#86 Party of Five

There was a period during the mid to late nineties when Party of Five was essentially the be all and end of all of Horstmanian television. My sister, Lauren was particularly hooked thanks in no small part to a crush on Scott Wolf and a natural affinity for the show's extreme cheesiness. The main reason I loved the show(at least early on) was that I was allowed to stay up an extra hour on Wednesday's to watch it. We didn't have cable growing up, so at this point Fox seemed incredibly edgy and cool (when we started getting WB instead of PAX it was like discovering a new continent). Lauren was of course a huge fan of Bailey played by Scott Wolf, an optimistic yet cheesily troubled brother who was committed to holding the family together. I identified with Claudia, Bailey's beloved longest sister a bit a bit of a genius who was unable to avoid the family schmaltz gene. Megan, undoubtedly beginning to suspect with horror the extent of her siblings' eccentricity remained a detached Julia. The crowning moment of Party of Five in my opinion was win Claudia tearfully told Bailey that she could no longer be around him if he continued drinking a scene which has oft been lovingly lampooned in Horstmania.

#87 Company

My Love of Company can be traced back to a two CD collection of great Broadway songs I had growing up. On the second Cd, wedged between Cabaret and "I Want To Be Happy" from No, No, Nanette was Elaine Stritch singing "The Ladies Who Lunch". It became one of my favorite songs even though most of the reference's went over my head (Pinter, Mahler, though not the Vodka stinger). I connected with the cynical poignant tones of the song to this day I count it among my favorite songs and use it as an emotional outlet. I even have a large picture in my room of Elaine Strich and several cocktail glasses and the words "Does anyone still wear a hat?". Years later my love of the song would lead me to trying out Follies (also by Sondheim) and then Company itself. The musical is a modern, urban, cynical look at relationships that includes a number of other songs I've fallen for (though certainly not to the same degree)many of which contain that same cleverly cynical melancholy that makes Ladies Who Lunch so powerful. Ultimately, Company matters so much to me because it served as my gateway into Sondheim a name I guarantee you haven't heard the last of on this list.

#88 The Jungle Book

Okay so yes, Rudyard Kipling wasn't the most forward thinking person but I can't help it, I still love The Jungle Book (the book). Kipling was absolutely wonderful at blending scientific knowledge and complex personalities in creating his animal characters in a way that completely brought the jungles of India to life. The culture and laws of the jungle felt like a description of the way things were and not a prescription human conventions and stereotypes on nature. I'm particularly fond of Kaa's Hunting, perhaps my favorite chapter in all of literature. In it Mowgli is kidnapped by the monkeys and Baloo and Bagheera enlist the aid of the ancient python Kaa to rescue him. The description of Kaa and his battle with the monkeys is at once terrifying and beautiful. Apollonian that I am I love to read into Kaa's struggle a victory for order, serenity, and reason over the chaos and cacophony of the monkeys. Much as I love it The Jungle Book came at a cost for me, I can no longer enjoy the Disney movie because it's such a poor interpretation of the book, it caused me to implement a policy of not reading novels that inspire movies I love.

#89 Mulan

Sorry for the long break in posts my few loyal followers, I was caught up in end of quarter stuff and then my new found summer freedom. Mulan will, I think, forever and always be my favorite Disney film for a number of reasons. For one it's the only one I remember seeing at the theater. It also seems to me like it was the last great conventionally animated movie before cgi took over. More personally I'm an eternal fan of actress Ming-na(who provided Mulan's voice) because I loved her on ER. Mulan herself is a great character the only Disney heroine who manages to get off her butt and do something and actually make her own story which she does in a charmingly misguided way, thanks to Mushu. Additionally the music is incredibly catchy, Honor to Us All in particular is a favorite of mine. My sister and I are prone to mocking Grandma Fa's overwrought delivery. While we're on the subject, since Mulan is the only Disney movie on the list I feel like I need to mention the shall we say unique history my sisters and I have with Disney songs. One of us owned a book of Disney songs (Lauren?) and I remember not only singing but choreographing Disney song performances. Most notably on car trips we invented a game in which we sang the lyrics of a song (most famously Part of that World from The Little Mermaid) taking turns singing each word it sounds horribly choppy and often over-dramatic and is a great way to kill some time.

