The Omlette I Made Looked Suspeciously Like an Omlette

This morning for the first time in a while I woke up early enough to make a leisurly breakfast. I had for some time discussed the hypothetical making of an omlette, a task I was fairly sure I would fail at miserabally, but was still when to try. I thought that if I did fail in my attempt to make the omlette, I had at least a fairly good chance for a delicous failure. However, much to my surprise the omlette I made ended up looking more or less like an omlette, and tasting even more like an omlette if that's even possible. Overall I am labeling the experience as a more or less total vicotry, and am looking forward to a long and happy life-time of omlette goodness. Here is a picture of what my omlette didn't look like:

Ranked Huge Backlog of Songs

I've spent nearly two hours ranking sons just now. It comes almost entirely from the 6 or 7 albums I borrowed from Zach and put on my computer. I will display for you only the rankings of the songs that made it into the top 600. But bare in mind for every one song that made it two did not, and each descision hade to be made carefully and precicely. Here they are, in order of ranking are:

Another Traveling Song, Bright Eyes - 129
Road to Joy, Bright Eyes - 240
At the Bottom of Everything, Bright Eyes - 289
Kamera, Wilco - 352
Airline to Heaven, Wilco - 457
Shot in the Arm, Wilco - 472
Heavy Metal Drummer, Wilco - 508
Hypnotize, White Stripes - 535
I'm the Man Who Loves You, Wilco - 548
Walt Witmans Niece, Billy Bragg - 562
Hoodoo Voodoo, Wilco - 571

That's it, that's all of the songs I got from Zach finally ranked. This offered a couple changes for my top 50 bands. For one the mere 66 points this garnered The White Stripes was enough to move them past Velvet Underground into the 24th spot. And more importantly these songs put a new band on the list. Bright Eyes, with 1145 points has debuted in 38th place... not bad for a band experienceing its first wave of rankings... and further impressive because it was done with only 3 songs. Wilco, in spite of the fact that they gained many spots on the list got only about 700 points. While this doesn't quite get them on the list, they are now only about 200 points away... this means if I find one more song by Wilco that I like enough to put it in the top 400 their in. Well, it was a lot of work but at least now I know where all these bands stand.

Oh, and I ranked the song "Rock and Roll McDonalds" by Wesley Willis, its number 452.

The Stockdale Top 25

Do you Believe it? Do you? For the first time ever the number one song on the Stockdale Top 25 is not Cattle and the Creeping Things! I know, it will take a little while to adjust, but try to keep in mind that the new number one song has been number 2 for several months now... so its not like something went from not on the list to number one. In fact the only reason its made number one now is because I've been listening to my computer in the shower and its an excellent shower stong. Still, big stuff big stuff, and that's just the begining of the changes in this groundbreaking Stockdale Top 25.

1. Beer for Breakfast, The Replacements (27 plays/+5) LW (2)
2. Cattle and the Creeping Things, The Hold Steady (26 plays/+2) LW (1)
3. Another Traveling Song, Bright Eyes (19 plays/+5) LW (12)
4. Common People, William Shatner (18 plays/+1) LW (4)
5. Screen Door, Uncle Tupelo (18 plays/+3) LW (6)
6. People Who Died, Jim Caroll Band (17 plays/+0) LW (3)
7. The Factory (Live at Wolfgangs), Warren Zevon (17 plays/+1) LW (5)
8. Breed, Steve Earl (16 plays/+1) LW (7)
9. Rock Island Line, Johnny Cash (16 plays/+1) LW (8)
10. World Destruction, Public Image Limited (16 plays/+2) LW (10)
11. Ain't That Pretty at All, Warren Zevon (16 plays/+3) LW (13)
12. Warren Zevon's Gonna Die, Too Hip For the Room (16 plays/+3) LW (16)
13. Fighting Texas Aggie, Robert Earl Keen (15 plays/+3) LW (25)
14. Corpus Christi Bay, Robert Earl Keen (14 plays/+0) LW (9)
15. Who Rocks the Party, Les Savy Fav (14 plays/+0) LW (11)
16. I Hung My Head, Johnny Cash (14 plays/+1) LW (15)
17. At the Bottom of Everything, Bright Eyes (14 plays/+2) LW (24)
18. Up on the Hill, Ween (14 plays) NEW
19. Quiet Man, John Prine (14 plays) NEW
20. Feeling Good Again, Robert Earl Keen (13 plays/+0) LW (14)
21. Shut Up and Get on the Plane, Drive-By-Truckers (13 plays/+1) LW (18)
22. Stevie Nix, The Hold Steady (13 plays/+1) LW (23)
23. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, Warren Zevon (13 plays) NEW
24. Indifference of Heaven (live), Warren Zevon (13 plays) NEW
25. Growing Up (accustic demo), Bruce Springsteen (13 plays) NEW

There you have it, 5 new songs, a new top song, and plenty of other shake-ups along the way. Quite a week for the Stockdale Top 25 if I do say so myself.

