Quincy

Beautiful performance - thank you. The treatment is going to knock you down on some days, but keep fighting & stay positive.

I've read Loeb, Miller and Moore, and I suppose a little of O'Neal too. Yeah, I did pick up some of the references, especially The Killing Joke. I thought the portrayal of Two Face/Dent was pretty good too (though I did expect the back of the coin to be scratched up more. ) I had forgotten to check running time before I went and I'll admit thinking a couple of times "oh hell, is this thing ever going to end." To avoid spoilers I'll just say some of the "running around" and people in peril in the last 1/3rd of the movie was torturous. Perhaps part of the trouble is the reviews making this thing out to be "great cinema" rather than big budget summer entertainment, but that's not it entirely. See, I loved Iron Man. It was quite possibly the most fun I've had watching a superhero movie. I've even recommended it to friends who don't care for the genre. Hell, I think it'd be humorous if instead of Ledger being nominated for The Joker that Downy would for Iron Man. Batman on the other hand takes itself so seriously. It's a rightful reaction to the camp of '60s but on the other hand it's probably swung a bit too far in reaction. (Granted, the "serious" Batman has been that way in print for what, 20 years now.) Unless it's processed digitally I feel so sorry for Bale - he must have a sore throat for weeks having to do the so serious Bat-whisper. I'd rather have a little bit less than more with action scenes. For instance the last King Kong movie would have been much better had they removed all that nonsense of people running between the dinosaur legs in the stampede. Sometimes 1 dinosaur is better than 20, or 20 seconds is better than 2 minutes. Same sort of thing in this movie, at least for me, with chases and people in peril. But in the end I think it's worth seeing for the Joker scenes and some other moments, but I'm being careful about who I recommend it to.

That sums it for me perfectly. When the Joker wasn't on the screen it was just a lot of running around, blowing shit up and so forth.

Rearrange the jewel cases in 5 minutes? This is organissimo.org man! (I know, you didn't suggest rearranging the whole thing.) It was quitting smoking that caused the ole CD collection to multiply like bunnies. Hell, Universal and whatever the names of the labels that are left should put coupons in CDs for the patch. A pack a day habit nowadays buys a lot of CDs in a month.

Glad to hear someone say that. I was the sort who used to have to have a smoke as soon as I woke up so when I decided to quit (Dec 26, 1999 ) I used the patch. Although the reasons for getting to the point of wanting to quit were numerous, with near the top was being sick of being controlled by the addiction, what helped me get through it and quit was believing the worst outcome as spelled out on the patch's warning label. There was a warning about the dangers of nicotine overdose, so I told myself if I even tried to smoke one cigarette while wearing the patch it could strike me down dead. Silly I know as I've seen people in the summer outside of bars smoking with patches on, but this was my last line of defense in staying committed to quitting. Hey, whatever works! It's a very strange these addictions. I gave up morning coffee for a few years too as it was so associated with smoking. Drinking cocktails can still bring out long ago cravings whereas wine or beer most likely won't. Once I got through the 2nd year or so it was exceedingly rare that I'd crave a smoke (not counting family reunions. ) But oddly enough now 8 1/2 years later I've had more urges for smoke this year than probably the past 5 combined. Haven't acted on those urges and feel pretty strongly that I won't, but it is a bit of a head scratcher.

What else did you buy? (It's cheaper to live vicariously through other people's orders. )

I think it was up to the player, as it should be. I like how Winfield had both a Padres & a Yankee hat. Where was Bench & Fisk? Maybe Fisk couldn't figure out which hat to wear. It's Ryne Sandberg. Bad backup Cubs fan. I thought it was funny what a meek reaction Robin Yount got from the crowd. You could practically see him thinking "c'mon, 3000 hits, 2 time MVP, remember me?"

Sale still going on.

Sukiyaki - Kyu Sakamoto (US charts)

I met a guy at a flea market who sells $2 bills for $5. The same $2 bills you can get at any bank. And people wonder why there's a mortgage crisis. -edited to turn "bill" into "bills."

Lowest Batting AVG for RBI leader Ends up I guessed right as Killebrew '62 was the worst at .243, followed by Cecil Fielder '92 at .244. Worst for a NL RBI leader was Jim Nealton of the '06 Pirates at .255. Hojo of the '91 Mets is 2nd worst at .259, followed by Andruw '05 at .263. Ryan Howard has a shot!

