Lumenskir
05-26-2011, 10:21 PM
I figure this is about as good a time as any.
So, what is a Manhattan List? The first instance of the list in fiction (that I know of) comes from, of course, Woody Allen's film, Manhattan.
Here is the scene where it is incepted. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKTQ4a3BR5c)
In case you might not like that nervous fella that always seems to be in his movies, here's the transcript of the scene.
Why is life worth living? It's a very good question. Um... Well, There are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile. uh... Like what... okay... um... For me, uh... ooh... I would say... what, Groucho Marx, to name one thing... uh... um... and Wilie Mays... and um... the 2nd movement of the Jupiter Symphony... and um... Louis Armstrong, recording of Potato Head Blues... um... Swedish movies, naturally... Sentimental Education by Flaubert... uh... Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra... um... those incredible Apples and Pears by Cezanne... uh... the crabs at Sam Wo's... uh... Tracy's face...
Basically, life can get shitty sometimes. That's why I find the idea of just listing out those things that personally make life worth living for you so remarkably...I don't know, necessary at times.
Now, the point of such lists isn't really to be exhaustive, and I'm pretty sure an implied requirement is that it can never be exhaustive. It's just to be there.
In pretty random, what pops to mind first, 'order', mine looks something like-
-The Room: Dubstep Remix (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOejs9DhBCc)
-The second blowjob monologue in Deadwood
-Going to a baseball game with my dad where the Rays suck ass for seven and a half innings and then pull it together right when we had planned on leaving
-Oskar's stream of consciousness that leads to the invention of skyscraper elevators that move the building vertically in "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"
-4:45-8:27 of "Memorial"
-The pre-snort giggle my girlfriend lets out whenever we watch "Pier Pressure" and she realizes that GOB is about to claim that it is cold out
-Winning in a Mario Party 4 2v.2 minigame, and then faux jacking off onto my losing friend's face after he talked shit the entire time
-Louis C.K.'s bit on why people who make a half-hearted jack off motion should be required to mime the entire act
-"You are the AT&T of people!"
-Kanye West's "All of the Lights" music video
-Being able to correctly guess a movie based solely on the year and category while listening to the Leonard Maltin game
-Beating Alex Trebek in reading the name of the clue categories before he or any of my friends can, or alternatively, failing to beat Trebek and claiming that he cheated
-Clicking on the random button on Dinosaur Comics and then spending an hour laughing at all of the jokes I had forgotten about
-The "Bass Battle" screen
-The perfectly mixed Wild Turkey and Diet Coke
-The fact that there is a sequel to this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sgj78QG9Bg)
-The fact that a human was capable of writing the "How does my hair look?" scene
-The knowledge that anything in the past can be topped at any point in the future
So, what is a Manhattan List? The first instance of the list in fiction (that I know of) comes from, of course, Woody Allen's film, Manhattan.
Here is the scene where it is incepted. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKTQ4a3BR5c)
In case you might not like that nervous fella that always seems to be in his movies, here's the transcript of the scene.
Why is life worth living? It's a very good question. Um... Well, There are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile. uh... Like what... okay... um... For me, uh... ooh... I would say... what, Groucho Marx, to name one thing... uh... um... and Wilie Mays... and um... the 2nd movement of the Jupiter Symphony... and um... Louis Armstrong, recording of Potato Head Blues... um... Swedish movies, naturally... Sentimental Education by Flaubert... uh... Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra... um... those incredible Apples and Pears by Cezanne... uh... the crabs at Sam Wo's... uh... Tracy's face...
Basically, life can get shitty sometimes. That's why I find the idea of just listing out those things that personally make life worth living for you so remarkably...I don't know, necessary at times.
Now, the point of such lists isn't really to be exhaustive, and I'm pretty sure an implied requirement is that it can never be exhaustive. It's just to be there.
In pretty random, what pops to mind first, 'order', mine looks something like-
-The Room: Dubstep Remix (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOejs9DhBCc)
-The second blowjob monologue in Deadwood
-Going to a baseball game with my dad where the Rays suck ass for seven and a half innings and then pull it together right when we had planned on leaving
-Oskar's stream of consciousness that leads to the invention of skyscraper elevators that move the building vertically in "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"
-4:45-8:27 of "Memorial"
-The pre-snort giggle my girlfriend lets out whenever we watch "Pier Pressure" and she realizes that GOB is about to claim that it is cold out
-Winning in a Mario Party 4 2v.2 minigame, and then faux jacking off onto my losing friend's face after he talked shit the entire time
-Louis C.K.'s bit on why people who make a half-hearted jack off motion should be required to mime the entire act
-"You are the AT&T of people!"
-Kanye West's "All of the Lights" music video
-Being able to correctly guess a movie based solely on the year and category while listening to the Leonard Maltin game
-Beating Alex Trebek in reading the name of the clue categories before he or any of my friends can, or alternatively, failing to beat Trebek and claiming that he cheated
-Clicking on the random button on Dinosaur Comics and then spending an hour laughing at all of the jokes I had forgotten about
-The "Bass Battle" screen
-The perfectly mixed Wild Turkey and Diet Coke
-The fact that there is a sequel to this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sgj78QG9Bg)
-The fact that a human was capable of writing the "How does my hair look?" scene
-The knowledge that anything in the past can be topped at any point in the future