Blogcritics: Comments on Greatest figures of the 20th century

Comment by Shark

Wed, 31 Mar 2004 07:51:20 EST

Marky Mark, Check it out. Now THIS is some macrame!

Comment by Corinna Hasofferett

Tue, 30 Mar 2004 12:37:32 EST

MY LIST OF (of what?) 1. Pirates of the Caribbean 2 setting sail Posted to Blogcritics by John Campea on 2003.08.19, 23:51:40 (1163 comments so far) 2. The Top 100 Guitarists According to Rolling Stone Posted to Blogcritics by The Theory on 2003.08.28, 12:33:26 (841 comments so far) 3. Poll: Greatest Guitarist Of All Time Posted to Blogcritics by Phillip Winn on 2003.09.09, 11:13:01 (613 comments so far) 4. Ja Rule vs 50 Cent feud over? Posted to Blogcritics by Marty Dodge on 2003.11.06, 07:13:05 (532 comments so far) 4. From: CMU An interview between Nation of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan and Ja Rule was aired in the US yesterday,... 5. What She Really Said Posted to Blogcritics by Eric Olsen on 2003.03.21, 22:22:41 (433 comments so far) 6. Janet Jackson's Super Bowl Titty Massacre aka Janet Jackson's career now officially dead Posted to Blogcritics by Al Barger on 2004.02.01, 22:34:44 (331 comments so far) 7. Evanescense - Fallen Posted to Blogcritics by Phillip Winn on 2003.04.16, 12:49:45 (243 comments so far) 8. Superbowl Halftime Bore Posted to Blogcritics by Craig Lyndall on 2004.01.30, 09:03:59 (240 comments so far) 9. Our happy hate crimes :) Posted to Blogcritics by Al Barger on 2003.08.27, 22:18:32 (198 comments so far) 10. New Superman movie moving forward. Unfortunately. Posted to Blogcritics by John Campea on 2003.08.13, 16:26:15 (191 comments so far)

Comment by sheri

Tue, 30 Mar 2004 12:08:29 EST

Thanks, Shark. My Dad, his interest is in the automobiles themselves.I think the picture was given to him by someone who knew of his love for vintage Fords, and probably knew nothing about the anti-semitism either.

Comment by Mark Saleski

Tue, 30 Mar 2004 11:25:57 EST

well, i'll be danged... i guess we won't get into the issue of whether macrame is 'art' or not.

Comment by Shark

Tue, 30 Mar 2004 11:22:02 EST

Marky Mark - I know you were joking but.. um... he had a piece called "Sixteen Miles of String". I found a photo on the web, but the link timed out. If I can, I'll link to it later so you can grovel and apologize. xxoo S

Comment by Shark

Tue, 30 Mar 2004 11:20:27 EST

Ford was pretty wacky, to say the least, when it came to "jewish conspiracies". He publised the fake "Elders of Zion" and harbored a real fear/hatred for Jews in general. Sorry for yer dad. But don't forget: bad men can often do good things.

Comment by sheri

Tue, 30 Mar 2004 11:10:36 EST

I need to go back to school and learn correct punctuation.

Comment by sheri

Tue, 30 Mar 2004 11:01:02 EST

I read in a magazine one time that Henry Ford was anti- semitic. Is this true? I have avoided telling this to my Dad.Along with his vintage Ford's, he has a pcture of Henry Ford hanging in his garage.:0/

Comment by Mark Saleski

Tue, 30 Mar 2004 10:55:04 EST

...Duchamp anticipated virtually EVERY movement in modern and post-modern art... except for macrame back in the 70's.

