Move over "War and Peace," here comes the "Big Book of Lists."

I can't help myself. Years of reading seemingly endless streams of wire copy and online blurbs has reduced my contextual reading habits down to a craving to consume a mass of listings seemingly unrelated to anything but a wandering idea or two interspersed with some statistical backing.

The closest thing to a novel that is gracing my side of the bed stand is the new biography of The Replacements, "All Over but the Shouting," which is nothing but extended quotes and a few paragraphs of events that may, or may not, have much to do about the music group.

Is this where literature is heading?

Hopefully not. But it's where I am.

Following is a short list of rising (or risen) trends in the news and related matters over the past few weeks.

Brock Lesnar may be South Dakota's toughest dude

Sorry Hells Angels and Iron Pigs, but a South Dakota native is quickly moving to No. 1 on this list.

A former NCAA heavyweight wrestling champ who went on to become a professional wrestling superstar and a National Football League washout is rapidly become one of the most feared mixed martial arts competitors around.

Brock Lesnar shocked Ultimate Fight Championship fans Saturday as the vastly underexperienced Lensar dominated UFC veteran Heath Herring. The Webster, S.D., native stands 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 295 pounds, but he is best known for his speed and athleticism.

And his hot dogging. While UFC fighters tend to talk a little smack pre-fight, they almost never bring it to the ring where the fear of getting beat on mercilessly generally outweighs the desire to play to the crowd.

But apparently, that isn't so for Lesnar.

Suffice it to say, he's not a guy you'd probably want to get on your bad side.

As long as it's warm out, America rules

Feeling all nationalistic after seeing the opening ceremonies this past weekend? Got the need to do some chest thumping in front of your posse from Great Britain or showdown your rivals from Sweden?

Then the Olympics are your game, in particular, the summer Olympics.

Counting the 2008 games, the good ole' U.S. of A. has more than double the medals of the next closest competitor, the now-defunct and "never gonna get anymore medals" Soviet Union.

In the summer Olympics, the difference is even more pronounced.

But watch out for the winter Olympics, where Norway is the all-time leader in gold, silver AND bronze medals. Now that's downright un-American.

Hey, I thought the U.S. dollar was worth 100 pennies

There has been a lot of talk over the past six months to a year about the weakening U.S. dollar and what that means to economic forces such as inflation and the rapidly escalating price of oil.

When one sees the most valuable currencies worldwide, one sees quickly that the relationship between currency and oil is more than a casual one.

Following is the short list of most valuable currencies. By the way, the U.S. dollar comes in No. 14 on this list, just ahead of the Swiss Franc and just behind - gasp - the Canadian dollar.

The world's most valuable currencies:

1) Kuwaiti Dinar - KWD = $3.65 U.S.

2) Maltese Lira - 1 MTL = $3.50 U.S.

3) Bharaini Dinar - 1 BHD = $2.66

4) Omani Rial - 1 OMR = $2.60 U.S.

5) Cypriot Pound - 1 CYP = $2.53 U.S.

Can "The Dark Knight" take out Leo?

There's been a lot of talk about "The Dark Knight" and its impressive move among box office heavyweights this summer as it surges to become one of the most popular films of all time.

Of course, the prevalence of digital piracy and a greater tendency by film fans to sit back and wait for a movie's DVD release has softened box office numbers of many big hits today.

Still, the Batman Begins sequel is already No. 8 on the top grossing films of all-time in the U.S.

Biggest movies of all-time:

1) Titanic

2) Star Wars

3) Shrek 2

4) E.T.

5) Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (Yeah, I could hardly believe it myself. I guess timing IS everything)

More celebrity mayhem, more celebrity mug shots

Thanks to The Smoking Gun Web site, celebrity mug shots are part of the American culture.

Perhaps it is our inherent need to tear down celebrities so that we can try to rebuild them again. Perhaps it's a reminder that we are all fragile human beans. Or, perhaps, we're still waiting to see if someone can top Nick Nolte's spectacular candid from a few years back.

Well, according to one YouTube contributor, no need to wait. His contribution has Nolte coming in at a shocking No. 3.