cryptique

Leno seems like a hell of nice guy, but I can't stand to watch him deliver jokes or interview people. He got a little better over the years, but I still find him annoying as a host. Bring on Conan. I won't be watching Leno's new 10 PM show.

To me, this is the standout track on the album. Awesome stuff ... though I do agree that the ending is a bit too abrupt. I'm currently formulating my answer to Jules' three-favorite-Wilco-songs thread and this is the only song from W(TA) that hasn't been cut yet.

He's a good reader of the news. And I have enjoyed his SNL and Conan appearances. That said, when I think of Brian Williams, I first think of this. (See also this.)

I'm afraid I'm still stuck on "merely OK." There are songs that I liked right away, others that have grown on me, but others that I liked a lot more when I first heard them than I do now. (What's the opposite of a "grower"?) I'm not sure what I wanted from this album, but I guess I'm not finding whatever it was in this set of songs. The first half is pretty solid, but I don't love "Bull Black Nova" anywhere near as much as a lot of you do. I find it lacking in melody, and aside from a few interesting chord changes, there's just not much there. "You Never Know" is a decent choice for a si

Just stating the obvious, but make sure they're "all ages" shows.

I don't really see how this makes them similar to DMB. Touring is how musicians make their living. The fact that both DMB and Wilco tour a lot just means they're both working bands who can draw crowds. That doesn't mean they're similar in any other respect. As for album making becoming secondary ... I can see some truth to that, but only subjectively. Many of us here haven't been blown away by recent Wilco albums, so it may only be natural to equate that perceived decline in album quality with a shift in priorities on the part of the band. That doesn't mean such a shift has actually happened

Happy Birthday!

If by "J-school" you mean jagoff school, then the answer is yes.

My girlfriend had never heard the album. I had it on in the car this evening, and when "I'll Fight" came on she immediately said "Is this the Cameron song?" I'm never going to be able to listen to that song again without thinking of Cameron Frye.

Just shows how different tastes can be. These two, along with "I'll Fight," constitute the part of the album that just doesn't do it for me.

That is correct. Nels was not with them in New Zealand. Not that it matters, really.

^ A+ for reading comprehension!

Bands barely make a dime off of CD sales. Touring is where the money is. In other news, my girlfriend follows a Twitter feed from the pro cycling tour, and just told me that Lance Armstrong tweeted the link to the album stream.

Did you really almost quit VC on your birthday? (Or rather, take a hiatus?)

I might, except I didn't feel like reading all those words up there.

That's one hell of an assumption. I don't buy it.

The stream didn't have it? Hmmm. I double-checked it on the leaked MP3s I have and it all sounds quite deliberate. I suppose we could be talking about different sounds. At almost exactly one minute left, there's a pause/fade in the music and the only sound is Glenn rapidly and quietly tapping a cymbal. Then, starting with about 15 seconds left, there's the sound of scratchy vinyl, which seems to fade with the last note of the song. QFT. I think it was Ryan Adams who put the final nail in its coffin, for me at least, on Whiskeytown's Pneumonia.

The thing with a minute left is Glenn messing with a cymbal. The stuff at the end is intentional, to make it sound like you're listening to vinyl. Wilco are far from the first band to do this.

100% agreement here.

It's fucking ridiculous. He barely touched him. Just another example of a millionaire crybaby athlete demanding to be coddled and treated like some kind of superior being. And Leyland should back the fuck off.

I'm going to put myself out there and say that you're wildly overanalyzing and dead wrong. Sorry.

Somewhat better episode tonight. I still don't know if I'll bother to watch next season. The 30 Rock episode was so much better.

Well, shit. Go Black Hawks!

This is an odd story. Don't home plate umpires put their hands on the catcher's back all the time? ESPN article Ump regrets putting hand on Ordonez MINNEAPOLIS -- Umpire Paul Schrieber has apologized for making contact with Detroit Tigers slugger Magglio Ordonez during a confrontation Wednesday night. In the seventh inning against the Minnesota Twins, Schrieber called Ordonez out on strikes. Ordonez argued that the pitch was low. As Schrieber spoke to him, the umpire placed his hand on Ordonez's back and steered him toward the dugout. Schrieber read a brief statement before the Tiger