Top 10 Songs I've Seen Preformed In Concert.

I do not mean to say strictly that these are the songs I like best and have seen live. I mean these were the most fun experieces I’ve ever had while seeing a particular song played live in a real concert.

1. Loser, Beck. I saw Beck play at the Patriot Center in 10th grade on his Midnight Vultures tour. The whole show was awsome, but this was my favorite song of all time being preformed by my than favorite artist. For everyone that does in fact have a favorite song this is simply a must-have experience. I look at all of the songs that I love that I'll never get to see live by the original singer... I'll never see Warren Zevon sing Mr. Bad Example, I'll never see Nirvana sing Lounge Act, I'll never see the Ramones Sing Blitzkrieg Bop, and I'll never see Johnny Cash sing I Never Picked Cotton. But even know I know all this, it hurts a little less because I know that while I love these songs, there not my favorite song... Loser is, and I saw Beck sing it.

2. Stevie Nix, The Hold Steady. We saw the Hold Steady play in Madison for Holloween this year. It was awsome, Craig Finn of the Hold Steady was probobly the only person there who was drunker than I was. After the show he complemented my costume and asked to have his picture taken with me. The picture is of me kissing the side of head with a spoon taped to my head. Anywho, easily the best song of the night was Stevie Nix, which is of chorse why I kept repeating lines from it all night. I think it went on for about 20 minutes with Craig Finn repeating random lines from it up to 20 times each. A truly great musical experience.

3. Hockey Monkey, The Zambonies. I went to see Guster last year, and while I liked Guster a lot, I liked the opening band, The Zambonies even better. They introduced the song "Hockey Monkey" by saying, "we realized that for this tour we either had enough money to hire a manager for the band, or buy a big monkey suit... we went with the monkey suit" It was a good desicion. I had never heard the song before and I had most of it memorized by the time they finished playing it, I absolutely love it now. I really want to go see them again now that I actually know a good number of their songs.

4. Debra, Beck. Same concert as before. I believe it was during his "Little Red Corvette" tour that prince had a bed covered in silk sheets lowered down onto the stage and sang several songs rolling around in its sheets. I never saw prince do this, but I did see Beck doing this, whereing jeans and hooded sweatshirt, while singing the line, "ooooooohhhhh girl, I just wanna get with you and your sister... I think her name is Debra." I can't by any means call Debra one of my favorite songs, but I can definately call it one of my favorite preformcances.

5. Fa Fa Fa, Guster. While they were setting up between bands at this concert they added a second humongous (perhaps 30 piece) drum set to the side of the stage. I asked the person next to me, "what do you think that's for?" It was for the song Fa Fa Fa. When I'm at a concert I never really look at the drummer much. However, I did at the Guster concert, mainly because Guster's drummer doesn't use drum sticks, which is simply awsome to watch. And during this particular song it was impossible to watch anything else.

6. Proud to Be an American, Lee Greenwood. You are probobly wondering why this song is on the list. But I'm going to assume two things right off the bat if your wondering that. 1. I'm going to assume you've never seen Lee Greenwood sing this song live. and 2. I'm going to assume that if you did their weren't things exploding everywhere. Lee Greenwood can't be properly enjoyed without explosions. I saw Lee Greenwood at Madison's Rythym and Booms back in High School. Easily the best fireworks display I've ever seen. Most of the time I'm not a terribelly big fan of this song, but I gaurentee you I was that night.

7. Monkey Wrench, Foo Fighters. Foo Fighters just plain put on an awsome show. I could have really put most of their songs in this spot, but this one sticks out most clearly in my mind. I know the band always says that its a great crowd and everything, but nobody needed to say it this time... we were an awsome crowd. People were excited, they jumped around, they screamed... basically it was a concert. And it was a hell of a lot of fun, especially with songs everybody knew like this one.

8. I Predict a Riot, Kaiser Chiefs. This song would be higher on the list except that I had never heard the song before that night, and I was still stuck in the stands at this point. However, Kaiser Chiefs really put on a great show, and this song is simply awsome live. A Riot didn't break out, but I wouldn't have been that surprised if it had... I certainly wanted to riot at least a little. I mean I didn't want to kill anyone or anything, but the song deffinately made me want to knock over a police barricade or set a trash can on fire or something. It was awsome.

