cryptique

I was wrong, it's more like a mile to the Fullerton el.

I can't answer #1, but given where it is, I'd say yes, it's probably decent. As for #2, the Fullerton stop is about half a mile (maybe a bit more) straight west. It's not a bad place to walk at night. You're walking between a swank neighborhood and a fairly swank university area. Bear in mind that your questions have just been answered by someone who hasn't lived in Chicago since 1992.

So, what, they think they can hit up their subscribers indefinitely? This kind of appeal, if it works at all, tends to work only once. Perhaps they'll raise enough money to put out a few more issues, but then what? I doubt they could go back to that same well again. Of course, they're hoping the recession ends soon and advertising dollars magically return. Good luck with that.

Not really. A month and a half? Back when I was much more interested in tracking down leaks, I pretty often got hold of albums as much as three or four months before their release dates.

This wasn't really "early."

I'm a major Sly & The Family Stone fan, but I've never had much use for "Dance To The Music." "Wilco (The Song)" isn't my favorite, but I think it's quite successful at doing what it sets out to do.

One area where we have had restraint: I have yet to see anyone refer to the new record as Wilco (Teh Album). edit: D'oh!

1:19 into "Everlasting Everything" he drops a hell of a clanger.

It's subtle enough that I wouldn't be surprised if they missed it.

Go Ducks! Southeast Michigan is a much less obnoxious place after the Red Wings bite it in the playoffs. It's been insufferable since last year. Please, Anaheim, restore calm to this region.

I'm not sure I'd have ever noticed it ... until Conrad pointed it out. Thanks a pantload, Conrad!

My "MP3 rip" comment was wishful thinking, then. I didn't know it was also on the stream. Maybe someone in the band is reading this and they'll do a quick fix before Nonesuch starts pressing a bajillion CDs...

^ I did the same thing. I figured it was better than "in memory of" Wilco. Also, I want that organization to know why they're getting this awesome spike in donations.

I think this is an artifact of the MP3 rip. It (hopefully) won't be there on the CD/vinyl.

So, which song from the new album will be featured in the upcoming Apple commercial?

I donated!

Seriously, I don't know if there's ever been anyone hotter than mid-'60s Diana Rigg.

The pitch was caught, but the catcher was way too nonchalant in tossing it (slowly) back to the mound. Plus there was a right-handed batter in the box partially obscuring the catcher's view of the runner on third. As I recall, Werth took off as the catcher was in the middle of the act of tossing the ball back to the mound. The play at the plate wasn't even all that close.

On Baseball Tonight, yeah. The steal of home was perfect.

Yup. Sounds deliberate to me.

RARs are archive files like ZIPs. You need something to extract the MP3s from it. I use TUGZip, but there are plenty of others out there.

It's live now ... and it says "Wilco (The Stream)" on the index page.

Big-time vibes! May the biopsy come back fine, and may the issue be very minor and easily addressed!

On my third listen ... sounds good so far, but I'm withholding my full opinion for a later time. I'm not thoroughly convinced yet by "Country Disappeared," "Solitaire," and "I'll Fight," and I'm not sure I hear as much greatness in "Sonny Feeling" as many of you do (though I definitely hear some). The first half of the record is rock-solid in my book, but I still need to work through my feelings about the rest of it.

It's OK, these kinds of pledges don't really work that well anyway.