#90 Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night (also known as What You Will) is a comedy by William Shakespeare, it is also the only Shakespeare play on this list. So, what it makes it stand out enough to enjoy this lofty honor? Well for one thing it is riotously funny, the clown, Feste is genuinely quite amusing and not a pain to have around like some Shakespeare fools (I'm looking at you touchstone). Toby Belch, and Andrew Aguecheek can be a bit over done but have their moments, particularly when the acid tongued Maria is around (I always pictured her as Kristin Chenowith, which adds to the fun). Malvolio is so deliciously self-satisfied that his comeuppance is satisfying (if a bot harsh). Additionally, the scene where Viola and Andrew are forced into a fight that both are terrified of is for my money the funniest in Shakespeare. however all this comedy is balanced with a pair of love stories involving characters one genuinely begins to feel for, both Olivia and Viola sorrow over lost loved ones and unrequited love is quite beautiful. It also includes my favorite verses in Shakespeare from when Olivia asks Viola what she would do if she loved her as much as the duke claims to,
Make me a willow cabin at your gate,
And call upon my soul within the house,
Write loyal cantons of contemned love,
And sing them loud even in the dead of night:
Hallow your name to the reverberate hills
And make the babbling gossip of the air cry out “Olivia”
O you should not rest between the elements
Of air and earth but you should pity me

#91 American Dad!

After making myself seem mature by posting about Mystery! I'm going to completely undermine that image with American Dad! The show is by the creator of Family Guy Seth MacFarlane, but in my defense the former show does next to nothing for me. American Dad! is about a conservative immature CIA agent, Stan, his more level wedded wife, Francine his liberal daughter who hates him, and rather nerdy son who idolizes him. What sets the series apart for me is Roger an alien who lives with the Smiths because he once saved Stan's life. Roger is a mess of vices, he drinks, smokes, eats junk food, and spends a prodigious amount of time watching TV which has given him an extensive knowledge of pop culture. To combat the boredom of being a shutin he creates a number of disguises and personalities which he steps in and out of with glee. This leads us to the best Roger story, in one episode he and Francine decide to pretend to be a professor and his wife and invite over a couple they meet at a country club. Francine tells the couple that Roger is an economics professor, even though Roger wanted to be a political science professor. He complains and she says "Oh well,it's been established. This leads to all at war as both of them tell the other couple increasingly horrible things about the other in what becomes a Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf parody reaching a climax with Roger revealing that Francine killed their baby which leads to a fight that leaves both of them broken and scarred both physically and emotionally. For this undying commitment to imagination, acting, and fiction, Roger has become one of my heroes. I like to think that if I woke tomorrow with no Id I would become Roger.

#92 Mystery!

Mystery! is a subset of Masterpiece Theatre on PBS which brings British Mystery series to America. It long been a staple in my family and given my love of Agatha Christie is unsurprising I've got the bug. Oddly I often hate the adaptations of Agatha's novels and instead my Mystery love is divided between three main series Foyle's War, Inspector Lewis, and Inspector Lynley. Foyle's War does a beautiful job of capturing World War II era Britain and is beautifully shot and cleverly written. Inspector Lewis is set in modern Oxford and is notable for the great dynamic and dialogue between rather rough around the edges Lewis and his highly educated reserved sidekick, Sergeant James Hathaway. Lynley, however, will always be the one closest to my heart because it was the first I watched. Lynley is very uppercrust (he's an earl) polished, handsome, while his sergeant, Barabara Havers is working class a bit homely was demoted for being difficult to work with yet is nevertheless adorable. She has a tendency to find herself alone with the villain at the end of the show just as Lynley figures out the mystery and realizes that she is in trouble. She also (in moment that has gone down in Horstmanian lore) once shot a commending officer in the chest with a flare gun, good times.

#93 The Truth

Terry Pratchett's Discworld series is pure genius. In it the author creates a world of comedic fantasy which he uses not only to tell interesting stories but to also lampoon fictional tropes and human society as a whole. Many of the books focus a specific theme and explore how it functions in Discworld and thus shading light on its existence in reality, while maintaining a whimsical and creative perspective and utilizing tons of footnotes. Small Gods tackles religion, Going Postal deals with the postal service, and The Truth handles printing in general and specifically newspapers. For my money the Truth is the best of these "theme" books because it does a wonderful job of presenting an alternate way that printing could have been introduced and the troubles that small newspapers must face. It also does a great job of pointing out the power of media and the fact it can be used for good or ill. All of this is balanced with outlandish subplots and entertaining character including one of my favorite Discworld denizens Otto von Chriek. Otto is a vampire photographer meaning he constantly causes himself to crumble into dust due to the flash, he is also a member of a vampire temperance league struggling to live without human blood. But even Otto has hidden depth which is what I love about Discworld it makes you think and feel while still being approachable. Come for the laughs, stay for the thoughts.

