Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind is the best movie I've seen in a long time. I'll leave it at that--go see it for yourself. It also has a devastatingly good closing song--"Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime," performed by Beck. Though it sounds like it could have fit in nicely on Sea Change, it was actually written by Jim Warren and arranged by Jon Brion (who also did Magnolia among others). I have been trying to Kazaa it now for a little while without luck--I would have bought the CD but it's $17 at Newb's right now. And no, I don't want to get iTunes (waits for Foon's response...).

*******

Random CD from my back catalog that deserves a long listen: It's a Wonderful Life by Sparklehorse (aka Mark Linkous and whoever he's playing with). Most of the album is very chill, with the exception of "Piano Fire" and "King of Nails" which have a grittier rock quality and, perhaps not coincidentally, are two of the best songs on the album. Another highlight of the album, released in 2001, is the presence of numerous guest artists: Nina Persson from the Cardigans, PJ Harvey, and Tom Waits among others. Aside from being incredibly hot, Nina Persson also lends some terrific harmonies to the slowed-down "Gold Day," "Apple Bed," and "Little Fat Baby." PJ Harvey's backing vocals on "Piano Fire" probably make it the album's best song.

*******

I like how movie theaters call the only rationally-proportioned drink size the "child" size. What a fucking bullshit way to try and make you feel bad about not buying the 44 oz enormo-drink. Motherfuckers. Yeah, I want the bitch size. Here's my $2.75. Fuck off.

********

For some reason I've become a big fan of Doug Gottlieb, the college basketball analyst on ESPNews. Apparently he played for Oklahoma St. somewhat recently.

********

One of the things I love about European football is how literary it is. Phill Ball writes these articles for Soccernet on Spain's La Liga that have this great story-telling quality. You get things like

"Zaragoza, the true protagonists of the week's events, were held to a home draw by lowly Espanyol, but have nevertheless confirmed themselves as the cup side non pareil of recent years."

********

As someone who drives to work everyday and into the Square a lot, I often drive past what can only be described as drive-through panhandlers (mainly where Route 2 starts by Alewife and on the corner of Mass Ave and Garden St). They have a sign that usually features the word "Homeless" prominently, with about a paragraph of their best prose describing their situation. As I waited at a light the other day with one of these guys walking past the cars, my first reaction as I started to think about this phenomena was that you can never read everything they've written down--it's always too small or you just don't have time as you drive by. But then I thought about it a little more and I guess it's not what they write, it's really just that they put in the effort. And why is that? Because no one wants to give money to the "casual" homeless person. Those Pit punk kids who talk about Rancid (or whatever the fuck they care about) on the sidewalk outside Uno's? Hell no. You're gonna have to live on the street a little longer before I bankroll your next bag of licorice whips.

Whether you're nice or not, admit it--you want to be sure that you're giving your loose change to someone who is genuinely broken-willed, humbled, and appreciative of your pity. It's an unwritten contract: you have to reach some ill-defined level of squalor before you have the right to ask someone for money. So this is how we communicate...we see someone holding a sign and that acts as a pretty good indicator that they're "seriously" homeless. OK, I have no idea where I thought this was going.