Let's get through as many as we can...

• Kelsey Mitchell throws out first pitch at tonight's Reds game - I taught her!
• John Kasich: "We Shouldn't Try to Fix Climate Change Because That's the Creator's Wish" - The Republican side is a wasteland of people I can't stand.
• Donald Trump solemnly promises he will "change tone" after he's elected president - See note immediately above...
• In defense of puns - I love puns.

2015's first half lists

One of my great musical struggles is finding new music. It's easy to buy the new Wilco, Richard Thompson, Ryan Adams, Avett Brothers, and a few others, but it's not going to help me expand my musical horizons.

Thankfully, NPR is helping me out. I particularly recommend the Songs we love 2015 (so far) link. It's a whole bunch of playlists

• NPR Music's 25 favorite albums of 2015 (so far)
• Your favorite musical discoveries of 2015 (so far)
• Here's the best music of 2015 (so far), and the best of what's to come
• Songs we love 2015 (so far)

Ranking John Cusack's films

Man, John Cusack has been in A LOT of films. I mean, he's no Christopher Plummer or anything, but he's been a bunch of films.

Let's break them down.

His films that are excellent...(best at the top, worst at the bottom)

• Grosse Pointe Black (1997) - This is phenomenally rewatchable. It's funny and creative and nostalgic. Minnie Driver is great. Dan Aykroyd might've had his last enjoyable performance here. Excellent
• High Fidelity (2000) - JC's last great film and one I would put in the running for his finest. The speech patter fits him perfectly. The part is brilliant. The lead couple have great chemistry. Wonderful film. 
• Better Off Dead (1985) - It's not perfect. It's badly dated. It's loads and loads of fun from start to finish. From the awesome claymation to his best friend appraising the street value of the mountain of snow to apologizing for blowing up Ricky's mom to the Franch dinner...hilarious.
• Eight Men Out (1988) - Cusack plays one of the disgraced Black Sox in an excellent film. It's certainly not my favorite of his, but it's pretty excellent.
• Being John Malkovich (1999) - It hasn't aged well, but it was absolutely stunning at the time. There aren't a lot of films this weird, original, and creative. Had I rated it when I first saw it, I probably would've had it a couple of spots higher.
• Say Anything (1989) - This one feels so very much older than the late 1980's. It feels like early 80's to me. Hard to believe this was the end of early JC. By the time he got here and played high school Lloyd Dobler, he was already 23 (at least as of the date of the movie's release).
• The Sure Thing (1985) - I thought this would've come along a little later in his oeuvre. Cute, workable romantic comedy with the ever-cute Daphne Zuniga in the other lead role.

His films that I acknowledge aren't perfect but that I enjoy...(best at the top, worst at the bottom)

• Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) - I was shocked to find hoe much I enjoyed this one. And I give JC credit for not putting himself into the sequel. In act, I wonder if Cusack has put himself into a single sequel. Off hand, I can't think of any. Let's put a pin in that and come back to it.
• The Ice Harvest (2005) - Saw this one in the theater and enjoyed the dark tone for a movie centered around the Christmas season. Plus it has Oliver Platt who is pretty much always hilarious. Lots of double crosses and distrust...
• Bob Roberts (1992) -  If you check this one out, you might want to hit up Don't Look Back first because it is rife with Bob Dylan references. If you get them, it's hilarious. If not, it might just come off as a bit foolish.
• Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) - Highly fictionalized account of the Manhattan Project. Shoehorn in a love story, a little bare-handed handling of two uranium core halves. Interesting stuff, at least.
• Pushing Tin (1999) - Interesting film about a romantic rivalry between two air traffic controllers (JC and Billy Bob Thornton). Decent enough flick.
• Serendipity (2001) - The initiator of this post...it's not a good film, but it's an enjoyable film - mostly because of JC and Jeremy Piven. The writing - dozens of 'almost got together' rolling throughout the film - isn't awful, either. In the end, it's a confection - sweet but ultimately not entirely satisfying.
• Tapeheads (1988) - Not a good film but very much a fun one of an era. Tim Robbins and JC star as a couple of music video producers who are all set to become big men in the nascent video industry. It impressively dated but kinda fun.

His films that are passable, at best...(best at the top to worst at the bottom)

• The Grifters (1990) - Well, here's a dark one. Conman gets conned and double conned by pretty girl and creepy mother.
• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) - This one hasn't stuck with me all that well, but I do remember that I saw it once. Kevin Spacey chews scenery here like he is spectacular at doing.
• Road to Wellville (1994) - Apparently JC got away without putting out a film in 1995. That's his third such year working backwards. Interesting take on the Battle Creek enema crowd and the birth of Corn Flakes.
• Must Love Dogs (2005) - I'd entirely forgotten that I'd even seen this one. Then I looked up JC on my blog and found that I'd even reviewed it. Not a boon there, but apparently it was enjoyable enough fluff.
• War, Inc (2008) - There are a few neat scenes, but this isn't a good film. Hillary Duff's part, in particular is impressively trashy with an hilarious Eastern European accent.
• Bullets Over Broadway (1994) - I remember falling asleep a few times while I watched this. That's about all I've got here.

His films I haven't seen...(chronological order here, reverse-style)...I'm curious as to which of these I should check out. Any advice?

