cryptique

I'll probably end up with a smartphone eventually, but I think that is still at least a couple of years away, if not longer. And I'd be getting it for its web-surfing functionality -- because I rarely use the phone. Regardless, a smartphone will not be happening for this particular trip.

I hadn't thought about record stores! We'll end up in the Bay Area (again) later on this vacation and I'll go to Amoeba there, but I should definitely hit Rockaway and Amoeba in L.A. too. I'm looking at a place on Santa Monica Boulevard about 1½ miles from the beach. Among other amenities, it has free parking

Don't have that option, because I neither have nor want a smartphone.

I'm in the process of booking a vacation and just lined up our rental car. I thought about adding a GPS to the rental, but it was $10 per day, and I realized that over the two weeks that we'll have the car, I could just buy my own GPS. This is for a trip within California, but if I buy one, I hope to also use it elsewhere in the U.S. I will not need it for everyday use when I'm not on vacation, but would probably use it at least a couple times a month for various day trips and whatnot. So, what should I buy? Garmin ... Magellan ... TomTom ... or something else? Which brands do you trus

I haven't been paying much attention to baseball lately, but I glance at the scores every so often. Do the White Sox ever win? Seems like every time I see a score, they're on the wrong end of it.

We can't handle that commercial. Hate to say it, but we have to change the channel -- it's too upsetting. We wish we could adopt every single animal that needs a home.

We will be in Los Angeles for a couple of days in late June, and need to book a hotel for two nights (a Monday and Tuesday, checking out on Wednesday). We will be doing some sightseeing, but little or none of the usual touristy stuff (we'll likely go to Griffith Observatory, but we'll steer clear of the usual Hollywood/movie studio tourist traps). This is a brief stop on a trip that begins in San Diego and ends in San Francisco, with a drive up the coast in between. I've been to L.A. once, when I was 15 years old, and don't know it at all. Is there a particular area where I should be looking

The Mommyheads put out a pretty darn good reunion/comeback album ... not that anyone heard it. (Or any of their earlier stuff.)

I do my laundry, she does hers. She should at least finish hers.

That happened on Saturday ... I went to the University of Michigan commencement, where he also spoke. I probably won't have a chance to go to this high school event.

When my girlfriend leaves clothes in the dryer for days, and I go to transfer a load of wash, only to find a full dryer. This happens approximately 90% of the time. Also, she expects me to bring upstairs all of her stuff from the dryer. It's like my little penalty for having discovered it.

Wish I could have been there for that one. Wow.

Anders Parker and Will Johnson just concluded a tour of this nature.

Just ordered this on vinyl. Can't wait.

update: It's f'ing great. Moving along...

As long as they quiet the Red Wings, I'm happy.

I grew up in Michigan but was never a Tigers fan (my family has Chicago ties and I was, and still am, loyal to the White Sox). Even so, listening to Harwell was always a pleasure. When the Sox were playing the Tigers in the '70s, it was a difficult choice whether to listen to Harry Caray or Ernie Harwell. We usually opted for Caray, merely because he was our Sox announcer, but if Harry was too drunk or otherwise annoying (which happened fairly often, even in those days) we'd switch over to Harwell, and even though it was the "enemy" broadcast, I must confess that I preferred listening to him.

I thought 40 would be a big deal, and it just wasn't. I feel much younger than my age -- in fact, I don't really feel any different than I did 15 or even 20 years ago, aside from a few extra aches and pains in the knees and ankles. I'm sort of looking forward to being 50, though that's still a ways off.

Just starting my first listen, but I like what I've heard so far.

The National - High Violet

This ^

They won! Obama will deliver their commencement address in June.

That Any Trouble album is fantastic. If you like "Second Choice," you'll like the whole thing, most likely. That band is what Clive Gregson was doing before he met Christine Collister.

His second album is great too, though perhaps not quite as great. That album by The Semantics is one of my all-time favorites.

link another link Musician Will Owsley dies: updated Published by Peter Cooper on May 1, 2010 in News. Will Owsley, the Middle Tennessee-based singer, songwriter, engineer and guitarist known professionally as Owsley, died April 30 of an apparent suicide. Mr. Owsley was Amy Grant's touring guitarist for 16 years, and his own music veered into edgier, power-pop terrains. He was nominated for a Grammy award for his engineering work on 1999 solo debut album Owsley, released through Giant Records. He teamed with Millard Powers and Zak Starkey in early 1990s pop band The Semantics, a