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Sunday, December 31, 2006

The Best and Worst of 2006

It was almost exactly one year ago that I posted my first annual list—the good and the bad from the twelve months gone by.

And it didn’t scare anyone away … so why not do it again?

As before, the only candidates for inclusion are things I actually experienced directly in 2006. That means you won’t see any references to Marlon Wayans’ Little Man movie, John Grisham’s latest book, or any Paris Hilton songs.

Now, without further delay, here are my picks for the year!

Best movie of 2006: Casino Royale, which matched the best of the Bond dynasty and brought us Daniel Craig, the best 007 since Sean Connery. Bravo!

Worst movie of 2006: The Lake House, which was much better than you would expect upon hearing “a wrinkle-in-time chick flick starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock.” But being decent by romantic comedy standards doesn’t make it a good movie.

Best TV show of 2006: "Scrubs," which just keeps getting better. I don’t know how much the show pays its writers, but it should be doubled.

Best TV show of 2006, runner-up: "Heroes," which has amazing promise. Don’t ruin it, guys.

Worst TV show of 2006: Not applicable; I don’t watch anything that I don’t like. Pass.

Best blog of 2006 (general): Rocky Road Scholar. Even though Rocky’s been absent for the past few months, he packed more quality humor writing into eight months than most of us could hope to create in a year.

Best blog of 2006 (general), runner-up: The Phoenix. He never fails to inform, educate, and entertain. Thanks for another great year, Phoenix.

Best blog of 2006 (music): Heavy Metal Time Machine. Metal Mark keeps 80s metal alive with his site, which is raw and honest—in a good way.

Best blog of 2006 (music), runner-up: Will and Ben’s Record Room . A trans-Atlantic exploration of pop music, this site provides you with everything you need to know about modern music. And more.

Best blog of 2005 (personal): Rantings of an 80’s Nut. Most personal blogs are horrible things to experience. But Martin expresses himself well, making this actually worth checking out on a regular basis.

Best album of 2006: Tool’s 10,000 Days. One word: Wow. A few more: Why can’t more hard rock artists make such complex, compelling music?

Best album of 2006, runners-up: Steve Hackett’s Wild Orchids, yet another majestic effort by this amazing genre-crossing guitarist; and Iron Maiden’s A Matter of Life and Death, proving that 80s metal bands don’t have to simply rest on their laurels.

Most catchy song of 2006: Justin Timberlake’s “Sexy Back.” Yes, it hurts to admit this … but, as you know, I’m all about honesty. This song has that “thing” that makes only one in a million pop songs really stick in your brain.

Most catchy song of 2006, runner-up: Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy,” which also contains one of the best lines of the year: “I remember when I lost my mind/There was something so pleasant about that place/Even your emotions had an echo/In that much space.”

Worst song of 2006: Nickelback’s “Photograph,” which makes me wretch just thinking about it. Excuse me for a moment ...

OK, I’m back. Let’s continue.

Best book of 2006: Jared Diamond’s Collapse, which I realize was published at the end of 2005 but which I read this year—deal with it. An amazing book about why societies decline. (Yes, it's much better than that makes it sound.)

Dumbest moment of 2006: Virginian George Allen’s inexplicable use of the term “macaca,” which arguably cost him not only his seat in the U.S. Senate but also a viable run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008.

And last but not least …

Best blog readers of 2006: You. Thanks for sticking with this blog even as I’ve had to cut back.

See you in 2007.

23 Comments:

At December 31, 2006 4:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous replied to my musings ...

Happy New Year David. (Oooh I'm first!)

I feel so tainted being from the same province as Nickelback. I think I'm going to go have a shower now. Maybe Daniel Craig will join me. And yeah...that movie was awesome. Definitely best of 06.

 
At January 01, 2007 11:03 AM, Anonymous Anonymous replied to my musings ...

I will have to disagree on the dumbest moment. I will have to say Senator Ted Stevens explanation of how the Internet works has got the both the dumbest and most brilliant at the same time. Sure Macaca caused a stir for a bit and even caused him to lose, but Sen Stevens remarks will live on forever on the Internets.

And I have to agree with you on "Photograph" It is a pointless song

 
At January 01, 2007 11:40 AM, Anonymous Anonymous replied to my musings ...

I am with you 110% on 10,000 Days; it's great. And being a VA resident, as well, I have to agree with you about Allen.

 
At January 01, 2007 12:04 PM, Blogger ThatIsMeWhat replied to my musings ...

Pretty good sum-up. I like the Best blog readers of 2006. I kinda has a Time 2006 Person Of The Year slant.

 
At January 01, 2007 6:21 PM, Anonymous Anonymous replied to my musings ...

Your favortist song Photograph is #37 of 100 Best Videos on Much Music. Just had to share.

And I think most disgusting moment of 2006 was OJ and that (censored) book deal of his.