• Reclaim (2014)
  
• Love & Mercy (2014)
• The Prince (2014)
• Drive Hard (2014)
• Maps to the Stars (2014)
• The Bag Man (2014) - seriously? six movies released in 2014?
• No Somos Animales (2013)
• Grand Piano (2013)
• The Frozen Ground (2013)
• Adult World (2013)
• The Numbers Station (2013) - The dude is not afraid to work. I'll give him that much.
• The Factory (2012)
• The Raven (2012)
• Shanghai (2010) - How did he go a full year (2011) without putting out a single film?
• 2012 (2009)
• Igor (2008) - Working backwards, this is JC's first animated flick.
• Martian Child (2007)
• 1408 (2007) - This is the first one working backwards that actually interests me.
• Grace is Gone (2007)
• The Contract (2006) - JC's only 2006 release
• Runaway Jury (2003) - Again, a year off for 2004 for JC. This Grisham-penned flick actually sounds like it might be worth checking out.
• Identity (2003) - IMDB users give it an aggregate 7.3/10 which is a fair bit higher than most of the films that I've listed above. I remember seeing previews of this one and understanding that it's got a big reveal at the end, but I never got around to seeing it.
• Max (2002) 
• America's Sweethearts (2001)
• Cradle Will Rock (1999)
• This is My Father (1998)
• Anastasia (1997) - another animated flick
• Con Air (1997)
• City Hall (1996)
• Floundering (1994) - Finally JC plays a part called JC.
• Money for Nothing (1993)
• Map of the Human Heart (1992) - Another with good (7.1/10) ratings from IMDB users.
• True Colors (1991) - Spader and Cusack together? I definitely should check this one out.
• Hot Pursuit (1987)
• One Crazy Summer (1986) - I'm really surprised I haven't seen this one. I know I passed by the videotape box dozens and dozens of times back in New Albany at the video store.
• Journey of Natty Gann (1985)

Films that aren't really his but in which he had a smaller part...

• The Butler (2013)
• The Paperboy (2012)
• Summerhood (2008)
• The Thin Red Line (1998) - It's not much of a JC film (he's barely in it, in fact), but it might be the finest film on the list. Great, great film from Terrence Malick. Beautiful, slow, moving, absolutely perfect war movie that plays against type at every turn.
• Chicago Cab/Hellcab (1997)
• Roadside Prophets (1992) 
• Shadows and Fog (1992) - another Woody Allen flick, meh...
• Broadcast News (1987) - Good film but not enough JC to make it into the ratings
• Stand By Me (1986) - Great film but not one that has enough JC to make the list. Really spectacular and even a good performance from JC in the bully role.
• Grandview USA (1984)
• Sixteen Candles (1984) - I've reviewed it before, and it has aspects that I do enjoy. Early, early JC as a minor character's friend even.
• Class (1983)

In honor of Titan

I'm not particularly thrilled with the convention of naming winter storms that the Weather Channel has adopted these past couple of years. I'm also not particularly thrilled with the choice to go this year with primarily Greek-mythological names as suggested by a Latin class at Bozeman High School in Montana.

Let's see if I can do better going with the theme of winter-/ice-/cold-themed comic book characters.

First, the characters, vaguely ranked from most important downward...

1. Iceman/Bobby Drake (Marvel - X-Men)
2. Storm/Ororo Munroe (Marvel - X-Men)
3. Captain Cold/Leonard Snart (DC - Flash villain)
4. Mr Freeze/Victor Fries (DC - Batman villain)
5. Ice/Tora Olafsdotter (DC - Justice League/Global Guardians)
6. Elijah Snow (Wildstorm - Planetary's fourth man)
7. Snow Queen/Lumi (DC - Fables)
8. Snow Miser (Rankin/Bass character)
9. Frozone/Lucious Best (Disney - Incredibles friend)
10. Weather Wizard/Mark Mardon (DC - Flash villain)
11. Icemaiden/Sigrid Nansen (DC - Justice League/Global Guardians)
12. Icemaster/Bradley Kroon (Marvel villain/Hostess Fruit Pie villain)
13. Frost/Frost Noble (Image - hero)
14. Killer Frost/Crystal Frost/seriously, that's her 'real' name (DC - Firestorm villain)
15. Coldsnap/Alex Barros (Image) 
16. Ice King/Simon Petrikov (Adventure Time)
17. Icicle/Cameron Mahkent/Joar Mahkent (DC - Justice Society villain)
18. Jack Frost (DC - Fables character)
19. Blossom (Powerpuff girl - freezing breath) 
20. Sailor Mercury/Ami Mizuno (Anime) 
21. Snowbird/Narya/Anne McKenzie-Thompson/Virginia Dare - (Marvel - Alpha Flight)
22. Killer Frost/Louise Lincoln/Catlin Snow (DC - Firestorm villain)
23. Ymir (Marvel - frost giant king) 
24. Mercurio (Marvel villain - seriously, check out his costume...it's outstanding)
25. Endless Winter/Delores Winters (DC - Justice Society villain)
26. Sylph/Jeanine Gale (DC - Super Friends villain)
27. Polar Boy/Brek Bannin (DC - Legion of Superheroes)
28. Icestar/Jonathan Grayson (Eclipse - Champions hero)
29. Quisp (DC - Aquaman villain)
30. Nightwind/Berta Skye Harris (DC - Legion of Superheroes)
31. Idie Okonkwo/Oya - (Marvel - X-Men)
32. Xraven  (Marvel - X-Men)
33. Coldmoon/Wanxia (Marvel - Avengers)
34. Chill/Ross Wexler (Marvel - DP7)
35. Mandarin/Khan/Zhang Tong (Marvel - Iron Man villain - totally out of order)

Now, to the names based on that list...

