Top 20 Albums of All Time (to Americans)

My boyfriend sent me this link to an interesting blog post, in which a guy used the following mathematical formula to determine the Top 20 Albums of All Time.

He based his ranking on sales, resales value, critical review and Grammy wins and came up with the following list. Please note that NOT ONE SINGLE ONE of these albums was produced after 1991, providing more support for my theory that everything written after I graduated from UGA the first time stinks.

#20. Faith - George Michael
Play Album
Year: 1987 Units Sold: 10 Million
SPV: $9.19 Rating (Stars): 4 Grammys Won: 1
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $9.79

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#19. Appetite For Destruction - Guns N' Roses
Play Album
Year: 1987 Units Sold: 15 Million
SPV: $8.81 Rating (Stars): 4 Grammys Won: 0
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $9.81

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#18. Purple Rain - Prince
Play Album
Year: 1984 Units Sold: 13 Million
SPV: $8.74 Rating (Stars): 4.75 Grammys Won: 2
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $9.82

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#17. Houses Of The Holy - Led Zeppelin
Play Album
Year: 1973 Units Sold: 11 Million
SPV: $9.10 Rating (Stars): 4.5 Grammys Won: 0
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $9.93

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#16. Born In The U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen
Play Album
Year: 1984 Units Sold: 15 Million
SPV: $8.91 Rating (Stars): 5 Grammys Won: 0
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $10.29

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#15. Nevermind - Nirvana
Play Album
Year: 1991 Units Sold: 10 Million
SPV: $10.07 Rating (Stars): 4 Grammys Won: 0
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $10.67

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#14. Van Halen - Van Halen
Play Album
Year: 1978 Units Sold: 10 Million
SPV: $10.23 Rating (Stars): 4.25 Grammys Won: 0
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $10.84

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#13. Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
Play Album
Year: 1977 Units Sold: 19 Million
SPV: $9.52 Rating (Stars): 5 Grammys Won: 1
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $11.47

.#12. The Wall - Pink Floyd
Play Album
Year: 1979 Units Sold: 23 Million
SPV: $10.20 Rating (Stars): 4.75 Grammys Won: 1
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $12.51.#11. The Joshua Tree - U2
Play Album
Year: 1987 Units Sold: 10 Million
SPV: $11.50 Rating (Stars): 4.5 Grammys Won: 2
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $12.54.#10. Metallica - Metallica
Play Album
Year: 1991 Units Sold: 14 Million
SPV: $12.08 Rating (Stars): 4.25 Grammys Won: 1
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $13.38.#9. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
Play Album
Year: 1969 Units Sold: 10 Million
SPV: $12.83 Rating (Stars): 4 Grammys Won: 0
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $13.60.#8. Hotel California - Eagles
Play Album
Year: 1976 Units Sold: 16 Million
SPV: $12.00 Rating (Stars): 4.75 Grammys Won: 0
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $13.81.#7. The White Album - The Beatles
Play Album
Year: 1968 Units Sold: 19 Million
SPV: $12.00 Rating (Stars): 5 Grammys Won: 0
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $14.39.#6. Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin
Play Album
Year: 1971 Units Sold: 23 Million
SPV: $12.42 Rating (Stars): 5 Grammys Won: 0
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $15.44.#5. Abbey Road - The Beatles
Play Album
Year: 1968 Units Sold: 12 Million
SPV: $14.94 Rating (Stars): 4.25 Grammys Won: 1
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $16.23.#4. Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin
Play Album
Year: 1975 Units Sold: 16 Million
SPV: $14.31 Rating (Stars): 4.75 Grammys Won: 0
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $16.38.#3. Thriller - Michael Jackson
Play Album
Year: 1982 Units Sold: 27 Million
SPV: $13.49 Rating (Stars): 4.5 Grammys Won: 4
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $17.39.#2. Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd
Play Album
Year: 1973 Units Sold: 15 Million
SPV: $16.08 Rating (Stars): 5 Grammys Won: 0
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $18.57.#1. Songs In The Key Of Life - Stevie Wonder
Play Album
Year: 1976 Units Sold: 10 Million
SPV: $16.84 Rating (Stars): 5 Grammys Won: 2
Calculated value per unit based on the formula: $18.71

Restaurant Week

Finally, finally, they listed the restaurants that are participating in Restaurant Week for August 11 - 17. I am somewhat disappointed that they increased the price for dinner to $35.08 for the three course fixed price menus. I am sure that this is due to the rising price of fuel - everything else is.

Anyway, we thought it would be nice to try something new for dinner this time around. We usually go to D.C. Coast, because I love it and that is the only way I can afford to eat there. I'm still going, just for lunch on Wednesday. For dinner on Saturday, we are going to try Jackson 20 which is in the Hotel Monaco in Old Town. It has been getting good reviews, so I'll be sure to report back on what we try.

If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere...

I know you think that I forgot to blog about our final day in New York, but I actually had to do 'real work' yesterday.

Sunday didn't go exactly according to plan. We did get up, get checked out of the hotel (leaving our luggage with the concierge) and get breakfast. Then we took a taxi up to Central Park. The plan was to walk around for about an hour, then go to the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum. It is a part of the Smithsonian, but it is not free like the museums in Washington, which is a bummer.

We did have a very nice, if sweaty, walk through the Park. We saw tons of people with their dogs, the statue of Alice in Wonderland, Cleopatra's Needle, the Great Lawn and the Reservoir. We were wandering from 72nd up to 91st. There was also a triathlon finishing up the run in the park, so we stopped to cheer people on for a few minutes, too.

