Here we are at Harry's Bar. What better place to talk a bit. It is Thanksgiving and I am always intrigued by lists. A couple that leap to mind are The Atlantic Monthly's release of its list of the one hundred most influential Americans. I shall let you you make your own judgements, but of the first five, three (Washington, John Adams and Jefferson) were instrumental in founding this nation and two, Lincoln at number one no less, and Franklin Roosevelt led salvation operations. The list makes fascinating reading, but the atttempt to quantify after the first ten or so is a bit feeble.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200612/influentials-main
As they themselves ask: Who are the ­most influential figures in American history? They asked ten eminent historians. The result was The Atlantic’s Top 100—and some insight into the nature of influence and the contingency of history. Was Walt Disney really more influential than Elizabeth Cady Stanton? Benjamin Spock than Richard Nixon? Elvis Presley than Lewis and Clark? John D. Rockefeller than Bill Gates? Babe Ruth than Frank Lloyd Wright? Let the debates begin.

Another list that rather depresses me is Time's attempt to list the one hundred most important albums.....I guess....ever. They break it all down by decade. Seriously....take a good, careful look at this compilation and honestly ask yourself if you are not stuck a few decades ago. I suppose it is just age, but the seventies were pretty damned good for me.
http://www.time.com/time/2006/100albums/
Kayne West? Dr. Dre? Outkast? Well, not on my playlist, but de gustibus non disputandem est!