My brother Brad has played trumpet in a few ska bands, at least one or two of which have performed live.  He’s a devoted ska fan. As a listener and performer, he’s somewhat of a ska expert. I asked him to make a list of the best ska songs, and he more than stepped up to the challenge, producing a list of fifty.  Without further ado, Brad’s 50 favorite ska songs.

The Top 50 Ska Songs

by Brad

Keep in mind that this list is written by a guy who listens to a lot of Suburban Legends, Catch 22, Streetlight Manifesto, and Reel Big Fish.  The list is weighted toward these groups.  I have listened to lots of other bands too, but these are my favorite.

Most lists like this will be about how important and influential songs are.  This one is simply made of ones that I like, in order from 50 down to 1.  I hope you enjoy it!

Read more »

Time Magazine has outdone itself and brought you a whopping FIFTY top ten lists to recap 2008.  Wowza.

Here are topics covered:

Albums

Animal Stories

Awkward Moments

Best Biz Deals

Best Performances

Breakups

Buzzwords

Campaign Gaffes

Campaign Video Moments

Children’s Books

Crime Stories

Editorial Cartoons

Election Photos

Fashion Moments

Fashion Faux Pas

Fiction Books

Financial Collapses

Fleeting Celebrities

Food Trends

Gadgets

Green Ideas

iPhone Apps

Late Night Jokes

Magazine Covers

Medical Breakthroughs

Movies

Museum Exhibits

News Stories

Non-fiction Books

Oddball News Stories

Olympic Moments

Open Mike Moments

Outrageous Earmarks

Photos

Plays and Musicals

Political Lines

Quotes

Religion Stories

Scandals

Scientific Discoveries

Songs

Sports Moments

T-shirt Worthy Slogans

TV Ads

TV Episodes

TV Series

Underreported Stories

Video Games

Viral Videos

Worst Biz Deals

Each one of the ten entries for each of these fifty categories has a little paragraph or two to accompany it.

This is almost bewildering for me.  It’s just about too much to process.  Of course, I devoured the ones important to me (Albums, Movies, TV Series, Video Games, Sports Moments, etc.), but most I only had time to give a cursory glance.  It doesn’t help that you have to click through to a new page for each item of each list.  I wouldn’t mind having a few of these lists scrapped and had a new and improved interface implemented.

 Top 10 Outrageous Earmarks?  Top 10 Breakups?  I dunno if these should be mixed in with the big hitters.  But, hey, if a magazine is going to go all-out on something, at least it’s something easy to read, organized, and logical, like lists!

Overall, though, I would NOT recommend this list set for two reasons: 1) Dark Knight not mentioned as one of the top 10 movies of the year. 2) The Office not mentioned as one of the top 10 TV shows of the year. WTF!?!

Just kidding, these are definitely worth a look.  Pick out the ones that look most interesting you and you’ll probably get a lot out of it.

FilmCritic.com, an excellent film review site, has released a list of their picks for the greatest movie endings. (I assume this is obvious, but major spoiler warning alert — skip over the movies you haven’t seen).

Here is their top ten:

1. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
2. Fight Club (1999)
3. Chinatown (1974)
4. Casablanca (1942)
5. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
6. Boogie Nights (1997)
7. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
8. Big Night (1996)
9. Don’t Look Now (1973)
10. Some Like It Hot (1959)

There are a few unconventional picks in there. Boogie Nights is a beloved movie, but I’ve never seen its ending mentioned among the best ever. I’m not sure I’d ever heard of Big Night before this list, and I haven’t actually seen mostly-forgotten horror flick Don’t Look Now.

It’s hard to argue with most of those picks, though. I’m not sure I loved the ending of Chinatown enough to put it in the top five, but there’s no doubt it’s a classic. I was surprised, and impressed, to see Bonnie and Clyde so high: it’s abrupt, stark finale is an amazing moment in cinema.

The rest of the fifty don’t disappoint either. There’s a respectable mix of old and new, blockbusters and cult favorites, comedy and drama. The authors’ writing is penetrative and thoughtful. Each pick is clearly well-thought out, too, with specific reasons for the spot.

I could nitpick about minor qualms I have (Usual Suspects not high enough, no Rudy, no Psycho), but the list is so charming, thoughtful, and complete, that I’ll just let it go. Instead, I’ll remark how pleasantly surprised I was to see Batman Begins, Pulp Fiction, Before Sunset, and a few other personal favorites on there.

The list is clearly passionate, well-informed, and thoughtful. For any cinephiles out there, I recommend you check it out. Who knows, you may fall in love with FilmCritic.com and its 7000+ reviews like I have.

This post is an entrant in the Carnival of Cinema: Episode 58

This list got a lot of attention a few years ago when it came out as a TV special, and even won the Peabody Award. It’s still worth a good look.

ESPN picked the fifty greatest athletes of the 20th century. Here is their top ten:

1. Michael Jordan
2. Babe Ruth
3. Muhammad Ali
4. Jim Brown
5. Wayne Gretzky
6. Jesse Owens
7. Jim Thorpe
8. Willie Mays
9. Jack Nicklaus
10. Babe Didrikson

There will always be people you could make arguments for ranked higher than they are, like Lawrence Taylor at #40, and Barry Sanders and Cal Ripken, Jr. being excluded completely, but it’s hard to take issue with that top ten. It’s easy to make cases for any of MJ, Babe Ruth, Gretzky, Ali, or Owens as being number one on that list. Jim Brown, though an apparent demigod on the field, didn’t play long enough in my opinion to be as high as he is, but I can see the reasoning of putting him where he is.

The list is a spectacular, sentimental set of feature articles of these great athletes, and is absolutely worth a read for any sports fan who has never scanned the list before.

It’s entirely uplifting and inspiring to read about so much greatness, particularly from the people at the top of the list: the Bambino redefining American sports, Ali sticking up for what he believed in, Gretzky acting with great character while dominating a sport in a way no man has except maybe Ruth, Jesse Owens struggling through American racism but being awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, and Jordan being a champion in every sense of the word.

I’m glad to see that the writers didn’t weight the recent athletes too much heavier than ones from years past. It’s a great, refreshing mix.

One thing I wonder is who now might have a shot at being the list at the end of the 21st century. Certainly Tiger Woods. Lance Armstrong would have been a lock if it weren’t for the steroids issue, and likewise Barry Bonds would have a very good shot if it weren’t for all the scandal. Maybe Peyton Manning or Tom Brady if they keep it up? We’ll just have to wait 90+ years to see.

Ultimately, the list is an enlightening look at what makes an athlete great, complete with lots of great, well-informed writing and some brilliant perspective. Take a look if you’ve never seen the list before.