OK. I am going to start this now, and hope I can finish. I want to finish this a little early, as I have no idea what I will be doing over the next few days! So. How can we class 2009! How will it be remembered in history?
Well, it has been a year of some ups, but to my mind, mostly downs. A year, for me, that will go down in history as memorable. But not for fluffy nice reasons. Lets cover this from 2 sides. The international general side, and my own personal side.
First of all, fame. What happened in the celebrity circuit.
There where many good things this year. Thanks to the age of Youtube and Twitter, people can achieve recognition very quickly. For example, Susan Boyle. She of Youtube fame. Within hours of her appearance on Britains Got talent, she had fans around the world thanks to the internet. Including many from Hollywood. Since then, she became one of the highest searched people online! Quite impressive for a 40+ year old single lady from a small village in Scotland! She has since gone on to release a number 1 album. Not bad going!
2009 has also seen the worst come up. Carrie Prejean, winner of Ms California, came into a hailstorm of trouble during her time in the competition when she talked about her beliefs (she is Christian) and that she believes that marriage is an institution reserved for man and woman. Essentially criticising same-sex marriage (I have my own views, but those are for later).
She is, undoubtedly, a very attractive lady. She won the Ms California crown, but then got into a lot of hot water after her comments. Eventually, she was stripped of her crown. She decided to sue Donald Trump's Ms Universe for religious discrimination. They counter-sued for the cost of her breast implants.
The whole issue was finally resolved when she was confronted with a video that had been posted online showing a lady with not much clothing pleasuring herself. The lady turned out to be Carrie. Needless to say her demand for punitive damages dropped very rapidly!
She has since gone on to complain about a comprehensive campaign in the liberal media to deny her her constitutional right to free-speech. She complained to the persecuted and minority conservative media. To figures such as Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh,and Michael Savage. People who have huge power at their respective stations and networks. (Lets face it, all media has some bias. Just have to draw a line down the middle to get close to the truth!)
I fancy Carrie Prejean to one day run for public office. Very attractive lady, solid conservative ideals, not too smart for the republican movement to be unable to control...
We have had matrimonial crises as well. My personal favourite being the governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford. He claimed to have been hiking the Appalachan Trail, when really he was in Argentina with his mistress. I am impressed. Most people would have a mistress maybe in another city. His was in the southern hemisphere! Since then, "hiking the Appalachan trail" has joined the English language as yet another euphemism. Well done!
We have had controversy. With the "Balloon Boy" case. Richard and Mayumi Heene where a celebrity seeking couple willing to do anything to get into the spotlight. Richard was a closet scientist determined to get a TV show and get his fame and fortune. Mayumi was his loyal wife who supported this dream. They then managed to achieve the first step in this dream with an appearance on "Wife Swap."
This made them hungry for more, and thus they ended up with the infamous balloon flight, with their son apparently trapped inside a balloon that was flying away. The story unravelled when their son was found in the attic of their house, and then on national tv pretty much said that he had been told to hide up there!
They have both since been sentenced to time in jail.
We have also lost a good many people this year. For example, the last lion of the Kennedy clan, the Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy. Famous for his personality, and drive to get things done. For many years, he pushed for health reform before it became sexy. The American democratic system has lost one of the true greats.
In Japan, we saw the death of one of the great Anime artists, the creator of "Crayon Shin Chan," Yoshito Usui. He announced to his family that he was going for a day-hike in the mountains in Gunma Prefecture. Unfortunately, he never came back from the walk. He was found several days later. A loss to art.
I n Britain, Jade Goody. She became famous on the back of some pretty boorish behaviour on Big Brother, and being relatively dumb. She then managed to re-invent herself as something of a celebrity mum. She was then unfortunately diagnosed with cervical cancer, and given months to live. Her gurrent boyfriend who was in prison, was given compassionate leave to exit prison to marry her. She died in the arms of her husband.
Another death this year that was overshadowed by another death a few days before was Billie Mays. His is not a name that most will know. However, he is famous. He has been the face of many a commercial, and info shows on the likes of QVC. Famously for Oxi-Clean.
Finally, 1 death that rocked the world was the untimely death of the singular pop legend Michael Jackson. The King of Pop died from a suspected drug overdose, after eating a cocktail of prescription pills. His death came a couple of weeks before his comeback, and retirement tour which included 50 nights at London's O2 Arena.
