That dog has a puffy tail!

Phil had a talent for writing very dark material, especially in the early 80's. There was a playfulness there to be sure but his best songs were as oppressive and full of dread as any pop songs of the period. "In the Air Tonight" is the one everyone points to, but take a look at the entire DUKE album. Yes it was…

"Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away" is the best Billy Joel song ever. I mean that as a complement. That's some serious piano balladry going on there.

Sooo, what Ray's saying is that Parks and Recreation is a critically acclaimed TV show hoping to get a large audience. I think.

I'm going with the Globetrotters
Only, though, for their amazing play on the water slide during their season. Right now nobody stands out even though I know all the teams.

Can we all spare some praise for Chevy Chase?
Pierce was almost impossible to play this year, other than each episode giving him a brief, too brief bit of humanity. They put Pierce in a very dark place, and Chase has had a remarkably complex arc. He gets stuck in a wheelchair, then almost forgotten in a doorway in…

Juggalo Island
That would be a killer of a reality show. Come on… you know you'd watch.

Miscast or just directed that way?
A great supporting cast all do well in their roles. Richard Schiff, Keith David, Vinnie Jones, Summer Glau, and of course Martin Klebba, the only little person I'd trust with the role. Yet the hero is played by such a stiff. That seems to be a conscious choice, and the standard…

First, that was one of the best articles on this site in quite a while.

Bjork Speed Now!
I so want to hear Picard say "Bjork factor one. Make it so."

He seemed angry at the end of that.
I mean if he walked up to me and said that in that way on the subway I'd get off at the next stop and never stop running.

Can you tell me how the show is "apolitical?"
It features her discussing reporters doing hit-pieces. It has her researching her next political book. She talks about "mama grizzlys" which is her political catch phrase for everything she or any other woman on the right does to protect America from the left wing. She…

Barbara
Barbara was always present in the show for me as someone who exemplifies that everyone in the series has a choice. They are all smart and skilled enough to be able to do things on the up and up but simply choose not to. The fact that Barbra was still afraid of her spoke the world to me in this episode.

It's all in the delivery
The Young@Heart version of "Fix You" works because there is feeling behind the lyrics. The greatest singers always felt something even when singing the most bland lyrics - Sinatra, Lou Reed, Tom Waits. Diamond Dave felt invested in partying like it was the only thing that mattered. That…

El Santo, that's the magic of practical effects. Everything has a weight and realism that's not found in the digital age. You don't have to suspend disbelief because the living breathing Kermit the Frog has always been a puppet, and he really is riding that machine.

Age of Innocence
I absolutely love the movie. I recall Scorsese said that he approached it as a film not that far away from some of his mob films. In this one, the actual society was the mob. When looked at that way it's a stunner of words left unsaid.

Ben Stiller
Is it me or does the guy in the long hair and headband seem like a Ben Stiller character?

Kinda happy with it so far
I think they have two shows in one skin, and both of them are just about right. The first is it's calling card, a throwback to the "Eight is Enough" style show where the family dramas were full of issues with parent's work schedules, prom dates, and making the team. The second is a laid…

Rip Taylor
Lets spend a moment to contemplate Rip Taylor a little. I find the man a bit of a marvel. He's a funny old fashioned prop comic who, like Carson, made gold with bad jokes and could be funny while the material bombs. He is blue but made his name first on kid's TV shows before moving to daytime game shows…

Joshua Judges Ruth
I'm sad that you could not find room for his greatest work. Some people call it a bleak break-up album but it's much more than that. The middle cycle of songs - Since the Last Time, Baltimore, and Family Reserve - well I'll put that up against any three songs in a row on any album. As a…