The list will appear. The list will be too long. Some must be eliminated, it is up to you!! The list must be whittled down to a top 10. Vote off the ones you want eliminated and comment on your reasons. Also make suggestions on what should be added to the list.

 
CITIES WITH THE BEST NIGHT LIFE
Now with Interactive Internet Voting System!!
After you are done reading the list go to the TWO web polls to o cast your Votes. I had to split it into two. I added your suggestions and some new ones.
Best Night Life Cities Part One
Night Life List Part Two
Da list is cities I have visited and partied in enough to judge its night life.
Some criteria that I give extra weight:
1. Concentration of night life in one area.
2. Amount of night life in relation to the size of the city.
3. How attractive and charming it is and how well the city is laid out.

The list is not in order but from my comments you can get a measure of how they stack up.

What are your city suggestions? Dispute cities on my list? Have anything to to add? Rank them.
After suggestions are in I will be ranking them in order.

1. Manhattan NYC - This city has a LOT of EVERYTHING. No matter what your flavor you will find it here (unless it's dueling pianos, I haven't been able to find that). The night life is distributed far and wide so you don't have to go very far to find a few places. The one short coming of Manhattan night life is concentration. The Avenue street grid just isn't conducive for bar concentration, zoning laws probably also play a role. The Village has a high concentration and most of it is off the street grid system so it can get pretty hoppin.
Upside- Last call 4:00 am!!!

2. London, England - The Pubs close to early but you can find Night Clubs if you know where to look. Leister Square is pretty hopping and you don't have to crawl far in Soho to do an extensive pub crawl.

3. Tampa, FL - Ybor City is the place to be, this night life district is pretty impressive. I was there for Gasparilla, Tampa's Pirate festival it's like Mardi Gras for pirates. There is a main drag lined by bars and clubs. Lots of hot girls and it's an attractive modern city.

4. Las Vegas, NV - This is the city that should be "The City that Never Sleeps" and "The City of Lights". People come from far and wide to indulge in all kinds of sin. Sure to be a good time.

5. Dublin, Ireland - They start drinking early, you have too because most the pubs close early. Temple Bar district gets it going but if you can believe this they need more bars there. On a weekend many of the bars get full. Night clubs and live music places stay open late and Irish folk/rock is grand like.

6. Memphis, TN - Beale street is famed and it has really stuck to it's roots. It is lined with authentic jaz bars and seedy rock-n-roll dives. It hasn't sold out to chains or to the MTV version of Spring Break partying that so many other places have done. It might not be for everyone if you like the whole MTV style party/Clubbing scene but I liked it.

7. Milwaukee, WI - The land of the domestic brewskie. The area near the water front was happening. The number of bars was kind of weak but the ones they had were huge high capacity joints. They were also close together so it had that cool nightlife vibe going on.

8. Key West, FL - Margarittaville!!! This is a relaxing place with good clean air. It is the only place that I like to hear Jimmy Buffet. Duval Street give you a nice feeling of history.

9. Miami South Beach - I never really took part in the nightlife scene when I was there but I saw some of it. Florida State was playing for the National Championship so I stayed in to watch the game. There were a lot of noizy drunk people outside my hotel on the street so the night life scene must have been pretty good.

10. Montreal - I like the sidewalk restaurants. Accidentally wondered into the gay nightlife district and I wondered my way out real quick. It's been many years since I was there and want to go back, now that I have more places to compare it too.

11. Oklahoma City - I was completely suprised by how good the nightlife scene was here. And it wasn't Country Line Dancing and Cowboy bars. The cool area is called the BrickYard. It was lively and had a good mix of regular bars and dance clubs. The crowd was young and there were good looking girl a plenty.

12. Portsmouth, NH - Big night life for a small city. The nightlife district is compact and concentrated making it easy to do a pub crawl. It's also in a picturesque NH Town along the water. Drawback: The bars close at 1:00 am.

