523. Magic Carpet Ride

Listen here.

522. Rainbow Connection

521. Vertumnus

Here's a shout-out to Umbria. Vertumnus was the Etruscan god of the seasons as well as plant growth. So we have Umbria to thank for the lovely vegetable-man painting genre.

520. Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century

Look at that beautiful animation.

519. The Stranger

Oops. Originally, I had The Plague here, but that turned out to have been #67. I'll stick with Camus, at least.

518. Perseus with the Head of Medusa

517. Arrested Development

A television show whose intricate and subtle jokes make it extremely rewatchable.

516. Casey at the Bat

Add another one to the list of works of art with unusual subtitles to remember for trivia competitions: "Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888"

515. Neuromancer

The father of cyberpunk genre. It's also a book that grips you like an action movie, so it's a little surprising there's no movie of it yet.

514. The Winter Egg

I think I've mentioned before how I take pleasure in making counter-seasonal selections. So as we move into summer, here's a reminder of winter.

513. Pride and Prejudice

(The version without the zombies.)

512. Fever

Because I'm not feeling well.

511. Caring is Creepy

Listen here.

510. The Tower of London

More of a castle than a tower, really, but that's forgivable.

509. Houdini's Water Torture Cell

508. If on a winter's night a traveler

A book that famously switches between third-person and second-person narration. David Mitchell is on the record as being a fan.

507. In the Night Kitchen

A children's book that has often been banned for a very silly reason.

506. My Neighbor Totoro

505. This statue of St. Wenceslas

Yes, he is suspended from the ceiling, riding a dead horse. It is an unusual take on the equestrian statue genre.

504. Royce Hall

The offputtingly asymmetric building at UCLA. (Don't go visit after reading House of Leaves.)

503. The Volkswagen Beetle

The car that happy German families choose!

502. The Myth of Yggdrasil

501. Mona Lisa

Post #1 of the second half! I thought I'd lead off with Benj's pick for the world's best work of art.

500. That Scene Where Semele Is Consumed By Jupiter's Fire

Or, in the vernacular, the "Zeus, show me the junk" story. (See verses 253-315.)

499. The theme from The Magnificent Seven

I couldn't find a good picture, so here's a magnificent seven. Also, you can listen to the theme here.

498. L'Auberge Espagnole

A movie about the folly of youth, framed as the story of a young French man studying abroad in Barcelona.

497. The Adventures of Tintin

Tintin. The surefire way to identify a which of a German town's bars is the Belgian one.

496. The Running Man (the movie)

In a dystopian America in 2019, convicted criminals fight gladiator-style battles on a reality TV show. It may not be high art, but I love a good dystopia.

495. La Chanson de Roland

Pardon my Frenchiness. (The Germans are also quite attached to Roland, you know.)

494. Where Is the Love?

Listen here.

493. As I Lay Dying

The title has always put me off, but someday I'll get around to reading it. And who can forget its classic Chapter 19?