The Requisite "Best Of" List

I wasn't going to do it. First of all, it's virtually impossible. I barely remember yesterday (truly), much less the last ten years. But it seemed sacrilegious to let the decade slip away without some sort of retrospective.

I did a search for some "best of" lists in order to jog my memory, and it appears I am woefully out of touch. Which is fine. I'm not the key demographic advertisers are trying to reach. The prevailing wisdom is that people my age are already set in their ways and are thus unconvincible. Naturally, the prevailing wisdom is wrong. My hunch is that advertisers view GenX'rs and millennials as ripe for the picking; willing to go into debt for today's hot commodity. And isn't that marketing's goal? God bless 'em.

I suppose I should list the top ten surgical procedures and brand-name medications. The top lab tests for geriatrics, top incontinence products and Medicare Advantage plans. But that's not really fun.

Thus, I'm going with the usual TV shows and movies; the grizzled edition.

Top TV Shows of the Decade

A disclaimer ~ I don't subscribe to HBO, so if it's not on Netflix, I'm not aware of it other than in passing. There are most likely wonderful TV series not on my list, but I have to go with something I've actually watched.

  9.  Mad Men
  8.  Rake (check it out on Netflix!)
  7.  True Detective, Season One
  6.  Scientology: The Aftermath
  5.  The Crown, Seasons One and Two
  4.  Downton Abbey
  3.  Parks And Recreation
  2.  The Office
  1.  Breaking Bad

Honorable Mention:  The Americans, which I've only seen a couple seasons of so far.

Caution:  Spoiler!



Top Movies of the Decade, Geriatric Edition

I'm not a regular movie-goer. I probably see three to four movies a year. The trouble is, most of the movies released sound utterly uninteresting, and I'm not into cartoons (better known as super-hero films.)

  5. Winter's Bone
  4. Bohemian Rhapsody 
  3. Bridge of Spies
  2. Gran Torino
  1. Bridesmaids

Top Country Songs of the Decade (I don't actually listen to current country music)

  2. Wagon Wheel, Darius Rucker
  1. Nothing



Something relevant to me:

Top Websites of the Decade

5.  Wikipedia
4.  Twitter
3.  YouTube
2.  Amazon
1.  Google

Whew. Now I've done it; compiled a stupid "best of" list. 

Stay tuned for tomorrow. It might just be time to enumerate some "worsts".

Doing It Right ~ Breaking Bad

Dave Porter can create the soundtrack of my life anytime.

It takes a rare talent to do it right. When it's right, you know it. When someone is phoning it in, you know that, too.

I confess, I am obsessed with Breaking Bad. My life partner and I have watched the entire series twice now, and damn, I forgot a lot of stuff from the first time! If there is a more perfect TV show, well....no, there just isn't.

Aside from the cast and the writing and the cinematography, there is the music. If I was a music supervisor, I would luxuriate in my serendipity. But it's a hard job, matching the quintessential track to that breath-stirring scene.

I could create a complete album of tracks from Breaking Bad, and relive each moment in infinitesimal detail. And I think I might.

Gale Boetticher dripping coffee into a carafe:

David Costabile must have had to study that song for weeks to be able to sing along. 

It was a touch of genius to use a dusty cassette tape of Marty Robbins in the last episode:

The most obvious reference that nobody thought of:

Walter White, singing:

The most ingenuous use of a song I never liked:

I could watch Breaking Bad over and over and over. It gets inside your bones. I'm smitten with Jesse and Mike and Hector. And Badger and Skinny Pete. And mostly Hank and peculiar Marie.

It's mostly thanks to Vince Gilligan and Bryan Cranston, but also to Dave Porter, for creating the soundtrack to a bizarre world.

SPOILER ALERT:  Don't watch this if you haven't watched the series in its entirety (and you really, really need to):

Superb doesn't even begin to describe it.