Comment by Shark

Tue, 30 Mar 2004 10:48:47 EST

Man, I hate coming to a party this late. But I brought beer! Duane, thanks for the physicists' greatest hits. Neils Bohr rocks! Anyway, having pondered the imponderable, here's my take on Al's gauntlet. And not only WHO, but WHY. (I want extra credit!) Shark's List - 'Greatest People in the 20th Century (in no particular order of importance) 1) Henry Ford - (inventions) In a century dominated by the automobile, where the economy, landscape, and lifestyle of modern humankind was transformed by a hunk of speeding metal, Ford has to be included. He not only perfected the automobile, but his innovations to the 'assembly-line' method of production had has millions of peripheral effects. 2) Einstein - (science/physics) E=mc2 transformed the way we think about the universe; he supplanted Newton in one swift blow. And like Ford, Einstein's theories paved the way for many subsequent inventions and innovations. (Duane, don't hurt me too badly, 'kay, ol' pal?) 3) Mahatma Gandhi (politics) - In a century where imperialism would be repeatedly challenged -- and an era when national autonomy would come to dominate international politics, Gandhi showed that non-violence could overcome a world power. Laid the way and created the model for MLK, et. al. 4) Eisenhower/the American G.I. - (world politics/war) A tie between the leader and his troops. Eisenhower united a disparate group of Allies and his G.I.s kicked Hitler's ass. It could be argued that no other man on earth had a greater effect on the latter half of the 20th century. He was also the first to warn Americans of the rise of the dreaded "military-industrial complex" -- which would come to dominate American society, politics, and economy for the next... um.. how many years has it been now? 5) Charlie Chaplin - (film) Film became the dominating art form of the 20th century, and Chaplin was its Renaissance Man. While others before him made equally important technical and artistic contributions (Lumiere & DeMelle), he was the first 'auteur' (blame him or praise him for that?); he was screenwriter, actor, director, cinematographer, and composer for many of his masterpieces. 6) Marcel Duchamp - (art) Don't start with me! There is no argument here. Duchamp anticipated virtually EVERY movement in modern and post-modern art, including the importance of 'marketing' one's personality and developing a 'mysterious' public persona for media consumption. And every 'ism' of 20th century art that followed owes it's origins to Duchamp. I don't care what it is or when it's done: Duchamp already did it. Cubism, dadism, abstract expressionism, pop art, op art, conceptual... it doesn't matter. He is still somewhat underappreciated by the art world, but when historians and scholars have the benefit of objectivity and hindsight, Duchamp will be at the top of the pedestal of 20th century artists. 7) Charles Ives - (music) see Duchamp and replace "art" with "music". A great visionary and innovator who anticipated most future developments in music. 8) Sir Alexander Fleming - (science/medicine) This forgotten hero discovered how the body fought bacterial infections; he also discovered Penicillin, developments which probably saved literally millions of lives since. 9) Bucky Fuller - (thinker/visionary) - anticipated many 'modern' problems and their solutions way ahead of the pack. His emphasis on maximum effect with a minimum investment is something we've yet to fully explore, but it will come back to haunt humankind if we continue to ignore it. 10) Marshall McLuhan (thinker/visionary) - In a century dominated by electronic media, McLuhan anticipated the effects it would have on culture and thought processes. McLuhan's predictions are still turning up as contemporary truisms, despite the fact that he made some as early as the 1940s. He invented the concept of the "global village", and many of his quotes and phrases have become cliches -- with users having no concept of their profound origins. His work laid the foundation for other important thinkers such as the late, great Neil Postman. Their analysis of the impact of media is still underestimated, much to the detriment of modern society.

Comment by Shark

Mon, 29 Mar 2004 21:54:54 EST

1) Jelly Roll Morton 2) Louis Armstrong 3) Django Reinhardt 4) Fletcher Henderson 5) Bob Wills 6) Raymond Scott 7) Carl Stalling 8) Ella Fitzgerald 9) Woody Guthrie 10) Jimmie Rodgers Oh, wait, I thought this was Eric's "Greatest 10 Musicians" list. Well, come to think of it, I'll let it stand.

Comment by duane

Mon, 29 Mar 2004 20:49:14 EST

A few (biased) additions to the list (if it were up to me): Albert Einstein Erwin Schrodinger Edwin Hubble Wolfgang Pauli Paul Dirac Richard Feynman Neils Bohr Max Planck Crick & Watson The profound changes that these men have made to our understanding of the Universe, including the spillover over into our modern technological world, cannot be underestimated.

