack Obama. It shows that our nation has finally progressed past racial barriers, and it’s about time.

On a sad note, death was prevalent for the famous in ‘08. The most shocking death of the year came early with Heath Ledger. An accidental drug overdose took the life of an actor that redefined the role of the infamous Joker in The Dark Knight.

Here’s a short list of other celebrities no longer with us: Bettie Page, Isaac Hayes, Bernie Mac, Michael Crichton, Charlton Heston, and George Carlin.

History was made within the National Football League. The Patriots were near perfection at the beginning of the year, but the choked in the only game that mattered. At least we can rely on the Detroit Lions to pick us up and set the bar with an NFL record of zero wins and sixteen losses. We may never again see this feat.

Michael Phelps came in a distant second to Detroit with history-making performances. So he won 8 gold medals against the best of the best swimmers in the Olympics. The suit did all of the work anyway. I’m totally kidding, that was the single most impressive athletic accomplishment of the year. The next best athletic achievements came from Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.

The Cubs blew it again…I guess that’s old news though.

Television was entertaining this year. The Office, How I Met Your Mother, and House are still three of the best shows on television. If you haven’t seen Steve Carell’s character Michael Scott on The Office, you’re missing out. Heroes took a fall this past season, but still a decent show if you’re a fan of superpowers and unrealistic twists. No matter how tacky It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (with Danny DeVito) is, I can’t get enough of it. Finally, The Shield ended their reign this past year, and not a minute too soon. I enjoyed the show for a few seasons, but it was time to put that dog to rest.

The most important subject to mention of the entire year is the music. Some bands hit, like TV on the Radio and Coldplay, and one totally missed, Guns n’ Roses. Chinese Democracy started in the mid ‘90’s and should’ve stayed there. Go away Axl, you creepy, creepy looking man…thing. Coldplay is always golden in every aspect of their career. I’m looking to the start of 2009 with Tonight: Franz Ferdinand. A brilliant album I’m still listening to is from The Killers, Day & Age.

There were so many other stories out there, but everything is debatable and some of the stories are too depressing to think about. The one thing that did happen on the LAST day of 2008 was the arrest of Charles Barkley on a DUI suspicion, awesome (apparently a handgun and prostitute are involved, as well). We started 2009 with the Winter Classic between the Red Wings and Blackhawks at Wrigley Field. Nice transition from the old to the New Year. Kudos to you professional sports! Happy New Year, let’s hope for the same excitement this time around.

Thinking about the holidays and how the New Year is quickly approaching, I’ve been thinking about what I can do to find out who I really am and what I can do to change for the better. This way, I can play out my New Year’s resolution ahead of time. At least I’ll be able to come up with excuses as to why I couldn’t fulfill my verbal commitments. Here’s my top 5 ways to find yourself, and if these steps are incorporated together, maybe you can find yourself, as I did.

Number 5
Follow you spirit guide.

Usually this tends to be an animal. Although I’ve heard of this only a few times, mainly in the show Heroes, I don’t know how often this works. I actually tried to first FIND my spirit animal a few weeks back. No talking turtles came my way.

I was actually banking on a coyote to help me out like on The Simpsons, but to no avail. At least I’ve taken the first step.

Number 4
Religion.

Religion is a very touchy subject to talk about. It’s a good thing I don’t have many boundaries. I’ve never thought much about religion, honestly. The way religion is, in my eyes, a cult. Who’s to judge another on how people live their lives, such as sexual orientation? Enough on that matter, regardless of everything I mentioned, I gave it a shot…sort of.

I shaved all of my facial hair in late October, to realize I looked like a young boy, so I then decided to grow everything out. One day, about a week ago, it occurred to me that I look a bit like Jesus. It was almost like an epiphany. I have officially taken the first two steps to discovering who I am.

Number 3
Find solitude.

This can be by any means of relaxation. The first thing I thought to try was yoga…and that’s about as far as it went, it was just another thought clouding the mind. After that, meditation, deep-breathing, acupuncture, a cold bath, alcohol, pain killers, a walk on the beach, and star-gazing…

I settled on listening to Coldplay. Check in the box, three down, and two to go.

