cryptique

Hell, I live in Ann Arbor, and I'm not sure Michigan Stadium would make my top ten. Of the places I've been to, The Swamp (Florida) is #1.

Yeah, if Leno accepts the 11:35 slot, either with Conan being moved back to 12:05, or with Conan walking, Leno and NBC are dead to me. Seriously, if the guy has any integrity whatsoever, he'll just retire. If he lets Conan get screwed like this, he's an eternal douchebag, and I will never watch him again.

EVERYBODY!

The tour's happening. Just as an experiment, I ran searches a few minutes ago for blocks of eight tickets for the Toronto show. No problem getting that many seats together in either the lower or upper levels. (The floor, which is general admission, appears to be sold out.) Certainly not the instant sellout that it would have been fifteen or twenty years ago. And tickets have been on sale since October.

They have lakes in Minnesota?

I can't honestly say that I wanted Charlie Weis to be the new Bears offensive coordinator, but I have this sinking feeling that by this time next year, we Bears fans will be wishing he had been.

I don't listen to GBV all that often, but every time I do, I wonder why I don't listen to them all the time.

I like to think so.

You are wrong. This is not a matter of opinion. You are desperately willing something to be true that simply isn't. And now you're insulting me. All I ever did was say you're wrong, which is a perfectly civilized thing to do. I may have been terse, but I have not insulted you, questioned your intelligence, etc. -- I've merely stated that you are incorrect. You're the one who decided to take that extra step into nastiness, so, have fun with that. And you're still wrong. I am not expressing my "opinion." I am stating fact. If you don't like facts, I don't really know what else to say.

I have to confess that I'm rarely awake to watch any of these guys anymore, but I'm a fan of Conan and I think that he deserves the 11:35 slot in a way that Leno never really did. I've seen his new show enough to know what you're getting at -- something seems to be missing -- but it's still better than Leno's Tonight Show ever was. We all knew he'd have to water it down a bit when he moved from 12:35, so we can't act surprised now that it actually happened. Leno turns 60 this year and has a bazillion dollars. So, seriously, give it up. Enjoy your retirement, or if you don't want to retire, g

I love you like a brother.

The only graceful thing for Jay to do at this point is retire. If he accepts the half-hour 11:35 slot, he's a punk-ass bitch, and Conan O'Brien should kick his unfunny ass up and down the Pacific Coast Highway. It's not like he needs the money. Retire, Jay. Hole up in your garage and indulge your true passion.

The actual definition to which you refer contains the phrase "marked by abundant inventiveness or productivity ." The issue here is the word "inventiveness," which you are interpreting as a qualitative measure. Rather, in this context it is still a measure of quantity: the invention of many things. Similarly, "creativity" is usually assumed to denote a measure of quality, but in this context it means the creation of many things. Before you accuse me of twisting the definitions of these words to suit my purpose, try this aggregated collection of dictionary definitions for "prolific" and see i

Close enough. I'm a professional writer and editor.

And you would be wrong.

But in this case, the subjective element that's being injected has absolutely nothing to support it, aside from what a few people state to be their "interpretations." It's as if I decided that I wanted to interpret the word "blue" to mean "orange." I can say that blue=orange all I want, but that doesn't make it true.

Don't confuse "prolific" with "efficient." "Prolific" has nothing to do with quality. It's only about abundance. It doesn't matter how you interpret the meaning of the word ... that interpretation is incorrect. The most prolific artist of the decade was the artist who put out the most music. End of story. Now, whether you choose to measure that output by number of songs, total playing time, number of albums, number of official releases, or whatever -- I suppose that's open to argument. You could also quibble over whether unreleased or live material should be included. But the bottom line

In what? Yahtzee?

Barack?

Jules' name is Conor?

Yup. I always hated that guy, but if he'd wound up in Chicago I know I'd have loved him.

I haven't heard anything, but my guess would be Expos. He'd only be the second player in the Hall with an Expos cap. Gold star if you can guess the first without looking it up.

"I know Minnie Minoso. Minnie Minoso is a friend of mine. Mr. McGwire, you're no Minnie Minoso."

I'd been hearing for a while that this new series was in the works and that it was set in New Orleans, but knew very little else about it until reading this article. Holy shit, now I'm excited! The Bunk is back! (Kind of.) And Lester! CULTURAL CONVERSATION * JANUARY 7, 2010 Now New Orleans Is His Focus By LARRY BLUMENFELD New Orleans and New York On a late-November Tuesday night in New Orleans, bodies rubbed up against one another at Bullet's Sports Bar as Kermit Ruffins coaxed high notes from his trumpet. The music was infectious, the regulars who packed the neighborhood joint for