I'll throw something recent into the mix: Land of Lisp. Build a HTTP server, DSLs for producing HTML and SVG, a quirky game, and then combine all 3 to build a quirky web-based game that renders the game board using SVG. And that's just scratching the surface. Lisp and LoL make programming fun.

See also: _why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby, Nobody Knows Shoes.