• A - Ami (#20, Sailor Mercury)
• B - Barros (#15, Coldsnap)
• C - Crystal (#14, Killer Frost)
• D - Drake (#1, Iceman)
• E - Elijah (#6, Elijah Snow, breaks pattern of alternating male-female names)
• F - Frozone (#9, Best didn't feel right, L already taken)
• G - Gramos (#24, Mercurio's home planet)
• H - Harris (#30, Nightwind)
• I - Idie (#31, Oya)
• J - Joar (#17, Icicle)
• K - Kroon (#12, Icemaster)
• L - Lumi (#7, Snow Queen)
• M - Miser (#8, Snow Miser)
• N - Nansen (#11, Icemaiden)
• O - Ororo (#2, Storm)
• P - Petrikov (#16, Ice King)
• Q - Quisp (#29, Quisp)
• R - Ross (#34, Chill)
• S - Snart (#3, Captain Cold)
• T - Tora (#5, Ice)
• U -
• V - Victor (#4, Mr Freeze)
• W - Wanxia (#33, Coldmoon)
• X - Xraven (#32, Xraven)
• Y - Ymir (#23, Ymir)
• Z - Zhang (#35, Mandarin)

Left out

• Weather Wizard/Mark Mardon - #10 - M already taken by Snow Miser
• Frost/Frost Noble - #13 - can't name a storm Frost...N already taken by Nansen, can't move Nansen to Sigrid because of Snart, can't move Snart to Leonard because of Lumi
• Jack Frost - #18 - can't name a storm Frost...J already take by Joar, can't move Joar to Mahkent because of Miser, can't move Miser to Snow 
• Blossom - #19 - B already taken by Barros
• Snowbird - #21 - N already taken by Nansen (see #13); A already taken by Ami, can't move Ami to Mizuno (see #18); M already taken by Mizuno (see #18); V already taken by Victor, can't move Victor to Fries; D already taken by Drake
• Killer Frost - #22 - L already taken by Lumi; C already taken by Crystal, can't move Crystal to Frost; can't name storm Snow
• Endless Winter - #25 - D already taken; can't name a storm Winters
• Sylph - #26 -  J already taken (see #18); G already taken by Gramos, can't move Gramos to Mercurio (see #18)

Man, that leaves me totally stumped. I've searched the web for a list of cold- and wind- and frost- and ice-themed superheroes and villains, and I'm still stuck for a U. Any suggestions?

Yearly wrap-up of yearly wrap-ups

• Every movie trailer from 2013 supercut -  I didn't see Upstream Color anywhere.
• Top movie mistakes of 2013 - Some are kinda picky.
• LA Film Critics and AFI reveal their best films of the year - I've seen none of the movies on that list.

• XKCD's year in review - I'm pretty bummed by it, too. 

He is at a gun store. That's not so good.

• Haunting Attire - Yeah, ghosts...not terrifically logical and all.
• Making every Bob's Burger of the Day - Some of them do sound tasty, and the show's hilarious.
• Soon - They are coming.

• Joker's funhouse immortalized in Lego - wow...
• 8 memorable tv scenes that were improvised - I'll go with the Bob's Burgers scene being the best.
• Building guides - Lego Christmas ornaments...I want 'em...
• Beastie Boys in Copyright Infringement Tussle with GoldieBlox Over Use of "Girls" Parody in Ad - Tough call here...like the ad a lot and the idea of girls in science...very much like the Beasties
• Some 'Odd' Theorems - Quirky but kinda interesting math 
• Massaro House - Apparently Brad Pitt owns it now
• 
  

Lots of Rock Lists

I think we're pretty much all suckers for lists.

If you are, check out UltimateClassicRock.com's page of classic rock lists.

You'll find the best songs by dozens of artists (Queen, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and LOTS more), the best guitar solos (of Randy Rhodes, Eddie Van Halen, the US national anthem, more), best rock feuds, career-saving albums, career-killing albums, and lots, lots, lots more.

And start with these lists...

2012 in review: The lists (updated 1-1-13)

Lists across which I have come...

• American Songwriter's Top 50 Albums of 2012 - Tempest by Bob Dylan #1, in case you're curious...I've grabbed it but haven't ever listened to it yet.
• FARK's headline of the year contest - funny stuff here
• Top 100 'Pictures of the Day' from Twisted Sifter - gorgeous...gorgeous...gorgeous
• Essential web videos of 2012 - I'd only seen three of the five.

• NPR Music's Top 50 Albums of 2012 - not in any particular order
• 50 most wtf animal pictures of 2012
• CNN's 2012 in pictures

• Entertainment Weekly's various best of lists 2012
• Most-viewed Wikipedia pages of 2012
• AllMusic's 50 best albums of the year
• Grantland's 2012 Shootaround - the year in gifs and riffs - my favorite right here...

• NPR listeners' favorite albums of 2012
• Time's top 10 photos of 2012
• Comics Alliance's best comics of 2012 - part 1...part 2...part 3...part 4...part 5
• The Big Picture's year in pictures - part 1...part 2...part 3...best nature pictures

• IGN's best of comics 2012
• GoodRead's best books of 2012
• Best movie trailers of 2012
• Best table tennis shots of 2012

• Pitchfork's best albums of 2012 - I've heard none of the top 50.
• AV Club's Best of 2012 lists
• Google zeitgeist 2012

• Best comic book covers ever (of 2012)
• Five favorite restaurants (in Cincinnati) of 2012

The best of the year

Collected lists of the best whatevers of the year...

• Pitchfork's Top 100 Tracks of 2011
• 2011's Top Stories in Lego
• Politico's Top 10 Political Blunders of 2011 (yay SB5)
• IGN's Best of 2011 Comics
• West Chester's Top 11 Stories of the Year
• AllMusic's 2011 in Review  
• Top 15 Movie Posters of 2011
• Roger Ebert's Top 20 films of 2011
• 2011 Buh-bye from JibJab

• ESPN's 11 Most Memorable (Women's) Stories of 2011
• ESPN's Absolute Worst of (Tennis in) 2011
• The Best and Worst of Everything in 2011
• Comics101's Best of 2011 
• IGN's Best of DC Comics in 2011
• Reuter's Best Photos of the Year 2011

• 100 Top Baby Names of 2011
• Buzzfeed's 45 Most Powerful Images of 2011
• Discover's Top 16 Pictures from Space
• The Atlantic's Year in Photos (part 1 - others are linked from the story)
• Time's Top 10 of Everything of 2011
• Top 10 Tech Trends of 2012 (?)
• 10 Best TV Commercials of 2011
• NPR's Top 50 Albums of 2011 (and more NPR lists, too)
• Stephen King's Top 20 of 2011
• The Best Street Art of 2011

• AFI's Top 10 Films of 2011
• Top 100 Moments in Tennis 2011
• 10 Freakiest Commercials of 2011
• 2011 The Year Beyond Words
• AV Club's Best of 2011
• The Big Picture's Year in Pictures part 1

• The Internet's 10 Best Ron Swanson Tributes of 2011 
• Denver Post's Best Photos of the Year
• 30 Freakiest Ads of 2011
• Google Zeitgeist of 2011  
• 25 Best Movie Posters of 2011 (and worst)
• ComicsAlliance's Best Comics of 2011
• Best Table Tennis Shots of 2011

The best rules...

The first clean hit for "Rule number _____" on Google... (or"rule # ____" if that's more interesting)...

1. Phil Town NYT best-selling author of Rule #1
   "1) Find a wonderful business, 2) Know what it's worth as a business, 3) Buy it at 50 percent off, 4) Repeat until very rich"
2. Rule Number Two: Lessons Learned in a Combat Hospital

   There are two rules of war.
   Rule number one is that young men die.
   Rule number two is that doctors can't change rule number one.

   --M*A*S*H: TV show
   
3. Urban Dictionary: rule number 3
   When asking someone about the number of sexual partners they've had, multiply a woman's answer by 3, because a woman wouldn't want to seem like a slut. When a man answers, divide the number he gives by 3, because he wants to seem like a player.
4. Family Motor Coach Association - Remember Rule Number Four?
   Owning a motor coach is a never-ending learning experience.
   And just when you think you know it all, you find out just how stupid you really are.
5. Rule 5 draft
   (Tough to summarize. It deals with descriptions of draft rules and who can('t) be protected on major/minor league rosters.)
6. Stormwind: Personal Tangents
   "Rule Number 6 is 'Don't take yourself so damn seriously.'" 
7. Urban Dictionary: Rule number 7
   Rule #7 is don't touch the women, but they can grab anything they want to!
8. My Stupid Rules.com - Rule Number Eight
   Gee, that s*** just falls into my hands.
9. NCIS: Gibbs Rules
   Never go anywhere without a knife.
10. The Sandman: Rule Number 10
    A surgeon is assigned the anesthesiologist he/she deserves. 
11. Food Rule Number 11
    Avoid Foods You See Advertised on Television
12. Rule Number 12- moonprincessnat
    "Rule number 12, never date a co-worker," Gibbs managed to get out once they came back up for air. 
13. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure - Rule 13
    Counterclaim and Crossclaim (There's a lot of detail...read it yourself if you're curious.) 
14. Aria's Rules for Ladies - Rule Number 14
    A lady holds her head high but never her nose. 
15. Rule number 15 of the Handbook
    No one remembers who you weren't. Just who you were. - The realization of your true self far outweighs the consequences of unpopularity. 
16. Urban Dictionary: Rules of the Internet
    There are NO girls on the internet.
17. Zombieland: The rules
    Don't be a hero.
18. The Daily Brief: USMC Rules for Gunfighting
    Watch their hands. Hands kill. (In God we trust. Everyone else, keep your hands where I can see them.)
19. State of Delaware: Title 4 Alcoholic Beverage Control
    A rule defining the words hotel, motel,  restaurant, and dinner theater. 
20. Online Forex trading with 27 Forex Trading Rules
    Do not take more than 3 trades from the 4 hour chart and not more than 2 short term trade. In summary, no more than 5 trades (5% risk trades) should be opened at any particular time. Trades can however be added with time when the previously opened ones becomes profitable. 

From here, things devolve into repition of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Aria's Rules of Ladies. It's pretty boring from here.

Thanks, by the way, to rules 34 and 63 of the internet which were the original inspiration for this question.

Oh, and there will be a quiz later.

Finally, a list I can win...

