Edwin MacPhisto

What's really stunning about Duke is their home schedule this year. They play 31 games, only nine of which are on the road. They have 19 true home games, plus games against Air Force and Marquette in the early-season tournament in Durham. Gonzaga was in NYC. The only real road game they have outside of the ACC is at St. John's. That imbalance--and how poorly they've played lately--is why I might keep them out of the tourney, moreso than a 7-9 record.

Disagree. This episode is up there with last year's "Black Market" on the totally non-essential list. It was one of the most straightforward, least subtle or interesting or layered episodes, and all the characterizations seemed off and shallow. Plus, why were all the refugees on the ship? Total disconnect from the previous threads of the season without any explanation beyond 10 seconds of "Previously on" scenes that weren't actually previously on. Being disappointed in an episode of BSG is particularly, well, disappointing, because it's usually stellar.

The Eagles don't need any help being ruined.

This is kind of a weird concept to me. I've watched every movie I own.

Uh...didn't Mole's mom pass away a couple years back? I could be thinking of someone else, but this might be a little below the belt even by my usually apathetic standards.

1. I'm Always In Love 2. Sunken Treasure 3. Radio Cure 4. Forget the Flowers 5. Poor Places What a tough list to make. What a great fuckin' band.

I love that they had shrooms in the car too. They do it big in the pacific northwest. Not a whole lot of big games going on today, though Georgetown over Marquette was pretty impressive. All the commentators are making a big deal out of UCLA losing to West Virginia, but didn't just about every major site call that upset? Ultimately does no harm to UCLA and a whole lot for WVU's tournament chances. Also, Virginia's finally going down, getting hammered by Virginia Tech. Kind of expected to drop this one anyway, but it's been an ugly loss.

I think so. He certainly was the earliest start. Day 1: Gaines & co. --> Drazens --> Victor Drazen Day 2: Syed Ali/Marie Warner --> Sneaky-azz government dudes --> Peter Kingsley (and Max) Day 3: Salazars --> Michael Amador --> Stephen Saunders Day 4: It's pretty much Marwan all the way. We don't know who's in charge, obviously, but the Evil Terrorfamily and co. are clearly working for someone from the outset. Day 5: Bierko --> Henderson --> Logan & sneaky-azz bluetooth phone guys, with an unusual number of quickly dispatched underlings (Yellow Tie, Cummings, Nathanson) Day 6: Abu Fayed --> ? Looks like dad Bauer at this point, though it'll probably be Jack's sister, thought long dead in a rowboat accident many moons ago.

Bob's really lightin' em up in this thread.

This film didn't get much attention? I saw it in the theaters and loved it. Great movie with a great cast, especially Don Cheadle. It's been on the Encore movie channels a lot lately, and I always enjoy catching half an hour of it here or there.

With hard-hitting news like that, I can see why the Anna Nicole Smith thing has stayed as the lead story on most sites. What a boring-ass week. Can't some more helicopters crash?

Why'd you buy a car if you're off to boot camp?

Scrantonicity! Leave it to these writers to take a big joke and actually pick painfully appropriate Police songs at all the right moments.

I generally agree, but there are a few arguments against there. Take a team like Virginia Tech, who has a very weak out of conference schedule, lacking the marquee opponents that Duke had. If they finish 10-6 in the ACC with no big wins out of conference, why is that better than Duke finishing 7-9 in conference plus the wins over 4 tournament teams? No one would argue that a 10-6 ACC team should be left out this year. As for the Big East last year, the main reason nobody under .500 got a look was because 8 teams were already dancing. Considering the amount of good mid-major/high-major teams last year, it would have been hard to take a Cincinnati over, say, a Bradley. Plus, didn't most of the .500/sub-.500 bubble teams drop out in the first round of the conference tourney?

I imagine Duke would get in even at 7-9, which seems absurd but might not be. They beat Air Force, Georgetown, Indiana, and Gonzaga before conference play, which has their RPI currently sitting up at #13. They'd still be 21-12 overall. Plus, they're Duke; the name recognition and respectable overall record would probably make them one of the first "bubble" teams selected.

Well, I wasn't actually serious, though I will maintain that I'm absolutely terrified by that Mog costume and what might be inside it.

I dislike Hansbrough more, but that's probably just for the mouth-breathing. McRoberts looks like a really big 8th grader.

And god, there's more. The World of Balance looks a lot like the roof of a Days Inn.

The first season was something unique and is still totally wonderful TV--a true ensemble piece with a handful of great gimmicks and ballsy storytelling. The second season had its moments but started to get bogged down. The third, so far, is uninspired soap opera blended with piss-poor sci-fi cheese. And a guy shaking a bunny. FYI, Smitty: none of the things you put in spoiler tags (and you definitely don't need to tag stuff from the first two seasons) have ever been explained.

I made my regular chili tonight, but wanted to try the cinnamon thing. Didn't have any sticks, so I just mixed in a few tablespoons of ground cinnamon throughout the cooking. It's great--the cinnamon sort of covers all the rest of the flavors a bit, but everything's still spicy. Very fluid, very delicious, somewhat reminiscent of a mild jerk seasoning. Great suggestion, Marv.

Fucking Andrew. Your last two posts are going to make me either: 1) Have my parents drag my SNES out of their storage room and ship it to me so I can play through again, or 2) Buy a DS and this. Motherfucker. I've kind of been wanting a DS anyway... God, how awesome is the whole introduction to the game? When you get split up into the three missions? So great.

I read the spoilers for tonight's episode and I'm definitely not interested. More of the same, and I hope you guys enjoy yet another episode that

Marvin, you should get a job as a cook at real restaurant. With your experience you could probably get a full-time job with better hours and better pay than the old folks' home. Unless there's no such thing in your desolate part of MD.

Sounds pretty easy and pretty good. I'm forgoing chili tonight for some leftover chicken cacciatore, but soup's on tomorrow.

Post that ish. Sounds kinda interesting. It's 10 degrees here today. I think I might do chili for dinner tonight.