Sideshow's "TOP TEN"

What a week! Payne requested that I do a top 10 list on Wednesday. Since it is now Thursday, it seems appropriate that the subject of my top 10 list should be ….. drum roll please…

The top 10 unfinished projects of all time.

1. In 1926, Conn Smyth was hired by the New York Rangers to build a winner in the Big Apple. Before he even coached 1 game in New York, he was fired, leaving the job unfinished. It should be noted that in February of 1927, he bought the Toronto St. Patricks, renamed them the Toronto Maple Leafs, and had some measure of success. It has always intrigued me, however, how one gets fired before even coaching 1 game. I guess all we have to do is ask Neil Smith formerly of the New York Islanders about unfinished business!
2. The next one is a bit of a touchy subject for not only me, but those who love the “Green and White”. It is kind of like talking about Aunt Martha’s drinking problem…we all know it exists, but no one is willing to openly discuss it. Fifty years after Conn Smyth was canned in New York, The Saskatchewan Roughriders had just finished a football season which would prove to be the last in a long era of playoff appearances and consistent success. I know, I know, you point out to me that the Riders won the Grey Cup in 1989 and appeared in the 1997 Grey Cup against Toronto. I will point out to you that their record in those years was 9-9 and 8-10 respectively. Neither of those teams would be remembered as a great team - at best, they were teams that got hot at the right time. So, since 1977, we await the results of the “rebuilding project” that the Little General started, and Roy Shivers has yet to finish. Are we there yet?
3. In 1994, John Candy started to make a movie called Wagons East. He dropped dead about halfway through its production. He should be commended, however, because I saw the movie once it was completed and only I lasted about 10 minutes.

*** “I’ll BE DONE IN ONE MINUTE!!!! I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF WRITING PAYNE’S BLOG WHILE HE IS ON HOLIDAYS”. Sorry about that, but Mrs. Sideshow is calling me upstairs. Back to work.***

4. In 1791, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was commissioned to write some funeral music. Apparently people were dying all over the place, and "Another One Bites The Dust" had yet to be written. When Mozart “assumed room temperature” shortly after, Franz Sussmayr, one of his most trusted pupils, completed the arrangement in accordance with Mozart’s final instructions. Ironically, Mozart’s last unfinished composition known as the Requiem Mass was played at his own funeral. Proving that the world is far from a just place, the Good Lord sees fit to allow Michael Bolton to finish off crap all the time that he passes off as music.
5. The towns and cities of the world are dotted with pieces of architecture that were not completed for various reasons. No, I am not talking about the fact that good old cousin Vladimir has not yet finished dry-walling the mud hut back in the old country. Numbers 6, 7, and 8 will celebrate some of these unfinished marvels:
6. Workers completed construction of the 1^st two wings of the “new” city hall in Norwich UK in 1938. At that time, they left one wing of the building unfinished to allow for the third wing of the building to be completed at a later date. That day has still yet to come!

*** “HOLD YOUR HORSES!!! YOU CAN USE THE COMPUTER WHEN I AM FINISHED!”. Sorry about that, but Mrs. Sideshow is getting a bit impatient. Back to the blog…***

7. The Sienna Cathedral in Italy was originally built in the early 13^th century. When it was built, one side was left completely open to facilitate an expansion which was slated to begin in about 1285. To this day, the side isles have had a roof put over them, but the outside pillars remain exposed.
8. The economy in Bangkok Thailand was booming through the early 1990s spawning a major construction run. It all ended suddenly in 1997 when a serious economic crisis gripped the region. As a result some 320 major buildings in Bangkok have been left unfinished to this day.
9. Many many years ago, some wise soul saw the virtue in assigning numbers to body functions that considered not polite to openly speak of in public. Pee was assigned the top secret code “number one”. Even more importantly, Poop was coded as the all important “number 2”. Parents everywhere breathed a sigh of relief! No longer would they be subjected to little Johnny screaming out at the local Pizza Hut that he had to “bust one off”. Now he could quietly assert that he had to perform “number two” and nobody would be any the wiser. I liked where they were heading with this one! Then, as quickly as it all started, the numbering scheme came to a screeching halt. Anyone who has been served up a bad batch of Chinese food didn’t have “number three” to mask the harsh reality of their violent retching and vomiting.

*** “OKAY OKAY, I’LL WRAP IT UP NOW!” Sheeeeesh she’s sure impatient!!***

10. To complete the "The top 10 unfinished projects of all time": This top 10, errr 9 list! Look, Mrs. Sideshow is on the “number 4”, so If I know what is good for me, I’ll end it here.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sideshow.