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The last few days have been so hectic, with meet-ups here and meet-ups there that I totally forgot to post this, but finally, here it is:

2007 would not have been 2007 if it were not for the three meetups I had during the last days; first Emma, then Claske and finally - the one meeting I have been looking forward to since we first met virtually: Jeroen Poortvliet.

Jeroen and me have been working on both building and maintaining a special interest community for no less than 30 months now and after much planning and shifting, we finally managed to get together for a pint of beer.

Jeroen, who is a real-life photographer has been spearheading the expansion of our community and it is safe to say that, without him, NL-Noob would not be what we have become. Thanks to his efforts, our turnover rate is incredibly low compared to other communities and what’s even better - whenever we seemed to hit a snag or stagnation in growth, he came up with ideas that allowed us to expand even further.

We are, by no means the biggest (Dutch) community, but we have a fair number of people that are very happy that we are there, when they need a gaming fix.

Marjon on the other hand, is totally uninvolved in gaming, but still made a tremendous impact on me, most of all because of the inner strength she possesses and if there is something I respect in people a lot, then it is the ability to conquer literally anything they are faced with. No micro-relationship here, just great talks and mutual trust.

And last but not least, the Wingman of the year award goes out to Kevin for accompanying me to a number of great and interesting events and helping me with most, if not all, visual branding things that came up over the past year.

I could probably go on for a fair bit, because the above mentioned people are by no means the only ones that made an impression on me, but I wont. The ones I care about know that I do and that’s that.

After a quick summary of the, according to me, best reads of 2007, it is once again, time for a compilation of the best aural releases from the past year.

Brett Dennen - Ain’t no reason

For one reason or another, many of this year’s top song come from TV shows such as Jericho (more on that later) and The Unit and it comes as no surprise then that the previously mentioned “Ain’t no reason” by Brett Dennen gets the award for best “standalone song from 2007″ from me.

Meaningful lyrics that tell things like they are, not like people want them to be and the song that was used for my impromptu-inauguration at xolo.tv, this was the one song I could not stop listening to in 2007.

Room Eleven - Six White Russians and a Pink Pussycat

The band that made the most impact on me was, without a doubt, Room Eleven with their awesome album “Six White Russians and a Pink Pussycat”. Their live performance was not just okay or good, it was great.

Songs such as One of these Days,
Flavour and Come Closer are what music should be about: a great voice combined with great tunes.

Jericho and Portal

Other items that deserve to be mentioned are Portal’s Still Alive - the credits song from VALVe’s puzzle game released in fall this year.

A definite thumbs-up goes out to Jericho’s music team, with hot tracks such as Foo Fighter’s Times like These and Five for Fighting’s World.

Another year has come (and gone) and as such, it is, once again, time to do a quick recap of the hottest things I came across this year. Unlike previous years, however, this year’s listing will also include a recap of events.

Similar to last year, the first part of this series will discuss printed / written media, followed by an article on the hottest series / movies and a summary of great music after which the series is concluded by an entry on the best events this year, so let’s get to it.

Brad Thor - The First Commandment:

The book that I looked forward to the most this year, must have been the latest release from the Scott Harvath universe

The best description I could come up with last year, for Brad Thor’s Takedown, was to call it an action movie for your mind and frankly, that is just what The First Commandment is, too. This title is so adrenaline packed that it is hard not to overdose on all the conspiracy, flying lead and twisted plots that you will come across.

Brad Thor, once again, manages to deliver a high-quality piece d’art that will rock your socks off - there is really nothing more to say, without spoiling the experience.

John Milton - Paradise Lost:

Discovered by way of The Unit, Paradise Lost turned out to be one of the more difficult, yet very inspiring books I have read in the past five years. It took me quite some time to fully understand the poem and its implications, but for anyone interested in expanding their horizon, this is hands-down, a great choice.

Tim Sanders - Love is the killer app:

Last July, I came across Love is the Killer app, thanks to Patrick de Laive and I have to say that Patrick’s book list rocks. I was very tempted to list a few other suggestions here too, but the one that made the most impression on me was Love is the Killer app, not only because of the whole concept of “sharing love” with (business) associates, but also because the book reminded me of what many people seem to forget; the things that should be the core value of every single transaction, no matter if it ends in a monetary exchange too or not.

And that was the year in books - audio and visual media is coming up shortly