13. New Orleans - When I was there it was HOT. I was too worn out by walking around in the heat all day to truly hit the night scene so I need to go back and redo Bourban Street at a later hour.

14. Amsterdam - I don't even smoke the stuff they smoke their and I still had a fantastic time. There were three nightlife areas and they were all good. I even watched NFL football with a group of Americans I met at a sports bar. Drawback: if your not carefull you can fall in a canal.

15. Atlanta, GA - The Area called Buckhead on the weekend is the Mecca of nightlife district. The area is crawling with a young crowd going to the many bars and dance clubs in the concentrated area. In another part of Atlanta is where a lot of the upscale night clubs are and that area gets it going too. Drawback: during the week the nightlife has a huge drop off.

16. Cork, Ireland - This is a college town is Southern Ireland. I was there during graduation and some kind of Party week so maybe it was extra crazy or maybe they are always like that. but I saw a lot of drunks barfing in the street.

17. Hoboken, NJ - Hoboken has the most bars per square mile in the USA. That in itself is impressive.
Here is a description I found:

Hoboken has been called the “Datona Beach of New Jersey" because of its thriving and sometimes noisy club scene. In the words of an elderly woman testifying before the City Council, "I moved here to retire in a quiet place, and now I live at the crossroads of hell."

The Nightlife area is fairly concentrated. The happy hour drink specials are great. The crowd is young and the hot girl percentage is high.

18. Orlando, FL - Church Street Station. It's fun but too much like Disney World and seems to planned.

19. Morgantown, WV - High concentration of good looking girls and bars. Great happy hour free food specials. The bar district is downtown. Drawback: Almost half the bars are dominated by young college kids.

20. Portland, ME - Suprising big night life for a small city with no major college. Night life is pretty happening on a weekend but too many fatties. Has a charming quality.

21. Nashville, TN - This city has a nice music flavor, I was there on a weeknight and the downtown night life area was still rather good. I liked it there, it was laid back and fit my groove.

HONARABE MENTIONS

21. Madison, WI - I love the Boot.

22. Daytona Beach - Drinking at a tiki bar on the beach is fantastic.

23. Boston - Nightlife scene is spread out. The areas of concentration aren't large enough but Fanual Hall area seems to be growing.
Drawback: Subway shuts down way to early.


posted by Paul at 12:42 PM

 
An Army must be assembled to defeat Saddam Hussein. A small group of Super Patriots will be created. Help choose them.

The list now has 14 names, after your votes it will be a TOP 10. Vote on who should be eliminated, who should stay and make suggestions for who should be added.

Comment and Vote by clicking on Comments and Vote at the end of each post


1. Rocky IV
This is the Rocky that went to Soviet Russia and took the political hostility between the respective nations/cultures and made a Big Statement on change, peace and the never-say-die courage of good ol' America. A case can be made that Rocky ended the Cold War, so ending the Gulf War should be a piece of cake. Rocky's not scared of Saddam Hussein, after all Ivan Drago's physically a monster of a man who kills rocky's best bud World Champion Apollo Creed. Saddam Hussein is a monster but physically is what Hans and Franz would call a 'Girly-Man'

And much like Saddam Hussein making threats about the mother of all battles and bringing hell fire down on America. Drago issued his own threat, 'I will break you'. Rocky wasn't scared of Drago and he ain't scared of Saddam.
Remember how Rocky won over the Russian crowd during his fight with Drago? Well the same thing will happen to the Republican Guard when they spot Rocky jogging across the desert armed with his boxing gloves and an American flag draped around his shoulders. Especially with his theme music playing in the background.


