The Top 5's: Going 30 For 30

Chuck Barris Loves My Top 5 List idea

In my very first blog post, nearly six years ago, I wrote, "To evoke High Fidelity, I will include Top 5 lists for comment along the way."

And, I never did.

Those more cultured of you know that in the book (and movie), High Fidelity, the semi-slacker main characters spent much of their time creating Top 5 lists to pass the time. In lieu of working. Most lists involved music (they worked in a record store). Top 5 Songs About Death. Top 5 Side 1, Track 1's. Top 5 Musical Crimes Perpetrated by Stevie Wonder in the 80s and 90s. And so on.

Humans create lists. Or at least Americans do. Not sure about Ethiopians or Icelanders or such. I've never really figured out why, but we do. Its a universal thing. Grocery lists, invitation lists, non-invitation lists, Christmas lists, shit lists, chore lists. On and on. And we like to rank things too. College football teams, movies, Presidents, TV shows, songs, restaurants. David Letterman has had a Top 10 list nearly every show since the early 1980s. That's thousands of lists. We are list-makers.

Hey, in surfing while writing this post, I even discovered that someone has a Top 5 lists blog. That seems a little extreme. I bet that guy plays a lot of online poker. Plus, he's kind of a gay basher. So if that's your thing, by all means.... Turns out there's other Top 5 sites too. Like this. Or this. In the immortal words of Judge Smails, "don't you people have homes?"

I also once wrote that writing lists represents cheating. Its not really writing. Compiling separate facts into one unified whole doesn't count as writing. Its just collecting.

But, nonetheless, they do have a certain appeal. And I also need to train myself to write more frequent, shorter posts.

So welcome to Summer 2013! Announcing the 30 for 30 Posting Series. Each day for 30 days, I'll post a new list. Maybe I'll have to double up sometimes to deal with life commitments and such. You know. But the idea is that for 30 days in a row, I'll truly make this Daily Affirmations. Then will take some time off to focus on my X Games career and Scrapbooking Club.

Here's the proposed list. If anyone has any better ideas, please feel free to forward them. I'll gladly substitute your requested lists for ones I've listed.

You should comment too, when you think I'm totally wrong, or left out something from a particular list. You'll more than likely be wrong, of course, but commenting will add dimension to the series as readers offer alternative choices.

I reserve the right to change the list based on my own whims. And to go off topic as events of the day may warrant. Like if something truly serious happens. You know. Like if a revolution happens. Or that "Top Gun" remake is announced. Or I get to meet Joan Rivers.

1. Movie Scores
2. Super Awesome Things About the Austin Suburbs
3. Things About Dating Younger Women
4. Rock and Roll Acts
5. Words or Phrases That Should Be Stricken From the English Language
6. American Cities
7. Cocktails
8. Things That Are Bad For the Look
9. Reasons Never to Go to the Mall or Oklahoma
10. Texas Longhorn Football Players (all time)
11. Dog Breeds
12. Soul Brothers (don't worry, I'll be VERY careful)
13. Pickup Lines
14. Bad Women's Hairstyles
15. Reasons Tom Cruise Should Come Out
16. Worst Hollywood Kid Names
17. Original Star Trek Episodes
18. Diseases
19. First Ladies
20. Cars (American)
21. Things to Do At the Beach or At an Exorcism
22. Things For Tim Tebow to Do (Other Than Play Football)
23. Things In Lindsay Lohan's Purse
24. Worst Athletic Performances in the Movies (a/k/a Guys Who Should Never Run In Public)
25. Willy Wonka Characters
26. People I'd Like to Meet
27. Things/People That Annoy Me
28. Worst Jobs
29. Biggest Douchebags
30. Bill Murray Scenes

And, for a little lagniappe, the finale:
  
   31.  Things That Make Life Worth Living

So I'll let this sit for a little while to see if anyone chimes in with different list ideas. Otherwise, I'll plunge right in with Top 5 Movie Scores.

See ya!