2010 may be best remembered as the year the economy kicked our collective asses, but there were certainly some cosmic-scale-balancing cultural high moments worth noting as well. Here’s my very personal, very partial, and undoubtedly biased Top Ten of the year that was (your mileage may vary):
10. TED.com – Though 2010 certainly wasn’t the year TED began (it started way back in ye olde 1984), it was the year I became fully obsessed with it, spending countless hours absorbing the ultra-super-brainy video talks therein. Broadly covering myriad topics related to Technology, Entertainment and Design, TED is a storehouse of insights from the best and brightest in those fields, and an incredible, totally free and accessible resource for anyone with an internet connection. One of my favorites from this year is this talk from Brene Brown on The Power of Vulnerability. Please to enjoy:
9. Angry Birds – I’d pointedly avoided falling victim to this game until late December of this year, but that didn’t stop me from going on a several-day-long binge in the end, one of the sort typically associated with amphetamine addiction. It’s difficult to describe just how compulsive and entrancing this game is to anyone who hasn’t succumbed to its charms, and honestly, if you haven’t yet, I’d recommend staying away from it until you have a long weekend to lose. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
8. Despicable Me – One of the few non-Pixar animated films in recent memory to achieve both popularity with audiences and critical acclaim, Despicable Me is hilarious, emotive, original, and one of those rare Movies For Kids that I’d unreservedly recommend to adults without kids. It’s also endlessly quotable – I couldn’t even tell you how many times my daughter and I exchanged squeals of “IT’S SO FLUFFY I’M GONNA DIE!” this year, much to the dismay and irritation of those around us, no doubt.
7. ROKU/Netfix streaming (and Hulu Plus streaming) - Perhaps the best return for my entertainment dollar I spent this year was purchasing a ROKU. Since I was already subscribed to Hulu Plus and Netflix, with ROKU I gained access to the streaming glory of those services, pulling movie after movie and show after show via wifi directly to my TV. I pay less than $15 a month for both services put together, and the hours of entertainment my family gets from that measly cash layout is pretty spectacular. Can’t recommend it enough.
6. The Bed Intruder Song - What can be said of this that hasn’t been said? Hilarious and undeniably earworm-y, it’s impossible to get it out of your head OR stop laughing once you’ve heard it. And you can run and tell that, homeboy.
5. Favorite MamaPop Moment: TIE: the Sparklecorn 2010 Director’s Cut Video and Two Busy’s Skating With The Stars recaps - The former captured the kickass essence of the best party I’ve ever been to and left all of us knowingly referencing Party and Bullshit for months after. The latter made me snort-laugh AND laugh-cry on a weekly basis about events that took place on a show I’d never even seen – a testament to Two Busy’s ample recap writing prowess.
4. Boardwalk Empire - Gorgeous and gritty, this Scorsese joint left me breathless every week and hungry for more. Beautifully shot, thrillingly written, and stocked with a stable of incredible actors playing great characters, the heart and soul of the show nevertheless begins and ends with Steve Buscemi’s nuanced portrayal of politician-gangster Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, a character as complex as any ever on television. I can’t wait for season 2.
3. Real Housewives [of various metropolitan-type areas] - This was the year I gave in to the Housewives completely, and though I can’t say I’m better for it in any substantive way, I was certainly more entertained. Whether we’re talking New Jersey, Atlanta, or (my favorite) Beverly Hills, bitches be CRAY-ZAY, and they’re incredibly fun to watch.
2. Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Whatever public opinion may be relative to his off-stage antics (or on-stage ones, for that matter), Kanye West’s musical genius is undeniable, and this album is a sweeping testament to that truth. Ingenious, fresh, smart, and ridiculously catchy, there are still moments when I listen to this CD and find myself slack-jawed and gape-mouthed at the man’s singular talent. My full review of Fantasy fumbles to articulate that which just one listen to a song like “Runaway” makes undeniably clear: believe the hype and buy this album.
1. Ghost Adventures (aka “Ghost Bros”) – What makes the Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures enjoyable is practically impossible to communicate to the wholly uninitiated (though kdiddy does a pretty good job here). The show follows a trio of earnest meatheads around the country on their quest to have ghostly encounters, and is peppered with the Ed-Hardy-shirt-wearing investigators “Dude!”s and “Bro!”s at regular, 10-20 second intervals. This doesn’t sound like something you’d want to spend your hard-earned television-watching time on I know, but the Ghost Bros (as we like to call them) are equal parts unintentionally hysterical and oddly endearing despite themselves, and have spawned endless Ghost Bro-speek joking amongst online fans I know (which mostly involves the use of all caps and phrases like OH MY GOD BRO, THE HAIR ON MY ARM JUST STOOD UP!, and ORBS ARE STEALING MY ENERGY, DUDE!). Sometimes you just need to laugh and be silly, and Ghost Adventures provides ample opportunities to do both of those things.
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