World's Greatest Draft (1 Viewer)

[Mario Kart]

Have you ever considered that since the most powerful nations on earth for the last 1700 years have all, at worst, held a majority of people who believed in the divinity of Christ that that is why he is the most influential?Rome (and every form of it), England, France, Germany, the US, Italy, all either had some form of Christianity as its official state religion or had a vast majority of people who believed in the divinity of Christ...I mean, do you really want someone to go through and count how many people drafted in this draft lived, at minimum, a public form of Christianity? Because I bet you its 2/3 of those drafted and we picked people who lived before Jesus was born...

Here would be my beef with the "fact" that "Christianity rules all" argument. How many of these people in the history of the last 2000 years freely chose to follow the teachings of Christ? I value choice over coercion. How many of these people, at the threat of some kind of harm or disdain, "followed" the teachings because they had to? Now, it would be one thing to say that everybody had a choice however when it comes to life and death, people choose life... that is not because of any teachings from anybody, that is common sense. Therefore, to say that Christianity has had an influence on the world, on one hand, is correct and while that same influence allowed many to rebel against it or challenge "traditional" teachings, I think it could be argued, and rather strongly, that had Confucianism or Taoism or other "more peaceful" religions taken hold throughout the world, the world may not have the problems it does. It may be hard for some to rationalize this or even think about it in that manner but even the most ardent follower should acknowledge such a case.Now, if the argument is "Christianity has most influenced the world", that would probably be true... in the last 2000 years though. Whether it be in a good or bad way, however someone would like to define "influenced." On the other hand, that same influence could be argued to have been and still be much more damaging than good.

 

[larry_boy_44]

Have you ever considered that since the most powerful nations on earth for the last 1700 years have all, at worst, held a majority of people who believed in the divinity of Christ that that is why he is the most influential?Rome (and every form of it), England, France, Germany, the US, Italy, all either had some form of Christianity as its official state religion or had a vast majority of people who believed in the divinity of Christ...I mean, do you really want someone to go through and count how many people drafted in this draft lived, at minimum, a public form of Christianity? Because I bet you its 2/3 of those drafted and we picked people who lived before Jesus was born...

Here would be my beef with the "fact" that "Christianity rules all" argument. How many of these people in the history of the last 2000 years freely chose to follow the teachings of Christ? I value choice over coercion. How many of these people, at the threat of some kind of harm or disdain, "followed" the teachings because they had to? Now, it would be one thing to say that everybody had a choice however when it comes to life and death, people choose life... that is not because of any teachings from anybody, that is common sense. Therefore, to say that Christianity has had an influence on the world, on one hand, is correct and while that same influence allowed many to rebel against it or challenge "traditional" teachings, I think it could be argued, and rather strongly, that had Confucianism or Taoism or other "more peaceful" religions taken hold throughout the world, the world may not have the problems it does. It may be hard for some to rationalize this or even think about it in that manner but even the most ardent follower should acknowledge such a case.Now, if the argument is "Christianity has most influenced the world", that would probably be true... in the last 2000 years though. Whether it be in a good or bad way, however someone would like to define "influenced." On the other hand, that same influence could be argued to have been and still be much more damaging than good.

I wasn't saying it was good or bad or even what Jesus himself would have wanted...I was merely pointing out that no one has influenced the history of the planet earth anywhere near as much as Jesus has...

 

[Andy Dufresne]

you know how I can tell that your disdain for Christianity affects your judgement?

Because your first response to anyone who thinks Jesus is the most influential person in the history of the world is that they can't remove their belief in the divinity of Jesus from the discussion...

Have you ever considered that since the most powerful nations on earth for the last 1700 years have all, at worst, held a majority of people who believed in the divinity of Christ that that is why he is the most influential?

Rome (and every form of it), England, France, Germany, the US, Italy, all either had some form of Christianity as its official state religion or had a vast majority of people who believed in the divinity of Christ...

I mean, do you really want someone to go through and count how many people drafted in this draft lived, at minimum, a public form of Christianity? Because I bet you its 2/3 of those drafted and we picked people who lived before Jesus was born...

My goodness. This is still going on?“A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.” Winston Churchill

 

[mad sweeney]

Have you ever considered that since the most powerful nations on earth for the last 1700 years have all, at worst, held a majority of people who believed in the divinity of Christ that that is why he is the most influential?

Rome (and every form of it), England, France, Germany, the US, Italy, all either had some form of Christianity as its official state religion or had a vast majority of people who believed in the divinity of Christ...

I mean, do you really want someone to go through and count how many people drafted in this draft lived, at minimum, a public form of Christianity? Because I bet you its 2/3 of those drafted and we picked people who lived before Jesus was born...

Here would be my beef with the "fact" that "Christianity rules all" argument. How many of these people in the history of the last 2000 years freely chose to follow the teachings of Christ? I value choice over coercion. How many of these people, at the threat of some kind of harm or disdain, "followed" the teachings because they had to? Now, it would be one thing to say that everybody had a choice however when it comes to life and death, people choose life... that is not because of any teachings from anybody, that is common sense. Therefore, to say that Christianity has had an influence on the world, on one hand, is correct and while that same influence allowed many to rebel against it or challenge "traditional" teachings, I think it could be argued, and rather strongly, that had Confucianism or Taoism or other "more peaceful" religions taken hold throughout the world, the world may not have the problems it does. It may be hard for some to rationalize this or even think about it in that manner but even the most ardent follower should acknowledge such a case.

Now, if the argument is "Christianity has most influenced the world", that would probably be true... in the last 2000 years though. Whether it be in a good or bad way, however someone would like to define "influenced." On the other hand, that same influence could be argued to have been and still be much more damaging than good.

I wasn't saying it was good or bad or even what Jesus himself would have wanted...I was merely pointing out that no one has influenced the history of the planet earth anywhere near as much as more than Jesus has...

Let's not let your hyperbole get going too strongly.

 

[Mario Kart]

I wasn't saying it was good or bad or even what Jesus himself would have wanted...I was merely pointing out that no one has influenced the history of the planet earth anywhere near as much as Jesus has...

And, I am pretty sure your assertion can be argued for other individuals as well.

 

[wikkidpissah]

Round Six

1. Abrantes Marilyn Monroe

2. Mister Cia Immanuel Kant

3. Bobby Layne Paul Cezanne

4. Herbert The Hippo Judas

5. Andy Dufresne Spartacus

6. thatguy Albert Schweitzer

7. Usual21 Caravaggio

8. John Madden's Lunchbox Che Guevara

9. higgins Marcus Aurelius

10. Big Rocks Nicholaus Copernicus

11. Mad Sweeney Sigmund Freud

12. Doug B Louis Armstrong

13. DC Thunder Cardinal Richelieu

14. Thorn Alexander Graham Bell

15. Yankee23fan Edmund Burke

16. Acer FC Thomas Jefferson

17. FUBAR Atilla The Hun

18. Arsenal of Doom Alhazen

19. Larry Boy 44 Raphael

20. Mario Kart J.R.R. Tolkein

best pick: can i declare a 20-way tie? i like all of the picks - such a pastiche of human endeavour here. i love that the picking-bones between yankeefan & i, jefferson & burke, were taken back2back. i love the grandosity of figures like Aurelius & Richelieu. i love that the most romantic rebel & humanitarian are here. i love that Abrantes selection of Marilyn got Mister CIA thinking of Kant. i love that the worst scientist on the board, just happened to get it right when everyone else (the explanations of ellipses & other bastardizations of the sky by those who explained an earth-centered universe is fascinating stuff) was wrong & set science on its true course. i love Alhazen as a symbol of how right the Arab world was getting it b4 Islam & Crusades & such sent it careening off course. i love the presence here of the painter most-pleasing to me of them all in Cezanne. i even love the junkfood picks - Marilyn, Tolkein & Judas - because i know what they evoke in those who selected them. i just love....

worst pick: see above

most interesting: Siggy, come on down. somehow appropo that Freud should be the most contentious pick of the draft. My stand is that it is unfortunate that he was the one who opened the floodgates of our subconcious upon the world, because the obsessions & self-possession responsible for the revelation gave us a concept of our motives which we are still trying to outlive. have to say, tho - just the level of contention over his placing in our scheme makes me reconsider how humportant he...oops! see what i did there?