9. Sex Laws, Beck. This was the midnight vultures tour, so Beck closed with this song. It went on for well over a half an hour. Everyone on stage put on eleborate costumes, did elaborate guitar tricks, danced, sang, and threw a lot of shit into the audience (my friend caught a drum stick). It was a truly great end to the best concert I've ever been to.

10. Ohio, Bowling for Soup. Easily my favorite song they sing. It also came at the perfect point. I desperately had to go to the bathroom and decided I'd stick it out for one my song so I didn't have to give up my good spot in the crowd in case they sang Ohio. And wouldn't you know it that the next song was Ohio. I sang loudly, I jumped up and down like an iddiot, it was a very good time. Perhaps the only reason this song made the list was because I just saw it yesterday, but I don't care... it was still awesome.

Bowling For Soup Was a pretty good time

We got back from the poker tournament relatively late. This is because a) I won the tournament of champions and thus had to stay untill the end around 7:00 and b) Shannon's car wouldn't start and we had to get it jumped. Thus we decided we would skip the opening act. This was not that big of a problem because the opening band was Hooch and a) Shannon had already seen Hooch before and b) I had no desire to see them. However we got there drunk and in time to see all of Bowling for Soup. They were very fun if not perticularlly impressive musicians. Also the fat guy who played lead guitar liked to try to throw his pick behind his back and catch it. He succeeded roughly 60% of the time. However, as he did this roughly 8 times a song he needed to have a supply of 10-15 picks attached to his microphone, which was replaced every 3 or 4 songs. Shannon and I actually ended up being very close to the stage. We decided midway through the concert to try to get closer from the far side of the gym, away from where the doors are. By doing this we got to where there were about 6 rows of people standing in front of us. At this point three people standing in front of us promptly left. About half an hour later a girl in front of us had a siezure and the group in front of us carried her away. This was bad for her, and acctually a little scary as I had never seen someone have a siezure before, but still, it did get us into the 5th row, right in front of the fat guy. Overall the concert was very good. I'd say their best performances were on the songs Punk Rock 101, Ohio, and their closer... 1985.

I won the tournament of Champions

The bar where I play poker held one of its occasional tournaments of Champions this Sunday and I managed to win it. It started off really well. On the first hand I was dealt pocket twos and won a small hand. I than proceeded to not win a hand for 45 minutes and got down to 3 chips. However, I than started to get a little better luck, and ended up winning the entire tournament. As my prize I won a 10 person Miluakee's Best poker table. Along with that I won a Milaukee's Best poker case, and 300 Milwaukee's Best chips. My plan is to call Milaukee's Best and tell them that I have plans to hold a weekly Milaukee's best poker tournament, and ask them to donate a couple cases of Milaukee's Best per week to help with my advertisement of their product. I will not inform them that the tournament is likely to never include more than 5 or 6 people.

I'm beginning to see everything as broken

Last tuesday at an event celebrating the birth of Zach 23 years ago my computer was broken. It was broken by a Jane, who was obviously quite drunk. As she has appologized and promised to pay whatever it costs to have it fixed I am not too concerned. However, in the past 2 days I have spent quite a lot of time on my computer, looking at the broken jagged screen. Now, when I look up from the computer everything looks wierd becasue it is not cracked and jagged. Thus my mind kind of fills everything in with wiered broken glass lines in front of everything. This reminds me of a little while ago when Shannon told be all she could see when she looked at anyone was snood... and tried to imagine how she could bounce snoods off walls to make peoples heads dissapear. I think that's kind of whats happening to me. I suppose I should probobly get the screen fixed, but than again I am very lazy. I guess I'm gonna have to think this one over.

I Got Your Rankings Right Here Pal

Movies:

Flight Plan, 2005
When I picked this movie out to watch I was thinking that I wanted to watch a movie that I wouldn't really have to think about. This movie turned out to be perfect. I'll be honest with you, ther isn't a whole lot I could tell you about this movie that would make you want to watch it, and there isn't a lot I could tell you about it that would make you not want to watch it. Basically if you have an hour and a half to kill, and you've seen everything else that's any good, than this one might not be a bad pick.
5/10, 39 out of 44 movies for 2005, 266th best movie of the 2000s, 793 all time

Just Friends, 2005
This movie was mostly stupid but with a few really good lines. Ryan Reynolds does a pretty good job. Chris Cline is also very funny as is Anna Ferris. However I would have to say the funniest character in the movie is the guy who plays Ryan Reynolds friend from high school. The actor isn't famous or anything, but I think I'll look him up to see if he was in anything else. He had some of the funniest lines in the movie. Yeah so basically you have to watch a 90 minute movie to laugh pretty hard 3 or 4 times. Is it worth it? I'll let you decide.
5/10, 35 out of 44 movies for 2005, 234th best movie of 2000s, 700 all time

