The real Natasha Lyonne has had substance issues, arrests, and heart issues. I was wondering if any of this episode was based on real life. The scene with her mom and the lawyer seemed especially like something that would happen to an addict in real life. They can't bail their way out of trouble anymore, and all of a…

I read somewhere that after Mental Jewelry and Throwing Copper, Ed threw a Lennon-esque fit about people reading too much into his lyrics. He tried to go more abstract and we got songs about angels having bagels in their oven and dolphins crying. There are songs on Secret Samadhi I like but the lyrics make me cringe.…

I think Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead holds up. 2 Days in the Valley was the more obvious/less successful Tarantino rip-off. It has Teri Hatcher and cat-suit Charlize Theron fighting, though. So it has that going for it.

The radio station used to always play Black Sunshine at the same time every night, just as I was getting home from work. I would run the red light at the intersection by my house with White Zombie blasting every time.

When it comes to classic movies, Wilder, Elia Kazan, and David Lean are my go-to's.

I could come up with a long list of skippable Beatles songs, but it definitely wouldn't have I Am the Walrus on it. And I know Free as a Bird isn't technically a real Beatles song, but I thought it was heartbreaking the first time I heard it. And I read that Paul didn't want George to play slide on it so I get a kick…

Can we get a flashback of Don and Cooper together back when he first started working at SC? There was a weird dynamic to their relationship that was never really filled in by the show.

He must have done this more than once. The time I saw it he crushed hot dogs.

The first time I ever saw Letterman he was putting random items into a hydraulic press. I've never seen anything that good on late night since. https://www.youtube.com/wat…

On Weiner's "Inside Mad Men" clip he points out that the night after the meeting everyone has someone to go home to except Don. Joan has the new guy, Pete is going to check in with Trudy, Roger admits that he's seeing Marie. Don tries to find the waitress but she's moved on.

All of the employees murmuring during Sterling's announcement were ridculously like the angry mob in South Park going, "Rabble, rabble, rabble, rabble." (And could have used a "They took er jobs!")

I just finished Life After Death by Damien Echols. Even after seeing all the Paradise Lost movies and West of Memphis, this was still a great story when told from his point of view.

His problem is more with music snobs than with this song. He could have just as easily picked an album track from another artist that music snobs gush about. I think the column should be more about the song itself than the type of people who like the song.

The realtor saying, "Now we have to find a place for you," at the end was a great set-up for the final episodes.

Drive is the one that I would most want to take off the list. I'd heard good things about it, and I thought that casting Albert Brooks as a bad guy was great, but it was a silly story that took itself way too seriously.

I didn't think the end of Llewyn Davis was heartbreaking at all. He gets smacked both by the guy in the alley and by seeing what was happening on stage, and it was funny to see it happen to such a jerk.
I'd put in a mention for Restrepo as a movie worthy of making this list.

Guns and Roses was supposed to open for Iron Maiden back when "Sweet Child of Mine" was just coming out. They ended up bailing and LA Guns subbed for them. It ended up being a good show, but how cool would it have been to see G&R as an opening act? Or to see the original band at all, come to think of it.

I have an alcoholic family member who is probably going to pass away from liver problems. The first time I heard "Ocean Breathes Salty" I completely felt like the singer was talking to this person. "You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste death?" It's also lyrically like a missing song from The Moon and Antarctica.

I started with Recipe for Hate because it got reviewed in a skateboard magazine, then Stranger Than Fiction because "Infected" got played on the radio. Then I saw No Control for sale at the secondhand record store. That's the order I would recommend.

I first heard the Pixies through the Pump Up the Volume soundtrack (Wave of Mutilation). Then I bought Surfer Rosa from Columbia House because the album cover had boobies. Simpler time.