Alexander

You can be snooty about the rest, but you should be embarrassed about "Clerks" since that was kind of an early 90s phenom. That's like missing out on "Resevoir Dogs" when it came out. Or not being into Grunge. It was part of the Zeitgeist of the era. Edited for misspelling "Zeitgeist," which I can't believe I did. I think one can refuse to be embarrassed to have had the good sense and taste not to have been into Grunge. I will amend that statement to note that you should be embarassed to have been in your teens or twenties during the early 90s (as I was) and not have been into Grunge. It was just part of that moment, man. It was the perfect soundtrack to being just out of college and un- or underemployed. It would be like having lived through the sixties and not liking psychedelia...

??? "Reservoir Dogs" is a VERY funny and touching movie. Dig the way Harvey Kietel takes care of the mortally wounded Tim Roth...

I think this is a great idea and I can't wait to see the end product. "That Devilin' Tune" was such an excellent set, I'd love to see what you would do with the blues (especially exploding the myth - as I'm sure you will - that the blues originated in the Mississippi Delta). I don't have any original recordings, myself. Just reissues. But if I could make a suggestion, I hope that you'll include some Emmett Miller, probably one of the best Blackface performers of all time (his accent - while certainly exaggerated - sounds more like real African-American speech than any other Blackface performer I've heard). His band, the Georgia Crackers, included some excellent jazz musicians...

You can be snooty about the rest, but you should be embarrassed about "Clerks" since that was kind of an early 90s phenom. That's like missing out on "Resevoir Dogs" when it came out. Or not being into Grunge. It was part of the Zeitgeist of the era. Edited for misspelling "Zeitgeist," which I can't believe I did.

I read an interview with her in which she calls herself "a character actress in a leading lady's body" and I think that's totally true of her. She's beautiful and talented, but she has the ability to disappear into a role. I didn't even make the connection that she was Betty Brant in the Spider-Man movies until recently, and it's not just the hair!

As much as I loved "Clerks" when it came out, I've run hot and cold on Smith's subsequent work. The odd thing is that I seem to love the films that most people hate. I loved "Mallrats" which I thought was a brilliant send-up of 80s teen-angst films. I thought "Chasing Amy" was his strongest overall film. I wasn't crazy about "Dogma" although a LOT of people seem to love it. I thought "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" was the same kind of dumb fun as "Mallrats" (but not as good). "Jersey Girl" sucked balls and I never got around to "Clerks II" (although it is on my Netflix queue). I LOVED "Zack and Miri" though. I thought it was sweet and funny and actually got a decent perfomance out of Jason Mewes (who is usually just dumb, but dumb in a "he's supposed to be dumb" way). Now you can make the argument that by casting Seth Rogan, Elizabeth Banks, and several other Apatow regulars, Smith is kind of piggybacking on Apatow's success. And I think that's kind of true. But there's a lot in this film that's pure Smith. The writing is razor sharp in spots and the whole concept behind the film seems so simple you have to wonder why this hasn't been done before. I mean, everyone knows that porn is funny, and unattractive amateurs making bad porn is even funnier (Smith does a great job making Banks frumpy, which is an achievement considering how hot she is). Overall, I think this is Smith's best film since "Chasing Amy." It's crude. It's juvenile. It's laugh out loud funny, even if it slows down a bit during the third act. And casting Superman as a gay porn star is inspired!

When the Hollywood rating system established "X" as describing movies with adult content inappropriate for children, the porn industry next door appropriated the term, and to differentiate its product, called its movies "XXX". There has never been a porn film with a rating of "X" or "XX". Yeah, Misty Rains was the only one I was sure of. I got three out of twelve, meaning that the other two that I got right were guesses and the rest were incorrect guesses. I remember in "Big Time" where Tom Waits tells a story about seeing a porn theater with seven "X"s. "Girls without skin, that's all I could think..." He also relates seeing a store that specialized in "used erotica." "How used is it? Who used it? Who cleans it? Are they licensed? All these questions came to my mind..."

My brother and I were acquinted with Stefon Harris (who is from the Albany area) back in the '80s when he and my brother were both in the Empire State Youth Orchestra. A couple of years ago, my brother was talking about how well Stefon was doing these days. "I heard that he's going to be recording with Miles Davis," my brother told me excitedly. "No, he isn't." I said. "Yes, he is. That's what I heard." "No, you couldn't have heard that. There's no way that Stefon is recording with Miles Davis." "Oh yeah? Why not?" "Because Miles Davis died in 1991." "..."

I often have dreams about specific albums, either things I'm looking for or new releases I'm looking forward to. I've also had more than a few dreams involving the old Tower Records on the corner of Newbury and Mass Ave in Boston (although it seldom really looks like the old Tower...I just know that it IS).

Sounds like something that might happen in Alaska...

I throw 'em away.

My in-laws had to deal with this. They just went out and bought a giant flat-screen that is digital ready. Simple solution!

A great loss. RIP.

I just picked up (for about $3 a pop) Fripp's "Exposure" and Hall's "Sacred Songs" at a used store on LP. I like the Crimson I've heard, and I've had the second Peter Gabriel album (on CD) for a while now. I'm looking forward to listening to them.

Yes, in case anyone decides to spring for the deluxe set, please tell us all about it and I'll send you a PM for..um...some unrelated purpose.

I got the two-disc verison on Tuesday (the end of a nearly two month long musical fast). Amazing stuff! I had a few stray items (some of the soundtrack stuff), but otherwise this is all new to me.

Appropriate it is that I happen to be rereading "Treasure Island" right now! Arrrrrrrrrrr!

Good point, matey. Pirates were less terrorists than simple thieves, although they certainly did depend on terror to get what they wanted. It would be more apt to compare them to muggers or highwaymen.

Last year I bought the early pre-Meddle albums that I didn't own on CD to refresh my memory. This sucks... I don't know about you, but I don't think I really noticed either Wright or Mason when I was a kid. I think getting into jazz really opened my ears to their contribution...

Very sad. He was seriously overshadowed by Barrett's insanity, Water's lyrics and ego, and Gilmour's guitar god status, but the fact is that he was a GREAT keyboard player. A few years ago, I rebought a big chunk of the PF catalogue (which I used to own in high school, but had since pawned in the interests of pursuing more "mature" interests) and I was very impressed with Wright when I heard their stuff again. He and Mason were the anchors of that band. RIP

What would Sarah Palin do? Probably the same thing that Bush and Co. have done...CORPORATE WELFARE!

I've been chipping my way through "Infinite Jest" for over a year now (it's sitting right in front of me on my desk, btw). I LOVE his non-fiction writing. The essays in the collections "Consider the Lobster" and "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" are amazing. I will admit (because I have a fairly ghoulish sense of humor) to immediately thinking of a headline to follow the news of his death: "David Foster Wallace Leaves 732 page suicide note, not counting footnotes." He was funny. He was brilliant. He will be missed. RIP

30 year ago? Damn, that's being hard, considering the great movies credited to each of their careers. Deniro's last unequivocally great role was in "Goodfellas" which was made eighteen years ago. I can't even remember the last really GREAT performance I've seen by Pacino. It certainly wasn't "The Godfather III" which was an abortion.

Had this been made thirty-odd years ago, it might have been an interesting pairing. Both men have become caracatures of themselves, however, and tend to chew the scenery. The only thing worse would be to add Jack Nicholson to the line-up.

Sounds like a good line-up and a cool concept, although I doubt it will be as cool as this: