Darth Drabek

Dear and the Headlights - It's Gettin' Easy

Nah, same thing's been happening with me lately. I haven't changed browsers or settings; I still use Firefox at home and IE at work. Since about a week ago the font changed and the links don't show up anymore unless you happen to roll over them with your cursor. Oh, and it stormed like hell yesterday. We're supposed to play a game later in my company's rec softball league. Hopefully the field has dried out from yesterday's soaking. We're leaving for a short vacation to San Francisco tomorrow. It's only in the mid-60s there, which will be a relief from that legendary Ohio heat. Lastly, I'm glad Chris (the Jedi Killer) is back, even if it's just to talk about the weather.

The Polyphonic Spree - Running Away I finally listened to these guys. I've been avoiding them for years because I thought they were a cult. First impressions: They're not terrible.

I remember Willie had a great line in Half Baked: "I remember when a dimebag actually cost a dime!" Or something like that. I was trying to think of (living) bands I'd actually pay $60 to see. All I could come up with was Springsteen with the E Street Band (I've actually paid more than that to see them, and I'd do it again) and an Afghan Whigs reunion. I think I spent $70 to see U2 six or seven years ago. It was a great show, but I wouldn't do it again.

Oh man, sixty bucks is steep. I would have stayed home, too.

Excellent! Chris Cornell - She'll Never Be Your Man So far I'm on the fence about the new album. There are some instant classics and some songs that I might need to grow into. I gotta say, I loved the idea of covering Billie Jean at his acoustic live shows. However, I don't like that he put it on the album.

So, Kor, from the front page story in your hometown rag, I see the Red-Headed Stranger came to town. You check it out? Sorry to derail the language debate...

Hot damn that's a great song! I only have one thing to say about the Zevon talk I missed a few days ago: Of all the Thompson gunners, . The White Stripes - You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)

Guided By Voices - Glad Girls hey, hey glad girls only wanna get you high hey, hey glad girls only wanna get you high and they're all right and they're all right and they're all right (repeat) Now that's what I call a chorus!

Yeah, and before that he was Servant of Eru, whatever the hell that meant. My only beef (ha, ha!) with the Child formerly known as SOE is that he basically killed the internet with that ridiculous Wendy's cheeseburger signature. Seriously. I couldn't even read threads with his posts in them -- my browser would freeze every time. Of course, that was when I didn't have the Internet at home, so I was surfing the Web at work on an Apple that was almost old enough to buy smokes. So it was mostly my fault, but it still frustrated the hell out of me.

Yeah, I'm with Tale on this one. Thanks for the inside info, Omelette.

Yar, ahead there be spoilers! .....

come on, get some before it gets stale Yeah.... R.E.M - Talk About the Passion

Hmm... well I went to see POTC3 in the theaters a while back. I thought it was pretty good, although I didn't know about the secret bit after the credits, so we skipped out and missed it. That's what I get for actively avoiding spoilers, I guess. Also, it's not a movie, but I've been watching season one of The Office (US version) on DVD. It's been great so far. I've only seen bits of the UK edition on YouTube, but that looks funny too. I finally got around to seeing the Johnny Depp version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when it was on HBO last week. I thought it was pretty good, although nobody could ever top Gene Wilder. Oh, and last night I flipped over to Showtime after SportsCenter and they had a movie on called "Lie with Me." It was a really depressing art flick about this girl who's addicted to sex but is incapable of love. I watched a bit, but it was a real downer... something that's basically glorified softcore porn shouldn't take itself that seriously. Also, I guess Showtime can show wangs. I did not know that.

Say Anything - Alive with the Glory of Love Love the lyrics. Very clever.

Cleveland, Ohio. Yeah, yeah. Joke all you want, but remember: you live in Iowa. At least we have a lake.

That is a bummer, dude. 1965 is definitely one of my desert island discs. I do know you can get it used from Amazon for less than three bucks (sans shipping) or new for $9.98. Last three: Ryan Adams - A Kiss Before I Go Spoon - The Underdog The Hold Steady - Killer Parties

Paul Westerberg - It's a Wonderful Lie

Fountains of Wayne - I-95 Hip-hop stations are fading in and out All I'm receiving now Is a kick drum mixed with static Constellations are blinking in the sky The road is open' wide And it feels so cinematic It's a nine hour drive From me to you South on I-95 And I'll do it

My parents are both teachers, and I'm an only child, so we took a lot of vacations in the summer when I was growing up. As I got a little older, the trips evolved from driving out west and staying in KOAs to taking cruises. One thing to consider: All cruise lines are not created equal. Generally, the bigger the ship, the lower the quality of service. Also, some of the older folks who demand the personalized service and better cuisine (and who have the cash to afford it) have defected to the "premium" cruise lines -- Princess, Celebrity, et al. -- as old mainstays like Royal Caribbean have driven their cruise experience toward the mainstream. If you go on a Carnival or RC cruise, you run the chance of being crammed like sardines into one of their hulking superships. The level of revelry is usually higher on the cheaper cruise lines, because there's a younger crowd -- recent college grads, honeymooners, etc. Of course, you're not going to soak up the sun and drink mai tais all day. I would think a Mediterranean cruise would attract a more cerebral group of travelers. I've been on two Caribbean cruises (RC) and one Alaskan cruise (Celebrity). My buddies from college and I are planning a cruise for next summer, now that the grad schoolers are finishing up and we're all getting settled into our jobs. I love the cruise experience and recommend it. As far as vacations go, you could do much worse.

Man, I love looking at old war propaganda. Nice find.

None other than Johnny Cougar's "Jack and Diane." I can hear the handclaps now... Fountains of Wayne - Hey Julie

Wilco - She's a Jar

I'll bet Enoch and I are replying to this simultaneously. One specific reason The Beatles get all the love they do is they are one of the few groups whose music developed -- and never regressed. How many times have wished one of your favorite bands would evolve a bit instead of writing the same album over and over? Well, The Beatles' career arc was a perfect model of evolution. They started as a rowdy bar band playing American R&B covers and ended up writing symphonic opuses and avant garde noise-pop that stretched the limits of musical engineering. They had already mastered the art of writing great pop songs, and so they started to push the envelope. They were miles ahead of all their peers. Everybody waited for the next Beatles album, to see if they could top themselves. Their album filler was superior to other bands' singles. On a related note, I watched the Help! movie a few weeks ago. I'd seen it when I was a kid, but man does it hold up well. Rent it when you've got a chance. Great document of a great band. It's a James Bond spoof, with a sense of humor like Python meets the Pink Panther. By all accounts, they were high as hell when they made it -- which explains a lot. Umm... The Beatles - The Night Before

The Beatles - Something