According to witness statements, Brancheau was performing before an audience when she leaned over and the whale pulled her by her ponytail into the tank. It was then that the animal began to attack Brancheau. The autopsy revealed Brancheau likely died from mulitple traumatic injuries she suffered as well as drowning, according to the Orange County medical examiner.

Evidently, the executives at Sea World have ignored the behavioral patterns of a veteran Orca at the Orlando, FL Park. Hint, hint… this orca may not be content in captivity. The death of Brancheau is being titled an accident, which is completely inappropriate. It is in the animal’s nature to be aggressive at times. It absolutely is a tragedy that a human life was lost, but not exactly shocking when considering the circumstances that were ignored.

The park re-opened Thursday, however as a result of this tragedy, Sea World has indefinitely suspended future performances in the Shamu Stadium until the investigation is complete. There are no plans to euthanize the 12,000 pound whale, and TIlikum (pet name) is currently in the holding tank with the other orcas.

Andrew Young, a former confidante to John Edwards, has written a disclosing book expected to hit shelves this week. The former Senator from North Carolina confessed his paternity of Hunter’s child to Elizabeth this past summer. It is unknown when the Edwards officially split, however a close source revealed it happened a while ago. On separating, Mr. Edwards has called it “an extraordinarily sad moment, but I love my children more than anything and still care deeply about Elizabeth.” When he says he loves his children, does that include the illegitimate child he has denied fatherhood its whole life? Bottom line, he loves his children, but after 32 years of marriage he does not love Elizabeth. Mr. Edwards has four children with Elizabeth, and his love child with Hunter makes a whole handful.

Edwards has denied his paternity of the child for more than a year saying his affair with Hunter had ended before she became pregnant. Good story… tell it walking John. His future ex-wife has been prepared for a divorce for the better part of a year. However, Elizabeth is still undergoing treatment for breast cancer, therefore she has yet to file the divorce. A close source says her decision to file likely depends of her condition.

More updates to come from this husband/father of the year… stay tuned

He said he met her two other times, including their first meeting in 2001 at an open-air dance spot in Uruguay.

“There was some kind of connection from the very beginning,” he told The Associated Press, though he said neither that meeting nor a 2004 coffee date in New York during the Republican National Convention were romantic.

His interview was the first disclosure of any liaisons with Chapur in the United States and contradicted a public confession last week during which Sanford admitted to a total of five encounters over their eight-year relationship.

He previously announced he would reimburse the state for money spent during a government trip to Brazil and Argentina in June 2008 when he saw Chapur. It was then, he said, that their relationship became physical, and the e-mails they’d exchanged for years reflected their anguish over what they had done.

“Now I am frightened,” he told the AP, describing his state of mind at the time. “It was before safe. But now it’s not safe. We gotta put the genie back in the bottle.”

He insists no public money was used for any other meetings with her.

He saw Chapur again in mid-June of this year, visiting Argentina without telling his staff he was going to be out of the country. He instead led them to believe he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

By the time he returned to a puzzled public, staff and family, his public image and emotional state had unraveled. He admitted the affair at a rambling press conference.

Now Sanford is attempting to salvage his personal and professional lives. He and wife Jenny, parents of four sons, say they are trying to reconcile their 20-year marriage but have not been sharing the same house for several weeks. Jenny Sanford found out about the relationship in January when she discovered a letter the governor had written to his mistress. She did not immediately return a message seeking comment Tuesday.

The governor said he met Chapur in Punta Del Este, Uruguay, in 2001 after his final term in Congress and before his first term as governor. He said the two struck up an e-mail correspondence after meeting on a dance floor — a chance encounter during which he counseled her into the night about her failing marriage.

For the next seven-plus years, Sanford said, the two exchanged messages, sometimes sporadically.

They met in New York two more times in 2008: two nights in Manhattan in September and three nights in the Hamptons in November. Each time, Sanford claims he flew coach, paid for it himself, paid for the hotels in cash and told his staff he was reachable via cell phone.

“At that point I was very careful, everything was paid for in cash,” Sanford said. “And you won’t find a credit card record.”

In early 2009, after Jenny Sanford discovered the affair, the couple went into counseling. She has told The Associated Press that he asked her several times to visit the mistress and she refused.

But the governor claims he wanted to end the affair in person and, with his wife’s permission, went to New York with a “trusted spiritual adviser” serving as chaperone. The three went to church and dinner together and parted ways the same night.

But he visited Chapur again in Argentina on June 18, the trip that brought the whole affair to light.

POLITICS:

The Best:

1. Obama, Obama, Obama. The country stepped up, proved it was only partially prejudice, and elected the best person for the job based on qualifications and charisma, and NOT color. No other story dominated the political landscape like this one and deservedly so.
2. Saturday Night Live: Any Sarah Palin or Keith Olbermann parody. Ben Affleck’s Olbermann was his best acting since Good Will Hunting!

