 |
I've always been an optimist,
but as time goes on I find more and more
reason to wonder why. During my years in college, a particularly
dark
time, I took to keeping a list of any good I observed. Here is a
brief
list in the same style. Rather than a transient and
changing
list of both natural and human-made phenomena, however, this is a list
of what you might call my
"favorites" among mankind's addition to the cosmos.
It is, as far as I'm concerned, a list of incontravertable proof that Good Does Exist.
|
| 1. The Music of Brian Wilson If you've never heard Brian's music, you're missing out. Fortunately, you probably have heard his classic Beach Boys' hits. Brian's the one with the amazing, to-cry-for falsetto, who wrote and produced the music. For me, the song "Caroline No" as performed on I Just Wasn't Made for These Times was all it took to fall in love with Brian. His world-weary voice and endlessly optimistic music have carried me through my toughest times. To learn about other music I value, look at my list of good music. |
| 2. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine I grew up watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the show's cast still feels like family. However, an entirely new standard was set when Deep Space Nine hit its fifth season. After thirty years of setup in the background universe, and five years of setup in the immediate system, Deep Space Nine was in a unique position to tell stories about humanity, war, faith, politics...everything that literature is about. In my opinion, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is the single greatest piece of literature that humanity has produced and possibly ever will. |
| 3. Watership Down, by Richard
Adams In third grade, I loved Watership Down because it was about rabbits that talked. What a breakthrough! So much better than those books in second grade about wild horses... They couldn't talk. Since then, I've learned to appreciate Watership Down for its beautiful prose, social and philisophical perspective, and, most of all, for its unusually real, deep, believable, and memorable characters. Hazel, Fiver, and Bigwig are more than talking rabbits; they're more than most real people. Few other books have ever lived up to Watership Down. For some that come close, look at my list of other good books. |
| 4. That Thing You Do Brought up to be a movie aficionado, I have seen many "perfect" movies. This story of a one-hit wonder band is one of the most fun. Whenever I'm asked to name my favorite movie, I stumble and falter, trying to decide between many choices. However, That Thing You Do generally comes to mind among the first. It can always make me happy, and I can still discover new insights from analyzing it. I highly recommend it. Other recommendable and possibly "perfect" movies can be found on my list of good movies. |
| 5. Homestarrunner.com Most of the good I've listed is static, over, ended. It exists, but it doesn't grow. (The music of Brian Wilson is a possible exception -- if he ever comes out with another album or if you can afford to fly to the other side of the world to see him.) The Homestar Runner website, however, is updated nearly weekly. The multimedia character and world building it involves is reminiscent of nothing more than Jim Henson's muppets. It's fun; it's art; and, it's an example of all that's best about the internet. |