Top Tens

Hello all,

The purpose of this thread is to post your top ten.... whatever! Could be Figgy with her top ten works of art, Blue with his top ten songs or Dave and his top ten rude vegetables. I am putting together my first contribution which I will post in a bit. Feel free to present how you want!

Okay, I should be doing other things of course, which is why I can't resist wasting an hour putting together a top ten things to do in New York City which may never get mentioned in guide books.  I can't really put them in order, but numbers are obligatory in a top ten list.  I also have my own shots of most of these, but it's actually easier to google cut and paste than search through thousands of my photos then export.

10. Rent a bike, ride it north along the Hudson River.  Have dinner at La Marina - a place surrounded by parks on both sides, where they shipped in sand, and you'd never know you were on one of the most densely populated islands on earth.  Food (and service - you may have to flag down your waitress) is Caribbean inspired.


9. Spend the day at the Cloisters museum.  Rockefeller heard about a guy who had swiped a bunch of pillars and capstones from European Monasteries, and decided to put it together into a medieval art museum in the form of a monastery.  Then being Rockefellar, he bought the entire stretch of the Palisades across the Hudson so visitors could look across the river and have a medieval view of undeveloped river gorges.  After the Museum, walk Fort Tryon Park and Inwood hill park; have lunch or dinner at one of the outdoor restaurants lining Dyckman Street between the parks.


8. Walk the newly famous Highline Park at dusk, when the lighting begins to well up through the plantings.  The whole place was designed by artists: this is mood lighting to the max.  Afterwards walk down the Hudson with the Manhattan buildings blazing to your left and Jersey City blazing to your right.  Make sure to continue clear down to the Battery City Harbor (North Cove Marina) - easily one of the most opulent places to moor a yacht.


7. Go to the Dead Rabbit Bar, on some lists rated the greatest cocktail bar in the world.  Time your visit to hear Terry Waldo play ragtime - the world's foremost scholar on the art.


6. Go see Fuerza Bruta off Union Square.  Nearly indescribable - the image you see is when a huge clear mylar sheet filled with an inch of water is lowered down over the audience, and dancers in diaphanous clothing splash down a few feet over your head.  That's just one act of many, each totally different and insane.


5. Visit Wave Hill in the Bronx, an old family estate over looking the Hudson converted into a park.  Then retire to An Beal Bocht to hear live Irish music over a well poured Guinness.  (btw, the picture shows the palisades that Rockefellar saved for his museum).


4. Do a run of the Harlem Jazz bars one night (many are closed alas): Showman's, Paris Blues, Minton's.  Guidebooks NEVER send people to Harlem, but that's where the music and atmosphere is best.


3. Have a drink and a cheese plate at McSorley's, a bar that hasn't changed it's character (except for finally admitting women in 1977) for 150 years.  Houdini's handcuffs are locked to the rail.  Read newspaper clippings about the Crimean War tacked to the wall.


2. Go to the Brooklyn Flea Market and Smorgasburg, especially if it's held in the old Bank of Brooklyn (I think they moved, alas).


1. Go to Central Park at night after an ice storm to take pictures of the skyscrapers blazing light through the chandelier trees.  I have at least one picture, CAN'T FIND IT!  Fortunately others have discovered the magic.

Top 10...... computer game moments.

As much as I am sure I have missed lots of moments that will make me facepalm, this is my attempt at top 10 moments in computer games. I am excluding anything multiplayer as there are moments that would be very difficult to convey here (GoldenEye tournaments, marathon Command and Conquer battles, unbeaten clan in Socom 2 as examples) so going purely Me vs Game!

10.

Most gamers know Command and Conquer and what it did to Real Time Strategy. A lot less people know of some of it's great counterparts like Metal Fatigue and Total Annihilation. My number 10 moments comes from one of the best RTS games I have ever played, Supreme Commander. Epic in scale and destruction, nothing in RTS gaming came close to the first Nuclear Missile hitting your enemy...

(skip to 3:20 for just the nuke)



9.

One of my earliest real gaming experiences and one of my all time top games, Wonder Boy 3: Dragon's Trap was an early example of an epic game. After defeating all but one of the dragons, the end boss, Vampire Dragon marks the finale of the game after adventures as lizard, mouse, piranha, lion and bird man. My first big gaming achievement. (skip to 11:20ish for the final battle and end of the game)



8.

