My Life in Lists

If I don't know you very well and I find myself in your house for the first time, I want you to know that I'll be looking through your cd collection and then your DVDs. There is nothing in your home that will tell me more about you than those two items. You and I might sit across from one another for five hours chatting about our pasts and our futures, but none of that will be as honest as whether or not you own a Debbie Gibson album and if you happen to own a Debbie Gibson album, is the album a cd or tape or record?
I've convinced people that I was a 21-year-old lion tamer and a 34-year-old truck driver in the same night.
How people relay their information means very little. What they say, means even less.
If you tell me your ten favorite movies and your ten favorite songs, I'll know you better than an hour of conversation would have allowed.


Which brings us directly to this little blog I've been working on. I started writing my eccelctic and often scrambled thoughts here in hopes of better understanding myself. And to some degree, that is still what I'm working towards. But somewhere along the line, it became about the various people that I discovered were reading my ecclectically scrambled thoughts. After a while, I realized it was important that they understand me too.
Here, in this blog, I've compiled and updated many of the numerous lists I have worked on with my closest friends. I believe that when it comes to pop-culture, my 100th favorite song is more precious to me than the absolute favorite song of most other people.
Is that good? Probably not. It certainly isn't important. But it does define me, which is comforting on many different levels.
So here, for your enjoyment and frustration: My Life In Lists.

The 100 Most Awesomest Movies EVER

100. The Incredibles (2004) 50. The Blues Brothers (1980)
99. Clueless (1994) 49. The Royal Tenenbaums (2002)
98. Philadelphia (1993) 48. Beetlejuice (1987)
97. Out of Sight (1998) 47. Moonlight Mile (2002)
96. Toy Story 2 (1999) 46. Sling Blade (1995)
95. The Odd Couple (1967) 45. Barton Fink (1991)
94. Kill Bill, pt.1 (2003) 44. Jurassic Park (1993)
93. Mean Streets (1973) 43. Jaws (1975)
92. Father Of the Bride (1991) 42. Rear Window (1954)
91. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939) 41. Do the Right Thing (1989)
90. Mister Roberts (1955) 40. Swingers (1995)
89. Old School (2003) 39. On the Waterfront (1954)
88. Lost In Translation (2003) 38. The Silence Of the Lambs (1991)
87. The Apostle (1997) 37. Apollo 13 (1995)
86. Boogie Nights (1997) 36. Pinocchio (1940)
85. Kill Bill, pt.2 (2004) 35. Cape Fear (1961)
84. Sunset Blvd. (1950) 34. Cape Fear (1991)
83. Jackie Brown (1997) 33. O Brother Where Art Thou? (2000)
82. His Girl Friday (1940) 32. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
81. Ocean's Eleven (2001) 31. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
80. Eyes Wide Shut (1999) 30. Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
79. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) 29. Toy Story (1995)
78. Noises Off! (1992) 28. A Christmas Story (1983)
77. High Fidelity (1999) 27. The Apartment (1960)
76. The Godfather (1972) 26. Bull Durham (1988)
75. Fight Club (1999) 25. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
74. There's Something About Mary (1998) 24. Taxi Driver (1976)
73. Eternal Sunshine Of A Spotless Mind (2004) 23. JFK (1991)
72. Dances With Wolves (1990) 22. Rushmore (1999)
71. Double Indemnity (1944) 21. Cast Away (2000)
70. Lolita (1962) 20. Natural Born Killers (1994)
69. The Graduate (1967) 19. American Buffalo (1995)
68. As Good As It Gets (1998) 18. When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
67. The Big Lebowski (1998) 17. A Perfect World (1993)
66. A Straight Story (1999) 16. Stand By Me (1986)
65. Vanilla Sky (2002) 15. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
64. Good Will Hunting (1998) 14. To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
63. Giant (1956) 13. The Seven-Year Itch (1955)
62. Albino Alligator (1996) 12. Back To the Future (1985)
61. Se7en (1995) 11. 12 Angry Men (1957)
60. The Quick and The Dead (1994) 10. Singin' In the Rain (1952)
59. Born On the 4th Of July (1987) 09. The Night Of the Hunter (1955)
58. Liar, Liar (1996) 08. Chicago (2002)
57. Goodfellas (1990) 07. Some Like It Hot (1959)
56. Casino (1995) 06. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
55. Ghost World (2001) 05. Almost Famous (1999)
54. Reservoir Dogs (1992) 04. Raging Bull (1980)
53. A Bronx Tale (1993) 03. Pulp Fiction (1994)
52. Dumbo (1941) 02. Ghostbusters (1984)
51. Fargo (1996) 01. Forrest Gump (1994)

