Fantastic piece. A great example of how pop culture writing can be not just entertaining, but socially significant.

I really enjoyed this article, having come from a similar background at the same time.

Great work here - best Random Roles I can remember. This guy is an actors' actor. I am kind of in awe of him.

So…
What does a game have to do to get an 'A' around here?

I'm a huge Interpol fan who thinks they have steadily declined, but the fact that their debut is probably my favorite album of the decade keeps them in high esteem for me.

@ Mad Will - Yes! His delivery of "Malgorium" stands alone. Kills me every time.

I third this sentiment. I'm not familiar with this whole list, but for me, nothing came close to Earthly Delights this year. Surely there was room for it.

I saw them when I was in high school and they covered Seals and Crofts' "Summer Breeze." It was pretty great, actually.

I feel about the same, jmar. I saw it once and laughed my ass off but I haven't even wanted to check to see if it holds up. Also, while insular moments were funny to me, I can't argue with Tobias' treatment of it as a whole.

OK, so I just checked wikipedia, and apparently there were 2 comedy channels at first - the Comedy Channel and Ha! - and they merged into one channel - CTV, which then changed its name to Comedy Central.

Was Comedy Central originally called Ha!? I feel like I remember TV promos circa 1991 for Ha! "the new TV comedy network," but I can't prove this.

Dollarhyde, you nailed this one.

Tarantino is terribly, terribly annoying, but I find that I often like people that most everyone else hates, so I might hit it off with him.

I really like these guys. They're really likable.

Art Star… the first time I heard that wailed, a whole new world of ass-kickery opened up for me.

Spot-on discussion of New Order. Along these same lines - the unexpected left turns that things take in their songs - take the song 1963:

I didn't know there was a Radiohead cover. The thought of almost any other band covering this song triggers my gag reflex, but Radiohead… I'll check it out.

Holy fuck, I have been telling people for years that Ceremony is my favorite song. This is amazing - I have never met anyone who understands why. One crucial difference, though: while the New Order version is more suited for everyday listening, it's the Joy Division version that really takes my cake. You know, the…

Anderson and Martin are not even close. See, Demetri Martin tells jokes. He's very forthright about that. His album is even called "These are Jokes." Wes Anderson's films, in spite of being frequently funny, contain no jokes.

I can't believe all the hate for Martin on this thread. This guy is hilarious. He's not a prop comic - or if he is, he's a damn good one - because his CDs are really funny without you having to see what he's doing.