Thomas's Favorites

Here are various lists revealing my influences & tastes.

 (A) Influential Books 
 (B) Novels 
 (C) Movies 
 (C2) Stupid Movies 
 (D) Adventurous Things I've Done 
 (E) Classical/Symphonic Music Pieces 
 (F) Albums by Contemporary Bands 
 (G) Rock/Pop Bands 
 (H) Companies 
 (I) Web Sites 
 (J) Countries
 (K) Foods
 (L) Vehicles
 (M) Works of Art
 (N) States
 (O) Parts of the Female Anatomy
 (P) Scenes from the novel Atlas Shrugged



(A) Top Ten Influential Books 


Atlas Shrugged              (by Ayn Rand)
The Disowned Self           (by Nathaniel Branden)
The Libertarian Manifesto   (by Murray Rothbard)
Cognitive Psychology        (by John Best)
Faust (Parts I & II)        (by Wolfgang von Goethe)
The Market for Liberty      (by Morris and Linda Tannehill) 
The Star Wars Storybook     (read when I was in 5th grade)
Objectivism: The Philosophy 
               of Ayn Rand (by Leonard Peikoff)
  

(B) Top Ten Favorite Novels 


Atlas Shrugged                (by Ayn Rand)
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (by J.R.R. Tolkien)
To Kill A Mockingbird         (by Harper Lee)
The Fountainhead              (by Ayn Rand)
The Dead Zone                 (by Stephen King)
The Stranger                  (by Albert Camus)
Walden Two                    (by B.F. Skinner)
Walden                        (by Henry David Thoreau)
The Girl Who Owned A City     (by  O.T. Nelson)  
Dr. No                        (a James Bond book by Ian Fleming)
Thus Spake Zarathustra        (by Friedrich Nietzsche)


(C) Top Ten Favorite Movies 

1) Star Wars Special Edition  
2) Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace  
3) The Empire Strikes Back 
4) Ordinary People  
5) The Sound of Music 
6) Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 
7) Bridges of Madison County
8) Contact   
9) 2001: A Space Odyssey  
10) Terms of Endearment 
11) The Terminator
12) Terminator II:  Judgment Day 
13) The Miracle on 34th Street 
14) Raiders of the Lost Ark 
15) The Music Man 
16) The Sixth Sense 

(C2) Top Ten Favorite Stupid Movies

1) Weird Science  
2) The Incredible Shrinking Woman 
3) Ghostbusters    
4) Ferris Bueller's Day Off 
5) Milk Money


(D) Top Ten Most Adventurous Things I've Done 

1) skydiving (static-line jump)
2) river-rafting (American River, near Sacramento)
3) paintball (ouch!)
4) learning (attempting!) to ice-skate at 24 years old
5) hiking to the top of Half-Dome (Yosemite Nat'l Park)
6) working 1 week as a telephone solicitor 
            (after getting a B.S. in Mathematics)
7) riding the rollercoaster at the Nevada-California state line
            (the world's tallest & fastest)
8) run in the Crescent City Classic (a 10K run in New Orleans)

(E) Top Ten Favorite Classical/Symphonic Music Pieces

1) the opening & closing of the movie STAR WARS (John Williams) 
2) the Nutcracker (Tchaikovsky)
3) the 4th movement of LVB's 9th (Ode to Joy)
4) the Petrouchka suite (Stravinsky)
5) Mahler's 1st Symphony
6) Carmina Burana (Carl Orff)
7) Beethoven's 5th Symphony
8) the 1st movement of Mozart's 25th symphony
9) Capriccio Italien (Tchaikovsky)
10) suite from "Carmen" (Bizet)


(F) Top Ten Favorite Albums (by contemporary bands) 

1) "Wish You Were Here", Pink Floyd
2) "Physical Graffiti", Led Zeppelin
3) "Animals", Pink Floyd
4) "Days of Future Passed", Moody Blues
5) "The Final Cut", Pink Floyd
6) The White Album (a.k.a. "The Beatles"), the Beatles
7) "Hemispheres", Rush
8) "In Through the Out Door", Led Zeppelin
9) "Use Your Illusion II", Guns & Roses
10) "Caress of Steel", Rush
11) "Appetite for Destruction", Guns & Roses
12) "Dirt", Alice in Chains


(G) Favorite Bands (in no particular order) 

Led Zeppelin
The Police      
The Beatles
Berlin
Rush           
Yes
Pink Floyd       
Led Zeppelin   
The Cranberries 
Alice in Chains  
Guns & Roses    


(H) Top Ten Favorite Companies 

1) Walt Disney Company
2) Microsoft
3) J.D. Power & Associates
4) Charles Schwab
5) Federal Express
6) Bank of America
7) America Online 
8) Barnes & Noble
9) Management Consultants
10) Selective Software Plus 
 
(I) Top Ten Favorite Web Sites

1) www.StarWars.com
2) www.TheForce.Net
3) www.WorstOfTheWeb.com
4) www.RobWagner.com (my own work)
5) www.VeriFund.com (my own work)
6) www.YourNewOrleansWedding.com (my own work) 
7) www.AynRand.org
8) www.ObjectivistCenter.org
9) www.SuperDome.com
 
(J) Top Ten Favorite Countries

1) United States 
2) Hong Kong (before the Chinese came in)
3) Switzerland 
4) Germany 
5) Australia 
6) Egypt 
 
(K) Top Ten Favorite Foods

1) seafood gumbo (New Orleans cuisine)  
2) jumbalaya (New Orleans cuisine)
3) liver and onions  
4) fish tacos (San Diego cuisine)  
5) chimichangas (Mexican cuisine) 
6) hushpuppies (go to Ralph and Kacoo's)
 
(L) Top Ten Favorite Vehicles

1) the Millenium Falcon
2) Lamborghini Countach
3) Dodge Neon 

(M) Top Ten Favorite Works of Art

1) ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand 
2) ODE TO JOY by Ludwig Van Beethoven
3) THE SHEPHERDESS by William Randolphe Bougereau 
4) CARMINA BURANA by Carl Orff
5) THE KISS by Edvard Munch
6) THE WINDOW by Robbin Michael Wagner
7) DAVID by Michaelangelo    

(N) Top Ten Favorite States

1) Louisiana  
2) Alaska 
3) California 
4) Texas 

(O) Top Ten Favorite Parts of the Female Anatomy

1) Take a guess.  


(P) Click here for my favorite scenes from my favorite novel--Atlas Shrugged.