cryptique

I'm not generally a Sony fan -- their equipment is just not very good, despite what many people think. That said, from what I've read, Blu-Ray seemed the superior format. If this really does signal the end of the battle, I'm sad for the HD-DVD faction, but at least there's a winner and we can move on. I wish Blu-Ray didn't have the region thing. Also, does anyone know anything about DRM on Blu-Ray discs?

Global warming marches on...

I do remember him being funny long ago, way back before he got the Tonight Show.

I do not enjoy the comedic stylings of Mr. Leno. His jokes are often decent, but his delivery is awful and he ruins his own jokes by laughing at them. Plus, he's still a terrible interviewer despite all the years he's had to practice. And then there's the high-fiving-the-crowd thing at the beginning of each show. Makes me want to vomit.

That perk only lasts for three years or so ... after which you'll have to get one of these things too.

Running Down a Dream? That one that was exclusive to Best Buy? I bought that over the weekend with a gift card from the holidays, but haven't watched it yet.

I believe he can write material for himself to deliver on air. He just can't write for anyone else.

I can't say I would have cared much about this before I watched a couple seasons of "Everest: Beyond the Limit." Now I have the utmost respect for this man. RIP, Ed.

Treat them and send the bill to their home country's government. I'm kidding, kind of. I don't really have a position on the whole illegal immigration thing, because it's not a major issue for me.

How good is he at basketball? Would he get any minutes at Ohio State? If Michigan offers him the chance to play both sports, that might just lock him up. Rodriguez knows Beilein pretty well, after all -- I'm sure they could work something out so Pryor could fit in with both of their programs. Wishful thinking from a Michigan fan, I know.

I would like my government to outlaw ticket-scalping in any form -- i.e., ticket brokers. Which political party will help me achieve that goal? Sorry, my mind is still blown by the $215 Wilco tickets that were available on one site less than an hour after they'd gone on sale this morning.

Clemens and Bonds would be no-brainer first-ballot inductees, but the steroids/HGH/whatever controversy may derail that. The only current player who comes to mind as a surefire first-ballot inductee is Greg Maddux. If he doesn't make it in on his first attempt, there's truly something wrong with the system. I'm sure I'm forgetting some others, but Maddux is obvious. (Is he a "current" player anymore, though?)

They're all scum. For example, GreatTickets.com is already showing Wilco tickets -- at $215 each. Why these bastards are legal, I really don't know. Hopefully you'll find some at a fraction of that price.

Looks like Wednesday's sold out now too. Whew. My brother was all like, "this isn't going to sell out that fast, is it?" Turns out Wednesday is what he wanted, so I guessed correctly.

It's on. I just snagged four for my brother. Of course, he never got back to me about which of the two shows he wanted to go to, so hopefully he wanted Wednesday.

There's plenty of cool stuff reasonably near that hotel, by the way. If you walk up Broadway a few blocks you'll hit Reckless Records, which is a great place to shop for music. There are also some shops south of Diversey on Clark for that purpose (though I haven't been there in a few years and things may have changed a bit). I'm sure you'll have fun exploring ... I just hope the weather's nice enough to permit lots of wandering.

I'm still waiting to hear more about Atticus' cookie.

It's on Winthrop, in the 6300 block I believe (I used to live in the 6200 block). Might be OK, but security would be an issue. Don't leave anything there unattended, even for a few minutes (I'm basing that on my experiences in European hostels nearly twenty years ago, so your mileage may vary).

They're up on both the 9:30 site and the Tickets.com site again, saying that the public onsale is tomorrow at 10 AM (as expected). I was exchanging emails with someone at the 9:30 this afternoon, and his responses have me wondering whether they simply forgot to post info about the shows until people started contacting them. Good luck, all. My brother's never seen Wilco, so I hope he scores some tickets.

I agree. Twobobs, you know I'm not the sort to pull age on you (I hope I've never done that before, anyway), but in this case I just have to say that unless you watched Rice back in the day, you can't really appreciate his greatness. Stats alone do not tell the story on him. I would grant that he's probably only borderline for the Hall of Fame, but to me he's across that line and Hall-worthy.

My brother got shut out of the presale so he's angling for the public onsale -- but the only mention of that anywhere is on the wilcoworld site. Pretty frustrating.

Loved him in The Hunt For Red October.

He was a lawyer and lobbyist first. He was a senator only after he'd been an actor for several years.

You forgot to mention stealing lollipops from little girls and kicking puppies.

A Lammycat sighting!