#94 Rookie of the Year

Don't judge me for this one, I know that Rookie of the Year is far from being one of the best films ever made. But, when I started this list I warned you that I would take the film's effect on my life into consideration, and Rookie of the Year's sentimental value for me is priceless. The film is about a baseball obsessed kid who breaks his arm which then re-heals in such a way that he becomes an incredible baseball pitcher and is signed by the Cubs. It's incredibly corny and being about baseball should hold no interest to me. However, for reasons beyond my comprehension Rookie of the Year was the only kid's film we owned when I was young. No Disney for us, just Rookie of the Year. Because of this both my middle sister and I saw Rookie of the Year enough times that parts of it have became internalized and form a small part of our bond. Specifically the bit where one of the characters announces (and I'm paraphrasing) "Some players but ice on their arms, others think heat's the way to go. So I use hot ice. hot ice, you heat up the ice". I believe at this point he has a bag of presumably luke-warm water, my memory is a bit hazy I probably haven't seen the movie in a decade. The other scene is when this same comic relief character gets stuck in a narrow gap way between two doors. He then cries out "Little help" ha ha ha, oh is that not funny I guess you have to see it and be like nine years old at the time of first viewing.

#95 The Order of the Stick

The Order of the Stick is a webcomic that celebrates and satirizes Dungeons and Dragons and fantasy in general. I should explain that I've never really played D&D but I have a number of source books, I find they help my imagination. Back to oots, Rich Burlew is unafraid to break the fourth wall in the name of humor, while at the same time maintaining a strong plot that keeps you coming back. He works in references from Law and Order to Harry Potter to Tivo. Even many of his characters have a great sense of theatricality, finding joy in doing what will make the best story and being aware that the plot trumps the rules of the "game". He even touches on questions of morality or at least morality in a universe where definitively evil beings exist. My favorite order of the stick is number strip 552 wherein our heroes are being pursued by a horde of orcs who to signify their low intelligence speak only in bold lowercase. The orcs decide to stop and return to their grammar lessons one says "gok look forward to first person pronouns" and another responds "capital letters intrigue mungu" the latter line I now have on a tee-shirt. I just so enjoy the way that the comic makes you see things from different angles.

#96 Psych

Psych is a tv show on USA network which deals with the work of Shawn Spencer (James Roday) a highly perceptive private detective who masquerades as a psychic to get cases and often works with the Santa Barbara police department. He has a partner, his best friend and straight man Gus (Dule Hill) and has a flirtationship with police detective Juliet O'Hara (Maggie Lawson). The show sparkles with great witty writing and hilariosly charmng performances by Lawson, Hill, and most of all Roday. Shawn's intelligence, observational skills, and irreverant sense of humor chock full of obscure pop culture references all make him charater I identify with. The realtionships between the charachters are strong and Shawn-Juliet is the rare fictional relationship that doesn't suffer from (s)he's-to-good-for-him/her syndrome, you really end up rootting for them. The show's entusiasm is infectious and when the writing is "on" it's more enjoyable to watch then any sitcom I've ever seen.

#97 Spring Awakening

I'll double your pleasure tonight with two posts since I was remiss in putting one up last night. This spot was originally earmarked for a different musical until I set my itunes the other night and realized just how incredible Spring Awakening's score is. Spring Awakening is a musical based on a turn of the century German play which deals with the subject of teen sexuality, touching on abortion, homosexuality, suicide, and sexual abuse. The musical benefits from a gorgeous, emotionally powerful rock score. Not one of those crap rock scores that you find in other musicals (Chess, Jesus Christ Super Star, even Rent at times)but real gritty compelling music. As it stands I have listened to My Junk 82 times on my itunes (the most of any song), Don't Do Sadness 51 times, the Bitch of Living 46 times, and the Dark I Know Well 35 times, and I had the soundtrack for significantly longer than I've had my ipod. And your fun fact of today is that this is the only work on the list set in Germany so don't hold hope for Cabaret.

On Horstmania & Related Topics

I have found it difficult to write posts without using the word Horstmania so I'm going to go ahead and explain it. Horstmania is the nation of the Horstman family meaning my sisters, parents, brother-in-law, and me. Each of us theoretically has our own region of Horstmania but only mine, Ronyomar, is at all well fleshed out. Ronyomar is supposedly Elven for fox den and I use the word Ronyo to describe things that relate to me. For example the colors blue and cerise, leopards, and rainy days are all particularly Ronyo. Additionally, I should bring up Ronyomar's prestigious entertainment awards, the Shizue awards, which are awarded every December to movies books and the like. The Shizue's have inspired knock-offs in Llira (my mother's region) and Me'ashae (Lauren's) the latter of which are named the Lala's. We Ronyo snicker at this name when no Me'ashaer's are in sight. I realize that all of this is a bit silly and pathetic but when you have as many excess brainwaves as I do you have to think about something that entertains both the creative and fact oriented parts of one's brain and hence Ronyomar was born.

