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I'm greatly looking forward to the Superclassico! It looks to be one of the biggest and best encounters between these two teams in years. In the meantime, I'm chewing my nails off in anticipation of my Villans' FA Cup semifinal clash with Chelsea in about 30 minutes.

The Bennie Green set is really, really good. Listened to it for the first time in a year or so last night.

I’m actually really excited about these semifinals coming up. Although a Bayern/Barca final seems like the logical prediction, both teams would do well not to underestimate their opponents. Lyon’s style seems like it will make for a very good match against Bayern. I’m really excited to see those two teams go at it. And if there’s anyone who can figure out how to pick at Barcelona, it’s Jose Mourinho.

I started reading “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” yesterday afternoon, and I’m about half way through it now. Excellent!

To me, Andrew is one of the absolute greatest visionaries in jazz...right up there with Monk in my book. His work on Blue Note in the 1960's is one of the finest creative streaks in contemporary music that I've ever heard. They are ALL essential. "Point of Departure", "Black Fire" and "Judgment" are my favorites. I love his last three studio albums "Dusk", "A Beautiful Day" and "Time Lines". He finished his life on a peak. And I'm glad folks are mentioning "Dialogue". I know its a Bobby Hutcherson-led session, but in my mind I always think of this date as another Andrew Hill album. Its an amazing recording. It always brings me happiness when I read these "ahhh, now I get it!" posts about Andrew. The world is a better place with more people who dig his completely unique and captivating music.

"Norwegian Wood" - Haruki Murakami

another for Gerald Cleaver! The guy is a beast. Has been amazing every time I've seen him play.

Are most of the songs slow tempos?

My Villans are set to return to Wembley to face Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinal. Hope it turns out better than it did a week ago in the Carling Cup final. Also, I recently read a very interesting book called "Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Why Germany and Brazil Win, and Why the U.S., Japan, Australia, Turkey--and Even Iraq--Are Destined to Become the Kings of the World's Most Popular Sport". Have any of you read this?

I recently finished re-reading "Slaughterhouse-Five" for the first time in 13 years. I'm pleased to say that to this reader, it has not lost a bit of its magic. I also recently read a very enjoyable non-fiction book called "Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Why Germany and Brazil Win, and Why the U.S., Japan, Australia, Turkey--and Even Iraq--Are Destined to Become the Kings of the World's Most Popular Sport" I just started reading "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" this afternoon.

"Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Why Germany and Brazil Win, and Why the U.S., Japan, Australia, Turkey--and Even Iraq--Are Destined to Become the Kings of the World's Most Popular Sport" by Simon Kuper & Stefan Szymanski

I recently read Douglas Coupland's "Life After God" and Hari Kunzru's "My Revolutions". Both were very solid reads, yet neither felt completely satisfying. After I'm done getting through these Dexter DVDs, I'm going to pick up some Murakami or some Philip K. Dick.

I'm in the market for one. Not too sure I want to shell out all the money for the Bose, but does anyone else have one that sounds good and that they're really happy with?

I dislike his playing very much.

I wouldn't be surprised if either Fox or GOL TV broadcast the next one. I know there has been alot of demand for it among football fans here in the states. There were lots of complaints that nobody picked it up.

It was a really exciting game! Shame about the Man U fans throwing bottles at Bellamy though.

And one last thing....if you're feeling adventurous once you reach Kerry, take your car through the Gap of Dunloe. You'll get some dirty looks from the guys running the horse carriages, but its beyond worth it. Its one of the most beautiful stretches of road you'll ever drive down.

Another thing, I agree with others that your itinerary may be a bit too crammed. You don't want to spend the majority of your time driving.

This company did a great job for me. I didn't take one of their pre-packaged tours, but rather told them the areas I was interested in exploring, and they did a great job setting me up in nice places to stay, whether it was B&B, hotel or castle. http://www.irishtourism.com/ I rented a car and drove. I really don't mean to be disrespectful to anyone from the eastern portion of the island, but the west coast of Ireland is simply spectacular and I wish I had concentrated all my time there, rather than spend so much time in County Cork and Dublin. Connemara is one of the most beautiful places on Earth and I highly recommend you visit there. Ireland is a beautiful country with so much to see. The people are really nice too. Its a place I hope to visit again at some point in my lifetime.

Great news! Thanks for the heads up.

"Interpreter of Maladies" - Jhumpa Lahiri

what is a burnout? I'm used to that being the guys in the 80's with the Megadeth and Slayer jackets who did drugs all the time and screamed out loud in 7-Elevens.

Booker Ervin - "Setting the Pace"

Horrible news about the Togo National Team bus getting machine gunned in Angola, and sad to hear that there were deaths in the team's crew. I'm amazed that there were no player deaths, since by their account they were shelled for nearly a half hour. This is going to be quite a blow for African football in the future, and surely will raise speculation about security during the World Cup.

Dammit I've been meaning to pick up one of those Reeds and Deeds albums for years. I might have to pull the trigger this weekend.