*Before I get to my annual top ten list, a few show announcements are in order. First, MOPPIN’ SAUCE will make its first appearance of the year at Fat Daddy’s in Watertown on Saturday, January 6.

Second, if you can’t/don’t want to get into the city this weekend for the big SOL DOG show at Hogs & Heifers Saturday night, the band is going to be playing New Year’s Eve at Classic Rock Brew Pub. That’s the club that’s just off the tarmac of Danbury Airport, on Wibling Road — follow the road the runs between Bed, Bath & Beyond and Fairground Liquors; you can’t miss it. Other local offerings for New Year’s Eve this year include THE ZOO at Tuxedo Junction in Danbury, OFF THE HOOK will be at Carl Anthony’s in Monroe, an all-ages MAX CREEK show will be performed at The Webster Theatre in Hartford, JACK MACK AND THE HEART ATTACK at Foxwoods Casino Cinedrome, Ledyard, and DEBBIE DAVIS BAND, BILL PERRY BLUES BAND, ROB CARLSON, AND VON EM at Towne Crier Café, Pawling, N.Y. Whatever you do and wherever you go — I know I sound like a PSA here, but it’s true — please celebrate responsibly.

*Without further ado and in no particular order, here are my choices for “Looking Back At 2000: The Best & Worst Things”:

Actually falling on last New Year’s Eve, COKIE ROBERTS’ live report, “A-Z, What We Love About Italy,” during abc-NEWS’ around-the-clock coverage of each time zone welcoming the new year. The abc-NEWS reporter’s work was humorous and educational — the best kind of education there is!

In April, Newtown artist ROBERT COTTINGHAM was honored with a one-man show at Forum Gallery in New York City.  For six weeks the gallery presented a collection of the American Realist painter’s newest works in an exhibit entitled “Robert Cottingham’s Still-Lifes.”

In May, MARTHA STEWART unveiled to the world on her television program Martha Stewart Living where to read the best coverage of the antiques, arts and auction worlds: Antiques and Arts Weekly, the sister paper of The Newtown Bee. Hear that sound? That’s me, tooting the Bee horn! We had a Martha Stewart crew spend a day in Newtown (just a crew, no Martha… although her voice sure showed up on the overdub of the interview piece!) and our segment debuted on Memorial Day Monday.

In September, a papier maché cow sculpture named MADAME BOVINITY made her public debut on the steps of Edmond Town Hall. Her anonymous creators, who refer to themselves only as Newtown Artists on the Moo-ve, created their work of art as a take-off on the popular New York City event Cows on Parade. Newtown’s lone sculpture was a life-size creation that was pink, sported a ballet tutu, wore an earring in one ear, had her own cup of Starbucks coffee and a copy of The Newtown Bee at all times.

At the movies: Shaft and Return To Me. And most recently, Best in Show, a hilarious mockumentary that looked at the lives and dogs of those who are involved with dog shows.

On the book shelves: Melissa Banks’ first release, The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing. While this book was originally published in 1999, its paperback sister came out this year and won the hearts and reading minds of millions, not just women. Far from The Rules, which many women took to heart as a new way to fish in their Mr Right, Banks’ first novel was just that: a novel. The book was called a collection by some, with chapter titles like “The Floating House” and “The Worst Thing A Suburban Girl Could Imagine,” and could have been read as an anthology, but a cover-to-cover reading was the best approach to this enjoyable novel.

Will & Grace and their three new friends named Emmy.

JULIANNA MARGULIES’ final appearance on ER was terrific, even if pressure from some of the media made NBC-TV feel like it had to burst its own bubble somewhat. George Clooney apparently did not want to let the cat out of the bag — in fact in interviews published after the episode aired he said he wanted the spotlight entirely on his former co-star, and not him — and even with a glimpse of what was probably coming up in the last-minute commercials leading in to Margulies’ farewell episode, I still cried when Nurse Carol Hathaway ran across the lawn of the Seattle home of Dr Doug Ross, back into the arms of her scruffy and handsome, stubble-faced true love.

Also good television: Ed and Malcolm in the Middle.

In October, Sandy Hook artist LIZ FAY was honored with the inclusion of her 38 by 63-inch oval hooked rug in A Celebration of Hand-Hooked Rugs X. Mrs Fay had been selected for the work she did in creating “Chelsea’s Rug,” a design based on a number of drawing by her daughter Chelsea while she was still in kindergarten. A full-color photo of Mrs Fay’s gorgeous rug appeared in A Celebration of Hand-Hooked Rugs, the only international magazine devoted to the art of hand-hooked rug making.

About a month later came word that Newtown resident and quilt maker MADELINE BAJRACHARYA was among 50 quilt artists to be named a finalist for International Quilt Festival’s “Millennium Quilt Contest: A Quilt for the Year 2000.” Mrs Bajracharya’s work, a large-scale piece called “Timepiece,” was selected from among hundreds of pieces that were submitted by quilt artists around the world and presented on public display during the 26th International Quilt Festival, presented at Brown Convention Center in Houston, Tex., November 2-5.

And finally, a white Christmas 2000!

On the negative side, just four things (because we still like to think there are more good things in this world than bad): Connecticut resident (and a personal favorite) and actor OLIVER PLATT was featured in a clunker of a series, NBC’s Deadline. Don’t recall that one? It’s been cancelled already.

At the movies: Hanging Up — terribly bad! It’s a shame this one will be remembered as Walter Matthau’s final work) — and Boiler Room — What, was Ben Affleck too busy to show up for filming for more than one day? The storyline was lousy and the film a disappointment to begin with, but the advertisements touted this spring flick as another Affleck feature, when one of Hollywood’s current golden boys appeared in less than a handful of scenes, in only two different settings. Hence my feeling that Affleck was on the lot for this one — which will no doubt not be a highlight of his résumé — for about a day.

Really fitting the name Boob Tube: Television’s new love for so-called “reality” shows (I call them boring!) including Survivor, its black sheep cousin Big Brother, and that other frightening one, Who Wants To Marry A Millionaire? To give Darva Conger some points, though (Miss Conger was the “winning” bride on that last show), she recently admitted that while she has lost a lot of her privacy since taking part in the FOX-TV stunt, she did donate the SUV she won to one charity and quite a bit of money related to her appearances elsewhere to other good causes.

Another unfortunate event of this past year was the nonsensical theft of MADAME BOVINITY, the pink sculpture cow that had been created by a group of Newtown artists simply for the enjoyment of Newtown and area residents. After spending a long weekend in front of Edmond Town Hall, the sculpture was picked up by its creators and taken home for a few days of light repairs before re-appearing, this time on a bench along Queen Street. Sadly, the creation disappeared less than 24 hours after that second appearance — even though it was chained to the bench it was set up on — and hasn’t been seen since.

Here’s hoping that in 2001, artists will feel a little more comfortable creating what they see in their mind and if the public doesn’t like what it sees… it just stops looking at it. It doesn’t have to ruin the fun for the rest of us.

Until next year, I’ll be seeing you... on the road.