Edwin MacPhisto

I dunno. I throw on a pair of headphones and that album sounds gorgeous to me. I get a kick out of all the submerged elements and the times they do manage to poke through the texture, or the moments when I can snag a few imagistic lyrics from Yorke's warble. The whole thing builds to "Idiotheque," kinda blows up, and then calmly reforms. Diggity.

Also, the color red is not the color blue. Texas runs away in the second half for the win, but they're still probably headed to the Cotton Bowl.

I don't buy the "play some songs" complaint about Kid A. "Everything in Its Right Place," "The National Anthem," "Idiotheque," "Morning Bell," and "Motion Picture Soundtrack" are certainly songs that stand out as distinct. That the whole album flows together as one big atmospheric blast-off is undeniable, but it's also spiked with great individual pieces, especially the first three I mentioned.

Exactly. I too didn't know a thing about you previous; now I know that you like some good stuff. Solid and a half.

I'm really wishing I'd picked LSU in Bored's pick-em. I was thisclose, but thought the Hogs would play better in their last home game with so much on the line. They're getting wrecked. Also, Nebraska is awful.

On best bands of the 90s: as much as I like Radiohead, it would be hard for someone to point me to many groups with a better body-of-work than ATLiens and Aquemini. Go Kast.

I picked up a Buffy Season 7 for $17.77 today. Had quite a few at my Target, and I didn't show until around 1.

My take. Others will certainly differ. OK Computer The Bends Kid A Hail to the Thief Amnesiac Pablo Honey godthedog or Incandenza hates Kid A, and the other hates Amnesiac, for some dissenting voices. I can't remember who hates what.

Mike's 29, according to his Blogger profile. Wrinkly-ass motha.

The CD is just that - the CD. CD/DVD includes a DVD of some live performances, studio footage, that sort of stuff. The big honkin' package includes the DVD, the CD with the bonus track "Fast Cars" added, and a 40-page book of pictures and art selected by the band. I'd just buy the CD and get "Fast Cars" on iTunes. Good song.

Czech, what kind of music do you like? You've always struck me as not too committed to anything all that interesting. There are 3 good starting points for Radiohead: -The Bends is the most accessible and full of fantastic songs; some especially strong choices are "The Bends," "Street Spirit (Fade Out)," and "Just." Try "High and Dry" for the sensitive side. -OK Computer is probably their best album overall. If you listen to that all the way through and don't like it, they're probably not a band for you. If you don't feel like listening to the whole thing, try "Airbag," "Paranoid Android," and, say, "Exit Music (For A Film)." -Their most recent album, Hail to the Thief, serves as a sort of summation of their career to this point. It's not as good as either of the two albums I've already mentioned, but it sounds a little bit like everything they've done all mashed together. "There, There," "2+2=5," and "Myxomatosis" should give you a feel.

It's also a freakin' intense set of music. I'm impressed you made it to other music at all after the El-P.

Somewhat coincidentally, if you want the first season of 24 cheap and would rather have it in your hot little hands, Best Buy's got it for $12.99 until noon on Friday.

Who'd have thought there'd be a day when you can get a new U2 album for $7.99? It's a winner. "City of Blinding Lights" and "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" are the best, and it's consistently good the rest of the way through. Some of it's a bit too adult-contemporary for my tastes, but for the most part it's a very good U2 album. I don't think it's going to be making any moves into the pantheon of Greatest U2 Albums Ever (i.e. War, Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby), but it's get some superb high points.

I'm glad you've come to that silly decision. Texas is one of the few teams stepping up and making the Big XII look good. I'd be more concerned with the entire North, or with Texas Tech's perennial underachievement, or the fact that A&M gave Baylor its sole conference win. Texas' credentials are so-so, but they're firmly the #2 team in the Big XII right now; no one else comes close unless A&M beats them on Friday.

THURSDAY Connecticut West Virginia FRIDAY Colorado Arkansas Texas Arizona State SATURDAY Maryland Memphis Virginia Iowa State Mississippi TCU Southern Miss Louisiana Tech Oklahoma State USC Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the A&M/Texas game? 58 Tiebreak #2: How many yards passing Pittsburgh's Tyler Palko have against West Virginia? 252

Actually, none of those guys are metal fans. Nor am I, and I find Sparta dull as well. It's very straightforward, plain, and pretty much unmoving. Of the bands you mentioned, NOFX, Pennywise, and Shai Hulud are fun when you're 14, while Shadows Fall is uninspiring and reminds me too much of Metallica. Iron Maiden I know very little about, and probably wouldn't care to.

Either one of them or Iowa State, depending on what happens this week. Last year, N.C. State annihilated Kansas, and this year'll probably be something in the same vein.

I'm so happy that I bought Elif (or Niggaz, depending on your perspective) the other day. Too often lost amidst all the ridiculous misogyny is the real coming-out party for Dre's production skills. A lot of the tracks on there are just as remarkable as their descendants on The Chronic.

Of course. A small handful of awful lyrics aside, this is very good. Much more arresting than All That You Can't Leave Behind's adult-contemporary fixation. If you don't like U2, obviously don't bother, but any fan should be super-satisfied.

We'd better get some nicer games with the 12-team expansion next year. Boise's a joke. I also think the ACC would do well to shift the Tire Bowl in Charlotte up to the #4 slot, because really, the Tangerine Bowl is horrendous. #4 ACC team vs. a #7 Big XII team has the potential for a nasty mismatch, especially this year.

This is the first time they've ever done that, but I think Apple's going to try to do it more often if it works out well. Might be a nice boost. What I'm interested to see: how many people actually buy the gigantic Complete U2 they've set up for $150. It actually is complete: every album, every single, every b-side, and even the tracks off their insanely out-of-print first singles, which is rather cool.

I'm sure Texas will go to the Cotton. The rest will be up for grabs, obviously with most of that shaking out this weekend--Texas/Texas A&M and Oklahoma State/Texas Tech will decide the pecking order. On the North side, if Nebraska can't beat Colorado, the conference will only qualify for 7 of their 8 bids. Somewhere, Troy and Akron are putting on their Buffs gear.

When I saw that Syracuse/BC was on ABC's docket, I was really worried. I'm back home in Florida for Thanksgiving, and I thought I might miss Virginia/Virginia Tech (the game of the weekend, I think, unless you really like Notre Dame). Thankfully the regional map shows the Big East game only in the northeast. The ACC handed out its first bowl bid today: the Continental Tire Bowl unsurprisingly took North Carolina, whose success edges out Maryland's collapse for biggest ACC surprise this season. This means that Georgia Tech is almost certainly head back to Boise, again, and that there's still a lot of shuffling to do among the ACC's top flight in sorting out those 4 top bowls. My guess: Sugar: Miami Gator: FSU Peach: Virginia Tangerine/Champs Sports: VT

I'll fight you as well.