Titanic, 1997
People would talk about Titanic, I would say, "I've never seen it." They woud say, "why won't you see it?" I'd say, "I don't really have anything against seeing it. I just don't think I'll like it that much." I figured it would probobly be a 5 or a 6. Why spend 3 hours watching a 5 or a 6 when I can pick out any random short movie in the video store and it will probobly be a 5 or a 6. Well I finally saw it and you know what... it was good! I had heard a lot of shit talked about this movie, ut on the other hand it won all those oscars... I didn't really know what to expect. But I gotta say it was pretty good. Nice acting, good plot, pretty good character development... really a pretty enjoyable watch. I'm not beating myself up for taking so long to watch it or anything, but I'm also glad to finally have it watched.
7/10, 14 out of 55 movies for 1997, 129th of 1990s, 367 all time

V for Vendetta, 2006
This movie may have been better than I ranked it. Firstly I had already read the book, and only a day or two before I saw the movie at that. This ussually hurts the chances of me loving a movie. Also, I may have built it up to much, I was expecting something so great that I wasn't as happy with the very good movie that I got as I should have been. That being said, I did enjoy the movie, and fuilt that it was done extremely well. I'm deffinately going to see this movie again, and if you haven't read the book you'd probobly enjoy the movie even more than I did.
7/10, 1 out of 2 for 2006, 101st for 2000s, 316 all time

Upcoming Reviews/Rankings:
The Aristocrats, 2005
Good Night and Good Luck, 2005
Inside Man, 2006
Two Men Went to War, 2002

TV Shows:

Entourage, 29th favorite show of all time
And that's from just 8 episodes. I really enjoyed watching this show. It's very funny and just plain fun to watch. I would say my favorite thing about this show are the characters. I think Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon) and Ari (Jeremey Pivon) are both among my top 40 TV characters of all time. I can't wait untill the season 2 DVD comes out (June). Deffinately a great show with potential to get even better.

The Stockdale Top 25

Here it is. Oh, and I've taken my practice of stealing from Zach to the next level.

1. Cattle and the Creeping Things, The Hold Steady (24 plays/+1) LW (1)
2. Beer for Breakfast, The Replacements (22 plays/+2) LW (2)
3. People Who Died, Jim Caroll Band (17 plays/ +1) LW (3)
4. Common People, William Shatner (17 plays/+3) LW (7)
5. The Factory (Live at Wolfgangs), Warren Zevon (16 plays/+1) LW (4)
6. Screen Door, Uncle Tupelo (15 plays/+0) LW (5)
7. Breed, Steve Earl (15 plays/+0) LW (6)
8. Rock Island Line, Johnny Cash (15 plays/+2) LW (9)
9. Corpus Christi Bay, Robert Earl Keen (14 plays/+0) LW (8)
10. World Destruction, Public Image Limited (14 plays/+1) LW (11)
11. Who Rocks the Party, Les Savy Fav (14 plays/+1) LW (12)
12. Another Traveling Song, Bright Eyes (14 plays/+4) LW (23)
13. Ain't That Pretty at All, Warren Zevon (13 plays/+0) LW (10)
14. Feeling Good Again, Robert Earl Keen (13 plays/+1) LW (13)
15. I Hung My Head, Johnny Cash (13 plays/+1) LW (14)
16. Warren Zevon's Gonna Die, Too Hip For the Room (13 plays) NEW
17. Let's Go Dancing, Drivin' N' Cryin' (12 plays/+0) LW (15)
18. Shut Up and Get on the Plane, Drive-By-Truckers (12 plays/+0) LW (16)
19. Gorilla You're a Desperado, Warren Zevon (12 plays/+1) LW (17)
20. Rest of the Night, Warren Zevon (12 plays/+1) LW (18)
21. Shine, The Meat Puppets (12 plays/+1) LW (19)
22. She's So Cold, The Rolling Stones (12 plays/+2) LW (21)
23. Stevie Nix, The Hold Steady (12 plays/+2) LW (22)
24. At the Bottom of Everything, Bright Eyes (12 plays/+2) LW (25)
25. Fighting Texas Aggie, Robert Earl Kean (12 plays) NEW

Well there you have it. Only two new songs this week, but expect more next week. Above all this week I'm proud that the number of songs requiered to make the list went up by two. We can't let every flash in the pan song that I acquire make the top 25 can we? Anyway... theres the list... enjoy.

Five Characters I Like a Lot

Hmmm... Zach has created a favorite characters list, and I don't have enough time to create a real list right now (I don't think I could make it any shorter than 25). But I will right now discuss 5 literary characters that I like a lot.

