Edwin MacPhisto

Oh, I hope straight-up. Spread is weak.

Ok, I lied. Used copy of Outkast's ATLiens. I had to do it. Well, that's perfectly understanble. After all, I think ATLiens their best album, and possibly the best hip-hop album of the 90s, with the exception of The Low-End Theory. Very surprisingly I find myself coming around to this way of thought, now that I’m listening to it just about daily. ATLiens really gets the hooks in quickly; “You May Die” is totally off-the-charts as an intro, and between that, “Two Dope Boys in a Cadillac,” and the title track, it’s off-and-running faster than anything else they’ve done. ATLiens definitely feels like an Aquemini prototype; similar atmosphere and production, but this one is tighter overall (under an hour, zounds!) while Aquemini has the genius skits and a real sense of sprawl, for better and for worse. In the end I think it’s probably recency and I’ll probably go back to Aquemini as my favorite (despite “Senorita,” woof), but ATLiens is really fighting hard for that spot these days.

If you want a slew of hyperactive preview stuff, head over to CollegeFootballNews.com. They're putting up incredibly in-depth previews for it being so early. Some of what they've done: -Ranked ALL 117 TEAMS (including throwing my Cavs in at #10, hoody hoo) -Started to plot out big conference breakdowns (through Big 10, ACC, Big 12, WAC, and MWC so far, I think) -Written up a super-detailed look into every team, including CFN.com's complete projection of which games every team will win and lose, and what bowls they'll wind up at Sure, half of this will be wrong by the time the first two weeks of the season have come and gone, but it’s incredibly fun to spend an afternoon bopping around the site.

I saw a dozen shows myself, and there's a wide range. On West End mainstays, you will get some shit. I tried to avoid them. The best play I saw besides Hamlet was Conor McPherson's new show, Shining City, at the Royal Court in Chelsea. Absofuckingbrilliant throughout; I picked up the script for 2 pounds and I'm cherishing it. The performances were ace, and they had to be - the play is 5 scenes, all between 2 people, with just one setting. Big-time chance for talking heads a-go-go, but it worked wonderfully. I mostly went to see the super-acclaimed or out-there ones - i.e., Michael Frayn's new play Democracy, and Tom Waits' musical, The Black Rider. As for the bard: Shakespeare at the reconstructed Globe is kind of underwhelming. Sometimes you got to see Emma Thompson's sister Sophie play a role, and you do get to be a groundling if you want. Otherwise, eh. The Open Air Theater in Regent's Park is cheap and good for comedy (wonderful Midsummer Night's Dream) but ass for drama (they crapped all over 1 Henry IV). And then there's the big one right now, which is the troupe Teatro de Felicite currently in residence at the National Theatre. They're doing a big, hyper-modern version of Measure for Measure that's very interesting, though they do take some stuff too far. As with any theater scene, there's a helluva spread.

I know a lot of his works (thanks, Shakespeare survey) and I probably wouldn't put it in the top 10, maybe even 15. If you liked Titus Andronicus, I'd...well, I was going to recommend Richard III, which has a lot of the same style of menace. Richard himself is very, very much like Aaron. But then I realized that I don't like that one too much either. I'd call it an improvement, though. Hamlet, Lear, Much Ado, and I Henry IV are my faves. Oh, and I enjoy Midsummer too, especially when you've got good people playing Peter Quince, Bottom & co. Biggest gripes with Titus (the movie) are purely stylistic. At some point I overloaded. Some of the stuff was nonsense (the kid? yeeeah...) and some of it was gratuitous to the point of comedy (i.e. super slo-mo and splashy blood on the revelation about Lavinia's...modifications). Of course, Titus Andronicus is itself pretty gratuitous, and while I normally like that sort of thing, this was just too hyperactive. Not a big fan of the color scheme, either. My complaints are largely nitpicky, and I think that's also because I can barely remember any of the performances. Someone usually stands out in Shakespeare; not so here, I feel.

Woof, Titus wasn't my thing. Too bad, because I think Taymor's stage work is pretty good. As you said, the source material is pretty weak as far as Shakespeare is concerned, and I just wasn't taken with what she did. My recent trip to London offered the best Shakespeare production I've ever seen: super-director Trevor Nunn's production of Hamlet, starring soon-to-be-huge-star Ben Whishaw, at the Old Vic Theatre. It was unfucking real. Barely abridged - runtime was just about three and a half hours. Whishaw is very young and plays Hamlet as probably in his late teens, which makes for a big change after Branagh and Olivier. His control of his body was uncanny, and the supporting cast was excellent. Even though I've read Hamlet and seen filmed versions time after time, this was the first time that the play scene gave me chills. I think it's closed by now, but if not, anyone over in London really, really ought to give it a shot. It's probably the best production of any play that I've ever seen. In terms of film, I agree with Arkham that Kurosawa does some superb adaptations. I especially like the way he takes the basic story of Lear and twists it to become Ran. Lear is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, but there are days when I like Ran better. I also get a really big kick out of Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight, which is an amalgamation of the Shakespeare plays that featured the character Falstaff (chiefly 1 Henry IV and Merry Wives of Windsor). It's fun seeing something new yet traditional done with Shakespeare, and Welles as tubby old Jack is a riot.

I thought it was really neat. The opening music-talking megamix is particularly boner-inducing.

I thought this was going to be the SomethingAwful penis again. I think this is better. Not sure.

You could edit it out of the original post now, you know. No reason to screwify the rest of us, too.

Weak. X3 is much higher on my priority list than this. Hopefully he's sticking to his contract on that.

Neutral Milk Hotel, "Holland, 1945." Shortly to be followed by the Ying-Yang Twins' "Salt Shaker." Mm, juxtaposition.

Shit, now I'm aroused even further.

I'm a bit aroused by all of this.

This seals it. Governor Arnold is the dorkiest man alive.

I renege on my praise. This is actually gay.

This is a little bit brilliant. That it changes from time to time really butters my muffin.

Yeah, it took a month and change to get down to the two Godfather movies? I have weird memories of this having happened two or three years back the same way. Anyway, The Godfather.

Goldschlager is 87 proof, so that's 43.5%. 43.5% delicious.

Well, here's one not so much about public appeal, but literally short lifespan: the Exploding Hearts. These are the guys who, a few months after their album Guitar Romantic started to get press, died when their van flipped. Uncanny pop sensibility, retro power-pop sound; I'd compare them to the Buzzcocks, but everyone's already done that, so I'll just say that they were really good at what they did. Can't think of many bands who could make a song just over two minutes seem so layered and substantial.

Lately I've had the hugest urge to play Fallout 2, but I never owned it. Borrowed it from a friend. And, of course, since it's a 6 year-old game, you can't buy it anywhere. Anyone see copies anywhere except for EBay? Or, hell, I'll even take a place I can download it, seeing as Interplay doesn't really need my money anymore.

Ok, I lied. Used copy of Outkast's ATLiens. I had to do it.

It really helps if you have one of the little spigots that bars use on their liquor bottles. Then, yeah, drizzle them down the side in order of density and be amazed. I really enjoying layering Jager, blue curacao, and a good vodka in a double shot glass. It's delicious, purty, and occasionally you get the tinest flecks of black or blue darting around in the vodka. I think it's much closer to the 9 guess, though it depends on the shot glass. I just sip from the can anyway. Century Club is tricky, but its briefer brother, the Power Hour, can usually be managed pretty easily.

That's why you go Steak and Shake. There usually aren't too many of those around, and they've got those great hats.

"Breaking Glass" comes close, but yeah, it is "Heroes." And then there's Lodger.

Fuck a bar. I layer them on my own. Delicious. I'm a bit anti-bar after spending a month amidst the outlandish prices of London, which, after playing with the exchange rate, run upwards of $8 for a double of Goldschlager. It's pints or poverty over there, as far as I'm concerned.