Greetings Webtaculators! If you’re reading this, you survived 2021! Congratulations! Best of luck on this year. On to the news.
STORY OF THE WEEK YEAR (long read)
What: COVID
Why: Because last year had more than enough stories (starting off with an attempted overthrow of our country, that for some reason, still hasn’t been dealt with, the end of a 20 year war, and plenty of others), but, since COVID is still here and in full force, it gets the nod.
ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK YEAR (long read)
What: Everything Is Rosey For Business
Why: Because for some reason the economy continues to largely ignore that peoples’ lives have been completely upended for 2 years.
LAW THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Epstein’s Ghost
Why: Because Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty of aiding Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of minors.
TECH THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: An Early Gift
Why: Because one of the worst people in government had their personal account banned by Twitter. It’s a small benefit, but think about how much we haven’t heard what Trump’s been thinking without a megaphone attached to everyone’s screen.
SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: RIP Madden
Why: Because John Madden probably had a much larger contribution to the success of the business of American Football (and possibly video games?) than he is given credit for.
TELEVISION THING OF THE WEEK (7 min. read)
What: RIP Betty
Why: Because the Golden Girl lived an amazing life, and continued to be an inspiring, hilarious figure through the end.
A QUICK NOTE: – Normally, I do a breakdown of some of the top media I consumed the previous year. That’s not happening, for a few reasons: 1. I didn’t really get around to that much “new” stuff this year; 2. most of the stuff I did get around to consuming wasn’t particularly enjoyable / memorable; and 3. I’m having an insanely hard time separating out what happened in 2020 vs. 2021. So, instead, I’ll leave with just one thing from the four media categories I normally cover that I highly recommend.
MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK YEAR (4 min. read)
What: Dune
Why: Because it did basically everything right compared to every other movie version of a book series that requires an appendix to understand.
MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK YEAR (3 min. read)
What: CHVRCHES – Screen Violence
Why: Because this was essentially the only album that came out this year that I listen to front to back multiple times a week. Also, I got to see them at Bill Graham Civic at the end of the year, and they helped me feel alive.
PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK YEAR (long look)
What: A Look Back
Why: Because I didn’t get out much last year.
LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK YEAR (5 min. read)
What: Station Eleven
Why: Because, as I mentioned on here before, reading has fallen off my radar in recent years. I’m not commuting long hours by public transportation, I read for work, and I just don’t have it in me most days. This got to the point where I forgot what I had been reading when I last picked up my Kindle. Turns out I was in the middle of a book about the aftermath of a flu-like pandemic that killed a majority of world’s population. What a perfect thing to start reading again in the middle of an actual pandemic.
VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK YEAR (5 min. read)
What: DEATHLOOP
Why: Because at this moment it is really the only new IP that did something different in an extremely crowded space filled with sequels and did it successfully. It was no more and no less than what it was trying to be, which is saying something.
INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Some Simple Resolutions, In Case You Forgot Your Own; Look At The Stars; United States Of Pop
Why: Because Internet.
THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: A Good Year
Why: Because Brian deserves it.
Webtacularly yours,
Brian
Managing Editor, Webtacular World
The Internet You Didn’t Know You Needed™