2. The Duke Boys and Daisy too.
Bo, Luke and Daisy will be a long way from Hazzard County for this one but America needs their southern spirit. The General Lee will have to be air lifted and parachute dropped to get 'in country'. The Duke boys can lead the chasing Iraqi tanks in a "wild goose chase" while Daisy poses as a Harem girl to infiltrate Iraqi head quarters. All this action will be easy to follow with the Dukes of Hazzard narrator giving us updates when CNN coverage comes back from commercial. I can see it now, the General Lee tearing across the dessert kicking up clouds of dust leading Iraqi tanks in circles. Just when it looks like they will be caught Luke Duke will know some back roads way along the Tigris River and they will escape. With a blare of General Lee's Dixie Horn and a Rebel Yell from Bo they will leave the Iraqi's eating dust (see sound link). Yes, the South will rise again. Maybe after the war is over we can give Iraq to the Confederacy.
Dixie Horn sound link



3. Rambo
Rambo made us all feel better about the outcome of the Vietnam War when he went back there in the 80's and whooped up on some commies, jungle style. He can make us feel good again by helping to end this Saddam Hussein menace real quick. Rambo never adapted well to civilian life and we have to find him a fight before he goes to war with your local police department, ala "First Blood".

Rambo already showed he can kick ass in the dessert ("Rambo III"). He also gets along with Muslims and has fought on their side before, so the anti-war crowd can't shout 'We hate Muslims'. Rambo could sneak into Iraq and hook up with a group of Iraqi rebels and lead them in the effort to topple Saddam. Wouldn't it be great seeing Rambo notch one of his patented flaming arrows into his bow and letting it fly, then seeing it blow up Saddam Hussein. That would look great on the big screen or on CNN. The whole theater/ country would be cheering!!, except for Sheryl Crow who would prefer us to "just not have enemies". America's moral would be at an all time high.



4. Captain America
It's all in the name baby. And the look.



5. Bazooka Joe
Bazooka Joe can hand out gum to Iraqi children. The Iraqi children will get another pleasant suprise when they find the comic strip inside. They also get their fortunes told. Rebuilding Iraq begins with chewing gum and comic strips, after this the rest will follow.



6. The drill instructor from Full Metal Jacket.
Remember this guy? If you don't, click the link for an audio refresher.
If we are going to send a Patriotic Crew to Iraq to defeat Saddam we are going to need someone to whip them into shape. The potential crew I have assembled is definitely going to need some discipline. Take Al Bundy for instance:
Drill Instructor: What is your major malfunction, Numbnuts?
Al Bundy: You see it's the wife...
Drill Instructor: You slimey scumbag, get on your face and give me 25!

This guy has played hard ass military types in so many movies, he is perfect.
Getting chewed out! sound link



7. The A Team
If we send the A team we can defeat Iraq without killing anyone. First they will find a hideout in an abandoned Baghdad garage. Then they will assemble from scratch an assault vehicle. Next they will smash their Assault Vehicle through the garage door to begin their rampage of destruction. Then they will blow up the attacking Iraqis by firing rockets that land near the Iraqis, causing them to fly through the air but land on the ground or in water unharmed. All the while Murdock will be saying zany things to provide comic relief. Unfortunately Mr. T. will spot Rocky in the streets of Baghdad and a rematch will ensue.



8. Spies like us pair Submitted by Chuck D
Ok, the ultimate rag-tag pair of US patriots. One is a supposed diplomat (Chevy Chase) but is actually a bumbling, yet witty, idiot. The other is a code breaker who actually takes his job seriously (Dan Akroyd) and knows his shit. Somehow, even though they are clueless, and hardly trained for field-intelligence work, they single-handedly save the world from a nuclear war between Russian and the USA that would have surely resulted to an "end to humanity as we know it." If we sent these two to Iraq, they would quickly, -and accidentally- infultrate the Iraqi government, find all the nuclear/chemical/bilogical weapons there might be and rid the world of them. Even though it would be a total accidental success, they would clearly help the cause. They would even probably get a couple of good-lookin Iraqi babes out of the whole deal and come home heros.



