I’m dropping Part Deux of my 2015 Year in Review a tad en retard, and on the day of the Golden Globes no less?! I suppose I like to follow that age-old idiom “Blog like No One’s Reading”—it’s so very freeing.

Oh c’mon, there’s AMPLE time to absorb all of the Pop Culture stories you never knew existed last year, before Ricky Gervais makes all the celebrities cry tonight?  Speaking of the Globes, I wish they would supersede the yawnathon that is the red carpet Mani Cam for something a little more honest, like a “Show Us Your Pharmaceuticals Cam?”

Pop Goodbyes

There were so many buh-byes that pulled at our heart strings in 2016.

In the television realm, my heart splintered into thousand pieces watching my favorite late night host—David Letterman say goodbye after 33 years. I still find there is a gaping, oozing hole in the wake of his absence that can never truly be filled.

Jon Stewart too said adieu after hosting the Daily Show for 16 years,  culminating in what I thought was the coolest close out ever. Bruce Springsteen rocked out to Born to Run as the entire cast and crew rushed the stage and white man danced us out of our own seats. If you did not try this ↑ at home—i.e. danced along as if your life depended on it—I never want to know you.

And lastly, Joel McHale said goodbye to his tenure at The Soup, and I can’t even finish this sentence because I care so very little.

Take Down, Shake Down…

The famed Pont Des Arts bridge in Paris had to have all of its love lockets removed, due to the weighty danger they were imposing, and in not even closely related news, the Seattle ‘gum’ wall had it’s first removal cleaning in over 20 years.

Fare thee well, friends.

We also said goodbye to many pop culture personalities who passed in 2016.  Writer Allan Carr, Actor Leonard Nimoy, Actor Al Molinaro, Blues Great BB King, and singer Natalie Cole.

Oh No They Did-Int

The following is a compendium of the very Dumb, the Delusional and the Deplorable. I don’t know about you, but I find it excruciatingly painful to watch friends repeatedly and blindly repost a hoax, or a paranoid thread on Facebook. You can’t simply repost something simply because you saw it on Facebook, without verifying it first? 

Back in late September there was one such paranoid hoax about Facebook stealing private information, but would stop if you copy and paste something, and most recently one about Mark Zukerberg giving out a million dollars on Facebook, by simply RTing a message?! Here are a couple of clever memes to remind you how naïve dumb you really are to believe such nonsense! (Make no mistake about it, Facebook pretty much owns all of us, and our info…but there’s a difference between that reality and these dumb Facebook hoaxes…spot the difference!)

We are all responsible for our digital footprints and to repost something just because it contained a “as seen on Good Morning America” is, well…this post says it better than I ever could.  

I have no idea how this holiday Bloomingdales ad made it to print without someone flagging it, as it HAD to have gone through a couple of departments?!

While you can’t see it here, as it was lost in the spine of the page, this lovely woman is holding a cocktail and the caption reads: Spike Your Best Friends Egg Nog When They’re Not Looking. Umm, creepy DATE RAPE messaging much?! Many boycotted Bloomingdales in utter outrage, despite an apology and retraction from head office.

Delusional

NACCP leader Rachel Dolezal caused quite the stir when it was revealed that she was in fact a Caucasian woman, posing as an African American as was Kanye West for thinking himself a ‘designer’ after his post apocalyptical meets A Chorus Line fashion line launched—gleaned mainly from tan panty hose?! Stick to running shoes, Yeezy.

Deplorable

Walter Palmer and the many of his ilk who think its somehow manly or an accomplishment to shoot a beautiful animal that is already in an enclosed environment should be doused in kerosene and lit on fire. Cecil the Lion didn’t have a gun to defend himself? If you’re not doing it with your own bare hands, there isn’t anything to boast about you COWARDS.

…and finally Martin Shkreli, the infamous vile price gouger of AIDS medication got a taste of his own karma Kool-Aid when he was arrested in late December for securities fraud. The satisfaction of seeing Shkreli ‘get his’ was the impetus for the viral hashtag #Shkrelifreude.

Pop Beauty

2015 was without question the year of ‘the wavy bob’, which was welcome news for those of us sick to death of having to pull out our WEAVES on the regular.

On the color front, I wrote about the Tortoise Shell trend seen here on the hideously unfortunate mugs of Giselle and Amber Heard…(I mean how do these ladies face the world looking like THAT?!)

…and I recently discovered the swirly confectionary opal hair color trend

Two mammoth trends for the eyes were a solid color wash liner—even matching it to a manicure, and the aptly titled ‘under eye dot’ which punctuated many a runway show in 2015.

NARS is one of my favorite make up brands, and more than anything this pair of FACE SPANX on Tilda Swinton in their fall 2015 ad ROCKED MY WORLD!

I’m not even kidding, NARS if you read this…please send forth some of your Face Spanx ’cause Chicken Little; Mama’s Face is FALLING!

