Worst Movies List

Sometimes, true wisdom is knowing what not to do.


This List-Day Wednesday Topic: 
What movies should you avoid like the plague?

The embarrassing thing about a "worst movie list" is that you have to admit you saw, at least part, of the movie.

Here is my list:
1) "Grown Ups" - my excuse, I was trapped on a transatlantic flight
2) "Ishtar" - I don't even remember what it was about, but Isabelle Adjani was in it.
3) "King Kong" (2005) - I am embarrassed to say that I made it to the scene where Kong battled the dinosaurs.
 4) Any of the recent Star Wars movies.

Distraction in the Classroom

A university professor was arrested last week for closing the laptop of a student (on her fingers) who was checking Facebook and twitter during his lecture.  Students using their phone or computer to surf the net during class is a problem I have witnessed at Baylor.  Apparently, professors should not assault students who are engaged in social-media during class.  But, how should the professor respond? Is this even a problem the professor should worry about? 

For this List-Day Wednesday, the topic is:

How should a teacher respond to students who use their computer/phone for entertainment during class?

Here is my list.

• Prohibit the use of laptops and phones during class.
• Ask the student, during class, to not use their device for Facebook.
• Count the student as absent for that day.

"I Yam What I Yam, That I Yam"

After playing around with Hamlet yesterday, I thought about how we often use quotations from writers and famous people to describe who we are, how we think, or what we are doing.  Maybe it is a fallacious appeal to authority or the idea that if someone got the words exactly right, why not reuse them.  Or, if our French Existentialist friends are right, the use of familiar quotes is a way (although mistaken) to be a participant in the universal condition of humanity.  After all, "being is what it is" as Sartre says.

A favorite quote from a cartoon.
from funny time

List-Day Wednesday Topic:  What are you favorite quotes or catch-phrases?


Here is my list:

1. "When the going gets weird, the weird get going."  Raoul Duke (HS Thompson)
2. "Seems, madame, nay it is.  I know not seems."  Shakespeare, Hamlet.
3. "Art happens"  James Whistler
4. "Good history, is history that we can use."  Nietzsche.  (This does not have a particular source.  After some research, I have discovered that this is a Nietzsche quote I have made up... but it is still my favorite saying from Nietzsche.)
5. "'To do is to be' Socrates, 'to be is to do' Sartre, 'Do Be Do Be Do' Sinatra"  Kurt Vonnegut

List-Day Wednesday = Best Burger Joints

Since we are on the topic of hamburgers, I thought that a List-Day Wednesday dedicated to listing the best Burger Joints in your home town would be appropriate.  (The secret, and selfish, reason for this topic is that I love a good hamburger and have gone great lengths to feed this craving.)  My favorite, all-time hamburger was the green chili burger at Roberto's Tacos y Mas in Taos.  To the best of my knowledge (please prove otherwise) the mobile taco/burger shack is no more.  

Ang and the Medievalist continue to be the star Listers.  

Topic for this List-Day Wednesday: Best hamburger joints in your hometown. 

As with any group project, a few rules are needed.  There will be a topic.  As far as the length of the list, I have given this some thought.  A list of One, is not a list.  Two to a list is too harsh: only first and last place.  The minimum entries shall be Three, and Three it shall be.  For the sake of brevity, Five will be the max.

Here is my list:

    Waco Hamburger Joints

1. Cupp's Drive-In (I ate there almost everyday while working construction in the summer of 1954?)
2. Fuddrucker's (I generally abhor chain restaurants, but when you make a good hamburger, you make a good hamburger)
3. World Cup Cafe (I like the toasted cheese bread)

List-Day Wednesday = Superpowers

List-Day Wednesday went on holiday last week.  I was on a death march through Northern Italy and had only sporadic access to the Internet.  The grueling nature of travel (and my recent research on Mr. Magnet) inspired some fantasies about possessing the power to travel instantly from location to another.  If the Power of Transport is more than a mere mortal could handle, the simple power of "Instant First-Class Upgrades" would be much appreciated.  


The topic of superpowers is timeless (the ability to move through time would be cool).  Where there is a great power, there is both a good and bad use of that power.  The Ring of Gyges, granting the ability to turn invisible, provoked  such a discussion between Socrates and Glaucon.  Could you resist the temptation to satisfy your desires if you had the ability to be evil without consequence or punishment?

