Wednesday, December 20, 2006

03459

2006...the year of youtube and chuck norris...

...i offer my humble top 5 lists for 2006 in books, music, and movies. you know, the important stuff =)

...as one who claims integration as a high value it pains me to make the following confession: i've had to split the books lists into two groups, what i will call "required" and "non-required" reading...thre are two reasons for this: 1) i read too many books to have just one top 5 list and 2) as much as i like to integrate everything that i read there really are two categories...while all the books i've read, i believe, relate to life and ministry, some speak more directly to the later and therefore deserve their own list. so, here it goes

top 5 in "required" reading for 2006
1) The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne (i know, big surprise here...i've said perhaps more than i should have about this book in this space, but for the sake of this list i need to say "thank you shane for giving us permission to be idealists and 'holy fools'")
2) The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch (what Claiborne's book has been to our "staff" discussion the last few months, this book was during the first half of the year...while not a blueprint for what we are doing here in durango, no other book has shaped my/our philosophy of ministry like this one)
3) Deliberate Simplicity by Dave Browning (hopefully he won't fire me for putting his book 3rd...ha ha...this is the blueprint)
4) Soul Cravings by Erwin McManus (at CTK we are about 3 things: worship, small groups, and service...mcmanus says there are three "cravings" of the soul that everyone needs satisfied to be fully human...they are meaning (worship), intimacy (small groups), and destiny (service)...fascinating)
5) Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven But Nobody Wants To Die: Or the Eschatology of Bluegrass by David Crowder and Mike Hogan (this makes the list, closely beating out The Myth of a Chrstian Nation, because of the section of the book called "columns"...i am a sucker for magical realism)

top 5 in "non-required" reading for 2006
1) The Tender Bar by JR Moehringer (best memoir i've read since Angela's Ashes)
2) Fantasyland: A Season on Baseball's Lunatic Fringe by Sam Walker (this book follow the travails of a baseball season through the lens of one of the most prestigious fantasy leagues in the country...he absolutely nails the highs and lows of fantasy baseball)
3) What is the What by Dave Eggers (i really expected this book to just rip away at the US for what it's done, or not done, for the Sudan crisis, but i have to say it wasn't like that at all...nonetheless it is a hard book to read, and i don't know what's harder to read: the atrocities of the civil war/refugee experience, or the inhumanity of the robbery of the main character's atlanta apartment and everything that follows from that)
4) Tempting Faith by David Kuo (a tale of how the political machine can grind down even the best intentioned people)
5) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (ok, i know this didn't come out this year, but i read it this year for the first time and i loved it)

top 5 songs for 2006
1) The Adventure by Angels and Airwaves [i unapologetically love this band...i haven't been this excited about a new band since a certain lead man for further seems forever started his little side project...the whole album "we don't need to whisper" is amazing, and in many ways parallels my own journey this year]
2) I've Had Enough by the David Crowder Band [a test of a great song is that it breaks your heart the first time you hear it and it can do the same thing months later after you've listened to it 100 times...this is such a song, and it's only 65 seconds long...genius]
3) When You Were Young by the Killers [i'm not a huge killers fan...i only like 4 or 5 of their songs...but, wow, the ones that i like, i really like...this was the most played song on my itunes]
4) Don't Wait by Dashboard Confessional (i keep thinking i'll grow out of this band one of these days...this last album was far from great, but this song, along with Stolen and Currents, is just too good to ignore...i'll continue to indulge a little while longer)
5) 9 Crimes by Damien Rice (i prefer the demo version with the guitars over the version that opens the cd...but both are perfectly damien rice: haunting and depressing)

top 5 movies for 2006
1) Stranger Than Fiction (i've already talked about this one...there's this great scene where will ferell's character is trying to figure out if the story he's in is a tragedy or a comedy so he keeps score in a notebook...at the end of the day he has 5 points for comedy and about 100 for tragedy...emo kids all over the country will posting that scene on their myspace pages as soon as it's available)
2) Little Miss Sunshine (it'll make you laugh, it'll make cringe, and then it will make you cry)
3) Goal! (it's about soccer, so maybe i'm biased, but i think it's one of the best sports movies ever)
4) Nacho Libre (no explanation is needed)
5) Accepted (if you know me at all, you'll know why i loved this movie)

so there you have it...the art and entertainment that enriched my 2006. feel free to send me (or post) your own top 5's!!

merry christmas...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Top 5 Television Shows

5. Lost. It's not going to be on here for long, people. It is going the way of Alias real quick. They have 3 shows to go before I pull the plug. Dude.

4. Anything Law & Orderish. Yes, it's trash, but it's dependable. It's DEPENDABLE. No variation. It hits a scale of 6-8 everytime. Unlike our previous entry that is a 2-9. Can't handle the swing.

3. Criminal Minds. Again, trash (why is rmac into Trash? Because the Shield is ((I think)) over. . . and so. . . . he's run out of series to watch.) but I like the writing and the analysis. I may be an FBI profiler someday.

2. How I Met Your Mother. Great writing and cast. Oh, Lord, you need to watch this show. I am all the characters. But mostly Marshall.

1. The Office. I've recently lost my spleen from watching this show. So hilarious. Someone needs to get you Season 1. Watch and enjoy.

Series I need to watch:

24. I hear it's the crystal meth of television. One hit and I'll be hooked begging for more so I'm still holding back.

Battlestar Galatica. Cause it's COOL, my . .. . .

I will add to this later. Don't JUDGE!

boutry said...

you are marshall!!

and i admit it...i am an office snob...i've never been able to get into the american version. you ruined me!

Anonymous said...

The first season is like the original, but then it branches off into this dark, dark forest where small clowns leap at your car.

You want to laugh, but you also want to die.

I also amend my list:

2.5: Heroes. Yes, it feeds you "mysteries" like pured spinach to a two year old, but I still like it. It's like a comic book . . .

I am, I am, MARSHALL!

Anonymous said...

jim (from the office) is just too adorable. i'm sure that's why rmac loves it too ;)

Anonymous said...

Yep, if you were to merge Jim from the Office, Marshall from HIMYM, and Mulder from X-Files along with Marhsall from Alias (!), you would get the rmac.

But fatter.

Anonymous said...

You have inspired me. I've been rolling it around in my brain for the last week and I just wrote my Top 22 of 2006. :)

I sent John and Sarah back with a little present back with you. I didn't include it on my blog, but it's probably Top #23: best new pen of the year.

Happy New Year!
Anna