Well, it's the end of the year, and what could be more cliché than a bunch of retrospective top 10 lists?

Top Ten Referrers of 2006: the beautiful people who make me want to keep blogging

10) plep: I've said it before and I'll say it again, plep is a plepthera of pleppity plepplippity pleppitude! No, I have no idea what that means either.
9) MetaFilter: mostly due to the exemplary blogging courtesy of Astro Zombie (AKA Max Sparber) who, unlike a couple of other MeFi users who routinely lift links from me, gives credit where credit is due.
8) Tie: blowupdoll and The Presurfer: two sites that seldom link to my posts, but still give me lots of blogroll hits. Hey, I'm a slut, so I'll take whatever I can get.
7) Coudal Partners: when not using his Ouija board to discuss favorite typefaces with the ghost of Stanley Kubrick, Jim frequently links to my junk.
6) The Cartoonist: when not digging around in boxes, keeping a watch for attacks by frogs from outer space, or polishing Basil's skullcap, Ralf links to my junk too.
5) Retrolounge: not technically a blog, but a terrific repository of retro linkage, that includes several of my image galleries.
4) Bubblegumfink: da 'fink been berry, berry good to me.
3) PCL: when not swilling Glögg, listening to Thor, and ogling old skin mags over at Percy Trout's space-age bachelor pad, Sebastian gives me lots of swell props.
2) Myself: my old website, to be precise. After almost 10 months here in the new digs, there are still sites that haven't updated their blogrolls. Kinda makes you wonder if they ever bother to actually click on the links they put in there.
1) bOINGbOING: was there any doubt that the 800-lb gorilla of weblogs would be at the top of this list? Thanks, Mark!

Top Ten EotG Posts of 2006: a list of the most-frequently viewed posts of 2006:

10) Totally Unispherical: a gallery of postcards from the 1964 World's Fair.
9) Eurodisco Alert!: I originally posted this in 2005, but for some strange reason, it's still getting a metric buttload of hits. Must be a lot of Dschengis Khan fans out there.
8) The Mystery of Easter Island: a gallery of old illustrations and photographs from the December, 1921 issue of National Geographic.
7) Bali Does Moscow in '66: a gallery of hand-colored postcards from the former Soviet Union.
6) The Triumph of Man: a souvenir vinyl record from the Travelers Insurance pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair.
5) Mr. Cuke and the Cocktail Club Manifesto: a virtual cocktail of top-shelf retro-imagery for your inner drunk.
4) ¡Soy Cuba!: revolutionary sequences from the 1964 film, I Am Cuba.
3) Home Tiki Bars Galore!: some of my favorite domestic watering holes.
2) Live at the Whisky: grainy photographs of punk bands I took back in 1977.
1) Fat Drunk Hookers Make Lousy Mai Tais: I like to pretend this is popular because of my great LA travelogue and cool scans of old Hawaiian postcards, but in reality, it's just a bunch of Google hits from horny guys looking for tubby, inebriated prostitutes.

My Favorite Posts of 2006:stuff I liked, but didn't seem to set the rest of the blogosphere on fire

10) Kirk and Batman Go Greek: a clip of William Shatner and Adam West overacting egregiously in a failed television pilot about Alexander the Great.
9) Arkiva Tropika Fantastika!: Mimi Payne's incredible collection of tropical restaurant ephemera is a (mostly) undiscovered online treasure.
8) Darby Crashes His E-meter: X-8's hilariously snotty interview with the late Darby Crash, lead singer of L.A. punk pioneers, The Germs.
7) Unlikely American Idols: my left-handed tribute to teen-idol wannabe, Arch Hall Jr.
6) Shriner Mini Cars: teensy automobiles and big red fezzes...what's not to love?
5) Zombies At the World's Fair: a fascinating bit of cocktail trivia; look for it in Beachbum Berry's next book.
4) Moai Kava Kava: an amazing online collection of primitive Oceanic and African art.
3) The Sitzpinkel Rule: Der Spiegel magazine's somewhat questionable online guide to German culture (original link redirects here).
2) Motel Americana: an exploration of classic roadside architecture.
1) A Message From Comrade Bali Hai: the Tiki Revolution will not be Buffetized.

