Big Al

Gad, the Mavs suck right now! Third game in a row they've lost after leading to start the 4th quarter. They're losing because they're still doing the same stupid shit that has caused them to choke for the last three years: taking the jump shots and avoiding the paint like it was a quicksand trap. Honestly, they need to dump everybody who was a Mav when Nellie was still in town because they are STILL trying to play Nellie-ball. And failing miserably.

Good point. I don't necessarily agree, but good point nonetheless.

You only feel like one? Which part of that question do you want me to answer?

Exactly. You can't cheat an honest man.

You rock, Bob!!!

Thankfully, I've never seen these ads. But then, I don't watch much TV to begin with and didn't watch ANY election night coverage. Or it could be just because I live in Texas.

This girl can play!!! http://www.tinethinghelseth.com/en/ And she's even Norwegian! Oy - born in 1987, I feel old! Holy crap! She's the same age as my daughter! Now I feel like a dirty old man!

And right on schedule, too! I am really eager to hear this!

Hey hey HEY!!! You guys are derailing the thread and getting off topic. This thread is all about ME, remember?

I actually like this album, despite Page's relative MIA status. I agree, although it's far from a favorite, and I can see where jazzmoose is coming from. It pretty much solidified the punks' stance against the "boring old farts."

I don't completely agree with that; I thought that their first LP had serious possibilities. I remember at the time thinking they could go one of two ways, either interesting and quirky pop, or boring dinosaur rock. Obviously, they didn't agree with me on the appropriate direction... And, being a Mott the Hoople fanatic, I wanted to like them so much. What a boring let down. I'd have to say stadium concerts did serious damage to the artform. Well, that's just insulting. As soon as I figure out which of the two should feel insulted, I'll get back to you... Good heavens, man! Three straight hilarious posts at 2:30 in the morning??? I wish I had that kind of stamina!

That was a wonderful thing to behold when it first came out (so to speak). I actually saw the guy at a San Francisco Steakhouse in Dallas right about the time he fell off the radar. I've been around used-car salesmen who gave off more honest vibes.

Clearly, those two are blown away by Marsalis.

truer words have never been spoken Yeah, he's on the album AND in the movie. I didn't want to mention it. Make of that what you will.

I'll go out on a limb and say he was as integral to the sound of Jimi Hendrix as Hendrix himself. RIP indeed.

Speaking of which, ahve you ever seen the movie, Al? As Irecall it (which is very loosely) the soundtrack is perfect for the plot, which, yeah, pretty much implies everything you think it does. I caught the first ten minutes of it with Martin Mull racing to get to his job as a DJ. I was laughing my ass off! Believe it or not, I really do want to see this movie. For all the reasons you mentioned as well as to see where "WKRP in Cincinnati" got the ideas.

WTF is THAT??? Watch the movie. Once. That sounds like a dare... Or a threat.

Why yes, that does make me laugh!

This day just keeps getting better and better!

I'll take either one. Really! I'm not picky.

Oh yeah, there's far worse music out there. But as an ALBUM, well... it's like the Stones Sucking in the Seventies: it's as if someone went out of their way to make a truly hideous album. If EVERYTHING on this album was lousy, we wouldn't even be having this discussion. But the fact that a great tune like "FM (No Static at All)" is then followed by Seger's "Night Moves;" or, as I said before, including Queen's "We Will Rock You" but NOT including "We Are the Champions;" it winds up being a record that was built to inconvenience the listener as much as possible! I gotta hand it to whoever put this together. Something this awful takes more thought than one might imagine.

First of all, I respect your logic and your reasoning, and I think I know where you're coming from (i.e. the ONLY reason I like Foreigner's Double Vision is simply because it was one of the first rock records I ever bought. I tried listening to it with the attitude of not having heard the record before. My reaction, naturally, was one of revulsion. This record truly, TRULY, sucks, as do most (aw hell, I'm on a roll, let's just make it ALL) Foreigner records); in other words, I get the part about things being a product of their time. But that ignores the fact that, especially in Ronstadt's case on these two tracks (which are both live, BTW), the performances are absolutely, mind-bogglingly BAD. It's as if they spent all this time and money on production values but completely forgot about the song itself! I'll grant you that Abbey Road had a shitload to do with that, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. Shawn is dead-on about Queen in this respect: the songs may be shit, but DAMN do they sound nice! For my money, the radio can't play "Fat Bottomed Girls" enough for my taste; sure it's a stupid song, but that drum sound totally KICKS ASS!!! In other words, I dig that it's totally subjective, but in Ronstadt's case, it would've been nice if she'd maybe dug just a little deeper than the surface of the songs she was butchering.

If FM had come out after The Wall, you can bet there'd be a Floyd song on FM.

On the contrary. When Bloom County started out, it was funny, refreshing, and yes bizarre. Then Opus came along and the focus moved away from an ensemble-based strip to a character-driven strip. Breathed's attempt to satirize the Garfield trend with Bill the Cat was a funny one-time gag (literally and figuratively) that should've quit while it was ahead, a lot like your typical SNL skit. All of that was merely annoying, providing the occasional chuckle, until the day when Breathed decided he wanted to be a poor-man's Garry Trudeau. Bill the Cat became an institution, Opus became a merchandising bonanza (I had my Opus doll, just like everyone else), Steve Dallas became..... whatever the hell that was, it was anything but funny. Shit, even the drawn-in cameo of Trudeau in the comic's dungeon was ass-kissing at its worst. Then, when that wasn't bad enough, he beat Rosie O'Donnell to the Trump-bashing by having Bill the Cat become Trump. That was not only unfunny, it was stupid. It immediately guaranteed that Bloom County's timelessness would forever be.... er, trumped by planting itself firmly in the mire of the 80's. All of this at the expense of interesting characters like Milo, the old Steve Dallas, Binkley, Milo's grandpa, Quiche Lorraine, the guy in the wheelchair (the "Starchair Enterpoop") and Bobbi, his teacher girlfriend. Don't think for a second I underestimate this comic's place in history. I just think it's undeserved. It's certainly not the timeless classic everyone wants it to be. Unlike Calvin & Hobbes which was funny from day one all the way to the end, or The Far Side which never failed to satisfy, or hell even Doonesbury which allowed its characters to grow while commenting on the political and social issues of each era through which its gone, Bloom County will forever be looked at as a relic of the 80's.

Correct!