I like Ming more than most folks seem to, but even so I would've been fine with him fading away after his first pop-in. My biggest problem with him is how frequently he derails the conversation to demand ultra-specific clarifications of other characters' throwaway comments. Not that there's anything wrong with that…

Yeah, this article's doubtlessly well-earned bile-spewing is undercut by a profound misrepresentation of Tim Conway. And to a lesser extent, Ray Stevens, who is indeed hacky and obnoxious, but still stands as a major figure in the history of novelty music and at least a minor one in the history of country music.

The first role I thought of upon reading of his death was, somehow, Dead Man. Such a small part, and not one that required an actor the caliber of John friggin' Hurt, but he makes an indelible impression as the first of many people to really drive home the hopelessness of William Blake's situation.

I never actually saw it because I was gone on winter break, but I know it's beloved here. Even with the extreme scarcity factor, I still find it kind of amazing that people were lining up outside a dingy college theater in the middle of a Minnesota winter to see a 20-year-old Swedish children's film. I think the…

The arthouse theater I worked for in college used to screen the 1984 Swedish film adaptation of this for a couple of weekends every Christmas season. It was somehow a consistent sellout every time, well into the '00s. Minnesota is a weird place.

If you ever have the chance to see POS perform live, jump on it, especially if you can catch him in Minnesota. He's a hell of a presence, with a genuine punk rock energy that can get a room amped. A couple of years back I happened to see him play a mid-sized club, a tiny art gallery, and a big outdoor stage over the…

I just watched Shake, Rattle and Roll! a few months ago, starring Connors as a Dick Clarkish TV host fighting to save his teen dance party show from the meddling of the local squares (including Margaret Dumont!). It's silly as heck - basically a pro-rock propaganda film - but it's a lot of fun and Connors does a good…

If the Cy Young award had existed back then, it seems likely that Virgil would've won it at least once. Both of those no-hitters were 1-0 victories too. That must have been some kinda weak-hitting Tigers team.

Only tangentially related, but Butch's uncle Virgil Trucks was a pretty good big league pitcher who threw for some pretty bad teams. He generated one of my favorite statistical oddities: in 1952 he posted a 5-19 record for the Tigers, but two of those wins were no-hitters. That's more or less my goal in life - to take…

Wouldn't even need to change the bit about Roger having a stick sharpened at both ends.

Yeah, you know me.

If I thought this Trump fellow had anything resembling a sense of wit, I'd find it amusing that the week after he got pilloried for stocking his cabinet with Wall Street elites, he turned around and gave cabinet positions to Hardee's and wrestling.

I was thinking of digging into that one already, and Richardson's Spont appearance (which involved analyzing dreams, coincidentally enough) confirmed for me that I need to.

I liked hearing PFT pull in an NYC crew for a live Spontaneanation. Much as I love my Spont regulars, it's always great to hear from Shannon O'Neill, and Gary Richardson was my favorite first-timer in a good while.

I thought I knew quite a bit about comic strips, but this week's Hollywood Handbook put me to shame. Who'd have thought a loudmouth jabroni like Joe Wengert would have such piercing insights into Zigg(pp)y?

It's high time we held Mark Twain accountable for the swath of broken homes The Ransom of Red Chief has wrought.

I'm bothered that I've had a civil, thoughtful online conversation on a controversial topic with someone whose political and theological views differ from mine. I'm pretty sure that's not how this is supposed to work.

This goes all the way to the top.

(Also, I was similarly dubious of Franken when he first ran for senate. I was no fan of his Air America radio endeavor and worried that we were just empowering a left-wing Rush Limbaugh, but I voted for him despite my reservations and he's since become my favorite senator for a lot of reasons.)

We do have school choice in St. Paul. We wound up choosing a school that wasn't necessarily on the top of a lot of people's lists, specifically because we loved the feeling of community it exuded. The parents of my kid's classmates range from college professors to pizza delivery drivers, his class is more ethnically…