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IT'S BEEN a corking year for culture even if the sky seems to be falling according to just about everyone else.
World economy about to implode, Ross and Brand in radio sex scandal, millions still unaware that Torchwood is an anagram of Doctor Who; 2008's been a bit of a weird year. Yet there were still plenty of things to keep Culture Vulture amused:

1) Albums that grow on you

Annoying when you've just reviewed them but better musically. For the record, I'd like to add at least one star to Travis' Ode To J Smith because on balance it's a great album. Song to Self is the best track the lads have put out in years.

2) Wales' Got Talent

Or rather, Ysgol Glanaethwy has. Bangor's best choir have been given a massive boost this year after starring in Last Choir Standing and now getting the recognition they deserve. A five star act in all senses.

3) The Rock Project

The Denbigh-based music maestros who earlier this year expanded across North Wales. I worked with them earlier this year on a story and really admired their Pop Idol for Welsh youngsters strategy.

4) Feeder

For spectacularly slamming the entire British record industry in an interview I did with drummer Mark Richardson earlier this year. I like a band that has the balls to say it.

5) Ashes to Ashes

Not as good as Life on Mars? Rubbish. Even after the questionable ending where Bolly Knickers stayed in 1981, I was still lusting after an Audi Quattro and some Human League on the cassette player.

And a few less impressive bits of 2008:

6) C**p comebacks

Specifically Oasis, The Verve, and Led Zeppelin for marking their return with albums that were good but could have been so much better. Whether Blur can pull off the same trick will be one of 2009's big questions...

7) The Welsh language

Which I think is great, even though I can't speak it. Yet proposals by Richard Brunstrom to have all North Wales police cars run in Welsh-only livery angered more than it delighted. A risky move.

8) Paunch dancing

The Rhyl Visitor's rather-misguided attempt at sending me to a belly dancing class. The resulting video should be banned for fear of scaring small children.

9) Australia

Baz Luhrmann's epic has epic production values but is also epically annoying; who uses Elgar to illustrate a poignant moment in the Outback? They'll be using Vaughan Williams in Lethal Weapon soon.

10) The credit crunch

Need I say more?

Culture Vulture wishes all of its five readers a happy New Year.

WENT to see the new Bond movie at the weekend, and although the film itself left me shaken and stirred, the trailers definitely didn't.

I'm not going to bore you with an in-depth discussion about Daniel Craig's hair - everyone else has already done that - or join the scrum of writers who are proclaiming that Quantum of Solace is this year's Harry Potter and The Goblet of Guinness. I'm just peeved that every single stunt from the film was shown in the fifteen minutes of trailer that previewed it.

You'd see Bond leaping down scaffolding, racing his Aston through tunnels, and blowing up bits of Bolivia, and yes, it was awesome. I just would have preferred to have seen all this in the film itself, rather than adverts for Nokia phones and Omega watches.

I don't mind product placement; in fact, all the smarter readers proclaiming Quantum as a return to the hard-as-nails Bond of the books will smugly point out that Ian Fleming himself name-checked almost every suave brand in the original novels. You know that right now James drives an Aston-Martin DBS and drinks Finlandia (although not at the same time), but back at the beginning he was a Smirnoff drinker with a Bentley in the garage.

Personally, I always thought the crass promotion ended when Brosnan hung up his Walther PPK but although I don't mind yet another obvious Ford commercial rammed down my throat, I'd rather not have to see scenes from the film at the same time.

Stupid product placement? Nobody does it better...