If you are looking to make the switch from TV & Print (really more TV then print since I still consume alot of print) here are the best of 2007 broken down by category:

Art & Design

Bad at Sports: [weekly 60min]
A Chicago based but Internationally focused Contemporary Art & Culture program with large amounts of humor and more importantly substantative discussions. In the spirit of full disclosure I have ties to it and am not biased in that when it is less then stellar I have no problem saying but it does offer information and entertainment that I have not found anywhere else period.

More….. I wish I could say that there are more audio programs that I can listen to weekly to get news and opinion but saddly after many atempts I find they annoy more then entertain. Please leave a comment with your favorite and I will gladly check them out. Who knows they could make next years list?

Business

First I want to say I still get much of my business news via print on a daily basis (mostly from RSS feeds I have populated) there are many good audio programs but I have found that the genre moves to fast to be covered by a weekly program and the best daily programs refuse to post podcasts online.

NPR: Economy: [daily 5-10min]
The program is exerts from parts of the NPR daily broadcasts that relate to top economy story of the day. Quick, dirty and good.

All Things Considered:[daily 60min]
I don’t want to mislead but they continue to refuse to post a podcast for this show. Just the fact that the show is so good earns it a spot on this list and I eagerly await the point when they decide to wake up and serve it even with commercials included. I would gladly, gladly, gladly listen to them to get this daily as a file. They do stream it online at their website but after you do this for a while the added wall of being tied to a computer makes this more then a tad annoying.

Entertainment/Media News

this WEEK in MEDIA[weekly 75min]
The longest rant in the world of online audio, so long it makes a Warhol film look short but worth it. If you are in the Media production, media management or prosumer product world then this is well worth every minute to listen to.

KCRW’s The Business[weekly 30min]
A weekly audio program on the politics and decisions of Hollywood executives & creatives. Interviews, commentary and perspective on anything and everything you would want to know.

On The Media[weekly 60min]
A meta audio program. It is all the news about how the news is made and/or delivered. This may sound odd but it really can give a better perspective on how the weeks news debates are framed. truly one of the best.

General News

Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me![weekly 45min]
Crack in a audible format. I have been addicted to this program for almost a decade, it was “The Daily Show” before there was a Daily Show. It is a comedy weekly roundup quiz show on the weeks news

Fresh Air with Terry Gross[daily 45min]
A wonderful daily interview show that is oddly able to get very open and personal interviews from it’s visitors. The show runs the gamut from unbelievably good to snobbishly stuck up and laced with the wonderful hosts occasional 60’s feminist underpinnings.

Music

Coverville[almost daily 45min]
The best place to discover new or relatively unknown bands covering your favorite songs. I have have discovered multiple new bands this way and in todays market that is getting harder and harder to do. So anything that helps is more then welcome.

Politics

NBC: Meet the Press[weekly 60min]
“The” U.S. political audio program taken directly from the Sunday program that has aired for over 60 years. If you are interested in the activities within the beltway this is a must hear. The absolute best at what they do.

NPR: It’s All Politics[weekly 15min]
The Bad at Sports equivalent in the realm of politics. It is so great to hear (especially during a primary year) and is short enough to fit any lifestyle and leaves you wanting more.

The Unger Report[weekly 5min]
Funny, short, unique and worth the wait but not much more. Sometimes a bit simple and obvious but the production level hides that weakness well.

Pop Culture

Diggnation: [weekly 30min]
Diggnation is not for everyone but is a fun and brisk look at the weeks top tech/pop culture/human interest of my generation. It’s fluff but after alot of politics or business it is a welcome palette cleanser.

Sci/Technology

Hmmm…Krulwich on Science:[random 10min]
Interesting, sporadic and fun but at times obvious in it’s slant.

Windows Weekly:[weekly 60min]
A great weekly recap of Microsoft news and products. Sometimes apologetic for Microsoft’s failures but that is very very rare and the host Paul Thurrott keeps it pretty fair and honest.

this WEEK in TECH:[weekly 60min]This used to be the best weekly recap of tech news and inside business opinion until recently. The panel has picked up a revolving door feel and tangents with bickering every 5 mins. Still even with all those downsides it has a great host and occational guests that have razor sharp insight in the tech industry.

Security Now!:[weekly 60min]
In the beginning it was a college level primer course almost on Computer Security. It has evolved over time to be a hot topic of the month deep level inspection on one aspect of computer security, network administration or programing that is without equal. Some episodes are worth skipping but always well made.

Yes this is just over 15 hours……..sigh.

This is not to say you should listen to every single program here because I don’t even myself. I do make about 12 hours a week but it isn’t easy. They are worth your time though each and every one if you want to keep on the razors edge of news and events. Please share your favorite sites in the comments area.

