Miscellaneous Top Lists of 2006

So urged by my friend and unwilling accomplice Honest S.J. Robinson, I am presenting a tantalizing top 5 collection for various events and experiences of 2006. Most of these are poorly thought-out and in no way do justice their categories. For example, the category Best Movies comes from someone who goes months without watching a new release and cannot even claim to have seen most of the contenders for awards (either indie or industry). Thus, all budding critics please keep your disgust aimed toward what is on the list and not what is off it! Also, do to my horrendous memory most of the lists will be tilted toward recent events as what happened in January '06 may as well have been in January '86.

Otherwise, enjoy!

Top Concerts:

1. Immaculate Machine (Railway Club, Vancouver)
2. Les Breastfeeders (Lamplighter, Vancouver)
3. Cuff The Duke (The Red Room, Vancouver)
4. Neko Case (The Centre, Vancouver)
5. Sasquatch (The Gorge, Washington State)

Top Movies:

1. Casino Royale
2. The Departed
3. Blood Diamond
4. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
5. Nacho Libre

Top Cities Visited:

1. Prague, Czech Repubic
2. Paris, France
3. Florence, Italy
   
4. Munich, Germany
   
5. Bruges, Belgium
   

Top Songs*:

1. No Heat (Cuff the Duke)
2. Devil's Paintbrush Road (The Wailin' Jennys)
3. Gold Lion (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
4. Losin' You (Amy Millan)
5. You Know I Love You Baby (Melissa McClelland)
6. Mini Jupe et Watusi (The Breastfeeders)
7. Thin Blue Flame (Josh Ritter)
8. The Bleeding Heart Show (The New Pornographers)
   
9. Ibi Dreams of Pavement (Broken Social Scene)
10. When The Angel's Make Contact (Matt Mays)

*Some songs on 2005 albums but did not *debut* separately or were not *discovered* by me until 2006.

Top Meals:

1. Poutine (Brados, Vancouver)
2. Wine, Bread, Cheese & Salad (Paris, France)
3. Deep-Fried Spicy Tofu (Kwong Chow, Vancouver)
   
4. Spatzle (Bavaria, Germany)
5. Ass-Cheap Pizza (Fresh Slice, Vancouver)

Top Events:

1. Accepted to York University's Graduate Program
2. Touring Europe
3. Quitting Access Justice
4. Road Trip to the Okanagan with Soon-Tae, Kimbap & Soju (complete with Shayne's Going-Away Party at the Well)
5. Phantom of the Opera (Queen Elizabeth II Theatre, Vancouver)

Top Beer Consumed**:

1. Sleeman's Honey Brown
2. Okanagan Spring's Pale Ale
3. Guinness' Guinness
4. Rickard's Red
5. Augustiner's (stein-sized) Brau
   

**Disclaimer: Not necessarily best, probably should be "Beers Most Consumed"

Top Books Read***:

1. The Brothers Karamazov (Dostoevsky)
2. Technics & Time (Steigler)
3. Cinema Vol 1 & 2 (Deleuze)
4. Negative Dialectics (Adorno)
   
5. Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky)
   

***Books read in 2006, not books published in 2006.

Top TV Shows Watched****:

1. The Wire
2. Battlestar Galactica
3. Deadwood
   
4. Dead Like Me
5. DaVinci City Hall
   
6. Star Trek: Deep Space 9
7. The Simpsons
8. American Comedy Hour (The Daily Show & The Colbert Report)
9. Arrested Development
10. South Park
    

****Save for DaVinci City Hall, South Park and the comedy stylings of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, most of the shows watched on the list are from previous seasons or cancelled series which did not air episodes in 2006.

Top Philosophies Pondered:

1. Adorno's Negativity
   
2. Deleuze's Affirmation
   
3. Hegel's Dialectics
   
4. Heidegger's Romanticism
   
5. Kant's Enlightening
   

Top Commodities (Purchased or Received):

1. Digital SLR Camera (Canon Rebel XT)
2. Satellite Radio (Sirius)
3. Analogue Watch with Alarm (St. Moritz)
4. James Bond Ultimate Edition (Sets 1-4)
5. Microwave & Kettle (A single man cannot eat without them!)
   

Stay tuned for a top 5 (or 10) list of Best Photos Taken of 2006 (likely a "clip-show" of the best photos posted on my travel blog)!

Let me know what you think of the lists!