 

[wikkidpissah]

ok - another wave of pissary to ride out. i'll be back -

 

[winwithike]

timschochet = Skip Bayless

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Round Six1. Abrantes Marilyn Monroe2. Mister Cia Immanuel Kant3. Bobby Layne Paul Cezanne4. Herbert The Hippo Judas5. Andy Dufresne Spartacus6. thatguy Albert Schweitzer7. Usual21 Caravaggio8. John Madden's Lunchbox Che Guevara9. higgins Marcus Aurelius10. Big Rocks Nicholaus Copernicus11. Mad Sweeney Sigmund Freud12. Doug B Louis Armstrong13. DC Thunder Cardinal Richelieu14. Thorn Alexander Graham Bell15. Yankee23fan Edmund Burke16. Acer FC Thomas Jefferson17. FUBAR Atilla The Hun18. Arsenal of Doom Alhazen19. Larry Boy 44 Raphael20. Mario Kart J.R.R. Tolkeinbest pick: can i declare a 20-way tie? i like all of the picks - such a pastiche of human endeavour here. i love that the picking-bones between yankeefan & i, jefferson & burke, were taken back2back. i love the grandosity of figures like Aurelius & Richelieu. i love that the most romantic rebel & humanitarian are here. i love that Abrantes selection of Marilyn got Mister CIA thinking of Kant. i love that the worst scientist on the board, just happened to get it right when everyone else (the explanations of ellipses & other bastardizations of the sky by those who explained an earth-centered universe is fascinating stuff) was wrong & set science on its true course. i love Alhazen as a symbol of how right the Arab world was getting it b4 Islam & Crusades & such sent it careening off course. i love the presence here of the painter most-pleasing to me of them all in Cezanne. i even love the junkfood picks - Marilyn, Tolkein & Judas - because i know what they evoke in those who selected them. i just love....worst pick: see abovemost interesting: Siggy, come on down. somehow appropo that Freud should be the most contentious pick of the draft. My stand is that it is unfortunate that he was the one who opened the floodgates of our subconcious upon the world, because the obsessions & self-possession responsible for the revelation gave us a concept of our motives which we are still trying to outlive. have to say, tho - just the level of contention over his placing in our scheme makes me reconsider how humportant he...oops! see what i did there?

In reading your reviews I get the sneaking feeling that you won't be in church tomorrow.

 

[timschochet]

timschochet = Skip Bayless

of all the insults I've been given, this might be the worst...

 

[timschochet]

you know how I can tell that your disdain for Christianity affects your judgement?Because your first response to anyone who thinks Jesus is the most influential person in the history of the world is that they can't remove their belief in the divinity of Jesus from the discussion...Have you ever considered that since the most powerful nations on earth for the last 1700 years have all, at worst, held a majority of people who believed in the divinity of Christ that that is why he is the most influential?Rome (and every form of it), England, France, Germany, the US, Italy, all either had some form of Christianity as its official state religion or had a vast majority of people who believed in the divinity of Christ...I mean, do you really want someone to go through and count how many people drafted in this draft lived, at minimum, a public form of Christianity? Because I bet you its 2/3 of those drafted and we picked people who lived before Jesus was born...

I won't rehash the argument, Larry; I don't think anyone wants to hear it. I've stated where I stand on this issue, and why I think the way I do, and that should be enough.But I'm replying to your post here because I want to clarify one thing; I do not have a disdain for Christianity. I actually admire Christianity, and most Christians I know are fine people. It's true there are aspects of the religion itself that I find to be morally suspect, but that should be addressed in a different thread. Among all the world's major religions, I consider Christianity, in it's modern form, to be one of the very best, certainly far superior to it's main competitor in just about everyway, and I am very glad and relieved to live in a country where the vast majority of people here are Christian. Among them I count my wife and most of the people closest to me. So please do not say I have a disdain for Christianity- you are quite incorrect.

 

[higgins]

I won't rehash the argument, Larry; I don't think anyone wants to hear it. I've stated where I stand on this issue, and why I think the way I do, and that should be enough.

But I'm replying to your post here because I want to clarify one thing; I do not have a disdain for Christianity. I actually admire Christianity, and most Christians I know are fine people. It's true there are aspects of the religion itself that I find to be morally suspect, but that should be addressed in a different thread. Among all the world's major religions, I consider Christianity, in it's modern form, to be one of the very best, certainly far superior to it's main competitor in just about everyway, and I am very glad and relieved to live in a country where the vast majority of people here are Christian. Among them I count my wife and most of the people closest to me. So please do not say I have a disdain for Christianity- you are quite incorrect.

SKIP BAYLESS!!! HAHA LOL!!

 

[wikkidpissah]

Round Six1. Abrantes Marilyn Monroe2. Mister Cia Immanuel Kant3. Bobby Layne Paul Cezanne4. Herbert The Hippo Judas5. Andy Dufresne Spartacus6. thatguy Albert Schweitzer7. Usual21 Caravaggio8. John Madden's Lunchbox Che Guevara9. higgins Marcus Aurelius10. Big Rocks Nicholaus Copernicus11. Mad Sweeney Sigmund Freud12. Doug B Louis Armstrong13. DC Thunder Cardinal Richelieu14. Thorn Alexander Graham Bell15. Yankee23fan Edmund Burke16. Acer FC Thomas Jefferson17. FUBAR Atilla The Hun18. Arsenal of Doom Alhazen19. Larry Boy 44 Raphael20. Mario Kart J.R.R. Tolkeinbest pick: can i declare a 20-way tie? i like all of the picks - such a pastiche of human endeavour here. i love that the picking-bones between yankeefan & i, jefferson & burke, were taken back2back. i love the grandosity of figures like Aurelius & Richelieu. i love that the most romantic rebel & humanitarian are here. i love that Abrantes selection of Marilyn got Mister CIA thinking of Kant. i love that the worst scientist on the board, just happened to get it right when everyone else (the explanations of ellipses & other bastardizations of the sky by those who explained an earth-centered universe is fascinating stuff) was wrong & set science on its true course. i love Alhazen as a symbol of how right the Arab world was getting it b4 Islam & Crusades & such sent it careening off course. i love the presence here of the painter most-pleasing to me of them all in Cezanne. i even love the junkfood picks - Marilyn, Tolkein & Judas - because i know what they evoke in those who selected them. i just love....worst pick: see abovemost interesting: Siggy, come on down. somehow appropo that Freud should be the most contentious pick of the draft. My stand is that it is unfortunate that he was the one who opened the floodgates of our subconcious upon the world, because the obsessions & self-possession responsible for the revelation gave us a concept of our motives which we are still trying to outlive. have to say, tho - just the level of contention over his placing in our scheme makes me reconsider how humportant he...oops! see what i did there?