It's not that uncommon for me to post a link to a list up here and say that I've been able to cross off a certain number of those list items. Sometimes I  feel pretty proud of my tally...until one of you folks out there says "nice try, ChemGuy, but I'vegot more of that list taken care of...so suck it!".

You're mean. Face it.

But I'm thinking that I can safely say that I've read more of the Top 100 Comic Book Storylines (as chosen by ComicBookResources.com) than any of your folks have.

Let's see...

• #1 - Watchmen 
• #2 - "Dark Phoenix Saga" X-Men
• #3 - "Born Again" Daredevil
• #4 - Batman "Year One"
• #5 - Dark Knight Returns 
• #6 - All-Star Superman
• #7 - Crisis on Infinite Earths 
• #8 - "Seasons of Mists" Sandman 
• #9 - Kingdom Come 
• #10 - Maus 
• #11 - "The Great Darkness Saga" LoSH 
• #13 - "The Judas Contract" New Teen Titans 
• #15 - V for Vendetta 
• #16 - "Sinestro Corps War" Green Lantern 
• #18 - Civil War 
• #20 - "E is for Extinction" New X-Men
• #20 (tie) - "Days of Future Past" X-Men 
• #23 - "Until the End of the World" Preacher 
• #24 - DC: The New Frontier 
• #25 - "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" Superman 
• #26 - "Super-Human" Ultimates
• #26 (tie) - Identity Crisis 
• #28 - Ultimates 2 
• #29 - "Brief Lives" Sandman
• #31 - "Doll's House" Sandman 
• #32 - "Deuz ex Machina" Animal Man 
• #33 - The Long Halloween 
• #34 - "The Death of Gwen Stacy" Amazing Spider-Man 
• #37 - "Rebirth" Green Lantern 
• #39 - "Hush" Batman 
• #42 - "The Surtur Saga" The Mighty Thor 
• #45 - "Gifted" Astonishing X-Men 
• #46 - Seven Soldiers of Victory 
• #47 - "Death of Captain America"
• #48 - "Rock of Ages" JLA 
• #49 - Marvels 
• #50 - Final Crisis 
• #51 - Batman: RIP
• #52 - "Death of Superman" Superman
• #53 (tie) "Confession" Astro City
• #56 "The Kindly Ones" Sandman 
• #58 - From Hell 
• #59 - "Whys and Wherefores" Y-The Last Man 
• #60 - "Reign of the Superman" Superman 
• #63 - "Year of the Bastard / The New Scum" Transmetropolitan 
• #65 - "No Man's Land" Batman 
• #66 - "New World Order" JLA 
• #68 (tie) - "Sins of the Father" Starman 
• #68 (tie) - "Knightfall" Batman 
• #73 - "A Game of You" Sandman 
• #75 - "Planetary" Planetary 
• #76 (tie) - "Unmanned" Y-The Last Man 
• #78 - "Winter Soldier" Captain America 
• #80 - "Homelands" Fables
• #82 - "Hardcore / King of Hell's Kitchen" Daredevil 
• #86 - League of Extraordinary Gentlemen vol 1
• #88 (tie) - "March of the Wooden Soldiers" Fables 
• #91 - "Tales of the Demon" Batman 
• #97 - Jimmy Corrigan, Smartest Boy on Earth

Fifty-nine of the top one hundred down. Tried to read a couple more but couldn't get through them.

I'm guessing only one of you even remotely has a chance to catch me. Gamer, what say you?

Geek Merit Badges

The outstanding and Windy City-based Katydid mentioned last week that she was hanging at a Neil Gaiman reading sitting behind a couple of guys arguing about Primer. Geek heaven right there, folks.

Her tweet naturally lead to geek merit badges.

I swear there's a connection there somewhere.

It was a connection made.

Here's what I have for the initial listing of the geek merit badges, broken down by vague categories...Add your suggestions in the comments, please...

Sci-fi/comic geek

• Attending a comic/gaming convention *
• Knowing the rules for a Magic-the-Gathering-style card game *
• Having a personal Magic-the-Gathering-style card game deck
• Cosplaying in public
• Arguing who would win: Batman or Superman (Hulk/Thor/Wolverine acceptable Marvel substitutes)
• Arguing which is better: Star Wars or Star Trek
• Owning a comic published by company other than DC & Marvel *
• Owning a comic published by company other than DC / Marvel / Dark Horse / Archie / Image *
• Having a standing pull list at a comic book store
• Owning an entire series run (4+ season) on DVD *
• Owning an entire series run (2+ season) on VHS
• Owning an entire series run (1+ season) on any format for a series not commercially available
• Owning every book by a sci-fi/fantasy author
• Owning a long box full of comics (must be bagged, not necessarily all boarded) *
• Wearing a comic t-shirt ironically
• Playing an RPG (e.g. D&D) *
• Attending ComicCon
• Owning a piece of original comic artwork

Tech geek

• Getting roped into providing IT support for family *
• Being an official beta tester
• Being the first adopter of a new technology (real world) among your circle of friends
• Being the last to abandon an old technology (real world) among your circle of friends
• Being the first adopter of a new technology (virtual world) among your circle of friends
• Being the last to abandon an old technology (virtual world) among your circle of friends
• Buying your first Apple product *
• Building a case mod for a computer
• Jailbreaking a phone/iPad/iPod
• Buying a part from Radio Shack *
• Reading xkcd *
• Choosing open-source software when you can afford not to

