Unbridled Joy

Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen. Please welcome tonight's featured entertainer, the stunning Marguerite Booth Coleman.

(click here)

Please to enjoy.

You 'Oughts' To Know

Get it? 'Oughts' to know? Because this is my Best of Decade list? Funny?

I appreciate your patience.

Anyway, 2009, you did a nice job, but it seems the hip thing to do (or to have done a month ago, but since when have I ever been timely?) is to bypass the traditional Best of the Year listing for the much grander BEST OF THE DECADE (despite the fact that technically 2010 is itself the final year of the first decade of the 21st century, which actually began January 1st, 2001.)

I am, of course, a barstool critic at best and my media consumption is by and large pre-filtered - that is, I read enough criticism ahead of time that I don't spend a lot of time on things I'm not already predisposed to enjoy - so I shan't make any stab at creating any sort of critical or unbiased 'Best' list. Rather, I present here my choices for 'Favorites' of the last ten years.

Television!

• The Daily Show & The Colbert Report
• Deadwood
• Mad Men
  
• Arrested Development
• Doctor Who
• Futurama
• Slings & Arrows
• Justice League Unlimited
• 30 Rock
  
• Battlestar Galactica
• Pushing Daisies

There are several television shows to which I remained incredibly loyal despite drastic fluctuations in quality. Still I consider them integral parts of my television viewing in the 2000s.

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel
• The West Wing
  
• The L Word
• Oz
• The Sopranos
• The Simpsons
  
• WWF Monday Night Raw

Comic Books!

The 2000s had some really memorable moments and trends. For me, the best things seemed to be a move toward television-style writing coupled with a lot of European influenced artists. My favorite writers of the decade would have to include Grant Morrison, Warren Ellis, and Brian K. Vaughan for their big ideas, Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka for their scripting talent, and of course, Alan Moore for, as always, being the total package. As for artists, I would read anything illustrated by Frank Quitely, J.H. Williams III, or Paul Pope for their sheer imagination, and I've also enjoyed Marvel's propensity in particular toward more 'cinematic' style artists like Steve Epting, John Cassaday, Steve McNiven, Michael Lark, Alex Maleev, and Mike Deodato. Oh, and Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim is joy incarnate.

• Planetary (Warren Ellis & John Cassaday)
• Y: The Last Man (Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra & others)
• Scott Pilgrim (Bryan Lee O'Malley)
• All Star Superman (Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely)
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill) / Lost Girls (Alan Moore & Melinda Gebbie) / Promethea (Alan Moore & J.H. Williams III)
• The Perry Bible Fellowship (Nicholas Gurewitch)
• Asterios Polyp (David Mazzuchelli)
  
• Captain America (Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting & others)
• 100% / Heavy Liquid / Batman: Year 100 (Paul Pope)
• Tales Designed to Thrizzle (Michael Kupperman)
• Queen & Country Greg Rucka & others)
  
• Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Boy on Earth (Chris Ware)
• Achewood (Chris Onstad)
  
• Daredevil (Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev / Ed Brubaker & Michael Lark)

Films!

• Ratatouille (Brad Bird)
• Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki)
• Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton)
• The Prestige (Christopher Nolan)
• Dave Chappelle's Block Party (Michel Gondry & Dave Chappelle)
• Michael Clayton (Tony Gilroy)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Alfonso Cuaron)
• Spider-Man 2 (Sam Raimi)
• Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
• Man On Wire (James Marsh)
• Howl's Moving Castle (Hayao Miyazaki)
• The Princess and The Frog (Ron Clements & John Musker)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Gore Verbinski)
• The Triplets of Belleville (Sylvain Chomet)
• Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe)
• Wet Hot American Summer (David Wain)
• Syriana (Stephen Gaghan)
• High Fidelity (Stephen Frears)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Peter Jackson)
• Primer (Shane Carruth)
• Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch)
• The Royal Tennenbaums (Wes Anderson)
• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Shane Black)
• Sex and Lucia (Julio Medem)
• Iron Man (Jon Favreau)
• Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World (Peter Weir)

LISTS! How I love them so! And you know what I would like most? To read your lists! So please, post and share! Hooray for lists!

You're Looking At The Cat Who Ate The Cream

Puss in Boots, 1988, directed by Eugene Marner

I am immeasurably pleased to have introduced Daisy to Christopher Walken. Now for the next step - The Deer Hunter or King of New York?

Daisy Quote of The Day

"Don't I look beautiful? Try and get me."

Boys of the future, beware.

Favorite Christmas Present

Hello to the year Twenty-Ten - now where the balls is my flying car?!? Since The Future has failed to live up to the science fantasy promises it made me in my youth, I have decided to regress to a simpler age, eschewing technological advances and embraces the culture of days gone by. At least insofar as my grooming habits, that is.

Ever since reading a post on How to Shave Like Your Grandpa, I have been coveting an old fashioned safety razor and shave kit. And come Christmas, Heidi delivered, gifting me a Merkur razor, badger-haired (!) brush, Col. Conk soap, and possibly the most charming shave cup ever (though according to my dad, my own great-grandfather had a shave cup with a terrier on it; this is an heirloom I desire.)

Of course, it is taking some getting used to. I have already acquired a fair share of battle scars, but fortunately among the gift package was a styptic pencil, a thing I've not made so much use of since I first started down the path of beard removal a decade and a half ago.

Still, a few nicks are a handy trade for the satisfaction and just pure fun that comes from the whole process of hot towel, lathering, and loading up that single razor blade. I haven't had this much fun in my morning ritual since ... well ever. It's the new best part of waking up!