A special Daily Ripper presentation, The Year in Preview goes where other news sites fear to tread — the future. Find out the biggest stories of 2005 before they happen, including the sequel to the tsunami which obliterates low expectations, the fashion freak-out in the Melbourne underworld, and the surprises in store for reigning Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins.

• Jan 14 - Band pulls out of tsunami benefitAustralian rock band Not Drowning Waving withdraws from Phuket tsunami charity concert.
• Jan 25 - Aussie of the Year sparks outrageAustralians take to the streets to protest in unprecedented numbers when the Government fails to name a famous sporting star as Australian of the Year. Little-known but tireless Darwin community worker Doris Macarthur, who won the honour, is pelted with eggs during a ticker-tape parade in her home town, as the crowd shouts: “We want Warney! Or even little Lleyton!”
• February 12: X-Men 4 a box-office flopComic-based movies lose their blockbuster appeal after X-Men 4: All the President’s X-Men flops on the US box office.
• March 25: Family names three-legged dog ‘Lucky’After a stroke of inspiration and with a dash of irony, a family of four from Bendigo in central Victoria names a three-legged dog they rescue from the local shelter ‘Lucky’.
• April 7: Bulldogs learn their lesson: no thongsAfter their pre-season warm-up tour ends in the traditional rape accusations, Bulldogs rugby league players declare they have learnt their lesson and wear closed shoes rather than thongs to their police interviews.
• April 15: Melbourne’s underworld in fashion freak-outThe Melbourne underworld community is hit by a wave of fashion self-consciousness after alleged hitman Carl Williams is told by a fellow inmate that the usual gangland tracksuits are “rancid” and “best left to single mothers and wannabe rap stars”. Due to the fresh demand, Gucci opens a new storefront in Collingwood.
• April 29: WMD ‘trickifying’, Bush saysAs weapons of mass destruction still elude US troops in Iraq, President George W Bush declares: “Bombs can be mighty trickifying.”
• May 1: Costello gets bored, refuses to rule out leadership bidAustralian Treasurer Peter Costello, bored with life and the latest political slanging matches, refuses to rule out challenging Prime Minister John Howard for his job when asked a leading question by a journalist. After the Canberra Press Gallery spends three days asking Mr Costello the same question in different (and increasingly tricky and obtuse) ways, the Treasurer confirms he remains as gutless as ever and will remain in his current role.
• May 3: Blunkett in Commons bust-upIn a stunning breach of parliamentary security only days before the general election planned, a condom filled with purple powder is thrown at Prime Minister Tony Blair from the gallery of the House of Commons. The projectile flies wildly off target and lands to the right of Tory MPs, prompting speculation former home secretary turned Fathers4Justice campaigner David Blunkett is responsible.
• May 17: Archaeologists dig up race of ‘Wookie’ peopleIn a bid to keep up with the latest box-office trends, archaeologists in Indonesia announce they have uncovered a race of early humans who resemble Wookies. After receiving so much publicity for announcing they had found early humans who looked like Hobbits from the Lord of the Rings, the scientific team tied their latest discovery in with the final Star Wars prequel, saying they had found a race of very tall people who looked like they were dressed in hairy suits and seemed to communicate with grunts and roars, much like Chewbacca.
• May 21: Condom fears delay British electionLess than a week before the British general election, fears of another condom attack force the poll to be postponed in some parts of the country. Tony Blair, leader of Britain’s interim governing council, vows voters in richer areas of the country - deemed most at risk of an attack - will be allowed to vote eventually.
• June 2: Miss Universe becomes Miss NobodyOne day after her year-long reign as Miss Universe comes to an end, Jennifer Hawkins expresses shock and dismay after she visits a children’s hospital in Alice Springs only to find that no-one cares anymore.
• June 23: New reality show hits TV screensUS television network ABC deems The Surviving Apprentice’s Big Brother who Idolises the Batchelorette fresh entertainment.
• July 3: New Seinfeld DVDs hit the shelvesSeinfeld seasons four and five are released on DVD and yadda, yadda, yadda … Jerry’s a rich bastard.
• August 18: Tsunami sequel hits AsiaA second tsunami (’Continent Killer’) takes Asia by storm, obliterating low expectations to out-perform the original tsunami in the first weekend. God announces plans for a third, but critics suggest quitting while ahead may be prudent.
• September 21: Studio announces Meet the CnutsUniversal pictures announces it will release a third movie in the Meet The Parents series, following on from Meet The Fockers with Meet The Cnuts, in which the protagonist, Gaylord Focker, is divorced and hooks up with a girl named Mary Cnut.
• October 19: New Lord of the Rings plannedPeter Jackson announces his plan to direct Lord of the Rings 4: The Revenge of Smeagol.
• November 18: New manager fills shoes of ‘irreplaceable’ workerPhil Wilson, the chief executive of Australian toilet paper manufacturer Soft-ish, has revealed the company’s new senior marketing manager is “going great guns”. The shock assessment comes just one week after Mr Wilson gave a speech at outgoing manager Katie Murphy’s farewell party in which he said Ms Murphy would be “irreplaceable”.
• December 2: Miss Universe becomes Miss DecemberSix months after her year-long reign as Miss Universe comes to an end, Jennifer Hawkins makes a desperate bid for publicity by posing naked for Playboy.