Wierd statistical analysis of my unfortunate compulsion to rank everything:

* Of eveyone on this list, Robert DeNiro stars in the most films (8) with Tom Hanks behind him (4 and 2 voice-overs)

* Kevin Costner has the most films in the top 30 (3), but it should also be noted that there is no actor in history with a better six-year film career than Costner. Starting with 'Field Of Dreams' then 'Bull Durham', 'Dances With Wolves', 'JFK', Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves', and 'A Perfect World', no one has a better stint than him.

* Here's an oddity: The three most popular years in their respective decades were 1955 (3), 1975 (3) and 1995 (7). However, 1965(0), 1985 (1) and 2005 (0) were the three biggest duds in their respective decades. I can't wait until 2015!

* The average year-of-release date on the movies from this list is 1985.

* 21 of the movies on this list were released while I was in high school.

* 72f the movies on this list were released during my lifetime.

* 1981, 1982 and 2005 are the only three years of my lifetime not represented on this list. Thus proving my theory that nothing pop-culturally significant took place in 1981 or 1982. Nothing. I challenge you to find something.

* Billy Wilder and Quentin Tarantino lead the directors on this list with 5 films each. Martin Scorsese, Robert Zemeckis and The Coen Brothers are all tied for second with 4.

* I am often ousted by my friends and loved ones for not including the following on my list: 'Shrek', 'A Clockwork Orange', 'Star Wars', 'Indiana Jones' or any of the 'Lord Of the Rings' movies. No Woody Allen, Orson Welles, or John Ford.

* 1999 is the most represented year on this list (7) followed by 1995 and 1994 both with 6. It should also be noted that 1994 has 2 of my 3 favorite all-time films.

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Top 100 Songs To Download and Pretend You'd ALWAYS Liked Them

READER'S NOTE: Much of these songs' attraction to me can be explained in a previous blog entitled "Top 10 Things That Make A Kickass Song". If you haven't yet read that blog, I highly suggest you seeking it out and going through it, as you'll find the bulk of these songs follow those rules.