1. Bill Gorton, The Sun Also Rises... Probobly the character that made me laugh more than any other character with so few lines in a book. Also Hemmingway managed to make him halarious while giving him a real sense of humanity at the same time... he was not, as almost none of Hemmingway's characters are, a one demensional character. Also he was responsible for my all time favorite line in the history of literature... "The road to hell is paved with unbought stuffed dogs."

2. Rorshach, The Watchmen... The beauty of this character is that he is an insane superhero. When asked what an ink blot test is he responds, "a dog with its head split open." When asked, "What do you think did that to the dog?" His answer is, "I did." When, at the age of 16 he is told that his mother has been raped and murdered he limits his response to one word, "good". However, in spite of this he as set up a completely uncomprimising moral code for himself. Good is good, bad is bad, everythings black and white... there are no exceptions. It is the type of logic that most examplifies the super hero ideal, and upon seeing it in The Watchmen you realize it could only be the logic of a madman.

3. Gray Maturin, The Razor's Edge... Just for some background Gray is in love with the woman who is in love with the main character of the book. The main character of the book is incredibally smart, and very complecated. He is set up to be the ideal of what a human being should be. Gray is none of these things. He's simply an average guy, whoes one of the nicest people in the history of the world. He doesn't question things, he goes through his life the way he's supposed to. My favorite thing about Gray Maturin... he speeks almost entirely in figures of speech. For example Gray is credited with this sentance I often use, "I don't want to give you the runaround... let's just call a spade a spade and let the chips fall where they may." In the end I think Gray makes this list because more than any other character in any other book (with the possible exception of Bill Gorton) I wish I was friends with Gray Maturin.

4. Sampson Posey, The Dirty Dozen... He's a 7 foot tall Indian who joined the Army during WWII, got sent to France, and was than sentanced to death for killing a pimp that pulled a knife on him. His first scene in the book involves him attempting an escape so he can get shot, because he'd rather be shot than hung... furthermore he's doing his best to run to a patch of grass, because he'd rather die in grass than on cement. I can't relate to Sampso Posey, I don't really think we'd be good friends, but he's still as interesting as all hell. Also, (stop reading if you don't want a spoiler right here) he has one of the best death scenes in any book ever. In fact one of the characters book goes to save him, and another character stops him cause the guys death is so cool.

5. The Priest, The Power and the Glory... Do you judge a person by their actions or by the way they are inside? If you judge them by there actions the Priest is a horrible miserable human being. If you judge them by their thoughts and how they are inside, the Priest is quite possibally the greatest human being on earth. This character actually occasionally makes me wonder if all the jerks I meet acctually have wonderful and benevolent thoughts travelling through their mind, that just some how get messed up when they want to act on them.

Honerable Mention:
Alex De Large, A Clockwork Orange... I've never cheered so hard for a complete ass-hole
Josey Wales, Gone to Texas... Total cowboy cool... stone cold killer with a heart of gold
Wayne Hoobler, A Breakfast of Champions... Wierd son of bitch, I'm glad he found his happy land
Dick and Barry, High Fedelity.... If you read the book or saw the movie you know they really are one character, best part of the book, and best job by a casting director ever by the way.
Funboy, The Crow... "I'm a monstor burning from the inside, obedience is just submission veiled with gravity, I don't let anything limit or define me." Funboy is the only time I've seen a realistic presentation of a character with no conscince, plus he looks like Iggy Pop.

Some Important Facts about "The Watchmen"

1. I read it for roughly 8 hours last night between the hours of 9:30PM and 5:30AM.
2. Taking a causual glance it is likely to fall somewhere inbetween number 10 and number 20 on my ultimate book list. Thus making the best novel I have read in over 2 years.
3. Yes, I just said that about a graphic novel.
4. This has the potential to put Allan Moore into my top 10 writers of all time, this would put two authors in this catagory who work soully in the Graphic Novel medium.
5. The character of Rorshach may be one of my five all time favorite characters in any book ever written.
6. This book also contains one of my favorite quotes from any book ever. Rorshach is arrested, and thus forced to go to a prison full of men that he has put behind bars of the years. There is an incedent in the mess hall where an inmate tries to kill him and Rorshach throws a vat of burning fat in his face. As the gaurds haul him away he looks at the angry and horrified inmates who all want to rape, tourture, and murder him and says... "you don't get it do you? I'm not suck in here with you... your stuck in here with me!" It is a wonderful line which I may take time to discuss further, perhaps in some other medium. But as for now, I gotta go to class.