Number 2
Read a self-discovery book.

So I started looking into books on Amazon.com and I came across this one, Soul Mapping: An Imaginative Way to Self-Discovery by Nina H. Frost, Dr. Richard W. Shoup, and Dr. Kenneth C. Ruge. I am a firm believer in not judging a book by its cover, but I made an exception here. From the title alone, it looks like those actions were already covered, see Number 4 and Number 3. On to the final step, the one step that matters above all the rest.

Number 1
Piss someone off that likes to write about their anger, and become more honest in the process.

Of course, why did I waste all of that time on the other steps? All I had to do was piss off one person by being myself and have them blog about all of my faults. Not only did I learn about how they felt, but it was an eye-opener to the person I really am. I had no idea about most of what was said. I’m thankful for the internet and all of its glory. The internet allows people to vent their most inner, personal, thoughts into an electronic journal for all eyes to see. Thank you anonymous blogger.

The moral of this story, kids, is that you don’t have to go through the agony of buying self-help books or wasting time and money on yoga classes, NO. Just piss someone off that has some built up emotions and a little bit of writing ability. You’d be surprised at how much someone can pick up on you and your personality from as little as a week. Have a fun and safe holiday. Take some time to find yourself before the New Year.

Back in their hey day, the Beatles received a lot of fan mail. Now that only two are still alive, you can imagine how heavy the Liverpool postman’s satchel might be.

A few days ago, Ringo Starr released a video on his website asking fans to stop sending fan mail after October 20th. Starr will refuse to sign, or even open any fan letters postmarked after the 20th.

If you’ve seen the video, you will wonder how someone can clearly be so irritated while repeating the phrase “peace and love” so frequently? It’s a good thing Marge got hers in before the deadline.

Megastar rapper T.I. is scheduled to start serving his one year prison term on federal gun charges shortly. The rapper, whose last three consecutive albums all reached the number one spot, was busted in October of 2007 by federal agents during a sting operation when the rapper was caught attempting to buy machine guns and silencers in Hotlanta.

This is only the most recent in a series of rap superstars running into the wrong side of Johnny Law. DMX has had multiple scrapes, including one where he impersonated a federal officer after crashing a car while in possession of cocaine. Rapper (and apparent Cubs fan) Shyne is still in prison on a ten year bit for reckless endangerment and assault following a nightclub shooting in December of 1999. Lil’ Kim did a bit as well. And of course, who can forget the exploits of Tupac and Biggie Smalls, both of whom were not fortunate enough to escape with only jail time.

Call me a wanksta, or a honky–but someone should tell these guys that after they’re rich and world famous–they can either drop the act, or hire a body guard. When you have such a good thing going, lay off the nose candy. You don’t want to wind up like this:

George Clinton’s Mug Shot

Or like this:

We gotta have some changes.

Yello, Lowdown readers. It’s me, Mary Frickin’ Z, your newest contributor on the Lowdown. You might know me from my other blog on this site, Triple Entendre. I decided to cheat on Triple Entendre with the Lowdown once it became apparent that the Lowdown was quickly descending into transcriptions of things Sarah and Charlie argue about before bed. That’s right, I went there.

I think it’s important that we all talk about the upcoming election, its nominees, and the huge obligation we all have to vote (for Obama (subliminal message!)). However, it is far more important for us to talk about this.

Ben Folds and Regina Spektor, my two all-time favorite artists, coming together for the good of humanity with the duet “You Don’t Know Me.” With a really jacked-up music video, directed by and starring, Tim and Eric from Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job.

At first I was really disappointed in the track. Seriously, was this all Ben and Regina could come up with? After a few more listens, however, I’ve really warmed up to the song. When you take into account Ben Folds’ recent divorce from his 3rd wife (or was it his 4th wife? So hard to keep track these days…), the song becomes a heart-wrenching tale of a couple’s realization that their relationship is dead, and there is no turning back from this epiphany.

But seriously, what the hell is up with this video?!

Source: Youtube

Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4_Dei5srfM

A brilliant social commentary on the tribulations of our time, a scathing indictment of the perpetuation of social inequalities by an establishment all too eager to do so.