Most redeeming moment was when the book and subsequent shows were canceled.

 
At January 02, 2007 12:50 AM, Blogger Jeff replied to my musings ...

Good choice for best album of 06'. Also I would probably have to agree with the worst song of the year, lol.

 
At January 02, 2007 8:52 AM, Blogger Fated replied to my musings ...

I love best and worst lists. They are of course always based on opinion, but always amusing. :)

Happy New Year!

 
At January 02, 2007 9:14 AM, Blogger David Amulet replied to my musings ...

Jenna, Dennis, Bruce: Good to see I have some agreement. I guess I'm not as crazy as I thought.

Grafs: I did a similar thing last year, which naturally gave Time the idea.

Annie: Rocky's archives are a good place to find a smile when you're down. Thanks for coming by.

Jenna: That is a disgusting moment, which maybe I should have made a category for. But I'll stick with Allen as just being dumb.

Jeff: Excellent. It's good to have a man with your generally outstanding musical taste agree.

Fated: You love them ... but you obviously disagree with everything I said! heheh

-- david

 
At January 02, 2007 9:41 AM, Blogger Unknown replied to my musings ...

Most Hilarious Moment of 2006: Vomit on a leather recliner. :-) You know what I'm talking about. :-)

Best Concert We Attended in 2006: Colin Hay.

Most Overplayed Song of 2006 (Thanks to the Antidote, that is): "My My My it's a beautiful world....."

Happy New Year sweetie.

 
At January 02, 2007 9:59 AM, Blogger Jay Noel replied to my musings ...

YES! I'm glad you did this again.

Thanks for your kind words, yet again. I appreciate it.

I do hope Rocky Road Scholar comes back and starts posting again too. That's great stuff.

Here's to a macaca-free 2007.

 
At January 02, 2007 11:39 AM, Blogger Perplexio replied to my musings ...

Although I can't stand that Photograph song either, there's that Lips of an Angel song that is even worse.

I have to agree on your catchy songs and I have to agree with Steve Hackett making the list! The man is fantastic and is always a joy to listen to.

And I'll have to add Collapse to my "must read" list!

 
At January 02, 2007 12:24 PM, Blogger Metal Mark replied to my musings ...

I won something. Whooo-who! Thanks, David.

 
At January 02, 2007 4:12 PM, Blogger Will replied to my musings ...

Thanks for the vote David. I'll be following you in 2007 and you know it.

 
At January 03, 2007 12:04 PM, Blogger cube replied to my musings ...

Best Blog Reader! Woot!

Happy New Year!

 
At January 03, 2007 4:34 PM, Blogger David Amulet replied to my musings ...

Curare: Thanks--it was a year of great ups and great downs. It's a good thing I float.

Phoenix: Right on. And special kudos for being so steady with your site.

Perplexio: I'm happy to have a man with good musical taste agree with my choices.

Mark: Thanks for making me smarter about good music (ok, sure ... and some bad stuff, too) and having fun with it, too.

Ben: I don't know how you keep up your pace on various things, but we appreciate it.

Cube: Same to you but more of it.

-- david

 
At January 05, 2007 12:15 AM, Blogger MaNiC MoMMy™ replied to my musings ...

Hey, long time! Great list. I have to admit I have SexyBack on my ipod. Also catchy: Smack That. Especially when my seven-year-old does her made-up dance to it. Dear Lord, she's got all I lacked in adolescence.

 
At January 05, 2007 11:28 AM, Blogger On My Watch replied to my musings ...

Excellent list, although the hick in me loves My Name is Earl. Sorry.

Keep on writing those great posts and I'll keep reading even if it's only once a month. You're terrific.

 
At January 07, 2007 1:22 AM, Blogger Doug replied to my musings ...

Hm, Casino Royale is the best since Sean Connery? I always loved the Sean Connery Bond movie in Japan with the ninjas. Good times. I thought GoldenEye was the best since Connery, so I'll have to give C.R. a watch sometime. :)

 
At January 07, 2007 5:27 PM, Blogger Nessa replied to my musings ...

I am shocked that Timberlake's sexy Back is number one. Just shocked. Happy New Year.

 
At January 09, 2007 2:51 AM, Anonymous Anonymous replied to my musings ...

*i'm bringing sexy back yeh*

yes that's right, i'm back.

 
At January 15, 2007 12:48 PM, Blogger :P fuzzbox replied to my musings ...

I could never come up with a best blog. There are so many that I enjoy. Including yours. Keep up the good work.

 
At January 28, 2007 2:30 AM, Blogger Ray Van Horn, Jr. replied to my musings ...

I agree wholeheartedly on Casino Royale and Daniel Craig

 
At March 02, 2007 10:30 AM, Anonymous Anonymous replied to my musings ...

To me, the best album of 2006 is Stadium Arcadium by the Red Hot Chili Pepper. They're #1 on rankopedia.com.

 

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