100.I Want To Help You Ann - The Lyres I'm not sure why Ann needs help, but her apparent distress served as the muse for this band's killer whammy-bar riff.
99. Little Willy - Sweet I think Willy was modeled after my sister, because whenever we went to family trips, she too would not go anywhere, would have to be chased down hallways, and when we tried tellin' everybody... it did nothing.
98. For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield
97. Worried Man Blues - The Carter Family
96. No Surrender - Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band 'No Surrender': "We busted out of class/ Had to get away from those fools/ We learned more from a three-minute record, baby/ Then we ever learned in schools" Paul Simon's 'Kodachrome': "When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school/ It's a wonder I can think at all". Do you think Bruce and Paul Simon hung out in high school and are singing about their secret friendship as hooky-playing Jersey hoodlums? Think about it.
95. Closer To You - The Wallflowers
94. Hey Mama - The Black Eyed Peas This song makes me think of Fergie pumping her hips like she's got a scorpion on her she's trying to shake off... and anything that makes me think of that is going to be on this list.
93. Houston - Dean Martin This is my "drunk" song. Everyone should have a drunk song; the song they sing as if they were drunk when they are actually sober and the song they sing well when they are actually drunk. It's mandatory to list your "drunk song" in your top 100, I listed mine at 93.
92. Cavaleria Rusticana Intermezzo Sinfonico - Pietro Mascagni Otherwise known as the 'Raging Bull theme'. You know it's gotta be pretty snazzy if I not only typed out that long as title, but spelled it all correctly.
91. Sh-Boom - The Chords. There was a black version and a "white" version, the white one was done by The Crew Cuts, and this version was better.
90. New York Groove - Ace Frehely Ace describes the beauty of the city and his Cadillac rides throughout the downtown area. Ace's belief in the awesomeness of New York is enough for me to believe that New York is, in fact, awesome. However, he never describes why he left the groove of New York in the first place.
89. Story Of My Life - Social Distortion
88. Tonight I Fell In Love - The Tokens What's that I hear? Clapping? Whopping? Bands dropping out? Only 1:48 minutes long? Yup. That's going on the list.
87. Pictures Of Lily - The Who The fact that somewhere in Shepard's Bush, England some 60-year-old woman named Lily has a song about some creepy kid that sat next to her in history class wrote about her, amuses me. I wish someone would write a song about masturbating while thinking about me.
86. Chain Of Fools - Aretha Franklin I did this in karaoke once. It didn't go well. Much respect to Ms. Franklin.
85. Mannish Boy - Muddy Waters The song consists mostly of Muddy spelling the words "man" and "boy" and somehow - miraculously - I still feel strong enough to rip a bus in half after hearing it!
84. Soul Meets Body - Death Cab For Cutie I think this song is about the lead singer (Mr. Deathcab) going crazy, leaving his body, coming back to sanity and being all turned around because of it. Which is a way trippy song considering I first heard it during a commercla break of 'Laguna Beach'.
83. You're Missing - Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
82. The Day After Tomorrow - Tom Waits These last two songs are written from the perspective of someone who has lost a loved one (Bruce) and who is fearing the loss of a loved one (Waits) due to the current military situation overseas. If all art strives for the immediate impact of song, than there are no two better examples than from these two economic songwriters.
81. 12:51 - The Strokes It's a Strokes song. I love all Strokes songs, but I never know what any of them are really about. I'm pretty sure 12:51 is not a Bible passage. I think 12:51 is the time the narrator finds the guts to call an ex-girlfriend and beg her to hang out with him on a Friday night. If that's what this song is about, than THAT is why I love the Strokes.
80. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) - Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band Rosie seems like a prude, and with the narrator of this song trying to woo her, who could blame her? He's standing at her window telling her everything that's wrong with him: All his friends are street-urchin hooligans, Rosie's parents hate him, but he nevertheless demands her to revolt against them, he's going to skip school, play some pool, and act real cool - so apparently he's not actually cool, he's just going to pretend he is. He hasn't any money, but he does have delusions of a record deal (which doesn't prevent his car from getting stuck in the swamp). I'm not sure if Rosalita actually came out that night, but if she did, I bet she didn't make it through the night.
79. Canon In D - Pachelbel
78. Gloria - Them Y'know it's damndest thing. I had a spelling test in 1st grade and one of my "think words" was Gloria. I couldn't, for the life of me, remember how to spell that proper noun. Then I turned on the radio...
