The sun may have set for the last time for the year 2004, still, it's not too late for a "2004 in retrospect". I won't be covering the top stories of 2004; let's leave that to the pro. I won't be showing you photos that had graced Odds&Ends in the year 2004 which I think are good enough to warrant a second look either; MSNBC's The Year in Pictures is far more worthy. Just in case you're interested in knowing "flavours-of-the-month", Google has an interactive timeline which may interest you.

What follows will be a practice in the fine art of narcissm: 2004 wasn't exactly the highlight of my 19 great years on Planet Earth, but it had its fair share of excitement. Presenting the highly subjective list which I take great pride in naming "The Best(s) of 2004 (According To Yours Truly)":

Best book read
This is a tough one; only after much deliberation that I settle for Life of Pi by Yann Martel over Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-time as best book. Yann Martel's masterpiece bolws me over with its thought-provoking theme and a fresh plot. Here's a snippet from the book I love best: "Tiger exists, lifeboats exist, oceans exist. Because the three have never come together in your narrow, limited experience, you refuse to believe they might". A great reflection on faith.

Best film watched
Again, I was all of a dither over my favourite film for the year 2004. While Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 is nothing short of filmmaking at its best, Kill Bill 2 outshines in a number of ways. For starters, you can't ask for a greater denouement to Kill Bill 1. It's stylishly executed, fine cinematic storytelling and it has introduced me to one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. I've since watched a great many Quentin Tarantino's movies and come to love them.

Best article read
Tempted as I am to cite one of my articles (just kidding; am aware of how my articles suck), I have to go for The True Story of Audion. The article takes us behind the programming scene and details the rise and eventual commercial demise of an audio software. It tells a great story and the fine sense of humour helps getting through the very long article.

Best stuff bought with own's dough
No-brainer, this one; am not regretting for having parted with the wad of cold hard cash for the iPod. Rephrasing one of Warren Buffett's famous quotes, "It's far better to buy a wonderful music player at a fair price than a fair music player at a wonderful price".

Best gift received
The Nikon D70 is every amateur photographer's wet dream come true. Thanks to Papa, it's the best gift I've ever received! I'm having so much fun with it. Early today, I was experimenting with long exposures and I can't tell you how bloody exciting it is to see the result of a 30s exposure. Wish I could lengthen the shutter speed, but I would need a remote and that costs some serious amount of moolah. Just so that you know, a remote would make a fine gift for the year 2005.

Have a wonderful year, folks!