Here’s a list of “top tens” from the year 2005 – have fun!

Last updated on January 1, 2006.

MUSIC

Top Songs

  1. “Suddenly I See” by KT Tunstall
  2. “I Predict A Riot” by Kaiser Chiefs
  3. “Fix You” by Coldplay
  4. “Great Big Stuff” from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
  5. “Love’s A Game” by The Magic Numbers
  6. “Comfort Of Love” by Paul McCartney
  7. “Tied Up Too Tight” by Hard-Fi
  8. “No Bravery” by James Blunt
  9. “Beautiful (I Guess)” by Erin McKeown
  10. “My Mathematical Mind” by Spoon

Notes: It’s always tough to narrow down a list of songs to just ten. There are many others that deserve to be in this list, and if I polled myself on another day it could very well change in a few places.

Top Albums

  1. Eye To The Telescope by KT Tunstall
  2. Back To Bedlam by James Blunt
  3. Live At The Gaslight 1962 by Bob Dylan
  4. The Magic Numbers by The Magic Numbers
  5. Our New Orleans by various NOLA artists
  6. Stars Of CCTV by Hard-Fi
  7. Employment by Kaiser Chiefs
  8. Chaos And Creation In The Backyard by Paul McCartney
  9. X&Y by Coldplay
  10. You Could Have It So Much Better by Franz Ferdinand

Notes: Another tough list. There are some albums that are near-misses (My Better Self by Dar Williams and American Jukebox Fables by Ellis Paul, to name two), and some that might’ve made the list had I the chance to pick ’em up (Prairie Wind by Neil Young probably would’ve bumped Franz Ferdinand, but I’ve not yet heard enough of the album to make the call). But I’m happy with this list.

Top Concerts

  1. U2 at MCI Center
  2. Pink Martini at 9:30 Club
  3. Elvis Costello and Emmylou Harris at Wolf Trap
  4. Falcon Ridge Folk Festival at Brennan Farm

Top Musical Event: The on-stage reunion of Pink Floyd at Live 8 – hell froze over and the boys played well, to boot.

MOVIES

  1. The Constant Gardener
  2. Good Night, And Good Luck
  3. King Kong
  4. Wallace and Gromit in ‘The Curse of the Were-Rabbit’
  5. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
  6. Pride And Prejudice
  7. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
  8. March of the Penguins
  9. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  10. Millions
  11. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
  12. North Country
  13. The Producers

Notes: I actually had to refer to a list of movies in 2005 to come up with a ful crop of ten – after which I had a hard time narrowing the list down to ten films. But all of these were quality films, worthy of a view, and all brought back good memories. And there more than ten films here due to last-minute editing.

Best Actors – Lead

  • David Strathairn (in Good Night, and Good Luck)
  • Ralph Feinnes (in The Constant Gardener)
  • Johnny Depp (in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
  • Alex Etel (in Millions)

Best Actresses – Lead

  • Charlize Theron (in North Country)
  • Naomi Watts (in King Kong)
  • Kiera Knightley (in Pride and Prejudice)
  • Rachel Weisz (in The Constant Gardener)

Best Actors – Supporting

  • George Clooney (in Good Night, and Good Luck)
  • Robert Downey, Jr. (in Good Night, and Good Luck)
  • Jack Black (in King Kong)
  • Woody Harrelson (in North Country)
  • Alan Rickman/Warwick Davis (in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Best Actresses – Supporting

  • Patricia Clarkson (in Good Night, and Good Luck)
  • Frances McDormand (in North Country)
  • Diane Keaton (in The Family Stone)
  • Shirley MacLaine (in Rumor Has It)

Best Director: George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck)

Best Cinematography: March Of The Penguins

TELEVISION

Favorite New Shows of 2005

Yes, there are some shows in here that started in 2004 – so sue me! I first watched these shows in ’05.

  • The Colbert Report
  • House
  • Commander in Chief
  • How I Met Your Mother
  • Gray’s Anatomy
  • The Office (US Version)

DESTINATIONS

Places I visited in 2005, in no particular order but memorable, all the same.

  • The Church Mews B&B in Andover, England
  • Bookstores in Hay-On-Wye, Wales
  • Walk along the River Avon in Bath, England
  • Seeing Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in New York City
  • Bicycle riding in and around Hillsdale, New York
  • Winchester Abbey in Winchester, England
  • Tour of Buckingham Palace, Westminster, England
  • Sam & Alexis’ wedding in Leominster, Massachusetts
  • Seeing Butterstick at the National Zoo in Washington, DC
  • Home opening game for the Washington Nationals at RFK Stadium
  • Spring skiing at Stratton, Vermont
  • Powder skiing at Park City Mountain Resort, Utah
  • Getting back on the bike in October
  • Reading the newspaper and walking at Bournemouth Beach, England
  • Trimming the Christmas tree in The Burrow

More to come….