Beltmann

Late period Welles, and his last great film.

Thing is, much of what you're calling "fact" is, in fact, merely your interpretation. Frankly, this country relies on that type of thing too much.

That was fun.

I understand that perhaps you cannot turn off the association, but please don't tell me that I can't. If there's any "fact" here for me, it's that I do not think of VW when I hear "Sky Blue Sky." And if there's another "fact" here for me, it's that the ad campaign hasn't changed a single damn thing about any of the songs. To my ears, they all still retain the same artistic meanings they had two months ago. In the same way Tweedy encourages listeners to choose their own relationships with his songs, I am perfectly capable of choosing not to have a significant relationship with the commerci

I just turned 33, which, as my mom is fond of saying, is "the same age Jesus was." I'm pretty sure she only points that out to remind me that, by comparison, I'm a massive disappointment.

And it's been half an hour and I still feel like throwing up. Talk about letting one slip away. It was the second straight quality start by Gallardo that was blown by the bullpen; he should be 3-0, not 1-0.

Yes.

Ditto.

Good to hear... especially since I really like their record. It's probably one of the 4-5 albums I've listened to the most over the last 6 months.

Thing is, it's not about "converting" anyone. It's about having an interest in a topic and enjoying the discussion about that topic. If people are still posting about it, then clearly there is still interest in the subject, which makes it fair game for continued debate, in my opinion. As long as things stay (relatively) on topic, let the topic run its natural course... like all threads, it will die a natural death when its time comes. It will eventually fade all on its own.

Just witnessed Paul Newman eat 50 eggs in less than an hour. Good stuff.

Fielder also leads the NL in RBIs (tied with Carlos Lee at 62), and leads the All-Star voting for 1B. Brewers completed a sweep of the 'Stros this afternoon, after a Damien Miller 3-run walkoff homer in the 11th. They are now 14 games over .500, and are 12-2 since the Verlander no-hitter. The Crew has Thursday off, and begin a weekend series against the Cubs (in Chicago) on Friday. Both teams are red hot, so it should be a fun series.

The Brewers scored 9 runs in the sixth inning tonight. They also have the best record in the NL.

I've been meaning to get to this... I was thinking about going tonight, but I'm going to see Paprika instead. (That's one of my most eagerly anticipated movies of the year. I think Kon Satoshi is one of the most important filmmakers working these days.) Just finished the Japanese version of Dark Water. Not bad, but--I'll probably lose my film badge for saying this--I much preferred the American remake.

Earlier today I was browsing through the June 29 issue of Entertainment Weekly, which had a list of "100 Stars We Love Right Now." Perched at #62 was Wilco, with one of the largest spreads--more than a full page--of anyone cited on the list. Included were some comments regarding how the Entertainment Weekly reviewer compared SBS to the Eagles:

I refused to buy The Search more than once just because I'm a Son Volt fan. This is very common now. It also drives me nuts. The fans who are already willing to shell out money for the CDs shouldn't be asked to buy doubles or triples of most songs just to complete the set. Essentially, that marketing tactic squeezes your fans, which is like punishing them for being your biggest supporters. I can certainly understand the desire to sell more CDs. But the tactics should be based on rewarding, not punishing, the CD shopper. SBS is a positive example, because those who purchased the CD were

A collection of five early avante-garde films by Kenneth Anger. Perhaps I wasn't in the right frame of mind, but only one--1950's Rabbit's Moon--really struck a chord with me. For the most part, I felt myself appreciating these short works more than actually enjoying them; unlike, say, Stan Brakhage, who I readily identify with, Anger strikes me as a great artist for other people.

I'm not totally sure what I think about this one; the tone is certainly unique, and I was completely engrossed by it.

Count me among the fans of Miseducation... I'm definitely interested in hearing this new track.

I'm looking forward to Ratatouille. I've already seen Lifted, the included short, when it screened as part of a collection of Oscar-nominated shorts. It was great Pixar... but it also felt like typical Pixar.

Thanks everyone! Much appreciated! Didn't do anything special today--just taught summer school, took the kiddo to the park, and am watching baseball right now. We celebrated last night by going to Miller Park to see Yovani Gallardo make his major-league debut (the kid looks like he might be very special indeed). It was also the first MLB game for my three-year-old daughter. We had terrific seats--just a few rows behind the Brewers dugout--and she had great fun cheering for all of her favorites: Hardy, Fielder, Hall. But she was even more thrilled by seeing the sausage race in person, an

I'm watching the Brewers game and just saw the "You Are My Face" VW ad. It's the first time I've actually seen one of these on TV. I found the experience rather disappointing--the earth did not shake and my sense of disillusionment was totally dwarfed by the awesome fact that Ben Sheets had just made Barry Bonds look like an amateur.

My wife likes Wilco but I wouldn't call her a fan, exactly. I remember taking her to a Wilco show (2003?) and during the ending distortion of "Poor Places" she leaned over and asked, "Is it supposed to sound like that?"

Let's throw Thomas Hardy into the mix. Any of his novels will do, but I'm partial to The Mayor of Casterbridge.