Holiday TV specials, ranked

It's been a busy week on the blog and I am pretty much out of good any ideas for today, so let's get topical and unnecessary and sound off on a very important issue - holiday-themed TV specials.

We all grew up with them, perhaps still have to suffer through some of them if we have young kids, but no matter where you come down on holiday TV specials you likely have a favorite. Or perhaps not. Doesn't matter, because I present here your unscientific, incomplete, subjective, yet 100% accurate ranking of holiday season TV specials.

Here we go...

10. Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer - Completely unwatchable. Santa is kind of a jerk in this one as well. Only after Rudolph can be of some use to him does he give a hoot about him.

9. Frosty the Snowman - Equally unwatchable. Wow, you mean snowmen melt when the sun comes out? Who knew!

8. John Denver and The Muppets: A Christmas Together - The presence of John Denver makes the Muppets a little more tolerable in this otherwise grim affair. And that is not saying much.

7. Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July - When the 'crossovers' start that can only mean the writers are officially out of ideas. Please don't watch this. 

6. Mickey's Christmas Carol - Featuring the excellent casting of Daffy Duck as 'Scrooge McDuck'

5. Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol - I confess to not really remembering this one, but Mr. Magoo always seemed cool and half-drunk all the time so that has to count for something.

4. The Year Without a Santa Claus - Notice a theme here? How the kind of boring Santa character can never seem to carry a special on his own? Snow Miser and Heat Miser are the stars of this forgettable special. And Mrs. Claus was a real let down in this one too. Step it up Ma Claus!

3. How The Grinch Stole Christmas - Should really be higher. I never had any sympathy for the stupid Whos. I always felt like they deserved to have their Christmas stolen from them.

2. Santa Claus is Coming To Town - Two words: Burgermeister Meisterburger.  That is all you need to know. Epic character.

1. A Charlie Brown Christmas - Hits almost all the right notes. Lucy is at her apex predator best. Snoopy steals every scene he is in. And the best musical score of all time for a TV show from jazz legend Vince Guaraldi.

Honorable mention - Nick Offerman drinks whiskey in front of a Yule Log.

You might disagree with the rankings, perhaps even feel like I made some terrible omissions from the list, but as is the case with all of these 'ranked' posts, you would be wrong.

Have a great weekend!

Biases, ranked

I love when things work out exactly as I thought they would. I also love when I overestimate my own ability and when I forget what it is like when people do not have as much information on a subject as I have. And when I underestimate how long it is going to take to complete a task - man that's gold.

All of the above are examples of biases, in one form or another. There are so many biases it can be hard to keep them all straight, and to know which biases are better/more interesting than others. Therefore I submit this subjective, unscientific, incomplete, and 100% accurate list of biases, ranked.

Here goes...

10. The Illusion of Control

9. The Dunning-Kruger Effect

8. Planning Fallacy

7. Negativity bias

6. Shared information bias

5. Confirmation bias

4. The Hot-Hand Fallacy

3. Projection bias

2. Availability heuristic

1. Gambler's fallacy

Did I leave some important biases out? Sure.

Did I fail to adequately explain my rankings? Of course.

Might you disagree with the above rankings? Yep. But you would be wrong.

Have a great weekend!

Generations in the workplace, ranked

I have been to a few events lately, and thus have been subject to at least some 'Generations in the Workplace' content. Since many of you might still be confused/concerned/bored to death with discussions on Generations and work, I humbly submit to you this subjective, unscientific, and 100% accurate breakdown of how the generations stack up in the workplace.Source - UNC Executive Development

Here goes...

5. Millennials

4. Traditionalists/Silent Generation

3. Whatever comes after the millennials (I know that technically these folks are not yet in the workplace but that doesn't stop people from talking about them like they are already our bosses)

2. Baby boomers

1. Gen X

You can comment if you like, but if you disagree with me, then clearly you must be a Millennial.

Superhero T-shirts, Ranked

You probably own a superhero t-shirt. You might even be wearing a superhero t-shirt right now. But you probably never have considered the question "Which superhero t-shirt is best?" Which makes you pretty normal, I think. 

Without further delay, here is your incomplete, subjective, unscientific, and 100% accurate ranking of superhero t-shirts.

Note: I am not going to get into the methodology, criteria for inclusion, etc.. because frankly who cares?

12. Iron Man

11. Hulk

10. Daredevil

9. Spider-Man

8. Fantastic Four

7. Wonder Woman

6. Superman

5. Captain America

4. Punisher

3. Batman

2. Flash

1. Green Lantern

Have a great weekend!

Incoming Email Subject Lines, Ranked

Most Email is terrible. But some emails are actually fun to receive. Some. So for your day off from work/school/whatever it is that you have to worry about tomorrow but you are trying not to think about today reading pleasure, I submit this incomplete, yet definitive ranking of Incoming Email Subject Lines.

Here we go...

15. 'Whitepaper: 5 Tips for Managing Gen Y'

14. 'REMINDER: 'Your credit card payment is due in 5 days.'

13. 'You may already be a winner!'

12. <Subject: Blank>

11. 'It's time to check-in for your flight tomorrow.'

10. 'New comment on 'Easter Candies, Ranked'.'

9. 'Steve, please add me to your LinkedIn network.'

8. 'Up to 70% off for the Brooks Brothers clearance sale!'

7. 'Your Amazon.com order has shipped!'

6. 'New price drop on Las Vegas Hotels!'

5. 'Out of the Office: I am out of the office today...'

4. 'This meeting has been canceled, and removed from your calendar.'

3. 'ALERT: A Direct Deposit has been received into your account.'

2. 'Your upgrade on Flight 239 has been confirmed.'

1. 'You have no scheduled events today.'

Have a great Monday and for folks in the USA, a nice Memorial Day. Thanks to all the brave men and women who gave their lives in defense and service.