Lesbian Pop Culture Reviews

The Whole 9 Yards: Year in Review

We associate the number nine with extremes: highs (cloud nine), lows (the ninth Psalm, predicting the coming of the Antichrist), good luck and bad. Considering the spectrum of events we lived through in 2010-2011—from the greatest victories to the worst tragedies—the number nine seems a particularly apt symbol for the past twelve months’ happenings. On the plus side, DADT was repealed; on the minus side, a near-apocalyptic disaster devastated Japan. Last year, we opened our Annual Year in Review with the crisis in Haiti, which proves again that life is fragile.

13. ONE BUSY BARRACUDA

Sarah Palin, the woman we love to hate, provided a steady stream of odd behavior and misspelled tweets that had us both amused and exasperated this past year. Mama Grizzly’s political doings paled in comparison to her burgeoning cultural impact: she discovered Twitter and Facebook; the Fox News Channel hired her for her singular insight, her book tour went rogue, and she locked and loaded as the host of “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” on Discovery. Palin’s exploits have trickled down to the next generation: daughter Bristol finished in third place on Dancing With the Stars, presumably in between her son’s potty trainings and PTA meetings. Tea Party, schmea party. Who has time?

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