That is true, but it reminds me of the old Calvin and Hobbes question. "What if nothing we does matters?" "Or what if everything we does matters? Which would be worse?"

… and OK Castro, I'll grant you that her video was only the SECOND best of all time, after, of course, this immortal opus.

Haha my overall point is that his evaluation of relative talent/deservedness of a pointless award was factually correct, albeit undeniably douchey. But whose doucheyness is more entertaining/rewarding, I ask you?

In Defense of 'Ye
OK, so Kanye's clearly and narcissistic "celebrity" in the worst sense of that word, but let me say two things in his defense.

Haha, I was in the same boat as you BNB, I heard them open for the Pixies and was not impressed, gave up on them for four years until I heard them play a free show in Central Park, maybe it was the fact that there was noticeably less screaming, maybe it was the fact that they now had a horn section (which I'm a sucker…

Well then I retract my position for you, sir. Clearly after the cubpocalypse we will need people like you - those self-aware enough of their own sins to let them never happen again.

Yeah Ravenpen, I hear you. I have to admit, I picked a bad time to start reading DFW, which is immediately after ending a long-term relationship… in January in Chicago. After reading about his life, I spiraled deeper into a classically cliched post-breakup depression based on the idea that if someone just like me only…

Can I just cut in here and say that 312 is the cubs of Chicago beer? OK, maybe that's unfair to 312, but seriously, it was coors light with a Chicago label that was sold to idiots who financed Goose Islands better beers, which is to say all of them.

I agree, it wasn't a total triumph, but it was interesting to explore. Also, this interview seems to confirm that the music was written more by Kathy on bass for Personal Life rather than Hutch on guitar, which makes sense as to why the album sounds the way it does.

In Praise of Non-Classic Albums.
I have to agree that this isn't the Thermals greatest album, but I'm ok with that. After a band puts out four records, I'm ok with them going down some musical rabbit holes and seeing how different formula's work. I mean, Sky Blue Sky was by no means Wilco's greatest record, but it's…

The best musical love letter to the suburbs has to be…
… Utopia Parkway by Fountains of Wayne. It captures to joys, frustrations, ennui and dreams both realized and not that make up suburban recommendation. Plus Denise rocks.

So We're Burying The Lead Here
The biggest cameo in this video, just as it was in the "Colleen" video from Living With The Living, is Ted's wife and former Secret Stars member Jodi Buonanno! She's had a rough few years but is a sweet musician, awesome person and a walking dance party, good show!

I've seen him 14 times live and it was worth every penny. Everyone needs to go buy every Ted Leo record or something to convince him never to leave us.

Fair enough.

I second that. Any movie that begins and ends with mid-period Replacements and has Martin Starr in a Solidarnosc shirt is golden with me.

David Foster Wallace
Specifically his essays. Reading Consider the Lobster and A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again was like listening to a much smarter version of myself talk about things that I'd always believed but had never been able to articulate. The fact that he couldn't make it casts serious doubt on the…

Well I will say this. I laughed at this thread because, I created with the idea of provoking precisely the type of discussion that has (mostly) occurred. It's funny (or not) because I see what a bad light my off the cuff response cast my own point in.

Haha, I knew this would get people angry.

Does It Make Me A Bad Catholic
If I get just a little smug when gratingly assholish atheists have something like this happen? I mean, love and health to everyone, but you were sorta asking for it, dude.

Indeed and I think the Reno movie proved why tv is its best vehicle.