77. Float On - Modest Mouse If this song were written in the 60's, it would have been written by Arlo Guthrie and called a "Hippie anthem". If it were written in the early 90s, Soul Asylum would have written it and it would have been called a "Slacker anthem". But it was written in 2004 and can only be called awesome.
76. State Trooper - Bruce Springsteen
75. Times Like These - The Foo Fighters Dave Grohl is confused as to whether he should love or run, be the bigger man or end it all in a fiery blaze. We are led to believe he choses the path of love, but who can tell 'cause he's always yellin' and stuff.
74. The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash I hope when all is said and done with the legend of Johnny Cash that his last five albums get their proper due as among the very best of his career. These American Recording series albums are among the most haunting of any bluesman and more powerful than even Johnny at his most raucous.
73. Working On the Highway - Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band How most people are feeling about seeing Springsteen's name on this list so many times is about how I feel everytime I read someone else's list and it has either Dylan, Nirvana or The Beatles listed ten or more times. Consider us even.
72. I Don't Wanna Grow Up - Tom Waits
71. Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan I've always wanted to be a cowboy and someday I might still move to Tex-Arkan and become one. If that time comes and I get shot by some poachers or maybe an evil sheriff, I hope they find me lying in the dirt so I can request they put my uneeded guns in the ground.
70. Highway Patrolman - Bruce Springsteen
69. Rebellion (Lies) - The Arcade Fire Arguably, the best anti-sleep song ever written. What lies are the Arcade Fire being told about sleeping, anyway?
68. The Line - Bruce Springsteen I adapted this song into a movie script that basically got me through the rest of film school. Thank-you, Bruce.
67. Shattered - The Rolling Stones A) I don't believe that Mich Jagger couldn't "give it away on 7th Avenue" (in 1978 or now) B) I don't know what "schmatter" means C) What was Ace Frehley doing that The Rolling Stones weren't in 1978, because they have two very dissenting opinions on the city of New York at that time. One's getting in a groove and the other is in tatters.
66. The Wind - Cat Stevens Cat Stevens changed his name to Yusaf Islam and plays a lot of tambourine, but before he went all nutty he created this song which wa used in both 'Rushmore' and 'Almost Famous' and for that, I'll let Yusaf slide.
65. Bangs - They Might Be Giants Ohmigod! I totally love bangs too. That's so funny. I totally like bangs and They Mght Be Giants totally like bangs. We should totally be friends and only date girls with bangs and only date girls because of their bangs! Sweet! They Might Be Giants might be too smart for their own good. This barely 3-minute-long song utilizes the words "prosedium", "auto-flyness", "congruent", and "incline". It also gives a proper shout-out to cute little pocket t-shirts.
64. Silhouettes - The Rays I've listened to this song since I was a wee lad, but it wasn't until about five years ago that I actually paid attention to the last verse. For years - years! - I thought this was a song about a guy getting cheated on. Turns out, it's a song about a dumbass who can't remember where his girlfriend lives! Awesome! AWESOME!
63. Only Sixteen - Sam Cooke You wanna feel really icky? Stand outside a highschool and sing this to yourself as all the students pass by.
62. Airline To Heaven - Billy Bragg & Wilco
61. Werewolves Of London - Warren Zevon Wait. I get confused, is there a werewolf in London or is there a dance-craze called "The Werewolf Of London"? Some little old lady got mutilated by something, but then... what was Lon Chaney doing?
60. S.O.B. - AC/DC
59. Fanfare For the Common Man - Aaron Copeland If apple pie, baseball and Ford vehicles could all manifest themselves into some sort of auditory collection of sounds - I bet it would resemble 'Fanfare For the Common Man'.
58. Roadrunner - Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers Okay it's real simple. He loves Massachusetts, highways at night, the moon, his radio. Hell, don't we all love that?
57. Dope Nose - Weezer This song is for the times that you wanna bust rhymes real slow. Thank you for that, Weez. There should be about 15 songs of Weezer's on this list, but I couldn't find room. There has never been a time when Dope Nose didn't make me go wild, so it's going to have to be my list's representative.
56. Reason To Believe - Bruce Springsteen
55. (Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Marry - Darlene Love Wouldn't we all be happier if we could be as sure as Darlene Love was in this song of the moment we see the person we should be with forever? I think that's why I love this song so much, it gives us all hope that this moment, even if for a very select few, actually exists. It's romantic. Unfortunately, I'm a sucker and I'm constantly humming this tune in my head at the bars, drunk off my ass, figuring it will magically cause the girl I'm going to marry to appear in a cloud of smoke. Note: this is not a genie's lamp, just a wonderful song.
