Things That Happened in 2007 that did't suck (Happy New Year!):

Now that you're all hung over, kind of bleary eyed from a night of New Years festivities, crawling over to your computer to get your bearings on life via your favorite blog ever, here it is: the world in a nutshell, as it relates to me but first as it doesn't relate to me (the me stuff is the fun stuff at the end). Get your coffees--or for the more hard core out there, bloody marys--and wake up! Maybe after reading this you'll be inspired to come up with some better new years resolutions, but seriously, you should still work on on your Spanish, nobody knows what the hell you're talking about when you say "bwenoz noch'as."

It was a year characterized by republicans coming to terms with "global climate change"; first elections of female politicians into office (Nancy Pelosi, Pratibha Patil, Cristina Kirchner); young killers (rip); athletic doping scandals (Barry Bonds, Marion Jones, Martina Hinges); and Harry Potter (first time a woman has been the most successful writer of all time). There were also other, less earth shattering things to happen in 2007:

Aquateen Hunger Force movie ads freaked out Bostonians cracked out on terror, mistaking LED mooninites for Improvised Explosive Devices.





Pat Robertson made false prophecies (it must have been the voices in his head)



We found out that, holy crap, Jimmy Page has white hair! (London, Dec 10, 2007)















The Writers Guild Of America went on strike, who's implications are best summarized in this xkcd strip.










And lastly, I may have overlooked one of the best albums of the year, but I might just feel that way because I am just now getting into it. Iron & Wine's 'The Shepherd's Dog' initially went under my radar because his previous music reminded me too much of the Garden State snuggle scene, but when I heard there was a full backing band I gave it a shot, and wow, I'm really glad I did. It makes me think of what Jack Johnson might sound like if I didn't hate Jack Johnson, going to Café Montmartre in Madison, and. . . the snuggle scene from Garden State.

Iron & Wine - The Boy With The Coin

Lastly (or firstly), from the only CD I've bought in Japan so far, is Auld Lang Syne. You may have heard it as a mambo, you may have heard Jimmy Hendrix play it on electric, but chances are you've never heard it sung by cats. Oh Yes.

Jingle Cats - Auld Lang Syne