In reading your reviews I get the sneaking feeling that you won't be in church tomorrow.

no, but i'm verrrry spiritual.teehee

 

[wikkidpissah]

Round Seven

1. Mario Kart John Maynard Keynes

2. Larry Boy 44 King Solomon

3. Arsenal of Doom Charles Martel

4. FUBAR Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier

5. Acer FC Martin Luther King

6. Yankee23 Fan Saint Augustine

7. Thorn Pierre-Auguste Renoir

8. DC Thunder Alexander Fleming

9. Doug B Michael Faraday

10. Mad Sweeney Sophocles

11. Big Rocks Masaccio

12. higgins Ustad Ahmad Lahauri

13. John Madden's Lunchbox Mark Twain

14. Usual21 Michael Jackson

15. thatguy Virgil

16. Andy Dufresne Wilbur Wright

17. Herbert The Hippo Diego Velazquez

18. Bobbylayne Anton Chekhov

19. Mister CIA Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

20. Abrantes Miles Davis

best pick: King Solomon - i like a lot of the pix in this round equally as well, so i'll use Solomon to give props to young LarryB b4 i get COMPLETELY sick of his one-note forensic style. there are some inspired selections on his roster: Brunel (my favorite Victorian), Nero, Bach, Bernini, Queen (whoda thunk we'd see the word "queen" only twice in this draft and no 2nd word after one of them), Hammurabi and, of course, the Holy Trinity of Jesus, Mary & CSLewis. Solomon may be aprocraphyl but i'll take his Psalms over any other poetry of antiquity. well done, lad. runnerup: Faraday, the bridge between Newton & Einstein.

worst pick: Davis - i can guar-on-dam-tee that i've listened to Kind of Blue more than any on these boards. i was even introduced to the man 100yrs ago & was in his presence just long enough to fully enjoy his "outta my way, ofay" stare. as much as i appreciate his discovery of the space between notes & the magic resultant from the subsequent slowing down of the art of jazz, i think even he would be disgusted to be selected ahead of Trane, Bird, or even Diz. oh, wait - they weren't taken at all?! shame on us. runnerup: Virgil. i sure hope i dont run into Dante when i reach my Circle of Hell, cuz he wont be shutting up about his guide's outrage over being just below Michael Jackson in this draft. at any rate, i've never been anywhere near as impressed with this poet as he was with himself.

most interesting: King & Augustine, back-to-back. a shoutout to Christianity. though i long for the day we don't see the likes of it, there are some very beautiful things done in its name: cathedrals, King's work & Augustine's Confesions are three of my favorites.

 

[thatguy]

Round Seven

1. Mario Kart John Maynard Keynes

2. Larry Boy 44 King Solomon

3. Arsenal of Doom Charles Martel

4. FUBAR Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier

5. Acer FC Martin Luther King

6. Yankee23 Fan Saint Augustine

7. Thorn Pierre-Auguste Renoir

8. DC Thunder Alexander Fleming

9. Doug B Michael Faraday

10. Mad Sweeney Sophocles

11. Big Rocks Masaccio

12. higgins Ustad Ahmad Lahauri

13. John Madden's Lunchbox Mark Twain

14. Usual21 Michael Jackson

15. thatguy Virgil

16. Andy Dufresne Wilbur Wright

17. Herbert The Hippo Diego Velazquez

18. Bobbylayne Anton Chekhov

19. Mister CIA Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

20. Abrantes Miles Davis

best pick: King Solomon - i like a lot of the pix in this round equally as well, so i'll use Solomon to give props to young LarryB b4 i get COMPLETELY sick of his one-note forensic style. there are some inspired selections on his roster: Brunel (my favorite Victorian), Nero, Bach, Bernini, Queen (whoda thunk we'd see the word "queen" only twice in this draft and no 2nd word after one of them), Hammurabi and, of course, the Holy Trinity of Jesus, Mary & CSLewis. Solomon may be aprocraphyl but i'll take his Psalms over any other poetry of antiquity. well done, lad. runnerup: Faraday, the bridge between Newton & Einstein.

worst pick: Davis - i can guar-on-dam-tee that i've listened to Kind of Blue more than any on these boards. i was even introduced to the man 100yrs ago & was in his presence just long enough to fully enjoy his "outta my way, ofay" stare. as much as i appreciate his discovery of the space between notes & the magic resultant from the subsequent slowing down of the art of jazz, i think even he would be disgusted to be selected ahead of Trane, Bird, or even Diz. oh, wait - they weren't taken at all?! shame on us. runnerup: Virgil. i sure hope i dont run into Dante when i reach my Circle of Hell, cuz he wont be shutting up about his guide's outrage over being just below Michael Jackson in this draft. at any rate, i've never been anywhere near as impressed with this poet as he was with himself.

most interesting: King & Augustine, back-to-back. a shoutout to Christianity. though i long for the day we don't see the likes of it, there are some very beautiful things done in its name: cathedrals, King's work & Augustine's Confesions are three of my favorites.

I'm not sure he was all that impressed with himself. He did ask Augustus to burn his work after his death. Had Augustus listened, we wouldn't be discussing him.

 

[timschochet]

and, of course, the Holy Trinity of Jesus, Mary & CSLewis.

 

[wikkidpissah]

ROUND EIGHT:

1. Abrantes Thomas Hobbes

2. Mister Cia Pol Pot

3. Bobby Layne William The Conqueror

4. Herbert The Hippo Andrea Palladio

5. Andy Dufresne Elvis Presley

6. thatguy James Maxwell

7. Usual21 Frederick Douglass

8. John Madden's Lunchbox Princess Diana

9. higgins Winston Churchill

10. Big Rocks Aeschylus

11. Mad Sweeney Josef Mengele

12. Doug B Vlad the Impaler

13. DC Thunder King Tutankahmen

14. Thorn Slobodan Milosevic

15. Yankee23fan Maximilian Robespierre

16. Acer FC Johannes Brahms

17. FUBAR Pope John Paul II

18. Arsenal of Doom Thucydides

19. Larry Boy 44 Muhammad ibn Musa Khwarizmi

20. Mario Kart Pope Gregory XIII

best pick: William I. monarchs got short shrift in this draft, so i thought i'd highlight England's final captor. Maybe being born into their roles put you all off them & rightfully so for many. William was that odd story of royally born but illegitimate, so the hunger for a kingdom denied in his own country got played out across the channel. runnerup: Palladio. when i saw the non-painter artist category, i thought sure the cat would be lousy with architects. turned out not to be the case, so hafta give props where i can to those who build, a talent which blows me away.

worst pick: Robespierre. i'd not have as much of a problem with the pick if it was as a villain instead of rebel. as a leftist radical, i am impossibly disheartened by how badly almost every revolution in its name has turned. this punk set the cause of freedom back a century with his shameless shenanigans. i did, however, have delicious fun creating his fictional equivalent in my mistress-of-the-era novel, Revolution of the Senses. i made him a boy who helps my protagonist runaway from a molesting father & who premees in his only encounter with her, setting him off on a career of repression. runnerup: Popes - pimps right down to their hats. feh -

most interesting: the villains - Vlad, Mengele, Pot, Slobo, Elvis. BWAAAAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!

 

[flysack]

Have I been named Best Judge yet?