The Worst:

1. Sarah Palin, but not for who she is, but for the choice to choose her. Her choice to be the VP running mate of John McCain could go down as one of the biggest political blunders in history. Unproven, unknown, and completely nuts, she proved to be a distraction that could not be overlooked or ignored. The thought of her being one breath away from being President was reason enough to not vote Republican regardless of the other issues.
2. Rudy Giuliani ONLY campaigns in one state (Florida( and quickly fades out of the Presidential race.  Just a terrible decision that he will regret for the next 4 long years.
3. Jeremiah wright: “God Damn America” is all that needs to be said.
4. The War that never ends. Time to bring home the troops as quickly and safely as possible.
5. Governors, Mayors and other CORRUPT public officials. If it was not bribery, X-Rated text messages, or illegal deals, it was something else EVERY WEEK. The negative news stories never seemed to end with politicians abusing their power and positions in 2008.
6. Bailouts: No one understands them or where the money is coming from OR going. Confusion is universal and people perceive billions of their tax dollars going to bail out some rich corporate guys and keep them in their private jets.
7. The fact that Osama bin Laden is still alive (we think)

MOVIES:

The Best:

1. The Dark Knight: Hands down our winner for best picture of the year, and multiple individual awards. You can read our full review here.
2. There Will Be Blood: People forget that it came out in wide release in January of 2008. Daniel Day-Lewis is a scary good actor. Intense and gritty, there were few movies this good in the past year
3. Iron Man: Great comic book action movie with a fantastic plot and actors. Made a boat load of money.
4. Juno: It was released the last week of December 2007, so we will call it 2008. Ellen Page, who we LOVED from Hard Candy steal the entire movie and is a big star in the making.

The Worst: Meet The Spartans (been there, done that), The Love Guru (horrible), The X-Files (so boring, what a let down), Vantage Point (what a let down. A great idea, terrible execution), Superhero Movie (see Meet The Spartans), The Strangers (not scary), Semi Pro (horrible and not funny), Disaster Movie (see Meet the Apartans and Superhero Movie)

FOOD:

The Best:

1. The grill. Nothing in our house was used more for cooking food in the past year then the grill out on our deck. We literally use it to cook our dinners 3-4 days a week when I am in town and not traveling for business. We cooked steaks, burgers, chicken, many different types of sausages, endless grilled veggies, and much much more. I am out there if it is cold, raining, or a perfectly clear night.
2. Five Guys. Unquestionably the best burgers in my opinion. The chain is growing FAST and it seems like they are in every town I visit now.
3. Sweet Tomatoes. We LOVE Sweet Tomatoes. It is the greatest all you can eat salad bar in our opinion. Add in the soups, pastas, and deserts and it is a perfect meal every time. Highly recommended if there is a location in your area.

The Worst: Coming Soon, but in general, I love all food.

TRAVEL:
The Best: none.
The Worst: That there were no personal vacations in 2008. We just could not afford to go away with rising costs of everything and less coming in. There was just less money available to spend on non essential items.

Best KIDS SHOWS As Voted By My 2 Year Old Son: This was a year DOMINATED by 2 shows - Little Einsteins and Mickey Mouse Club House. My son was COMPLETELY brainwashed by Disney and he now basically starts his day saying “More Mickey!”. It is both cute, and scary at the same time.

Best Electronic GADGET: For the first 9-10 months our choice would have been the Blackberry Curve, if it had not been taken over by the HTC Fuze in early November 2008. The Fuze is my new phone, music player, movie player, calendar, organizer, email, text, work, 32GB mini computer power gadget. It does everything and is awesome. I posted a full review here and you will understand why it is so great.
- Best Gadget Application. For me this was Spb Mobile Shell. This program REALLY made my touch scree mobile phone TAKE OFF. It is feature rich and really allows you to take advantage of everything windows mobile has to offer.

Best INTERNET SITES: I spent a lot of time online this year. Here are the sites that I really like and visited on a regular basis. The list is in no particular order.

1. http://www.smartphonejunkie.com/ - Smart Phone Junkie is a GREAT Windows Mobile site with a ton of information and programs for people with a windows mobile or smartphone. Highly recommended and I visit this site daily.
2. http://www.mockforums.com - not for the faint of heart, Mock is a place where insulting and mocking is welcome and encouraged. While sometimes mean spirited, it also is filled with a ton of interesting threads and information worth checking out if you like all of the cool stuff the internet has to offer. I visit this site daily.
3. http://forum.xda-developers.com - xda developers is the main site for smartphone and windows mobile customization, hacking, and specialty programing. Some very smart people are doing some great things to your favorite gadgets on this site. I visit it daily.
4. http://www.perezhilton.com/ - I admit it. I l love the gossip and read this site sometimes a few times a day. The stories and gossip are endless and fun.
5. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ - whether I agreed with the stories on this site or not, during the election I did visit The Huffington Post multiple times a day.  It is the 485th busiest website in the world and is very well done.
6. The Daily Duke - http://thedailyduke.com/ - has become one of my favorite sites to visit on a daily basis. Duke has a unique perspective on the world around us, and one that I enjoy reading.

MUSIC: I listen to a VERY wide wide range of music and always have 700-1000 songs on my player and am always adding, removing, and searching for new tunes that move me.

