Impressed by TIME’s unexpected selection of Vladimir Putin as 2007’s person of the year, the Bureau Staff considers some alternative nominees for the dubious distinction.

The Bureau Staff picks the top movies of the year, proving, once again, that they are better than the Academy Awards.

After much heated deliberation, writers of the Bureau Staff select their favorite albums of the past year.

This is the eleventh installment in a series of essays by globe-trotter Kevin Nguyen, who is currently studying at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. With good holiday spirits, Kevin attempts to wrap his head around Czech Christmas traditions, which involve rope, blackface, magical pigs, and the Second Coming.

Jordan Barber, known as “The 20-year-old Tony Kushner” in some circles, takes into the depths of the jungle in the first half of his off-the-wall short play.

Attempting to escape the gloomy weather of Washington state’s finest city, Jeff Merrion finds comfort in one of our fondest childhood memories–Mario Kart. The game also proves to be a fertile breeding ground for useful neologisms.

This is the tenth installment in a series of essays by globe-trotter Kevin Nguyen, who is currently studying at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. Suffering from the falling U.S. dollar, Kevin goes Christmas shopping at the country’s strangest chain of bargain stores.

College inevitably breeds pseudo-intellectualism, and almost as inevitably is that single annoying student in your English class. Caitlin Boersma endures five of these ignoramuses in one class.

Exaggerated tabloid and website headlines often lead to stories that can’t live up to their promising titles. Nick Martens turns the tables on this situation and produces fittingly sensational tales for sensational headlines.

This is the ninth installment in a series of essays by globe-trotter Kevin Nguyen, who is currently studying at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. Many bands sing about change, but few ever really impact the country’s political climate. Inspired by a simple desire to make music, Czech psychedelic rock outfit the Plastic People of the Universe accidentally became directly responsible for the Velvet Revolution.