 

[wikkidpissah]

Round Nine

1. Mario Kart Antonio Vivaldi

2. Larry Boy 44 Isambard Kingdom Brunel

3. Arsenal of Doom Frédéric Chopin

4. FUBAR Erwin Rommel

5. Acer FC Andy Warhol

6. Yankee23 Fan Saladin

7. Thorn Oliver Cromwell

8. DC Thunder Lavrenti Beria

9. Doug B St. Thomas Aquinas

10. Mad Sweeney Katshushika Hokusai

11. Big Rocks Adolf Eichmann

12. higgins Hernán Cortés

13. John Madden's Lunchbox Osama Bin Ladin

14. Usual21 The Dalai Lama

15. thatguy Richard Wagner

16. Andy Dufresne Francis Crick

17. Herbert The Hippo Idi Amin

18. Bobbylayne Ivan The Terrible

19. Mister CIA Anwar Sadat

20. Abrantes Jorge Luis Borges

best pick: Osama. I dont think he gets enough credit for villainy or ingenuity. He saw Reagan beat the commies by making them spend themselves into ruin & decided to try the same tactic on the western world. the way he changed America into a country that overreacts at every turn is as venal as 9/11 was mortal and must be an even greater pleasure to him than eluding capture. runnerup: Saladin. great value on this real hero of Islam. must also point out that the biggest omission in this draft was another Muslim militarist, Tamerlane, only overland conquerer of India & the reason the word mogul is what it is.

worst pick: Vivaldi. i listen to his concerti all the time but wanted to point out that his homeland would be outraged that he, and not Verdi nor Puccini, was the Italian composer selected. runnerup: Dalai Lama. i'd be a lot more impressed if he actually did something to free his homeland. we've got enough televangelists.

most interesting: Sadat. few things impress me more than the first to reach his hand across the aisle. the greatest shame of that part of the world is that, with he & Rabin, it gets chopped off when extended. runnerup: Cromwell. He would have been just behind Luther if he'd been rostered as a rebel.

 

[Fennis]

Have I been named Best Judge yet?

 

[wikkidpissah]

Round Ten

1. Abrantes Johann Gauss

2. Mister Cia Joseph Conrad

3. Bobby Layne Jackie Kennedy Onassis

4. Herbert The Hippo Bernard Law Montgomery

5. Andy Dufresne Isaac Asimov

6. thatguy Khālid ibn al-Walīd

7. Usual21 Fidel Castro

8. John Madden's Lunchbox Irving Berlin

9. higgins Antonín Dvorák

10. Big Rocks Alfred Nobel

11. Mad Sweeney George Handel

12. Doug B Joseph Hadyn

13. DC Thunder Georgi Zhukov

14. Thorn Johann Strauss II

15. Yankee23fan Madonna

16. Acer FC Franz Kafka

17. FUBAR Gustave Eiffel

18. Arsenal of Doom The Rolling Stones

19. Larry Boy 44 The Virgin Mary

20. Mario Kart Ho Chi Minh

best pick: kind of a lackluster round - lot of cat-filling. I'd pick Handel & Haydn being back2back, but then i'd hafta deal with them being picked behind....

worst pick: Irving Berlin. it's a shame that the non-composer music cat wasn't songwriter/musician, so the Beatles could've gotten their due & there would be a category for Berlin (though he's not even in my top 10 songwriters, he'd still be an improvement on Queen). still, this would've been hard to foresee until the picking started & all in all, tim did yeoman's work creating a fine set of categories. runnerup: Dvorak. i love how much he loved America & his tribute to it is a beautiful piece but, still, a rather pedestrian composer and a travishamockery that he was taken ahead of Papa & Handel.

most interesting: the two Madonnas being picked so closely to each other. runnerup: Gauss. will definitely have to check him out, as he was one of the few who flew under my radar. could well have been a steal.

 

[wikkidpissah]

Round Eleven

1. Mario Kart Gavrilo Princip

2. Larry Boy 44 St Francis of Assisi

3. Arsenal of Doom Zarathushtra

4. FUBAR Suleiman

5. Acer FC Francisco Pizarro

6. Yankee23 Fan Robert Frost

7. Thorn Frank Sinatra

8. DC Thunder St. Ignatius Loyola

9. Doug B Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

10. Mad Sweeney Jacques-Yves Cousteau

11. Big Rocks Edmund Hillary

12. higgins Hugh Hefner

13. John Madden's Lunchbox Florence Nightingale

14. Usual21 Saint Peter

15. thatguy Francisco Goya

16. Andy Dufresne Francis Bacon

17. Herbert The Hippo Art Tatum

18. Bobbylayne Oskar Schindler

19. Mister CIA Giuseppe Garibaldi

20. Abrantes Igor Stravinsky

best pick: OK - back on track. lotsa good picks this round, topped by the huuuuge value of the two polymaths (my new favorite word), Bacon and Goethe. Francis Bacon may have been as talented as any being who walked this earth. I'd also like to respond to the allegations of corruption. In my readings, i've found that many of my favorites thru history - Bacon, Voltaire, Talleyrand - sold their favor. my defense of this is that, in each case, the principal made a decision on his stand on an issue and THEN sold his support to the highest bidder among those who shared his view. rather ingenious, if u ask me. also, Bacon's involvement with secret societies could have something to do with the attempts at discreditation. Never read Dan Brown but, if he's looking for a sequel to his conspiracy books, Bacon would be an excellent subject. runnerup: St Francis. big value in the 11th, esp in these petcentric times.

worst pick: Frost. He actually shook my hand once (my father was at Univ of Vt when Frost was laureate) but its more than a matter of taste that, if there had to be an American poet (we largely suck at it), he instead of Whitman (or even Dickinson) had to be it. runnerup: Hefner. i do not think the champion of those who rub themselves had any substantial role in our sexual awakening, but just made the most money from it.

most interesting: bunch of em here - Tatum, Stravinsky, Frankie, Zarathustra, Garibaldi (better rebel) but Goya had one of the most interesting artistic careers in history. I was in Madrid during the largest exhibition of his work ever held (the Prado's celebration of his 250th b'day) and was astounded by his de-evolution from royal portratist to the most alarmingly elemental artist in my knowledge. a little chagrined though that now The Colossus (which i prefer to even Guernica as political art & has hung in my home for decades) has been accredited to an assistant. runnerup: Cousteau - explorer of the most challenging realm this world has ever offered.

first half done. 2nd half tomorrow. nufced

 

[larry_boy_44]

you know...

I think wikkid likes my draft better than all the other judges combined...

I wonder if that means I did something wrong or right...

 

[krista4]

I absolutely love my boyfriend but have a huge iCrush on wikkid. I don't even agree with him a lot of the time, but .

 

[wikkidpissah]

I absolutely love my boyfriend but have a huge iCrush on wikkid. I don't even agree with him a lot of the time, but .

and, next to www.latinachubbymature.com, krista summons the greatest e-fire from my virtual loins....

 

[krista4]

I absolutely love my boyfriend but have a huge iCrush on wikkid. I don't even agree with him a lot of the time, but .

and, next to www.latinachubbymature.com, krista summons the greatest e-fire from my virtual loins....

Worst. Compliment. Ever.

 

[AcerFC]

I absolutely love my boyfriend but have a huge iCrush on wikkid. I don't even agree with him a lot of the time, but .

and, next to www.latinachubbymature.com, krista summons the greatest e-fire from my virtual loins....

Worst. Compliment. Ever.