If you like managing shit and killing things, UFO: Enemy Unknown was an early P.C. game that put it all in one place with (back then) tight graphics and great overall gameplay. And it was a bitch! I don't know how many times the countries of Earth signed secret pacts with the aliens and eventually got turned in to mutants as the planet was overrun. But eventually, my trusty team of XCOM soldiers worked out the way to Cydonia and killed the alien brain! Weeks... no months of pain all made better with a plasma bolt!



7.

To the playstation and an RPG. Not my favourite of the series but Final Fantasy 8 had some great moments. The card mini game was stupidly addictive, the story was engaging and there were some great set pieces. The one that blew me away at the time was one of the first mixed of cut scene and gameplay and involved running through a heated battle. Very short but I imagine the work that went in to it was incredible at the time.



6.

My first "What the fuck" moment and in the best survival horror game ever made (for its time!). Resident Evil was in equal measure corny and bloody scary (those dogs!!!). Out of all the great moments, the most memorable for me was my first encounter with an enemy called a hunter.



This hunter was quite tame compared to my one... mine jumped across the corridor and took my head off. Not cool.

5.

One of the best modern games I have played in terms of story, The Last of Us has so many stand out moments, both horrible and good. The one that most people will remember is in the first chapter. If you want to play the game the I suggest you dont watch, if not take a look at the 'fans react' video below and you can see that it had quite the intended impact. Couldn't recommend this game more!



4.

So I have a PS4 and right now I am only playing 1 game, Destiny. For all it's initial issues this game has some of the best gun play for a first person shooter of any out there. For it's generation, I would liken that element to GoldenEye or Timesplitters. One thing that I think is both its biggest strength and biggest weakness is the Raid game mode. There are only 3 at the moment, but the premise is to get a fireteam of 6 people together and get through some of the most difficult gameplay in the game, much of which requires tight teamwork and without any guide as to what you need to do. If you have a team and the time to do it, it is awesome. If you dont, you can't do it alone.

Anyway, my entry here is beating the final boss in the game's first raid, the Vault of Glass. One of the most satisfying moments I have had in gaming.



3.

Akin to the above but in a single player game, in fact my favourite game of all time, Final Fantasy 7. One of many side quests to the main game involves fighting something called Emerald Weapon, a monster the planet has summoned to defend itself from the baddies. I couldn't tell you how long it took me to beat this, I am sure it would be measured in months and resulted in some celebrating with a friend who happened to be there and we had been taking it turns to try and beat this for a few hours already.

Long video... don't watch it as it is boring but highlights how long it took before people found glitches.




2.

Back to Resident Evil but this time the second in the series. Another example of great survival horror before the franchise fell apart. The big boss from the first game (the Tyrant) chases you throughout the game, bursting through walls and all sorts. At one point you knock him off in to a vat of molten metal and move on to the final boss... or so it seems (skips to 3:30ish)



Computer game cinematic gold in its day!

1.

Still the most shocking moment in gaming for me. Aeris, the sweet flower girl is a member of your team and the last of an ancient race trying to protect the planet. Sephiroth is a genetically engineered super warrior hell bent on destroying the planet...





Well.. that is my first top ten... gaming moments! Look forward to yours!

Halfy - nice guide. I have been to NYC twice and not done any of the above... Central Park in the summer is a little different.

The basic rule for getting off the tourist route in Manhattan is...go north, young man. Not as dense in attractions and you have to know what you are doing because there's no guidebooks, but there's plenty of hidden treasures.

Nicely done you two!

Really fun lists, both of you. I've been to NYC a number of times, though most of them only for a short weekend, but those all sound really interesting and I will definitely keep them in mind next time I go. The Cloisters museum in particular sounds right up my alley.

Good idea for a thread 10 of anything eh ? Mmmmmm

Eldorion wrote:Really fun lists, both of you. I've been to NYC a number of times, though most of them only for a short weekend, but those all sound really interesting and I will definitely keep them in mind next time I go. The Cloisters museum in particular sounds right up my alley.

Really? I didn't know you were into medieval art/history. Do it in nice weather - aside from walking the parks you want to hit the growing season: they keep the herb and flower gardens in the cloisters reflective of a monastery rotation.