Happy '007, everyone!

Posted by MrBaliHai at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

This Wired article, The Ultimate Blog Post, popped up briefly today on MetaFilter before being yanked by the moderators as a duplicate. It was new to me, however, and I thought it was a pretty spot-on satire of what makes big blogs like BoingBoing, MetaFilter, Kottke, and Daily Kos go 'round, but it was entirely lacking when it came to us B-tier bloggers. I also think "Ultimate" was a poor choice of words..."Quintessential" is a far more accurate adjective.

I aim to rectify both of those faults right now, so without further ado, here's my stab at the Top 10 Quintessential Blog Posts for 10 of my favorite blogs (not necessarily listed in order of popularity):

10) PCL: Will You Hear the Strange Atomic Pin-up Girls Comic Book Flexi-Disc Sharity Featuring Thor and Sven Assmussen on Theremin?...You'll! But not on Space Patrol!

9) The Nonist: Yesterday I read an extraordinary book describing the chaotic social hierarchy of surrealist font designers, then I photoshopped humorous captions on Frieda Kahlo paintings. I've combined both to create this collection of wacky e-cards suitable to send to the daughters of your Mexican friends for their Quinceañera celebrations.

8) Gravity Lens: This Popular Science article explores the sexual physics of a Klingon/Vorlon/Time Lord ménage à trois. The Anti-God of the Month is Madalyn Murray O'Hair.

7) The Cartoonist: Basil says, I used to be the president of the Brussels branch of the Raumpatrouille Fan Club, but I was kidnapped by aliens who harvested my organs and left only my bones behind. Now I work for S.H.A.D.O. as Commander Straker's coat rack.

6) Groovy Age of Horror: Dig the groovy cover-art of these Italian fumetti about nude vampire night nurses who prey exclusively on right-wing religious conservatives!

5) mod*mom: Scientists report that a strict visual regimen of Italian designer furniture and French childrens book illustrations cure cancer!

4) Coudal Partners: We've finally managed to trap the ghost of Stanley Kubrick inside a professional-grade DVD jewelbox, and he'll now be on permanent exhibit in the MoOM. jc-today

3) Bubblegumfink: The Mystery Machine and a car carrying Donny Osmond, Evel Knievel, and the Banana Splits broke down outside my house today, and they all came in to use my phone. I was making Count Chocula crepes with butterscotch Space Food Stick sauce at the time, so everyone stayed for breakfast and we watched Escape From the Planet of the Apes together.

2) Humu Kon Tiki: Today, Disney World opened their new ride, Tiki Bar Jamboree, which whisks you along in a fully-stocked Mai-Tai Mobile through exact replicas of long-lost Polynesian Pop temples like The Kahiki, The Luau of Beverly Hills, and Don the Beachcomber as you're serenaded by animatronic Don Ho and Gabby Pahinui replicas. Watch out for the undead waitstaff at Oakland's Zombie Village though, they'll try to stick a bendy straw into your head and suck your brains out!

1) Eye of the Goof: First of all, I'd like to thank all of the weblogs on the Internet for linking to me simultaneously. Now let me tell you about my first-class, all-expense-paid trip to Rapa Nui...

Posted by MrBaliHai at 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)

Last Sunday, I embarked upon an epic train and tube journey from Reading to Hainault to visit The Cartoonist and his wife, Renate. After being shown the various crime-fighting tools and mysterious alien artifacts that fill every nook and cranny of The Cartoonist's secret lair, I was introduced to the one and only Basil. He has a bone-crushing grip, y'know.

Afterwards, we hopped into the Cartoonistmobile and drove out into the countryside for a lovely Sunday roast at a pub called The Rabbit.

Posted by MrBaliHai at 5:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)