And I thought it was the best. Now I have to check out the site. Anyone know what Krista looks like. For comparisons reasons and all

 

[flysack]

Wikkid, at the Goya exhibit you attended, did they explain how the Black Paintings were transfered from the walls of Quinta del Sordo to canvas? I always wondered that.

 

[Ozymandias]

I absolutely love my boyfriend but have a huge iCrush on wikkid. I don't even agree with him a lot of the time, but .

and, next to www.latinachubbymature.com, krista summons the greatest e-fire from my virtual loins....

Worst. Compliment. Ever.

And I thought it was the best. Now I have to check out the site. Anyone know what Krista looks like. For comparisons reasons and all

I have it on good authority that his is an actual photo:http://www.qesign.com/photos/photo.php?nam...amp;price=19.95

 

[krista4]

I absolutely love my boyfriend but have a huge iCrush on wikkid. I don't even agree with him a lot of the time, but .

and, next to www.latinachubbymature.com, krista summons the greatest e-fire from my virtual loins....

Worst. Compliment. Ever.

And I thought it was the best. Now I have to check out the site. Anyone know what Krista looks like. For comparisons reasons and all

I have it on good authority that his is an actual photo:http://www.qesign.com/photos/photo.php?nam...amp;price=19.95

What is that?

 

[wikkidpissah]

Wikkid, at the Goya exhibit you attended, did they explain how the Black Paintings were transfered from the walls of Quinta del Sordo to canvas? I always wondered that.

i looked for any program i might have from it & dont see it. the unfortunate thing about that exhibit was that it was a total cattlecall - four hr waits (no bargain under the madrid sun even in spring) & no linger time. they had the murals in two rooms & i just remember being blown away at the dive he was taking into something im yet to understand. if they had guides there, i prolly wasnt listening cuz of the limited face time with each one as we were shuffled along. wasnt in town long enough for the crowds to die down (if they ever did).ok - rds 12-22 (or as far as i can get - not as inspired as i was yesterday) upcoming.

 

[Das Boot]

I absolutely love my boyfriend but have a huge iCrush on wikkid. I don't even agree with him a lot of the time, but .

and, next to www.latinachubbymature.com, krista summons the greatest e-fire from my virtual loins....

Worst. Compliment. Ever.

And I thought it was the best. Now I have to check out the site. Anyone know what Krista looks like. For comparisons reasons and all

I have it on good authority that his is an actual photo:http://www.qesign.com/photos/photo.php?nam...amp;price=19.95

Whether true or not, this works for me.

 

[wikkidpissah]

Round Twelve

1. Abrantes Albrecht Durer

2. Mister Cia Frank Zappa

3. Bobby Layne Niels Bohr

4. Herbert The Hippo Tiger Woods

5. Andy Dufresne Jesse Owens

6. thatguy Jean Calvin

7. Usual21 Saddam Hussein

8. John Madden's Lunchbox Alfred Hitchcock

9. higgins John McLaughlin

10. Big Rocks Manfred von Richthofen

11. Mad Sweeney Vasco De Gama

12. Doug B King David

13. DC Thunder Eddie Merckx

14. Thorn Friedrich Nietzsche

15. Yankee23fan Titian

16. Acer FC David Ben Gurion

17. FUBAR Luciano Pavarotti

18. Arsenal of Doom Karl Benz

19. Larry Boy 44 Hammurabi

20. Mario Kart Jean Piaget

best pick: Pavarotti. i went on about this during the thread. only saw him live in concert & am not an opera buff, so the reactions about his versatility & acting may be valid. all i know is that the two most beautiful things i've encountered from a living being is Secretariat @ play (visited him in his paddock in the mid 80s) & Maestro pounding a high C from above. runnerup: Durer. when the non-painter cat was announced, i thought 1st of architects & then my inner Mr Sneaky said, "gotta be Durer & his woodcuts". then Abrantes - my 7th-favorite Brazilian (1-6 are models) - goes & picks him, cleverclever, but moves him to wildcard. wassupwiddat?!?!

worst pick: Red Baron. much as i appreciate the desire to reach past the mass media age for celebrity (i myself went for Byron in my draft-along), the key to making sneakypix is to do so late. if they aint value, they aint sneaky. runnerup: much as i love Zappa & McLaughlin (i was friends with an original Mother & the Mahawishywashy Orchestra is one of the few musical acts to change my life) i just cant abide them being taken & Hendrix not.

most interesting: Nietszche. When i first read him almost 40 yrs, i thought he was ten pounds of #### in a five-pound bag but, just when i thought we were about to begin our Transcendent phase as a species, we fell into an abyss of selfishness, all Uber & no Mensch, that makes Freddy a better predictor than Nostramdamus. damn you. runnerup: Benz. if he is indeed most responsible for the automobile, he's huge here. Ben Gurion deserves more appreciation, too. I remember seeing him on TV a lot when i was little - i was scared by his ferocity, which confused me cuz he looked so much like a koala. the fierce was real - an honest-to-god indispensible founder of a country.

 

[flysack]

Wikkid, at the Goya exhibit you attended, did they explain how the Black Paintings were transfered from the walls of Quinta del Sordo to canvas? I always wondered that.

i looked for any program i might have from it & dont see it. the unfortunate thing about that exhibit was that it was a total cattlecall - four hr waits (no bargain under the madrid sun even in spring) & no linger time. they had the murals in two rooms & i just remember being blown away at the dive he was taking into something im yet to understand. if they had guides there, i prolly wasnt listening cuz of the limited face time with each one as we were shuffled along. wasnt in town long enough for the crowds to die down (if they ever did).ok - rds 12-22 (or as far as i can get - not as inspired as i was yesterday) upcoming.

This reminds me of the "King Tut" exhibit in Los Angeles a few years ago. 2 hour wait to get in, and they didn't even HAVE Tut there. Just artifacts from his tomb and an artistic reconstruction of his face.I didn't care because I was there to see the famous bust of Akhenaten (which was part of the Tut exhibit, for some weird reason). But if I were the other thousands there, I would have felt gipped.

 

[wikkidpissah]

Round Thirteen

1. Mario Kart Dmitri Mendeleev

2. Larry Boy 44 King Louis XIV

3. Arsenal of Doom Elizabeth I

4. FUBAR Jim Thorpe

5. Acer FC Mani

6. Yankee23 Fan Ibn Battuta

7. Thorn Peter The Great

8. DC Thunder Modest Mussorgsky

9. Doug B Charles Babbage

10. Mad Sweeney The Grateful Dead

11. Big Rocks Anne Frank

12. higgins Leonhard Euler

13. John Madden's Lunchbox Marie Curie

14. Usual21 William Butler Yeats

15. thatguy B.B. King

16. Andy Dufresne John Williams

17. Herbert The Hippo Giovanni Boccaccio

18. Bobbylayne Enrico Caruso

19. Mister CIA Barack Obama

20. Abrantes Wassily Kandinsky

best pick: the Euromonarchs - Peter, Louis & Liz (my favorite folk group). For my projects. which are mostly historical romances, i've done a lot of reading on hereditary kings & queens. you wouldnt BELIEVE how many iiiijits (to use an irish term) there were among them. frinstance - the last real Romanov czar, Peter III, was so infantile that he used to restage the victories of his hero, Frederick the Great, with toy soldiers in his throne room (he actually court-martialed & executed a rat who chewed on one of his armymen) WHILE his real armies were opposing the man in the 7 Yrs War. he also used to act out Cossack rapes fully-clothed with the ladies of his court, yet never consumated his decade-long marriage to Catherine (they had to bring in a sire to give the court an heir). Louis XVI was another - after 7 yrs of servicing Antoinette by laying on top of her, inserting himself and then lying perfectly still til he went soft, he actually had to have ####### lessons to create an heir & his diary entry on the day Les Citoyens stormed Versailles was about the yield of his daily hunt. So when there are outstanding ones, they should be noted. Louis and Peter belong here if only for their achievements in building (i've been to St Petersburg & can tell you it took great imagination to see such a magnificent city rising from that vestigial swamp) and Elizabeth is prolly only behind Luther as a figure in the downfall of Roman hegemony. runnerup: Mendeleev. always get him confused with Gregor Mendl, but theyre both important.

