Can someone explain how Black Keys are still billed as a two-piece band? Whenever I've watched a video of a performance, I've never seen less than like five mu'fuckers on stage.

It appears nobody has said this yet, and it astounds me. I mentioned to my friend recently that I thought the first two songs off The Hold Steady's Boys and Girls in America — "Stuck Between Stations" and "Chips Ahoy" — were one of the best opening sets in my memory. So, yeah, those two.

In 1995, I borrowed that first tape from my mom for a 10-hour road trip to visit my girlfriend, who was attending college in northern New York. Soon after embarking on my journey, the tape got stuck in my car's tape player. If there were a tape engaged, it would play, there was no option to listen to the radio — so it…

"I'm gonna go get drunk now. Hey lady." Spinner's delivery killed a couple of times. I love this movie.

Flame throwers were the height of ethical warfare. Or battle axes were. I'd rather instantaneously become a silhouette than be beaten to death with a club or feel that white-hot burn of the sticky, sticky napalm.

No Uncle Traveling Matt, though. He must be dead by now.

A high school friend moved out to LA and works in CGI. His company worked on a war movie for HBO, placing explosions and fire in WWII-era Pacific campaigns. His next project was removing wrinkles and blemishes from Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts in a movie in which they starred together.