The Smithsonian's photo gallery of Nature's Best 2007. Above is the Wildlife Winner: Bull Bison, Yellowstone National Park, by Steve Hinch, Yellowstone, WY. tjc

Paste Magazine outlines this year's best in culture and entertainment in Signs of Life 2007. jmj

"Idea: n. Indicated by the presence of a light source above a person's head. This usually tends to be a lightbulb but can also take the form of mildly radioactive fan heaters, electric torches or even internally lit large exclamation marks, a method pioneered by one Felix T. Catt." Source: Uncyclopedia. tjc

Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan's award-winning series on grocery store day shift manager Chad Vader, the younger, less charismatic brother of Darth Vader, makes me laugh uncontrollably. jmj

Michael Moore is the kind of guy who pisses a lot of people off. If you hate him, it's probably for one of two reasons: 1. You're a Bill O'Reilly fan. 2. You think he allows himself to be the center of attention in what should be subject-centered documentaries. I don't hate him. He can be annoying and his points (usually valid) get lost in his shtick. But he can make touchy, uncomfortable, or mundane subjects seem entertaining. Take Norway, for example. If you don't make it to the end of the clip, know this: Norway has the lowest murder rate in the world. It may be as close to utopia as you'd find on the planet (via gnn). tjc

Movie season coming up. Here's some trailers: tjc

The Kite Runner (Dec. 14) - What do you know about Afghanistan? Not much, so I'll watch.

Sweeney Todd (Dec. 21) - Burton and Depp. I'm hearing good things about this one.

Charlie Wilson's War (Dec. 21) - The guy who wrote the West Wing plus the guy who directed The Graduate. That's a winner.

There Will Be Blood (Dec. 26) - PT Anderson doing things a little differently than the past.

Video games can change the world, according to Jane McGonigal, Lead Game Designer, Institute for the Future. And in one of the best turns in video game history, the Wii Fit will be released in Japan today (via Lifehacker). Here's the Wii Fit in action. tjc

Surprise team of the NFL: the Cleveland Browns. I'm excited for the Dawg Pound. They got pummeled Week 1 and traded their starting QB before Week 2. That's unprecedented. Now they're contenders for their division. Coolstandings.com calculates their chances of making the playoffs at 75.2 percent. That's up from 0.4 percent after Week 1. They may have a Drew Brees/Philip Rivers problem on their hands after the season with Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn, but for now they're riding high. One reason for their revival is Special Teams, which is usually a key component in any upstart team. Joe Sports Fan ranks Kick Returns for a Touchdown as the fourth Most Exciting Play in Sports. I love them. I'd say they're number one for me. Here's the Brown's Joshua Cribbs taking it to the house. tjc