Whilst Michael, in life, ended up living a very bizarre lifestyle, the controversy over his skin colour changing, the ludicrous amount of plastic surgery, erratic behaviour, sometimes creepy interest in kids, and interesting parental style, he will rightly be remembered as one of the greatest artists of all time. In the current age, none can match him. His music touched millions. His death was mourned in America, and Britain. Nations where his music was understood, but also here in Japan. Where not that many people have enough English to understand the words. They still understand the music.
2009 has also been a year of science.
For example, Swine Flu seemed to spring from nowhere, on the back of Avian flu, and regular flu. A flu that has reached epidemic proportions, and driven many thousands of people to near paranoia. Despite it being a flu bug that the human body is capable of shaking off. Yes people have died because of it, but no more so than victims of the regular flu. The big worry about this new flu was its ability to strike during the summer months, when usual flu dies down. Still, we seem capable of treating for it. So I am not unduly worried about it. And I have not been struck down by it. Which is nice.
Technologically we saw the Conficker virus. Cleverly devised by hackers to slip past many a computers defences, and embed itself in a computer, waiting for April 1st. No-one knew what it was supposed to do. On April 1st, nothing happened, and then on April 8th, it finally woke up, and started sending out spam. Hardly devastating. Still, a very tricky little bug that has experts worried.
Natural disasters have struck. A tsunami hammered Pacific islands such as Tonga, the Philippines where hit by several tropical storms. Including 1 that rolled back and forth over the north of the country many times triggering floods. Indeed, as we speak, a volcano is causing scientists a great deal of concern!
We have had mysterious disappearances, with an Air France flight going down in the the ocean heading back to Paris from South America, and only a few bits of flotsam being recovered. They have an idea, but unless more stuff can be found, we may never know how the plane went down. Apparently the pilots did take action...
We have also seen a lot of action on the global warming front. Organisations are beginning to get their voices heard, and nations are beginning to creep towards action. The EU and Japan announcing plans for unilateral cuts, America finally getting on the band-wagon, and most importantly, China and India as the 2 leading developing nations finally pledging action. Albeit limited.
Then there was the COP 15 conference, in Copenhagen. If you believe Milliband, the British foreign minister, a conference that the Chinese tried to scupper. Whilst I do not find it hard to believe, I also believe that the conference was a disaster. The EU came from a relatively weak bargaining position since it put so much on the table at the start that it had nothing left to bargain with. Also, whilst America's contribution was important, Obama was limited in what he could promise, since he has to get his promises backed by Congress! Then there was the handling of the whole thing...
Still, at least it happened. A big step forward. We will see what happens at the follow-up conference next year.
Finally, and slightly more positively, space. Space has become a little more sexy again. Whilst the space shuttle is due to be phased out, NASA is working on a replacement for it with the Aries series of rockets, and had a successful test just a couple of months ago. also, this year saw Europe and Japan launch their various space trucks, which can be used for hauling goods up to the space station. Europe has its automated Jules Verne, and Japan has its H-II HTV.
ESA's Jules Verne module was a major breakthrough as the first fully automated vehicle to dock with the ISS. Whilst Russia's Soyuz module was able to dock automatically, it does have humans on board who can override the system and take over. Jules Verne is basically a robot. A truck that hauls stuff up and does not have people on board. On its first flight, it performed perfectly. Parking next to the ISS, then moving in and docking with the ISS all on its own, no mishaps, no need to abort. Its success has given ESA cause to consider Jules Verne as a successful design from which they can quickly develop a vehicle capable of delivering humans into space.
Japans H-II "space truck" has also marked another step forward. Whilst ESA's Jules Verne is capable of hauling a lot of stuff, including sensitive stuff in a pressurized cabin, the H-II has much more space. This vehicle is a major reason why the ISS has been able to expand its living capacity. However, unlike Jules, it cannot dock automatically. It will fly up to the ISS and park next to it, where they use the robotic arm to draw the capsule in.
Economically, 2009 will be remembered for the major problems we have seen .Governments round the world poured tax-payers money into the financial system to prop it up, and stimulus plans struggled to cushion the sharpest collapse in the worlds economic history.
Auto makers where on the verge of collapse until governments stepped in to offer subsidies to people to scrap old vehicles for newer, greener cars. This worked, with sales increasing for all companies. Whilst many companies posted losses, the losses where far smaller than they could have been, and some companies like Nissan even managed to post small profits!
Then there was the banks. The banks took major decisions that brought huge profits, but at great risk. The banks then had to run to the government for help when the problems began to explode in their face. The real anger came about when after receiving billions in help from the tax-payer, bank bonuses began to creep up to huge levels. To the point that the British government has announced plans to tax large bank bonuses, and France is looking like it will follow suit. These mark a possible trend for many European nations.
