Friday Buzzkills is one of my favourite articles, so I'm looking forward to having it back on the reg.

I disagree about The Sopranos pilot; I rewatched it not too long ago and thought it was terrible- definitely the worst episode, IMO. It's cartoony and awkward, and none of the actors seem to have their roles nailed down. Watching it again feels like a cheap Fox knockoff of what the show would become.

Re-reading your initial comment, I can see that I may have overreacted, although I think it sounds exaggerated that you've never met a Canadian who would want to move to the US. My comment about it being a big world was condescending, and I apologize. I meant it as sarcasm more than in any literal way, but I'm sorry…

Border & Fidel-

I don't mean to break up the theological conversations, but…
that is a terrible book cover.

Libertroll Douchebag- It doesn't sound like he was trying to disprove anything. It sounds like he was giving an opinion.

Some other writers that I would check out after Thompson; guys who are in the same vein: David Goodis and Charles Willeford.

I was really surprised by this, seeing as Thompson is EXACTLY where I'd start. I might be overstating this, and I'm sure this explains a lot about me, but Jim Thompson is maybe my favourite writer.

The shit thing about Two Gallants is that "Las Cruces Jail" is so spectacularly awesome, and none of their other songs remotely live up to it. They have some good songs, for real, but nothing that even threatens to touch the timelessness of that song.

Yeah, Basement Tapes is definitely the vibe for me. The loose, lo-fi, melodic feel of those recordings. They really are a great band. I would suggest their eponymous record from last year, which despite a few maudlin patches, is one of the best albums I've heard recently. "Love Me Tenderly" was probably my…

I agree with you Porpoise, but I think the term "hipster" is really just shorthand for people who are at a remove, who use irony/hipness as their base state. It's not very instructive, and the accusations that are tossed around come off as defensive and juvenile, but as soon as I hear that term, I immediately know…

@ Ricin

Nope, not a libertarian. Nope, not a fan of Atlas Shrugged. I just think that we could be doing a lot better.

The thing is, Hudroslo, is that we don't base our national identity on it. The reason it always comes up is that one or two people bring it up. One or two people do not speak for the population of an entire country, if you can believe that. In fact, most people I know think the Canadian health care system is…

Yeah, I guess.

Ghomeshi has always seemed like a nice, down-to-earth guy to me. >play was a wicked show, either way.

I hear Fox are doing a "To Catch a Predator" type show, only in the Fox version, the interview takes place after the guy and the teenager "just talk about this and that".

English - have you ever listened to The Louvin Brothers? They're about as far away from preachy gospel as you can get. 'The Christian Life' is one of their few songs where Christianity is looked at without the spectre of fear or negativity hanging over it.

I wasn't afraid of getting searched, seeing as living in the town I did, getting stopped by the police was a pretty standard procedure for anyone under 25. What happened was we got in the car, and I put it in the glove box absentmindedly, when my buddy in the backseat asked me what the first thing a cop is going to…

Never!