cryptique

Scalia just proves that you can spin anything -- even the Constitution.

Song: 88 Lines About 44 Women

This is not technically the name of that album ... but Led Zeppelin II and Led Zeppelin III would work. I think numbered albums should probably be omitted here, though ... there are far too many to really care. As for artists: The Tennessee Two Fun Boy Three Gang of Four Maroon Five Take 6 10cc Sum41 BR549 UB40

Not into them, sorry. Wendy played the new one for me on our way to see Stevie Wonder the other night. There were a couple of tracks that weren't bad, but overall it bored me.

Interesting. I guess I don't regard any of those as capital offenses. But of course, as I said, this isn't an issue I'm all that passionate about.

Sounds like you have a pretty narrow idea of what "Christian" is.

R.E.M. in '86. I should have seen them a year or two earlier, but I was out of town the week they played Kalamazoo. I did go and buy tickets for my brother and a bunch of his friends (because none of them were available to do so). It killed me buying tickets for that show, knowing I couldn't go, and killed me even more that the tickets were in the center of the third row. I've seen a legend here and there, but few (if any) in their younger days. I was born in '68, so...

Well, I guess this is something on which I disagree with Barack Obama. That and the recent FISA legislation. I'm not crazy about capital punishment in the first place, though I can't say it's an issue that I feel all that passionate about. I do, however, agree with the Court's decision. I think if you start to equate any other crime with murder, you've started down a slippery slope.

...i.e., call 911 vs. bust out laughing.

I think everything on those two albums, with the exception of "Nighttime in the Switching Yard," is better than "Werewolves." I love that song too, but it's a weak link among all that other awesomeness.

Beatles before I was born, like Bjorn. Led Zeppelin -- don't remember, but it was probably "Heartbreaker / Living Loving Maid," because that record was kicking around the house back in the day and I'm pretty sure that side 2 was the favored side ... and I know I had heard a fair amount of LZ before I ever heard "Stairway to Heaven." Wilco -- I was already an Uncle Tupelo fan, and I'm pretty sure I'd read somewhere that Tweedy had a new band called Wilco. Then I saw the video for "Box Full of Letters," and ran right out to buy the CD. Billy Bragg -- in the fall of 1987, my college roommat

I don't really think he was beaten down, though he'd certainly stopped giving a shit. Here's an interview he did with Heather Havrilesky on Salon.com earlier this year, which I found fascinating then and even more so now: Curious George Preparing for his 14th HBO comedy special, George Carlin waxes philosophic on the freedom that comes from not giving a #%&@. By Heather Havrilesky Feb. 28, 2008 | We're not accustomed to thinking of comedians as cultural commentators, but a performer as sharp and defiant as George Carlin is just the person to call this outdated separation of high an

Interesting. I'd agree that he skewed more left than right overall, but in his later years he seemed to delight in tweaking conservatives and liberals in roughly equal measure. ...or maybe that's just how my liberal bias saw it.

Terrible fucking list from a joke of a publication. Of the ones I've seen and remember pretty well, the following (at least) would never make it anywhere near my own top 100: 3. Titanic (1997) 6. Saving Private Ryan (1998) 9. Die Hard (1988) 16. Boogie Nights (1997) 17. Jerry Maguire (1996) 18. Do the Right Thing (1989) 25. Shrek (2001) 36. Spider-Man 2 (2004) 37. Pretty Woman (1990) 39. The Sixth Sense (1999) 40. Speed (1994) 41. Dazed and Confused (1993) 43. Gladiator (2000) 52. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad (1988) 55. Risky Business (1983) 57. There’s Someth

His bitterness was entirely appropriate for the times, I think. I had the good fortune to attend one of his shows a million years ago (c. 1985). He was great then, and only got better in his later years. A true giant in his field, and someone who should be remembered as much more than a mere comedian. He just may have been the best writer of social commentary we've ever had.

FABREGAS!

OK, I take that back ... this really is one of the most atrocious jobs of refereeing I've ever seen. The yellow card on David Villa was a total fucking joke. The guy lost his footing and fell down, but because he had the misfortune to do so in the Italian penalty area, he got a yellow for diving. I hope FIFA never gives this clown another high-profile assignment.

Toni's dive at around 48 minutes encapsulates nearly everything I hate about the Italian style. He wasn't actually fouled by his opponent, made no attempt to play the ball, and opted instead to take a dive in the hope that it would produce a card for the other player. It wasn't even close enough to goal to have yielded a useful free kick. I know that players on all teams take dives, but the Italians seem to rely on it as game strategy. The Italians have played with a "dive first" mindset as far back as I can remember, which is at least thirty years now. The ESPN commentators have really

My only tip is that anyone considering becoming a parent should make damn sure they really want to do it and that they understand what they're getting themselves into. I did that, and wound up deciding not to become a parent at all.

Now 3-1 Russia with about 2 minutes left. Pretty much guarantees that Spain will win tomorrow, right?

I did that shit in high school. I couldn't hack it, and my inability to write fast (and legibly) had a small part in my decision to drop it (it's not only the judges who keep a "flow"). I usually argued in the affirmative, which I found a bit easier ... you had the burden of proof but you didn't have to think quite as quickly on your feet.

I don't hate the Red Sox, though they're not a team I often cheer for. I think many of their fans are morons, but I think many fans of ANY team are morons. I hate the Yankees more than any team in any professional sport, so the Red Sox are OK by me.

1-1 going into extra time. The Dutch have looked listless for the most part.