If I had written this movie …
The guy would arrange for himself to be cremated and have his ashes placed in a large hourglass, which would be used to establish the time limit for each task laid out for her in the letters, or else something horrible — like out of the "Saw" movies — happens to her. If you want to…

This really has nothing to do with anything, but I like to refer to him as High Colonic, Jr. Carry on.

"Once" and "Atonement"
I plan on watching "Once" (with my sucker-for-this-kind-of-thing Irish wife) this weekend, but I'm a bit surprised by its unanimous praise here. I frequently find Glen Hansard's music too facile and wallowingly self-conscious about its "earnestness," and I expect more of that humorless,…

My Band Names
When I was younger, I had a band named Persistent Itch. It was not a successful enterprise.

Should have asked for "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" instead
You know, the books I pick out for others for Christmas and Hanukkah gifts are always better than the ones I put on my own gift list (this is one on my list). Disappointed that this "Jews with swords" adventure isn't as good as I'd hoped, but I suspect…

Excellent
I also can't wait to read his upcoming, 700-page "Grocery Lists and Stuff I Wrote On Bar Napkins," but I'm waiting for the contractor to finish the John Updike-Joyce Carol Oates book-depot addition on my house.

"spelling out" is what I meant

That pie-heaven line is one of my all-time favorites too. And just thinking about that scene makes me hungry for some heated-up huckleberry pie nestled next to two scoops of vanilla ice cream. Damn.

Sound Design
It's been noted that an essential component of the show's tone is Angelo Badalamenti's score, which helps most of the series' emotional power percolate to the surface, as well as creating a sense of ill-omened tension when not much is happening on-screen.

I'm not going to make some sort of nitpicking inventory, but this week's entry is in need of some proofreading. Nothing that detracts from its usual excellence, just minor stuff.

Jodie Foster and I have been engaged for nearly two years. We just began planning our June wedding, but I suppose I need to call the whole thing off.

"word," I meant.

(Young Pa Ingalls:)

The source Rosen cites for the etymology described above is Philip Cowen, who, in addition to being the founder/first editor of American Hebrew, was appointed by Teddy Roosevelt to the position of Head Immigration Inspector on the Board of Special Inquiry at Ellis Island, evaluating Russian-Jewish immigrants. But…

It is so, according to Wikipedia, the foremost authority for lazy web-surfers wanting easy answers. Still, Ives gets more points in my book for being cool about the Stinky Wizzleteats thing in "Ren & Stimpy," apparently even contacting John K. and saying that he would have liked to have done the voiceover work for…

I will admit to a similar (I think) appreciation for Burl Ives Christmas songs, which, as a child, I had on multicolored 78s for my toy record player. Also, since I was a kid, I've always thought of that ol' Communist-naming sonofabitch Ives as my imaginary Uncle Burl, always good for a filthy joke or some weed.

In notes I've taken on religious studies, I've always used an "X" as an abbreviated way of denoting anything Christian. I think of it as a cross (a Saint Andrew's Cross, saltire, crux decussata, etc.), and I'm pretty sure a cross has something or another to do with Christianity.

"Hallelujah"
I think the best antidote to the countless terrible covers of "Hallelujah" is Cohen's own Darth-Vader-with-a-head-cold version, since he sort of sounds like God when he "sings" it.

Bug on Mrs. Carmody
I thought the bug-on-Carmody scene was simply an instance of her religious self-justification. It was just a stroke of luck that the insect didn't bite her — either it would or it wouldn't — but she happened to be praying at the time, so she was able to congratulate herself that her words and…

I guess I don't think about Ann Coulter enough to carry around any real, violent hatred for her. It's more of a knee-jerk reaction sort of thing, when I see her on television, usually accompanied by the muttered phrase "crazy fucking bitch."