The setlists were kind of dull and their playing was off. Odd tempos, uncertainty, poor execution...Typical of the band when things didn't click, the difference being that they (mostly) stunk it up amongst the pyramids rather than just another night on tour in America. The Shakedown is decent and I guess the "Ollin Arageed" is something different that some might enjoy. You can play "where's Bill Walton."

Hmm...I guess it had to be done eventually, but I've never cared much for this material. In fact I gave mine away years ago. Maybe through the magic of editing they can piece together something decent but I'll probably pass.

Good point. The other is Teix costs $9 million this year and will want more. Youk doesn't even cost half a mill - he's one of the best bargains in baseball. (Even wealthy teams have to save money somewhere.) It's also a nice option to be able to have him play 3rd or the OF corners, especially in double switch situations in October. Not to jinx you or anything. Y'all probably need middle relief more than anything (since you're employing Timlin, says the Mariner fan). Though last year's pickup was probably more excitement than you bargained for.

Whoa! Way to go Brewers. (Also my spring predictions need a lot of help! )

Good question! I don't know what the record is, but Harmon Killebrew only hit .243 in '62. Cecil Fielder was a point better for one of his titles. There could be others - I just did a quick look at RBI leaders but batting average wasn't displayed next to them. Last year Ryan Howard struggled in the spring and made up for it as the year progressed. We'll see if the pattern repeats. He's having a hot July so far.

Sounds great! Only bad thing I can say about the set is I wish there were vocals from Teagarden. It's not his fault - cabaret laws discouraged singing and playing in the same show, so less vocals. He's one of my favorite vocalists in any genre.

And he spells kinda funny. Dushbag?

I know a woman who still marvels at there being no line whatsoever for the bathroom at the KC/Tool show a few years back.

Lenny Bruce died when he was 41. Do you think that had anything to do with it?

My live entry to the Dead was from '71 with Skull & Roses. But once I started collecting I grew to prefer almost every year from '69-'78 to '71. Part of it is the way they stretched stuff out by the next year (such as Playin'). I do hold the April Fillmore shows in high regard though, and 8-6-71 is a favorite show, and DP 2 is excellent & underrated. Oh there are other dates too, but given my druthers I'd pick some other year. Roadtrips 3 brings a new appreciation for what they were doing then. Once again the sound is terrific and I love where Phil is in the mix! And for heaven's sake, if one doesn't have the 8-6-71 "Hard To Handle" you must buy this soon to get the bonus disc. One of thee finest things ever (and I'm not Pigpen's #1 fan either.) So yes, I like this one a lot! I like what they're doing in this series (at least the past 2), from song choices & editing & soundwise as well. Look forward to the next one!

Another excellent option is xACT. (Oops, that's just a ripper.) Mac Amp Lite X will play FLACs.

The joy of interleague play! So Game #1 in the World Series of Suckatude was tonight as Washington played at Seattle (who having the worse record got the home field advantage.) After 2 the visitors had a 7-1 lead, but in the spirit of the last Celtics-Lakers game the home team fought back. Unlike the Celts though Seattle came up short 1. So while one R.A. Dickey of Seattle, who had an ERA of 18.90 with Texas last year was blown out in 1 2/3 after giving up 7 earned got the loss, Shawn Hill picked up the W by giving up 12 hits & a walk in 5 innings (4 earned.) Classic sucky baseball! When in a 3 game series for the worst team in baseball it's important to lose the 1st game. With Bedard going tomorrow it may be difficult to clinch. After all this guy pitched 2 good games vs. the Red Sox. So forget the US Open on Sunday, the eyes of the sporting world may locked in on Seattle on Sunday!

I think Mingus Ah Um and The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady are usually mentioned 1st, though Tijuana Moods certainly makes some lists. The recent & annoying series "1001 _____ You Must ____ Before You Die" picked Black Saint. Mingus is a funny one as far as the greats go & lack of agreement amongst the list makers, as along with Tijuana Moods there are 4 or 5 other albums not mentioned that'll pop up (though usually with Ah Um or Black Saint.) But what the heck, the guy did put out a lot of (understatement) high quality albums! Thanks for the fun list. I'm adding Rainbow Mist to my hunting list along with some others to keep an eye out for.