Zixar

There is a plugin for the MP3 player WinAmp called "Streamripper" that will do things like save streaming media from online radio sites. Dunno if it will do RA files or not.

Saw Jersey Girl on Saturday. If it weren't for Ben Affleck and George Carlin, (and the uncredited cameos from Jason Lee and Matt Damon) you'd never know Kevin Smith did this. Okay, that, and the fact that it's set in his hometown of Highlands, NJ. Here's the plot: workaholic father becomes instant single parent when wife dies in childbirth. That's it. You alredy know exactly where it goes from there. Still, it's one of Affleck's best-ever performances. And Carlin's. And Liv Tyler's. They're the reason this isn't just a typical Afterschool Special. If you go in expecting another Jay & Silent Bob movie, you'll be sorely disappointed. It would also be disingenuous to dismiss JG as just another chick flick--sort of like About A Boy in Jersey. It's not an instant classic by any stretch, but I think that all the actors involved will be able to look back on the work they did on JG as some of their finest. Happily, though, JG's box office in one weekend beat the ENTIRE theatrical run of last year's Gigli, so it looks like America is over Ben & Jen now. For Kevin Smith fans: *** out of four. For everyone else: ** out of four.

I forgot to mention that there's another noticeable object that always travels along the ecliptic--the Moon! :)--> (The Sun, too...) That really helps in defining that arc in the sky. Draw that imaginary line from where the Sun went down, through Venus, through the Moon, over to Jupiter. All the planets will lie close to that arc. Mercury may be too close to the horizon to see, but it will pop back out in late May.

tcat: Happy to help! Usually the clouds are only that mean when someone around you has bought a new telescope...the bigger the scope, the longer it will be overcast! :D--> Steve!: Cool! Won't be able to see much from the city, but everybody should still get to see Saturn and Jupiter, if nothing else. Everybody: There's a new book out that tells you how to find over 100 objects in the sky, and the good part is that the author tells you exactly what they'll look like through the naked eye, binos and scopes, so you'll know when you've found them. It's called Star Watch by Phil Harrington. Normal price is $16.95, but you can get it online at Books-A-Million.com for about $12. Here's a link: Star Watch book If you've found other beginner books too vague, this one might be right up your alley. Harrington also has a book called Star Ware that talks about various scopes, eyepieces, and general stargazing equipment. If you're thinking about buying a scope, it's well worth reading FIRST.

Finally, the Coen Brothers have made another decent comedy! After their smash success with O Brother, Where Art Thou? they utterly failed to follow up on its comedic promise. Intolerable Cruelty could have been so much better than it was, and The Man Who Wasn't There wasn't really a comedy to begin with. No matter, all is forgiven with The Ladykillers. A remake of an earlier film, Ladykillers is the story of a motley group of casino thieves who wind up stymied by their landlady, an elderly black woman who bothers the town sheriff at length over such things as rap lyrics and getting her cat out of the tree. I can't say much more without spoiling some of it, but judging from our audience's reaction (and ours) anyone who likes a good slightly-dark comedy will find their money well-spent on this film. The only caveats are that there is some violence, (you've seen worse, trust me), some toilet humor at the expense of IBS sufferers, and Marlon Wayans' character could be dropped into an episode of "Deadwood" for all his gratuitous f-bombing. Tom Hanks does a good job going against his usual role, playing an oily, pretentious "professor". Between his annoying laugh and scenery-chewing bombast when trying to bluff his way out of a dilemma, Hanks actually looks like he's having more fun performing in this movie than he has in any other film of the past five years. It's not quite as quotable as O Brother was, and it probably won't survive re-watching as many times, but for those who loved Raising Arizona, Fargo, and O Brother, it's a happy return to the Coen-ville we're used to. *** out of four.

Yep. Depending on if I can drag Zixette to it, I may have to bring the small scope because of luggage space, but perhaps I can figure a way to bring the big one anyway.