54. Respect - Otis Redding Oh gosh! What's he doing? Does he know Aretha Franklin did this song too? He can't possibly prefer Otis' version over Aretha's, can he? Isn't that against some sort of rock ordinance? That's like preferring Dylan's version of 'All Along the Watchtower' to Jimi's. Well folks... Does Aretha Franklin's version of 'Respect' have the horn section that Otis' section has? No. Eat it.
53. Hey Tonight - Creedence Clearwater Revival Hmm, I don't think Fogerty is going to spread the gospel through the wee hours of the morning when he says, "Toni's gonna get religion all night long." Oh that crazy John Fogerty.
52. Kitty's Back - Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
51. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place - The Animals The ultimate disgruntled employee anthem. It coulda been written by Neil Young or Kurt Cobain. It crosses generations.
50. Wasted & Ready - Ben Kweller So much of this song is confusing to me. I haven't got a clue as to who the narrator of this song is, I haven't a clue who "X" is or why spaghetti reminds anyone of sex. I don't know what being "maxed out like a credit card" feels like or how people say more with their hands. But, somehow when you hear the term "wasted and ready" intermingling with that powerchord hook... it all becomes so clear.
49. Someday Never Comes - Creedence Clearwater Revival
48. Cadillac Ranch - Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
47. It's A Long Way To the Top (If You Want To Rock and Roll) - AC/DC Bagpipes. This song has bagpipes. Name another song with bagpipes. Not even ELO incorporated bagpipes in their songs and they were an entire orchestra of electric lights!
46. Born In the U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band When I was five years old, my dad made a mix tape for me that I kept until I was ten. Side 1 ,track 1 of that tape was this song. There will never be a time where this song is not a part of me.
45. Ride A White Swan - T-Rex If before you put this record on, you had told me that my favorite cut would be entitled 'Ride A White Swan', I would have unplugged the record player and hit you with the chord. But life is kooky and so are T-Rex. What's up with T-Rex anyway? Each of their songs has two or three lyrics that seem lucid and somewhat poignant and the rest of it is this la-la frou-frou mystic hippie shit. David Bowie would be ashamed... but also kinda proud.
44. Hang Onto Your Ego - The Beach Boys Technically, this is an outtake of the official version called 'I Know There's An Answer'. But that was Mike Love's version and this is Brian Wilson's version and it makes more sense in the context of 'Pet Sounds'.
43. Sweetness - Jimmy Eat World I've got no clue what this song is about; none at all. But I bet it's sweet and I know it allows me to scream a lot.
42. Cupid - Sam Cooke
41. Cold Cold Ground - Tom Waits
40. Hey Julie - Fountains Of Wayne If I were a girl named Julie and I dated a man working in an office cubicle all day, this is the song I'd hope he'd write for me one day whilst sitting in his cubicle.
39. Sweet Thing - Van Morrison
38. When A Man Loves A Woman - Percy Sledge I like this song because Percy Sledge provides us with a checklist of what is supposed to happen when someone like me falls in love witha woman. A lot of it is common sense, but I was unaware that I am expected to lose my best friend if my best friend ever happened to put her down. And here I assumed I was only expected to mediate a face-to-face between the two, in hopes of letting them hash it out on their own.
37. Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf This used to be my absolute favorite song of all-time. But you know what? There are a solid two minutes of wasted time in it, that I find inexcuseable. It cannot be in my top 30 with two minutes of time wherein I zone out and start thinking about my groceries or laundry or whatever. Edit Steppenwolf, edit.
36. The Weight - The Band This song is not called "Take A Load Off Fannie". Fannie (whom in the song is actually named Annie) was removing her weight, her load, if you will. The weight is southern living, I think. But not wealthy Rhett Butler, mint-julep southern living, but toothless, moonshine, William Faulkner southern living.
35. Hoe Down! (from 'Rodeo') - Aaron Copeland Beef: It's what's for dinner. 'Hoe Down!': it's what's for kickassitude.
34. More Than A Feeling - Boston Why does Massachusetts get such a cool band? That's an awful lot of pressure to represent a whole damn metropolis. Do you suppose Illinois is dissappointed with their band Chicago and Kansas is dissappointed in Kansas?
33. Hey Ya! - Outkast There are songs that will never leave you, will always remind you of a time, a place, a feeling. This song might not be Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Woody Guthrie or Nirvana, but it's ours. For better or for worse, this song became bigger than a radio hit, it became a timepiece.
32. Badlands - Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band Rarely do songs have a heartbeat after the song is over. Songs like this are why I kinda hope I never make lots of money. Because there will be a part of me that is counterfeit for singing it. Even Bruce is counterfeit for continuing to sing this song. This is a working man's song, a loser's song, a desperate song. The passionate side of me never wants to let that go.
31. L.A. Woman - The Doors I know it's wrong to say this, but this song really makes me want to drink an entire bottle of tequila and immediately write a song, because I think that's what Jim Morrison did. And not only that, as I can only understand 2/3 of the lyrics, I think he recorded the song before the tequila wore off. Assuming the tequila ever wore off with Morrison.
30. Hurricane - Bob Dylan Brilliant storytelling from a brilliant storyteller.
29. Tulane - Chuck Berry
28. Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran I'm a sucker for the baritone-voices interrupting oldies songs. "You can't take the car, because you didn't work late!"
27. Slow Ride - Foghat Foghat's not just a bunch of dudes in long beards and paperboy caps. No sir, they are a society of philosophical thinkers as well. They take our most base emotions and splay them out for us to ponder. 1) Take it easy. 2) Get your lovin' more than once 3) Rolling all night is simple as long as you move to the music. See? Simple. Zen.
26. Surfer Girl - The Beach Boys I'll tell you, after I found out that "woody" has several different meanings, it really changed many, many meanings of these Beach Boys songs. "In my woody, I will take you everywhere I go." I pictured something like an R-rated kangaroo.
25. Sinnerman - Nina Simone
24. Voodoo Child (slight return) - Jimi Hendrix If you don't get it, you never will.
23. We Will Rock You - Queen Do you hear the clapping? The stomping? The stomping and clapping? Yeah. You hear it. Everyone hears it.
22. Misirilou - Dick Dale & His Del-Tones This makes me want to drive fast. Drive fast or pick a fight with someone smaller and more of a physical coward than myself. Either way, it's a song to win by.
21. My True Story - The Jive-Five Earl loved Lorraine and Sue loved Earl and the moral of that story is that if you've got the blues, it's best to cry them away. Oh, and also, Earl is actually the narrator and Sue is actually the girl he's singing to. Pretty sweet twist, huh? God I love the 50's.
20. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' - The Righteous Brothers This song is so heartbreakingly saccharine, that 'Top Gun' felt the need to ruin it for every meathead wanting to woo some girl by singing it to her. Take that Righteous Brothers!
19. Moonlight Mile - The Rolling Stones
18. Be My Baby - The Ronettes Now seems as good of a time as any to mention that Phil Spector has 4 songs in my top 20, a feat that only Springsteen could accomplish. There was no better producer in the history of music. His use of castanettes alone deserves special mention.
17. I Love Rock 'n' Roll - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts This song doesn't really need to exist for me to even enjoy it, the title alone puts it in my top 50. The fact that there's sweet riffs and stuff is all gravy.
16. God Only Knows - The Beach Boys I can't explain why exactly, and maybe that's a good thing, but this song makes me think of my childhood, puppy loves, and fatherhood all at once, simultaneously. Usually all of these thoughts leave me weeping and huddled in a corner, but for some reason, its okay when The Beach Boys make it happen.
15. Smalltown - John Mellencamp
14. Then He Kissed Me - The Crystals
13. Stand By Me - Ben E. King
12. Tangerine - Led Zeppelin
11. Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who
10. Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band. Best. Street. Address. EVER!
09. Bring It On Home To Me - Sam Cooke No singers voice makes more of an impact on a song than Sam's voice. I've listened to classic songs of his (including this none) without his voice and they're boring at best. Try one of his songs in karaoke and see how awful it sounds. I dare you.
08. Incident On 57th Street - Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
07. I Wonder Why - Dion & The Belmonts Can I get a whoop-whoop for doo-wop; or should I say a dip-dip-dip, wah-whoop whoop?
06. Da Doo Ron Ron - The Crystals
05. Glory Days - Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band Wait. A curveball curves. A Fastball travels fast. What the hell does a "speedball" do. No wonder his highschool friend made everyone look like a fool when he threw that pitch - no one had ever seen anything like it!
04. Up Around the Bend - Creedence Clearwater Revival Absolute best opening riff in rock history and one of the best songs to burn down country roads to.
03. Baba O'Riley - The Who "Baba" is some sort of mystical nickname given to Irish healers. 'O'Riley' is the name of Pete Townshend's mentors who guided him through his demons. This song is so good, I'm willing to completely ignore all that bullshit and air-violin for nearly seven minutes!
02. Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry Every Chuck Berry song sounds like either this or 'Maybelline'. The man wrote over 200 songs and they all sounds like one of these two. You know why? 'Cause it's the second best sound in the history of auditory registers. They shot this song up into space along with Mozart. You hear me? Mozart, for Godssake!
01. Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band C'mon. Who didn't see this coming?

