Ralphies

Eighth Annual Ralphies are up!

My friend and colleague Ed Cook is the author of Ralph the Sacred River and the Eighth Annual Ralphies are up! Go and see what his picks for books, music, and movies are this year. As usual, I do not feel that I have much to offer in terms of top reading, listening, and viewing, but I will give it a go anyway.

In terms of music, one year I said that I had stumbled across The Shins and was told that was “old” and that I was way too behind. Oh well. (Still like them, BTW.) I followed the world to Esperanza Spalding and do not regret joining that bandwagon for a minute! If you like jazz, give her a try. (Close runner up: Renaud Garcia-Fons.)

As are as books are concerned, I read a lot this year, but most of it seemed to be strategic plans, thesis proposal forms, and applications. My pick is an oldie but a goodie, made better by the fact that I read it with my 7-year old son. The Hobbit is a classic and I am eager to see the new movie adaptation. But the fact that a novel with no images kept a 6, then 7 year old occupied and captivated speaks volumes in today’s context of iPads and iPods. In non-fiction I will strongly recommend Wrong: Why experts* keep failing us–and how to know when not to trust them *Scientists, finance wizards, doctors, relationship gurus, celebrity CEOs, … consultants, health officials and more by David Freedman. First, there hasn’t been a title like that since 1792. Second, it is a great study in “critical thinking” (and the lack thereof) and perfect for classes, even if it is not terribly penetrating. (I doubt that you will learn anything new, but it is nice to have someone else do the homework for you.)

Finally, I was unable to see many movie in the theatre but Netflix, iTunes, and Comcast have been my friend. I can whole heartedly name Cowboys & Aliens as my top pick. There were some fun animated and “hero” movies this year, but the combination of my two favorite genres (leaving out only spies, and Daniel Craig covers that with his presence) made C&A an easy favorite. Great fun and a nice twist on classic movies, with enough nods to antecedents to keep geeks thoroughly engaged. (Super 8 was a nice runner up for me and is Ed’s pick, but JJ Abrams would you please cut it out with the lens flare already!)

So, those are mine, or at least are a few that come to mind. What are yours? Go let Ed know at Ralph the Sacred River.

7th Annual Ralphies

Dec 22nd, 2010

by Christian Brady.

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While like Ed I have been reflecting upon the slowdown of my blog posting (and really wondering if I should really be considered a “biblioblogger” anymore or not), I should at least pop back online to point you to his annual “best of” list, the Ralphies. My oldest surviving post (but not the oldest) is my own “Ralphie” back when it was only 2 years old. But rather than muddle through my thoughts, you should head over and read the Granddaddy¹ of them all with his Seventh Annual Ralphies.

That is a reference to the Ralph, not Ed. [↩]

Fifth Annual Ralphies

Dec 18th, 2008

by Christian Brady.

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Ed Cook of Ralph the Sacred River has his Fifth Annual Ralphies. I have not done this every year, but this year I can indeed offer my top picks for the categories required for the Ralphy.

BEST MOVIE: Like Ed and unlike the rest of humanity I have not seen The Dark Knight so I cannot make that obvious pick, but we have seen a few new movies this year. I like Wall•E but it wasn’t great, certainly not the best that Pixar can do. On the other hand, Bolt was great! So it gets my pick. See my review here.

BEST RECORD: Expanded, of course, to include CDs and downloads. I have been getting back into jazz lately and am rummaging in older artists. I bought Miles Davis Kind of Blue and I like it very much. That is my pick for 2008. A tip, if you have not already discovered this, instead of using iTunes, the dominant online choice for music, check out Amazon. Not only is their music DRM free at a higher bit rate, but it is also 10¢ per song cheaper (on average). They also have daily and weekly specials, I got 10,000 Maniacs In My Tribe the entire album for $1.99 last week. That’s pretty good! Amazon Music.

BEST BOOK (FICTION): I have been reading from my BlackBerry which means I am either reading out of print works, those available for download, or those distributed freely. An author I discovered whose works are available with all of the above is Cory Doctorow. He is a tech writer and founder of Boing Boing. I mentioned (too brief to call them reviews) Doctorow’s Little Brother, a juvenile title, and Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom this past year. I give the nod to the latter as my pick for 2008. It is a great sci-fi/future novel with, like all of Doctorow’s stuff, a good bit of social commentary.

BOOK BOOK (NONFICTION): This one is always harder for me because I am either reading administrative type works (leadership, etc.) that I usually don’t find very engaging or academic works specific to my field (and lately not too many of those either). This year, however, I have been the happy recipient of two works by Philip Jenkins. That is to say, Philip wrote them and gave them to me, a perk of having this great scholar and witty gentleman as a colleague and fellow parishioner. His latest, The Lost History of Christianity is shaping up to be very good, so that is my recommendation. The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia–and How It Died

I should also mention a work I look forward to reading over break written by my old college friend Andy Crouch, Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling. It looks to be very good and knowing Andy it will be very intelligent and engaging.

BEST TV SHOW: Without a doubt it has to be Chuck! We watched the first episode last year and never had time to see the rest of the series (it comes on at 8pm on Mondays). In the past year, however, Hulu has been created, allowing me to watch old episodes in HD! So, while the first season is no longer up, but each week we are able to watch the latest episode. The show is about a smart guy who works at “Buy More” as part of the “nerd herd” and ends up being an unlikely secret agent. I will simply add that it is just the right amount of camp/humor and drama to make it a weekly highlight for us.

UPDATE: Mark Goodacre’s list reminds me of (duh!) Doctor Who. It is of course one of my all time favorite shows and I am a big fan of Tennant. I think my lapse in memory has to be that I only get to watch it in a very haphazard manner. I no longer have a DVR and there is no easy online access for those of us outside of the UK. (I should also add that, like Mark and Viola, my wife and I discovered Gavin and Stacey this year on BBC America. Hmm. no wonder I think Mark is such a good guy! He has great taste.) So, if you all do not mind, please allow me to add a strong runner up: Doctor Who.

Those are my picks, I look forward to reading yours!