Well, out with the old and in with the new! But before we put 2008 to rest completely, here are some my favorite pop culture things for the year. (Please note that some of these songs and albums were released in 2007, but gained popularity and my attention in 2008.) I’d love it if you wanted to share any of your favorite things of 2008.

Favorite TV Shows:
1) How I Met Your Mother
2) Gossip Girl
3) Pushing Daises (RIP)
4) Mad Men
5) One Tree Hill
6) So You Think You Can Dance
7) Lost
8) Prison Break
9) Tina Fey as Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live

Favorite Movies:
1) Australia
2) 27 Dresses
3) Get Smart
4) Forgetting Sarah Marshall


Favorite Songs:
1) Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) – Beyonce
2) So What – Pink
3) Pieces – The Bridges
4) Crazy – Jem
5) American Boy – Estelle and Kanye West
6) Damaged – Danity Kane
7) Delayed Devotion – Duffy
8) Love on the Rocks – Sara Bareilles
9) Chasing Pavements – Adele
10) Womanizer – Britney Spears
11) Shine – Anna Nalick
12) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend – Miranda Lambert
13) Single – New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo
14) Breathe – Taylor Swift and Colbie Caillat
15) I’m Yours – Jason Mraz
16) Love Don’t Live Here Anymore – Lady Antebelleum
17) Almost Lover – A Fine Frenzy
18) In The Ayer – Flo Rida and will.i.am
19) Feel This – Bethany Joy Galeotti and Enation
20) Burnin’ Up – Jonas Brothers
21) Speed Feels Better – Michael Tolcher
22) Leavin’ – Jesse McCartney
23) Real Good Thing – Marc Broussard
24) Paralyzer – Finger Eleven
25) Life In A Northern Town - Little Big Town, Sugarland and Jake Owen

Favorite Concerts:
1) New Kids on the Block
2) Sara Bareilles and Marc Broussard
3) Michael Tolcher
4) Marc Broussard
5) The Bridges
6) Lady Antebellum and Taylor Swift

Favorite Albums:
1) Little Voice – Sara Bareilles
2) Legally Blonde: The Musical – Original Broadway Cast
3) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend – Miranda Lambert
4) Rockferry - Duffy
5) Carnival Ride – Carrie Underwood
6) Limits of the Sky – The Bridges

Here's to a great 2009!
- Amy

- John Mayer

I cannot believe I forgot to include Knocked Up on my movie list and Mad Men and Friday Night Lights on my TV list.

That's it. For now...

Amy

-- Matt Wertz

I couldn't let 2007 slip away without posting an Awesome in 2007 list. Here are a few of my favorite things in music, TV, film, etc. over the past year. I'm sure I'll leave some stuff out, but I'll add to it later as needed. Please hit me in the comments with your own personal Awesome in 2007 lists, too. I'd love to know what y'all loved this year. (Oh, and I make no excuses for anything on here, we all like what we like and I'm sure you'll laugh at some, but what else is new, right?)

In no particular order...

Television:
1) RIP Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars. Both ended their runs in 2007 and I miss them a ton.
2) How I Met Your Mother. This is hands down the funniest and best show that you aren't watching. If you think the sitcom is dead, you ain't watching HIMYM. Put it at the top of your Netflix queue right now. Thank me later (after you've watched "Slapbet").
3) Chuck. Chuck is such a fun little mix of comedy, drama and spies.
4) Gossip Girl. XOXO, Kristen Bell rocks even in voice over narraration. And this is the new OC. A guilty pleasure at its finest.
5) Desperate Housewives is really good again. Who would have thought?
6) Grey's Anatomy will always be a favorite.
7) Dirty, Sexy, Money. Bad title, great show.
8) Pushing Daises. To think, I almost resisted this charmer. What a shame it would have been to miss out on such a fun confection.
9) Ugly Betty. Amanda singing "Milkshake" backed by an organ at Wilhemenia's wedding? And the Emmy goes to...

Live Music:
1) Keith Urban. Hands down, Keith is probably the best performer I've ever seen.
2) The Bangles. Seeing them was an awesome trip back to the 80s and guess what? They were freaking awesome.
3) Matt Wertz and Dave Barnes. Killed it, they just killed it.
4) Colbie Caillat. She's such a newbie and I loved that she just did her thing with no frills. She sounds exactly like the record and with Pro Tools, that's nearly impossible these days.
5) The Bridges. Coming soon to a CD player near you.

Newly Discovered Music:
1) The Bridges. They opened for the Bangles and I am hooked. Tight harmonies, interesting lyrics and a unique sound have me anxiously awaiting their first record.
2) Matt Wertz. This kid is awesome. I love his voice and he's just fun. Plain and simple.
3) Josh Kelley. So I wasn't on the "Amazing" bandwagon, but wow am I a fan now.
4) Amy Winehouse. There's no denying the power of her voice and her ability to write catchy, bluesy, 1960s era tunes.

