"You're gonna need a bigger blog."

Rejoice! It's Shark Week!

I know what I'm going to be for Halloween

Yet another reason why I wish it was autumn.

"It stinks."

With Roger Ebert still recovering from surgery, "Ebert & Roeper" will be turning to guest hosts to temporarily fill the guy's seat. First up is Jay Leno, then Kevin Smith (!) will take a turn. Show producers, I implore you, give Jon Lovitz a call.

Check out a video from the good ol' days, when Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel talk smack to each other. And then watch them make Protestant jokes.

"I will eat your babies, bitch!"

Tonight is "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" night. Two episodes, one new ("The Gang Exploits a Miracle") and one old ("Charlie Gets Cancer"). Someone on a message board that I frequent described the show as "Seinfeld" with four Georges. Yeah, that's about right. Discuss.

Way to go, Floyd

Congratulations to Floyd Landis for winning the 103rd Tour de France.

Pissing off the cheese-eating surrender monkeys by having an American win it for the eighth straight time is just icing on the cake.

d'ohPod

My sweet new iPod case, which compliments all of my B-Sharps music perfectly.

Quick movie reviews: "Clerks II", etc.

Our clerks are all growns up.

Clerks II: My expectations were low after the craptacular Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (I've said it before: those two characters cannot carry a whole movie). I'm glad to say that it was actually pretty damn funny - which is all I ask from a Kevin Smith movie. Dante and Randal's back-and-forth is classic KS. New slacker Elias is a fun sparring partner for Randal. And Rosario Dawson? That bouncing - er, dancing scene was niiiiiice. Overall, the sequel isn't as great as the original, but it definitely is worth full price.

Mission Impossible III: I actually liked this one quite a bit. LOTS of action, different locales, 'splosions, Xenu. Philip Seymour Hoffman makes a great heavy (dumb joke, I know) and my biggest complaint with the film is that he wasn't in it enough.

Poseidon: Let's see, a good thing to say about this very average movie: she is really cute.

For the DVD geeks...

Michael J. Nelson, head writer and Joel replacement on "Mystery Science Theater 3000", is now recording audio commentary downloads and selling them for $1.99 a pop at RiffTrax. I have the Reefer Madness DVD that he did a commentary for and it's pretty funny. Anyway, the first download offered is for the classic Road House. It kind of makes me want to pick up that movie's special edition DVD that came out this week. I was on the fence since it is a shitty movie, but it has a Kevin Smith commentary. And now this. Hmmmmmm...

Speaking of Silent Bob, he's a genius when it comes to marketing to the fanboys. Word has it that he's already recorded a commentary for Clerks II and will offer it as a free iTunes download after the movie's first week of release. And that's how you get repeat business from the geeks (the ones with iPods, at least).

I'll be seeing Clerks II tonight. Honestly, my expectations aren't too high, given how bad Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back was. And, although I love Kevin Smith, I HATE Kevin Smith fanboys (witness the idiots asking questions on the Evening with Kevin Smith DVD). So, I'll have to put up with a gaggle of them. Hopefully, the movie will be worth it.

"This is classic Tammy."

Another Thursday and another new episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (tonight: "The Gang Gives Back"). Discuss.

(I tried to get the free ringtone from the official site, but apparently my phone is too old. Shucks.)

Crush of the Week: Susanna Hoffs

This week's Crush is musician/Bangle Susanna Hoffs. I've long had a thing for her. Amazingly, she looks even better now than she did in the '80s. Of course, those fashions flattered no one back then, so...


A hazy shade of hot.

I'm only a few tracks into her collaboration with Matthew Sweet - a bunch of covers of '60s songs - and it's a really fun record. Nothing groundbreaking, but I like it a lot.

Best of 2006...thus far: music

New stuff:
1. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
2. Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways
3. Katie Melua - Piece by Piece
4. Tilly and the Wall - Bottoms of Barrels
5. Mates of State - Bring It Back
6. Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
7. Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
8. Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope
9. Cat Power - The Greatest
10. Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll
11. Jack Johnson and Friends - Curious George soundtrack
12. The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers

To be evaluated:
Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs - Under the Covers Vol. 1
Bird York - Wicked Little High

Reissues 'n stuff:
1. Say Anything - ...Is a Real Boy/...Was a Real Boy
2. Elvis Costello - My Flame Burns Blue

To be evaluated:
Johnny Cash - Personal File

Rediscoveries:
Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, U2

Lots of great music put out so far and that Jenny Lewis album is just amazing. Cash's disc packs an emotional wallop, but I think I have to be in a mood for it. Curiously, there's no hip-hop on the list (yet). Now, if this was 1996...