Ultivac, the forgotten supervillain, had the
power of telepathy... I would not want to
know what other people are thinking.

So, for this List-Day Wednesday, the topic is: What superpowers would you want to have?


As with any group project, a few rules are needed.  There will be a topic.  As far as the length of the list, I have given this some thought.  A list of One, is not a list.  Two to a list is too harsh: only first and last place.  The minimum entries shall be Three, and Three it shall be.  For the sake of brevity, Five will be the max.


Here is my list:
1) The power of instant transport (see above reference to the Italy death march)
2) The power of perfect espresso (this is probably a power that I will tire of quickly, but right now, in Waco, it seems very important)
3) The power to speak all languages (this would have prevented our being lost in Italy and the hostility that arose with our bus driver)

Reading at the Edge of Memory

Last List-Day Wednesday we looked at restaurants on Valley Mills Dr. here in Waco.  Great suggestions by "Ang."  I keeping overlooking Pei Wei as a dining option... it is now on my near-future lunch list.  
For the Middle Eastern insurgents and snow-bound Midwesterners who follow these posts, I thought a the universal topic of children's literature would be appropriate.  To jog your reticent memory, some classic Persian children stories are: The Sheep and the Jackal; The Camel and the Jackal; The Baby Goat and the Jackal; and The Good & Loving Boy Hassani.  


The topic of this List-Day Wednesday is quasi-autobiograpohical: 
What are your favorite childhood stories or books?


As with any group project, a few rules are needed.  There will be a topic.  As far as the length of the list, I have given this some thought.  A list of One, is not a list.  Two to a list is too harsh: only first and last place.  The minimum entries shall be Three, and Three it shall be.  For the sake of brevity, Five will be the max.


Here is my list:
1) Winnie the Pooh - As I have suggested before, I like maps and 100 Acre Wood may be the source of my map fetish.
2) Bear Story - James Whitcomb Riley.  Now that I have returned to the story as a parent, I am a bit concerned about the violence.  As a child, a bear that slowly gets its legs shot off was very suspenseful.
3) Stuart Little - I had a pet mouse.  My mouse could not drive.
4) Goodnight Gorilla - As a parent reading to a child, this is a newly discovered favorite.  Great illustrations, few words.

Good Eats on the Valley

At the Edge, Wednesday will "List-Day Wednesday."  As with any group project, a few rules are needed.  There will be a topic.  As far as the length of the list, I have given this some thought.  A list of One, is not a list.  Two to a list is too harsh: only first and last place.  The minimum entries shall be Three, and Three it shall be.  For the sake of brevity, Five will be the max.

List-Day Wednesday topic:  
What are your favorite restaurants on Valley Mills Drive in Waco, Texas?  

Here is my list.  I was tempted to just list my favorite restaurants that no longer exist, but that would not be helpful.

1) Taqueria #9 - If you buy the tacos individually, you can get a great lunch for less than $4.00.  I recommend the nopales taco on a flour tortilla

2) Baris - Especially on Calzone Tuesday (includes a salad with their great house dressing)

3) Schmaltz's Sandwich Shop - I have been living on the Blue Plate Special since high school

Meta-Listing

In honor and deference to the blogging guru Mark Osler over at Osler's Razor, I am going to dedicate a day of the week to an interactive blog post.  Osler, from the beginning, has tapped the creative energies of overworked law students by challenging them to write a haiku each Friday.  "In the good ol' days" Osler, or a distinguished guest judge, would pick the best entry and present an award.  Like Pavlov's dogs (Boy, Zolotisty, Druzhok, Sultan, Zhuchka, Tygan and Druzhok), a click is all loyal Razorites need today.  


At the Edge, Wednesday will "List-Day Wednesday."  As with any group project, a few rules are needed.  There will be a topic.  As far as the length of the list, I have given this some thought.  A list of One, is not a list.  Two to a list is too harsh: only first and last place.  The minimum entries shall be Three, and Three it shall be.  For the sake of brevity, Five will be the max.


The inaugural topic shall be meta-listing:  
What topics should List-Day Wednesday use in the future?  


1) Best yard ornaments
2) Favorite art movements
3) Political slogans to avoid
4) Worst job interview questions