Music geek

• Standing in line to buy concert tickets at least 4hours before the ticket booth opens *
• Attending multiple days of a multi-day music festival
• Seeing consecutive shows by an artist in different cities
• Making a mix-tape (or modern equivalent) for someone as a romantic advance (whether overtly stated or not) *
• Having 10,000+ songs on iTunes/Zune/etc *
• Buying a concert shirt at the concert *
• Seeing an artist who is now dead *
• Buying an album on vinyl (after ~1995)
• Taping a concert for bootlegging purposes
• Buying a bootleg of a concert (cd / cassette / vinyl) *
• Downloading a bootleg of a concert *
• Owning a bootleg of a concert you attended (digital / cd / cassette / vinyl) *
• Forming a band

Movie geek

• Seeing a movie at midnight on its first day of release *
• Seeing a movie in theater before its first day of release *
• Attending a movie premier (where actors in the movie are in attendance)
  
• Dressing up in character to see a movie in the theater
• Hosting a movie-themed dinner *
• Attending an Oscar watching party (and actually watching the ceremony)
• Being accepted by friends as a suitable imdb replacement when necessary
• Buying a DVD of a movie you've never seen
• Writing movie reviews on a regular basis (2 per month for at least a year) *
• Watched at least 3 movies in a theater in one day (may stretch past midnight)
• Attending ComicCon
• Getting an actor's autograph in person
• Getting a director's autograph in person
• Seeing every best picture nominee for a given year before nominations are announced
• Driving 30+ miles to see a movie in the theater

Food geek merit badges

• Owning an autographed cook book
• Traveling to a city (1+ hr drive/flight) just to eat at a restaurant
• Eating at a restaurant with a five diamonds (Mobil Travel Guide)
• Eating at a restaurant with three stars (Michelin Guide)
• Owning a one-use kitchen utensil / small appliance *
• Actually reading On Food and Cooking (I haven't completed it yet.)
• Seeing a chef/cookbook author in a non-restaurant setting *
• Attending a cooking class
• Eating in more than one restaurant from a single chef in a day *
• Ordering spices
• Subscribing to a food/cooking magazine *
• Making all the recipes in an magazine issue/cookbook
• Taking & posting food/restaurant photos online (in a non-vacation format) *

Other possible categories

• DIY/Maker geek merit badges
• Subscribing to Maker magazine
• Soldering
• Business geek merit badges
• Getting inbox to zero (more than six months after opening account)
• Having a job where ties are dress code for men
• Band geek merit badges
• Attending band camp
• Buying an instrument because of a previous owner's fame/respect/renown

Sources...

• When pigs fly
• TuckerSpawn
• Internet Merit Badges
• Geek Merit Badges
• Wired
• Worth1000
• Science Creative Quarterly
• Nerd Merit Badges

It's the end of the year as we know it...

...and I feel fine.

These lists are clearly the best lists of the year.

• NPR Music's Top 50 Albums of the Year
• Top 10 Films of the 2000s (by year)
• The Best Music of 2010 (NPR) - with free downloads
• Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums of 2010
• The 5 Worst Comics of 2010
• Highest Grossing Films of 2010
• Top 10 New Foods of 2010
• 11 Biggest Photoshop Fails of 2010
• The Best Images of 2010
• Sparkles' Top Ten Films of 2010
• The Cap'n's Top Dozen (or so) films of 2010
• Kyle's Best of 2010 (full agreement on 1,4,5,8,10...The jury's still out on #2...and I don't know the others)
• 10 Nerdiest Movie Moments of 2010 
• 20 Worst Songs of 2010
• Least Essential Albums of 2010 (AV Club)
• The Best Films of 2010 (AV Club)
• The 15 Worst Films of 2010 (AV Club)
• 15 Things Kurt Vonnegut Said Better than Anyone Else (AV Club)
• 30 Best Albums of 2010 (Rolling Stone)
• 50 Best Songs of 2010 (Rolling Stone)
• The Social Network and 12 More Movies that Defined a Generation
• Greatest Rock & Roll Christmas Songs
• Top Eight Best Music Videos of 2010
• 2010 in Review (Allmusic.com)
• The Best (single issue) Comics of 2010

Update...a couple more...

• YouTube's Most Shared Videos of 2010
• YouTube's Top 10 Videos in 12 different categories

Taking a little inventory

I'm a list kinda guy.

Top five things I miss about Laura?  I'm in.

Dozens of lists about the 90's?  Go right ahead, mister.

100 best YouTube videos for science teachers?  I'll kill an hour or so.

So when the AV Club has an entire category that they refer to simply as inventory, I'm all down.

And it helps, of course, that they're interesting lists...

• 18 songs about complicated sibling relationships
• 22 obscure, undemanded sequels
• 25 songs about out-dated (and soon to be out-dated) technology
• 27 film sequels on tenuously related to their predecessors
• 18 real and fictional characters in Warren Zevon songs
• 15 actors winking nods to past characters
• 18 'documentaries' that blur the line between truth and friction - I particularly enjoy #17
• 42 10+ minute "pop" songs worth your time

And there are another two-hundred-sixty more list articles in their weekly series.

I've got some reading to do, folks.

How manly is ChemGuy via the Manly Movie List?

Here's what we've got: Top 100 Great Movies Every Guy Must See.

Let's start by sorting into two categories:  movies I've seen and movies I've not seen.

I've seen #1-5,7-15, 17, 18, 21-27, 29-31, 33, 36, 37, 39, 40, 43-45, 47, 49-53, 55-58, 61-67, 70, 71, 73-78, 80, 83, 86, 88, 89, 91, 92, 94-97, 100.

