Top 10's for 2011

Should anyone care, here is a list of my top things in 2011.

Movies (in order)
1. Melancholia
2. Incendies
3. Contagion
4. Moneyball
5. Bridesmaids
6. The Interrupters
7. Terri
8. Weekend
8. The Skin I Live In
10. Sleeping Beauty

Album releases (in order)
1. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
2. Phantogram - Nightlife
3. Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
4. Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Pt 2
5. TV On The Radio - 9 Types of Light
6.Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones
7.EMA - Past Lives Martyred Saints
8.Lana Del Ray - Born To Die
9. The Weekend - House Of Balloons
10.tUnE-yArDs - Whokill
11. Wildflag - Wildflag

Books
1. The Leftovers - Tom Perrotta
2. Give Me Your Heart: Tales of Mystery and Suspense - Joyce Carol Oates
3. A Widows Story - Joyce Carol Oates
4. A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness - Nassir Ghaemi
5. Colonel Roosevelt - Edmund Morris
6. It Looked Different On The Model - Laurie Notaro
7. No Bullshit Social Media - Jason Falls
8. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs
9. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? - Mindy Kaling
10. A Game of Thrones: A Song of Fire and Ice Volume One - George R. R. Martin

Television (what I watched this year, not necessarily debuted this year)
1. Game of Thrones - Season 1 AMAZING show. Books are good also.
2. Boardwalk Empire - Seasons 1 & 2 Makes me want to go back in time to visit the era of Prohibition in NJ
3. The White Stripes - Under Great White Northern Lights. Yeah, I'm down for just about anything related to Jack White.
4. Downton Abbey - PBS Just another reason to support your public television provider
5. Homeland - Season 1 Love me some Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin and homeland security
6. American Horror Story - Season 1 A one-hour spookfest each week. Count me in!
7. Prime Suspect - Season 1 (and only, as this phenomenally-written, acted and produced show has been cancelled)
8. Appropriate Adult - BBC...Great two-hour made-for-television movie featuring starring Emily Watson and Dominic West

Places to run outside
1. Tower Grove Park
2. Forest Park
3. Holly Hills neighborhood
4. The Hill
5. Castlewood
6. Queeny Park

Places to road bike
1. Weekend mornings downtown STL
2. Big Bend
3. Forest Park
4. Riverfront Trail
5. Castlewood (MTB)
6. Carondelet/Holly Hills trail
7. River Des Peres
8. Grant's Trail

Breakfast/brunch
1. Nadoz, Galleria - yummy crepes
2. Crepery - delicious crepes
3. Olivette Diner - tiny diner, big on taste
4. Soulard Coffee House - tasty fare, great Chai
5. Picasso's - best Chai in St. Louis
6. Meshuggah's - Chai, toast
7. Cafe Ventana - steeped Chai tea, begneits
8. 3 Monkeys - brunch
9. Grand diner - hashbrowns
10. Original Pancake House, Chesterfield - yup. Pancakes.

Lunch
1. Central Cafe - cheapest, most authentic Middle Eastern fare in St. Louis. Try the lentil soup, lebnah or shishtawook.
2. Little Saigon - try the Bo Luc Lac with vermicelli noodles
3. Llewelns - chips are the best.
4. Mangia - super tasty buffet
5. Tortillaria - super tasty and quick Mexican fare
6. Flavor of India (Olive & 270) - best buffet in town
7. Kampai Sushi - best in STL for lunch


Dinner
1. Bridge - best damn service, food and beer selection in STL. I dare you to beat it. Their cheese selection alone should make you bow to them.
2. Kampai Sushi - best damn sushi in STL. This hidden gem in the Coronado in the CWE is for serious sushi lovers. Vegas Roll.
3. Al Waha - Afgan food to die for.
4. Meskerem - Ethiopian deliciousness.
5. Deweys Pizza - cleanest pizza in town. By clean, I mean just the right amount of sauce, cheese, seasoning and toppings. Perfection on a pie.
6. Yummies - soul food with soul.
7. Bocci Bar - new and tasty
8. Vino Nadoz - best food/wine pairing in my book
9. DeMun Oyster Bar - Oysters. Yeah!
10. Sydney Street - an old, tried & true favorite

Music Venue
1. Off Broadway - non-smoking, get-close-to-the-band kinda goodness.
2. Old Rockhouse - non-smoking, two-story optional venue with amazing sound system and laid-back atmosphere
3. Firebird - good bands come here.
4. The Pageant - for those national shows.
5. Way Out - dirty, familiar, loud
6. Lemmons - small, dirty, loud
7. Sheldon Concert Hall - great national acts, classic
8. Cranky Yellow (RIP)

Concerts
1. Colin Hay
2. We Were Promised Jetpacks
3. Cults
4. TV On The Radio (and everyone else at LouFest)
5. Matt & Kim
6. Lucinda Williams/Over The Rhine
7. Mates Of State
8. Pains of Being Pure At Heart
9. Cold Cave
10. Ted Leo
11. Sebadoh
12. Ravonettes
13. New York Dolls/Motley Crue