A new list for a New Year

Typically, new-year In/Out lists are compiled prior to and published on Jan. 1, in either a brave attempt at savant-like pop culture prescience or a pathetic desire to coddle readers. Well, not this one. I’ve been cautiously dipping my toe into 2009′s sleek, shimmering pool for the past few weeks (it’s a touch surface), testing its already violent waters as to give you the most belated forecast possible. What I’ve seen may encourage or horrify you, it may be strikingly accurate or wildly off the mark; regardless, come December, I will be childishly claiming I told you so.

Because In/Out is played out and Hot/Not reminds me of a self-esteem-annihilating Internet experience I once had, I’d like to invoke Andre 3000 here (not on the list, but he’s due for a comeback) and remind everyone what’s cooler than being cool. That’s right: Ice Cold. (For the record, though, not everything in the Cool column is genuinely cool. O.J. Simpson, for instance.)

I only wish the endangered species of print media lent themselves more generously to the third dimension (3-D); not only because it would exponentially increase their chances of surviving the (relatively) new year, but also because the following items would then leap off the page and fly straight into your eager eyeballs: