// Category Archive for: Staff Picks

Top Five Holiday Tunes: By Laura L.

Published on December 12th, 2009 in: Holidays, Listicles, Music, Staff Picks, Top Five Lists |

1. “Last Christmas,” Wham!

Yes, it’s full of ’80s cheesiness, but that’s what makes it so great. You can just picture George Michael and Andrew Ridgely performing this song in sweaters that would make even Bill Cosby blush.
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Top Ten Holiday Tunes: By Christian Lipski

Published on December 11th, 2009 in: Holidays, Listicles, Music, Staff Picks, Top Ten Lists |

To me, “Christmas Song” means a song that is about the holiday. I’m not sure what crazed goon chose “My Favorite Things” to include on the Christmas radio station, but I can’t abide by it. That also excludes songs from Christmas specials that are not about the holiday. Like “We’re A Couple Of Misfits” from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer—it’s not about the holiday. Your interpretation may vary, and that’s good.
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Top Five Alternative Holiday Songs

Published on November 29th, 2009 in: Holidays, Issues, Listicles, Music, Staff Picks, Top Five Lists |

By Lisa Anderson

Carols are an inevitable part of the holiday season. Most of us have carols, whether sacred or secular, that we love, and others that we hate. It’s not unusual to end up sick of all of them by the end of the season, either—especially for someone who works in retail. I’ve decided to make a list of five of my favorite contemporary holiday songs. They all take a fresher and more realistic view of the season, as well as not being so overplayed that they barely register.
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Top Five Female Television Characters

Published on November 29th, 2009 in: Feminism, Issues, Staff Picks, Top Five Lists, TV |

By Noreen Sobczyk

emma peel

1. Diana Rigg as Emma Peel in The Avengers, 1965 – 1968

When I was younger I wanted to be Emma Peel. Who am I kidding? I still want to be Emma Peel. She has a killer ’60s wardrobe, and for my money is the best dressed female character in television history. She’s intelligent, self assured, sharp, and sexy; a woman who can take care of herself, often rescuing her male partner John Steed. Using her wits as well as her martial arts skills, she solves crimes and fights villains, a great feminist character. (Earlier and later seasons of The Avengers held no interest for me as they did not feature Emma Peel.)
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Top Five Vampire Songs

Published on September 29th, 2009 in: Halloween, Horror, Issues, Listicles, Music, Staff Picks, Top Five Lists |

By Lisa Anderson

As Halloween approaches, we start hearing certain seasonal songs like “Monster Mash” and “Spooky”; we may also dust off our copies of albums by supernaturally-themed acts like Rob Zombie. However, I would like to share my list of the top five vampire songs that aren’t really about vampires.

Some of these are from my vamp-loving early adolescence, but they all taught me that a song can be about more than one thing. They may be heard at any time of year, but scratch the surface, and they still remind me of everyone’s favorite children of the night. (The last one? Is just for fun.)
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