Top Ten Top Ten Lists

Everyone loves top ten lists.  Why?  Shit, I don’t know, but I’ll take a crack at it.  Maybe we love to see what our peers enjoy and how it compares to what we enjoy.  And maybe we love and feel a greater sense of connection to somebody who has values similar to ours.  And maybe we even love to get supremely pissed when somebody’s values our not on par with our own.  That’s kind of how wars start.  “Hey these people think differently.  Maybe we should destroy them before they get powerful enough to impose their will upon us.”  I am pretty sure that’s how wars start anyways.

     Top Ten Lists are great because they are easy to read and easy to write.  Presented in a simple format you can see at a glance how a person values a particular subject in relation to others.  And why not ten?  Nothing wrong with that number.  Not too few items, not too many.  Good even number.  Of course Top Ten Lists only provide a snapshot of how someone feels at a particular time.  The items that have made lasting impressions for years are at war with ones that have recently been viewed when the list-maker was in a good mode.  The last time I saw Apocalypse Now I was blown away.  It has never left me and I aim to watch it again soon.  I just recently saw Up and loved it.  At one point I loved the film, Team America but then I watched it a dozen times and now I am so sick of it I would rather see how many kicks to the balls it takes before I spit out my gum than watch it.  Also, I used to hate the movie, Waiting. But I just watched it shitfaced and laughed my ass off.  So let’s say I put those movies in a list.  Now maybe a month later I’ll watch Apocalypse Now hung over, see Up a dozen more times, watch Team America high and see Waiting again sober: that list is going to change.  It’s hard to pull ourselves away from recent negative or positive reactions and try to objectify our subjective lists.  But I love writing these suckers so here are my Top Ten Top Ten lists.  Or, “The Shit I love”.

Top Ten Insects              

1.Robber Flies (Asilidae)

2.Cicada Killer (Sphecidae)

3.Assassin Bugs (Reduviidae)

4.Ambush Bugs (Reduviidae)

5.Velvet Ants (Mutiliidae)

6.Dragonhunter (Gomphidae)

7.Golden Tiger Beetle (Cicendilidae)

8.Tarantula Hawk (Sphecidae)

  1. 9.    Giant Water Bug (Belostomatidae)

  2. 10.   Mantids (Mantidae)


Top Ten Console Games

1.Chrono Trigger

2.Final Fantasy 7

3.Dragon Warrior 7

4.Shadow of the Colossus

5.Ninja Gaiden 2

6.Super Metroid

7.Sky Gunner

8.King of Fighters 2001

9.Dimahoo

10.Sky Gunner


Top Ten PC Games

1.Might and Magic 2

2.Secret of the Silver Blades

3.Starcraft

4.System Shock 2

5.Enchanter

6.Doukoutsou Monogatari

7.Supreme Commander FA

8.Left 4 Dead

9.Bioshock

10.Call of Duty: World at War :P


Top Ten Books

1.The Works of Edgar Allen Poe

2.The Heart of Darkness by Conrad

3.Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky

4.The Bear by Faulkner

5.The Hell Screen by Akutogawa

6.The Colour Out of Space by Lovecraft

  1. 7.    The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire - Toland                                             

8.Ghost Soldiers by Hornfischer

9.Shogun by Clavell

10.Watership Down by Adams


Top Ten WW 2 Pacific Theatre Warplanes

1.Ki-84 Hayate

2.N1K2 Shiden Kai

3.J7W1 Shinden

4.A6M Reisen

5.P-38 Lightning

6.P-61 Black Widow

7.J2N Raiden

8.F4U Corsair

9.P-47 Thunderbolt

10.P-26 Peashooter (hee hee)

Top Ten Films

1.Apocalypse Now

2.Thin Red Line

3.Akira

4.Howell’s Moving Castle

5.Microcosmos

6.Team America

7.American Beauty

8.Things to Do in Denver When You’re  Dead              

9.Glenn Garry Glenn Ross

10.The Thing


Top Ten Meals

1.Chicken a la King by Mom

2.Beef Stroganoff by Mom

3.Cajun Seafood Fetuccine by Pat

4.French Dip by Pat

5.Chicken Quesadilla by me

6.Chil con Queso con carne by me

7.Chicken Fajitas by me

8.Coquille St, Jacques by Chef Dominique

  1. 9.     Buffalo Wings by Me

10.    Pizza by Eric


Top Ten T.V. Shows

1.Seinfeld

2.Ninja Warrior

3.Dogfights

4.Bizarre Foods

5.No Reservations

6.1000 Ways to Die

7.Northern Exposure

8.Bubblegum Crash

9.Big Bang Theory

10.Insectia

                                                                          Top Ten Board Games

1.Twilight Imperium

2.World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade

3.Axis and Allies: Pacific

4.Marvel Heroes

5.Arkham Horror

6.Shadows over Camelot

7.Heroscape

8.Descent

9.War of the Ring

10.Cleopatra


Top Ten Most Difficult Games

1.Transformers (old Jpn arcade game)

2.Undead Line (Sega)

3.Space Hulk (3do)

4.Ninja Gaiden 3

5.Gunsmoke (arcade)

6.Mega Man X6 (PS2)

7.Megaman X5 (PS2)

8.Demon’s Crest (Snes)

  1. 9.    Castlevania (NES)

  2. 10.   Strikers 1999 (arcade)