Der Purr-er

Not much I can add about this one: cats that look like Hitler

"Look at my cool Jesus chain."

Oh, baby you...you got what I need.

A shot from the Philly block party, in which THSE and I recreate a favorite scene from "IASIP". I wish I had a stoop.


Thar he blows.

Lordy Lordy, Shamrock is...30. What a damn fine cake KPMD is holding.


It's dog.

Moe!


At least it didn't come to this.

On Sunday we took a whirlwind trip to Atlantic City - where the boardwalk is paved with hocked gold. I didn't have high hopes for AC, but the Borgata wasn't bad. The talent serving drinks was nice. And I only lost $25. But it ain't no Vegas.

Okay, we got back really late and I went to work after getting just 3 hours of sleep, so it's time to wrap this up.

It's always sunny in Filthydelphia

Find the used sanitary napkin in this picture

Greetings from the City of Brotherly Love*. I'm up here celebrating MW off-topic commenter Shamrock's Big 3-0. It's actually a MW mini-convention of sorts, as KPMD, THSE, spydrz, and herodotus are all a part of the fun. Like wading through streetfuls of trash (see above).

No sign of Charlie, Mac, Dennis, and Sweet Dee...yet.

*Where a member of our party witnessed a beatdown last night.

Best of 2006...thus far: video games

1. Katamari Damacy
2. We Love Katamari
3. From Russia With Love
4. Rugby 06
5. Destroy All Humans!

As it is with books, rarely do I buy video games around their release dates. It's just so much cheaper to wait (and also like books, I have a huge stack of infrequently-played games). Anyway, this year the King of All Cosmos made me his bitch.

Requiem for a crazy diamond

R.I.P. Syd Barrett, 1946-2006.



Wish you were here.

Best of 2006...thus far: books

1. Thank You For Smoking by Christopher Buckley
2. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
3. The Shroud of the Thwacker by Chris Elliott
4. Term Limits by Vince Flynn
5. Politicians, Partisans, and Parasites: My Adventures in Cable News by Tucker Carlson
6. Vertical Run by Joseph Garber

True, none of the above were published this year, but that is because: a) I am a slow reader and b) my reading pile is perpetually a couple of feet high. Don't worry - Smoking won't sweep my awards since I haven't heard the soundtrack and there wasn't a video game based on it.

Best of 2006...thus far: movies

1. Thank You For Smoking
2. United 93
3. X-Men: The Last Stand
4. The Second Chance
5. Underworld: Evolution
6. Night Watch
7. The Break-Up
8. V For Vendetta
9. Running Scared
10. Grandma's Boy

I'm sure you couldn't guess what my #1 would be. There's still plenty of movies past (Cars, Superman Returns) and future (that Will Ferrell movie) that I want to see, but this is how I rank the ones I have seen this year.

"Yup, we've got uniforms and everything. It's really great."

"Kennedy! Kennedy! Kennedy!" The next time you're in vacationer's paradise Petersburg, VA and want some cheap ($4!), all-American entertainment, I highly suggest taking in a Generals game. The fam (and Spydrz) took in one this past weekend and it was a lot of fun. There were even fireworks after the game.



Take it in, folks: the only time you'll ever see a scoreboard sponsored by the journalism powerhouse that is the Progress-Index. Basically, it's the Tri-Cities answer to the Springfield Shopper.

Another "Sunny" plug

I finally found the above screen cap, which I've been searching for since last season. This and tons more can be found at Charlie's site.

Anyway, as MW commenter The Dubin can atest, last night's episodes - "Dennis and Dee Go On Welfare" and "Mac Bangs Dennis' Mom" - were sheer brilliance. No other sitcom* would have the balls to have two of its main characters try (and become hooked on) crack. And Charlie's devious plan in the latter episode cracked me up.

Catch them again - or more likely for the first time - tonight at midnight or Sunday at 10 pm on F/X.

*Non-animated, that is.