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I was in the HD-DVD camp based purely on specs & cost, but last fall I started to suspect that Sony's Blu-Ray marketing push would tip the scales, and it looks like I was right. That plus the Playstation 3 that showed up under our Xmas tree this year have sealed the deal for me. The Consumer Electronics Show is buzzing with the Warner news.

Paulo Nuttini made an appearance on Austin City Limits within the last few weeks that I TiVo'ed and just got around to watching this weekend. He led off with "New Shoes", which was, as advertised above, extremely catchy -- it's been bouncing around in my head for the past few days. "Hey...I put some new shoes on, and suddenly everything's all right...hey...". The rest of the set, with one or two exceptions, was kind of down and more forgettable. My wife said she thought he sounded like Adam Sandler, and I can't say that I disagree.

31. Flat-out guessed on at least 3/4 of the questions.

Totally unscientific, but based on specs and cost, I'd have chosen HD-DVD, but based on buzz, it seems like Blu-Ray is gaining the edge. Or maybe Sony is just spending gobs of cash to make it seem that way. Either way, if the perception exists that a format is winning, then that format is likely to win.

John Ford westerns The Great Lakes Our National Park system Tina Fey Rural roads Grizzly bears Florida The Lincoln Memorial Yuengling Free wi-fi at Panera and Buffalo Wild Wings New York and Chicago-style pizza Chesapeake Bay Thomas Jefferson

My advice -- skip the shuttle bus, and walk up the trail from the parking area to the house. It only takes 10-15 minutes, but you see a lot more that way (incl. the cemetery where Jefferson is buried), and it's a good workout. The house interior itself is interesting, but not the most interesting part of the grounds -- make sure you check out the outbuildings and underground portions, the gardens, the beer cellar (!), and the servants' quarters.

You used the term NY mediaverse to describe national coverage?

You're aware of that other team in town I hope? The one that actually won the World Series within the last century?

Same here -- I went back and listened to OK Computer for the first time in about a year, and liked it more than I remembered. This happened to me with several Wilco albums, where new releases caused me to go back and appreciate the old ones more.

Isn't it kind of that way everywhere? I mean, in Chicago, it's Bears, Bears, Bears, Bears, Cubs, Cubs, Bulls, White Sox, Packers. Did the Red Sox do a back-to-back-to-back-to-back (4x) in a regular season game recently? Was that in 2006?

It's a sports urine story. Why do you hate America?

I agree this is wrong. Are there really only a half million people in all of Wyoming? Must be nice there.

How drunk do you have to be to wee on the bar?

I wasn't sure it could get any worse than Bush v. Kerry, but Hillary v. Obama v. Guiliani v. McCain v. all the rest is unbelievably bad. It's like pulling into town at 2 am when you're starving hungry, and the only thing open is the nastiest, dirtiest McDonalds ever. F. all of 'em, I'll probably vote for Ron Paul.

I downloaded "Rainbows" over the weekend and just got around to listening to it yesterday & this morning. I paid only $2 at download time because I'm not a big Radiohead fan and wasn't sure if I would like it, but after listening, I think it's pretty good -- in fact, I think I like it better than their other records -- and it's worth more than I paid, so I plan to go back and buy it again to kick in a few more $$.

Once upon a time I bet Tipper was hot. Anyone have a picture of her in younger days?

I love the stuffed (10 years living in Chicago does that) with sausage and spinach. There was a place in downtown Naperville called Leonardo's that did a good pie, but I heard they were closed now. These days it's basic regular crust, with or without pepperoni. The past couple of years I've been making my own pizza. The three essentials for this are the pizza stone, the big paddle, and King Arthur Bread Flour.

I wish ESPN would pick up some of the MLB postseason if only to allow us Erin Andrews doing her thing.

Her idea. We were young and penniless. Like I need to justify to you.

My wife got food poisoning on our honeymoon from eating in a Spaghetti Factory. It kind of put a damper on things.

Turn on the TV or open any newspaper -- you'll find about the same proportion of stories about steroids. Sports and steroids are inextricably linked.

Really, is a no-talent hack like Dane Cook the best spokesman baseball can come up with? And how much does it annoy you that he gets to bang Jessica Alba in that new movie? (I haven't seen it, just speculating.)

It sounds like something that would not be in my record collection.

my preferences: ST > YHF > BT > AM > AGIB > SBS

Seriously? I've never heard that excuse for headhunting given before. And it was Wang's no-hitter -- wasn't it the reliever throwing at him?