The Stockdale Top 25

Here it is, for your looking over enjoyment. The Stockdale Top 25:

1. Cattle and the Creeping Things, The Hold Steady (23 plays)
2. Beer for Breakfast, The Replacements (20 plays)
3. People Who Died, Jim Caroll Band (16 plays)
4. The Factory (Live at Wolfgangs 1985), Warren Zevon (15 plays)
5. Screen Door, Uncle Tupelo (15 plays)
6. Breed, Steve Earl (15 plays)
7. Common People, William Shatner (14 plays)
8. Corpus Christi Bay, Robert Earl Keen (14 plays)
9. Rock Island Line, Johnny Cash (13 plays)
10. Ain't That Pretty at All, Warren Zevon (13 plays)
11. World Destruction, Public Image Limited (13 plays)
12. Who Rocks the Party, Les Savy Fav (13 plays)
13. Feeling Good Again, Robert Earl Keen (12 plays)
14. I Hung My Head, Johnny Cash (12 plays)
15. Let's Go Dancing, Drivin' N' Cryin' (12 plays)
16. Shut Up and Get on the Plane, Drive-By-Truckers (12 plays)
17. Gorilla You're a Desperado, Warren Zevon (11 plays)
18. Rest of the Night, Warren Zevon (ft. Tom Petty) (11 plays)
19. Shine, The Meat Puppets (11 plays)
20. Push th' Little Daisies, Ween (10 plays)
21. She's So Cold, The Rolling Stones (10 plays)
22. Stevie Nix, The Hold Steady (10 plays)
23. Another Travelin' Song, Bright Eyes (10 plays)
24. Barbed Wire Love, Stiff Little FIngers (10 plays)
25. At the Bottom of Everything, Bright Eyes (10 plays)

Well there it is, not to different from last week. Most of my movement was with songs that had between 6-9 songs... so maybe if I get some chances to listen to some music this week the next list might be a little different... we'll have to wait and see.

Got Some Rankings, no movies this time

High Fedelity, Nick Hornby
I just loved reading this book. It was fun, it talked a lot about being a guy, it talked a lot about music, it talked a lot about caring a lot about something that isn't important. I like these topics. The book is fun, its enjoyable. Most importantly it sets up a situation where you can identify with the main character, you can put yourself in his shoes... but you don't nescesarily like him. It's great when a book can do this... you don't necsesarily think the main character is a good guy... but your still kind of pulling for him. I would reccomend this book for anybody who likes books, anybody who likes music, or for anyone who has ever been in a relationship.
-This is now my 27th favorite book of all time, and makes Nick Hornby my 19th favorite author of all time.

V for Vandetta, Alan Moore
This isn't my highest ranked book of the day, but I would venture to say it's my most important. I realize that I said I was ranking graphic novels as short stories, but I asked my gut, and my gut told me V for Vandetta was more of a novel than a short story. I must have spent at least 6 or 7 hours reading the damn thing, longer than some of the novels on that list I'm sure. This is opposed to roughly 90 minutes to 2 hours for a Sin City book. But anyway, beyond the importance of this ranking... it was also just a very good book. I think it would have ended up short of most of the Sin City books if I ranked it with them... but it was still very good. It's a pretty interesting story, and the character of V gets developed much better in the book than in the movie. Overall, the trend continues with this book being better than the movie. I'd say the best thing about this book is that when totalitorian futures are ussually shown they ussually seem all futuristic and wierd. In this one it looks a lot like the world we live in now... only the government tells you waht to do and than kills you. But back to "rankings bable" this book helped me answer an important question... "can graphic novels compete with regular novels for good rankings?" The answer is yes.
- V for Vandetta is now ranked as my 59th favorite novel of all time.

And now to change things up a bit, I have also ranked one song.

Common People, William Shatner
I told you it was coming. I really do enjoy this song... not a little bit... a lot. Honestly, I can't stop listening. And I know your going to tell me, "he's not singing he's talking." Well you know what? So is Kanye West. I love this song, I love its lyrics, I love the back up vocals, and yes I love the way William Shatner sings/says this song. And it gets stuck in you head like a carniverous ear wig. I totally reccommend that you download (legally of chorse) this song if you get the chance.
-Common People by William Shatner is now my 207th favorite song.

Horroscopes

While I wouldn't say that the Onion horroscopes have ever been my favorite portion of the Onion, I have always found them enjoyable. Beyond that, I felt that they were the section of the paper that I would be most profiecent in writiting. As such I have always wanted to try writing them, and have done just that. Now I am sure they will not be as good as the onions... they have a whole team of writers and probobly write about 100 every week and only keep the best 12, where as I just used the first 12 I thought of. But I have made my list, and while they are not all great there are a few good ones in there. Anyway I'll allow you all to judge for yourself:

Aries: Your bookie's decsision to break your legs will seem somewhat extreme seeing as how all you owe him is a stick of gum.

