Beltmann

Man, I loved that movie when I was a kid. I even read the novelization.

I'd order them a little differently, but it's really something--there aren't any clunkers on the list.

When I saw that Greenwald doc about Fox News, Outfoxed, I felt that it suffered from regrettable tunnel vision: While it accurately charged Fox with bastardizing "journalism" through hysterical, fear-mongering mutations of the news, which effectively shut down intelligent discourse, the film erred, I think, by dogmatically singling out Fox as the sole offender.

I liked that movie a lot. It doesn

First, although I agree with you that certain interpretations are more valid and better defended than others, there are a host of critical theories--historical criticism, formal criticism, mimetic criticism, intertextual criticism, audience-response criticism, poststructural criticism, cultural criticism, feminist criticism, etc.--and these various approaches often contradict one another, and some of them require the rejection of one "true" interpretation. But, for the sake of argument, as long as the work in question appears to represent the artist's pure artistic intentions, why shouldn't

I went with "Seeds," but this is a bit like voting on which Scorsese movie is the most gentle.

No, it doesn't have to, because in a culture where commerce and art have always commingled freely, it's perfectly rational to separate Wilco's business moves from its artistic moves. You are describing a slippery slope that has no end... if we accept your premise, then every connotation ever connected to any work of art must be absorbed into an interpretation whether we want to or not. It would be impossible to read, see, or listen to anything without ascribing significance to any associations it might have, no matter how minor or transient they may be. What matters here for me is that Jef

I'm willing to concede that the commercial might be a little lame... but you don't really believe it's meant to be taken literally on any level, do you? Suggesting that this commercial advocates violence of any kind isn't just egregious over-reaching; it's an utter misreading of the tone of the commercial. Occasionally commercials employ silly exaggeration for humorous effect, in order to make the situation more memorable for viewers. No, I'm not from Union Grove (I've never even been there). Are you from these parts?

Go Go Gadget Arm!

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: