As the door hits the year 2010 in the butt on its way out, it allows a few seconds to pause and consider the year that was. The following is my list of notables from what is now last year.( I like to include items in the year I discovered them, not necessarily in the year they came out)

BEST VIDEOGAME: Kinect Sports
The Kinect has revived my interest in gaming, which typically revolves around either the latest hockey or basketball game. It provides a great physical workout, an exciting new world of interactivity, and some of the games in the sports package like beach volleyball seem pretty real and are certainly fun to play.

BEST FICTION BOOK: Juliet Naked by Nick Hornby (2009)
A quality yarn by one of Britain's best about a reclusive rock star and sinking relationships. Became a real page turner for me, with quirky characters and some humorous insights.

BEST NON FICTION BOOK: Fidel Castro: My Life, A Spoken Autobiography (2009)
At over 700 pages, this book certainly backs up Fidel's reputation as a born speaker. The transcribed version of a rare lengthy interview, casts light on the history and philosophies of the longest ruling country leader. Fidel seems to be fairly honest in his appraisal of his life, often critical of himself, and manages to share some intriguing stories. I enjoyed the read because it is free of Western World bias, who rarely mention that Cuba's life expectancy rate is now higher than the US and its literacy rate is the highest in the world, thanks to El Presidente.

TV SITCOM: Cougartown (2009)
I didn't think that a show staring post-Friends Courtney Cox would be funny at all. Joey certainly wasn't. But with a cast of zany characters full of relationship woes, somehow it turns out to be surprisingly funny. Always unpredictable, the redneck ex-husband Bobby continuously cracks me up.

TV DRAMA: Lie to Me (2009)
Though it already has three seasons under its belt, it took me a while to discover and get into Lie to Me. It offers an interesting mix of forensics, mystery, tech and crime, and follows the Lightman Group who are individuals highly skilled at detecting lies. Dr. Lightman's twitchiness takes a little getting used to.

MOVIE: The Hangover (2009), The Last King of Scotland (2006)
An interesting contrast in selections here, and clearly neither movie was actually seen the theatre.
The Hangover had me giggling non-stop and really upped the bar for buddy road trip comedies, following up I Love You Man, to become the new Old School. The Last King of Scotland, based on the book by Giles Foden, is a disturbingly realistic(though a good chunk is fiction) look inside the brutal regime of the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, as seen through the eyes of a Scottish missionary doctor.

MUSIC: Motion City Soundtrack
I found something catchy in this good ol rock band out of Minneapolis. Their album, My Dinosaur Life, has some solid songs backed by decent lyrics, and could be described as a punk sounding Ben Folds. Or as the the band once remarked, they may even fit into the category of "Scrabble Rock".

GRAPHIC NOVEL: Skim by Mariko Tamaki, Jillian Tamaki(2008)
I did a full review on Skim earlier in the year, and it really held up as my comic choice for the year. Set in the 90's, it follows the life of an angsty outsider at a catholic high school, and features some awesome black and white art.

NEWS STORY: BP Oil Spill
Of course not actually a good thing to have happened, this environmental disaster was huge in a bad way. It dominated the news for months, and its repercussions will be felt for years to come. Corporate irresponsibility finally seemed like it was going to be done away with, and huge oil companies were going to be held accountable for all their misdeeds. But then suddenly the media kind of lost interest. Does that mean everything is cleaned up over there?

DISAPPOINTMENT: Lost Series Finale
Seriously? The show was built up over so many years, with a masterful mix of science, theology, humanity, action and suspense, and produced, I'm sure, the career performances for many actors. And then with about ten minutes left in the finale, I realized that I had been watching loyally for six seasons, and that absolutely none of the mysteries they weaved were going to be resolved. I can't believe they pulled a veritable grade school writer's craft  "And then I woke up." Anyone can create suspense and mystery if you never have to explain it. What a waste.