Dandy and Eccentric

From The State last week (June 17):

"LONDON- Self-styled dandy and noted British eccentric Sebastian Horsley,who found fame by having himself nailed to a cross in the Philippines, died Thursday at the age of 47....

Horsley is perhaps best known for a bungled attempt to have himself crucified in the Philippines in 2000 as part of an art project. The procedure almost ended in disaster when his foot support broke, threatening to rip his hands apart (he was caught and taken down from the cross just in time.)"

Yes- getting yourself nailed to a cross makes you dandy and eccentric. If you are rich. Otherwise, sira-ulo ka lang (You're just plain crazy).

Barbara Kingsolver wins Orange Prize for Fiction

Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna was awarded the Orange Prize for Fiction on Wednesday.

Others for consideration were:

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore

Black Water Rising by Attica Locke

The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison

The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey

No kisses for Asimov?

From couponsherpa.com last week - Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts supposedly contains this bit:

"The Tinguian people of the Philippines kiss by putting their lips close together and inhaling. (There must be a brisk business for breath mints among the Tinguian.)"

The 100 Greatest Characters in the Last 20 Years

Yesterday, Entertainment Weekly came up with another pop culture list: the 100 greatest characters in the last two decades.

The list:

100. Tim Riggins from Friday Night Lights
99. The Bride from Kill Bill
98. Lisbeth Salander from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels
97. Violet Weston from August: Osage County
96. Bernie Mac from The Bernie Mac Show
95. Wilhelmina from Ugly Betty
94. Truman from The Truman Show
93. Game Boys: Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series; Kratos from the God of War series; and Niko Bellic from Grand Theft Auto IV
92. Christopher Boone from The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-Time
91. Hancock from Hancock

90. Marge Gunderson from Fargo
89. Wikus van de Merwe from District 9
88. Napoleon Dynamite from Napoleon Dynamite
87. Tony Stark from the Iron Man series
86. Karen Walker and Jack McFarland from Will & Grace
85. Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood
84. Dr. Gregory House from House, M.D.
83. Jen Yu from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
82. Tracy Flick from Election
81. Amanda Woodward from Melrose Place

80. Gorillaz, the animated rock band
79. Elphaba from Wicked
78. Patty Hewes from Damages
77. Mimi Marquez from Rent
76. Tyler Durden from Fight Club
75. David Brent from The Office (original version)
74. Don Draper from Mad Men
73. Catherine Trammell from Basic Instinct
72. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace from Battlestar Galactica
71. Det. Alonzo Harris from Training Day

70. Mary Katherine Gallagher from Saturday Night Live
69. Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada
68. Effie White from Dreamgirls
67. Borat from Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
66. Allie and Noah from The Notebook
65. Lorelai and Rory Gilmore from Gilmore Girls
64. Maximus from Gladiator
63. John Locke from Lost
62. Jimmy Corrigan from Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth
61. Vic Mackey from The Shield

60. Mary Jones from Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Saphhire
59. Master Chief from the Halo series
58. Thelma and Louise from Thelma & Louise
57. Clayton Bigsby from Chappelle’s Show
56. Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother
55. Tracy Jordan from 30 Rock
54. Juno from Juno
53. Edward Cullen from the Twilight saga
52. Annie Wilkes from Misery
51. Omar Little from The Wire

50. Pearl the Landlord from FunnyorDie.com
49. Vivian Ward from Pretty Woman
48. Red from The Shawshank Redemption
47. Corky St. Clair Waiting for Guffman
46. Jerry Maguire from Jerry Maguire
45. Stewie Griffin from Family Guy
44. Jack Bauer from 24
43. Cal Stephanides from Middlesex
42. Sydney Bristow from Alias
41. Harold and Kumar from the Harold & Kumar series

40. Ron Burgundy from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
39. Gob Bluth from Arrested Development
38. Elmo from Sesame Street
37. Keyser Söze from The Usual Suspects
36. Gollum from The Lord of the Rings
35. Dexter Morgan from Dexter
34. Cher from Clueless
33. Sarah Connor from Terminator 2: Judgment Day
32. Beavis and Butt-Head from Beavis and Butt-Head
31. Forrest Gump from Forrest Gump

30. “Stephen Colbert” from The Colbert Report
29. Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield from Pulp Fiction
28. Madea from several Tyler Perry films and plays
27. Frasier from Frasier
26. Kavalier and Clay from The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
25. Woody from the Toy Story series
24. Felicity Porter from Felicity
23. Austin Powers from the Austin Powers series
22. Eric Cartman from South Park
21. Roseanne Conner from Roseanne

20. Ally McBeal from Ally McBeal
19. Morpheus from The Matrix series
18. Sue Sylvester from Glee
17. Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider franchise
16. Bridget Jones from the Bridget Jones series
15. Shrek from the Shrek series
14. Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski from The Big Lebowski
13. Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean series
12. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully from The X-Files
11. Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld

10. SpongeBob SquarePants from SpongeBob SquarePants
9. Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City
8. Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs and its sequels
7. Edward Scissorhands from Edward Scissorhands
6. Rachel Green from Friends
5. The Joker from The Dark Knight
4. Tony Soprano from The Sopranos
3. Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2. Harry Potter from the Harry Potter series
1. Homer Simpson from The Simpsons

I am particularly happy to note the inclusion of Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood (no. 85), Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada (69), and Gollum from The Lord of the Rings (36).

Also on the list: Christopher Boone from The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-Time (92), Cal Stephanides from Middlesex (43), and, Kavalier and Clay from The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (26).

Also included are: Karen and Jack from Will & Grace (86), Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica (72), Lorelai and Rory Gilmore from Gilmore Girls (65), Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother (56), and, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully from The X-Files (12).

But John Locke from Lost at no. 63? I would say Benjamin Linus is a greater character.

Sydney Bristow from Alias (42) should be ranked higher than Felicity Porter from Felicity (24).

Sue Sylvester from Glee (18) is too high, and so is Pearl the Landlord from FunnyorDie.com (50).

Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City (9) is higher than SpongeBob SquarePants (10)?

Rachel Green from Friends (6) is a great choice- and I will allow that she might belong in the top ten- but higher than Edward Scissorhands (7) and Hannibal Lecter (8)?

And Edward Cullen from the Twilight saga? I don't think they should be here.

I am most thrilled that The Joker from The Dark Knight (5), Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (3), and Homer Simpson from The Simpsons (1) top the list.