My favorite things Kentucky

1. Favorite song, set in: "Blue Moon," Cowboy Junkies version  The Louvin Brothers have some contenders, including "Kentucky."

2. Basketball player: Rex Chapman.  Honorable mention to Pervis Ellison, I watched both of them for years with Angus.

3. Film director: Tod Browning, see Freaks to blow your mind.  "Goo-bah, Ga-bah, one of us, one of us!" is one of my favorite moments in all of cinema.  There is also John Carpenter's The Thing.

4. Popular music: The Everly Brothers, most of all their 1968 album Roots.

5. Jazz musician: Lionel Hampton.

6. Bluegrass music: It's hard not to pick Bill Monroe, who more or less invented the genre.

7. Country guitarist: Merle Travis, watch these clips on YouTube.

8. Sculptor: Edgar Tolson, here are various images.

9. Rapper: Muhammad Ali.

10. Movie, set in: "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!"  Can you figure out which film that is from?

Excluded: Robert Penn Warren's book has never made sense to me, sorry.  I also have the vague sense that a lot of movie stars are from this state.

The bottom line: Culturally speaking, Kentucky is a much more important and impressive state than it usually gets credit for.