I'm glad I'm not the only person it scared the shit out of. Not an easy one to explain: "There are these stick figures, right? And they start bleeding? And then you confront the utter meaninglessness of life and the emptiness of the universe."

Pretty sure even Maddin would say Ice Nymphs is his worst. Saddest Music in the World is probably the most genial gateway.

He prefers to be addressed as "Cooky."

Sadly, no, and the phone connection on his end was none too robust. A few passages were lost in the non-translation.

Bobby Peru was next on my list. We could've gone all day. Or I could have, anyway.

You are confusing being a mercurial and enigmatic artist with being a dick. It is a common mistake.

My most annoying would be the time I saw Tool and Fishbone with a female classmate, she got groped by some guy in the crowd, I told him to cut it out, and he waited until I started to turn away and punched me in the face. Did I mention it happened in France?

Try grabbing a seat right behind the light board. Their lighting lady manages all the faders by hand, and watching the elaborate choreography of her hands was more enthralling than anything Gibbard et al were doing on stage.

Depends. Stephin is a moody fucker — the last time I saw them, he bitched out someone for checking their email in the balcony — but I like the fact that they maintain the sound of the records and the sound of the live band as separate entities.

I remember years ago the British magazine Q ran individual reviews of a five-night stand by Dylan, which according to them contained both a five-star and a one-star performance. He's unpredictable, but still capable of live greatness.

Been there, done that: http://www.avclub.com/artic…

Adam Sandler is too busy telling the truth.

Yes to Victor from Dollhouse (and Alpha, for the rough trade), but any list of Dollhouse crushes that fails to include Olivia Williams' Adele Dewitt is woefully incomplete.

Also, I am happy to report that these days, Mr. Piven gets his protein from eggs.

Damn. That's what I get for responding to comments on the road.

I wouldn't have been inclined to ask in any case, since the issue's kind of played out, but had I been tempted, this interview would have dissuaded me forcefully: http://www.maxim.com/amg/TV…

Y'all are missing the fact that not only is Piven trying to sell it as a slow-burning cult hit, he's also single-handedly trying to work the phrase "sell the metal" into the lexicon. Dude is dedicated.

I'm a professional and all, but I really had to sit on the urge to yell that when I first saw him.

My favorite thing about Ariel Schrag is the way her name gets whooped in Le Tigre's "What's Yr Take on Cassavetes?"

Uh, third paragraph, right above the giant picture of a mouse.