Favorite CDs:
1) Introducing Joss Stone, Joss Stone. Love it.
2) My December, Kelly Clarkson. The girl went out on a limb and this particular fan loved every note of it.
3) It Won't Be Soon Before Long, Maroon 5. No need to wait so long between records next time guys.
4) Coco, Colbie Caillat. If you think you know all about Colbie just by "Bubbly" you so don't. The girl is amazing.
5) Everything In Between, Matt Wertz. Ain't nothing wrong with some feel good music.

Movies:
1) The Bourne Ultimatium. Matt Damon = awesome.
2) Enchanted. Patrick Dempsey as a modern day prince? Sign me up. And Amy Adams is awesome. For any of you girls that grew up loving Disney musicals/cartoons, see this one - you'll love it.
3) Becoming Jane. A tearjerker, but a great movie.
4) Transformers. Yes, I'm a chick and I really liked it.

I'm sure I've left out a ton of stuff. And I'll post again as I think about it. Now it is your turn. Comment away!

-- REM

But the thing is, I don’t really feel fine. I love pop culture. The term “pop culture” encompasses a variety of things to me – television, music, movies, books, magazines, trivia, gossip, etc. I read Pink is the New Blog and laugh out loud, I’ll read the cover of US Weekly in line at the grocery store, I’ll watch E! on a lazy Sunday afternoon and I’ll read every page of my Entertainment Weekly. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

All of the sudden while pausing on E! recently I just felt nauseous. I had an overall feeling of doom and dread and hopelessness as I saw yet another Paris Hilton interview. Who IS this girl? An insanely rich heiress that is famous for just being an insanely rich heiress. This is a girl that regularly grabs headlines on CNN.com, y’all. And why? CNN recently ran a bit on their home page about a Britney Spears video that is online where she belches “like a man.” When did this become news? It’s one thing to seek out that kind of information on Eonline.com, but on CNN??

I guess we’ve always been fascinated with celebrities. We’ve created some and torn some down. That will never change. What is concerning to me is the mixing of entertainment and news. There are plenty of stations that proudly call themselves infotainment and that is fine. But seriously, Britney belching like a man on CNN? COME ON.

I went to the Vulcan recently. As we weaved through the exhibit we discussed the video clips of a young Birmingham: images of factory workers, politicians, church leaders, buildings going up, buildings being razed, etc. And my question is, what will the 90’s and 00’s look like to a generation 50 years from now? What will the history reel look like? Would we be proud of ourselves or would we cringe? Are they going to focus on what wars the world was involved in or will they focus on advances in medicine, etc. Will they make us look bad by saying how we all edified the likes of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. 50 years from now will some kid researching the past for a term paper think that our news was soft? Stupid? Entertaining? Will he be able to tell what was news from what was opinion and fluff? Will he know that there was a world before blogs? I wonder about these things.

And in case you’re wondering – yes, I did totally freak out at the top of the Vulcan and refused to walk around. Instead I kept my back pressed up against the side of the elevator both hands gripping the rail and elevator. Sad you say? Sure, but I wasn’t the only one. Sorry Miles. =)

And I’ve been doing just fine
Gotta gotta be down because I want it all
-- The Killers

Hi. I’ve been catching hella heat for not updating this blog. I know. I ran into a huge bout of writer’s block recently. Or better yet, maybe it was a bout of extreme boredom, as my life is the fodder for this site. Anyway, I also started to think about what I was going to say and who all was reading it and I just froze. I have literally laid awake trying to think of a good topic to rant on and nothing. But all that is (hopefully) over. I’m just going to say whatever on here and much like throwing a fistful of cooked spaghetti up against the wall to test for doneness, something is bound to stick.

So SNL – I never really watch it anymore because it’s spectacularly uneven and not that funny anymore. I give it a shot every now and then for the season opener, a guest host that I love or a band I have to see. I tivoed it last night and again, it was uneven, but there were a few golden moments – like the sorely underused Maya Rudolph as Whitney Houston with Andy in the Geico commercial. Seriously – the Gieco agency folks are awesome. I love their new spots and really wish I had of wrote them. The Little Richard one is FABULOUS. And it’s huge to be parodied so quickly on SNL. Other fave moment was Darrell as Bill Clinton and Maya as Condi – classic. With Studio 60 and 30 Rock, SNL is under more pressure than ever – hope they make it.

According to Jason Mraz, "pink is the color for fall" and I obliged by breaking down a mere 2 weeks after Apple announced their second generation nanos and bought a pretty pink one. I love it. I am so a gadget freak. Oh well. I am who I am.

Speaking of fall – on with it already. Enough with this teasing of one night of 50 degrees and the next I’m sweating like a frat boy in hell week. One more lyric to close, "Time for a cool change."

Looking for yourself out there?
--Train

I’ll admit it – I watch American Idol. So what? I mean, I didn’t get into it for the past few seasons but I somehow got reeled in this time. Ok sure it's most likely because Ace is just so damn pretty. And that’s ok. Because if you are reading this, the one sure thing you probably know about me is my obsession with music. So why wouldn’t I watch? I don’t think of Idol as the end of civilization as we know it, there are plenty of other reality shows out there that should have that title bestowed on them.

So the kids (I use this term loosely, as some of them this year are pushing 30) had the entire 21st century of songs to chose from. I know it’s only a few short years into the 21st century, but come on, surely this wasn’t the best they could do. For the record, last night, I liked Taylor and Paris. But I’m a Mandisa supporter all the way, just didn’t get into the praise song. I guess we’ll see.

So I have a friend that would like to spend her days touring with Sting as a percussionist. I’d like to just be a back up singer. Even on Idol it seems like it would be a plum gig. Well suited for someone like me that doesn’t necessarily like the whole 8 to 5 business. The Chiffons, Shirelles, Supremes, I could have been one of them. Another time, another place.

dabbs

my foolish notion
-- George Michael

I ran across George Michael's "Behind the Music" on VH1 yesterday. My, I used to love him when I was a kid. It all started with WHAM! and the whole "Wake me up before you go-go" phenomenon, then my adoration blossomed when he went solo with Faith and by the time “Freedom 90” came out I was all about George. Faith came out when I was 9. That video put George on the path to becoming one of my very first celebrity crushes. I was all about that video with that jacket, those jeans, that jukebox, mirrored shades, 5 o’clock shadow and guitar. Good memories. He said in the interview that he was very insecure during the “Faith” run. He said he would have felt better if someone had of told him that he was a good looking guy. Hello? I’m pretty sure those sold out arenas full of women screaming for you should have told you that you looked pretty good. Every time they showed the “Faith” era clips part of me screamed in my head, “Are you sure you’re gay? Really, really sure? Come on, George!” But then, it just took a camera pan to good ole George today for me to say, “Yeah, he’s gay.” And a revisit to the WHAM days videos… Hey, I was a kid, I didn’t know. I can love the memories, can’t I?

But can they keep it?
Oh no they can't
-- Maroon 5

I'm a good secret keeper. I have grown tremendously in this respect since high school. I can probably say that I shaped up my talent because I'm sure along the way, someone reveled secrets about me. And like they say, once bitten twice shy. And once you know what it's like, how can you do it to someone else? Anyway, I thought it'd be fun to talk about guilty pleasures. So don't worry -- I'm not going to post any of your secrets on here, ha ha! =)

Most folks have guilty pleasures. As in, things that they love and/or are obsessed with that they wouldn't want everyone to know. My favorite example is a pal of mine that was totally obsessed with Tough Enough on MTV. That cracks me up. And I know lots of you have always loved N Sync and/or the Backstreet Boys.

And I can't knock it, because unfortunately, some of you know that I was obsessed with 98 Degrees. I still love Nick Lachey. Bless his heart -- doesn't he look miserable on his MTV show a lot of the time? So just for the hell of it, enjoy reading some of my guilty pleasures and please feel free to return the favor by posting yours in the comments section!

MTV -- I'm a sucker for anything on MTV. I'm 26, and by gosh, I still want my MTV!

The OC -- the smartest, funniest night time soap I've ever seen. Love, love, LOVE it.

98 Degrees -- Trackmasters, Motown, do you wanna get down? Can't help it, love Nick and Jeff. And plus, believe it or not, they can actually sing and have a cool Motown vibe. (Maybe that's because they were on the Motown label).

Red Kitchen appliances -- so this one is not one I would or should hide. But it's become a recent freakish obsession. I must have a red blender...

Ok kids, your turn!!

Amy

(From "Control" by Janet Jackson)

In honor of last Sunday's Super Bowl snafu, I've been listening to Janet's Design of a Decade. I really don't have anything to say, other than there was no way it was an accident. "Wardrobe Malfunction" my ass! Can we say publicity seekers?

But is anyone really surprised considering this was an MTV production? Maybe someone from CBS should have taken a look at last year's VMAs to see what they were in for. The finger pointing and blaming is childish, for sure. Hello, lawsuits and FCA investigation!

Happy Friday, y'all!

Amy

I keep on changing my mind!

There, that's a lyric that is neither 80s, nor hip hop! ha ha! I told you I'd think of something. That is from "Hole in my pocket" by Sheryl Crow.

Now, I have absolutely nothing else to say other than the next American Idol will be none other than Ruben Studdard representin' the magic city! Go Ruuuuuben!

Say what you want about reality shows and American Idol, but at least it gives us an option to watch something other than war coverage. Don't get me wrong, the news is super important, and if I knew someone over there, I'd be watching 24x7. But I think it's healthy to take a break and enjoy something like Idol.

I'm obsessed! but what else is new, right?? I always pick something to obsess, stress, fret over and it just happens to be Ruben on Idol! =)

Amy