worst pick: Anne Frank. compelling story, but no real achievement there. personal picks should come later than this. runnerup: Barack Obama. HOPE i'm proven wrong so i can CHANGE this.

most interesting: Williams. i've heard one of his "classical" pieces and it was turrible, but his cinema music is sooo original, compelling & evocative that i have to think he would have been a major musical force in another time. who knows. runnerup: Yeats. this is prolly going to remove the blush of new love between krista & i, but i'm irish, hope to die in its wild western provinces & have actually seen a Yeats play at the Abbey, yet the guy leaves me cold. he's sposeta be my fave of faves. i dont get it.

 

[dparker713]

I agree with WP about the worst pick of the 1st round; that was easy.

No, clearly not the worst pick in the first round.

Very clear to everyone but you. Also I dunno if you were joking or not but the first overall pick, by definition, cannot be the SOD. HTH

With the military writers specificially supposed to be in this category, there's only really 2 worthy of drafting and Sun Tzu is easily the top of those two. Just because the judge and others have ignored that they were supposed to in that category doesnt make it a bad pick and I doubt it will do badly in the voting. Its kind of like Uncle Hummas rankings for the musicians - the people that let his criteria effect their drafting will be hurt in the board vote, or do you really think that the Beatles will be considered at best the 10th in that category with the voters?

 

[Abrantes]

runnerup: Durer. when the non-painter cat was announced, i thought 1st of architects & then my inner Mr Sneaky said, "gotta be Durer & his woodcuts". then Abrantes - my 7th-favorite Brazilian (1-6 are models) - goes & picks him, cleverclever, but moves him to wildcard. wassupwiddat?!?!

Thank you, thank you - you're too kind. Seems I'm in great company with the models. Dürer's woodcuts are simply insane, and a huge artistic influence on me at a young age. However, I wasn't sure how well he'd be received in the category, and got cold feet at the last minute.

 

[Ozymandias]

I agree with WP about the worst pick of the 1st round; that was easy.

No, clearly not the worst pick in the first round.

Very clear to everyone but you. Also I dunno if you were joking or not but the first overall pick, by definition, cannot be the SOD. HTH

With the military writers specificially supposed to be in this category, there's only really 2 worthy of drafting and Sun Tzu is easily the top of those two. Just because the judge and others have ignored that they were supposed to in that category doesnt make it a bad pick and I doubt it will do badly in the voting. Its kind of like Uncle Hummas rankings for the musicians - the people that let his criteria effect their drafting will be hurt in the board vote, or do you really think that the Beatles will be considered at best the 10th in that category with the voters?

It is your opinion that Sun Tzu is easily the top. But it is not a consensus opinion. Sun Tzu and Von Clausewitz both have their advocates and their detractors. If you are talking about clash of armies, Von Clausewitz is clearly superior; he is more complete. If you are talking more about asymmetrical warfare, which is more like the situation we face today, then Sun Tzu is superior. The US Army tends to favor Von Clausewitz; the Marines tend to favor Sun Tzu. But thank you for sharing.

 

[wikkidpissah]

Round Fourteen

1. Abrantes Tokugawa Iyeyasu

2. Mister Cia Henry Ford

3. Bobby Layne Roald Amundsen

4. Herbert The Hippo Anna Nicole Smith

5. Andy Dufresne John The Baptist

6. thatguy Zheng He

7. Usual21 Tim Berners-Lee

8. John Madden's Lunchbox Epicurus

9. higgins Alexandre Dumas

10. Big Rocks Edward Elgar

11. Mad Sweeney George Marshall

12. Doug B Charlie Chaplin

13. DC Thunder Cecil Rhodes

14. Thorn John F. Kennedy

15. Yankee23fan Andrew Lloyd Webber

16. Acer FC Papa Doc Duvalier

17. FUBAR St. Nicholas

18. Arsenal of Doom Torquemada

19. Larry Boy 44 Queen

20. Mario Kart Guy Fawkes

best pick: lotta choices here, (Epicurus, Ford, Marshall) but i'll go with Chaplin. again, laughter is the veryveryvery best thing we do and the greatest gift from our creator. i got a big meh for taking Groucho in the GAD, but he & the Tramp are the mind & heart of comedy. God bless them. runnerup: Torquemada. i wish there was an Italian equivalent to him (i was dissapointed that Savonorola - inspiration for the villain in DaVinci Code - was not taken as a symbol of Roman intolerance) cuz their Inquisition was even more insidious, but he'll do. i long for the day when a major movie (now that the makeup & effects are there to do so) takes us through an auto da fe, or a drawing-and-quartering or any of the other horrid execution style which was common 500yrs ago as celebrity limo cooter flashes are today. just as with the Holocaust (which Torquemada would have looooved), we should be ever-reminded of that of which we're capable. nufced

worst pick: Queen. i was in my car when their 1st single, "Liar", came on the radio. i immediately went to the nearest record store & bought the album, summin i never did. so it's not like i dont like em. they just dont belong here any more than a Whopper belongs on the menu at La Bernadin. The new evangelist country duo of Swaggert & Haggard would be as good a choice. runnerup: St Nicholas. Ho ho ho.

most interesting: JFK. i am completely disheartened by how any credit given to the 60s (and this lasting symbol of it) continues to shrink. is it jealousy (being a young american in that decade was the closest we'll ever get to Oz)? is it a sense of betrayal cuz it didnt work? is it that it's your parents time? i grew up having to look at my Irish mother's favorite painting - Pope John & President John seeding a field side-by-side, but i bought the dream of Camelot. the Marshall Plan, the Peace Corps, we being only as strong as a people as our weakest link. i still do. we can be a LOT better to each other and YOU can start tomorrow. wanna hug it out? runnerup: Guy Fawkes. i like the pick. 2nd name (after Che) that popped into my head when i thought of the category & i thought Vendetta was an entirely stoopid movie.

