“List on the 3s:” Top 6 Gifts I Want for My Birthday

Today is April 23 — and since it’s a date with a number “3” in it, I present yet another list! The next appearance will be on April 30, then on May 3, and so on and so forth until the year 2013 — when I will be forced to write a list every single day and post it to the blog. And then I’ll get bored of it sometime during the following year…

Do you have an idea for a list for me to write? Let me know. Maybe you’ll see it a week from today.

My birthday was this past Monday — which, tragically, was a date devoid of the number 3. Hence — this is a list of presents I might like after the fact. Our family has a tradition of giving gifts late — my birthday gift last year, in fact, was given to me in June when I returned from a week-long trip to New Orleans building houses to find that socKs had painted and redecorated my home office. (In all fairness, she gave me a red pair of Crocs with the Maryland insignia on them in April.)

Oh — and if you feel like gifting me any of these items — that would be great. Just let me know. I don’t quite have a registry online somwhere which carries all of these items…

Top 6 Gifts I Want for My Birthday

6. Sports Night – The Complete Series on DVD

This one is a no-brainer (and I have a feeling that socKs will be getting this for both of us on our birthdays). “Sports Night” remains, in my opinion, the best show ever to grace the airwaves. I’m not alone; TV Land made it their first “future classic” show.

And why not? The cast was amazing. Peter Krause (Six Feet Under), Josh Charles (Dead Poet’s Society, In Treatment), Felicity Huffman (Desparate Housewives), Sabrina Lloyd (Sliders, Ed), Josh Malina (The West Wing, Big Shots) and Robert Gillaume (Soap, Benson). The show was created by Aaron Sorkin and Tommy Schlamme, creators of The West Wing and Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip. And it’s all about a SportCenter type show on an ESPN-type network. The dialogue and storylines are very tight. I remember watching each episode and just being wowed at the end of it. I still get chills whenever I hear Three Dog Night’s “Eli’s Coming.”

They should make more TV just like that.

5. The November/December (I think?) 1979 issue of 3-2-1 Contact Magazine

I don’t know how many people remember the PBS television show or the magazine — or if anyone remembers that the magazine preceded the television show by a couple months. But as avid readers of Sesame Street Magazine and then the Electric Company Magazine, our family jumped onto the 3-2-1 bandwagon from the start.

One of the first few issues from the Fall/Winter of 1979 had a story about the new decade coming up — the futuristic 1980s! And there was a section there which talked about predictions for the future — including a mail-in survey for kids to predict whether certain events would happen in the 1980s, after the 1980s, or never happen. Two questions I can remember involve a Beatles reunion and gasoline prices being over two dollars a gallon.

So — yeah. That issue specifically. I couldn’t find it when cleaning my closet.

4. A Three-Way amongst my lovely wife, NPR (and former MSNBC) news personality Alison Stewart and myself.

Believe it or not — I’ve already asked for socKs’s permission on this one. She just laughed and laughed and told me that if I could actually make it happen voluntarily on Ms. Stewart’s part, count her in. So if anyone has any strings to pull, here’s your chance to do so! (I decided to put this item in as number 4 so I wouldn’t have to sleep on the couch tonight.)

3. A “Green-Line,” Saturn Vue Hybrid

Why specifically a VUE? Why not a Hummer H3, a Prius, a GTO, a hybrid Yukon or a Delorean modded up to look like Doc Brown’s time machine? Simple — we really love our 2003 VUE. It’s practical, it gets relatively good gas mileage (it’s not a Hybrid), and our insurance rates went down when we switched from a Honda Accord to it. And it has room.

What I’d really like is the Full-Electric VUE that had been released as a test model in the mid-90s by GM during their experiment. For more information, see “Who Killed the Electric Car.” Good movie. (Even if it’s more than slightly skewed.)

2. Be’Tipul – Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD

This is a bizarre one. I grew fond of an HBO show which debuted a few months back called “In Treatment.” It’s a half-hour show which came on five nights a week which is fully set in a psychotherapist’s office. for four nights a week, the therapist meets with his weekly clients; on the final night he goes to his therapist for his session. And that’s it. Minimalist TV.

“In Treatment” is based on an Israeli series called Be’Tipul. Apparently most of the stories are virtually identical to the American series — which will still be intriguing to me because we canceled our HBO in early March. Be’Tipul is entirely in Hebrew (and I don’t know if there are subtitles on the DVD), which will help me practice. It’s also a Region 2 country, but I doubt that will be such an obstacle…

1. A Lolapalooza-style Concert Specifically Celebrating Me — with headliners Midnight Oil, Yes, Pearl Jam, Sarah McLaughlin, Peter Himmelman, Depeche Mode and Barenaked Ladies.

(Sorry – I couldn’t find a picture with all of them standing together.)

This virtual “Shinypalooza” would take place (preferably) at Lake Fairfax near Fairfax, VA. Close enough to drive to, but far enough away that it won’t affect traffic getting home so much. I’d even let a corporate behemoth like *cringe* Pepsi co-sponsor it if it means it will happen. The t-shirts will likely be phenomenal.

EDIT: Gary Busey would not be permitted entry.