Mo's Top 5 Lists

"What really matters is what you like, not what you're like." (Rob, High Fidelity by Nick Hornby)

Movies

It's the middle of the scene of the middle act of the 9 part Star Wars epic. Episode 4 (A New Hope) is just so much setup; Episode 6 (Return of the Jedi) has, you know, Ewoks. But Episode 5 has everything: the classic Star Wars "we-can-do-anything-with-the-help-of-our-friends" motif; the Yoda-on-Dagobah scenes that have a wonderful, mystical quality; and the dark, dark ending with Luke having failed at his confrontation with Vader, and Han frozen in the hands of the bounty hunter. New: Dare I say it? Episode II might be a close second!

No, I don't have a Harrison Ford fixation. But I do think this film is Ford at his best: lots of action, great dialogue, and a surprisingly complex character. The main thing I love about this film, though, is the use of foreshadowing; all kinds of small incidental moments turn into major plot devices (Marion's winning a drinking contest --> her attempted escape from Belloq; the monkey hanging around is cute, until we discover it is a Nazi spy; Marion and Indy are casually eating dates, but later they get poisoned; etc.) This device leads to a sense of harmony and rightness about the whole film. The other two films in the series are good, but don't even come close to measuring up.

You have to watch them together: the first film is set-up but wonderful in its own right. The second film gives you the ending to the story with devastating poetic justice. In these films, it is the setting that really does it for me; just watching the fields, mountains, and meadows of Southern France puts me in a relaxed mood.

Incredible music; great acting by Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham. The exuberance of the Mozart character in contrast with the dismal solemnity of Salieri makes them perfect foils for one another. And while Mozart has all the talent musically, Salieri wins hands-down for deceit and politicking; a slightly less elevated talent, but one that lets him triumph in the end.

Geek! Geek! Yup, I know what I am. Sadly, I couldn't leave it off the list. I may have seen this movie 50 or 60 times by now, and it still makes me laugh.

Books: Fiction

A perfect combination of international politics, intercultural miscommunication, and family dysfunction, this book satisfies on all levels.

Even with the hit-you-over-the-head Christian allegory, these books are a great read. They have all the elements of great fantasy, but where Lewis' friend and colleague Tolkien used the storyline primarily to showcase his elaborate Middle Earth, Lewis is all about the plot and characters, which moves things along is such a way that you can read the whole series in one rainy weekend.

As my friend Michael says "Nice and grim". It's nice to read a story about one young man's descent into the misery and emotional poverty of everyday life.

On the most basic level: absolutely terrifying. This book feeds into all of my most paranoid fantasies about government, science, and the environment: it shows humans destroying the entire race through scientific hubris stemming from militaristic xenophobia, and then the few remaining survivors getting together to start the process again. Kind of an updated Lord of the Flies.

Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood)

Did I mention that I was paranoid?

 

Songs

Otherwise, this list is unordered, but this is definitely number one. I like everything about this song; the exuberant optimism of the lyrics, the great acoustic guitar, the uncomplicated but not overly simplistic melody. It is hard not to sing along.

Good for listening to while reading Of Human Bondage

One of these things is not like the others .... I'm not usually a big fan of modern R & B, but I love the harmony and haunting melody here.

Animals

They can squeeze into any crevice that is big enough for their beak, since everything else is soft tissue. They can change their skin color and texture to match their surroundings. And they are playful: researchers at an aquarium found that octopi will play 'catch' with a partially filled buoyant plastic bottle. They're amazing animals: don't eat 'em in sushi.

The world's smallest monkey, adorable even before they were catapulted to fame when one of them peed on Johnny Carson's head during the Tonight Show.

Awkward on land but graceful in the water. How can you not love their sleek look?

This prosmian is aptly named. Let's put it this way - even its relative the "slender loris" is no Speedy Gonzales. The slow loris looks like someone is running the tape at half-speed.

No specific type: I just think they're cute when they pull their tails in behind them.

Games

Well, this is my little fixation. Most people think it's about word knowledge (at tournaments, I like to tell my opponents just as we're sitting down that I am a linguist specializing in semantics and lexicology; it really intimidates them). It's not. It's all about strategy. Word knowledge - and by that I mean, the type that you pick up by reading a lot - will get you pretty much nowhere. Sure, you need to study word lists if you want to be a tournament-level player. But these are special word lists specifically for Scrabble: for example: the q-without-u words (qat, qaid, qanat ....), the 3 letter z, x, and j words (pyx, jee, zax), the 'vowel dump' words (aalii, naoi, toea), and 7-8 letter words with high-probability letter combinations (satinet, anestri, nailset). The most important thing, though, is finding the best places to play your letters, blocking your opponent, and controlling your own rack, what's in the bag, and the board, while still maximizing your points.

Currently I'm playing "The Conquerors" expansion pack to AOEII. But really, they're all just variations on a great theme. Collect resources, build your empire, stomp on the other guys. I like the replayability; variations in your civilization and the board make for infinite combinations. I haven't tried Empire Earth yet, though they tell me it's like A of E on crack.

Do they still make this game? Back in the early nineties when I was in a bad relationship and depressed, I used to play this obsessively. The graphics were super-cute, with alternating 'girly' nature settings and 'boy-y' industrial complexes; Sonic would race through 'em all collecting those rings.

Again, this game has it all for replayability. You build the board from a collection of 20-ish little cards, so it is a different 'map' every time. Again, you collect resources and try to trade, steal, and bargain for enough resources to build roads, towns, and cities. This game has kind of a "Survivor" thing going; you don't want to completely alienate your opponents, because you need them (you can't win without trading, so you have to give something up).

My current obsession; guess we'll have to see if it survives the ages. The AI is pretty incredible; I'm currently trying to train my 'creature'. At first, I hated this game, but then discovered (through reading some tip sheets on the web) that I had picked the wrong creature for my playing style: the tiger is strong and tough but DUMB AS A POST; I found him almost completely untrainable. The ape and I are getting along much better; he's learned some miracles, and is helping to keep my village going. While the hype is that you can play 'either' good or evil, I find it pretty fun to stay kind of neutral; generally good, but with a few surprises now and then. The graphics are completely adaptable; your creature bears the marks of whatever you've done to him (weight and size are dynamic, and if it gets scars or bruises, they stay with it, in addition to its changing to reflect its developing alignment).

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