40 things that only happen in the movies
40 things that only happen in the movies. “All beds have special L-shaped sheets that reach to armpit level on a woman but only up to the waist of the man lying beside her.”
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kottke.org posts about lists
Summer reading list from Edge
Summer reading list from Edge. I think I would have rather seen a list of recommendations from Edge members rather than their books. Gee, Dawkins writing on evolution? Didn’t see that coming…
Charley Rosen’s picks for all-time best NBA shooting guards
Charley Rosen’s picks for all-time best NBA shooting guards. Not surprisingly, Jordan tops the list.
Table of contents for The Complete Norton
Table of contents for The Complete Norton Anthology of Emily Dickinson, Post-Zoloft Prescription. Includes “Oh, the ice cubes are melting” and “Today’s a good day for stuff”.
Thirteen favorite albums of the last twenty years
Spin magazine’s recent list of the best albums from the last twenty years (as well as MSNBC’s alternate list) got me thinking about what my favorites list from that era might look like. Since I’m not Spin and my musical opinion doesn’t carry any weight, I felt free to list what I like, influenced me, continue to find enjoyable, and will still listen to in the future instead of what’s actually good…whatever good means.
In rough chronological order and briefly annotated:
- Nevermind, Nirvana - As I’ve mentioned before, I was a late bloomer musically. Nothing outside of Casey Kasem and his Top 40 countdown existed for me when I was a kid. And when you’re listening to music like that, it’s hard to get excited about music in general…I was pretty much apathetic about the whole thing. My freshman year in college, a guy on my floor got a nice stereo system for Christmas and when he threw on Smells Like Teen Spirit, that was it. I’m sure the bands and songs that opened your mind to the possibilities of music and life were a lot better, but you can’t really choose how/why/when/where that happens.
- Rave ‘Til Dawn, Various - This is the worst album on the list but may be the most influential in terms of my future listening habits. For a kid who grew up in the country and went to college in a small Iowa city, hearing rave music for the first time was a complete revelation for me. I had no idea people were making music like this, so fast, so joyous, so unlike anything that anyone I knew would enjoy listening to. I loved it immediately and have been a huge fan of electronica ever since.
- The Chronic, Dr. Dre - Introducing Snoop Doggy Dogg, probably my favorite rapper. So smooth. And Dre’s beats are among the best in the business.
- Siamese Dream, Smashing Pumpkins - College junior, couldn’t get laid…isn’t this what I was supposed to be listening to?
- The Downward Spiral, Nine Inch Nails - I still tell anyone who will listen that Closer is one of the best pop songs ever made. Pretty Hate Machine was probably the better album, but I fell in like with this one first.
- Entroducing…, DJ Shadow - One of the most solid debut albums in the past 20 years.
- Orblivion, The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds is my favorite song from The Orb, but Orblivion is the album I’ll never get tired of. Saw them spin/play live in Minneapolis once and when Toxygene came on, it was almost religion.
- Homework, Daft Punk - Around the World is my answer to the question, “if you were stranded on a desert island and could only take one song with you, what would it be?” I’ve probably listened to it about a thousand times in the past 8 years and I’m still not sick of it.
- OK Computer, Radiohead - Somehow it wasn’t until mid-2000 that I heard this album (old habits die hard), but it didn’t take long to become a favorite. Still their best…although I haven’t given their earlier stuff the attention everyone I know says it deserves. Radiohead = favorite band.
- Bedrock, John Digweed - Cheesy trance music, but I love it. This album reminds me of my (then) new Jetta and fine times in Minneapolis.
- Agaetis Byrjun, Sigur Ros - I found Sigur Ros while poking around on Napster looking for an advanced copy of Radiohead’s Amnesiac. Boy, I thought, this Amnesiac album is going to be fantastic, but what happened to the vocals? Oh, heh.
- Boards of Canada, Geogaddi - I can’t remember how I found out about Boards of Canada. Online somewhere probably, downloading mp3s off of Limewire or something. After hearing a few songs, I immediately procured Geogaddi and Music Has The Right To Children from my nearest CD shop. Fantastic stuff…they make me wish I could make music.
- Give Up, The Postal Service - Might be too early to tell, but I think this is a classic.
