Slowly Going Bald

This is a shirt that The Sis sent me as a birthday present. I think it's proof that she understands me, and that she'd make a good vice presidential candidate for the Adama '08 ticket.

Almost unthinkably cute.

Click here for the review.

It's time once again for Classics Week over at Pajiba. This time we're going through the 1970s, a great decade that made it tough to choose just one film to praise. In the end, I went with Three Days of the Condor, a good movie that tends to get overlooked. I remember renting it in high school, so watching it again was weirdly nostalgic.

Click here for the review.

The Happening

"Last Comic Standing"
[Willamette Week]

Three Days of the Condor

"Veronica Mars," Season One

WALL-E

Over at the Willamette Week, I examine the colossally flawed "Last Comic Standing," and why it can't do anything but suck, and who's to blame.

Click here for the column.

This is taken from Springsteen's concert at the Hammersmith Odeon in November 1975. He was 26 years old. Let that sink in for a minute, then enjoy:

Bruce Springsteen, "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)":

• I had just a brain-shaking amount of fun in New York. It was the perfect trip at the perfect time with the perfect group.

• One of my two fellow travelers talked on our first afternoon about the "new city high," and about how you can take the excitement and fun of being in a new place on a trip as intentionally reckless as ours and basically wrestle that joy into submission and ride it for the week. And that's exactly what we did. By Saturday afternoon, prepping for departure, the specific order of events from earlier in the week had taken on the blissful haze earned from a packed schedule of drinking, eating, drinking some more, and watching the sun come up.

• We saw the sun rise every morning of the trip.

• We saw Emmylou Harris put on a great show at Town Hall, and her set list included "Return of the Grievous Angel," "Pancho & Lefty," and "Green Pastures." I couldn't have asked for more.

• We saw Times Square and rightly hated it. I went in expecting to be underwhelmed and was not disappointed. It's just a mass of tourists and overpriced shitty restaurants and neon and things you should really avoid. What's the point of flying across the continent just to go to Walgreens and Gap?

• We found a great restaurant/bar one night, though I'm not sure of the name or location. (It may have been Fratelli down on Mulberry, but that's just a rough guess.) One of my friends and I ordered the burger only to discover a locally award-winning patty served on a French onion roll that kicked major ass. And the whole week was like that, just running across places that turned out to be great.

• I don't really care about Joba Chamberlain.

• We came home at the right time, too. If the vacation had been any longer, I would've wound up pawning the title to my car or succumbing to alcohol poisoning. But that just means it was a good trip.

Here are some photos, and here are some more.

Over at Pajiba, it's my turn at bat again in our continuing survey of the best TV seasons of the past 20 years. We've bumped the roster from from 15 to 20, which should carry us through the summer and allow us to write about some favorites that we just couldn't pass up. This one, however, was always on the list. My struggle wasn't to decide whether to write about "Veronica Mars," but which season to write about. For reasons I hope I make clear, I went with the first.

The piece can be found here.

Man, who knew when The Sixth Sense came out that its director would become such a disappointment?

Click here for the review.

Here's my sister's reaction after hearing the plot:

"And holy crap the plot sounds stupid. 'I bet it's the plants! They're angry!' You can go see The Incredible Hulk, which is a big green angry thing, or go see The Happening, which is about nature ... a big green angry thing. Awesome."

The video for the new Old 97's single, "Dance With Me," centers on Tricia Helfer and "Battlestar Galactica." I don't quite know what to make of this; or rather, I can't decide if it's a stunning coincidence or if I should be worried that my tastes and mentality can be so easily deconstructed by the media. I mean, the "BSG" fan picks food out of his beard; that one hits so close it hurts.

Anyway, the video is here. I don't know why Sci Fi hasn't provided an embed code, but the link will take you where you need to go.

UPDATE: Here's the video on YouTube:

This is a mighty entertaining video, and it's always nice to see talented people doing what they like to do. Enjoy:

Curious People for a Curious America: Episode 1 from Curious America on Vimeo.

"Lost" ended its fourth season doing what it's done all year: Kicking ass and completely entertaining you. What's more, I broke a personal record with this summary, which clocks in at 9,306 words. You've been warned.

Click here for the recap.

And because this is my last recap of the year, here's a gratuitous shot of Evangeline Lilly dedicated to my dad and, well, most American males. Sleep easy, fellas:

• I scratch my back on vertical surfaces.

• I emit large, powerful yawns.

• I have a low metabolism and often need to nap after eating.

• I killed a park ranger.

• I'm covered in coarse fur.

• I'm not that dexterous.

• I can be taken down by a tranquilizer dart.

• I can run for a short burst, but after that, my speed drops to zero.

• I'm fiercely protective of my young.

• I like fish.

• I can climb trees, though only to a certain extent.

• I can be scared away by loud noises.

• I like pic-a-nic baskets.