However, it is not all doom. some companies have been very successful, such as Twitter, Facebook, the ad-funded TV internet site Hulu, Microsoft's Bing (a name picked so it can follow Google and become a verb), Apple has enjoyed continued success with its iPod touch, and Nano, and the iPhone. Becoming the "must have" phone (though its impact here in Japan has not been so succesful as the Japanese companies have simply brought out their own versions as soon as Apple came into the market!)
Linkedin exploded this year, since it offers help with employment. Useful right now! Also, companies selling language software has seen a large growth as people look to add to their skills, and finally, Amazon has seen its e-book, Kindle, prove to be a must-have for Christmas!
Here in Japan, mobile phones have again streaked ahead of the rest of the world. Apple closed the gap with its combination of technologies, and use of applications. Whilst Japanese phones where technologically better, it was the combination that Apple offered that has forced Japanese companies to really fight back and come up with something new. And boy have they responded! Here are 2 examples, and they make my phone look like a steam powered brick!
Docomo now has 2 phones which are very Apple-like, as well as others that take some of Apples combinations, and run with it very, very fast. For example, the F-01B is waterproof, has a 12 mg camera, a touch screen, can download tv programmes from your Blu-Ray recorder, and can offer help on your golf swing!
The P-01B is more interesting. It also has a cool camera, but has a 2 way clamshell screen. Has a touch screen, and the key pad also can be converted into a touch pad. Making the keypad feature in the same way as an iPhones touch pad screen.
Also, Docomo is very proud of its i-Mode application system. It works like Apple's iStore, and allows users to download applications. It has seen big investments by Docomo to really push it on and develop it!
In sports, we saw a few major pieces of news. Manchester United won its 3rd Premier League title in a row, for the second time, but the big thing was the climax of the World Cup qualification campaign.
Many of the usual suspects qualified, England escaped its group with a slick campaign, the Dutch, the Germans all made it. As did the US, Mexico, Australia, and Japan. No major surprises there. However, there where some surprises, such as the closeness of 1 clash in Africa, with Algeria and Egypt finishing their campaign tied. Perfectly. It took a one-off game in a neutral place to finally split them.
Then there was controversy, sparked originally when Russia, France and Portugal failed to qualify automatically. To give them a leg-up, FIFA announced the seeding of the playoff games for the first time. France got Ireland, Portugal got Bosnia, and Russia got Slovenia. Portugal qualified easily. Russia got dumped by a stubborn Slovenian team, and France qualified thanks to a hugely controversial moment when Thierry Henry handled the ball, and resulted in a goal that saw France through. There was to be no replay, FIFA says so (why? They got what they wanted, France qualifying), however, TV technology is now going to be studied more, and FIFA floated the idea of giving the Irish a special fair play award. Needless to say, the Irish told them in no uncertain terms to stick that where the sun dont shine.
Finally, on a personal level, it has been a tough year. It started out with my vacation back to England. Whilst the vacation went well, it was the return to Japan that got tough. My passport got taken, and my girlfriend ended up spending a week in hospital in Milton Keynes due to a kidney infection.
Next up, I got a wonderful infection!
Yes, I got conjunctivitis! Both eyes went totally red, weeping goo, swollen up looking like a boxer! Truly wonderful! I needed 3 different sets of eyedrops to sort it out, and took a while to clear up.
Also, I managed to hurt my wrist, do in my ankle, and my girlfriend had a couple of sicknesses that ended up close to needing a doctor.
My aircon unit broke, leaving my apartment cold this winter, and getting hold of an engineer is tough! Also, my bicycle got stolen.
My girlfriend also lost her licence due to a medical condition (though she will be getting it back in a couple of months!).
So, overall, a pretty tough year. Once problem after another.
So, to review. 2009. We have seen many positive things, such as movement by America on the climate, we have seen new technology introduced and lots of exciting things surface such as space becoming sexy.
However, these have also been overshadowed by some major problems. Controversy in sports, financial disaster, bankers trying to skim millions for their own pockets from the tax payer, the failure of the Cop15 conference, many celebrities dying before their time.
In all, a pretty grotty year. I will be happy when we roll in to 2010, with the Winter Olympics, the World Cup, lots of things to look forward to, in the year of the Tiger!
And I have more grey hair.
