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Pastimes : A CENTURY OF LIONS/THE 20TH CENTURY TOP 100 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: w molloy who wrote (372)10/18/1999 4:34:00 PM
From: Jacques Chitte  Respond to of 3246
 
>#23 Von Braun The Russions got the cream of the German
Rocket Scientists. <

I disagree. Our rockets were technically better than the Russians - well, after say 1962. The Russians took a running start at space, and we reacted. Our Germans, especially von Braun, were top drawer.
And we were willing to put him on top of the engineering organization chart. The Russians made sure that if a position was internationally visible, a Russian (or Soviet neighbor, see Grushko and Chelomei) got the slot.



To: w molloy who wrote (372)10/18/1999 4:37:00 PM
From: Neocon  Respond to of 3246
 
The original list was somewhat tongue in cheek, so it is not surprising that there should be quite a few things to object to, and I think many of your points are well taken....



To: w molloy who wrote (372)10/18/1999 5:00:00 PM
From: Bill  Respond to of 3246
 
Only two of your omissions are ridiculous, Teddy Roosevelt and...

the 3 Stooges.



To: w molloy who wrote (372)10/18/1999 5:22:00 PM
From: jbe  Respond to of 3246
 
I personally agree with your cuts -- with the possible exception of Bill Gates, who,after all, heads one of the world's most influential INSTITUTIONS (whether we like it or not).

Besides, some people suspect he is the Antichrist, which means he is destined to become even more influential. :-)



To: w molloy who wrote (372)10/18/1999 5:28:00 PM
From: Gordon A. Langston  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 3246
 
I would think Marshall was important to Europe and US.



To: w molloy who wrote (372)10/18/1999 5:33:00 PM
From: Augustus Gloop  Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 3246
 
Bill Gates & Steve Jobs go hand in hand IMO. They brought technology to the desk of many homes in the US and around the globe. With the beginning of the Macinitosh in 1984 until today they have had a huge impact on our business and individual lives. Both should be on the list!

Like it or not, from a cultural standpoint, Curly Lambeau and George Halas should be on the list. The biggest TV viewing event almost every year is Football.



To: w molloy who wrote (372)10/18/1999 5:56:00 PM
From: Raymond Clutts  Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 3246
 
As hackneyed as it may be, the concept the belief that the 20th Century was, "The American Century," is still true. For whatever reason, it seems objectively indisputable that different cultures display periods of disproportionate creativity and lethargy. This last 100 years has seen us offer the world brilliant innovations in science, arts and business management.

And there are four deletions here that I strongly dispute including #25-Neil Armstrong, #37-Frank Lloyd Wright, #41-George Gershwin and #42-Louis Armstrong.

Neil Armstrong. All those comments that dismiss American achievements because they were important only to Americans miss the point. NO OTHER CULTURE OR PEOPLE WERE ANYWHERE NEAR AS IMPORTANT TO THIS CENTURY. Sorry but cultural relativism is just PC masochism. To dismiss Neil Armstrong just because his achievements were not as overwhelmingly personal as were Lindberg's flight is to miss the point. It may be that from the grand perspective the ONLY significant accomplishment of this century is that humanity began the transition to an interplanetary and interstellar culture. And his was the first step even if it was as much our step together as it was his step individually.

Frank Lloyd Wright gave us forms that are still fresh and exquisitely balanced in their settings. Though all architectural forms can become banal when they are overused look at how he took modern engineering and used it to open up interior space and to blend the exterior form within its natural setting. He has created transcendent beauty and an artistic aesthetic that deserves to be included. The alternate architects on this list created forms that did little more than mimic machines where Wright left room for the people inside the building and melded it with nature outside.

Goerge Gershwin. Tell me another classical composer whose work you really love as an American. By which I mean, what other classical composer took the idioms of American jazz and blues music and used them to create timeless compositions that compare favorably with those of any other civilization that composed in the classical mode?
But why not try the following if you're not familiar with his compositions: listen for that background music to the United Airlines commercials and ask yourself, do you love it as much as anything of the three Bs(BachBeethovenBrahms) that you've ever heard? If so he stays.

Louie Armstrong. Ask someone who is a foreign music critic what American instrumentalist most influenced the world's popular music and his is the name you'll hear. Ask me the best musician of the last 100 years and I'll tell you it was Satch.




To: w molloy who wrote (372)10/18/1999 9:29:00 PM
From: Michael M  Respond to of 3246
 
Concur with about 90 percent of those cuts. That said, it's about time someone nominated Ron Popiel! Mike