My Year In Cities: 2007

Here is a list of the cities in which I spent one or more nights in 2007. I visited the cities marked with asterisks more than once on non-consecutive occasions.

United States

* Chicago, IL*
* Edmond, OK
* Herndon, VA
* Hilton Head Island, SC
* Ishpeming, MI*
* Lansing, MI
* Newark, NJ
* New York, NY
* Niagara Falls, NY
* Park City, UT
* Portland, ME
* Raleigh, SC
* Richmond, VA
* Traverse City, MI*

International

* Beijing, China*
* Shanghai, China
* Toronto, Ontario
* Xi’an, China

Movies I Saw in 2007

My top seven movies of 2007:

1. 30 Days of Night
2. No Country for Old Men
3. Superbad
4. Juno
5. Grindhouse
6. The Darjeeling Limited
7. Stardust

Update: Let me explain my selections. I don’t really like horror movies. I was surprised by “30 Days of Night.” It scared me and thoroughly entertained me. As far as walking out of the theater having been entertained, that movie left me satisfied. I would not watch it again, however.

“No Country for Old Men” was very well done. I loved the use of silence throughout the movie. It made me feel ashamed to be digging through my Skittles at times. (Yeah, I was that guy.)

“Superbad” and “Juno,” both featuring Michael Cera among many other amazing actors, are two movies I would like to own. I could re-watch both of them today, next week, or in a year and know I would still like them.

“Grindhouse” and “The Darjeeling Limited” are stylistically significant movies that came out of 2007. Neither was broad enough to come close to being my favorite movie of the year, but each was well done and deserved the anticipation they received.

“Stardust” was interesting and fun, and thus, is on my list.

Chronological list of movies I watched in 2007:

1. Smokin’ Aces
2. Music and Lyrics
3. The Number 23
4. Reno 911!: Miami
5. Grindhouse
6. Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
7. Distrubia
8. Fracture
9. Waitress
10. Spider-Man 3
11. Knocked Up
12. Evan Almighty
13. Live Free or Die Hard
14. Ratatouille
15. License to Wed
16. Transformers
17. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
18. Stardust
19. Superbad
20. Halloween
21. Into the Wild
22. The Darjeeling Limited
23. Lars and the Real Girl
24. 30 Days of Night
25. Dan in Real Life
26. No Country for Old Men
27. The Mist
28. Juno

I also rented 57 movies on Netflix.

The 2007 British Open

I didn’t get to see a second of coverage of this years British Open (thanks to CCTV’s unwillingness to cover something worth watching), but from what I’ve read the finish was as exhilarating and sloppy as the final round eight years ago when it was last played at Carnoustie. I remember watching Jean Van de Velde crumple on the 18th hole and the following playoff between Justin Leonard and Paul Lawrie. For a high school kid obsessed with golf, this was an exciting finish and one I could empathize with. (I have both won a playoff and lost by one shot after double-bogeying the final hole. One is a good feeling, the other is what people refer to as a “learning experience.”)

I’m hoping the golf channel will rebroadcast this years Open sometime soon when I’m back in the U.S. so I can see how truly disappointed Sergio was and how elated Harrington was when he hoisted the Claret Jug after the four hole playoff.