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Algeria qualified in the most dramatic of fashions, squeezing out of their first group, then finishing perfectly level with Egypt in the second. This called for a unique one-off playoff game against Egypt to be played in a neutral venue. So, Algeria finally made it to their second world cup after beating Egypt 1-0 in Kartoum, Sudan.
Cameroon started their campaign in a reasonably lacklustre fashion, but where able to turn it around and qualify easily in the end. Cameroon also hold the record for the most number of world cup games (17) for an African nation.
Ghana qualified for the world cup without much stress, and even though this is only their second appearance, they are highly fancied to go far at the first African world cup.
The Ivory Coast is another team highly fancied. Able to build a squad without an domestic players, the Ivory Coast can call upon a squad of expensive stars who are plying their trade with some of the top European clubs.
Nigeria have been the perennial powerhouse of African football. Regularly touted as the most likely African nation to make it to the semi finals of a world cup. This goal has so far eluded them. Whilst they do not quite have the stars of yore, they are not to be taken for granted.
This is South Africa's first world cup. A team that burst back on the scene back in 1996 when they won the African Nations cup. However, they do have the ability to blow hot and cold. Did very well at the recent Confederations cup, however, have put in some awful performances in the games either side of that tournament!
Australia. Second Asian nation to qualify behind Japan, despite heading Japan in qualifying. Last time, got to the knock-out stages, and it required a last minute goal for eventual winners Italy to beat them. And not without controversy.
Japan was the first nation to qualify for the world cup. Granted, because of the fact that Australia, the team they trailed in their qualifying group, playing later because of time zone stuff. Japan has featured in the last 4 world cups, and 4 cups in total, and so far have only reached the knock-out stages once, in 2002. Their head coach, despite some worrying performances in friendly games, has a stated ambition of reaching the semi finals...
New Zealand of course, won Oceania easily. Then they had to play off against the 5th placed Asian team, Bahrain. Bahrain won the right to play New Zealand after they beat Saudi Arabia. New Zealand held out for a 0-0 draw in Bahrain, and finally battled through to a 1-0 victory in New Zealand. This will be the second time at the world cup.
The South Koreans are really trying to replace Japan as Asia's perennial top nation. (Australia dont count. Yet.) They have some excellent players, qualified relatively easily, and this will be their 8th time. The highest number for any nation out of Asia. Famously making it to the semi finals in 2002. Albeit with rumblings of dodgy referees....
The North Koreans have essentially come from nowhere to roar into the world cup. Finally doing something in the game, and making use of a pool of talent in the Koreans that live in Japan. Because they are born in Japan, but recognised as Korean, they cannot play for Japan, but get to pick the north, or the south. Their most famous moment was a 4-3 win against Italy in England, in 1966.
After missing out on the last world cup, the Danes where determined to make it to South Africa. And they did so in style. Being placed in the same group as the much fancied Portugal team, everyone had them pegged as runners up. Beating Portugal put paid to that, and only 1 defeat in qualifying saw them get through easily! This will be their 4th time at the world cup.
England was the second European team to qualify, and the first from one of the "full size groups." The Dutch qualified before, but out of the smaller group. After appointing Capello, England set about setting right the wrongs of the McClaren era. England ran riot in the groups, winning every game until they had qualified. The final game saw Capello rest a lot of his first team, and used many of his fringe players, and Ukraine pulled out a hard-fought 1-0 win. The difference between England now, and before, makes England as genuine contenders. Not just hopeless optimists, they are now in the hunt.
Right now, France has to be the most vilified nation in world football. The French public openly loathe Domenech, their head coach, and the team continues to frustrate. On paper, one of the best teams in the world. However, the qualifying rounds saw them continually to fall far short of expectations. Some FIFA shenanigans saw them "seeded" and against Ireland in a playoff. A deflected goal saw them win in Dublin, then back in Paris, the Irish pegged them back. Outplayed them, and where taking the game to penalties until Henry deliberately handled the ball (twice) and from the resultant blatant cheating, France scored. That goal took them through.
The Germans made it to the world cup without any fuss, or flair. Grinding out results when they needed to. The Germans will be there or thereabouts pretty much perennially.
Riding high off the back of their victory in the Euro 2004 tournament, the Greeks continue to surprise and confound. After that, a limp run in 2008, and failure to qualify for 2006 world cup would have been more than enough for many coaches. Greece kept the faith, and where rewarded with their second ever trip to the world cup finals. The Greeks lost out to Switzerland, and then pulled out a 1-0 (over 2 legs) victory over the Ukraine.
