Choosing the best stories that ran on The Black Table in 2003 was an impossible task, so to make matters easier, we made special sections for our regular features in order to highlight other isolated moments in time. This is our comprehensive -- and okay, gratuitious -- look back on the things we published this year. Thanks for supporting The Black Table and wasting your valuable time with our content. Since there's no lifeguard on duty, we ask that you swim through the pool of crap at your own risk.

Put on your swimmies.

--E

THE BEST OF THE BLACK TABLE
Over the last 12 months, The Black Table has published 365 stories -- one for each day -- and here are our 10 favorites. Individual stories that were great, yet overlooked, or popular stories that deserve to be recognized.

THE WEEK IN CRAIG ARCHIVE.
Since our third week, we've been recapping the weekly goings-on in the world of Craiglist, using the popular message board-cum-classifieds site as fodder for cultural commentary from Amy Blair and, initially, Lindsay Robertson.

HOW TO DO IDIOTIC THINGS.
The Black Table's burning desire to find out how things work has led to a series of "how to" columns. In these, we've learned how to make a blender into a lamp, create a trucker hat from crap and also make pruno, a nasty prison wine.

ROCKS AND ASSORTED HARD PLACES.
In his series of Rock and a Hard place interviews, A.J. Daulerio tortures other reporters with impossible lines of questioning. The results are both hilarious and revealing, as media folks drop their guard just enough to let us sucker punch them.

THESE TEN SONGS WILL MAKE YOU...
Go crazy, get horny or drink beer. Molly Simms dives into her vast music collection to bring you a regular run of 10 songs that suit certain occasions, like weddings or, well, getting it on.

THE LADIES LOVE TO TALK.
We worship at the alter of female persepective, daring women to discuss unladylike topics like hard alcohol, death and boobs. And once we stop giggling like little kids, we'll tell you what great insights we've learned over the last 12 months.

THE YEAR, RUN DOWN.
Every week, Aileen Gallagher looks back at the news that was and tells you what you should have read about. In the process, she also tells you how you should feel, but hey, that's the good old liberal media bias at work.

THE LIFE AS A LOSER EXPERIENCE.
For four years, give or take, Will Leitch has chronicled his hellish existence on Earth in the Life As A Loser column. Here you can find all of the columns he's done, some of which can be found in a book published on Arriviste Press.

SIX DOZEN BEERS REVIEWED.
With so many beers on the market, deciding what to drink is rapidly becoming a problem. The Black Table lab opened its doors to review the best and worst of lagers, ales and nasty malt beverages, while getting incredibly drunk in the process.

THE BIG LIST OF BLACK LISTS.
Over the summer of 2003, The Black Table launched a new initiative, asking readers to submit little reviews of damn near everything. Once a week, they dissected the banal and skewered the stupid, doling grades out to all things high and low.

THE BLACK TABLE PICTURE ARCHIVE.
Just in case you *really* wanted more.