As most of y’all have figured out by now, I am not, by nature, a cheerful sort.  But it being That Time of Year when everyone and their dog is making up lists of The Best, Worst, Blah-Blah-Blah of 2007, I thought, why the heck not get in on some of that action?

But, as I am in touch with the great powers of the universe, instead of looking back, I’d like to make my predictions for 2008.  I’m certain I will do just as well as any other real psychic.

In 2008, all the school boards across the US will simultaneously decide that creation “science” isn’t, and will boot all references to it from classroom text books.  They will also remember that one of the most basic tenets of our democracy is the separation of church and state and will start teaching that in school. But they won’t ignore the historical significance of religion, and will teach how it has affected our world — both for good and ill.  

In 2008, Americans in droves will voluntarily give up their gas guzzlers for more fuel-efficient vehicles.  They will also pressure the government to support real energy reform, not just crony giveaways to develop ethanol.

In 2008, Americans will demand that oversight in government be reinstated.  Democrats and Republicans will drop their petty bickering and unite to clean up government, realizing, at last, that everyone loses when the government is run like a banana republic.

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We went to see The Golden Compass, a movie which has been discussed already, and this is the first time I’ve seen the posters in person. (Don’t know if there was a trailer playing at this particular cinemaplexoid but there certainly wasn’t one in front of TGC.)

To be fair, no one really gets much easily seen credit in the large scale Jumper cinema display. It’s very big and hard to miss, but even the director, Doug Liman, just has two of his more commercially successful films listed prominently but not his name. Not even Samuel L. Jackson’s name appears.

Down at the bottom of the poster artifact, though, we did find the credits. There printed in dark gray type on a black background and, son-of-a-gun, there, along with Hayden Christensen and Rachel Bilson and Doug Liman and Jamie Bell and Simon Kinberg were the words based on the novel by Steven Gould.

I held my cell phone as a poor-man’s light while Laura took a snap with hers. The people in the theater, both employees and other theater goers, looked at us very strangely, but here it is:

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