101 Most influential people who never lived
Interesting list over at USA Today — The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived.
Fictional characters, and the influence that they have on society, is a very, very interesting question. Now, I can’t say that I agree with the whole list, at least not without knowing their ranking criteria, but it is an interesting question that’s sure to generate much debate. Thankfully (and somewhat surprisingly…) they didn’t include any religious figures. It shouldn’t surprise me, but given the tenor of today’s culture, I must say that I am pleasantly surprised.
Fwiw, my top 5 would include (in no particular order):
- Charlie Brown
- Bugs Bunny
- Dilbert
- Superman
- Calvin & Hobbes (they cannot be separated!)
I’m sure if I put some more thought into it I could come up with a bunch more, of varying levels of significance. But I’m comfortable that the five I just listed are both iconic and influential enough to merit inclusion — and four of my five didn’t make it on to the “official” list! 
What say y’all?
-ghp
TAR:10 - Is it a homeless cow?
Continuing the trend of shorter posts…
- This was one of TAR’s better swings through India…
- Peter is condescending, self-absorbed, & self-important to the point of being evil. He couldn’t be any more unappealingly toxic if he tried. It’s a good thing he likes himself, ’cause after this race, I don’t think anyone else will…
- Sarah, thankfully, seems to have seen the light - that loser doesn’t deserve her…
- Mary is rapidly becoming too annoying to be allowed to stay on my tv — just wrestle the silly croc, you overbearing hen!
- Lyn & Karlyn went to college? Wow…
- Team ErGo is easy to like, and their LOST shirts rocked…
- Team ErGo’s fake phone was funny, but that kind of thing can turn around & bite you - like it did here, by prompting Peter to get a real phone & make real reservations. Btw, great job by Peter/Sarah & The Blondes for making a strong move by finding a better flight mid-trip…
- The first signs of “Ugly Americanism” were seen from several racers - they should know by now to keep such thoughts to themselves, as it always makes the racer look small/bad…
- I like the new twist, where the non-elimination “victims” don’t lose everything, but must vault to 1st in order to avoid a 30 minute penalty. I like this change a lot…
Solid episode — nothing spectacular, but solid nonetheless.
-ghp
Tigertown
THE TIGERS WIN THE PENNANT!
22 years to the day after they won the World Series, the Tigers won the AL Pennant, securing their first World Series berth since 1984!
And they did it in pretty darned dramatic fashion, with Magglio Ordonez hitting a walk-off homer with 2 on, 2 out, and the score tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 9th.
What a game. What a team. What a year. Magical in a whole different way than that ‘84 campaign of dominance was, but with the potential to be just as satisfying.
Bring on the patsies from the NL!
-ghp
Ouch…
[NOTE: The numbers below were accurate prior to the Territorial Purging of the Archives in Sept 2007...]
From a recent posting over at Random Thoughts of a Confessional Lutheran:
“That being said, I have a new pet peeve: reality TV blogging. Please people. If you want to watch the stuff, fine, but don’t expect me to be reading your posts anymore. I’ve seen two good bloggers turn to mush because of reality TV.”
Ouch. That’s gotta hurt those two unnamed bloggers…
Fwiw, I just ran the numbers since I started blogging just over 2 years ago, and here they are:
609 posts
156,000+ words
| Category | Total |
% |
Year 1 |
% |
Year 2 |
% |
| asides | 39 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 10 |
| culture | 82 | 13 | 34 | 11 | 48 | 12 |
| realitytv | 115 | 19 | 24 | 8 | 91 | 23 |
| general | 86 | 14 | 39 | 13 | 47 | 12 |
| technology | 35 | 6 | 16 | 5 | 19 | 5 |
| blogging | 57 | 9 | 24 | 8 | 33 | 8 |
| theology | 289 | 48 | 164 | 55 | 125 | 31 |
| 703 | 301 | 402 |
Note: The category numbers add up to 703, rather than 609, due to posts with multiple categories…
All things considered, I think that the numbers are interesting, insofar as they validate my perception that I’m still primarily a theology-pundit blogger, with a strong dash of pop-culture punditry blended in. And I’m cool with that…
-ghp
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