Star Wars

1. Han Solo… Hands down #1
2. Boba Fett (He may have only had 2 lines, but damn he was cool!)
3. Darth Vader (The Baddest MoFo there is!)
4. Salacious Crumb (The little guy with the amusing laugh that sits on Jabba the Hutt’s tail.)
5. Princess Leia

Indiana Jones

1. Indiana Jones
2. Henry Jones Sr.
3. Marion Ravenwood
4. Toht (The guy with the medallion burned into his hand… & who melts at the end of the movie. He just cracks me up!)
5. Short Round (Indy’s little sidekick in Temple of Doom)

X-men

1. Wolverine (Although not one of my favorite X-Men… my god Hugh Jackman rocks it!)
2. Gambit (My ragin’ cajun… God, please let there be another movie with more of him!!!)
3. Nightcrawler
4. Rogue
5. Beast (I think Kelsey Grammer was perfect as Hank McCoy)

Mammals

1. Ferrets (of which I have 6)
2. Pugs (I want an all black male… So I can name him Vader!)
3. Baby Gorillas (they are just so darn cute)
4. Otters (I call them Water Ferrets)
5. Tigers

Aquatic

1. Great White Sharks
2. Beluga Whales
3. Puffer Fish
4. Hammerhead Sharks
5. Green Spotted Puffers

Natural Wonders

1. Coral Reefs
2. Icebergs
3. Waterfalls
4. Aurora Borealis
5. Thunder Storms

When it comes to your blog, it is ultimately your own domain and you can do what you want.

If, however, your goal is to attract & keep readers, these are a few things I suggest you avoid:

1. Light Font Over Dark Colored Background For Your Post Area
   This is very stressful on the eyes. Of course, if your blog is 99% photography, art or YouTube videos, this doesn’t really apply.
2. Falling Snow, Rain, etc. This is just plain annoying. It’s such a distraction. As with most no-no’s, there are exceptions, such as snow ON Christmas day. When my niece was born, I had pixel fireworks up until my next post. BUT, I put a little note saying that the fireworks were only temporary.
3. Auto Play Music If your blog is specifically about music, or music is an integral part of your blog, that’s one thing. But having auto play music just for the sake of it has a tendency to make people leave real quick. Most people are already listening to their own music, watching TV or (shhh…) even at work.
4. Advertising That Pushes Your Content Below The Fold What I mean by this is when there are large ads above your first post & people have to scroll down to read it. Most people won’t spend the time to do it.
5. Long Category, Archive &/or Blogroll Lists If these things get too long, they tend to overwhelm your sidebar. The newer versions of WP are beginning to incorporate drop down choices and there are many plugins & scripts available to help you control these. If you need help finding one, just ask & I’ll see what I can do to help find one!

Top 5 Favorite TV Shows of the Past

1. V
2. Xena
3. Sliders
4. A-Team
5. Quantum Leap

Top 5 Favorite Current Fiction TV Shows

1. NCIS
2. True Blood
3. Criminal Minds
4. Burn Notice
5. Heroes

Top 5 Favorite Reality Shows

1. Ghost Hunters
2. Survivor
3. Amazing Race
4. Gene Simmon’s Family Jewels
5. America’s Next Top Model

Top 5 Most Over Rated TV Shows (Yes, that means I think these shows are lame.)

1. American Idol
2. Beverly Hills 90210
3. Oprah
4. Friends
5. Lost

As we say good bye to 2009, I thought I’d do a recap of some of the things that have happened in the last 365 days.

Top 5 Most Shocking Moments of 2009

1. The Death of Micheal Jackson
2. David Letterman’s Admission of Affairs & Blackmail Accusation
3. MacKenzie Phillips’ Admission of Incest
4. Tiger Woods’ Devastating Fall from Grace
5. Chris Brown’s Abuse of the Lovely Rihanna

Top 5 WTF? Scandals

1. Falcon Heene (aka “Balloon Boy”)
2. Kanye West Hijacks Taylor Swift’s Moment at the VMAs
3. The “Octomom”
4. Jon & Kate’s Divorce (WTF is the BFD?)
5. Lady GaGa’s Teenie Weenie

Top 5 Dumbest People & Moments of 2009

1. South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford – After telling his staff he was hiking the Appalachian Trail for four days in June, Sanford turned up instead at the international airport terminal in Atlanta. Thus sprung, he held a very raw and rambling press conference, admitting he’d actually been in Argentina with his mistress and “soul mate.” (Did he, as a friggin Governor, think he could really just disappear & have no one question it???)
2. Oops! U.S. Nuclear Secrets Are Posted Online
3. Amy Winehouse (Need I say anything else?)
4. David Hasselfhoff & Red Meat… and booze…
5. Ryan O’Neal revealed that at Farrah Fawcett’s funeral, he flirted with “a beautiful blond woman” who felt compelled to tell him, “Daddy, it’s me — Tatum!”

