Good morning!
Google's hot searches list of 2012 is out. Whitney Houston was the top trending search, according to the Zeigeist report - Google's 12th annual round up of top internet trends. Korean rapper PSY's Gangnam Style music video was the second most searched term. The video has nearly a billion views on YouTube. Superstorm Sandy ranked third. Round out the top 10: iPad 3, Diablo 3, Kate Middleton, the 2012 Olympics, Amada Todd, Michael Clarke Duncan and BBB12 (also known as Big Brother Brasil, a reality show featuring barely dressed men and women living together).
Wait there's more!
The top memes (a way to spread addictive ideas and phrases) are out. Facebook says its top memes included TBH (To Be Honest), YOLO (You Only Live Once), SMH (Shake My Head) and Big Bird, thanks to Mitt Romney.
Yahoo's top searched memes include Kony 2012 (the short film and campaign against Ugandan militia leader Joseph Kony), "stingray photobomb" (a vacation photo that went viral) and "binders full of women," thanks again to Mitt Romney.
And last but not least, the most popular retweets of 2012 according to Twitter are President Obama's "For more years" and Justin Bieber's "RIP Avalanna. i love you." Avalanna was a six-year-old girl who died from a rare form of brain cancer. She was one of Bieber's biggest fans.
Speaking of Tweets, the Pope has tweeted for the first time. "Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart," Pope Benedict tweeted early this morning. He actually has 8 Twitter accounts, so he can tweet in different languages.Two giant asteroids passed close to Earth today. The asteroids 2012 XE54 and 4179 Toutatis did not pose any danger to the planet, experts say. Toutatis was the much larger of the two, often described as a “malformed potato.” Well, this potato is about 3 miles long and 1.5 miles wide. By comparison, the asteroid suspected of wiping out dinosaurs is estimated to have been about 6 miles wide. Close, of course, is a matter of perspective, but Toutatis came within 4.3 million miles of Earth, or about 18 times the distance between planet rock and the moon. That was close enough to be picked up by telescopes and streamed live on various space watching sites. Toutatis passes by Earth about every four years.
An outpouring of remembrances for Pandit Ravi Shankar is a trending topic on Twitter this morning. Shankar's music transcended cultural barriers, bringing Indian music to the west, during a life that lasted nearly a century. Shankar, already famous in India at the time, taught Beatle George Harrison to play the sitar in the sixties and took Eastern music mainstream, performing at Monterey in 1967 and at Woodstock in 1969. One of his daughters is jazz singer Norah Jones. Shankar, who was 92, had been in failing health over the past year, but continued to perform. He shared a stage with another daughter Anoushka, who is also a sitar virtuoso, just last month. It was his last public performance.
Actress Amy Adams continues to pick up honors ahead of Oscar season. She will receive the Santa Barbara International Film Festival's Cinema's Vanguard Award for her performance in The Master. The honor comes on the heels of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association naming Adams as best supporting actress for her performance as the wife of a charismatic spiritual leader in the 1950s. She has been nominated for Oscars three times, but has never won.
Ask Men's annual list of 99 most desirable women is out and the bigger winner is Jennifer Lawrence, the star of The Hunger games. Desirability is determined by attractiveness, personality, talent and other factors, according to Ask Men. Mila Kunis and model Kate Upton round out the top 3. Kim Kardashian, who ranked in the top 10 on the list last year, has dropped to 98.
From YouTube, Silent Night 2012 at Taylor University. It's one of the coolest traditions in college sports. Fans remain silent until Taylor U scores its 10th point of the game. Then, the crowd goes wild.
It appears that catfish like bird hunting, at least in this viral video.
So this guy was apparently babysitting and having some fun with the kids, but he didn't think it through. Check out the video.
Finally, be careful on the road if visiting New Zealand. Dogs can drive.
That's the trend!
Have a great day,
Bob
HANNAH DREIERLAS VEGAS -- An American university student is the new Miss Universe, defeating dozens of contestants from six continents to bring the crown back to the U.S. after a drought of more than a decade.