2007, we hardly knew ye...

working christmas week and relaxing the week after kept me off the computer for a bit, so the year-in-review post i was planning is coming out now. hey, if the NCAA can have its title game on jan 7, then you can get my best-of column on the 8th.

here, in no particular order, are my best-of's for 2007. not that every one of them were new in 2007, but they were new to me, which as you are now well aware is all that matters in this space...

• best album- "the virgins '07", the virgins: as recently as early december i'd have put the art in manila disc in this space, but i found this EP on itunes after catching one track on XM radio, and fell in love instantly. hoping that maybe they'll play a live show locally in '08.
• best book- "better", atul gawande: the author is a surgeon and frequent contributor to the new yorker. his book is a collection of essays on how the medical profession strives to better itself and humanity in the process. great even for non-medicos.
• best blog- the comics curmudgeon: and you thought i'd say this one, right? the curmudgeon is way better than this sorry old rag. it's hilarious, well written, and updated daily for your reading pleasure. if you're a fan of newspaper comics, you'll love this site.
• best new toy- the recent acquisition of the wii makes this a little tough, but i've got to go with the acoustic guitar i picked up in august. just as interactive, and works outside too.
• most prescient use of background music: fox's BCS selection show. i stand corrected.
• best movie- i went to one movie in 2007. i watched maybe 2 more on TV. so i have no authority to even have this as a category. but since everyone needs a best movie, i pick "superbad", since if i had seen it, it would probably be my favorite.
• best joke: a grasshopper walks into a bar. bartender says, "hey, you know we got a drink named after you?" grasshopper says, "oh yeah? you got a drink named fred?" not really fair, because that's my favorite joke every year.