Claire McArthur
Congratulations 2011! You’ve made it through another year. I’m sure your year, like mine, was full of laughter and smiles, long days and longer nights, back bar at JBR’s and Spoke bagels, high metallic heels and throwback snap-backs and everything in between. But let’s move on from ourselves (I know, it’s tough for me too) and think about what happened around the world and who we should really be congratulating.
Congratulations to Social Media! Not only has Twitter made it increasingly easy for me to keep track of celebrities and my friends in 140 character updates, but along with Facebook it was able to ignite Arab Spring and the revolution in Egypt. Apparently it is worth more than looking up girls from your high school that got fat and never left your hometown. Who knew?
Congratulations to Japan! Despite the horrific tsunami that demolished coastal cities and left over 15, 000 people dead and another 3, 926 missing the country stayed true to its heritage of strength and honour and continued to push forward. Congratulations to all those that found it within themselves to help the people of Japan during this trying time.
Congratulations to Avicii! You officially made “Levels” UWO’s anthem and every time I hear the beginning of that song, I still get a good feeling.
Congratulations Canadian Music! I never thought I’d see the day when Canadian content laws actually made radio play better but right now, Canada is kind of killin’ it on the music scene. Whether you want me to be referring to Justin Bieber for taking over pop, Drake for reppin’ Canadian hip hop, Arcade Fire for showing Montreal is more than just cafés and bagels or Deadmau5 for puttin’ on for the rave scene, is up to you—but Canada’s covering all the bases.
Congratulations to Obama! Your government did a lot of things right this year, in my mind. Not only did you pull troops out of Iraq, you also overturned the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law regarding homosexual service men and women. Finally.
Congratulations to the NFL! Thank you for making moves and coming to an agreement before the fans (the true victims of any lock out) were impacted. NBA–You should have been taking notes.
Congratulations the Cancun crew! We survived. To everyone going this year, you have a lot to live up to.
Congratulations to Jay Z and Beyonce! I. Can’t. Wait.
Congratulations New York! It’s about time you legalized gay marriage.
Congratulations to Harry Potter for finally graduating without being killed. Congratulations to Ron for snagging Hermione, she’s way too hot for you.
Congratulations to Lebron…. No wait, that didn’t happen. HA!
It’s hard to believe another year has passed us by. As we watch it go, let’s remember to congratulate the winners and the losers of 2011. To Charlie Sheen for showing us what crazy looks like. To Kim Kardashian for proving that gay marriage isn’t the biggest threat to marriage–it’s greed. To the Weeknd and Frank Ocean for making R&B great again. I thank you. Thank you, 2011 and congratulations, you were phenomenal.
