A List a Day

They Call Me the Seeker
I'm back from three weeks in the sun and suffering from the effects of missed deadlines, stacks of bills, a lost cell phone (traveling with a family of four and roughly 15 bags, I suppose I should be thankful that was all I lost), and a 60-plus degree temperature drop. Thank you to those of you who kept checking in and apologies if some of the coming posts have been blogged to death, but I'll try to get back in the swing of things.

Here are some lists I happened upon at the airport newsstand. First, it's another boring, self-important list from Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jann Wenner. This time it's The 50 Greatest Artists of All Time. All the usual suspects dominate the list (Bobby Dylan, the Beatles), as well they should, but the twist is actual artists do the writing this time, or at least attach their names to the essays. For instance, Elvis Costello tackles the Beatles, while Bono opines on the other Elvis, and Coldplay's Chris Martin takes on Bono's band. You can read the top 10 online, but you have to shell out $6 to read 11-50, which may be worth it just to read Brit's essay on Madonna.

Apparently Premiere Magazine is still being published, and, this month they're listing The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. The list isn't online, and having contributed thousands to the Arizona economy, I was committed to reading the leftovers from the Sunday Times, so other than Bonnie Parker, as saucily interpreted by Mrs. John Stamos on the cover, I can't recall who else made the list. If you have a copy, feel free to leave some nuggets in the comments area.

I did pick up a discarded USA Today in the terminal and I learned that Charlottesville, Va., is the best place to live in the USA today, according to the new book Cities Ranked & Rated. Rounding out the top 10 are: 2. Santa Fe, 3. San Luis Obispo, Calif., 4. Santa Barbara, Calif., 5. Honolulu, 6. Ann Arbor, Mich., 7. Atlanta, 8. Asheville, N.C., 9. Reno, and 10. Corvallis, Ore. I'm pleased to see the place I called home from 1986-90 at No. 6, but Chicago at No. 155, 148 spots below Atlanta? >

Standing on a Corner in Winslow, Arizona...
Well, actually I am sitting in a Borders in Scottsdale, Arizona, taking advantage of T-Mobile's one-day largesse in allowing me to escape the nightmare that is dial-up. Anyway, for the dozen or so of you who keep checking in just to make sure I'm not dead, I thought you deserved some lists.

List: The 25 Television Shows that TV Majors Should Know (and Pretty Much Everybody Else)
Comment: No Letterman?

List: Seven-Plus Errors in Jason Blair's Book
Comment: Blair? Please, bring me the head of Jack Kelley.

List: Britain Loves Barry
Comment: Further evidence of the American Idolization of culture?

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Funny, Ha-Ha
Stereogum and Adam both weigh in on EW's list of the 25 Funniest People.>

Virgil, Quick, Come See
The Sun-Times may have pegged the Batmobile as the top TV car, but according to McKeel Hagerty, president of Hagerty Insurance, a Traverse City, Mich.-based firm that specializes in collector car insurance, Bo and Luke's General Lee is Hollywood's No. 1 car. Still in Scottsdale (through the end of the month), so sorry for the sporadic updates.>

Take Off Your Rainbow Shades
Blogging from beautiful Scottsdale, where a corner without a mall isn't a corner. Found the In 'N Out Burger yesterday, though, so things are going well. Anyway, I'm breaking in my new Dell and using dial-up, so expect things to be slow round these parts the rest of the month.

In list news, EW has anointed Chris Rock as The Funniest Man Alive. The whole list is guarded behind the EW iron gates, accessible only to those with AOL or for print subscribers, but as a service to you, the reader, the top 10 are:

1. Rock

2. Jon Stewart and the Daily Show gang

3. Will Ferrell

4. Larry David

5. Dave "I'm Rick James, Bitch" Chappelle

6. Ellen DeGeneres

7. Bill Murray

8. Amy and David Sedaris

9. Robert Smigel

10. Jim Carrey

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Bad Company
From Amazon:

Customers who bought titles by Jayson Blair also bought titles by these authors:

Stephen Glass

Michael Wolff

Joe Eszterhas

Ken Auletta

Arthur Gelb

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I'd Like to Thank the Academy
Today is PHANTASTIC LIST FRIDAY! at McSweeney's. Be sure to scroll down to the third featured list, which was submitted by one damn clever fellow.>

What's New Pussycat?
Quick, who is the greatest Welshman or Welshwoman of all time? Chances are, the first person you think of is Tom Jones, but then you dismiss the thought, thinking surely there's a greatest hero to the people of Wales than the gyrating lounge singer. Well, now that we have a definitive list of 100 Welsh Heroes, I'm glad to say Jones is not Wales top hero--he's No. 3, behind Aneurin Bevan and Owain Glyndwr, who chances are you have not heard of if you're not Welsh. Others Welshers of note: Richard Burton (No. 4), Dylan Thomas (No. 7), Mike Peters of the Alarm (No. 11), Catherine Zeta Jones of the cell-phone commercials (No. 13), Phil Campbell of Motorhead (No. 20), Roald Dahl (No. 35), King Arthur (No. 70), Laura Ahley (No. 72), and John Cale (No. 93 or 82 spots behind the guy who wrote "Sixty-Eight Guns"). All 100 are listed here.

And speaking of Wales, they're feeling a little pissed at futbol great Pele, who in naming his Top 125 Living Soccer Players, didn't deem a single Welshman worthy. Of course, he managed to piss off people in his own countrymen and women, too. The only Americans on the list, were women's stars Mia Hamm and Michelle Akers.>

If They Would Have Been Just Humorous and Not Plush Finger Puppets, It Would Have Sufficed
Is there any better annual list than Passover's Ten Plagues? Well, just in case the impact of blood, lice, vermin, etc. is losing its impact at your seder table, you can liven things up with these Ten Plagues Finger Puppets. Me, I'm upgrading to the Plush Plagues Bag, which includes "a very sad head - for death of the first born." Mock all you will, but before you do remember this (talk abou the "passion," um, Jesus maybe next time you can just tell and not show Timmy how to hit the ball) and this.
Link via Best Week Ever.>

To the Batmobile
In honor of the big-screen remake of "Starsky and Hutch," (Side note: Is it me or are you really starting to hate Ben Stiller. I know he's playing a role as the sour guy on "Curb" or at the Oscars, but that whole persona seems like its replaced what vestiges of his real personality remained after all the lousy film roles he's taken over the years.), the Chicago Sun-Times TV critic list's Television's 20 Greatest Cars, starting with Wayne Manor's wheels and including K.I.T.T. and the Partridge Family Bus. And read the small print before you get yourself lathered up about the omissions of the Mach IV, the Simpsons' station wagon, or Scoob and the gang's Mystery Van--cartoon vehicles were not eligible. I will say that I think George Costanza's LeBaron convertible, you know, the car once owned by Jon Voight, deserved higher than honorable mention. >

Dude, I'm Getting a Dell!
That's the good news. The bad news is it took me most of the day to figure out which one to get (an Inspiron 5100, for those scoring at home), so nothing new again today. >

Still Here...
Late nights (the Oscars, followed by a Monday of insomnia which a "The Lizzie McGuire Movie" and "Brining Down the House" twofer didn't ever cure), actual work deadlines, and a vague feeling of sickness, have contributed to the lack of blogging the last few days, but I'll try to make up for it tomorrow. Fair warning to the dozen or so regulars, I'm on a psuedo vacation from the 9th to the 30th this month, so during that time blogging will be the very definition of sporadic. And unless I can find a decent notebook in the $800 range in the next few days, blogging will be next to impossible.>