Make in large pot or dutch oven. Brown meat & drain off fat. Add taco seasoning & drain off fat. Add taco seasoning, open and empty cans into pot. Bring to boil then turn down heat. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Mix 1 cup of flour and the onion salt, garlic, sea salt, fresh ground pepper in a large glass bowl. Then mix in the meat tenderizer until the entire bowl of flower takes on a light pink or peach color. Finally fold in 1 cup of beer ensuring to keep the ratio of flower to liquid beer equal. Fold (do not mix heavily) until the liquid is even but there are slill small clumps.

For Fried Shrimp
Add clean, raw, deveined shrimp to mixture and coat well. Remove shrimp and fry in 2 inches of oil with atleast 2 inches of pot about oil level. Add shrimp 1 at a time or oil may bubble over. Also take care to ensure that the oil maintains a high rolling temperature to keep the food from getting drenched in oil. Remove from oil and place in a plate covered with a paper towel to allow the excess oil to drain away.

For Onion Rings
Slice whole onions into 1/2 inch rings. Separate rings & drop into batter mixture till well coated. Take coated rings one at a time and drop in the same hot oil as above. Brown till golden on both sides. Remove from oil and alow to drain on a paper towel.

Take the 2 cups of flour in the first medium bowl and add 2 pinches of Sea or Kosher salt, liberally add fresh ground pepper & add/min in enough Meat tenderizer to turn the entire 2 cups of flour slightly pink.

Bring 1 inch of liquid Canola Oil to med-hi heat in a deep skillet.

Greatly tenderize the Round steak, then cut it into 2″x3″ portions and drag in the egg mixture. Finally coating well in the flour in a packed way. Sprinkle on a small amount of sugar on both sides of the steak before placing into the already hot skillet. Brown fully on each side before flipping. Remove and allow to cool and drain away oil on a clean paper towel.

Allow oil to regain it’s heat between each steak aplication or else they will become soggy and lose batter & flavor.

Mix eggs, sugar & milk well then add the vanilla. Heat skillet after spraying with oil. Take the bread and coat well in egg mixture then put in a hot oiled pan & cook one side at a time until golden brown. Sprinkle with cinnamon to taste, place 2 wafter slices of peach on each to serve.

• 4 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
• 1 pint whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 ounces bourbon
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 4 egg whites

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar and continue to beat until it is completely dissolved. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, over high heat, combine the milk, heavy cream and nutmeg and bring just to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and gradually temper the hot mixture into the egg and sugar mixture. Then return everything to the pot and cook until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F. Remove from the heat, stir in the bourbon, pour into a medium mixing bowl, and set in the refrigerator to chill.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. With the mixer running gradually add the 1 tablespoon of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Whisk the egg whites into the chilled mixture.

I can say this about London though, comparing it to Tokyo and the entire US, it comes off looking like the city that is the bank to the world and has little to no litter, crime & the graffiti is kind of cute and is in no way menacing in a odd way. That and they love them some rugby…. more on that later.

This isn’t the end of the series, but wanting to have a post of the most visually interesting shots of Tokyo here is the top photos out of the 1,450+ photos that were taken. I am not exaggerating that number either. The Finalist is at the bottom and please correct me in the comments if you feel I am wrong.

Warning this is image/bandwidth heavy

Quarter Finalists

Semi Finalists

Finalists

Winner

Man-Yi

The first was the landfall of Typhoon Man-Yi which struck the island of Okinawa then made it’s way up the east coast of Japan to Tokyo. At it’s peak it was a category 4 Typhoon that left surprisingly as far as I can find only around 9 dead and in many reports less then 150 missing at any given time. I am not sure what the final numbers were since I can not find a summary report.

Chu-Etso-Oki

The second was 2 days later as the Chu-Etso-Oki Earthquake struck the northwest part of Japan with a 6.6 magnitude shock with aftershocks 5 hours later. The total damage cause by the earthquake can be read in this report.

In Summary:

1. The first known case of a fire in a nuclear power plant resulting from an earthquake

2. A water leak led to the release into the sea of 2,432,432 pCi worth of radioactive water

Damage that in perspective is very little and very safe in comparison to oil refinery explosions or any number of other power plant failures.

Summary

All in all even with the geological & meteorological activity it was a quiet and peaceful stay. I expected (due to the time of year we visited) that there would be a large amount of rainfall and in that I was not surprised. We never left without the need of a umbrella which in Tokyo was extremely cheep due to competition. Everywhere we went there were hundreds of umbrellas, and seemingly the style of choice for most Tokyo residents is a absolutely clear plastic umbrella?

The only complaint that I really had was that we spent two weeks in the “land of the rising sun” and never clearly saw the round ball of fire in the sky. That and the fact that the Mega-City of Tokyo goes through enough plastic umbrella slip-on-bags to fill a landfill seemingly each and every day. My brother was the first to comment how sick he was of wasting bag after bag each time we went into a retail store since it seemed to be expected etiquette. Commenting that in America people would freak over this much trashed plastic and we can get by without getting people or objects soaked with our umbrellas?