I've been catching up on the Venture Brothers, as I'd only seen bits and pieces. During Season 4, I started saying "SPHINX!" in Shore Leave's voice to my baby and he started giggling like crazy. It is one of the best things I've discovered as a dad.

I'm reading _The Just City_ by Jo Walton and it's outstanding. The goddess Athena creates an experimental city in the distant past based on the _Republic_ with teachers drawn from throughout history, an initial generation of ten year old students purchased from the slave markets of antiquity, and robots in the place…

Phil Collins did a lot to help John Martyn, which is certainly a mark in his favor.

Just listened to "Steel and Glass" and I agree, that's a great Timothy Dalton-era theme.

Imagining a Buddhist James Bond film is one of my favorite pastimes while high and I already have the theme, George Harrison's "The Art of Dying".

I was pleased that Louis killed the game with the last Daily Double. You could tell he was reluctant to do it, maybe because he thought he would be showing his opponents up. However, it's a no-brainer to go for a runaway when you have more than half again as much money as your nearest opponent, because even if you…

Agreed about Gone With The Wind. Sherman didn't burn nearly enough plantations.

It's hard for me to hear "There Is Nothin' Like A Dame" anymore without thinking of Joaquin Phoenix completely fucked up on a beach in the Pacific.

Vrooom, vrooom!

"Dick Vaughn's Moribund Music of the 70s" is pretty damn great. In 1982, Negativland rebranded KPFA as "The California Superstation" with terrible station IDs, commercials, call-in contests and playlists. Great satire of early boomer nostalgia, and the furious calls from Bay Area hippies are pretty funny. It's…

It's a little strange to bring up Stephen Fry again, but who could top his portrayal of Oscar Wilde? His range as an actor is quite limited, but Jeeves and Wilde were right in his wheelhouse and he nailed them.

If you want the nutritional information, Wolfram|Alpha has you covered.

I haven't enjoyed series 4 of Comedy Vehicle nearly as much, in part because he's exhausted some of these tropes. The bit about the cat named Jeremy Corbyn was a good example.

Vardalos and her husband Ian Gomez even managed to mess up presenting the Great British Bakeoff format. That should be money in the bank.

Why did Stax have such trouble developing female artists? Carla Thomas was pretty much the only one. The Staples sisters and Judy Clay were already established. The Emotions didn't take off until the late 70s. I should pick up the Soulsville book, as perhaps Whitsett has some insight, but if you have any ideas, I'm…

A filmed performance of the Ring Cycle at the Met from PBS' Great Performances. My wife refers to it as unemployment television, but she's in grad school and hasn't gotten to it yet.

Keith Richards ascribes part of his surprising longevity to the fact that he was always getting high quality smack.

"Like that film? That film Cocktail? With Tom Cruise in it? Can I do that? Well. Let's see."

I'm surprised at the lack of love for Raising Hope. To my mind it's the funniest sitcom on TV after Community.

I'm surprised at the lack of love for Raising Hope. To my mind it's the funniest sitcom on TV after Community.