In that spirit, I've compiled my favorites of the "best of" and "the worst" lists for a 2007 Culture Lust listmania!

Pitchfork, one of the best online tastemakers in music, has a list of the top 50 albums of 2007. This list is a great resource for learning about new bands and artists who may have flown under your radar while you were being inundated with Britney Spears coverage. Both Spoon (woo hoo!) and Radiohead (natch) made it into the top ten, along with M.I.A., Animal Collective and Of Montreal.

If you were wondering what Margaret Cho's favorite albums are from 2007... and why not... you can find them here.

One of my favorite local blogs, Poplicks, has some hilarious year-end lists, including a "Best Quotes of 2007" that will have you reeling between laughter and outrage.

Showtime's serial killer drama Dexter had a role in 2007's "Freakiest Moment in Advertising."

YouTube has ranked the most popular videos of the year - with the Obama girl taking top honors. They based the rankings on the most shared, most discussed, and top rated clips to determine which videos most entertained desk jockeys across the country. I was happy to see the sublime Chocolate Rain video by Tay Zonday ranking high. Chocolate Rain is Zonday's original composition which, combined with his unworldly voice and prosaic delivery (leaning away from the microphone to breathe!), makes him one of my favorite YouTube stars of 2007. Chris Crocker doesn't even come close.

When you work in the media, you cherish PR blunders, if for no other reason than the opportunity to say with unchallenged authority, “What a knucklehead!” This year’s well-deserved knucklehead trophy goes to FEMA, according to this list.  “No reporters? No problem!”

The Onion has compiled the worst band names of 2007. Some personal faves:  Garrison Killer, General Patton and His Privates, The Dead Kenny G’s, and the terribly dramatic Order of the Dying Orchid.

Here’s one blogger’s take on the worst album cover of the year.  I have to agree, Rodney Carrington is royal rubbish. For a more comprehensive list of the worst album covers, Pitchfork does it again.

Here are the 12 (breaking the “10” mold) least satisfying cars of 2007.

There are tons of “best of” book lists—in fact, I’ve already mentioned The New York Times’ comprehensive list on Culture Lust.  I’m a big fan of critic Laura Miller’s year end round up for Salon.

DVD Savant has a list of the most impressive DVD’s of the year, including Killer of Sheep, which I saw at the Ken this past summer and adored for its beauty and immediacy.  Not surprisingly, DVD’s by Criterion and Kino make hearty appearances on this list.

One of the best movie lists shows us what we couldn’t see on the big screen.  We’ll have to wait until these unreleased gems come out on DVD.  Here’s a similarly themed list from IFC.  Perfect resources for updating your Netflix queue.

For you naughty readers, here’s a list of the best movie nude scenes of 2007 (better view this one at home).

I LOVE this list of the worst food trends of 2007, especially this item:

Hot Spots You Can’t Find: Life is too short to dine at a “restaurant” where you have to go through an underground tunnel and then know the password, or, the owners refuse to reveal the eatery’s address or phone number.

And if you’re touring Europe soon, or if you just love Adam Horovitz, check out his list of the best breakfast buffets.  It’s titled:  My Top Ten (well top 16) Breakfast Buffets, a.k.a The B-Bizzle.  Here’s what Adrock had to say about Istanbul:

hot...ambiance was like miami up in that peace...it felt like micky rourke was about to hobble in...it wasn’t what i thought it was gonna be...same went for istanbul...the bizzle was very european...nice cheeses...meuseli’s...cereals...fruits...scrambled eggs were good...nothing crazy about this one...just a swank setting…

Clearly, Adam is as fond of the ellipses as I am, though we depart tastes on variations of “sizzle.”

There’s actually a list of the top ten bigfoot stories.  And to think I didn’t know there was even one.

Because I’m a photography geek, I’ve searched for related lists.  One of my favorite sites, Cool Hunting, has a list of their Top Five Photographers of 2007.  My friend Lori Nix is on it!  Lori’s work is amazing and you can see some of it right now in the Picturing Eden exhibit at the Museum of Photographic Arts.  The extremely talented Thomas Allen, who showed at San Diego’s Joseph Bellow’s gallery in 2006, also made the short list.

Notice there are no TV lists in my compilation.  That’s because I find most of what’s on TV right now really bland, half-baked, and often downright offensive.  Except for The Wire, my love of which has been professed here with passion and regularity.  It returns in 2008 for it’s final season - starting Sunday!!!! Obviously, there will be loads of Wire-related posting in the next two months.

The listing is endless and I’ve run out of steam.  Your turn to share. Any quirky, funny, offensive, or just plain good lists that you’ve come across? Or, you could just cut to the chase and share your cultural best and worst from 2007...

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