Here is where I collect for you some of the things other people have collected. They passed them along to me (sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly) and I, in turn, pass them along to you. These are things, that, for one reason or another, caught my attention long enough to make me think. Hopefully they’ll make you think as well. Remember, just because I pass something along here, that doesn’t mean I necessarily endorse it, just that it made me think more deeply. Enjoy:

See what I hear at Last.fm.

Sign up for eMusic, find lots of DRM-free downloads and help me earn free downloads in the process. Everyone wins!

Read Billboard’s piece about the resurgence of vinyl.

Read Billboard’s piece about the music industry coming to (or being forced to?) accept digital formats.

Read as Radiohead’s Thom Yorke discusses trying to keep their newest album In Rainbows secret until they were actually ready to release it.

Feeling adventurous? Try the McDonald’s pizza.

R.I.P. Evel Knievel. Get your own Evel Knievel stunt cycle. Get me this Evel Knievel T-shirt (I like my T-shirts a bit big, so XL please) Or maybe this one. Or maybe this one. Watch Evel’s attempt to jump Snake River Canyon in a rocket.

Browse this list of recommended sources for finding new music.

Read this discussion in the falling sales of hardcover books.

Have a “Merry Toss-Mass” (thanks Eldon).

“Elf” yourself.

Are you “right” or “left”-brained? Which way does the dancer turn?

Browse the Year-End Lists:

• Browse the Fimoculous list of year-end lists.
• Browse Christianity Today’s list of year-end favorites.
• Browse Christianity Today’s 2007 Reader’s Choice results.
• Vote in NPR’s All Songs Considered’s poll for song of the year.
• Browse Amazon’s list of their favorite music of 2007.
• Browse Paste’s list of their favorite albums of 2007.
• Browse Boomkat’s list of their picks for the best albums of 2007.
• Browse Large Hearted Boy’s list of favorite 2007 albums.
• Browse the Christian Science Moniter’s favorite 2007 fiction.
• Browse Boston.com’s selections for nonfiction.
• Browse Josh Kidwell’s reflections on 2007.
• Browse Harp’s top 50 albums.
• Browse Steve McCoy’s top 30 albums of the year.
• Browse Josh Brown’s 10 favorite albums of the year.
• Browse as the Village Voice picks their favorite books of the year.
• Browse as the Times Online picks the 100 best movies of the year.
• Browse Mojo’s list of the best albums of the year.
• Browse VH1’s albums of the year.
• Browse Pitchfork’s year in photos.

Read about the return of Don Imus.

Read about the four “Mega-Themes” Barna claims to have found in recent research.

Read about the growing trend of “online” confessions.

Read Al Mohler’s thoughts on the anti-Christian themes of The Golden Compass.

Read about more nativity uproar, this time in the UK.

Browse this list of Yahoo’s top searches for 2007.

Get a personalized Sharpie.

Read this report which claims that the national debt is growing at a pace of $1 million per minute.

Read about the 5-year old chimp that beat college students at video games.

Read about Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton both revising their tactics in Iowa as both begin to slip in the polls.

Read about Mitt Romney taking what his aides feel is “unpredictable gamble” as he decides to give a detailed speech regarding his faith.

Read about Fred Thompson saying: “As far as faith is concerned, I have not made any secret as to where I am. I am a Christian.” The article goes on to note that: “Thompson said, noting that, while he does not attend church while at home in McLean, Virginia, he does attend church with his mother when he visits in Tennessee. “I have no apologies to make about my religion or my relationship to Jesus Christ or God.”

Read about the newly issued Lutheran guidelines for electing church officials, emphasizing social concerns.

Read about the growing list of questions surrounding the inquiry into the finances of six “televangelists.”

Read about the impending court case which has judges asking some thorny questions such as “what to ask potential jurors about their religion and whether it is legal to knock jurors off the case based on their perceived religious affiliations.”

Read this New York Times piece about: “A federal appeals panel ruled yesterday that a state-financed evangelical Christian program to help prisoners re-enter civilian life fostered religious indoctrination and violated the constitutional separation of church and state.”

Read as the Christian Science Monitor wonders whether we actually tolerate anti-Muslim speech.

Read about the recent poll that found that more Americans believe in “a literal hell and the devil than Darwin’s theory of evolution.”

Read as Books & Culture considers our affinity for conversion narratives.

Read as Christianity Today considers why Christians sometimes wish atheism were true.

Read as the Los Angeles Times profiles Portland’s Powell’s, my favorite bookstore.

Browse this list of “must-hear” albums to ensure you’re up with the times (if that interests you).

Visit The Bethlehem Institute’s new website.

Consider as D.A. Carson weighs in on the two major directions most doctoral dissertations follow.

Browse this list of suggested music to listen to while studying.

Consider as this guy tries to predict what others will pick as their year-end favorites.

Read as Chuck Klosterman considers what the music we listen to says about us.

Browse as Blender picks the 28 “most recognizable” guitars.

See the movie trailer for Prince Caspian.

Consider as Andrew Jones wonders if the “emergent/ing” hat still fits.”

Watch as MSNBC consders the Emergenting/ing church with Tom Brokaw.

Read as Creflo Dollar rebuffs Senate spending inquiries.

Read/Watch Mitt Romney’s address on “Faith in America.” Did you watch/read/hear the address? What did you think?

Read David Frum’s thoughts on why the speech did not work, which boil down to these points: “To be blunt, Romney is saying: It is legitimate to ask a candidate, “Is Jesus the son of God?” But it is illegitimate to ask a candidate, “Is Jesus the brother of Lucifer?”

Read as Justin Taylor compiles some reactions to the Romney speech.

Read the Wall Street Journal’s profile of the new portable music player by Slacker, which works of a wireless net-radio system rather than actually storing files.

Read Drowned In Sound’s interview with Sufjan Stevens.

Read as the New Statesman wonders if record labels have actually learned that suing their customers is not good for business.

Read as the New York Times profiles Mike Huckabee, saying that “pulpit was his springboard.”

Read about the Muslim woman who is suing after being made to remove her head covering while being arrested.

Read as Huckabee tries to deal with the Creationism question.

Read as the Washington Post recognizes that Mormonism and Christianity do indeed possess different theologies.

Read about Hillary’s “dirt” on Obama, from 2nd grade!

Read about the Magna Carta being on display for the first time in 800 years.

Read about the Mesopotamian sculpture which recently sold for $57 million.

Read about the recent study that claims that children “need at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day to keep their brains in shape.”

Read as Bonnaroo announces its 2008 dates.

Read as Engadget compares ear buds.

Don’t forget to gather your thoughts for our year-end extravaganza.