Italy are the current world champions, but did not dazzle in the qualifiers. They did finally manage to top the group, but it was less than convincing. They will be one of the teams to watch, and many people will bet on them. However, it is doubtful they will be able to retain their crown.
The Dutch where in the same group as the Scots, and had the shorter campaign. However, the Dutch made short work of it, winning all 8, and being the first European nation to qualify. The Dutch have managed to get themselves branded as the best team that never won the world cup! A dubious honour indeed.
Thanks to Ronaldo, many people expected Portugal to roar to the world cup. But 1 win in the first 5 saw them nearly drop right out of the running, and not even the playoff. Portugal finally managed to turn it around, and in the second half of the campaign, managed to scrape back up to 2nd where they ended up playing Bosnia. Unlike France, they did win without cheating, and are off to South Africa.
This is the first time Serbia has been to the world cup as an independent nation, and where expected to be fighting it out for second place behind France. As it turned out, the Serbs played well, and booked their place at the world cup in a convincing fashion at the first time of asking.
Slovakia are definately not one of the favourites for the world cup. They do not boast any major international stars in their squad, they do prove the old adage "greater than the sum of its parts." They are very organised and work well as a very strong unit. In 1998, they where 4th in their group. For 2002, 3rd. For 2006, 2nd, and yep. This year, they won their group!
The Slovenians boast, er, and, um, well, OK, I dont know! A squad not built on international stars, but built from the back with one of the meanest defences in European qualifying! They pushed Slovakia all the way, only losing out on the last day. Russia was almost dancing with delight when they where paired with the Slovenian minnows. All was going to plan when the Russians raced to a 2-0 lead in Moscow. However, the Slovenians managed to bag a crucial away goal in the final few moments of the game. In the return leg in Slovenia, with 2 minutes to go, the Slovenians scored. Allowing Slovenia to qualify at Russia's expense on the away goals rule.
Spain is currently ranked as one of the top teams in the world. They won all their games in qualifying. Highest scorers, reigning European champs... The list goes on. The Spanish rightly have high hopes for this team, it is settled and they have blended well. However, Spain does have vulnerabilities, and has been known to explode dramatically when it comes to the crunch games. Will they go all they way? Or will it go up in flames?
The Swiss have managed to blend a team full of youth with some seasoned campaigners and progressed to the world cup as group winners. Though it was not without panic. Drawing to Israel, then the shock defeat to Luxembourg proved a big wake up call!
This is the second time that Honduras has made it to the world cup. Honduras started their campaign brightly, and easily made it to the final round of 6 from the CONCACAF region. Here, however, they started badly, then managed to turn it around in the second half of the campaign. At the end, they had to beat El Salvador, and hope the US got a result in the US-Costa Rica game. It took a last gasp equalizer from the US to get Honduras to the finals.
Mexico started the campaign badly, racing through 60 players and 5 managers including Sven Goran Eriksson. Once they appointed Javier Aguirre, the Mexican ship stabalized and results began to pick up. In the final group stage, at the outset, they wobbled. This cost Sven his job, and allowed Aguirre back in and again he delivered.
The US made it to the world cup with little fuss. Losing on occasion, and dragging out results when they needed to. This will be the US' 9th time at the world cup, but they will be hoping to do better than 2006 when they crashed out in the group stage.
Argentina managed to make hugely heavy weather of qualification this time round. It took dramatic victories in their final 2 games to guarantee their place in finals. To prop up their campaign they turned to talismanic/cheating little SOB (dependant on your point of view) Diego Maradonna. And whilst he did lead them to the finals, he did so whilst managing to still generate controversy. Including being hit with a stiff ban from FIFA after he launched a foul mouthed tirade on the media and others.
What is there to say about Brazil? Pretty much always one of the favourites for any competition they go into. The campaign did not start out too well, and resulted in serious criticism from the public. However, they turned it around and qualified at a canter. Securing their place with a victory over arch-rivals Argentina. 
Chile exploded in the current qualifying campaign, taking a very young team and running Brazil all the way. Chile finished second by only 1 point. They won 16 points out of 33 on the road, and where the second highest scorers at 32. A very impressive campaign.
The Paraguayans qualified in style. Breaking through 30 points for the first time, and booking their place in the world cup with a 1-0 victory over Argentina. After Paraguay qualified the president declared a national holiday!
By finishing 5th in the qualification campaign the Urugayans had to go through a playoff with Costa Rica. A victory in Costa Rica set them on the way, then back in Uruguay a late and blatantly off-side goal earned them a draw which booked them through to the finals.