Comment by Dave Gardonio

Mon, 29 Mar 2004 20:18:31 EST

It shines through how little you know about the world, that you didn't list Mohandas K. Gandhi on your "Top Ten List". Although I do agree Bill Gates should be up there, the only reason you have him there is that your world view only encompasses and apparently acknowledges Western life. And Linus Pauling? Are you trying to look smart or something? He invented X-ray diffraction thoery and he told people that nukes were bad.....oh well, at least Elvis Costello earned higher esteem on your list than him? Brutal.

Comment by The Theory

Fri, 22 Aug 2003 19:07:58 EDT

No, it's with that logic that I am arguing that *I* should be on the list... peace.

Comment by Al Barger

Fri, 22 Aug 2003 18:55:05 EDT

Does this same "fact we are arguing" logic also prove the worthiness of Ayn Rand?

Comment by The Theory

Fri, 22 Aug 2003 18:42:37 EDT

the fact that we are here arguing about him betrays the fact that Billy Graham is worthy to be on this list. I personally probably would not have added him, however, have no qualms with him being there. peace.

Comment by Al Barger

Fri, 22 Aug 2003 17:32:13 EDT

OK, so Billy Graham held some big tent revivals. That idea does fill me with a bit of warm nostalgic glow, but what has it accomplished to further humanity? How many jobs did he create? What did he invent? I'm sure Rev Graham is a fine fellow, and a sincere man of God and all that. I just don't see what he's accomplished that would rate him as one of the greatest figures of the century.

Comment by debbie

Fri, 22 Aug 2003 16:47:08 EDT

"And what exactly has Billy Graham accomplished to rate as a top figure of the century?" Are you kidding? He has been our leading Religious Revivalist for half a century. He is like the Pope of Protestant America.

Comment by MeAgain

Thu, 21 Aug 2003 07:25:31 EDT

I didn't mind all the generals ...they (and the inventors and capitalists) helped us have the leisure to pursue the arts and entertainment so high on your list. Also, would Miles Davis and Motown have been free to succeed as they did without the Civil War? (I know the war wasn't fought to "free the slaves;" do you think they'd have been freed eventually anyway?) IMO, the people who invented the birth control pill should be on that list. They did more to empower women than the lawyers who cooked up Roe v. Wade ever did.

Comment by TheSenorita

Thu, 21 Aug 2003 07:21:54 EDT

Not to sound like a groupie, but people who are intrigued by Ayn Rand's work really owe it to themselves to read Nietzsche. Much of what she said, he said years earlier and much more poetically (Zarathustra, his most "long-winded" work, is still much shorter and more beautiful than Atlas Shrugged). His astute observations of the human condition are more illuminating than Rand's essentially fundamentalist preaching.

Comment by Joe

Wed, 20 Aug 2003 23:29:20 EDT

I thought Rand's work was pretty interesting, if somewhat overwrought, but at least she appeared to know the meanings of the words she used. No mean feat for a non-native speaker of English.

Comment by Mac Diva

Wed, 20 Aug 2003 22:12:08 EDT

Agreed, Rodney. Al, believe me -- good literature is something different from a polemical tract like Atlas Shrugged, regardless of the ideological leanings of the writer.

Comment by Rodney Welch

Wed, 20 Aug 2003 11:01:08 EDT

Only a hundred? Al's opinions on Atlas Shrugged are mere Objectivist opinions, shared by people who can only judge literature in accord with their philosophical or personal biases. It's no different than, say, hearing an evangelical say that the "Left Behind" series are the greatest books ever written, or a child say "The Tawny Scrawny Lion" is the besk book ever written. In their own mind, these judgments are perfectly sound. They just don't apply to anyone else.

Comment by Steve Rhodes

Wed, 20 Aug 2003 05:47:25 EDT

I could easily think of 100 more important books of the 2Oth century. I remember eating with a woman in my dorm who declared she was devoted to Ayn Rand and objectivism. Nearly 20 years later, there are still college students like her (though now they can pose with Ann Coulter and Dr. Laura).

Comment by Al Barger

Wed, 20 Aug 2003 02:45:37 EDT

Ha, ha. She had an affair with a younger man, therefore her thought need not be considered seriously. Just for the record, Atlas Shrugged is the most important book of the century. No mockery or scoffing will make it not so.