Taurus: Although you were already somwhat disgusted by your sexual fantasies about Gilbert Godfrey, you will be even more distrubed when you remember that he is your father.

Gemini: You will be labled as "misguided" when you attempt to prove that whales are mammels by giving every damn one of the rabbies.

Cancer: You will stop lauging at the ludacris sentance the judge hands down when someone explains to you what the phrase "drawn and quartered" means.

Leo: Your race for governor will be hurt when you sign a petition to "save the bears of Montana", not realizing that "bears of Montana" refers to a local gay strip club.

Virgo: The Time is right, Saturns moons are alligned, get off your fat ass and make me some popcorn!

Libra: Your death will be seen as either tragic or heroic depending on wheter or not that couch was really worth saving.

Scorpio: A trip to a local mental health facilaty will teach you that women do in fact go crazy for a sharp dressed man.

Sagittarius: You will meet a very attractive member of the opposite sex, too bad you are extremely, extremely gay.

Capricorn: You will face challanges this week when your plan to introduce New Wave music to the tribe goes horibally awry.

Aquarius: You will begin to understand how a man ears a nickname like "sodomizing Rodney".

Pices: You would have better luck with women if you would stop telling them all that you're Danna Carvey... you are clearly David Spade.

Rankings! Rankings! Movie Rankings!

Capote, 2005
Yes, Phillup Seymour Hoffman deserved the oscar for this movie. This was a very well made movie, the best feature of which was the acting which was great all around, and inspired by Hoffman. The reason that it didn't do better was that in parts it was a little slow. The movie is a great character study looking at the morals and motives of booth Truman Capote himself, and the killer he is interviewing. However, theres just some scenes in this movie that I don't really feel need to be there. When I got to the movie I kind of was glad it was very because I was beginning to get bored, I can say that about good movies, but not great ones.
7/10, 18th out of 42 movies for 2005, 140th best of 2000s, 432nd best all time

Capturing the Friedmans, 2003
Very good documentary studying something as simple and complex as an average American family. Of chorse this particular American family has 2 men accused of raping of dozens of boys over a period of several years. This movie does a great job of jerking you back and forth. At first you'll be positive they're guilty, than positive they're innocent, than positive that the dad is guilty but the son is innocent, than you'll think they're both guilty but the charges are exaggerated. And in the end you have no more of an idea of the truth than you did when you started. This is a very interesting way to do a documentary, but it leaves you feeling stragely unsatisfied. Documentaries ussually have an assertion about something, and try to prove that assurtion. I don't think the film makers have any more of an idea about the truth in this case than I do. And while I hate to say that I like to be told what to think, when I'm watching a documentary, I kind of like to be told what to think... and than decide later if I want to think that way or not. This was just barrells full of contradicting information from many different sources. Thus the movie was innovative, fascinating, but slightly less enjoyable than it could have been.
6/10, 32nd out of 71 movies for 2003, 461st overall

Carnival of Souls, 1962
First off I want to say that I owe this movie a lot. This movie along with "Night of the Living Dead" and "The Last Man on Earth" helped to create what would later be known as the Zombie genre of horror movies. Thus I thought it would be good to see this movie. The problem, which I freely admit is not this movies fault, is that because it was creating the zombie genre, it didn't really have to try to do anything big. It just showed us some zombies, put them in a vaugly creepy setting, and figured that would be enough. And if this was the first zombie movie I had ever seen, it probobly would have been. The problem is, everything in this movie, I have seen in at least 3-4 other movies. Now, while perhaps that isn't fair since this movie was made before them, it still made the movie impossible to enjoy. Also, the acting was just plain terrible.
3/10, 4th out of 4 movies for 1962, 32nd* of the 1960s, 1088th of all time.
*just so you know that's 32 out of 32 movies for the 1960s, I know, I really need to see some more old movies.

The Hills Have Eyes, 2006
Horay! My first movie of 2006! And guess what? It's actually very good. Always nice to start a year of on a good note. This movie has a very good plot, a creepy setting, and a lot of good ideas for a horror movie. The villians are actually very scary, which you can't say of most horror movies any more. You end up feeling horrible for their victims, even though you don't particularlly like most of those victims. It also contained what is likely one of my top 20 one on one fights from any movie ever. It may even be able to sneek in to the top 10, I'd have to make the list to be sure. That being said, the acting wasn't great, and it was a little slow at the beginning. However, I really did like this movie quite a bit, and it managed to do something that a scary movie hasn't done in quite a while... it scared me.
7/10, 1st out of 1 movie for 2006, 115th for the 2000s, 398th of all time


Upcoming Rankings:
Flight Plan, 2005
Just Friends, 2005
Titanic, 1997
V for Vandetta, 2006

The Stockdale Top 25

Well, it's monday again, and that means its time for the Stockdale Top 25. Finally gonna see some new entries this week. William Shatner is perhaps the most noticable addition. But it should also be noted that two Bright Eyes songs have made the list. This represents the first additions from all of the songs I put on from Zach's CDs. Also, there were of chorse minor shifts from a few songs within the list.

