2008 Year

In 2008, the median household income in the United States plummeted 3.6% from the year before, and the percentage of people living in poverty soared to an 11-year high, recently released U.S. Census data reveal. Economists say the bleak news -- which they blame on the slew of layoffs that have accompanied the economic downturn -- is significant, if not entirely surprising. "The current recession has eliminated the gains that have been made in the last 10 years or so," said Lee Ohanian, an economics professor at UCLA.

It was a strange, stuttering year for television. It's no knock against collective bargaining to point out the writers strike made a constitutionally skittish medium even more erratic than usual. On the broadcast networks, shows came and went and came and went confusingly through the winter, spring and summer; fall, when it arrived, was underwhelming. (Premium and basic cable were somewhat inured to those shocks, but it was a slow year there, too.

Putting together this list, I pinged friends to ask what albums I absolutely should not have missed this year. Sixty replies quickly poured in. Only one release -- the big rock mountain "Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds -- was mentioned twice. Some picks were already in my best-of pile; many haunted my get-to-it list. Others I hadn't heard, or even realized existed. The fragmentation of pop is getting to be an old story.

This year, the Web grew further into its well-chosen name. The boundless net of sticky electronic threads is now ensnaring just about every other form of media. (When NBC chief Ben Silverman joked "Help me!" to Jay Leno, I thought of the line from 1958's classic "The Fly" -- the scene's on YouTube if you need a refresher.

A look at some of the young athletes expected to make a name for themselves in 2009: Action sports Snowboarders aspiring to end the Shaun White dominance in the halfpipe include Greg Bretz, 17, and Trevor Jacob, 15, both residing in Mammoth Lakes. Bretz has won a World Cup event this year. Jacob last year became the youngest rider to make the halfpipe finals at the U.S. Open. Slightly older and hungry, after missing qualifying for the 2006 Olympic team by a hair: Danny Davis, 20, from Truckee.

The movie release schedule for next year remains tentative and most of the films are unfinished. So picking the box-office hits of 2008, on a month-by-month basis, is more guesswork at this stage than projection, but here goes. January: Fox's "27 Dresses" could be another hit comedy from the screenwriter of "The Devil Wears Prada," and Sylvester Stallone, who resuscitated the "Rocky" franchise with "Rocky Balboa," might do it again with "Rambo," from Lionsgate.

Many people think about personal finance as an unemotional, detached pursuit, but it's really nothing of the sort. Money is a means to an end, and what you do with it is all about feelings and values. My wish for 2008 is that the luxuries we choose will fill our lives with warmth and that we will get the precious things that we yearn and work for. With that in mind, here are my New Year's resolutions: -- I won't spend out of habit . . .

OUTDOOR HOCKEY You don't have to wait long for this one. On New Year's Day, NBC is betting that ice hockey can compete with Michigan versus Florida in the Capital One Bowl as it televises a game between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins from Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the Bills. More than 73,000 fans are expected to attend the first NHL game played outdoors in the United States. This is not expected to catch on in Southern California.

1. In February, what entertainment labor union ended its 100-day strike? A. Screen Actors Guild B. Writers Guild of America C. Directors Guild of America D. International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees -- 2. Which of these did NOT hit a record in 2008? A. Price of oil B. Home foreclosures C. U.S. unemployment rate D. Credit card debt -- 3. When its last competitor dropped out early in the year, Blu-ray emerged as the winner in the competition for a new high-definition DVD format.