the most beautiful role for a child star: 2ge+her’s Q.T.
What: Michael Cuccione’s performance as Jason “Q.T.” McKnight on the 1999-2001 MTV mockumentary series 2ge+her, spotlighting a prefab boy band. In this clip, impresario Bob Buss introduces Q.T. to his new bandmates. Why: 2ge+her was a perfectly timed show. The audiences for the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync were just starting to become self-aware, gaining […]
the most beautiful magazine feature: Wired’s artifacts from the future
What: Wired magazine’s end-of-book Found page, featuring a heavily Photoshopped photo of an artifact from the future. Here is May 2007’s “Fido Fusion,” clearly the best way to procure a dog. I mean, who wouldn’t want a dorkie? Why: Wired’s editors figured out Photoshop before anyone else. They realized that it could not only make […]
the most beautiful bit of psychedelia: Ralph Steadman’s Alice
What: Illustrator Ralph Steadman’s acid-trippy version of Lewis Carroll’s classics Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, first published in 1967 by Dennis Dobson of London, then alongside The Hunting of the Snark as The Complete Alice in the definitive 1986 Jonathan Cape version. Why: A youthful and enthusiastic commercial illustrator in the […]
the most beautiful football player: Mike Singletary
Who: Mike Singletary, the dominant middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears’ teams from 1981-1992. Here is Singletary’s Pro Football Hall of Fame induction video: Why: I know, I know. I’ve picked a Chicagoan for my baseball and basketball players from the decade I lived there, and you saw me picking a Bear from a mile […]
the most beautiful imaginary supergroup: The Who-tles
What: The long-rumored (since 9:30 this morning), once-in-a-lifetime uniting of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr—the surviving members of The Beatles—and Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey—the surviving original members of The Who—for a whizbang supergroup megaconcert dubbed “The Who-tles.” Or, if you prefer, “The Beat-Whos,” or maybe “The Who-Be’s.” Whatever. Here’s a photo of the New […]
the most beautiful soft drinks: Dr. Brown’s sodas
What: The six main varieties of Dr. Brown’s sodas: cream, black cherry, orange, extra-dry ginger ale, draft-style root beer, and original cel-ray. Why: When you think of 19th-century pharmacists, your mind naturally lights upon Charles Alderton and John Pemberton, who extracted their first prune-flavored Dr Peppers and cocaine-based Coca-Colas in their respective apothecaries in the […]
the most beautiful Christmas song of the decade: Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas (Sometimes)
What: Harvey Danger’s disaffected Christmas song “Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas (Sometimes).” Why: In this entry, I failed to include a single song from the current millennium. (The latest was from 1993. Santa needs to bring me a short-term memory.) I’ll rectify that by talking up a stellar carol by Seattle’s beloved sons, […]
the most beautiful way you can save the world: microfinance
What: Putting a few dollars into a microfinance account to loan capital to a small businessperson (usually a businesswoman) in a poor nation, through a secular organization like Kiva or a religious group like World Relief. This video by the folks at Difted shows how World Relief’s microfinance program works in Earth’s poorest nation, Burundi: […]
the most beautiful Christmas broadcast moment: Linus’s sermon
What: Linus explains the true meaning of Christmas by reading from verses 8 through 14 of the Gospel of Luke in the 1965 Peanuts cartoon A Charlie Brown Christmas. The entirety of the broadcast can be found on ABC's site. Why: What was Christmas like on TV in 1965? You could watch The Bob Hope […]
the most beautiful game show moment: Scott Weiss breaks Jeopardy!
What: The end of the March 16, 2007, episode of the quiz show Jeopardy!, which featured the only nonzero three-way tie in the program’s history. Here is the Final Jeopardy showdown. Why: As it headed to commercial before Final Jeopardy, the March 16 episode looked to be like most others in the four decades since […]