I like to think I'm somewhat open-minded, but that 'Southern rock' claim was seriously just a crock of shit.

What's a Gal Friday?

I don't know, Mick Taylor was pretty great. Apparently left after several songwriting contributions were labelled 'Jagger/Richards,' when, in at least one case, Richards wasn't even there for the writing or the recording ('Moonlight Mile'). Only great record they put out after Taylor left was 'Some Girls.'

I. . . I have some friends coming over. And we're watching movies. So maybe you could clear out for a bit?

Supposedly, the band never paid for their sessions at Muscle Shoals. So it's even more rock 'n' roll.

Cameron Crowe has this thing where he just can't- won't- trust the viewer. So he'll start with characters that actually seem like complex, even contradictory, thinking human beings, and lazily turn them into cartoon heroes or villains by the end. So you KNOW who to root for. Granted, there are exceptions, but they're…

I'd never heard of GLA until this article, but yeah, it sure sounded like it.

He's a huge, huge comic book geek. Wrote a fantastic piece about the greatness of Howard Chaykin's 'American Flagg!' in an essay collection called 'Maps and Legends.' (It's Chabon, by the way.)

A little disappointed. I kept waiting for (Keith Giffen's) Legion of Substitute Heroes to show up.

So he was Admiral Halsey of Sea Org? That changes everything. Was Paul ignoring Uncle Albert because he was a Suppressive Person?

You son of a bitch.

This is not the conversation I was expecting to find.

A great song. I'm also a sucker for 'Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey.' The lyrics are nonsense, yeah, but clever nonsense, and the melody is closer to a Beatles song than anything he wrote after.

That is a perfect description of their best stuff.

And every last one of the movies you listed is better than Gladiator. Thank you.

I get the feeling you might know.

Well, see above. If it had made a chunk of money and then disappeared (as it should have), I would never have thought of it again. There are some decent action sequences and performances, but if this movie deserved Oscars, so did Lethal Weapon 2. Which was better. Better script (which doesn't mean it was good), better…

Wasn't talking about action sequences (they're both pretty great in that department) or color, more the 'assume your audience is made up of idiots' attitude. You know, Cameron's trademark. I usually like Joaquin Phoenix, for instance, but I'm surprised Scott didn't make him grow a mustache to twirl while he…

I hate Gladiator so much. I'd hate it less if it weren't revered, if it hadn't won (shit, been nominated for) Oscars. It was, at best, a B movie with A list stars. It was written and directed like a subpar James Cameron movie (not a compliment) and nominated… why again? Because it made money? Because there were…

Not sure why, but that story makes me deliriously happy.