The idea behind this post came up tonight while the lady friend and I were enjoying a fine dining experience at the Texas Roadhouse. We’ve often debated the meaning of cool, and finally came up with a solid criteria by which we shall now judge whether or not someone is cool.
- To be cool, the candidate must defy their own area of expertise and have a cross-discipline appeal
- You could take the candidate home to your parents, and your parents would immediately find said person “cool”
- If said person was at a bar next to you, you would be guaranteed a story you’d tell over and over
- This is a person you would want to take a photo with just to prove that you spent time with such a legend
- The person cannot be too polarizing. We’re looking for far-reaching appeal, here, people
- Whether or not you like what the candidate produces professionally, you immediately respect them based on their level of awesomeness
- The person cannot exhibit the all-popular “ironic cool”. For instance, Chuck Norris, though internet popular, is not cool
So here are the candidates we’ve settled upon for now. Please nominate and defend your own candidates in the comments.
- Willie Nelson- I believe Wille is the personification of cool. I can’t think of a person on the planet that would disagree. I would drop anything to hang out with Willie for a few hours.
- Rodney Dangerfield- Like Willie, Rodney moves beyond his discipline and is overwhelmingly cool
- Christina Ricci- It is a guarantee that if you had a night out with Christina Ricci, you would absolutely have the night of your life
- George Clinton- Come on now.
- Tom Waits- The guy never once has tried to be cool and by definition, is the coolest person in any room
- Reese Witherspoon- A somewhat controversial pick, but cool nonetheless
- Mos Def- He’s cool
- Bruce Willis- Seriously. The guy is cool.
- Natalie Portman- I cannot think of any reason she would be disqualified by any standard measure
- Bruce Springsteen- He’s the boss, and is overwhelmingly cool
So, do you disagree with any of the candidates for the 2009 cool class? Do you have any write-in nominees?
3 responses so far ↓
1 Jimmy Hoffa // Feb 6, 2009 at 9:53 am
John Turturro, NPH, I’d vote Shatner, but I’ve met him and he’s an asshole…Julia Child, by all accounts, was an insanely cool shit…after watching an episode of “No Reservations” in which he appeared, I’m inclined to nominate Ted Nugent…
2 Randi // Feb 6, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Hoffa, we were discussing Nugent last night. I’m reluctant to nominate him since he’s so militant about the gun thing. Hes a little too extreme to be cool I think.
3 Magglio // Feb 6, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Jack White
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