I wasn't a huge fan of the rapper subplot, and I'm not sure what it was trying to do either other than comic relief.  Also wasn't a huge fan of the kayaking kid getting in over his head in the sanitation business.

i think my favourite throwaway line in this episode comes from Christopher, and I'm paraphrasing here:

i sort of remember the second AD album as being pretty bad though.  In fact, I sort of remember the first AD album as being pretty whack except for the singles.

shit… it didn't stop Bob Marley… and he had like 30 kids or something.  Of course it's different for the mothers…. so you're probably right.

Eminem also helped to popularize the urban legend about Phil Collins writing "In The Air Tonight' after seeing some dude drown or whatever.

the problem is that they don't have a big enough lens.

I feel like all those NES sequels, Zelda 2, SMB 2, and Castlevania II were disappointments to a lot of people, but I also think they were largely misunderstood, and still decent games if you don't try to compate them too much to the originals.

yeah I remember Metal Gear for NES also having some pretty laughably bad translations… I feel asleep.

I really liked Castlevania II as a kid, I thought it was much better than the first one.  Crappy translations are pretty much par for the course on NES games.  I was really surprised to see Angry Video Game Nerd trashing it, and now here.

you should definitely check out a tune called "When The Word Was Thunderbird" by Billy Joe Shaver.

the conclusion here is that FCC guidelines are completely random and arbitrary.

the last 3 episodes of 6B are in my opinion three of the strongest episodes in the show's run.. but I do agree with you that the plot there could have been fleshed out a lot more, and it is a bit compacted.  I definitely would have rather seen a bit more Phil/Butchie and a bit less Vito/Morgan Spurlock.

yeah I think the stuff with Paulie in this episode was largely audience service in order to give them some action and comedy relief after the slower, more contemplative tone of the last episode.

or it could just be foreshadowing.  i swear i've had dreams about stuff happening before it actually happens.

well this may be kind of obvious but there's the "Smoke On The Water" callback to his panic attack.

that's a really interesting interpretation, and it would seem to clarify the debate last week about the show's spirituality vs. (spoiler I guess) the final episode's implication that death is a big, black nothing.

that is a great scene.  It's very similar thematically to the dream from season 4 with that creepy old house and the lady on the stairs… love both of those scenes.  The "Poltergeist" effect on L'il Meadow's voice is just perfect.

which also helps explain why "The Ride" is the strongest episode in 6B, especially out of the back half.

fuck that.  Jamaica is awesome but you probably wouldn't know that if you're holed up in an all-inclusive resort the whole time.

disparaging Indonesia… that's a caning.
correcting a British TV host… that's a caning.
Not knowing shit about geography… you best believe that's a caning.