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Top 20 Shows My Mother Wished I Never Watched

20. P(ardon).T(he). I(nterruption)
19. Picket Fences
18. The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
17. The Dukes Of Hazzard
16. Mad About You
15. Perfect Strangers
14. The Muppet Show
13. Saturday Night Live
12. Survivor
11. Six Feet Under
10. Seinfeld
09. Baseball Tonight
08. Muppet Babies
07. The Real World
06. The Gilmore Girls
05. The Simpsons
04. Lost
03. The Sopranos
02. The Wonder Years
01. Homicide: Life On the Street

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My Favorite 30 Books That I Can Remember Reading

30. Fargo Rock City by Chuck Klosterman
I don't particularly care for most hair metal bands from the 80's and early 90's and this book is basically a meditation on just that, which must mean that Chuck Klosterman is a helluva clever writer. Anyone who can get me to care about Ratt and L.A. Guns and Lita Ford should be mentioned on this list.
29. Lindbergh by A. Scott Berg
Charles Lindbergh is one of my favorite figures in history, this Pulitzer winner confines his unimaginable life in a wholly readable way.
28. A Light In August by William Faulkner
The first of seven books I read by William Faulkner. This represented who I was in college. I didn't get along with most of my classmates and so instead of having peers dare me to drink ten beers in an hour or squeeze some stranger's butt, I befriended my professors and they dared me to read nothing but Faulkner all summer. I did and it was worth it.
27. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
Zinn doesn't write sins, he writes tragedies, otherwise known as American history from the perspective of the tired, hungry and poor. It's not a tome of truth, but it's just as important as any textbook our high schools forced upon us.
26. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
25. Civility by Stephen S. Carter
I've always had a soft spot for sociological studies and ruminations on human behavior. This meditates on why we're so damn rude to one another.
24. Rolling Nowhere by Ted Conover
Undercover journalist Conover has made a career of becoming something for a year and then writing a book about his experience. This one has the author assuming the life of a trainrail hobo. Fascinating life.
23. Killing Yourself To Live: 85 Percent Of A True Story by Chuck Klosterman
22. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
The first tableau that give creedence to the desire for list-making (!). The best fiction makes it's reader feel as if they are being directly communicated with, Hornby captured this feeling. He mentioned Springsteen three times!
21. The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini
20. Republic by Plato
Chicks dig Socrates
19. Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer
18. Moneyball by Michal Lewis
I imagine that this is the only business-related book I'll ever read. to be fair, it's about the business of baseball and thinking outside of the box. A wonderful read for baseball fans, an awful read for business-hating, sports-detractors.
17. Newjack by Ted Conover
This one takes Conover to Sing-Sing prison as a guard. I hope to be this type of journalist someday. Maybe once I mature and stop watching MTV.
16. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
If you haven't read this book, you must. If you have kids and they haven't read this book, you must read it to them. And if you've read this children's classic and don't like it... well then, you can go straight to Hell!
15. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
My literary colleague Sammy "butterblade" Nekrosius, seems to think that Streets Of Loredo is a better portion of this trilogy and although I'll agree that it's a fine book, everything that Dead Man's Walk and Streets Of Loredo built, was in some way put to rest or set aflame by the trilogy's finale. I always prefer tension release to tension mount, but neither are very fun without the other.
14. An American Dream by Norman Mailer
Dude tosses his wife out of a Goddamned window! and that happens in the first three chapters! Badass.
13. The Corner by David Simon and Edward Burns
A great miniseries and even better journalistic endeavor of Baltimore's (and America's) drug culture.
12. The Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters
Technically it is considered poetry, but it is more like 120 small vignettes written from the grave of townspeople from the fictitious Spoon River. Complicated and extremely clever.
11. A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius by David Eggers
Ugh. I hate David Eggers and, in fact, disliked this book the first time I read it. The fact remains however, that there are some people that have enough passion walled up inside them, that no matter who they are or what they do, that they can will you to feel what they feel. This book felt like an anthem of our times, expressing so very much of what people in and around my age feel and are afraid or unable to articulate. This book means a lot of things to a lot of people, including - begrudgingly - myself.
10. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
09. Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman
If I were to write a book tomorrow, this is the BEST version of the book I would write.
08. Straight Man by Richard Russo
07. Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
Possibly his least known book, but also probably his grossest and most disturbing.
06. King Bidgood's In the Bathtub by Don & Audrey Wood
Best illustrations of any book in the world... that I know of, anyway. Story is cute too.
05. Catcher In the Rye by J.D. Salinger
04. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
03. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
One of my favorite fictions and a big lender to many of my personal philosophies on life. "At least I tried, Goddammit. At least I did that much."
02. Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Smalltown America is never better than it is in the pages of fiction written by people from New England. I'm just saying.
01. Homicide: A Year On the Killing Streets by David Simon
I read this book five years ago and it has since dictated the trajectory of my professional goals. Great book, great show, great execution, wholly engaging and fascinating. Perfect.

