Have you ever heard of someone with a photographic memory?

Isn’t much of what we commonly refer to as memory, photographic in nature?

While memories often rely on information derived from all of our senses, the most common memories contain a good deal of imagery.  That’s one of the reasons why over the last two centuries photographs and their progeny, videos, have become cherished heirlooms in many families and why major events in the lives of most people are captured for posterity by the camera.

An old photograph can stimulate memories and provide a nostalgic journey to even the most unsentimental of viewers.  And so, in that spirit, discover what memories are invoked by viewing the following pictures written about in my own stream of consciousness fashion.

Before these three lads became Beatles, they were Quarrymen.  John, the band’s founder and oldest member, thought George Harrison was too young to be a member, but – at the insistence of Paul – let him join.

  

A number of years later, George married model and photographer, Pattie Boyd.

However, Boyd became enamored of fellow musician and Brit, Eric Clapton whom she later married and subsequently divorced following his affair with Italian model Lori Del Santo.  Oh, well.  She did, however, inspire the Harrison songs, Something and For You Blue,  and the Clapton hits Layla, Wonderful Tonight, and Bell Bottom Blues.

Eric certainly appears to be feeling blue in this picture with his mom.

Photos, of course, can remind us of how we once appeared.  Clothing and hair styles as well as the apparent age of a photo’s subject(s) can often provide clues as to the date – if one doesn’t already know – of a particular image. 

Consider the case of one Reginald Kenneth Dwight, better known as Elton John.  Is this picture from his Emptry Sky days?

Or, how about this photo of Angelina Jolie?  Were they attending a wedding that day or is that how they dressed strolling around town?

The daughter of actress Tippi Hedren, of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds fame, Melanie Griffith displayed her own acting chops and body at an early age.  She is pictured here with her first husband, Don Johnson.

And, is my memory failing me or wasn’t she one of the underage girls with whom acclaimed director, convicted pedophile, and international fugitive Roman Polanski had sexual relations?

Pictured with the always charming Polanski is actress Sharon Tate, who was a victim of the gruesome crime committed by the Manson Family and documented in the Vincent Bugliosi book Helter Skelter.

In photos, however, even the most perverted individuals can appear normal and even pleasant.  Consider the Manson Family.

Aren’t they a good looking group?

And, of course, who can resist an adorable baby picture?  The tot in this photo was destined for worldwide fame, or should I say infamy.

This adorable tyke was none other than Adolf Hitler.

I hope you enjoyed this pleasant stroll down memory lane.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”  As was the period depicted in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, 2009 was a time of tremendous highs and precipitous lows.  The year witnessed the inauguration of the first U.S. President of African-American ancestry and the nomination and confirmation of our first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice.  Yet, rising unemployment belied the reports of an economy rebounding from the brink of collapse, and investigative reporting revealed the extent to which Federal bailout funds were misspent.

 

So, who were the biggest winners and losers of 2009?  What follows is my own personal assessment.  If you have thoughts on the subject, feel free to share them by commenting below.

 

The Winners

 

The year began on an upbeat note as Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger guided his disabled Airbus A320 into the Hudson River in a crash-less landing that saved all 155 onboard and was dubbed the “Miracle on the Hudson.” 

 The professionalism of Captain Sullenberger, a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and consummate pilot with more than 40 years experience, makes him one of 2009’s biggest winners.

 

Days after the “Miracle on the Hudson,” Barack Obama was sworn in as our 44^th President and the first African-American to hold the Office.  Obama, however, was a winner in more than politics.

Shortly after his inauguration, it was announced that he had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.  In October, it became official as he became the 21^st American to win that distinction.  Despite sagging poll numbers as the year comes to a conclusion, one has to number our President as a winner in 2009.

 

Following Barack Obama’s inauguration, Hillary Clinton was sworn in as the 67^th Secretary of State in U.S. history.  If you believe the rumors of the time, Hillary’s selection to head the State Department by our President-Elect was made under duress. 