Cryotherapy was another enormous beauty trend in 2015, boasting claims of weight loss, reduction of cellulite and all over skin tightening. While the practice is far from ‘new’, the three-minute treatment which involves standing in a deep freeze chamber while temps plummet as low as -256 degrees Fahrenheit— has been used by athletes looking to soothe sore muscles for decades, and can be traced back as far as the seventieth century. I sought out dermatologists extraordinaire Dr. Lisa Kellett from DLK on Avenue to weigh in on whether its worth freezing my kibbles and bits off for, in the name of skin tightening beautification. “I think it’s a fad and something that is quite old that is trying too hard to be new,” says Dr. Kellett from her Toronto office. “Frankly, there is little scientific evidence of its effectiveness in rejuvenation, and we know that heat is more effective in the production of new collagen.  I wouldn’t waste my time on using it either for myself or for my patients.”

Nail Art always pays the bills around here, so I would be remiss if I didn’t add in the top fads of le SAISON; Sweater Nail Art  and the inventive ‘Shattered Glass’ nail art trend that ‘cut through’ in 2015.

…and lastly beauty  fads that I refuse to believe were a ‘thang‘…

The redonkulous glitter-in-hair-no-one-cares-or-even-noticed-trend. if you read my part one year in review…that’s just a recipe for finding glitter in ones hoo-hoo until the year 2017. As per the Temporary Freckles trend? Yah, I’m just going to pretend that it was a ruse that NEVER happened.

Pop Nom Nom Nom

I’m always on the hunt for fantastic yummy mash up treats with a pop culture bent, and 2015 was no exception. Here in no particular order…

The first Hello! Kitty restaurant opens in Hong Kong and all I can think is “what took so long?!”

New York’s Bruffin‘s —a mash up of a brioche and a muffin, that come in internationally flavored medleys.

This decidedly Canadian minded Maple Bacon Coffee flavored beer, is actually the mastermind of Boca Raton Florida’s Funky Buddah Brewery.

General Mills held the #Lucky10Sweepstakes in 2015, giving away only 10 boxes of all marshmallow Lucky Charms for fans serious about their MALLOWS, and let’s face it—the cereal part is merely a distraction in a sea of MALLOW minnows, yes? (I have no idea what that means…)

And while I was gutted to find out that the Trapped Hans Solo Pop Tart was merely a toy and not the edible branding genius of KELLOG, I was placated by discovering this ADORBS mini pop tart cereal creation from food blogger Caitlin Lee!

Closer to home Uncle Tetsu’s famed Japanese cheese cakes opened up its only North American store in Toronto, which had locals waiting in line for hours at a time, but ultimately boasts heavenly feather light bites…

A family favorite in my house, the sweet and salty mash up of the Bake Shoppe Ruffles Marshmallow bar…(the photo does not do this taste creation much justice).

Sweet Jesus 4 Life Ice Cream also came into the local melee with over a dozen Pop Culture themed scoops like Crusty The Cone— an ode to the Simpsons character that comes with delicious tufts of cotton candy.

Pop Mags

I’ve always said; covers done well are cover that sell and here’s a snapshot of some of the magazine covers that caught my eye in 2015.

‘It Girl’ Amy Schumer rocked all the magazine covers like a boss in 2015, the GQ cover her ‘idea,’ natch.

The Sobering

Time mag’s Black Lives Matter and New York’s Cosby The Women sobering covers will be etched in our collective memory for years to come …

Model ‘it gal’ Gigi Hadid rocked 2 memorable magazine covers in 2015, a striking close up on the cover of ADWEEK where her necklace doubles as a pin cushion, and with supermodel sistah Bella on the cover of V.

Celeb Covers

While I’m not a fan of her whole looks-like-she-just-swallowed-her-own-vomit-bitch-face, I just loved the badass punk rock Interview cover with K Stew. I also thought the Esquire cover with Nick Offerman and Chelsea Handler was fantastic, and I loved the whole illusion of an ageless Jane Fonda on the cover of W—the absence of lines, the incredible wig and the saggy, but not sad-saggy embalmed titty cleave.

Record Breaking

And while I hate to give oxygen to anything loosely Kardashian related, I have to give props to the record breaking Vanity Fair cover that introduced the world to Caitlyn.

Pop Feel Good

Let’s face it, 2015 was fully fluent in the Sads and Tragics.

Understandably, were all still a little on edge…

But I’m choosing to focus on all of the beautiful, feel-good moments that 2015 boasted and look forward to a peaceful 2016.

Betty White got to mouth hump Bradley Cooper in 2015, for both the dress rehearsal and live show of SNL’s 4oth anniversary show in The Californians sketch.

Speaking of SNL Tracy Morgan’s return to SNL was doused in feel goods, actually…just staring into the “I’m not impressed” face of his look-alike baby daughter was a flooding of happy feels.  

…the pope spread his message of love and peace in Washington D.C. (marred ever so slightly by John Boehner’s ugly cry) Fashion Santa made Xmas more stylish…and Trudeau showed what Canadian kindness and compassion was all about  to newly arrived refugees.

…a six year old girl from Canada imparted beyond-her-years life lessons to her divorced mother about losing ones ego and not holding on to grudges…

…and lastly Aretha Franklin’s performance at the year end Kennedy Centre Honors showed how the POWER of music can literally change the molecules in a room….

Never forgotten,

XOXO,