Beltmann

If the criticism reads good, read it, and if you don't like it, don't read it. It's all just a matter of opinion.

Yikes. Glad to hear you, and everyone else, escaped unscathed. My wife has been involved in three car accidents in the last four years--none of them remotely her fault--and it's always an eye-opener: We are at the mercy of happenstance.

I think I might love you.

Most of the repeat vote-getters are all on my short list, too: Jesus, etc., Poor Places, Via Chicago, Misunderstood, Gun, ITTBYH. But right now, at this moment, I'm going with "Sunken Treasure."

I'm not big on offering recommendations--I know what I like, and why, but that doesn't mean anyone else will have the same response--but I thought you would dig that one. 'Course, I also thought you would like Carnival of Souls.

"Sparrow" is my wife's favorite track from the new album, so when I told her this ACL DVD was coming up, her first question was, "Is 'Maybe Sparrow' on it?" Since it was an older recording, I assumed no, but was pleased when it was listed!

The Departed felt a little bit like a Scorsese Greatest Hits collection, but it was still a terrific entertainment.

I don't know if this has been posted yet, but the Autumn Defense is scheduled to open for Jeff in Milwaukee.

So it's still totally worth it, then?

I was just about to PM you to ask if you made the cut. Bummer. I'm hoping to see it tomorrow, if time permits.

I still don't see where there's any bad news to this.

The listed 49 definitely contain a few titles that are much better known than Loose Fur, so you might be safe.

I'm on the main floor, but way back in row R.

I didn't like Mothman much, either, largely for the same reasons you mentioned.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Really? I looked around a little and didn't notice any VC'ers, at least none that I would have recognized. Where were you sitting?

Careers and parenthood definitely put a crimp in the concert-going, especially weeknights. But I still manage to catch a handful. Recent shows: Jenny Lewis (just got back), M. Ward Next up: Tweedy, Guster, MMJ

Oh my. Ladies, shut up and hold on to your nipples!

There were only two new shows that I was interested in checking out this fall: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Friday Night Lights. I'll be at Jenny Lewis tonight, but I'll DVR Lights. It sure looks promising.

That's how I feel about Jon Stewart--he's smart and funny, yes, but every line is delivered as if he thinks it's the wittiest damn thing ever uttered.

I'm with you, froggie.

My entire familiarity with Dane Cook derives from the two times he's hosted SNL. I don't know anything about the frat-boy baggage he carries, but I thought he was fairly sharp and likable the first time he hosted. This week, though, was the complete reverse: The monologue was mediocre at best (no rogue peanuts to save the day), and he added virtually nothing to the sketches.

I'm saddened to learn that your family is experiencing this very painful time. My thoughts and prayers are with you all. When my brother died last year, I took comfort in the enduring memories of him, the shoulders of loved ones, spiritual faith, and music (especially yours). I also found some degree of comfort in literature, which contains the wisdom of civilization, advice written across the centuries to us and those who come after us. Eric Thanatopsis by William Cullen Bryant To him who in the love of nature holds Communion with her visible forms, she speaks A various language;

True. On those same grounds, I teach several Lincoln pieces as significant American literature.

A sharp 14-year-old girl agrees to meet her chat room pal, an older man, but the story reverses our expectations: She drugs him, ties him up, and plans an awful torture regime to punish him for being a potential pedophile. (I know what you're thinking... does it involve castration? Why, yes, yes it does.) That makes it sound like a teen-movie version of Death and the Maiden or Takashi Miike's Audition, and it does contain a similar vein of sadism, but it also contains a surprising sense of humor: When the dude's family jewels go crunching down the garbage disposal, it's both cringe-worthy