Summertime, and the living is easy. Well, it was. Whether you were stuck at the pool, lounging at the beach, traveling abroad, working a 9-to-5, taking classes or just seeing The Dark Knight for the fifth time – the entertainment world went on. And a lot happened.

Maybe you were keeping up – maybe you weren’t, but we at Diversions were (yes, The Diamondback came out once a week over the summer), and here’s a few of our favorite stories from the summer.

rudi.greenberg@gmail.com

The summer of the music festival

Bonnaroo ruled, All Good was just OK and the Virgin Mobile Festival was simply satisfying, but make no mistake – Summer 2008 will go down as the year of the music festival. With the most music festivals around the country in recent memory – it seemed like there was a major one every weekend – festival attendees had a big selection to choose from. You could camp, or just go for a day. You could see jam bands, indie rockers or rappers. In some cases, you could do it all in one place.

Some of you may have treated All Points West like a Radiohead show and ignored the festival, others raged against the machine by violently moshing at Lollapalooza and a select few even braved the technical (and transportation) issues at Outside Lands. Even with gas prices up and the economy in a downward spiral, people filled the festivals , and the entire scene sees shows no sign of slowing down.

Superheroes soar

The Dark Knight wasn’t the only movie to come out this summer, even though, for awhile, it seemed like it was. No, this was a summer dominated by superheroes from Iron Man all the way to the caped crusader. But it wasn’t all about Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne. Hellboy (Hellboy II) and Bruce Banner (The Incredible Hulk) made the time in between the bookending blockbusters almost as enjoyable. We’re ready to call summer 2008 one of the best since 1982, or at the least the best in recent memory.

Remember the Iraq War?

In March 2003, the United States invaded Iraq. It was a pretty big deal. And it still is today. But up until this summer, while television and movies have touched upon it, none have done so to much public success. Maybe because David Simon and Ed Burns hadn’t gotten to it yet. University alumnus Simon and Burns finally wrapped up their magnum opus, The Wire, earlier this year. Shortly after, they shifted their gripes from the war on drugs to another, equally mismanaged one: Iraq. The HBO mini-series, Generation Kill, chronicled the earliest stages of the War in all its clusterf—ed glory. Based on Rolling Stone reporter Evan Wright’s book of the same name, the show takes a realistic look into Marine life.

Harry Potter decides to wait for summer vacation

This would have appeared on our other list, but Warner Bros. – still feeling a hurt in its roster from the writers’ strike – decided to bolster its summer 2009 calendar. First, we knew Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince would be coming out this fall. Then, we had a trailer, and all signs pointed to The Dark Knight’s first real box office competition. And then it was all gone. Pushed to next summer. Luckily, the film’s new release date will have no effect on the production schedule for the final two entries in the series.

Old new wave dudes go digital

Ever since Radiohead went online with In Rainbows, it seems like everyone has to follow suit. Paul Westerberg (solo) and David Byrne and Brian Eno (duo) both released digital albums this year, unexpectedly and unconventionally. Westerberg, the former front man of post-punk rockers The Replacements, struck first, releasing the year’s best value, 49:00, a 43-minute 55-second single-track digital download priced at the bargain-bin cost of $0.49. Basically Westerberg performing alone in his basement, 49:00 is like a trip through Westerberg’s influences and eccentricities. It’s like listening to the radio – only you have no control. Songs fade in and out, the dial turns and there’s even classic rock hits, songs Westerberg covers that eventually caused Amazon to pull the album from its Web site. In response, Westerberg issued 5:05, a sequel of sorts which, well, sticks it to the man, to put it lightly.

Former Talking Heads singer Byrne followed in August with his first collaboration with former Heads and current Coldplay producer Eno since 1981. The duo put the album up for free streaming on Aug. 19, with options to download a digital edition, pre-order a CD or pre-order a deluxe pack. Everything That Happens Will Happen Today might be Byrne’s best post-Heads work, and we’re looking forward to his tour, sans Eno, on such songs, this fall. While two acts who hit their creative peak in the late 1970s may seem like the least likely candidates to push the digital envelope, New Wave was revolutionary for a reason – and it’s just as relevant in 2008 as it was in 1977.