1. Cattle and the Creeping Things, The Hold Steady (22 Plays)
2. Beer for Breakfast, The Replacements (18 Plays)
3. The Factory (Live at Wolfgangs 1985), Warren Zevon (15 Plays)
4. Breed, Steve Earle (15 Plays)
5. Screen Door, Uncle Tupelo (14 Plays)
6. Corpus Christi Bay, Robert Earle Keen (14 Plays)
7. Rock Island Line, Johnny Cash (14 Plays)
8. People Who Died, Jim Carroll Band (13 Plays)
9. Feeling Good Again, Robert Earle Keen (12 Plays)
10. Who Rocks the Party, Les Savy Fav (12 Plays)
11. I Hung My Head, Johnny Cash (12 Plays)
12. Lets Go Dancing, Drivin-and-Cryin (12 Plays)
13. Shut Up and Get on the Plane, Drive By Truckers (12 Plays)
14. Common People, William Shatner (11 Plays)
15. Ain't That Pretty at All, Warren Zevon (11 Plays)
16. Shine, The Meat Puppets (11 Plays)
17. World Destruction, Public Image Limited (11 Plays)
18. Gorilla Your a Desperado, Warren Zevon (10 Plays)
19. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, Warren Zevon (10 Plays)
20. Push th' Little Daisies, Ween (10 Plays)
21. The Breakup Song, Greg Kihn Band (10 Plays)
22. Another Travlin' Song, Bright Eyes (9 Plays)
23. At the btoom of Everything, Bright Eyes (9 Plays)
24. Stevie Nix, The Hold Steady (9 Plays)
25. I Was in Love with a Girl on LSD (9 Plays)

Well, theres the list... See You All Next Week!

Think I'll go see Bowling for Soup

I had learned a little while ago that the band preforming at Winona this year will be Bowling for soup. Last year I very much enjoyed the Guster concert at WSU. Granted I enjoyed The Zambonies more than Guster, but the concert was still pretty good. This is unlikely to happen this year as the opening band is "Hooch", but whatever.

Now I have nothing against Bowling for soup. I liked the song "Ohio" (Come Back to Texas) enough to download it, and its actually in the top 600 (number 574). I also considered downloading the song 1985, but never got around to it... but at least I don't think it sucks or anything.

I think I'll download a bunch of their songs and start listening to them. I'm sure the concert will be more fun if I actually know more than two of their songs. I realize that I have not given this band a glowing endorsement, however you must realize something important about this concert. Tickets are only 10 dollars, so basically I can see this concert or buy 2 hot-and-readys. The concert one slightly.

Besides, I looked up a picture of the band... and guess what? They have a fat guy! How fun is that!


CHEERS!

Only 2 Dollars Each?... and What a Selection!

OK, so I went to this pawn shop that sells VHS movies for 2 dollars each. I guess they're pretty overstocked with them what with all the people unloading their VHS movies for DVDs. I have now been their twice and have bought 18 movies. So I have spent 38 dollars (after tax) on VHS movies, but I think its well worth it. I mean for the same amount of money I could have bought like 1 PS2 or computer game. Actually I could buy about 5 more movies and still be able to say that. Anyway I decided to rank the movies I bought. I am not strictly going to rank by how much I like the movie, I am going to rank them by how happy I am to have bought them. This will take into account 1. How much I like the movie 2. How hard the movie is to find. 3. Whether its a movie of already seen a hundred times or whether I've only seen it once or twice and will acctually WANT TO SEE IT a few more times. 4. How much I'm happy to have the box displayed on the shelf with all the other movies I own.

The 18 movies I bought, ranked by how happy buying them made me.
1. True Romance
2. Miami Blues
3. The Untouchables
4. The Shawshank Redemption
5. Se7en
6. Identity
7. A Few Good Men
8. M*A*S*H*
9. The Insider
10. Bulworth
11. Beverley Hills Cop
12. American History X
13. Undercover Blues
14. Lethal Weapon
15. Speed
16. Sexy Beast
17. The Terminator
18. Road to Predition