Edwin MacPhisto

I tried to come up with things that would maybe make Czech cry. In my best Peter King: c. I think I like this Joe Flacco out of Delaware. He has a rocket arm (no, not that Rocket--and shame on you, Mr. Clemens) and will get a chance to compete for the starting job on day 1 if John Harbaugh's body language when speaking about this bright kid is any indication. Come week 9, if the Ravens are sitting at 5-3 with Flacco under center, could Kyle Boller find himself with a chance to be the savior of Soldier Field? If the Bears haven't found a solution by midseason, I guarantee Lovie Smith will be listening. d. I think that those Gossip Girl billboards still steam my clams.

I fucked around with the trade machine for 20 minutes, and the best I could get for the Suns without going into multi-team trades was Nash to Portland for LaMarcus Aldridge, Steve Blake, and either Travis Outlaw or Martell Webster. Which doesn't make any sense, cause Portland's already pretty good and only likely to get better with Oden next season.

I downloaded it but haven't listened yet. They're playing in DC the night before my birthday, so I should probably get familiar.

I have really vivid memories of when Purdue was something like 5-0 and Kyle Orton got dumped on his head violently at the end of the Wisconsin game, fumbled the ball, and lost. It was then that I knew he would become something special.

Take one win off Orton and give it to Testaverde.

See, that's what I mean. Where's the real value in that trade for Phoenix? You just get role players and a lesser point guard and less flexibility with the expiring deals.

Even with D'Antoni on his way out and Shaq blubbering up the middle, I'm not sure there's good value to it. They'll probably be running a different kind of offense next year, but they don't have a real point guard besides Nash on the roster, so half of their trade would have to be getting someone back to fill that role. If they're not going to resign him, they should try to deal him within the next year for a few promising guys on rookie contracts, unless they just want to let him walk to clear cap space for a max deal free agent next summer or summer 2010. He's already going to be an expiring contract, so they don't need to trade for wastes of space who fill the same role. I'd say they could get a few good draft picks for Nash too, but given the Suns' predilection for selling their picks for money, there's probably no point to that.

Hahaha. This was a "titanic battle"? LeBron going 2 for 18 (!) and the Cavs only losing by 4 has got to be a little worrisome for Boston.

Small Change is my favorite for getting drunk. The Island Records and Anti stuff is a little too weird for steady drinking, though there are certainly plenty of high (low?) points for that purpose.

That soundtrack's fantastic. Think I'll have to finally pick this up this weekend now that the Xbox is fixed.

If you don't tuck in your got milk shirt, you're nothing.

Awesome times 3. I wonder if I can get to the Columbus show.

You codger, you! Basketball is actually one of the things that I think translates wonderfully to HD. Not only is everything clearer, but the wider aspect ratio means you can actually see an entire half of the court at once. Overall, it's just much easier to pick up details that make games/programming/anything more entertaining. Same reason we buy DVDs instead of VHS tapes, or CDs instead of cassettes.

This is a cool thread. I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys do when you're down to your 10th man and what-not. I really want someone to take Vin Baker or Pat Burke to just sit on the edge of his uber-team's uber-bench.

I'm in a weird setup, in an apartment complex that gets a pre-configured Dish Network feed transmitted through cable via a little local cutout company (Shentel). Since I moved in, the HD's been bare bones--the networks, TNT, ESPN, and that's about it. The whole setup finally got upgraded to the point where I now have one of the mpeg-4 boxes and about 50 channels, including all the absurd Voom networks. Monsters HD is unquestionably the greatest TV-based thing to occur in years. I like Food Network HD, but I really only give a shit about Good Eats, so the stretching isn't a problem for me.

Just check the file size on your computer. It sounds like they might be in some sort of lossless format. I think the "holds xxx songs!" qualification is generally based on 128kb files of 4 minutes or so in length. At 128kb encoding (AAC or MP3), you're looking at about 1 mb per minute of song.

No, I think you're right on target--it's your 12th pick now, as Milky just went.

Taking it would have been just been too digi-mean. I did listen to it like right after that conversation, though. "Strawberry Fields Forever" is so fucking fantastic.

Banky's 24 hours are up, so I'll move us ahead with... Tom Waits - Bone Machine Rain Dogs is my favorite Tom Waits album, but this is #2, and a plenty strong candidate for an all-time list. I'd call it a fringe top-20 pick overall, but one that climbs quickly when I consider the possibility of a life where I can't listen to Tom Waits anymore. One common assessment of Bone Machine is that it's his most sinister, scary-sounding album, and that that's what makes it great. That's partly true, but sells the album a bit short. What really makes it great is that it's probably the most varied album he's ever released, and that despite the variations it's successful and cohesive all the way through. There's nothing scary about "Who Are You," one of his prettiest and most devastating ballads in his career, nor is there anything scary about "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" or "That Feel," the buoyant numbers that help close the album. And of course, there's still plenty of thunder on "Earth Died Screaming" or "Goin' Out West," and lots of the accustomed macabre, twangy, and percussive weirdness. Bone Machine's definitely an artistic peak, but one that also works pretty well as a summary of a career that's included several distinct phases and a whole lot of experimentation along the way.

Time to become a "Consultant." You're never unemployed!

I'd pick Eichmann so he could be all "I had NO IDEA I was eating the last biscuit!"

No, the NBA playoffs are bracket-style. The 1/8 winner always plays the 4/5 winner.

That's like my either my worst typo or my most distracted post ever. I'm totally leaving it. You got the point though, so that works.

All right Ripper. You see where this is going. You can lose game 7 and maybe still have Woodson go, or you can lose game 7 and maybe get a new coach. Shoot the hostage?

Well, losing to a team that won 30 games fewer than you did is pretty damn funny, if nothing else.