Nightlife

The sake bar moto-i topped both the Best New Restaurants and Best New Bars/Clubs lists. Photo by Tom Wallace. Best new restaurants

1. moto-i
   "Food portions are smaller, but they're for snacking, plus there are plentiful vegetarian options." --ALEXISM
2. Strip Club
   "For those who are more mindful meat eaters, rest assured that their meat comes from local farms and is of high quality." --MINDGRAPES
3. Barrio
   "Try these two small plates: the red chile enchilada with chorizo and fried egg, along with the scallop ceviche ... topped off with a Macho Camacho margarita." --TROUT2
4. The Bulldog Lowertown
5. Nick and Eddie
6. Black Sheep Coal Fired Pizza
7. Punch Pizza - St. Paul
8. Cafe Agri
9. Porter & Frye
10. Restaurant Max

Best new bars/clubs

1. moto-i
2. Prohibition
3. Barrio
4. w xyz at aloft
5. Acadia Cafe
6. Chatterbox Pub - Linden Hills
7. The Living Room
8. The Bulldog Lowertown
9. Seven Sushi
10. Strip Club Meat & Fish

Music

Best albums

1. TV on the Radio,"Dear Science"
2. Bon Iver, "For Emma, Forever Ago"
3. MGMT, "Oracular Spectacular"
4. Girl Talk, "Feed the Animals"
5. The Hold Steady, "Stay Positive"
6. The Black Keys, "Attack & Release"
7. Fleet Foxes, "Fleet Foxes"
8. Sigur Ros, "Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust"
9. Doomtree, "Doomtree"
10. Mates of State, "Re-Arrange Us"

Atmosphere, left, performed at the Take Back Labor Day festival (photo by Tony Nelson) and Haley Bonar (photo by Tom Wallace). Best local cds

1. Atmosphere, "When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold"
2. Doomtree, "Doomtree"
3. Haley Bonar, "Big Star"
4. Jeremy Messersmith, "The Silver City"
5. Bon Iver, "For Emma, Forever Ago"
6. Cloud Cult, "Feel Good Ghosts"
7. El Guante, "Conscious Is Not Enough"
8. Vampire Hands, "Me and You Cherry Red"
9. One for the Team, "Build It Up"
10. Tapes 'N Tapes, "Walk It Off"

Songs of the year

1. "Skinny Love," Bon Iver
2. "Valerie Plame," the Decemberists
3. "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You," Black Kids
4. "Paper Planes," M.I.A.
5. "Ready for the Floor," Hot Chip
6. "That's Not My Name," the Ting Tings
7. "Womanizer," Britney Spears
8. "Shut Up and Let Me Go," the Ting Tings
9. "Mykonos," Fleet Foxes
10. "L.E.S. Artistes," Santogold

Breakthrough artists of 2008

1. Bon Iver
2. Fleet Foxes
3. MGMT
4. Ra Ra Riot
5. Adele
6. Santogold
7. Vampire Weekend
8. The Ting Tings
9. Now, Now Every Children
10. She & Him

Best concerts

• "Allow me to be the first to gush openly about how much I enjoyed Bon Iver this year. I enjoyed him at Rock the Garden but probably even more so in one of his first performances of 2008 at the Turf Club." --SOPHEAVA
• "The Roots did a three-hour-plus set with tons of good old and new stuff but also did some amazing covers of James Brown, Dylan & others. Great energy, amazing show." --MSPJD
• "Ike Reillyat First Ave on Thanksgiving Eve. Little Man and Alarmists were fantastically fun and Ike brought it home with some serious sing alongs and soul." --JENLANE22
• "Hands-down, the Obama fundraiser Eight Is Enoughat the Turf Club back in late August. Also Why? at the Entry were unbelievable. " --BACKALLY
• "New Kids on the Block were pretty righteous. They had, dare I say, the right stuff, in spades." --CITYGAL

Movies

Heath Ledger, left, in "The Dark Knight" and Robert Downey Jr. in "Iron Man." Best movies

1. "The Dark Knight"
2. "Iron Man"
3. "Burn After Reading"
4. "Slumdog Millionaire"
5. "In Bruges"
6. "Wall•E"
7. "Forgetting Sarah Marshall"
8. "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
9. "Pineapple Express"
10. "Milk"

Worst movies

1. "The Love Guru"
2. "You Don't Mess With the Zohan"
3. "Sex and the City"
4. "Semi-Pro"
5. "The Happening"
6. "Meet the Spartans"
7. "Mad Money"
8. "Pineapple Express"
9. "Twilight"
10. "Rambo IV"

Fashion

Worst fashion trends of 2008

• "My first nomination for worst is the super-skinny, so-tight-you-can-barely-sit-down jean. Please let this one go. Glad tights are back, though." --SOPHEAVA
• "Three words: gold lamé leggings." --ALEXISM
• "Are Affliction douchebag shirts 2008? I have seen quite a few around town." --ALPHABEAN
• "Plaid dresses. Hate them! Also hate open-toed booties. However, I love dresses with belts, and brightly colored heels." --JENNA2759
• "Plug earrings are boo ass nasty. You ever smelled that shit? Seriously, it's like a squirrel died in a thumb sized hole in an earlobe. And thank god that ridiculously long pointy-toed shoe thing is over." --CITYGAL
• "Shutter shades. All things Kanye-related work my nerves lately. And Crocs are only appropriate when gardening." --CURSENBLESS
• "Okay, so no skinnies, no plugs, no leggings, no heels, no booties, no printed tees. What the hell do you people wear, suits and dresses? All y'all are squares." --SWAGGABOOM

Miscellaneous

Barack Obama Biggest headlines of 2008

1. President[-elect] Obama
2. Gas prices
3. Stock market meltdown
4. Crappy economy
5. Iraq war
6. Olympics
7. Large Hardron Collider
8. Myanmar cyclone
9. Somali pirates
10. Election 2008

Best tv shows of 2008

1. "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"
2. "30 Rock"
3. "The Office"
4. "Family Guy"
5. "Mad Men"
6. "The Daily Show"
7. "Dexter"
8. "The Colbert Report"
9. "Fringe"
10. "Pushing Daisies"

Top art events

1. Art-A-Whirl
2. Uptown Art Fair
3. State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition
4. St. Paul Art Crawl
5. "Toys on Roids" at Soo Visual Arts
6. Richard Prince at Walker Art Center
7. Eero Saarinen at Walker Art Center and MIA
8. No Coast Craft-o-Rama
9. Art Shanty Projects
10. Tetsumi Kudo at Walker Art Center

Best video games

1. "Mario Kart Wii"
2. "Grand Theft Auto IV"
3. "Guitar Hero III"
4. "Metal Gear Solid 4"
5. "Fallout 3"
6. "Rock Band 2"
7. "Guitar Hero World Tour"
8. "Mass Effect"
9. "Left 4 Dead"
10. "Little Big Planet"

Tina Fey and Amy Pohler on "SNL" Most annoying celebrities of 2008

1. Sarah Palin
2. Tom Cruise & co.
3. Anyone from "The Hills"
4. Miley Cyrus
5. Any celeb who thinks I give a crap about who they supported for president
6. Kanye West
7. The Hogans
8. Elizabeth Hasselbeck
9. Rosie O'Donnell
10. Rachael Ray

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