Edwin MacPhisto

I actually beat it on the first try, I shit you not. After flying school, just the fact that I didn't have to go through all those damned checkpoints made it a breeze. I was really lucky and didn't fill up the "above radar" meter once. For flying school, the only missions I really had any trouble with were "Circle Airfield" and "Circle Airfield and Land." Only use L2 and R2 to steer except for a few quick banks with the analog stick; I never used the stick for more than one second at a time, because that miserable plane flops out of control if you do. The landing is really tricky...as soon as you get through the last checkpoint, cut right and line up with the runway, drop your landing gear, and start tapping on square to slow your speed. After that, it's just a matter of trying not to bounce when you hit the runway. The most important thing is that you finish lined up with the runway; if you veer off to the side, you won't get credit for the landing. The loop-the-loop and "moving targets" mission are a bit of a pain, but I got through them after about 10 tries.

I count three American characters in the whole movie. Don't worry; it's great. This isn't really a Hollywoodized anything. It's very accurate, with the main deviation from history being that the Colonel played by Nick Nolte is a somewhat fictionalized representation of Romeo Dallaire, I guess. godthedog is absolutely right about how harrowing it is. The first half hour or so of the movie is some of the most anxiety-inducing filmmaking I've seen, largely thanks to Cheadle (who is absolutely invisible in his character, by the way--really remarkable) and to how simply and effectively everything is shot. The cinematographer deserves a ton of credit as well for never once making the camera intrusive. The thought that kept coming back to me throughout was "I was only 11 when this happened; I'm not responsible." The movie's also pretty excellent in that it clearly shows that the Rwandans lived in a houses, had homes, had jobs, had businesses, etc. In my experience discussing the genocide, most people seem to think the Hutus and Tutsis lived in tents and were deeply tribal.

Ass-whooped feelings. Has anyone said "Radio, Radio" or "Riot Act" yet (from Elvis Costello's This Year's Model and Get Happy!!, respectively)? They're grand.

I really like how the announcers just refer to Roethlisberger as "Ben" rather than try his name every time.

Scarface is pretty great because it's clear that most of the cast was actually on coke. And it has that "Push It To The Limit" song.

We just like watching you get beat up.

Wouldn't be surprised to see the Jets target him. Becht is probably done with the Jets after this year and they need a productive TE. That seems about right, since they'll probably be picking around #25 or #26 if this weekend turns out as expected. TE doesn't really seem to be a huge priority for many teams this year and rarely is a high draft choice anyway.

There's a selling point: "PLAY AS DANNY GLOVER!" Kids love Grand Canyon.

Do you think the various Iraqis who are kidnapping and beheading people are respectful of their victims' religious beliefs? If you follow this thought process through, you'll realize how hollow it is. Don't set the United States up so the standard it has to meet is being just a little bit better than fear-mongering murderers. Its implications are also pretty contradictory to this statement:

Gary Busey is great in this. It's one of his best "I'm a crazy sonofabitch" performances, right up there with Under Siege. Danny Glover wasting guys with a streetsweeper is another weird image from this one.

Oh, don't test me, sonny-boy. Everything on the first disc of substance except "Everything's Gone Green," which is a "Blue Monday" demo, more or less, is great. "Bizarre Love Triangle" especially.

I forgot to mention that the friend in the Hitler costume wore it to school. The vice principal made him cover up the armband. And that was it. Phenomenal.

The Sign o' the Times concert film was on one of the Encore movie channels last night. Wonderful music, weird-ass visuals, and Sheila E's sweaty, sweaty crotch.

Ever since Bob's hyperbolic paean to Hilary Duff in one of his Saturday Night Live topics, I've been convinced that he's been pulling one over on us all for years.

Pretty much what lovecraft said, minus the "high hopes" part. I'll stick with Substance. Crunchier New Order doesn't do it for me like jangly New Order does. "Crystal" wasn't bad, though.

I like it! But I also really like "Rocky Raccoon," so.

In 10th grade, a few friends and I did the whole run of World War 2 era dictators for Halloween: Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini. I was Joe.

Same here. Friend of mine was over last night and we finally plowed through all of the flight school crap. Phew.

I've tried that before. It's better, and I love that song, but my ideal finish would drop "7th Chamber Part II" and flip "Tearz" with "Protect Ya Neck." After all, even as it stands now, the album already ends with RZA's "ya best protect ya neck, best protect ya neck" fade-out. Something as frenetic and wild as "Protect Ya Neck" sums up the album for me and would make a perfect finale. Speaking of which, how big was that song back when this album first came out? I dropped it on a mix disc for a party on a whim, and there had to be 10 or 12 college kids absolutely into it, pretty much word for word on some of the verses.

This always bugs me. The album is so ridiculously good, and...they end it on a pastiche of all the tracks before it? It falls flat in the context of the album. On it's own, it's a nice Wu-Tang sampler, but it's a tremendous anti-climax after you've just run through the ridiculous pile of hits that is that album's second half.

The fact that the flight school is mandatory is deeply irritating and probably the worst thing about the game so far. I don't play Grand Theft Auto to play a flight simulator, least of all a really, really shitty one.

I sent an article to Tom back when you asked me about pop culture stuff, actually, but he never got back to me. Missed opportunities, bitches!

The first half of season 2 is way, way better than the second half. After the nuclear bomb storyline, season 2 become the worst run of eps the show has seen, I think.

Juno Reactor out of print makes me feel old. Listened to a lot of that in 10th grade. I still have Beyond the Infinite, though I haven't really listened to anything "electronic" that isn't Underworld or Aphex in ages.

The article is probably exaggeration to the max, but Jingus makes the worst arguments in defense of anything.