 

[wikkidpissah]

Round Fifteen

1. Mario Kart Henry Durant

2. Larry Boy 44 Cao Cao

3. Arsenal of Doom Phidias

4. FUBAR Soren Kierkegaard

5. Acer FC Led Zeppelin

6. Yankee23 Fan Blaise Pascal

7. Thorn Wayne Gretzky

8. DC Thunder Jules Verne

9. Doug B Lech Walesa

10. Mad Sweeney Jean-Jacques Rosseau

11. Big Rocks Simon Wiesenthal

12. higgins William Wallace

13. John Madden's Lunchbox Donald Bradman

14. Usual21 Jeremy Bentham

15. thatguy Eva Peron

16. Andy Dufresne John Milton

17. Herbert The Hippo Franz Schubert

18. Bobbylayne Henry David Thoreau

19. Mister CIA Peter Benenson

20. Abrantes Akira Kurosawa

best pick: Schubert. Tremendous value here. almost as facile a musical genius as Mozart, almost as majestic a composer as Beethoven. runnersup: a lot of em - there is STILL no better view into the vicissitudes of the fervent Christian heart than Milton's Paradise Lost; the embodiment of the helping hand in Dunant; the immensely readable philosophies of Pascal, Rousseau & Thoreau; athletes who dominated their sports like Gretzy & Bradman.

worst pick: Kierkegaard. I have almost no schooling. i knocked up a girl in 10th grade & had to run away to keep her family from killing me. from then until my wife died when i was 42, i bet i didnt read a half-dozen books (outside of my yearly re-reads of Raymond Chandler & Vonnegut's 1st 6). after her passing, i borrowed my uncle's hunting cabin in Vermont and just read & wrote for a yr. it was then i realised how much i'd missed, so i read close to a thousand books, mostly of a classical nature, in the next 5 yrs in the attempt to finally edumecate myself. i, of course, encountered some classic wastes of time along the way. i count Joyce & this guy highest among them. unfair, prolly, but i come by it honestly. runnerup: Kurosawa. another snob's darling. don't like most of Fellini or half of Bergman, either.

most interesting. Walesa. the other anachronistic scorn i do not understand is that of labor unions. i know the commies & mob screwed the pooch on this bigtime, but do we so want to be thought of as potential millionaires that wwe denigrate the courageous men & women who fought the power to get us reasonable hours & a livable wage? when Lech rose from the docks of Danzig to be the face of the end to Soviet totalitarianism, i thought sure that, among other things, he would rehabilitate the image of the labor leader as a hero. alas, not. runnerup: Phidias. his sculptures & freizes were soooo much more lifelike than what preceded him, that he may very well be the father of art as we know it.

 

[dparker713]

I agree with WP about the worst pick of the 1st round; that was easy.

No, clearly not the worst pick in the first round.

Very clear to everyone but you. Also I dunno if you were joking or not but the first overall pick, by definition, cannot be the SOD. HTH

With the military writers specificially supposed to be in this category, there's only really 2 worthy of drafting and Sun Tzu is easily the top of those two. Just because the judge and others have ignored that they were supposed to in that category doesnt make it a bad pick and I doubt it will do badly in the voting. Its kind of like Uncle Hummas rankings for the musicians - the people that let his criteria effect their drafting will be hurt in the board vote, or do you really think that the Beatles will be considered at best the 10th in that category with the voters?

It is your opinion that Sun Tzu is easily the top. But it is not a consensus opinion. Sun Tzu and Von Clausewitz both have their advocates and their detractors. If you are talking about clash of armies, Von Clausewitz is clearly superior; he is more complete. If you are talking more about asymmetrical warfare, which is more like the situation we face today, then Sun Tzu is superior. The US Army tends to favor Von Clausewitz; the Marines tend to favor Sun Tzu. But thank you for sharing.

If you're just considering military applications, sure you could favor one over the other. If you acknowledge Sun Tzu's influence outside of warfare, its really not a contest. However, regardless there are only two of any note yet they were given no consideration for the top of the category. But thank you for playing.

 

[wikkidpissah]

Round Sixteen

1. Abrantes Jonas Salk

2. Mister Cia Usain Bolt

3. Bobby Layne John Wycliffe

4. Herbert The Hippo William Dampier

5. Andy Dufresne Elton John

6. thatguy Pablo Escobar

7. Usual21 U2

8. John Madden's Lunchbox Robert Burns

9. higgins Lord Horatio Nelson

10. Big Rocks Ralph Waldo Emerson

11. Mad Sweeney Pope Urban II

12. Doug B Thomas Malthus

13. DC Thunder Moliere

14. Thorn Lorenzo Ghiberti

15. Yankee23fan Yo Yo Ma

16. Acer FC David Beckham

17. FUBAR Matsuo Basho

18. Arsenal of Doom Ludwig Wittgenstein

19. Larry Boy 44 Nero

20. Mario Kart Franklin Delano Roosevelt

best pick: Lord Nelson. from what i know of how Jolly Ol' considers its heros, i was surprised that Wellington (i mean, Napoleon had as little left by Waterloo as a bull does after the picadors turn him over to the matador) was judged so far ahead of Nelson in this. runnerup: well, Salk was monstrous value where he was taken & that should be noted but i'll go with Moliere here. though i prefer his predecessor, Ben Jonson, i got not a huge prob calling this guy the father of the modern comedy. arts & farces, farts & arses - that's me.

worst pick: Beckham - get bent! i'm a Georgie Best man meself. runnerup: ooo, someone left a bad hat & a traumatized altar boy on the floor. a pope musta been here.

most interesting - i've already gone on about Emperor Human Torch and although i thought Wittgenstein would be another Kierkegaard but he wasn't, i havent really checked out enough of him so i'll go with the man of American letters who, juuuust ahead of Whitman, moved me most when i caught up on my reading in Emerson. transcendental- is right there with tao- & flagell- among my favorite -isms. runnerup: Bolt. as have all the others, this pick will get better with time time. wow...i mean, just....WOW.

 

[Ozymandias]

"If you're just considering military applications, sure you could favor one over the other. If you acknowledge Sun Tzu's influence outside of warfare, its really not a contest. However, regardless there are only two of any note yet they were given no consideration for the category. But thank you for playing."

I think you are absolutely correct. In my opinion, Sun Tzu would have made a very strong wild card entry. Just like Napoleon would have been a much stronger candidate had his contributions in science, government and law been taken into account. Julius Caesar is another one, who ended up as a W/C. As a military man, he was around 10th; but when you take his other contributions into account, he was a top tier W/C.

 

[wikkidpissah]

Round Seventeen

1. Mario Kart Guglielmo Marconi

2. Larry Boy 44 Babe Ruth

3. Arsenal of Doom Joe Louis

4. FUBAR George Washington Carver

5. Acer FC Margaret Thatcher

6. Yankee23 Fan Woody Allen

7. Thorn Petrarch

8. DC Thunder Leon Trotsky

9. Doug B Henry The Navigator

10. Mad Sweeney Michael Phelps

11. Big Rocks Joseph Smith

12. higgins Justinian

13. John Madden's Lunchbox Kublai Khan

14. Usual21 John Paul Jones

15. thatguy Diego Maradona

16. Andy Dufresne John Wesley

17. Herbert The Hippo Eleanor Roosevelt

18. Bobbylayne Paavo Nurmi

19. Mister CIA Garry Kasparov

20. Abrantes Isaiah

best pick: Wesley - let me clear some stuff up on my ecclesiastical tastes. Lord help me, i wish there was redemption & states of grace & genuine meaning in existence and decency in our connection between each other. i just absolutely dont think Christianity or Islam exists because of that. They are the two abiding religions on the planet cuz they offer excuses in life, salvation beyond & most importantly, the velvet rope against the entry of heathens that keeps us pumped up about ourselves & everyone else controlled and/or demonized. As my boyee Voltaire said "If God did not exist, it would have been necessary to invent him". That said, the pursuit of that which is behind the Cloud of Unknowing can be an extraordinarily beautiful & beatific thang. I hear that, in Wesley's hands, it could indeed be that &, on his tongue, the Christian message sounded better than anyone since The Man hisself. props for that. runnersup: the athletes in this round - Nurmi (my favorite Olympian), Louis (really, the first black man America warmed up to - should be a movie bout him), the Babe, Phelps, Maradonna.

worst pick: Thatcher. my view that she and Reagan would one day be seen to be as much pariahs of capitalism as the guys who ruined communism were to the liberation struggle is a lot more salient than it was a few yrs ago. i think it'll get moreso as time goes on but, now, i gloat. runnerup: Trotsky. see above. 3rd place: Smith - oddly, Mormons are my favorite fanatical Christians because they are so insistently decent, but they're also bullgoose loony, to use a technical term & Smith is a perfect other side to Wesley's coin.

most interesting: the sailors, Henry & Jones. the Algarve (the SWernmost tip of Portugal and, therefore, the end of Europe) is one of my favorite places on the planet & Henry is a god there, considered the father of the miraculous century of exploration to follow......i was as voracious a reader in elementary school as i was lax in adulthood, and tales of the sea, (Jones battles especially) were my favorite. runnerup: Lady Roosevelt. if her face hadnt been a junkyard of features, she would be America's Virgin Mary.