9. Al Bundy
Time to give Iraq a little slice of middle class American suburbia, Bundy style. You can say a lot of things about Al Bundy good and bad but one thing everyone would agree on is Al Bundy is proud to be an American. Al would be the first to volunteer for this duty and it wouldn't be just to escape the wife and kids. Al already got all the battle fatigues he needs, he can re-live his glory days by putting on his old Polk High football uniform. He can touch down in Iraq with a hefty bag full of women shoes. He alone can convince Iraq to give up their weapons of mass destruction by fitting Iraqi women with shoes. Once they see all the nice shoes the economic sanctions are preventing them from having they are sure to overthrow the government.


10. The Wolverines from Red Dawn
If any one hasn't seen Red Dawn. Go see it now, it's a classic. In the movie Communist forces invade America in a sneak attack. Unfortunately we aren't able to repel them immediately and the Commies take over and occupy part of the USA. A group of high school teenagers lead by Jeb (Patrick Swayze) take to the hills with a supply of canned food and hunting rifles. I am a supporter of gun control but the great thing about having a plethora of available guns in this country is we will be damn hard to invade because every Tom, Dick and Jane will be shooting at the invading force.

The high schoolers start waging a guerilla war on the occupation force and call themselves "The Wolverines"
The Wolverines were a Patriotic Bunch and just for that they deserve to Defend American in Iraq. Jennifer Grey was one of the Wolverines so maybe after the War is over she and Patrick Swayze can teach the Iraqis some "Dirty Dancing".


10. Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam is pissed. So pissed that he is taking a time out from his recruitment duties and is enlisting to do the fightin' himself this time. Sam's been recruiting since the American Revolution but now he "Wants you Saddam Hussein".



12. Jack Ryan Submitted by Chuck D
Jack Ryan is a tough former marine, who has a doctorate in history and is also considered a guru among the intelligence community. The CIA just won't leave him alone because he is just THAT GOOD and his country needs him again. He doesn't even necessarilly need to GO to Iraq, he just needs to be put in charge of the intelligence gathering, although, he would probably end up going into the "field" and helping out in Iraq, as he does in every movie he's been a part of (ala being on a submarine in "the hunt for Red October," going to Columbia in "Clear and Present Danger," and trying to gather information for the president in a nuclear fall-out zone in "The Sum of All Fears." Jack is also a great weapon against terrorism as he proved in "Patriot Games" when he protected British Royalty from extremist Irish terrorists. Jack Ryan is an all-American, honest, freedom-loving citizen of the US who would go to endless means to defeat Iraq and Sadaam quickly and with few casualties so as to protect the citizens of the US.



13. The President from Independence Day
He can give the pep talk to the Patriotic Force as they are shipping out. Remember the speech he made before the final battle with the Aliens? It gave me chills. He's also a multilateralist so he can sell this to the UN and keep the rest of the world liking us.



14. Maverick and Goose
The Patriotic Force is going to need air support. Who better to streak across the Iraqi skies than our favorite pair from Top Gun.

"Goose I'm gonna buzz the palace"
"Don't do it Mav!!"
Whoooosh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next we see Sadamm Hussien standing on his balcony waving his fist in the air at the passing Jet.

Or how about this:
France and Germany: You two really are cowboys.
Maverick: What's your problem, Weasels?
France and Germany: You're everyone's problem. That's because everytime you go up in the air, you're unsafe. I don't like you because you're dangerous.
Maverick: That's right! Eur.... Ope. I am dangerous.

Best of all they will be doing all this to one of the best movie soundtracks of all time.


posted by Paul at 8:19 AM

 
The Coolest of the Cool character list. Send 10 characters into the Halls of Cooldome and banish the rest.

The list now has 14 names, after two rounds it will be a TOP 10. In the first round 4 names will eliminated and 2 new names will be added. The new names will be from your suggestions. 12 names will enter round two but only 10 names will leave triumphant.

