planetdan

Sunday, December 31, 2006 :::

The best of the year.

I received an Onion daily calendar from Kmack last year for xmas. Today I removed the very last page, which is always an extremely satisfying experience. All year long I've saved the ones that made me laugh out loud. Some of them are still funny. Some of them make me wonder what I was on that day. My top three favorites:

And here are all the ones I saved throughout the year, so you can see what choices I had for the top three.

I'd put together a big Best of 2006 Extravaganza like I usually do, but it was a busy year and so I only saw a few movies and read a couple books. This is the best I can do:

Best Movie I Saw: Children of Men
Worst Movie I Saw: Apocalypto
Most Disappointing Movie: For Your Consideration

Best Book I Read All The Way Through: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Only Book I Read All The Way Through: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Great Books I've Started but Haven't Finished:
Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
How We Are Hungry by Dave Eggers
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Possible Side Effects by Augusten Burroughs
Spook by Mary Roach

My Top Ten Favorite CDs of the Year:
10. Friendly Fire by Sean Lennon
(It grows on you.)
9. The Avalanche by Sufjan Stevens
(Not entirely perfect but still great.)
8. The Trials of Van Occupanther by Midlake
(If only for the opening track: Roscoe.)
7. The Life Persuit by Belle and Sebastian
(Which was one of the best concerts I saw, too.)
6. Ys by Joanna Newsom
(In spite of the fact that it gave me the stomach flu.)
5. Putting the Days To Bed by the Long Winters
(Underappreciated and underrated by everyone and anyone.)
4. Apologies to the Queen Mary by Wolf Parade
(I know this came out last year, but I only gained appreciation for it
this year, and I listened to it more than any other CD.)
3. Rabbit Fur Coat by Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins
(So totally enjoyable that even my musically illiterate roommate likes it.)
2. The Crane Wife by the Decemberists
(Duh.)
1. Impeach My Bush by Peaches
(I had to buy this CD four times because I kept giving it away to spread the love.
It has made me happier than any other CD released this year.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

::: posted by dan at 9:50 AM :: [ link ] :: (11) comments

Comments are Closed On this Post

11 previous comments:

HAPPY NEW YEAR DAN! You've made mine much more pleasurable since 'falling' upon your site (courtesy of the Georgie screensaver). At least he's uniting something, right?

By

Anonymous, at 3:51 PM

I too got an Onion page-a-day calendar last year for Christmas and I also saved all of my favorites and at first I was wondering how none of mine matched yours, but then I realized that mine was a different Onion page-a-day calendar. Anyways, I doubt anyone cared about my whole non-story, but HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

By

Kristen, at 6:44 PM

Dan - I'm not sure I remember how I found this but I love Jenny Lewis and I love your halloween costumes. Happy New Year.

By

Chandra, at 1:20 AM

I'm sad you found For Your Consideration a dissapointment.... Not Guest's best, but still entertaining!

By

Anonymous, at 12:02 PM

Thanks guys, I love all of your comments. It's been nice having you here.

By

dan, at 5:36 PM

Happy New Year, Dan! Great choices for the Onion top picks. I thought the one for 2/6 was hilarious--so wrong, but hilarious.
For some reason I can't get through 'Everything is Illuminated', either. I know it is supposed to be a great book, but I'm now on my third attempt to get through it. I am determined to stick it out and finish the damn thing this time so I can put it on my bookshelf and forget about it.
Maybe I should give them another chance, but the Long Winters just didn't do it for me. They sound way too much like the Barenaked Ladies, a band I really hate.

By

lola, at 11:05 AM

I had the page a day with the historical articles a few years back. I still have "Recently Opend Empire State Building 'Giant-Ape Proof' Says Architects" taped to my monitor. It just made me giggle.

And I really liked "For Your Consideration" but it's been hit or miss with all my fellow film fans.

By

elcynic, at 5:41 PM

Here's my Top 10 cds:
1. She Wants Revenge - She Wants Revenge
2. Thom Yorke - The Eraser
3. TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mt.
4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
5. The Killers - Sam’s Town
6. The Strokes - First Impressions Of Earth
7. Lou Rhodes(from the English group Lamb) - Beloved One
8. Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics
9. Outkast - Idlewild
10. The Presets - Beams
Peaches' cd would be in my next 10. Anytime I listen to it it makes me laugh cause she's just so hilariously vulgar & just out there w/the sexual innuendos. She's amazing.
The Long Winters I just couldn't get into either. The songs sounded all too similar to each other, imo. I think you're the only one that does appreciate them, lol! The Decemberists I did enjoy but they didn't make my top 20.
Yes, thanks for all the laughs even though I found your site 1/2 way through the year. Happy New Year!

By

August, at 3:01 AM

HAPPY NEW YEAR DAN! From Italy.
Hope to see you here soon.

By

Invisible Rock, at 3:22 AM

Happy New Year Dan.
Kmack, you’re the only reason I read Planetdan is to see what you’re up to. Hopefully, you or your future husband will start a PlanetKmack

By

Long Time Reader, at 12:35 PM

If you were able to actually read Bill Brysons "A Short History..." I congratulate you. I listened to it as a book-on-tape, and I tell ya, it was thoroughly enjoyable. If you ever get a chance, listen to it... or one of his many other books. He reads the books himself, and has the funniest British accent. It's a lot of fun to listen. You can borrow his audio books from the library. Two others to check out because they are equally enjoyable, and even funny - "I'm A Stranger Here Myself" which is about his return to the US after a 20 year absence. VERY funny. Also check out "
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail".Also a very funny book.

By

A Dan Fan, at 7:02 PM

< Back to Blog