 

[wikkidpissah]

Round Eighteen

1. Abrantes Avicenna

2. Mister Cia Sir Francis Drake

3. Bobby Layne Ingmar Bergman

4. Herbert The Hippo Walt Disney

5. Andy Dufresne Johannes Kepler

6. thatguy Nostradamus

7. Usual21 Sergio Leone

8. John Madden's Lunchbox Pythagoras

9. higgins Democritus

10. Big Rocks Lance Armstrong

11. Mad Sweeney Cicero

12. Doug B Leif Ericsson

13. DC Thunder Praxiteles

14. Thorn Maurice Pate

15. Yankee23fan Agatha Christie

16. Acer FC Mikhail Barishnikov

17. FUBAR Carl von Clauswitz

18. Arsenal of Doom Helen Keller

19. Larry Boy 44 CS Lewis

20. Mario Kart Edwin Hubble

best pick: Pythagoras. it's worth restating my earlier wish that the ethic of the Pythagorean commune had been the replacement for Roman ways instead of Paulean/Constantinian Christianity. we would be a lot closer to our inevitable happiness if it did. it is my fervent belief that, just as math is the language of the universe, music is the language of God within us & we will find that extra gear housed in an eye within our miraculous cerebral cortex as soon as we free it from our old toys & animalistic ways. i do not like being part of a herd & dont believe that's what we were designed to be. i even have a word for this process - nooture (the logical 3rd step up from nature & nurture, noos being the Greek word for mind's eye). Pythagoras guessed all around this & it is a sin against the last 2500 yrs that we went for the shinier coin. nufced. runnerup - Kepler. from what i hear, the best scientist, outside the often-cited pantheon.

worst pick: Christie & Leone. there is chain of the "beauties" which engage us: distraction-entertainment-art. genre art is between the first & second in this chain & this list is too small for its practitioners. runner-up: Keller. never got her except as a mawkish symbol of some kind. just dont see it, cant hear it.

most interesting: Barishnikov. I prefer Nureyev, but they say Misha's a better dancer & i don't know enough to tell. i do know this. i grew up in Irish Boston, where folks went to work, came home, drank, went to church, had big Sunday gatherings. nothin more - any thing exceptional would be found to betray one in the end. i had no clue how incredible human beings could be until i saw Nureyev & Fonteyn on Ed Sullivan and it was a revelation of the first order. then i saw the miraculous Zero Mostel (the greatest entertainer no one remembers) on Broadway & realised the chance for the few to be extraordinary was why the many existed. if ive entertained or inspired you at all, it's because of those three people & i wanted to mention that at some point in this. runnerup: Disney. i dont get it, but i undestand why others do. they see a similar magic from him & his organization as that to which i just spoke. big value here.

i'm gonna take a break. i been at this for five hrs & it aint as easy as it looks. back way late tonite or tomorrow.

 

[thatguy]

Good stuff as also WP. Thanks for the effort.

I'm hoping to land some "best pick" honors but I'm glad that as of yet I have no "worst pick"s.

 

[timschochet]

i grew up in Irish Boston, where folks went to work, came home, drank, went to church, had big Sunday gatherings. nothin more - any thing exceptional would be found to betray one in the end. i had no clue how incredible human beings could be until i saw Nureyev & Fonteyn on Ed Sullivan and it was a revelation of the first order. then i saw the miraculous Zero Mostel (the greatest entertainer no one remembers) on Broadway & realised the chance for the few to be extraordinary was why the many existed.

Out of everything you've written here, WP, this is probably your most eloquent work. Well done.

 

[krista4]

worst pick: Kierkegaard. I have almost no schooling. i knocked up a girl in 10th grade & had to run away to keep her family from killing me. from then until my wife died when i was 42, i bet i didnt read a half-dozen books (outside of my yearly re-reads of Raymond Chandler & Vonnegut's 1st 6). after her passing, i borrowed my uncle's hunting cabin in Vermont and just read & wrote for a yr. it was then i realised how much i'd missed, so i read close to a thousand books, mostly of a classical nature, in the next 5 yrs in the attempt to finally edumecate myself. i, of course, encountered some classic wastes of time along the way. i count Joyce & this guy highest among them. unfair, prolly, but i come by it honestly. runnerup: Kurosawa. another snob's darling. don't like most of Fellini or half of Bergman, either.

Our short-lived affair is over not because of Yeats, but because of Kurosawa. Frankly I don't understand anyone calls him a "snob's darling"--I understand this with Fellini (whom I can't get into other than the absolute perfection of 8-1/2) or Bergman (who I alternately love and hate), but Kurosawa's movies are way too accessible as movies, not as art projects.Love the write-ups as always.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

wikkid's write upe have been entertaining. Well, except for the leftist anti Christian diatribes that flow through all of them, but hey...... who's counting. It's funny, I've been sick as a dog since Friday night, can barely stay awake, can't talk, can't eat or drink and my head feels like it's going to pop lick the Hindenburgh, but I keep checking up in here when I can.

I don't know if that is good or bad.

 

[wikkidpissah]

worst pick: Kierkegaard. I have almost no schooling. i knocked up a girl in 10th grade & had to run away to keep her family from killing me. from then until my wife died when i was 42, i bet i didnt read a half-dozen books (outside of my yearly re-reads of Raymond Chandler & Vonnegut's 1st 6). after her passing, i borrowed my uncle's hunting cabin in Vermont and just read & wrote for a yr. it was then i realised how much i'd missed, so i read close to a thousand books, mostly of a classical nature, in the next 5 yrs in the attempt to finally edumecate myself. i, of course, encountered some classic wastes of time along the way. i count Joyce & this guy highest among them. unfair, prolly, but i come by it honestly. runnerup: Kurosawa. another snob's darling. don't like most of Fellini or half of Bergman, either.

Our short-lived affair is over not because of Yeats, but because of Kurosawa. :( Frankly I don't understand anyone calls him a "snob's darling"--I understand this with Fellini (whom I can't get into other than the absolute perfection of 8-1/2) or Bergman (who I alternately love and hate), but Kurosawa's movies are way too accessible as movies, not as art projects.Love the write-ups as always.

well, it lasted 18 hrs longer than most of my affairs & didnt involve a credit-card, so i'm puttin that in the W column. as for Kurosawa & the others i dont hate them as much as the people who love them. sorry -thx for the nice comments, folks. that the people i've given the least reason to encourage me are the ones who have makes it worthwhile.