Herewith, suggestions for Best of Categories for 2010 (and don’t be shy; this is interactive, so please join in the fun):

Best Cement Company

Best Bus Driver

Best Time to Fire Benny Moss

Best Azalea Bush

Best Pizza Topping

Best Traffic Light

Best Roadkill

Tackiest Seasonal Yard Display

Best Foreclosure

Best Philanthropy Disguised as Tax Shelter

Best Radio Blowhard

Best Weekend to Trash Masonboro Island

Best Yoga/Pilates/Tai Chi Instructor

Best Traffic Jam

Best Parking Ticket

Best Led Zep Cover Band

TV Channel With Most Commercials

Best OTH News Item

Best Spanish Moss

Most Annoying Pre-Recorded Phone Message

The ONLY Contractor to Return a Phone Call

Best Fire

Best 401k (if any still exist)

Most Ridiculous Unedited Letter to the Editor

Best Unkept Campaign Promise

Best Unnecessary Housing Development

Best Cemetery

Best Battleship

Best Place to Buy Cornstarch

Best Place to Witness a Fight Involving a Marine

Best Guess for ILM’s Next Destination

Last week I had a spaghetti jones and decided to revisit Giorgio’s after a long layoff. We had not been there in probably a year and a half. Bad news: It’s gone decidedly downhill. While the portions are still huge, the food has gone from good to just passable. Service used to be suitably attentive yet not distracting. Last week we had an arrogant, surly waitress who got my wife’s order wrong, then blamed it on her. She had an attitude that fluctuated between disingenuous and insolent. Then she disappeared. Literally. After receiving the bill, we could find her no more. Even when we went up to the hostess stand to pay, she was MIA, and we never saw her again. She was tipped appropriately.

Giorgio’s wasn’t that great to begin with, but it served a purpose. Now it’s just another Monkey Junction restaurant I will ignore (along with the many chains that are all the rage in Monkey Junction and Mayfaire).

Another note: Giorgio’s was once popular. I remember waiting at the bar to be seated at a fully booked dining room. Last week the place was maybe half full. Sign of the economic times or a sign of a restaurant in serious decline?

I welcome opposing opinions from any Giorgio’s regulars out there, or opinions that might support my review.

The day didn’t start so well. As opening act Chatham County Line played its harmonizing neo-bluegrass, the crowd baked in the sun while hordes stood in line for beer and water. In their infinite wisdom organizers had just two kegs dispensing Miller Light and Newkie Brown Ale ($4 a pop). Our group waited at least 40 minutes for its first taste of suds. That’s the bad news. The good news is that once we got up there, were able to walk away with 14 beers (2 each). That sated us until Tift hit the stage, and the crowd’s mood improved palpably.

Chatham County Line, a quartet out of Raleigh, clearly take pleasure in creating American folk music with a modern edge and include guitars, a banjo, pedal steel, dobro, fiddle, mandolin, harmonica, and bass. All four band members, rather curiously, crowded around one microphone, as if they couldn’t afford another, and each was nattily dressed for the occasion, like Mormons on bicycle missions.

Still, the original music is crowd pleasing and easy on the ears. Lead Singer Dave Wilson praised event host The Penguin (106.7 FM) for its alternative mix of tunes while so many other stations feature loops of “Boston’s first album.” Truer words were never spoken.

As the thirsty crowd waited for Tift to hit the stage, organizers somehow found some cold cans of Miller Lite (another event sponsor), and mercifully opened another line for beer.

Unlike many concerts, this one was at least on time. Chatham County Line hit the stage at 4pm, as promised, and Tift walked on at 5:30, just as the sun was dipping behind tall pines to the west of the stage. Initially, there seemed to be some technical difficulties with her microphone because her vocals, the band’s biggest asset, were drowned out by the music. Once that was ironed out, her pipes took over and she engaged the crowd between songs in self-effacing and humorous banter.

This is most likely the only concert I’ve been to where pre-schoolers lined the front of the stage. There were at least a dozen, and they were surprisingly well behaved. After one song, Tift reached for a beer and apologized to all the parents for drinking in front of their kids.

Musical highlights included “Stray Paper,” “Good-Hearted Man,” and several songs off her new album, Another Country. During one tune, the crowd heard an audible pop, and Tift stopped playing her well-worn guitar long enough to say, “Something broke.” But just as quickly the disciplined band started where they left off, and no one was worse for the wear.

Chalk it up to growing pains at a new venue for music.

Lest you think my love of beer overshadowed an otherwise pleasant evening, I obviously wasn’t alone. Beau Gunn, the afternoon DJ at The Penguin, saw fit to email ticket holders the day after the show, and it included this mea culpa:

“As we’re sure you noticed, the concessions area was quite an issue. Being the first large concert there, it is safe to say that the city nor The Penguin was prepared in that department…For that we apologize. On the bright side, the few kinks we did experience will easily be avoided at the next concerts we host. For example, we will have a beer truck solely dedicated to serving you the fastest and coldest beer possible. We will have separate coolers for the sole purpose of vending H20. That will leave the concessions area free to serve food and non-alcoholic beverages only.”

“Are you someone who uses the same purse all the time or are you always switching them out?” This is followed by “Describe your favorite purse” and “How did you decide what to wear on Leno and Letterman?”

Tift, Tift — you deserve better than this. Exclamation Point!

Can anyone recommend a good general practitioner with a reliable staff? Short of that, can anyone recommend a place to get a vasectomy — cheap? I keed, I keed.