Best of

What a peculiar year. I didn't read as many novels as I usually do. I didn't purchase as much music as I usually do. I travelled a bit, but not as much as I would have liked. I went to a few art openings. I saw a few films, but overall, 2007 was a pretty mellow year.

So here's my roundup for the year.

Best Live Shows - Trentemoller at Neumo's, Seattle - Its hard to put into words the electric energy of this show. Just an all around great night and a Monday to boot.
Booka Shade at Mezzanine, San Francisco - My only wish for this show was that it was about 2 hours longer, but seriously, these guys proved why they are international superstars.

Best Movies
INLAND EMPIRE - Once again, David Lynch blew my mind. He creates moody works that are inexplicable and demand viewing. Therefore, I won't try to explain it.
No Country for Old Men - The most accomplished work of the Coens. Still behind The Big Lebowski in terms of all-time favorites, but a nearly perfect film. During Tommy Lee Jones' final monologue, all of the events of the film shifted in my head and all of a sudden, I was thinking about the existential dilemma. Whoa. Heavy.
Eastern Promises - It took me a long time to see it, but it was well worth the wait. A heavy, dark film that still holds that crunchy, organic Cronenberg feel. Plus, a super-hot bath house fight scene featuring a nude Viggo Mortensen.
Zodiac - This movie haunted me. I can still picture the close-up of the college student's face as the Zodiac killer forces her onto her stomach and then stabs her. More mature than all of Fincher's previous work. I really liked how the investigator's obsession became the focal point of the final third of the film.

Best Books
I didn't read any. I did listen to American Fascists, God is Not Great, The God Delusion, and No Country for Old Men. I started The Prestige (probably in 2006) and I've only got a couple pages left. Maybe I'll get around to it. What else . . . oh, I read the Buffy comic. God I suck.

And Best Music -
The best mix this year has to go to Sean Wolcott for his DJ Set 2. There are so many killer tracks on there and so many kitschy tracks on there. Everyone who came over to my house had to listen to Male Stripper and Ultimate Warlord.
I don't think I bought any albums, really, just tracks.

Man, an odd year indeed.