As most of you know, astronomy has been a beloved pastime of mine since I was a small boy glued to the TV for every rocket launch and landing. I love sharing it with others since it's one of the few hobbies you can indulge in with no equipment and in any location on the planet. Even if you never look through a telescope, there's enough the naked eye can tell you to make it worth your while to learn some. For example, everyone ought to know how to find the North Star, but there's so much misconception about it it's ridiculous. If you'd like, I'll be happy to share some of the basics here. Even if you're never lost in the woods at night, you'll at least know some science you could actually apply, in theory. Here's a starter. It's rare that five planets can be seen at the same time with the naked eye, but this week it's possible right after sunset. Wouldn't it be neat to know how to find them and tell them apart? Okay, here's how. Start right after sunset while the sky is still reddish-orange. Face the sunset with your eyes on the horizon, then lean your head back until you're looking straight up (that's called the zenith), then drop it back halfway between the horizon and the zenith. You'll see this brilliant white star, brighter than anything else in the sky. (Make sure it isn't moving or blinking--airplanes don't count as planets!) That is our first planet, Venus. Venus is currently in the constellation of Aries. Four to go. Now, with your eyes fixed on Venus, do a military about-face (everyone else just turn around while keeping your head raised at the same angle) and you'll see another brilliant white star, though less bright than Venus. That's our second planet, Jupiter, currently in the constellation of Leo. Jupiter is a grand sight in a telescope, but it's also cool in binoculars because four of Jupiter's moons are easily detectable through a pair of 10x50 binoculars. Sometimes you'll see less than 4 because they'll be behind the planet, but the view changes every night--keep looking! Now, turn 90 degrees to your right. Point your left index finger at Jupiter and your right index finger at Venus. The arc connecting the two planets is the line that all the others will be on since what you're actually looking at is the orbital plane of the whole Solar System! That imaginary line in the sky is called the ecliptic, and the planets will always be found on that line, year round. Go to the point on the ecliptic that's nearest the zenith by bringing both index fingers together over your head along that arc. Let that be the 12 o'clock position. Move your right finger to about the 1 o'clock position and you'll see a yellowish star that's not nearly as bright as Jupiter, but it will still be pretty obvious. (If it looks blue, orange or red, you're pointing at the wrong one.) That is our third planet, Saturn, and the one must-see sight in any telescope. The rings will not be visible through binoculars since it takes about 30x magnification to see them and most binos top out at 10x. You may see Saturn's moon Titan in binos, though. Saturn is currently in the constellation of Gemini. Okay, quickly trace the ecliptic backdown from Saturn through Venus towards the rapidly darkening western horizon. There will be a bright white star a few degrees above the horizon, about as bright as Saturn and probably twinkling slightly in the turbulent atmosphere of dusk. (Normally planets don't twinkle, but you're looking through so much extra air at the horizon that it's possible there.) It won't be higher than the roof of a two-story house, so if you're looking higher than that, forget it. This is swift, elusive Mercury, planet #4 and the hardest of the lot. It is currently in the constellation of Pisces. It is so close to the Sun that it never gets very far from it. You can only see Mercury at dawn and dusk, except for those times when it's at the farthest points on it's orbit. Once you've spotted Mercury (and it may be difficult to pick it out if it's still fairly light out) go back to Venus (can't miss it by now--too bright!) and look on the same line between Venus and Saturn for a red star, about as bright as Saturn. (If it's orange, or too far off the ecliptic, you're looking at either the star Aldebaran in Taurus or Betelgeuse in Orion.) The bright red star on the ecliptic is our last planet for tonight, Mars. Those of you who saw it last fall at closest approach may be surprised at how dim it has gotten in a few months. That's because it's so small and it has swung out away from us a good deal. And there you have it--five planets at one shot! It may surprise some folks that most all of astronomy is just that easy. There are loads of terms and equipment, but when it all boils down, it's just hopping from landmark to landmark, or skymark to skymark, in this case! If you found this helpful, let me know, and I'll post some more stuff. Clear skies! Zix

Yep. William Sanderson played "Larry" on Newhart. Not sure on David Milch. The name sounds familiar, but I can't place him right off the top of my head.

Yep, with Steve!. I've just had one too many honest conversations with strippers to keep any naivete about them. But, hey, you guys can go if you want to. I'm still trying to figure out how to crash the bachelorette party... ;)-->

Don't you monkey with the monkey!--Peter Gabriel

re 14k-20k: Remember too that Sucker had mentioned the 20k letter of credit before the bidding was complete, so Owner already knew how high he could go. As for Swearengen, he's English, Owner was Irish, and as evidenced by the whole flap with the murderous hooker, Swearingen was a sadistic control-freak. Didn't he tell "Larry" before he sent him out of the saloon something about a set price anyway? (probably $16k, "Larry's" first bid.) Swearingen may have not anticipated Owner would jack up the bidding on his own volition. Since he would hate losing control, he'd be a jerk about even profiting from someone else's idea. At any rate, hopefully the language was just a buzz-generating ploy for the opening episode and it will slack off as the series progresses.

