A META LIST OF LISTS

Graphic credit: Long Island Press

The Best Of “Best Of” Lists In 2011: Music, Movies, Memes, Cat Names & More

By Elizabeth C.

TIME TO RESET THE CALENDAR, LOOK BACK for an accounting and look forward with new plans. Happy New Year, folks. Enjoy banging your pots and pans or watching the ball drop or tearing one on, or however you choose to spend the eve of 2012.

Before turning the page, journalists typically spend the last few days of each year compiling lists of their favorite movies, moments, memes, heroes, headlines of the year. Thanks to them, and to the wonder of the Internet, here are the best ”best of” lists compiled in one concise list. And don’t take ‘best’ too seriously: these lists typically reflect one person’s opinion or, for me, what’s most appealing after Google spits up its offerings. Still, these lists are always a great starting point if you’re looking for media to consume: let someone else do the culling. Happy reviewing.

‘TIL DISAGREEMENT DO PART

So Much For The ‘Wicked’ Lying Web: Katy Perry & Russell Brand Are Kaput

By Elizabeth C.

MAYBE SHE SHOULD HAVE STUCK TO KISSING GIRLS: Katy Perry and Russell Brand are divorcing just 14 months after marrying in an over-the-top ceremony inside an Indian tiger reserve.

EDIBLE CHILDHOOD

Chef Grant Achatz Serves Up ‘Childhood’ Whimsy At ‘Next’

By Bob Bounce

CHEF GRANT ACHATZ HAS TAKEN TO COMPLETELY CHANGING HIS MENU every three months at his restaurant, Next. The first three months took diners to Paris, 1906; the second to the streets of Thailand; and now, simply, into ‘childhood.’

Editor’s note: Bob Bounce spent the holidays at what “those-in-the-know are calling one of the country’s best new restaurants. With just a few weeks left before its current flight of fancy will be gone forever, we take you there, course by course, of course. Don’t bother calling; the restaurant is unable to take any more reservations for its current menu.

OUR HERO

Happy Birthday To Us, Mary Tyler Moore

By Elizabeth C.

MORE THAN THREE DECADES AFTER SHE ENDED HER EPONYMOUS TELEVISION SHOW, MARY TYLER MOORE still is remembered most fondly as “Mary Richards,” news producer of WJM-News in Minneapolis.

Moore celebrated her 75th birthday December 29th, and that was enough reason for fans (including me) to hark back to her critically-acclaimed comedy about a single career woman making a life for herself in the city.

THE FUTURE MRS. JORDAN

Yvette Prieto: Fierce

By Elizabeth C.

YVETTE PRIETO MUST BE ONE FIERCE BITCH BEAUTY TO SNARE ONE OF THE best playas of all time, and I’m not just talking about b-ball.

The Cuban model with the megawatt smile became engaged to the Chicago Bulls legend over the weekend, according to WCNC in Charlotte. The two were reportedly celebrating their engagement on a yacht in the French Riviera but a spokesperson denied that claim.

MIRRORING SUFFERING

The Upside Of Poverty: Compassion

By Elizabeth C.

THERE’S AN UPSIDE TO POVERTY: BEING POOR INCREASES YOUR COMPASSION, according to researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

In three experiments carried out with college students, researchers found that students whose families reported the lowest incomes consistently tested for higher levels of compassion.

GOSSIP TO GO GO

Love Celebrity Style: Is Ashton Trying To Hurt Demi? Katy Kicks Russell To The Curb & Steve Tyler Gifts Engagement Rock

By Elizabeth C.

IS ASHTON KUTCHER TRYING TO HURT DEMI?

The Hollywood pretty boy — emphasis on the developmentally-arrested “boy” — has been making a point of being photographed with various women, none of whom have the apparent beauty or grace of his soon-to-be-ex-wife.

OCCUPY LIFE

Whack Wednesday: Beyonce’s On Baby Watch, Kanye Looks Eastward & Rachel Uchitel Drops News

By Miz J

HOLD THE BEDAZZLED iPHONES, FOLKS. Beyonce is said to be delivering her babyonce any second now, in NYC’s St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital.

Yep, the same one where Alicia Keys popped out baby Egypt last year with ill-gotten hubby Swizz Beats. It’s going down, people, so place your bets: will the baby diva’s first wailing tantrum go double or triple platinum?

R.I.P.

Cheetah, Tarzan’s Chimp Sidekick, Dies At 80

By Elizabeth C.

CHEETAH, THE IRONICALLY NAMED CHIMP WHO CO-STARRED WITH Johnny Weissmuller in Tarzan movies, has passed on to that great jungle in the sky.

The 80-year-old chimpanzee suffered kidney failure and died last Saturday at the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor, Fla. He had lived there since 1960 — 20 years past life expectancy for chimps in captivity. He had been conveniently “discovered” as a newborn by an animal trainer on a trip to Africa in April 1932, according to the Daily Mail.

ABOUT FACE

Sinead O’Connor Pulls A Kardashian: Dumps Hubby After 16 Days Of Marriage

By Elizabeth C.

AFTER SEVEN HOURS AND 16 DAYS, SINEAD O’CONNOR’S TAKEN HER LOVE AWAY. The tempetuous Irish songtress has tossed aside her fourth husband Barry Herridge after marrying in a pink Cadillac in a Las Vegas drive-through chapel on Dec. 8. She says she’s doing it for love.

“I had for reasons u will all understand, wished to keep this private but have been told today it is to be leaked in the next few days despite my best efforts,” O’Connor wrote on her blog yesterday. “So I must now leak it myself so as the record is straight.”