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TOP 25 SONGS of 2005

25. THE BIG ONE - Nellie McKay
24. GET RIGHT - J.Lo
23. HEY MAMA - Kanye West
22. MY STYLE - Black Eyed Peas
21. OFF THE RECORD - My Morning Jacket
20. LYLA - Oasis
19. HELL YES - Beck
18. BLUE ORCHID - The White Stripes
17. I PREDICT A RIOT - The Kaiser Chiefs
16. IN THE MORNING - The Coral
15. HERE HE COMES (CONFESSIONS OF A DRUNKEN MARIONNETTE) - The Wallflowers
14. BE EASY - Ghostface Killuh
13. THE FALLEN - Franz Ferdinand
12. GOOD PEOPLE - Jack Johnson
11. SPORTING LIFE - The Decemberists
10. WE GOT TO LEAVE - The Ceasars
09. THE OTHER WAY - Weezer
08. GOODNIGHT, GOODNIGHT - Hot Hot Heat
07. ALL I'M THINKIN' ABOUT - Bruce Springsteen
06. IT'S NOT THE FALL THAT HURTS - The Ceasars
05. MY DOORBELL - The White Stripes
04. PICKIN' IT UP - Hot Hot Heat
03. THE HITTER - Bruce Springsteen
02. GOLDDIGGER (feat. Jamie Foxx) - Kanye West
01. SOUL MEETS BODY - Death Cab for Cutie

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2005

10. TWIN CINEMA - The New Pornographers
09. MAKE BELIEVE - Weezer
08. LATE REGISTRATION - Kanye West
07. PICARESQUE - The Decemberists
06. GET BEHIND ME SATAN - The White Stripes
05. GUERO - Beck
04. MONKEY BUSINESS - The Black Eyed Peas
03. ELEVATOR - Hot Hot Heat
02. DEVILS & DUST - Bruce Springsteen
01. PAPER TIGERS - The Caesars

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Ugh. So there you have it. You now know more about me than the thirty blogs I've previously written combined. And now that you do, I can only say, it was nice knowin' you.