Hope: Good point about Ade. I wonder if Christopher will have a big character defining moment and have to decide if he's going to be the one to kill her or not. (Long shot: he will, he'll kill her, and when the others are RICO-busted, he'll take over as head of the Jersey Mob.) Deadwood... I don't care, I think the story would have been just as well-told if they'd left out 90% of the gratuitous language. Still, it was interesting enough for me to Season Pass it. The 14,000-20,000 thing was a scam. If you'll recall, the "Larry" guy from "Newhart" was in cahoots with Swearengen the bartender. Swearengen sent "Larry" out in front of New York Sucker so he sees him (ostensibly a competing bidder for the claim). Drunk "owner" shows up, bartender and sucker "take advantage" of "Larry" having left to get "drunk owner" to set the price at $14k. "Larry" comes back in waving more cash around, making Sucker have to up the ante for the claim. "Owner" gives all the cash to bartender, who has the guy killed. It's obvious that bartender had his guys "salt" the worthless claim with a few gold nuggets (remember, bartender is also the town gold assayer) so Sucker will think it's worth a fortune. Just a big swindle, that's all.

Actually, I'm with Steve! on thumbs-downing the strip club. It's like going window shopping for cars you'll never be able to drive...and having to PAY to do it. More efficient instead to spend those dollar bills to buy the good whiskey instead of the cheap stuff... ;)-->

You can use a CODE block (like a QUOTE block, except with the word "code") to exactly duplicate characters otherwise unprintable. Like this: Here is some stuff that wouldn't normally print [i]italics[/i]

Tom: Columbus Day weekend.

I think they referred waaaay too much to Ray Abruzzo's character (Little Carmine) this week without him actually appearing in the episode...it's hard enough to keep up with all these guys by name alone. I thought Steve Buscemi's character was kind of a walk-on role, until that scene in Ep2 where he tells Tony he's crowding him. I think we're going to see Blundetto snap before the end of the season and whack someone. Robert Loggia as Feech LaManna is this year's Richie Aprile/Ralph Cifaretto. We should start a "how's he gonna be sent to sleep with the fishes" contest... Got Deadwood on TiVo...haven't seen it yet.

dmiller: Nah, you should stick with your Mac, if you don't like fiddling around with computer-geek toys. Besides, it's Intel-only if memory serves, so it only runs on PCs.

Jonny: Thanks. No, I haven't had the Intermediate Class, yet--I haven't bought enough comic books to collect enough coupons! Amazing Sea Monkeys are patient, though...

The new Sky & Telescope arrived yesterday, and it looks like we could be in for another rare astronomical treat in early May--two naked-eye comets visible simultaneously! Of course, it's hard to predict which comets will be dazzling and which will be duds, but if things go well, we could see Comet LINEAR and Comet NEAT in the early evening skies on May 10th. They won't be as bright as Hale-Bopp was, but they could be as bright as the previous naked-eye comet, Hyakutake, the year before, and brighter than the previous IRAS-Araki-Alcock. More details as they develop...

Another Hidden Mystery Revealed Through The Media: "God made Man, but he used a monkey to do it!" --Devo, Jocko Homo, from the album Q: Are We Not Men? This could explain the brotherhood and kinship we have towards Amazing Sea Monkeys... ...or not.

ALP: I may be wrong, but I think it refers to a state in which one is focusing more on one's problems than on Amazing Sea Monkeys. One has moved the monkey from in front of one's face and shifted it to one's back, where its tranquil Amazingness can no longer be seen. We need to get the monkeys off our backs, pee-pul! Gaze upon the happy Amazing Sea Monkeys, and your worldly troubles will fade into the great void as doth a shrimp fart.

Thank God we don't live in France... Inspector Clousseau would make us have a "lissANCE for the minkey"... Amazing

Z: Chattanooga is closest, with Atlanta and Knoxville duking it out for second, I think.

woooo...I've gone all watery-colored! Thank you, Sea Monkeys! It's amaaaazing....

You might try to find another Betamax VCR on eBay. Probably cheaper than what a repair shop would charge just to look at your other one. [a little later...] I just checked. There are several up for auction on eBay, from $8.00 on up to over $100.