 

Nonetheless, Hillary has proven to be a very capable diplomat and an effective representative for our government among foreign heads of state and other leaders.  Kudos to Mrs. Clinton as a winner in 2009.

 

In June of this year, after many delays, television broadcasting completed its transition to digital signals.  For the many millions of households still using older televisions capable of interpreting only analog signals, that meant that they now needed a box to decode the signal.

And so, 2009 was a fantastic year for cable, satellite, and other providers of television programming.

 

2009 also turned into a good year for former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin.  In early July, she announced that she was resigning her post as Governor of Alaska and shortly thereafter, commenced a nationwide tour promoting her book, “Going Rogue,” that debuted atop the New York Times Best Sellers List in November.

Palin has been enthusiastically received by large throngs at tour events.  The book’s sales and media frenzy surrounding the tour are indicative of her popularity and bode well for her possible Presidential aspirations in 2012.  And so, Sarah Palin has made it among my short list of winners for 2009.

 

The Losers

 

It seems that every year is a bad year for Congress and 2009 was no exception.  The American public today holds Congress – both the House of Representatives and the Senate – in slightly lower esteem than it holds used car salesmen.

The bailout bill (or more euphemistically, stimulus package), the debate over healthcare, and the general rancor and divisiveness of its proceedings has citizens across the political spectrum from progressives to neo-conservatives questioning the motives and ethics of Congressional actions.  And, as the leaders of the majority party in both Houses, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have become the poster-children for political ineptness (although I personally think Harry did a better job than Nancy).  In any event, Congress is on my short list of losers for 2009.

 

And, if Congress is a loser, guess who is not far behind?  That’s right:  the American people.  Rising taxes and fees, shrinking resources, high unemployment, reduced government services, expanding debt, and fewer opportunities to get ahead all blended together in a cacophony that overwhelmed any happy tunes that most average Americans might have been singing.

Like Congress, the American people may be losers for years to come as inflation, rising interest rates, and a plethora of other potential problems await us as the other shoe dropping as a result of our bailout spending spree.

 

As our economic woes continued in 2009, it is only fitting to include Bernie Madoff as one of the year’s most significant losers.  Madoff, former chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange, admitted to operating a Ponzi scheme dubbed “the largest investment fraud in Wall Street history.”  The scam accounted for about $36 billion, of which about half or $18 billion (with a “b”) is “missing.” 

On March 12, 2009, Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 federal offenses, including securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, making false statements, perjury, theft from an employee benefit plan, and making false filings with the SEC.  Sentenced to 150 years in federal prison, Madoff has traded his opulent Manhattan lifestyle for a bright orange jumpsuit, a cell, and three squares courtesy of the American taxpayer.

 

Madoff is not the only of 2009’s losers whose liberty has been curtailed.  Acclaimed film director Roman Polanski may finally be extradited to the United States to face sentencing for a three-decade old child sex crime from which sentencing he fled following his conviction in 1978.  A dual-citizen of France and Poland, Polanski has hidden behind France’s denial of American extradition requests since that time.

In September 2009, however, he was arrested in Switzerland as he attempted to enter that country to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Zurich Film Festival.  He has been placed under house arrest at his luxurious ski chalet in Gstaad as Swiss authorities process his extradition to the United States.

 

Sexual indiscretions, rather than crimes, were the Achilles’ heel of 2009’s biggest loser, Tiger Woods.  Woods’ extramarital affairs with upwards of 14 different women surpassed chatter about the Holidays at water coolers, diners, and gatherings across America and the world.

Arguably the greatest golfer in the history of the sport, Woods has lost his wife, Elin Nordegren who battered him with a golf club, and is now bleeding money in the form of sponsors bailing on the once-revered athlete.  AT&T, Accenture, and Gillette have all dropped Woods or pulled advertising featuring him.  And, it has been reported that companies sponsoring Woods have lost a total of $12 billion in share value since the news of Woods’ affairs has been made public.  Who ever said that love was “free?”