Holiday Post 2016: What the heck happened? Holy Shit edition

Few will disagree that 2016 was one hell of a shit year in various ways. Many of us are glad it is over, though I am not holding much hope for 2017 given the results of the clusterfuck elections in the United States. Still, today is Three Kings Day in many parts of Latin America, including Puerto Rico, and for a few more days my Puerto Rican brethren are celebrating the octavas and octavitas, so I am not quite ready to end the holiday season.  For now, I would like to end the 12 Days of Christmas with the last of my holiday posts for 2016 and take a look at what the hell happened in 2016. For me, this is not just looking back. It's a way to bury 2016 and move on to 2017.

News

Let's look at some of the news for 2016.

• USA Today offers a look at 2016 in photos. 
• The Advocate has their year in review, featuring "everything that mattered, from odious Religious Freedom Restoration Acts, to queers marching in New York's St. Patrick's Day Parade, to the end of the ban on trans military service, to the massacre in Orlando — and much more."
• The Atlantic wants to remind us that 2016 was not all shit with a set of hopeful images. There are some really neat photos here. 
• The Root looks at media diversity stories of 2016. 
• In the end, I would say the best review of 2016 is The Rude Pundit's haiku review of the year where his readers and him look at the past year in haiku. (Opening post, part one, and part two).

Pop culture and entertainment

Let us forget about the bad news and look a bit at pop culture and entertainment.  

• Let's start with music: 
• The New York Times has a list of best albums, including some by artists we lost this year like David Bowie. They also have a list of best songs for 2016.
• Rolling Stone also offers their list of best songs.
• Mother Jones offers a year's best to help make 2016 tolerable.
• Rolling Stone has a list of 20 best metal albums. 
• Fact Mag has the best house and techno tracks of 2016. 
• Sounds and Colours has their list of best Latin American albums. 
• Moving on to movies: 
• Here is The New York Times' best movie list. 
• Rolling Stone also has a list (heads up, this story has a video on autoplay).
• AlterNet takes a different look. They look at movies that looked good and then failed to deliver. 
• I hear some stuff was happening on television. Reality television seems to remain popular, so here is Reality Blurred's list of the best reality TV. I guess in this genre "best" is really in the eye of the beholder.
• On something different, GQ has a photo gallery of what they consider the best male bodies of 2016. Don't worry, they may be in skimpy wear but no nudes. I do admit there were a few I had no idea who they were.
• On some positive news, National Geographic reports on some ways wildlife won in 2016.
• If nothing else, we can always look at cat pictures. Incredible Things has a list of nice cat posts for the year.

Some stuff about libraries

As I have mentioned, I am a librarian, so I have to highlight a story or two. 

• LIS News has their list of ten stories that shaped 2016 of interest to the library world. 
• Gavia Libraria offers her 2017 predictions for the library world.

Fuckery

• 2016 had a lot of fuckery that I would rather forget, but have to mention at least one. So here is a list of the worst anti-science nonsense of 2016. The stupid was strong in 2016. Story via Grist.

I do not want to leave folks with gloom and doom, so here is a guy's video of all he learned in 2016. Perhaps we can make a resolution to be like him and learn a new thing or two in 2017. Read a new book or two. Learn a new language. Pick up a new hobby. Find a bit of bliss and go onward in 2017.

Paz y amor.