Final Edition

This is the last listing in our year end review. We have already covered a series of things that I think were the best last year. Mostly these have been entertainment related and that continues with this edition.
Best Waste of Time: I wasted a lot of time this year (as in most years), but this year I was able to take it to a whole new level. Without question the best waste of time this year for me was the first six seasons of Scrubs. I had avoided this show for quite some time because of the perceived sexual and off color content. First, my perception if the show initially was based on only a couple of episodes I saw five or six years ago. In the context of the entire series, I think the show does a much better job than I originally gave it credit for. The whole show, as a series, is really, really, well done. It has a unique way of dealing with real issues like grief, loss, faithfulness, marriage, love and just growing into adulthood.

Best Theological Insight: This award goes to my wife while we were travelling to northern Wisconsin. On the road we noticed a car with a bumper sticker that read, "Try Jesus." When I passed this nugget on to Abby, she immideately responded with, "That's dumb. That's like saying 'Try marriage.'"

Best Theological Illustration: Since Bible College, I have been fond of referring to an imaginary list of things least effected by the fall of man. Most people probably know that for me, Coke Slurpees are very near the top of that list. I shared this nugget of joy with a group of college students, and one of them asked, "But how are Slurpees effected?" "What do you mean?" "Well, if they are least effected, that means there is still an effect, so what is the effect?" Before I could get an answer out, another college student without missing a beat says, "Brainfreeze." There you have, brainfreeze is a result of the fall.

Third Edition

We are back with our third edition of my year end review, where I am essentially naming my best and worst (but mostly best) things during the year. We have gone through several sort of shallow topics, but now we will move slowly into more substantial things.

Best Movie of the Year: This is a bit of a tricky category, and I may be forgetting another great movie from earlier in the year, but the best movie of the year for me is Juno. I won't ruin this movie for you, but if you have not seen it yet, find everyone who remotely enjoys your company and take them with- this is that good a film.

Best Book I Read this Year: This is really way too broad a category, and there were about twenty books that could have one this heading, so I have come up with a few more categories:
Christian Ethics- Improvisation by Samuel Wells. Absolutely fantastic.

Theology- I loved Simply Christian by NT Wright and Robert Jenson's Systematic Theology Vol 1, but I just had to go with Will Willimon's Conversations With Barth on Preaching. This book was amazing and radically challenged how I think about preaching, and how I preach.

Fiction- I have already talked about how much I enjoyed Deathly Hollows, and I have said elsewhere how much I liked Gilead, but at the end of the day I am going to go generally with Flannery O'Connor, particularly her short story "The Violent Bear It Away."

Best Chronic Disease I was Diagnosed With: This is a super easy one, lets hear it for Ulcerative Colitis (UC for insiders). Nothing new here, but if you want to learn more about my fun new illness you can check out this site.

Second Edition

We continue our trek through the best and worst of 2007, this time with slightly more difficult categories.

Best Season Finale: This choice was basically between three shows for me- House, The Office and Lost. All three are favorites of mine, and all three were particularly good in their finales. For my money though, only one of them was revolutionary. Only one kept me wondering all summer, "Where will they go from here?" That one was of course Lost. The twist in this episode was one of the best things I have ever seen, and to make matters better, I called it about 12 minutes in. Kudos to Lost.

Best Sequel: In a year filled with sequels, there were three that stood out- Spiderman 3, Ocean's 13 and The Bourne Ultimatum. The best in this category had to be Bourne. Again, all three were good in their own right, but the latest installment of Bourne was flat out awesome. Its also the one sequel that made me wish the series would continue. Both Spiderman and Ocean's were good, but if there are no more of either, that's fine too.

Best Rash Decision: Years ago I read an essay by GK Chesterton entitled "A Defense of Rash Vows" and I have occassionally tried to make rash vows so that I might intentionally keep them. This year's rash act was my favorite of all time (probably, though Andrea Bailey's refusal to buy me Coke is a close second). In a rash move I decide to read all of the Harry Potter books, and I managed to do it in a week. This is a spectacular series of books, particularly when you read them in one shot. The growth in the characters and in the writing are phenomenal, and the seventh installment was superb.

First Edition

What will follow will be a series of bests and worsts from 2007. There may also be a few reviews and rememberances but lets not get ahead of ourselves. We shall begin small:

Best Reinvention of a Board Game

1. First prize here was a no brainer- Uno Attack. While this game was not invented in 2007, this was the first year I ran across it and it was great. I never cared much for the standard Uno game, but this new version is great.

2. This is the board game I was most excited about- Monoply with an Electronic Banker. I was excited because I assumed this new banking system would eliminate confusion, speed the game up, and greatly decrease the chance of cheating. While the new banking system is fun, it really didn't do any of those things, and I think it actually makes it easier to cheat. The novelty of the banking is still pretty cool though, and there is a ton less mess.

Best New Television Series

In this category you should know that I did not watch very many new shows this year at all. The only two new shows I tried, Chuck and Life, I liked quite a bit. Of these two new shows the only one I made sure I watched consistently was Life. The acting on this show was great and I always found the sublots intriguing. I tend to enjoy conspiracy theories, and this show has them by the truckload. Also there is something really consistent about the main character, particularly in a great scene with a kidnapped boy, "You and I, we will never be normal...We will never be like everyone else." NBC has a pretty good collection of these online, so if you haven't seen the show yet, go take a look.