The Top Ten Obsession

Tell ya what, if there is one thing we human people like doing, it's putting things into lists. It's like an obsession. Once every six months, me and a mate of mine have the old "Who's your Top Ten Spurs Players of all-time" Discussion (I'm 27, so just old enough to remember Hoddle, but Gascoigne remains vibrant in my mind, and he stirs my soul. Always number one. Then Ginola, Sheringham, Mabbutt, Hoddle, Klinsmann then...aww, look, i digress.) And it never gets old. We love the order of things. We all have a Top Ten list of our favourite albums, TV shows, Books, Midfielders, Countries, heck, I'm sure there are even people out there who have a Top Ten Top Ten's list.

Why do we enjoy these Top Ten's so much? I think it's because it's a fun challenge, isn't it? I mean, of all the great Albums we've ever heard throughout our lives, how difficult is it to pick just 10? It's something you can spend hours pouring over. But it's fantastic fun. Here's mine.

1. Nada Surf - Lucky
2. Arcade Fire - Funeral
3. Blur - Parklife
4. Smashing Pumkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
5. The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
6. Nada Surf - Let Go
7. Beirut - The Gulag Orkestar
8. Nada Surf - The Weight is a Gift
9. Coldplay - Parachutes
10. Crash Test Dummies - God Shuffled his Feet

And what's great about that is that even though it took me ages to figure out, if i sat down to do it again tomorrow, it'd be so different. I guess it depends on your mood. Music is like that isn't it? It's the only art form that works around you. You decide what you want to listen to and how that's going to effect your mood. With other Art forms, that's just not possible. You walk into a Gallery or a museum, you don't know what you're going to see. A Top Ten of favourite artworks won't change as much on a day to day basis as a Top Ten albums because we probably don't own a copy of the art. And a painting or sculpture won't effect our mood the way a mind blowing song does. Anyway...Art.

1. Van Gogh - Starry Night
2. Gustav Klimt - Tree Of Life
3. Carravagio - David and Goliah
4. Hiroshige - Kambara Yoru No Yuki
5. Antony Gormley - The Angel of the North
6. Edvard Munch - The Scream
7. Willem De Kooning - Two Trees on Mary Street
8. Nathan Coley - There Will Be No Miracles Here
9. Herbert Bayer - Bauhaus Ausstellung poster
10. Karin Akesson - Tomorrow will be a Great Day

And it's not just the important things like music and art that we order into our little lists, no. These lists can be rather frivolous too. My Top Ten Sandwiches?

1. Cheese and Pickle
2. Cheese and Onion
3. Cheese and Tomato
4. Cheese
5. Cheese and Cucumber
6. Cheese and Coleslaw
7. Cheese Salad
8. Cheese Savory
9. Brie and Grape (Cheese, yeah?)
10. Subway foot long veggie patty on Italian Herb and Cheese Bread and Sweet Onion Sauce

The worst thing is that as I'm sat writing this, I'm trying to think of more Top Ten's and it's starting to do my head in.

My Top Ten days!

1. Sunday
2. Saturday
3. Thursday
4. Friday
5. Monday
6. Wednesday
7. Tuesday
8. erm...
9. hmm
10. seem to have a problem here.

See, this is getting ridiculous now. Time to knock it on the head and go make a hot drink.

Hmm...

1. Cinnamon Latte
2. Earl Grey
3. Caramel Macchiato
4. English Breakfast
5. Mocha..........

right, Enough is Enough.

Enjoy making your Top Tens, but please make sure you know when to stop. It's frustrating, addictive and hellishly fun.