Best of MPF 2008: Bonus Tracks

Every year I put out a "best of" list. And every year, starting a day or two after the release, I remember things I wished I'd put in there, or categories from previous years I left out. With this new blog technology, I can now create an addendum, instead of sending out five followup emails to say "Ooh! One more I forgot!"

Worst song (pop): Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl." Metallic, droning, uninteresting, unmusical, and far inferior to the 1994 Jill Sobule song she ripped off.

Best no-hitter watched: Big Z. We started watching in the 2nd inning, and midway through the game TM commented, hey, Z hasn't given up a hit yet. So often you catch the final out or two of a no-hitter, when a national sports network cuts in. Rarely do you see a game like that essentially from the beginning. (Sept. 14)


Best opening act: Alejandro Escovedo, opening for Old 97's at the XRT Free Fourth of July concert. Technically, the 97's were an opener too, for Gomez. But everybody left after their set. I'm sorry, but to celebrate American independence from Britain, you simply DO NOT book a British band for the holiday concert.

Technology I think is stupid and unnecessary and thus I'll probably be using in three years: Facebook. In five years: Twitter. (If this category existed three years ago the winner would have been "blogging.")

Most humane moment: Marketa Irglova, with Glen Hansard, won the Oscar for their fantastic song "Falling Slowly." But as she approached the microphone, she was cut off by outro music. After a commercial break, host Jon Stewart invited her back on stage to finish her thank-yous. According to this article, it was the EP and not Stewart who made the decision to bring her back. No matter. Stewart handled the situation with class and grace. (Feb. 24)

This was nice.

Best taunt of a rival: In August, UCLA's athletic department bought this full-page ad in the LA Times. Keep in mind, Neuheisel's UCLA record at the time was 0-0.


Someone in the USC Internet world created this:


Oh, and how about Best T-shirt, seen at the Notre Dame-Michigan game:


OK, fine, so I didn't technically see that shirt at the game. But I did see this one:


And who would wear such a thing? This fine gentleman.