796. The Empire State Building

I'm sure Ted Mosby would be horrified that it took me until the late 700s to get around to this one.

795. Ozma of Oz

I understand there's a new Oz movie out. Good for them, I guess, but the books are where it's at.

794. The Grapes of Wrath

Yet another book that makes you think "I'm glad I'm not those guys."

793. Xenocide

A book about what happens when two intelligent species meet but find communication impossible.

792. Beethoven's Ninth

The one with Ode to Joy.

791. The Cheers pilot episode

Ellen and I just started watching Cheers. That first episode is so well crafted.

790. Frosty the Snowman

Kind of like the golem, but not about the horrors of man playing god. (At least, I don't think that was the point.)

789. The scene with the fire from The Name of the Rose

Also, why was six afraid of seven?

788. The Crazy Horse Memorial

It's still extremely unfinished, but the scale of it is just so impressive.

787. The Golden Ass

You know that plotline in A Midsummer Night's Dream where Nick Bottom is given an ass's head? The only surviving Latin novel is a whole book on that topic.

786. Roots

I don't have a little joke to make about this one. Roots was serious.

785. The Robots of Dawn

An entry in the rather unique genre of robot murder mystery stories. (The robot butler did it.) It's actually quite a good read.

784. Melisande

A retelling of Rapunzel in which the unlucky princess, even though she's a bit of a whiner, fights off an invading army. Read it here.

783. Jolene

Listen here.

782. Pretty Woman

What better for Valentine's Day than the story of a rich man falling in love with a prostitute? I couldn't find any pictures I liked to represent the movie, so here is a woman weighing a tortoise instead. Apologies if you see this, tortoise-weighing woman. This is not intended to compare you to a prostitute.

781. Chopin's Études

I'm glad I'm not trying to learn the piano, because these would be intimidating as hell. Here's an impressive one.

780. The 39 Steps

This adaptation basically covers it.

779. Animal Farm

I love misinterpreting stories, but this is one you'd be hard pressed to find harmless.

778. The Scream

Oops. I almost forgot again.

777. The Monkey's Paw

Embarrassingly, I didn't realize all the adaptations were based on a short story until just now, when John Lithgow read it to me on a podcast.

776. Flowing Streams

Another unique entry for my list; this will be the only piece of music I include which is played on the guqin (pictured above.) Listen here.

775. The Death and Burial of Cock Robin

The only time I'll get to use the "taxidermy" tag. Walter Potter was a taxidermist who put together rather large dioramas of animals in a variety of storybook-like settings. I think the originality in using the medium of taxidermy that way is enough for them to qualify as art. There's a whole gallery here. Here's another one that maybe doesn't count as art.

774. The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra

Benjamin Britten always sounds harsh and foreboding to me, even in this children's guide to the orchestra.

773. The Up Series

A documentary series about the class structure in Britain. Starting at age seven, the same diverse group of British citizens were interviewed every seven years. I've only watched the first two, so I'm waiting on tenterhooks to see if that kid's jockey career works out.

772. Tetris Theme (Type A)

The Game Boy version or the much more musical but much less catchy traditional version.

771. One (Is the Loneliest Number)

Wikipedia claims the persistent piano beat was inspired by a telephone busy signal. Listen here.

770. The Lonely Ones

I was surprised when I gave this the Munch label to find that I hadn't listed The Scream yet. Don't worry---it's coming. But first, the thematically related...

769. Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse