technology CAN'T stifle creativity, it can only help it be realized. LACK of technology can discourage creativity - though those talented enough can almost always find a way to create.

No, the problem isn't lack of creativity - it's too MUCH of it. I often hear any number of artists who would have grabbed me a number of years ago, but who now have blended together with all of the other kajillion artists who would have grabbed me some years ago. The gap between the A-list talent and their fellow travelers of mediocrity is like the difference between a major leaguer and a AAA-level player.

Music is like everything else in our lives today - there's too damn much of it. There's just way too much music, TV, movies, web sites, toys, gadgets, porn, tasty convenience food... almost ever facet of life, it seems, suffers from convenience and gluttony.

If we're all fat, sedentary gluttons with tiny attention spans now, imagine us in ten years.

for all you folks who are saying, "nanner nanner nanner, the libs do it to!" - no, they didn't, and don't. I know one of the more recent writers before me says there were signs advocating "killing" Bush - maybe so. Of all the protest events I went to or saw, I didn't see any advocating violence, but I could've missed `em. but a couple of easily-missed signs don't quite have the same punch as carrying loaded weapons to presidential events, or joking about violence while on-mic in front of a bunch of rightwing crackpots, do they? (They're also pretty mild compared to a Glen Beck-lovin' conservative murdering police officers, or an octogenarian racist trying to shoot up the Holocaust Museum, but maybe that's just me.)

Another big difference between rightwing condemnations and liberal condemnations: our continuing criticisms of Bush are about criminal actions taken by his administration, and actions that dealt a world of hurt to our country. I thought conservatives were all about personal responsibility? IOKIYAR, I suppose.

To answer your question, Joan: yes. Everytime one of these idiots tote their guns to a public event, or threaten the life of people they disagree with, or advocate terror, or joke about all of the above - they need to be called out on it. In the case of Mr. time-to-water-the-tree-of-liberty, that man should be arrested, convicted and imprisoned.

and it's satire, and that in it's satirical slant it's a pretty accurate depiction of these crackpots, but... that "physical evidence" won't prove that our President was born in the U.S. I don't think this will end unless the fetal tissue is signed by an American doctor and stamped "delivered in the USA."

"Monster Quest" actually does take a scientific approach to cryptozoology. It never makes any ridiculous claims, and always points out when a particular "discovery" turns out to be nothing.

Even better, there have been episodes about "fantastical" things that really do exist - bull sharks swimming up the Mississippi and being found in Illinois, or non-native species of large snakes (boa constrictors, anacondas, etc.) being released in the Everglades and thriving like kudzu, growing to increasingly large sizes due to the lack of predators and the abundance of food, etc.

And the show has made a strong case for the possibility of the existence of creatures like Bigfoot, Nessie, etc.; i.e., a large enough habitat and sufficient food supply to support a small breeding population of creatures that don't particularly want to be found by humans. (Or, in the case of Nessie, a creature that may have continued living in the incredibly large, murky Loch Ness for countless years, but is in the process of dying off, for whatever reason.)

And hell, the show is just so much damn fun. Between "Monster Quest" and "UFO Hunters" (another topic for another time), Wednesday night is my favorite TV night by far.

"My position is insupportable. It springs from self-hatred, emotional longing and an inability to play nicely with others or to derive my identity from being part of a warm, openhearted community. I have big problems. I am fundamentally unwell. I am unlovable."

Marry me. I love you. I'll share with your husband if necessary.

Not to sound all metaphysical, but I think humans and dogs entered into a sacred bond from the moment they started hanging out at the campfires looking for cheap eats. We take care of them, they love us. It's a more honest relationship than any that humans can have with each other.

What's the expression? "The more people I meet, the more I love my dog" or something like that? It's true. I have a better relationship with my 14-year-old blind street mutt than I do with pretty much ANY human.

I swear, every time I see Elizabeth Banks with dark hair, I think it's Parker Posey.

As to the movie, I just don't know if I can handle seeing it right now.