Don't know a ton about art (though Mrs Figg's thread is quite educational), but medieval history is fascinating. Will keep the gardens part in mind. The whole thing sounds too cool.

great list Halfy, the only one I had heard of is the Highline. Cant believe I had never heard of the Cloisters museum. also the flea market which looks amazing. One day I will visit NY. I sometimes dream of it, which I odd.

You've yet to show your face in London Figgy! When is that happening?

Mrs Figg wrote:great list Halfy, the only one I had heard of is the Highline. Cant believe I had never heard of the Cloisters museum. also the flea market which looks amazing. One day I will visit NY. I sometimes dream of it, which I odd.

Unfortunately the flea market seems to have moved out of that old bank building forever, which is a real shame. The food court was set up in the bank vault!

Lancebloke wrote:You've yet to show your face in London Figgy! When is that happening?

um dunno, its far far away, and its flipping expensive to get there.

The last time in Londinium was during the Great Bustle Exhibition of 1886, great larks.

Well... whenever it is, let me know. Might find some spare change to get you a Lilt or Fanta or something.

I suppose a Vimto is out of the question.

Sorry, fresh out this morning.

No other top tens?

Ive got ten memories........?
1, a lipstick case that reminds me of my mum. Its a floral case, smells heavenly & it was made by Helena Rubistein.
2, Night time at a fair ground with David Bowies "Life on Mars" playing. Im right back there with the sounds & smells of candy floss & burgers.
3, My first bar of Cadburys milk chocolate given to me by my aunty Joan. She was lovely. Hair always back combed & immaculate. make up nicely done, always wore perfume & feminine clothes & kitten heels. It was the early 60's & I was only a child with ribbons in my hair.
4,my first Gig so to speak. Gary Glitter & the Glitter band ( oh my god ! ) If I hear "Rock and Roll " I remember the atmosphere, what I was wearing & how excited I was.
5,Being sucked out along the beach by a tidal wave. Mum, aunt Edie & me on the beach, hot summer, me with my back to the sea. Mum & Aunt suddenly jumping up & telling me NOT to look, so, what do I do ? I fooking turn round & WHOOSH, I was dragged off. 1965 I think ? Hastings had several tidal waves that year.
6,My friend & I bunking off & hitch hiking to Mitchem to see the pop group "Mud". We were picked up by a guy in a Jag & he had Genesis playing..." I know what I like"..& how scared we felt when said guy kept laughing & booted the car up on the motorway.
7,Working in a Cockle Bar on the seafront with accommodation thrown in. £30 a week living out OR £25 living in. The summer nights were so fragrant & the buzz & hum of nightlife is still fresh in my mind. I thought I was invincible.
8,Spring flowers. I love the smell but I also love remembering my grandad thru flowers as he grew everything from seed & Polyanthus were his favourite.
9, All the cinema's we had. I grew up in Hastings, a seaside town & there were at least 6 cinema's all showing. The variety of films to choose from, sometimes you didnt know which to go to first.
10, My first real best friend. We were 11yrs old & inseparable, Marc Bolans "Ride A White Swan " reminds me of her, Her mum called her Derina after a holiday in Spain, but we all called her "Drip", even her mum !

the tidal wave, how did you survive? that sounds really scary.

Lancebloke wrote:Sorry, fresh out this morning.

I got top 5 fairytale castles.

Lichtenstein castle


Corfe castle Dorset


Swallows nest Crimea


Bavarian castle


Scotney castle

I like the first one on account of the white cliffs.

Azriel - you clearly have some very clear memories of all that. Sometimes I really miss the 'good times' and people I was with then. But at the same time forging ahead with new ones couldn't happen if that were the case!!

Figgy - this is top TENS, but I'll allow it because it's you (let's hope the mistress doesn't find this thread though!!!!). How in the blue hell did they built the first one? Since we can't help any slaves that may have died in the making of that... just got to accept and enjoy!

Figgy... Half the beach full of men dashed into the sea & got me tho it was without doubt the biggest fright of my life ! I googled it once to make sure I wasnt remembering it wrongly & yep, Hastings had huge waves that year...
I agree, how the holy heck did they build some of these castles ?! that 1st one & the lovely 3rd one boggles the brain. Id like to live in Scotney Castle, have you ever been inside Hever Castle in Kent ?? thats lovely inside & out. Old home of Anne Boleyn.
Often Lance its songs that bring back memories. Ive got far too many bad ones & not enough good ones, so, IL take the good ones when I can