You're memory's right. It was a nuclear war in the book, and protecting themselves from radiation is a main plot point in the book. The valley where the girl lives is safe because air currents or whatever create a radiation-free pocket, but outside the valley, the man has to wear a suit to protect himself. I'm…

I believe the word you're looking for is "fussbudget."

The Stones are totally genre thieves (as @sleep_viking:disqus says, not just of "black" genres like rock and roll and R&B but also of country, psych, and a bunch of others), but when they're at their best, they pull off this incredible synthesis that makes them feel like much more than just the sum of their…

I've never played the Steam version, so maybe it's a different release.

Are you playing the console version? Because I don't remember needing to carry a key to unlock the shortcuts in the original PC version (which I'm playing)—they just opened automatically once you got to that world… I think. I actually can't remember the process. But I certainly don't remember keys.

I have put so much time into Spelunky, it's probably unhealthy. I love roguelikes, and that one is fast-paced and straightforward enough that it's easy to pick up at a moment's notice.

I think a lot of that ill-regard has to do with Scoop's proximity to both Match Point and his early-2000s comedies. After Match Point, people were looking for a brooding "European Renaissance" from Woody, and when he turned out a comedy, everyone felt the sour aftertaste from the spate of subpar comedies he did prior…

Sweet and Lowdown is pretty much a case study in this. It's SUCH a perfect ending.

I think I need to see Midnight in Paris again. When I first watched it, I thought it was, with the exception of the impersonations of famous authors/artists, firmly middle-of-the-pack. But people love it so much, which makes me think I missed something.

I haven't seen this movie, so the jury's still out on whether or not I agree with the negative review (Magic in the Moonlight really frustrated me, for the record). But just for the sake of positivity and for the sake of the idea that Woody Allen's "fall from grace" hasn't been nearly as precipitous as most people…

Good on Scoop, which is just delightful. I always appreciate your passion for Woody Allen's films and your refusal to buy into the familiar narratives about his filmography. Keep it up, sir!

The last verse also calls the girl's mother a "tent show queen," which is a term that refers to a slavery-era practice. I'd always just thought the "sweet sixteen" stuff was just glib anachronism.

When does it get into modern day? The way I'm reading it, it's always dealing with slaves. And maybe it's about miscegenation, but the power dynamics of slave owner-on-slave make the line between consensual miscegenation and rape awfully faint.

Yeah, that one's pretty icky, too.

Really? I guess that makes sense, although the lyrics certainly encourage a more straightforward, racial reading.

Yeah, but slave rape jokes? Also, I'm not sure if I get the joke.

Two thoughts that are only tangentially related to this article's main point:
1) Were people really that surprised at the country on Sticky Fingers? Let It Bleed has a pretty pronounced country vibe, and even if it's not as strong as what's on Sticky Fingers, you'd think that people would have seen it coming.
2) "Brown…

Those games did not fool around. I think they assumed everyone playing ROTJ had already played the other two games, so there was pretty much no learning curve.

Urg, that first level. It took me forever just to get inside Jabba's palace.

People don't talk about them nearly as much as they should.