Haven't seen...

• #6 - Once Upon a Time in America - immediately on my list to see
• #16 - Backdraft - never interested me
• #19 - Once Upon a Time in the West - another Eastwood western, all down with it
• #20 - The Cowboys - never heard of it
• #28 - Carlito's Way
• #32 - Transformers - don't wanna
• #34 - In the Line of Fire - old guy Eastwood interests me way less
• #36 - Miller's Crossing - slept through it once
• #38 - Starship Troopers - isn't this supposed to be awful?
• #41 - Armageddon - isn't this supposed to be awful?
• #42 - Old School - having not seen this is like a badge of honor at this point
• #46 - Dawn of the Dead
• #48 - The Wrestler - it's Arnofsky, I'll get to it soon enough
• #54 - The Hurt Locker
• #59 - The Evil Dead
• #60 - Army of Darkness
• #68 - Glory - really?  The Civil War bores me.
• #69 - Last of the Mohicans
• #72 - Midnight Run
• #79 - Cinderella Man
• #81 - A Knight's Tale - isn't this supposed to be awful?
• #82 - American Wedding
• #84 - Halloween
• #85 - An American Werewolf in London
• #86 - Hard Times - never heard of it
• #87 - Death Wish - one of the old man's favorite trash choices
• #90 - The Patriot
• #93 - Manhunter
• #98 - Man on Fire
• #99 - Rolling Thunder - this isn't the Bob Dylan documentary, right?

And how the heck is Fight Club not on this list?  Unforgiven? And why aren't there more films from before 1960? (The Searchers is the only one.)

Things I've collected through the years

• Comic books
  The collection that I was probably happiest about.  Took decent care of them - every one bagged and boarded - but certainly loved the collection enough not to let the comics sit untouched.  Nothing was worth a ton of money, and none of them were in near mint condition but they were certainly in very good.  Plus, it got my parents to take me on a ton of trips to Great Escape.  My favorites - from a distant memory since I sent the full collection off to the Action Auction a decade ago - Batman #339...#400...Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans...Action #583...Superman #423...Teen Titans annual #3
• Teddy bears
  This one was a collection that was collected for me.  The maternal grandparents got me teddy bears - Humphrey Beargart, for example - and I did, admittedly, enjoy them as a kid.  There's still one or two of them in the guest room here at The Homestead.  Most of the collection got donated to Goodwill or somewhere from time to time.
• Patches
  When I was a kid, I bought a patch from every place I went.  I was going to sew them on a backpack and carry a record of all my trips with me.  'Cause it was going to be cool.  I swear, inside my head, so cool...
• Pint glasses
  When The Girl and I got our house, we tried collecting pint glasses on each of our vacations - "Who's on First" from the Baseball Hall of Fame, Elvis from Graceland - that didn't last long because the cabinets got too crowded too quickly and our adult life didn't need quite as many pint glasses as her college life did.
• Inaction figures
  This one was pretty solid for a while as I'd grabbed the first three sets and variants of Kevin Smith's inaction figures.  The Kevin Smith ardor, however, has faded and I moved these along to Katydid a couple of months ago.  Sort of a repeating patterns to most of my collections.
• Tick figures
  When we were in college, The Girl was a big fan of The Tick cartoon series on Fox, like a big, big fan.  At one point, I thought that introducing her to the comics and maybe the action figures would somehow be kinda cool, so I ordered a few toys, a few comic books, a steel box.  She thought they were neat - maybe because she's all polite and stuff, maybe because she really enjoyed having the toys.  So I bought more - pretty much all of the action figures they ever made.  This collection is still around but kinda stuck in the downstairs coffee table, only coming out when kids come over and find them.
• South Park figures
  'Bout the same as The Tick figures.  Bought initially as gifts for The Girl, still hanging around on top of the cabinet in our current dining room.
• South Park DVDs
  All thirteen seasons plus the movie...that's like $375 worth of Dvds which we admittedly loved the hell out of but pretty much don't ever watch a second time.  At this point in the post, I'm starting to wonder if these are solid financial choices.
• Neil Young cds
  I come from a completist when it comes to music.  If you like an artists - a lot - you get all their music.  I swear that my mom has over 150 Bob Dylan cd's - obviously not all of which are official releases.  At one point I owned every Neil Young cd and was on the search for the missing six.  Since that point, however, I've sold or given off about a third of the Neil Young collection, keeping only the albums that I still really enjoy.  John Mellencamp is also in this category.  Queen came close.  The switch to digital just might save me from this physical collecting urge.  Of course, I did download two of the five parts of the absolutely complete U2 recently, so maybe the urge still exists even if its not for the physical products.
• Fiestaware
  The Girl and I got started on Fiestaware when we were registering for our wedding gifts at Macy's.  The saleswoman gave us a few minutes to wander around while she set up our registration info, and we settled on Fiestaware.  It's a classic, simple line.  We both loved it.  When the saleswoman asked us what color we wanted, we said we wanted one place setting of each, something that the woman found...um...interesting.  Since then, we'd been picking up a piece or two of every new color release.  Somewhere along the way we realized that we had enough serving bowls and large platters for the two of us who don't do a whole lot of entertaining 'round The Homestead.  So we don't have anything in chocolate, ivory, or lemongrass (and no lilac or sapphire either, of course), but we have some awesome dinnerware that we use every day.  We just don't need to keep collecting it.
• Baseball cards
  This was a very sporadic collection.  Whenever dad would visit Kaiser's tobacco - where he loved getting his cigars - I would get a pack of baseball cards, gum and all.  All I cared about was getting the full Reds team for that year.  Then I got enough money - allowances primarily - to buy a full set...and the binder and card pages to hold them.  And I was suddenly a collector.  Then I got a couple more full sets - the '88 Donruss, the '89 Upper Deck - and I was a full-fledged collector.  In all honesty, I have absolutely no clue whatever where those sets went.  I might've sold them, might've given them away, might've just lost them in a closet somewhere.
• Beaker figures
  It all started with a Gift-of-the-Magi Valentines Day in which The Girl got me a Mega Beaker and I got her a Sam the Eagle figure (she was working at a school whose colors were blue and whose mascot was the Eagles).  From there I got a couple of Muppet Labs, a Bunsen Honeydew, even a Phil Van Neuter because he came with plastic glassware.  For a while, my students would take Beaker various places on their vacations - as would I.  Now, however, that seems to have drifted to the wayside.  Th figures are still around, however, in my classroom.

