Oh, 2010. I will not be sad to see you go, in the singular way that one cannot regret the passing of a collection of months that brings one only closer to death. I also seemed to miss out on or be completely apathetic about most of the really cool, popular things that bonded everyone else together and simultaneously made me cry on the inside because I felt like the non-joining loser in the pop culture after school special. Mad Men, don’t get it. True Blood, never saw it. Walking Dead, ditto. Vampire Weekend and Mumford and Sons? Still haven’t listened to them.
That said, there were some things that I thought were some combination of cool/enjoyable/compelling/trainwreck-can’t-look-away-able, yes there were. Herewith, a smattering. And happy new year!
1. Television show and possibly singular thing that I enjoyed the most in spite of the fact that I’m a giant asshole who hates fun.
Glee. Yes, the fall season hit some snags, but as I said on the Twitter, this show is the cheesiest thing I have ever personally loved. The spring finale that incorporated not only Journey (love) but an amazing closing sequence of Quinn’s labor with a backdrop of Aural Intensity’s performance of “Bohemian Rhapsody” is saved on my DVR until some jerk deletes it, and I was an “I will not watch this dumbass show” holdout for absolutely no reason when it debuted.
They came back this fall with “Furt” — the “Finn’s mom and Kurt’s dad get married” episode that makes me cry only slightly less than The Office‘s Jim & Pam wedding, and it’s an hour of television that will make me purchase a rare dvd so I can watch it whenever I want. Plus I’m kind of a hard-ass, and if you can get me fist-pumping and jazz-handing to Bruno Mars in my living room? That’s something. I’m just saying.
“Glee club will never end, Mr. Shue, because you are glee club.” Done in. The end.
2. Musical group that I particularly enjoyed in spite of the fact that I generally eschew hyped musical acts in favor of listening to Led Zeppelin IV or the Beatles White Album Disc Two for the millionth time.
The Avett Brothers. For these guys I make an exception. This was released in 2009, but it’s a 2010 experience for me. I got the real, live cd and put it in my car, and I leave it on repeat even after a few months. It’s pathetic, how much I listen to it, really. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.
3. Sickeningly viral YouTube video that simultaneously bonded me to my family, colleagues, blog, Twitter and real life friends and also continued to make me laugh while I was alone.
Double Rainbow. You know it. I don’t have to tell you about it.
OH MY GOD OH MY GOD it’s a full on double rainbow all the way across the sky of a stoner who could probably now pay off my student loans with the proceeds of his rainbow reverie. It almost seems like a TRIPLE rainbow! So intense. (For real.)
4. Best Hair Metal Renaissance Man Who Also Cheated Death for Real.
Bionic Bret Michaels. Do call it a comeback. A brain aneurysm and subsequent terrifying life-saving surgery was no match for the man who brought us not only Rock of Love but its vehicular sibling Rock of Love Bus.
Say what you will about Bret, but I’d never have guessed when I was rocking out to his live shows in the 80s like only a teenager in love with the theater of hair metal could that he’d be a mogul now. Bret Michaels is a mogul and you’re probably not. Think about it. But not too hard. He wouldn’t want that, dude.
5. Best Album Disguised as a Super-Earnest Broadway Musical
American Idiot on Broadway. I love GreenDay. I do not love them like it’s my job, because unfortunately no one is paying me to love them, but I love them all the same. I specifically love American Idiot, the record, the album, whatever you kids are calling them these days. It’s, uh, a tour de force. It’s the voice of a generation. It kicks fucking ass. I listened to it several times on Election Day in a fit of civically engaged righteousness and got all riled up again.
Before that little episode, I was in New York for awhile this summer and got a chance to see it the Broadway adaptation and it was great. I loved every second of it.
My boyfriend Billie Joe Armstrong is coming back to play St. Jimmy in some shows in the new year and I may be catching the Bolt Bus up for the occasion. We’ll see.
5. Best Show About Food Served on Wheels
The sadly-undervalued Great Food Truck Race. I loved this show. Silly? Maybe. But I find it best not to think too hard about my “reality” programming choices, lest I feel badly about myself and emotionally eat. I watched it and rooted for the metalhead guys who made burgers and the Austin sandwich people over those Twitter-savvy Nom Nom Truck people, and the burger guys — Grill ‘Em All, naturally — prevailed.
I wonder if Lars Ulrich has sued them for their name yet?
I actually care if Food Network brings this show back, which means they probably won’t, but I’m hoping.
6. Most ridiculous and enjoyable video featuring a heavy metal legend.
Ozzy Osbourne scaring people at Madame Tussaud’s. I love Ozzy, and think there would be nothing more enjoyable than hanging out with him on the couch in the sunroom and watching the dogs wander in and out while we watched the History Channel, so everything about this pleased me. I watched it a stupid number of times and made other people watch it whether they thought it was funny or not. Don’t you wish you were my friend?
I also tend to laugh when people fall down, which should surprise no one.
7. Most sickeningly addictive iPhone app time suck that I can’t shake because they keep releasing new editions.
Angry Birds. Once I started playing this evil game, I couldn’t stop. This set me apart from just about no one I follow on the Twitter. I made it through Angry Birds Halloween without getting fired, and waited til the day before Christmas to download Angry Birds Seasons because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to meet my holiday or my work obligations.
I’m still stuck on level 19. See you sometime next year. (And the obese cardinals are still my favorite.)
8.The funniest thing I read on the Internet all year, hands down, and with illustrations!
Hyperbole and a Half. Allie Brosh is way funnier than I am. She is probably funnier than you are, although I’m sure you are very funny. (Sorry.) She can also draw strangely-shaped comic people who can grow Godzilla teeth in a single frame and perfectly depict some of the most basic, relatable, neurotic human emotions as evidenced by burning childhood rage and the deep suffering of the privileged middle class. And even if you don’t care about that crap, she produces the funniest illustrated blog on the Internet, or maybe possibly just the funniest blog on the internet.
If you don’t relate at least a little bit to “Sneaky Hate Spiral” I’m not sure we can hang out.
And if it weren’t for being able to screech “(Blank) ALL THE THINGS” at each other on Twitter, fellow MamaPop writer @Kdiddy and I may not be able to get through some days of our lives. It’s true.
9. Guiltiest and most inexplicably riveting social media hobby that involves Run D.M.C. and MC Hammer.
Hip-hop artists on Twitter in general, but especially when they argue. I am a dedicated follower of King Hammer, Kanye, Reverend Run, Ice-T and Diddy on Twitter, and this was a banner year for them in social media. I was particularly on the edge of my seat during Hammer’s one-sided beef with Jay-Z and Ice’s arrest.
It’s probably best if I don’t over-analyze this.
10. Favorite MamaPop post wherein I don’t even really mind seeing myself on video which is normally not a cause for celebration.
The Party in the U.S.A. Video Roundtable. I can’t really add anything to what’s already been stated, except to apologize to those of you who had finally gotten this song out of your heads.
Party in the MamaPop from palinode on Vimeo.
Those are the highlights of an interesting, if not entirely awesome, year. May 2011 rock exponentially harder, and in the name of the Real Housewives of Wherever, Lindsay Lohan, and @kanyewest, I say “Amen.”
