You'd think so, but then again, Rule 34.

Not much for sushi?

He just struck me as a small-time doofus who bit off way more than he could chew. I wouldn't say he deserved anything close to that kind of prolonged terror. So yeah, that scene hit me pretty hard.

Noted. Thanks!

A high school friend turned me on to the Velvets, so I probably would have come across MMM either way, but Bangs' infectious enthusiasm got me to check it out in earnest when I might otherwise have treated it as a wacky novelty.

We try not to localize her.

Agreed on all counts. Critics can be helpful as guideposts, but it's best to keep a grain of salt handy at all times.

At least Lester Bangs delivered his gusts of verbiage with a self-deprecating wink more often than not.

"Sweeeeet nectar!" - Carl Brutananadilewski

Generally true, but there are notable exceptions:

Checking it out again now. I figured a lot of my fondness would have been nostalgia-based, but these really were well crafted/delivered pop songs, especially considering how young these guys were.

It was kind of fashionable to dump on them at the time (from what I recall, anyway), but they definitely had more passion and writing/playing ability than your average bubblegum popsters.

Past couple days:
You don't want no problem want no problem with me (HEH HEH HEH)

A lot of people have pretty fucked up priorities. Co-worker of mine was vastly more affronted by the post-election flag burning than by, you know, everything you mentioned. Symbols are more important than humans, I guess. I dunno, I give up.

ROCK FLAG AND EAGLEEEE

Pretty much exactly my take. It's mostly a case of bad judgment in phrasing. I imagine he was going for maximum impact without considering the charged nature of the metaphor.

It's an iffy joke and he probably just shouldn't have gone there. We all make errors in judgment, though, and the outrage seems pretty overblown from where I'm standing.

Buick Riviera drives you?

The Force Awakens hit the familiar narrative beats, yeah, but I thought Rogue One did a better job of capturing the originals' dramatic sweep and sense of scope. For all its playing to nostalgia, Abrams' take felt weirdly plastic. I did enjoy TFA, but Rogue One just seemed to have more heart - the last time I cared as…

I read a post years back suggesting that viewers might cope with the Evelyn Marsh debacle by pretending all the music is in James' head. This has benefited me tremendously over the course of several rewatches. Try it, it's fun: https://www.youtube.com/wat…