1. Snake Plissken (Escape from New York part I and II) - Anti-Hero Poster Boy for Cool characters that get the 'Raw Deal' by 'Da Man'. Snake is a former Green Beret and current accused felon who is chosen to rescue the President from Manhattan Island Federal Prison. With his dry wit and his contemptuousness of anyone in authority, we immediately know he is among the coolest of the cool. He growls, mumbles, curses and shoots people, barely pausing long enough to mumble some smart-ass 'hero line'. With a name like Snake Plissken, he just has to be cool and he has a black pirate patch to boot.


2. Conan the Barbarian (not the Destroyer who wasn't nearly as cool) - Conan knew what was good in life. He even made an eloquent speech about it in his movie... something about "crushing your enemies, driving them before you and listening to the lamentation of the women". Conan is huge and has a bad ass sword to kick ass with. He also has good and loyal buddies who join him on his travels, Conan of course is the leader. Conan is a master of many forms of combat. His ability with the sword is unparalleled and few can match his brute physical strength. He also has a sharp wit and a keen intellect, although most people underestimate him as being a mindless savage because of his appearance and lack of a 'civilized' education. Conan had a tough life, his parents were killed by James Earl Jones and he was sold into slavery. Conan becomes a Gladiator thus beginning his journey into Cooldome. After gaining his freedom, he gets his revenge on James Earl Jones. Overcoming his tough life, Conan is un-jaded, he has a strict moral code and sense of ethics stronger than most men. Conan is often dark and grim. But, he also enjoys the good life and has a tendency to indulge in good food, strong drink, and willing wenches. His religious spirituality is also very cool. His god is Crom. Conan never seems to pray but every so often when something weird happens good or bad, Conan will quietly say "Crom" and then go about his business of kicking ass or doing some other cool activity.


3. James Bond - James has got a lot going for him. Watch any of his movies and you will know what I'm talking about.


4. Blade - Blade is a DayWalker, a title that seems to hold a ton of esteem and envy in the Vampire world. So he got a head start on Coolness from birth. Do the math and you can mathematically prove Blade is Cool.: Half Vampire + Half Human = Total Coolness. See it's simple science. Blade has got some really cool weapons and he is really good at using them. No matter how many vampires and thug humans you throw at him he always wins.


5. Mad Max (Mad Max, The Road Warrior, Beyond Thunderdome) - The loner with a heart of gold. Mad Max traveled the wastelands in search of Gas to fuel his post apocalyptic muscle car. Against his loner instincts he unwittingly becomes the savior to disenfranchised tribes of wasteland denizens. What makes Max cool is he puts zero effort into being cool. He doesn't need to soup up his car like the batmobile. He doesn't need no super high tech gun to fight off ravaging hordes of motorized marauders, he has a double barreled revolver that needs to be reloaded after every two shots. He doesn't wear a costume of have cool gadgets. But in the end, he looked cool, acted cool and had cool stuff. Not only did he have a cool car and a cool gun but if there was one hot chick still left in the wasteland she would fall in love with him.


6. Dirty Harry - The original renegade cop who destroys more police property than an LA riot. Harry Callahan has a gritty unshaven look that Clint Eastwood has perfected into ultimate coolness. He single-handedly made the 44 magnum a household name. He also is responsible for some of the coolest catch phrase 'one liners': "make my day" and "are you feeling lucky punk".


7. Ripley (Alien Series) - Ripley is one of the most interesting sci-fi characters ever created and by far among the coolest. She pioneered the role of strong female lead character that kicks ass. Ripley was fighting aliens before Buffy was a gleam in her fathers eye and before Larra Croft could raid a barbie doll collection. She is tough as nails, braver than hell, and keeps her cool when others panic. She fits right in with battle hardened space marines but also is feminine and can be tender and caring. She is witty, smart and can pull off a cool 'one liner' like the best of them. She knows how to skillfully operate any kind of weaponry or machinery she can get her hands on. She practically single-handedly destroys the entire alien nest, the alien queen AND rescues Nute.
Over the course of four movies Ripley has been through a lot. She and her kitten are the only survivors of the first movie after the Alien kills the rest of her crew. She is cryogenically frozen and travels through space only to awaken many years later back on earth. She is impregnated by an Alien, killed, brought back to life, has her DNA spliced and Diced with an Aliens. By the 4th movie Ripley is a genetically resurrected DNA crossed human-alien who is mom to a freakish half breed creature. Now she is cooler than ever.