When we got to the museum, it was not open yet. This was my fault. I misread the days - I thought it opened at 10:00, which is did Monday - Saturday, but Sunday was noon. I really wanted to see this museum and have for a long time, so we walked a few blocks over to a Starbucks to get something to drink, cool off and wait.

After about a hour, we went back to the museum, which was now open, BUT most of it was closed for rennvations. This was NOT my fault - I double checked the website and nowhere does it say that it is undergoing renovations. If I had known that, I would have elected to take a pass on the whole thing and go to the American Museum of Natural History. At least they were doing 'pay what you want' admissions, since it was mostly closed.

However, by this time it was too late to get all the way across the park and have anytime to see the dinosaurs, so we walked a couple of blocks to the Guggenheim Museum and spent an hour or so there looking a really odd art. Then we taxied back to the hotel for the luggage and down to Penn Station to get the bus back to D.C.

While we were waiting for the bus, I did the last thing left on my list of stuff to do in NYC. I ate a chicken gyro from a guy with a cart and it was really good.

These little town blues are melting away...

Saturday morning, we headed out early to go to the top of the Empire State building. I cannot stress enough the importance of buying your tickets online and printing them at home. The security line moves fast, but if you have to wait in the ticket line, you will be there all day. Then you wait for an elevator to the 80th floor and another elevator to the 86th. You can just dart up there like at the end of Sleepless in Seattle. They never tell you that in the movies.

After the Empire State Building, we took a taxi all the way down to Battery Park to go see the Statue of Liberty. Again, buy tickets online, we did not. When we got there the line was 1 1/2 hours long for the boat over to the statue AND they had given out all the passes that let you go up the statue. So, we bought tickets for the harbour tour (no waiting) and cruised past Ellis Island and the Statue. We also got to see the waterfalls, which is a public art installation up for the summer.

From there, we went to Chelsea Market, then started the Project Runway tour of Manhattan. We went to Mood Fabrics, passed by the Atlas Apartments and spent some time in Bryant Park, watching the carousel. Then, back to the hotel for a much needed shower.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art stays open late on Saturday, so we did that last. For dinner, we tried a barbecue place called Virgil's that was a couple of doors down from our hotel. We'd been smelling it everytime we went outside and just couldn't resist it anymore. I had pulled pork and Jim had ribs. We had mac n' cheese, barbecued beans, coleslaw and potato salad for the sides and the entrees came with chive corn muffins. We also had warm chocolate chess pie a la mode for dessert. We got there about 9:20 p.m., waited 15 or 20 minutes for a table and rolled back out at 10:45ish. The place was still packed.

More pictures are available here.

Start spreadin' the news, I'm leavin' today...

Actually, we left Friday for our very busy, very full weekend in New York. This will be a blog in three parts, since there is so much to tell.

Friday, we left the apartment at 6:40 a.m. to catch the bus to NYC. You may recall that we were able to get tickets to New York for a grand total of $1, which is what prompted the entire trip. We got to Metro Center at 7:30 and it is a good thing. They overbooked the bus and anyone that got there after 7:45 was out of luck. The company was supposed to be sending another bus to get the other people - I hope they made it alright. It took about 4 1/2 hours to get there and the bus stopped once in Delaware to let people get off and stretch their legs.

We rolled into Penn Station right about 12:45 p.m., grabbed our luggage and set off the 15 blocks to our hotel. We were walking straight up 7th Avenue, but when we got to 42nd Street, I made us take a detour for my first look at Times Square. When we got to our hotel, we were too early for check-in, but we were able to leave our luggage with the concierge, who recommended a great deli around the block for some lunch.

After a quick bite, we headed to Rockefeller Center and then on up to Tiffany's. We walked past St. Patrick's Cathedral, but didn't know that's what it was at the time, since there is scaffolding all over it right now. We did go into another lovely church, St. Thomas. After Jim let me browse in Tiffany's (bless his heart), we went back to the hotel to get cleaned up for our dinner reservations.

We went to Scarlatto's for the pre-theater fixed price dinner and it was all delicious. For appetizers, I ordered the mussels, which I'd never had before, and Jim had the mozzarella di buffulo salad. For the entree, he had the carbonara and I had the salmon with caramelized onions on spinach. Dessert was tiramisu and cappuchino semifreddo. We shared everything and it was all delicious.

Then it was on to the show at the Shubert Theater for Spamalot. I laughed like a lunatic. It was pretty true to the movie, plus they added in some bits from other Monty Python sketches. Drew Lachey was playing Patsy and John Cleese was the voice of God.

After the show, we grabbed some authentic New York cheesecake from Junior's, walked back through Times Square to the hotel and collapsed.

All of the pictures can be seen here:

NYC

Bad Blogger

I don't know how it got to be this late in the month of July without me posting one single entry. We've definitely been doing things, so I don't know what my problem is. So, I'm going to catch you up a little bit and then next week, there will be tons of entries.

July 4th - We decided not to brave the crowd on the Mall this year and opted for a picnic at one of the Fairfax County parks to watch the fireworks. Granted, we had to eat the picnic in the car due to rain, but it stopped in time for us to get the tarp and the blanket out and stake out a good spot on the grass. It was even surprisingly easy to get out of the lot after the show.

July 5th - We went to see The Lion King at the Kennedy Center. It was soooooo cool. I am desperate to know how long it took the people in the giraffe costumes to learn how to walk with stilts on their hands and feet. The elephant came right down the left aisle of the theatre and there were performers all through the audience at various times. I highly recommend seeing it if you get the chance.

This weekend we are going to NYC for my first visit. I promise to take a million pictures and will post several blogs documenting the trip, maybe one for each day.