Monday, 4 January 2016

Local and world news, and movies and songs to remember from 2015

A look back before the calendar moves forward

Avian Flu was selected by Woodstock Sentinel-Review as top story of year

By Mark Schadenberg
We can’t begin 2016 without looking back quickly to 2015, including a review of top athletes, songs on the charts and movies on the big screen.
Another list to consider is produced by Lake Superior State University in Michigan. The school annually takes task with words and sayings they would simply banish from our vocabulary. The link is below and quite honestly you can tell the entries are based mostly on submissions from their school alma mater. My least favourite sayings by the way are: ‘Going forward’ our team must . . . and ‘At the end of the day’ it’s 11:59 p.m.   
A list to remember is the obituary notes of 2015, ranging from those who lived a long noteworthy life to 3-year-old Alan Kurdi. The link to this obit list posted by the London Free Press is below and while it’s certainly not a complete compilation, it includes people from news, sports, the arts, and even some area (regionally) significant passings as well.
From a sombre mood to something much more upbeat – hit records. Heart FM (104.7 FM) compiled its top 50 songs of 2015 and the top of the charts was assigned to Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars release Uptown Funk. There are certainly different musical genres to analyze for the best of the best, but I can’t deny that Uptown Funk deserves this perch as it has a mere 1.2 billion views on YouTube. 
Bruno Mars

In local news, The Woodstock Sentinel-Review list of most read stories online is noted below, but the top story (most significant) in Oxford County was selected as the Avian Flu outbreak which effected many local poultry farms as 8 farms were quarantined. One chicken farm in particular had to exterminate 27,000 chickens.
In nearby London the top story for 2015 was the same as 2014 and that was the death of three people at the Costco store by a car driven by Ruth Burger.
In the Waterloo Region Record newspaper, there was an alphabet list of topics that dominated headlines. The link is below, and ranged from a news mega sportsplex to be built on the Conestoga College campus for the City of Cambridge to the LRT construction project to debates on boundary adjustments for municipalities.

Jose Bautista
In the sports world, there were many highlights and champions crowned, but for myself the Jose Bautista bat toss will certainly be most memorable.
In national news, the federal election had to be the top story. There is a Toronto Star story below noting their winners and losers of 2015, which would be a very good year for Justin Trudeau and a not-so-good year for Stephen Harper and Thomas Mulcair.
In world news, I will simply repeat the name of Alan Kurdi.
On the movie screen, every reviewer and pundit had a top 10 list, but Hollywood will tell you the top picture of the year was Jurassic World when you look strictly at box office cash registers. I’m not sure how Star Wars: The Force Awakens didn’t top the list (released on Dec. 18), but it likely will for 2016. The chart is noted below. 
I still remember actor Chris Pratt of Jurassic World from the TV show Everwood (2002 - 2006), which starred two young Canadians in Emily VanCamp and Gregory Smith.
In the stores, Big Hero 6 was the top selling DVD. 
Chris Pratt: Jurassic World

I’m looking forward to 2016. Optimism always abounds for a new year of experiences and life moments.
As we look back to 2015, it is my wish to you that the new year will be your best ever!

LINKS:

Top Movies:

Top Pop Song:

Books:
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