As 2007 slowly sputters towards an unsatisfying SPLUT sound, it would seem that today would be the last chance to fondly reminisce on the year past. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve born witness to Kelly, Nate and Chris competing for the Sod Blog Hipster Doofus of the Year Award with their Top 10 music lists (although one of them put his list on the Bismarck Tribune and not on this blog, so I’m thinking he’s probably going to be disqualified for that technicality). I wanted to get in on the running for the award myself, but I didn’t even purchase ten albums this year, and one of the few that I did was a Foo Fighters album, so suffice it to say, nobody’s talking to me anymore.

So in lieu of a carefully organized ranking of the year’s greatest achievements in music/film/TV/literature/any other artistic medium, here’s a half-assed listing I threw together in twenty minutes of ten things in 2007 that I thought were good. Presented in no particular order, no less.

The Simpsons Movie

I’m not exactly what you’d call impartial. As I speak, I’m surrounded by roughly thirty Simpsons action figures in what’s supposed to be my professional area. Of those thirty toys, roughly 90% of them make noise if you press their buttons. But few things were quite as much fun as seeing the midnight showing of The Simpsons Movie and walking out of the theater not feeling like my borderline-obsessive nerdiness had been taken advantage of. That’s at least more than I can say for Spider-man.

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Into The Wild Soundtrack

If you can’t see why an entire album of Eddie Vedder playing the ukulele wouldn’t qualify as the greatest singular artistic creation of all time, then suffice it to say that I just don’t understand how your brain works.

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Then We Came to the End – Joshua Ferris

Because after a full day of mind-numbing tediousness working at an advertising agency, being able to write a book that’s all about the mind-numbing tediousness of working at an advertising agency but still made me rush home each night to read it qualifies as some kind of low-level miracle.

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Guitar Hero III for the Wii

If for no other reason, it gives my neighbors hours of entertainment watching me jumping up and down on my sofa with my plastic guitar. Because I’m a rock star, by God.

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30 Rock

This slot could’ve just as easily gone to The Office, but I’m starting to find myself looking forward to seeing 30 Rock each week just a bit more. How can you go wrong with stuff like this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlnxFrYy5Mw[/youtube]

ANSWER: You can’t.

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In Rainbows – Radiohead

When Radiohead decided to make their new album available for download to anyone who wanted it at any price they chose to pay, I imagine part of the strategy was depending on their fanbase to be so grateful to the band for their years of artistic excellence that they would feel obligated to pay something for it. Fortunately for me, I was able to look past all that to see the beauty of finally getting something for nothing. But just to quiet the nagging nibbles of guilt at my soul, I’m putting In Rainbows on my year-end list. Now would you please let me sleep at night, Thom Yorke night terrors?

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Bonzai

I’m just saying my cat’s better than yours in every possible way. That’s all I’m saying.

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David Letterman interviewing Paris Hilton

I maintain that the only way this interview could have been any better is if Dave had finished it by leaning over and uppercutting her right out her seat. Oh, well. There’s always next time.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koH0sDec2-k[/youtube]

Remind me again, why is Paris Hilton still famous?

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Futurama – Bender’s Big Score

Despite your best attempts to deprive me of my Futurama goodness with your overwhelming levels of apathy, I regret to inform you that you were unable to keep Futurama dead, America. Now if only it was being aired weekly again instead of being straight-to-DVD. How FOX manages to continue airing American Dad each week in Futurama’s place and not have their offices burned to the ground by bloodthirsty mobs of angry nerds I will never understand.

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And last but most definitely not least…

Me

Because I’m awesome, that’s why.