8. Han Solo - The Swashbuckling smuggler of the outer rim. Han Solo is a simple kind of guy who rarely encounters a problem a blaster can't solve. Han gets to live the free wheelin bachelor life, traveling across the galaxy in search of fun, money, women and adventure with Chewbaka. When Han wants a break from his swinging lifestyle his good buddy Lando owns a Pleasure Palace in Cloud City he can visit expense free. Speaking of Chewy, he has got to be the coolest sidekick a cool guy could have. Han also seems to be the only one who speaks chewys language. Han is definitely a Player with the ladies, his skills could clearly be seen during his conquest of Leah. He knew just the right amount of playful tension to bestow on "Her Heiness" to first make her hate him but soon turn that feeling to love. In the short time span between Star Wars A New Hope and Return of the Jedi, Han is shagging up with Leah. He is DA MAN!!! If Han were from Earth he would be a beer drinking, football watching kind of guy.


9. Indianna Jones - Dr. Jones lives a duel lifestyle. He is suit wearing College Archeological Professor and a swashbuckling whip toting tomb raider. He wears a cool hat is good with a whip and much like Mad Max he puts no effort into trying to be cool.


10. Zorro - Zorro is one of those rare characters who's aura of coolness is so strong it transcends time, medium, and portrayal. It doesn't matter what actor plays Zorro, what year the film is made, Black and White, Color or even a cartoon. Zorro is cool in all forms. Zorro is also good with the ladies but is more selective in his women than other cool characters. While Bond will hook up with any dame that is good looking, rich or trying to kill him. While for Conan any willing wench will do, so long as she is flea and lice free. Zorro usually has his eye fixed one just one lucky lady. Staring at her lustily from behind his masked face.....
Zorro is a master swordsman who is a hero for the poor and a bane to the elite's. Zorro also has one of the coolest trademark calling cards ever. The sword etched Z


11. Strider AKA Aragorn Elessar (Lord of the Rings) - This is the cool guy everyone wants to be when playing Dungeons and Dragons. The mysterious man in black, who sits alone in the shadowy corner of the tavern. Strider has one of those legendery backgrounds that makes him a living legend. He's got respect from all the creatures of MiddleEarth for he is Aragorn the last heir to the the thrones of both Gondor and Arnor. Raised in secret by the Elves of Rivendell, Strider walks between two worlds, Elven and Human. His destiny is to someday reunite his kingdom and destroy the rule of Sauron, the Dark Lord. Striders an all around good guy who you would want to have your back in a dark alley. He is good at killing bad guys with a sword. He protects Frodo, leading the Fellowship through the wilds. What puts him over the top for Cooldome is that for him the male fantasy of having a pretty elf girl as a lover is a reality.


12. Doc Holliday (Tombstone) - "I'm your huckleberry"... He pretty much stole the show from Wyatt Earp in this movie. Fastest draw in the West and quick with a clever comment that was both a combination of insult and compliment. Doc was a dentist but gave it up for Gambling and Gun fights. Doc was ill so Doctors advised him to refrain from long nights at the gambling table in addition to alcohol and even bedroom activities. Of course Doc ignored the advise.


13. Shaft - Shaft has his own Cool theme music and all the ladies like him...enough said.


14. Duff Man - Duff Man has his own Cool theme music and Homer Simpson likes him. "Duff Man is Cool. Oh Yeaaaaa"




posted by Paul at 3:59 PM