I think that's about it...I'm all good with not having other big lists of things I've collected.

I lived the 80s

 

They're not really my life at all.

In fact, I got a 102 on the 80s lyrics test (thanks for sending this my way, Blank) and felt pretty crappy about the score.

I misspelled a couple (made two plural) but missed others that seemed so obvious after reading the answers.

In case you want to know...ones I couldn't get...

• 7
• 12
• 32
• 34
• 38
• 41
• 46
• 59
• 61
• 69
• 78
• 93

And ones I got wrong...highlight to see my mistakes...

• 10 (put sex instead of dress)
• 11 (thought it just repeated walk)
• 14 (just missed it straight up)
• 18 (1/2 credit 'cause I went with push instead of whip)
• 44 (I had empty streets instead of city streets)
• 47 (run and get...not my run and hide)
• 50 (wow...I installed these refrigerators...they installed microwave ovens)
• 52 (same idea...pavement instead of concrete)
• 53 (I went plural, should've read the next word)
• 60 (how did I miss Robert Palmer?)
• 68 (they counted off because I didn't capitalize Venus - that's crap)
• 70 (just missed it)
• 72 (heart instead of pulse)
• 73 (this is just sad that I didn't catch it)
• 77 (again, just blanked on it)
• 79 (to me, you walk on sunshine)
• 86 (I switched which girls this line was about)
• 95 (how did I miss the greatest Metallica ever?)

Sully, you gonna throw your number back at me?

Gamer?

There is a 90s quiz for anybody else interested in that decade of dreck.

I'm way under 100

Of the 100 Skills that Every Man Should Know, I know the following...

• #1 - Handle a blowout - don't know that I handled it, but I at lived through one while doing 60 or so on an interstate.  I'll count that as a win.
• #2 - Drive in snow - I feel generally pretty okay in snow, though I don't use snow tires, just not enough call for it in Cincy.
• #13 - Escape a sinking car - Seems simple enough, but I have no idea that I'd do it in a pressure situation.
• #14 - Carve a turkey - I feel okay about this one since I've been doing it for four or so years now.  Wish I got more chances to do this so I could practice, though.
• #16 - Put out a fire - Done it but only once, and it was expected.  I was outside doing a demo that I kind of expected to get out of hand.
• #32 - Fix a toilet flapper - Done it a couple of times, and I think I was successful.
• #34 - Fell a tree - Really big ones, no...smaller ones, yes.  For some reason, though, I kill chainsaws in the process.
• Oddly, never even tried #39 - Change a diaper - I know, I should have somewhere along the line, but I've never even attempted it.
• #44 - Treat a burn - I knew that whole 'no butter' thing and have used cold water on a few burns.
• #51 - Run rapids in a canoe - Thanks to Smamy, I knew the whole bit about the V's.  I'm not sure I'd do class 4's, but I'm okay on smaller ones, at least.
• #68 - Throw a spiral - Wish my hands were a little larger for this, but I'm a'ight.
• #71 - Parallel Park - Way better at it than The Girl is.
• #73 - Tie a necktie - Hellz yeah.  Twice a week right about now, more like four times a week at the beginning of the school year.
• #75 - Ride a bike - I'm a tub of goo, and I should ride more, but I certainly can ride.
• #77 - Take the Perfect Portrait - Nice touch about flash in sunlight, but other than that, I knew all that stuff.

Man, I feel pathetic.

Update: Continuing the decade

Not necessarily a "best of the decade" but a list of 21 songs about 21st century politics.

I'm partial to the Richard Thompson entry, of course.

I'm thinking that this is the end of the "of the decade" list.

Update: More decade lists

Continuing with the "of the decade" lists...

• Worst movies - I've seen most of #9 but haven't seen more than five minutes of any of the others.
• Biggest postseason (MLB) disappointments - nary a Red among them
• Rotten Tomatoes Best of the Decade - Coraline got robbed.
• Scene Stealer's Top Movies - Anybody seen Where the Wild Things Are?, because its inclusion here surprises me
• Top College Basketball Programs
• Best Albums from Metromix
  
• Top College Basketball Players & Coaches - ah, wither my Hoosiers?
• Complex.com's Best of the 2000s - lots of different lists here, all "top 100"