Top 5 Saddest Good Byes of 2009

1. Patrick Swayze, the balletically athletic actor who rose to stardom in the films “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost” and whose 20-month battle with advanced pancreatic cancer drew wide attention, died on Sept. 14. He was 57.
2. Les Paul, the virtuoso guitarist and inventor whose solid-body electric guitar and recording studio innovations changed the course of 20th-century popular music, died August 13; he was 94.
3. John Hughes, center, the once-prolific filmmaker whose sweet and sassy comedies like “Sixteen Candles” and “The Breakfast Club” plumbed the lives of teenagers in the 1980s, died Aug. 6; he was 59.
4. David Carradine, an enigmatic actor who never outran the cult status he earned in the 1970s television series “Kung Fu”, was found dead on June 4; he was 72.
5. Farrah Fawcett, an actress, television star and pop-culture phenomenon whose good looks and signature leonine hairstyle influenced a generation of women, died on June 25 in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 62.

I was soooo an 80’s (tom)girl… from early New Wave to Sleazy black lace to Headbanger leather… Here are some of my favorites from the Decade of Decadence.

Top 5 Favorite 80’s One Hit Wonders

1. Mickey by Toni Basil
2. Take On Me by A-HA
3. 867-5309 (Jenny) by Tommy Tutone
4. Mexican Radio by Wall of Voodoo
5. Whip It by Devo

Top 5 Favorite 80’s Cartoons

1. GI Joe
2. ThunderCats
3. He-Man
4. Transformers
5. Smurfs

Top 5 Favorite Classic 80’s Movies

1. The Goonies
2. Labyrinth
3. Breakfast Club
4. 16 Candles
5. Back To School

Top 5 Favorite 80’s Gadgets

1. Atari
2. Nintendo
3. Sony Walkman
4. Alphie
5. Calculator Watches

Top 5 Favorite 80’s Toys

1. Rubik’s Cube
2. Troll Dolls
3. Action Figures (From GI Joe to He-Man to TMNT)
4. Cabbage Patch Kids
5. Simon Says

Top 5 Favorite 80’s Fashions

1. Leg Warmers
2. Jelly Bracelets & Shoes
3. Swatch Watches
4. Banana Clips
5. Acid Washed Jeans

And… because the 80’s were SO damn awesome…

Top 5 Favorite Movies of All Time

1. Labyrinth
2. Clash of the Titans
3. The Goonies
4. Boondock Saints
5. Jaws

Top 5 Favorite Movie Quotes

1. “Pain don’t hurt.” Dalton – Road House
2. “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” Sheriff Brody – Jaws
3. “Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite? ” Mr. Blonde – Reservoir Dogs
4. “Are you sure that you’re obee-kay-bee?” Connor – Boondock Saints
5. “It ain’t got no gas in it.” Karl – Slingblade

Top 5 Funniest Movie Moments (Bear in mind… My brain can be a dark & twisted place…)

1. Pulp Fiction – The part where Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) is taking his sweet ass time to find the perfect weapon while Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) is being… um… tortured by the “hillbilly boy” Zed.
2. Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) killing the clown at the mini golf place.
3. Fletcher Reede (Jim Carey) kicking his own ass (do you mind!?) in Liar Liar
4. Mr. Pink’s (Steve Buscemi) rant about tipping in Reservoir Dogs
5. The classic scene from Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Arc where Indy just shoots the swordsman.
6. Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) beating the crap out of his girlfriend’s neighbor in Goodfellas.

Top 5 Favorite Movie Characters

1. Indiana Jones played by Harrison Ford
2. Jareth the Goblin King of Labyrinth played by David Bowie
3. James Bond 007 played by both Sean Connery & Pierce Brosnan
4. Captain Jack Sparrow played by Johnny Depp
5. Agent Paul Smecker of Boondock Saints played By Willem Dafoe

OK, so I don’t actually have my iPod yet, but when I do… This is how it will be.

The Top 5 Bands That (will) Own the Most Real Estate on My iPod

1. Metallica
2. Patsy Cline
3. The Doors
4. The Beatles
5. Aerosmith

Top 5 Bands You Will Never See on My iPod

1. Coldplay
2. Celine Dion
3. Nelly, et al
4. Any Boy Bands
5. Britney Spears

Top 5 Bands You Would Be Surprised To See on My iPod

1. Neil Diamond
2. Bette Middler
3. Gordon Lightfoot
4. Shakira
5. ABBA

Top 5 Bands You Would Be Surprised Not To See More of on My iPod (because I actually just don’t like them)

1. Led Zeppelin (1 Song)
2. Pink Floyd (1 Song)
3. AC/DC (2 Songs)
4. U2 (1 Song)
5. Jimi Hendrix (0 Songs)

What are your top 5’s?