She is the literal best. And Mabel is my favorite TV show character ever.

Man, this was aimed right at me, too. I was a huge Alkaline Trio fan who slowly fell out of love with the band, but I keep buying their new albums out of some sort of obligation (though I rather liked This Addiction, while also knowing it's nowhere near as good as their early stuff).

Willie Dixon died in 1992. God, that was over 20 years ago.

My daughter prefers Elsa because she was a queen, and Anna was not. She likes authority figures, so long as she is that authority. Then again, her favorite character in the movie is Sven.

She does not recognize them as separate films. She asks for "WOODY!" or "JESSIE!" and I choose which of the three to put in based on how sick I am of each installment.

I haven't seen it, is it on Netflix? Because I'm always looking for stuff to add to the queue (she rejected Spirited Away, which broke my heart… we'll try again in a year or so).

As the father of a 2 year old girl, I'm far more in tune with Disney/Pixar's offerings than 98% of the planet. And I'm with the central thesis that Pixar could use more female characters. The Bechdel Test isn't missing the mark there. However, I'm also sensitive to whether these films teach my daughter she's any less…

Actually, Bo was cut from the third film for an even more practical reason: she was made of porcelain. Had she been in the incinerator, she would have melted before the other toys. Which would have scarred a generation of kids.

I can see that. I was trying to be a little fair to the anti-Disney view, and The Little Mermaid is certainly their most problematic recent film. Ariel jeopardizes the entire kingdom and sells her father's soul all so she can woo a boy she's never actually met. And while she is curious, the action of the film is all…

In recent years? Almost all of them.

Yeah, these ideas aren't new. Branch Rickey and Earl Weaver were doing sabermetrics before it had a name. In fact, most stat research has not improved much on Weaver's 10 Laws, which also benefit from being simple and easy-to-understand.

Dugan was also pretty strong tactically. While Dottie wants to bunt with the league's best hitter, Dugan plays for the big inning. Even in a drunken stupor, he knows not to give away outs, particularly from the cleanup hitter. Marla had probably never bunted in her life in a real game.

In fairness, the Big 3's acquisition fits in with standard sabermetric principles. MLB teams chased high school pitching prospects high in the draft, but it was Bill James and the like who argued that There Is No Such Thing As a Pitching Prospect (TINSTAAP) and teams should instead draft college pitchers who are…

One knock on Moneyball as an adaptation. I get that the filmmakers concocted a story with Beane's daughter to make him a more interesting character to non-baseball fans. I don't have a huge problem with that, or even making the movie about Beane himself. What I found odd is that the book focused in on one of Beane's…

He's not entirely wrong in those 9/11 comments. It's true: the Islamic terrorists DO hate our liberal culture and those corresponding values. Know who else hates American pop culture as an evil promoting liberal values, causing them to break out into volcanoes of anger? Yeah, far right conservatives, that's who.

"…but burlap always chafes me so."

I find most criticism of LeBron to be way over-the-top, but I would like remind everyone that LeBron and Wade mocked Dirk during their Finals matchup in pregame warmups for being sick the game before.

The last time they came to Dallas, they played the same venue I was getting married at, on the same exact night (we booked first!). Part of our wedding photos has the Gilley's marquee with our wedding listed as if it is the opening act for The New Pornographers. Which it sort of was. The band, along with the Dodos,…

I completely agree with you on the overrated/underrated divide. I went through my requisite punk phase in which I completely rejected all of Zeppelin's works as overstuffed and simple-minded. But, now that I'm older and far more mellow about things, I keep coming back to their catalog, particularly III. Same song,…

We have a two year old, and I was saying one of the best things about having a little kid is having an excuse to do things like buy the entire run of Fraggle Rock on DVD. Also, I got to decorate her room with Muppet stuff. She has a giant Animal fathead that sits over the door. It's sort of awesome.