#98 Seven Types of Ambiguity

Seven Types of Ambiguity is the current "it" book in Horstmania. I bought December of '09 and it has since gradually made the rounds to Lauren and Mom receiving near universal praise. It tells the story of Simon, a man obsessed with his ex-girlfriend Anna and the dramatic actions he undertakes in order to reenter her life. The book is a Horstmanian classic for three main reasons. Firstly, the plot is told in a Rashomon-esque style with each section being narrated by a different character who has their own unique voice. Secondly, the language is on the whole stunning, so much so that I'll add a few quotes at the end of this entry in an attempt to get you hooked. Thirdly, the character of Angel(a)(ique) is heart breakingly well drawn, her depth and sweetness are what elevates Seven Types from being a good book to an all time great. By the way, Seven Types set a record by winning more of my year end awards than other book, although this is largely due to 2009 being a slow year for literature. On to quotes:
“He was one of the loneliest people you don’t see anymore.”
“Hell is the special pain that dwells in that loss which you yourself have caused.”
“The ability to relive past emotional states is both an aptitude and a curse. It’s a curse because it doesn’t allow you to get on with your life. Every cut, every bruise, every rejection, yields a harvest which is then stored. The pain is kept on ice and can be relied upon to taste as fresh as the day it was inflicted.”

#99 Auntie Mame

Auntie Mame is the 1958 film adaptation of a play based on a novel all of which share a title. It begins in the late 1920's and covers several decades in the lives of Mame Dennis (an eccentric socialite) and her nephew Patrick of whom she has become guardian. I love the film for a variety of reasons. Foremost is that I adore Rosalind Russell, she so funny, smart, talented, and down to earth. she brings Mame to life in such a way that you can't help but wish that she was your aunt. I love the scene where she goes on a fox hunt and ends up passing the other riders, the hounds, and even the fox itself before crashing and ending up holding and comforting the poor fox. Any friend of foxes is obviously a good person. I also love Mame's famous mantra "Love is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death" so fun, so true. However I must warn to be wary if you decide to go out and see Auntie Mame, because they made it into a musical and made the musical into its own film titled simply Mame. Mame features a well past her prime Lucille Ball in the main role attempting to belt out show tunes despite a terrible smokers voice and a face on which either the years or the cosmetic procedures have taken a toll. The one redeeming factor of Mame is that it features Bea Arthur offering the classic line "I have an astronomical discovery for you. The man in the moon is a bitch" trust me it makes sense in context.

#100 Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)

Brandy was 1972 pop song by the band Looking Glass which tells the story the title character, a young woman who works in a bar in a port city and falls in love with a sailor who ultimately decides he can't stay with her because he loves the sea to much. You might be wondering why I love or have even heard of a song recorded 17 years before I was born, well it all goes back to a commercial. In approximately 2001 there was a commercial for a cd called "Once Upon a Song" which contained songs from between 1967-1974 and had some sort of plot. Long story short we purchased the cd and it became a staple of road trips out to visit my sister in Pittsburgh. I loved Brandy's tune which seemed to evoke pacific blue effortlessly, and the imagery,particularly "finest silver from the north of Spain". Songs like Delta Dawn, At Seventeen, Bobby McGee, and American Pie became some of my all time favorites but Brandy holds a special place in my heart because of a later event. During a board game Brandy happened to come up in conversation and a friend of the family asked "Brandy, isn't that the song that was written about a dog?" It isn't, she was thinking of "Mandy" but the joke has lived on, now I can't listen to Brandy without picturing Brandy as a golden retriever, carrying a tray full of whisky on her back, staring loving into the sailor's eyes, and most of all wandering forlornly around the town at night perhaps nosing the trash morosely.

Getting Started

After more than once being told that I should share my modest wit and wisdom with the world I'm finally getting around to it. I have my doubts that anyone other my mother, sister, and Kristin will read this but c'est la vie. What you should know about me is that I am a 20 year old male college student from Springfield, Ohio. Other details will no doubt be addressed as we get into things although I suspect that my readers will all already know me. I chose the name afictionado for my blog because so much of my life is lived through fiction including not just literature, but movies, television, theatre, video games and other media. Since I find the idea of coming up with topics to write about daunting, I have decided that I will present, for your reading pleasure, 100 entries about the 100 works of fiction I've deemed the greatest in a list I made a year ago and have been constantly updating since. I ranked them not only on their quality but also on the amount of influence they have had on my life. The list is not perfect, nor is it set in stone but I've done my best to make it as accurate as possible. For each entry, I plan on introducing the work, explaining why I love it, how it affected my life and perhaps a fun anecdote associated with it. I apologize in advance for any grammatical or spelling errors I may make, I love language but I don't always use it well. So without further ado let's get on with work 100.