Early last year, I had the enjoyable task of spending several hours in the company of Scarlett Johansson. I held it together. I didn't request a photo together, or an autograph...or even a funny soundbite to use as my voicemail greeting. That being said, if I ever found myself in a room with Bill Watterson, I would probably start shrieking or sob uncontrollably or wrap the man—scared and bewildered—up in a hug so tight that security would forcibly remove me from the premises. I have every last Calvin & Hobbes book. Some date back nearly two decades and were purchased from elementary-school book fairs. I don't read them very often, but I will never dump them in the thrift-store pile. They're precious to me. When someone brings this much laughter into your life, this much delight, you show deference. So I will always keep my books close. Here are five of the things I love about Mr. Watterson's famous strip.

Photos taken by Sean Edgar at Webster Hall

Click above to listen to the new album from blues legend Susan Tedeschi. 

My big combined December birthday/Christmas present from my wife and kids this year was an XBox 360, complete with Live account and games. For two weeks, while the rest of the house slept, I played Fallout 3, saving the residents of a post-apocalyptic Washington D.C. from super mutants, feral ghouls, human slavers and fascist genetic purists posing as American patriots. But since then, Gears of War II has hardly been touched and Bioshock remains unopened in its case. Sadly this isn't due to any new-found willpower or productivity (the Christmas tree is coming down soon, I promise!). Instead, I've discovered that I've been carrying around a fantastic gaming console all along—my iPhone. Sure, some of the free games are mildly entertaining (especially Topple). But the first app that I plopped $5 for, Reign of Kings, has me completely addicted. Here are five great war game iPhone apps for less than a Lincoln:

The Paste staff is slowly trickling back into the office after our holiday trips, and I think I can safely speak for everyone when I say that, if we're not completely happy to be home, then at least we're thrilled to be off the roads for a bit. Not that Atlanta traffic is much better, but hey, better the snarled, congested, crazy-making concrete devil you know, right? In tribute to coming home from the holidays, and in celebration of all the travels 2009 will bring, here are nine great songs about roads. Listen to them all on the last page, and leave your own favorites in the comments.

The musical capital of the world?  It's not even close in my mind.

Glasvegas, who are Glasgow natives (see Camera Obscura, The Twilight Sad, Frightened Rabbit, Lloyd Cole, Teenage Fanclub, Belle and Sebastian, Paolo Nutini, Amy MacDonald, Mogwai, Franz Ferdinand and a host of others who have considerably brightened the musical landscape over the past ten years), have released a very, very fine self-titled debut album.

NME has dubbed them "the best new band in Britain," which is usually a sure sign of the Hype Machine in Overdrive. But this time they could be right. This is a surprisingly bracing combination of Jesus and Mary Chain guitar buzz, Proclaimers vocal bluster (complete with sometimes almost impenetrable Scots brogue), and, incredibly, impossibly, romantic '50s doo-wop. I like it a lot. The subject matter -- aimless violence, ennui, football yobs, endless pints, chasing skirts -- might be the best rock 'n roll portrait of disaffected youth since those early Clash albums. Best of all is the unnerving "Stabbed," in which lead singer James Alan matter-of-factly proclaims, "I'm gonna get stabbed/The Baltic fleeto are up my arse/No cavalry could ever save me" to the accompaniment of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Stunning.

After watching Slumdog Millionaire the other evening (which I enjoyed a good bit, though not as much as seemingly everyone else in the world), I got to thinking about all the great films coming our way in the new year and decided a list was in order. With a little aid from IMDb's coming soon pages, I've selected the five I'm most excited about. Enjoy, complete with trailers where applicable:

Making a list of ten favorite films as the new year comes into view is a time-honored tradition for a film critic, and it lays your taste on the line for posterity and eventual ridicule. I'm told this builds character. But if you've seen hundreds of films in a calendar year, ten slots feels paltry, so in the spirit of the forthcoming awards season I offer my official list of favorite films, a few brief remarks, and then a batch of categories that try to make sense of the pile of remainders.

My ten favorite films that were released theatrically in the U.S. (somewhere) in 2008:

1. Flight of the Red Balloon (Hou-hsiao Hsien)
2. The Secret of the Grain (Abdel Kechiche)
3. Still Life (Jia Zhang-ke)
4. In the City of Sylvia (José Luis Guerín)
5. Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme)
6. The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky)
7. Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt)
8. Heartbeat Detector (Nicolas Klotz)
9. A Christmas Tale (Arnaud Desplechin)
10. Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas)

It was a strong year for small American films (my three favorites are in the list above, and many more show up below), but it was an even stronger year for French movies. Aside from the five French language films in my list, Jacques Rivette and Eric Rohmer released intriguing new films in 2008 along with a number of younger troublemakers who are standing on their shoulders. Throw in the unreleased films by the likes of Claire Denis and Olivier Assayas and you have a Gallic tsunami.