Conclusions: I seem to like all sorts of music, but the common thread is the mainstream-ness of these albums; they’re typically the most popular examples of a particular genre, style, or time period. Gangsta rap wasn’t that mainstream at the time, but The Chronic went multi-platinum. Nevermind was grunge for the mainstream, and The Downward Spiral was one of the few industrial albums to make it big. The same for Rave ‘Til Dawn, Daft Punk, DJ Shadow, Smashing Pumpkins, and Sigur Ros, if to a lesser extent.
Some film directors’ top ten movies lists
Some film directors’ top ten movies lists. Directors Michael Mann, Sam Mendes, Cameron Crowe, Quentin Tarantino, and others choose their favorite films.
In celebration of its 125th anniversary, Science
In celebration of its 125th anniversary, Science magazine has a list of the 125 biggest questions facing science over the next 25 years. “How did cooperative behavior evolve?”; “Do deeper principles underlie quantum uncertainty and nonlocality?”; “What is the universe made of?”
Authorial Candy Bars, with Their Respective Tag
Authorial Candy Bars, with Their Respective Tag Lines, That Weren’t as Successful as the Oh Henry! Candy Bar. “Mrs. Dalloway Treats — ‘Woolf these down!’” and “Chaucer Sweet Cheese Bar — ‘Of harmes two the lesse is for to cheese.’”
Future winners of the New Yorker cartoon caption contest
Future winners of the New Yorker cartoon caption contest. “I love being wealthy in the Hamptons.”
Food and Wine magazine’s list of the
Food and Wine magazine’s list of the ten best new chefs in America.
AFI’s top 100 movie quotes
AFI’s top 100 movie quotes. Anything missing from the list or something that should be dropped?
Spin names Radiohead’s OK Computer the best
Spin names Radiohead’s OK Computer the best album from the last 20 years.
Money Magazine on the 50 smartest things you
Money Magazine on the 50 smartest things you can do with your money. Also includes a list of 15 dumb things to avoid.
A man’s letter to the music industry
A man’s letter to the music industry detailing what he’s stolen from them and why. “I refuse to pay you to play these pointless games with arbitrary dates and obsolete borders.”
A blueprint for the writing process: “Sniff.
A blueprint for the writing process: “Sniff. Explore. Collect. Focus. Select. Order. Draft. Revise.”.
A list of weeds you might see on the subway
A list of weeds you might see on the subway. Including iPodpea, Prickly Metscap, Mumblecane, Dozing Slabface, and Edgy Sweatnettle.
Rebecca is compiling a list of summer reading lists for 2005
Rebecca is compiling a list of summer reading lists for 2005.
How to avoid the exhausting planning and
How to avoid the exhausting planning and preparation that goes into making a second date. “This means small talk like, ‘after 6 hits while locked in my room meditating, I basically blew a fuse,’ is not exactly the combination to the master vault at U.S. Pussy Savings & Loan.”
20 things gamers want from the next generation of game consoles
20 things gamers want from the next generation of game consoles. “Seriously, get rid of the crates” and “don’t bullshit me about your graphics”.
Pickup Lines Used by Mario [of Mario Bros. fame]
Pickup Lines Used by Mario [of Mario Bros. fame]. “Are you a magic flower? Because you are burning me up.”
Some great tips on grilling
Some great tips on grilling. “And if you think this takes a lot of time and concentration, you’re right. There’s time enough for socializing later. Do you want to grill an excellent steak or not? Okay, then. Concentrate.”
Twelve ways to think differently
Twelve ways to think differently. “Twelve methods that will exercise parts of your brain that rarely get it, and make you more creative and better able to understand the world.”
The top 100 movie voices
The top 100 movie voices. Peter Sellers should really be higher on the list.
Merriam-Webster has compiled a list of words
Merriam-Webster has compiled a list of words that aren’t yet in the dictionary, but are in widespread use anyway. “cognitive displaysia (n): the feeling you have before you even leave the house that you are going to forget something and not remember it until you’re on the highway”.
Movies that have been considered the greatest ever
Movies that have been considered the greatest ever.
50 Things to Do with Your iPod
50 Things to Do with Your iPod. Besides listen to music with those white earbuds.
50 things every foodie should do at some
50 things every foodie should do at some point in their life.
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