The Best:

1. Estelle featuring Kanye West - American Boy. Every year there are a few songs that just stand out as fresh, new, and memorable. You don’t necessarily have to like the artist or the music, but you can appreciate that it is memorable. This artist and the song, was one of those moments in 2008. Obviously having Kanye West on the track helped the song. The song seemed to be in my head all year and is my song of the year.
2. Beyonce - Single Ladies. It seems that Beyonce puts out big music every single year. And she always seems to have one or two songs that become huge. Single Ladies was another song that just crossed over and everyone seemed to react to. It also created one of the BEST comedy moments of the year on Saturday Night Live with Justin Timberlake in a leotard and high heals as one of the back up dancers in Beyonce’s video for this song.
3. Everything Lil Wayne in 2008 was strong. He was easily the most seen and influential rapper this past year and to his credit the music he produced was quality in my opinion.
4. Kevin Rudolf featuring Lil Wayne - Let It Rock. On top of being on my top music list for his own music he was part of this song that I am still obsessed with.
5. Joshua Radin. I love this guy and especially 2 songs - Only You and One Of Those Days. Really a nice voice.
6. Brett Dennen is one of the most unique and strange new singer I have heard in a while - and I love it. Check out these songs Ain’t No Reason and There is So Much More.
7. Britney Spears - Womanizer. The song is a GREAT pop and dance song. You can not deny it and she still has “it”, whatever that is.
8. Rihanna - Please Don’t Stop The Music and just about everything she put out. Rihanna is a strong contender to be the biggest female singer on the planet every year. Her songs are well produced, impossible to get out of your head and fun. Please Don’t Stop The Music with the Michael Jackson sample was one of the biggest of the year and one of my favorites.
9. M.I.A. - Paper Planes. We might NEVER hear from this group again, BUT this song was AWESOME. It had a real “80’s” feel. I could have easily imagined it in a John Hughes movie with Anthony Michael Hall. Good song.

The Worst:

1. Kid Rock - All Summer Long. I TRIED to like this song and it drove me nuts that they played it literally 5 million times a week on every channel. But in the end the entire song is a rip off of 3-4 other songs and Kid Rock can do better. I am a big Kid Rock fan, and while this song was a HUGE commercial success and he made a ton of money, it was not his best in my opinion.
2. Katie Perry - I Kissed A Girl. Once you got past the taboo topic (to some, not me), the song was a maddening teenage pop song that finally went away after about 20 endless weeks of being overplayed to no end.
3. Many more “worst” music to come soon…..

Biggest Musical Disappointment: Guns N Roses. I waited 20 years for that?? I SO wanted Chinese Democracy to be great. But in the end it was only marginally good. It clearly DID NOT need 15 years of rewrites and revisions. Axl’s obsessiveness and endless delays seemed to only accomplish one thing in the end - the band’s core fans moved on to newer and better things.

SPORTS

The Best:

1. Michael Phelps wins 8 gold medals. For one amazing summer, the entire country came together night after night to cheer on Michael Phelps. This was far and away the biggest story of the year.
2. The US Men’s Basketball team winning the gold medal BUT ALSO playing with class and style and gaining back the respect of the world. The best players in the world are still in the United States.
3. Tiger Woods wins the US Open with literally a broken knee that would have put ANYONE else in a wheelchair. The world knew he was hurt, but no one knew how badly until after. He would miss the rest of the year after the tournament, but still BEAT the best in the world with one leg. Just incredible.

The Worst:

1. The Patriots blowing the 16-0 regular season. Sure they still had a great year and still went to the Superbowl, but they lost to the Giants. If they would have won it all they would have been considered the best ever. Instead no one ever remembers the “first loser”. In the end their 16-0 regular season was completely wasted.
2. The Detroit Lions. Even if they win a game, they really suck. They are the perfect example of how to NOT run a professional sports franchise and the players have given up completely on the team and their teammates. It is sad to see.

Television

The Best

1. True Blood: HBO has another winner with the sometimes gory, but always intense and interesting vampire drama. Alan Ball of Six Feet Under fame hits another home run with off beat and deep characters that never fail to surprise week after week.
2. Fringe: The modern X-Files, just better. The show has been a hit, which means it will get a second season. That is important because right now it is still pretty confusing on what exactly is gong on and who is on which side. One thing is for sure, there are some strange things going on in the Boston area.
3. House: I did not think it was possible that this great show could get better, but it did. Hugh Laurie is the best male actor on TV today.
4. Heroes, Prison Break, Lost, CSI: Many of the consistent dramas were equally as good this past year with strong plot lines and acting. Heroes actually got better in 2008 in my opinion

The Worst

1. Knight Rider - just horrible
2. Almost ALL reality shows. Who else is just sick of these already. They get more and more boring with each passing year. We can only hope they will go away soon.
3. Secret Million. Are we really supposed to feel sorry for these rich people who are “roughing it” for a few days? Of course not. It is clearly all set up and gets old very fast.

Shows I Am Not Sure Yet: 90210 has been pretty good, but will it return as strong or at all. Life on Mars is a original idea and so far has been very well written. But the big question is if people come back week after week to see if he finally wakes up in his time again?

More to come between now and December 31st. Check back for regular updates!