"Tougher than the Rest" is probably my personal favorite—the last verse is just incredible.

As a Wash U alum, I just want to say: if this shit counts toward tenure, I'm furious.

I've seen the movie a couple times, but I totally hadn't caught that Donovan requests the song. It definitely makes the scene read differently. I mean, there's no way around reading Donovan's facial expression during "Baby Blue" as him thinking, "I'm pretty talented, but this guy's a fucking genius." But the scene…

If dude wrote a history of science article that's half as good as "Blind Willie McTell", I'd love to read it.

Correction: I have heard of James Joyce.

I have never heard of any of these people.

In the third act the X-Wing pilot loses an election because of his plan to build new barracks in a predominantly Twi'lek neighborhood on Corellia.

I was never a huge fan of most of the No Doubt singles, but holy shit "Spiderwebs" is a great song. Still turn that shit up every time it comes on the radio.

Has anyone written the oral history of oral histories yet? Seems like the next logical step.

"If you like Return Of The Jedi but hate the Ewoks, you understand feminist criticism"

I was in high school at the time this album came out, and yeah, it was huge. I was much more into the Nirvana/Sonic Youth side of the rock music at the time, but Petty's songs were just undeniable, even if they sounded more like the stuff I grew up listening to in my dad's car than anything I thought was cool in…

If it makes you feel any better, I only just now learned that Katherine and Audrey Hepburn are not related.

Similar experience when I visited the KHM in Vienna on Christmas Eve. All the Austrians were off celebrating with their families, so the museum was pretty empty, and I had a good ten minutes all alone in a room full of Rembrandts, including the self-portrait where middle-aged Rembrandt is staring directly at the…

Amen. Growing up as something of an "alternative" kid in SW Missouri, I of course thought of country as something that morons listened to while I was busy listening to art rock bands from New York. And don't get me wrong—I still love me some New York art rock—but when American Recordings came out it was like Cash…

"Fall of the High School Running Back" for me, but yeah. I suspect that most Mountain Goats fans recall the moment when they were thinking, "Whoa, whoa, wait a minute—what on earth is that?"

Bravo to the Jude the Obscure and Uncle Tupelo entries. I'm with you 100 percent.

It did seem strange to me, as someone who is way the hell checked out on youth culture, that none of the highlights getting bandied about the internet the next day were of performances. Say what you will about the VMA's over the years, but they have had some memorable musical moments (Madonna writhing around; Kris…

For me it is the episode where they take Meatwad's brain out and he can't do anything except say "do what now?" I'm laughing now just thinking about it.

There's also some Beavis and Butthead in Aqua Teen's DNA, no doubt.

I like Friday Night Lights better once it moved to East Dillon.