#8 The Hives - My New Favorite Band.

I suspected that the Swedes were up to something when I first heard Refused and The (International) Noise Conspiracy. The Hives and their Nordic brethren at Burning Heart Records are kicking some serious ass. The Hives play peppy punk that owes as much to Jerry Lee Lewis as the Sex Pistols. Add an eensy-weensy dash of counter-culture propaganda and a healthy dose mod swagger and you've got one of the most exciting bands to come around in a long while. It's about time that someone came along and shut-up all the overwrought Vedder/Staley acolytes that dominate alt-rock radio.

Keep an eye on MTV2 for reruns of The Hives’ energetic 2$ Bill show. Also, be sure to check out the band's early e.p. aka I-D-I-O-T

#7 The Happiness of the Katakuris - A slight departure from shock director Takashi Miike.

Audiences have come to expect the unexpected from the prolific Miike (he cranks out 4 or 5 movies a year). Audition terrorized audiences with a grotesque torture scene. Ichi the Killer spattered bodily fluids in new, sadistic ways. The Happiness of the Katakuris trumps his other films by taking a new lighthearted direction. There's stop motion animation, a handful of musical numbers (one with onscreen karaoke text) in this odd take on The Trouble With Harry. Did I mention the uvula eating angel and the dancing sumo zombie? Miike is a mad, unpredictable genius with an endless imagination and Happiness of the Katakuris is perhaps my favorite of his films because of its sinister dose of unexpected positivity.

# 6 Terminal Beach - A collection of short stories by J.G. Ballard.

This slim book from the author of Crash and Empire of the Sun features twelve excellent sci-fi shorts. Like much of the great genre writing of the '60s, the tales are smart, cynical and have an existential bent. The Drowned Giant elegantly details the dismantling of a oversized human corpse that washes ashore, slyly critiquing mankind's tendancy to debase the fantastic. In Deep End, mankind abandons a used up Earth for space, while a die-hard local mourns the senseless death of the planets last fish. In the lushly painted story The Illuminated Man, something goes wrong with time causing light to crystalize on everything it touches. Many of the characters in Terminal Beach face oblivion, outwardly wrestling end-times the way we do only in our subconscious. The edition I read may be out of print, but the aforementioned stories are available in the newly published Complete Short Stories of J.G. Ballard.

#5 Minority Report — I'm as surprised as you are.

It's not hard to nit-pick this sci-fi thriller to pieces. I found myself doing so on several occasions during the screening—which is a big no-no in my book. Still, there's enough action, sci-fi fun and stylistic flourishes piled a atop Phillip K. Dick’s clever premise to forgive Spielberg's last minute urge to topple his house of cards with his signature teary-eyed pathos and hero-rewarding closure. No, really, I liked it.

#4 Donuts —My favorite desert.

These delicious pastries have a long, glorious and often fictional past. While today Krispy Kreme is all the rage, I tend to lean toward local donut brands. The luxurious chocolate frosted at Du-par's in the Farmers Market make a great desert after a stuffing my self on gumbo or barbecue. My convenience donut comes from Daily Donuts which is apparently a haunt of Leo DiCaprio and his many stalkers.

Unsubstantiated Los Angeles folklore attributes the absence of Dunkin Donuts and the hundreds of Asian owned donut shops in our town to a triad conspiracy.

#3 Mr. Show — The funniest TV show of the last decade.

Bob Odenkirk and David Cross were wise enough let their brilliant Mr. Show end on a high note, voluntarily cancelling the show at the height of its popularity. Those who haven't seen this brilliant sketch show now have several opportunities to catch up with the cool kids. The first two seasons are now available on snazzy, new DVD. Those lucky enough to live in the right towns, should seriously consider seeing their touring live show. The live tapings of the episodes were a hoot, much more fun than your typical studio audience experience. Based on their track record, this tour promises to be excellent.

The title of the touring show, Hooray For America was orignally the title of a Mr. Show sketch film. They wound up shooting Run Ronnie Run instead, based on a Cops parody from the first episode. Sadly, New Line has been sitting on the film for ages. The new super-cut is supposed to much improved over the version I saw over a year ago. But never you mind all that. Seek Mr. Show. Bask in the warm glow of comedy goodness.

#2 Astroboy—Created by the god of manga, Osamu Tezuka.

Astro is a boy robot built with seven amazing powers, including the ability to shoot bullets out of his butt. The manga, originally published in the '50s, are now being reprinted by Dark Horse. Tezuka’s work masterfully weaves sci-fi morality tales and fan-serving genre action (giant robot battles galore) with lively, assured cartooning in the spirit of Carl Barks. The premier of Astroboy on American television in 1964 was our nation’s first taste of anime. Last year’s Metropolis, a full-length animated feature directed by Rintaro, was based on one of Tezuka’s stories. New or old, Tezuka’s work all bears a sense of fun, intelligence and melancholy that are timeless.

#1 Plugs—Blatant self promotion never hurt anybody.

Intelligent video game players should habitually haunt Robot Street Gang where I and several other overeducated, joystick-clutching nerds try to raise the bar on video game commentary.

This site is supposed to thrive on positivity, so I won't try beating into your head how much radio sucks. Just go listen to Dublab and hear what real music selectas do.

I'm not sure if Poopculture is all that interesting to anyone, but I write it, so it must be good and must be plugged.