I'm in the same boat as Honeybeegirl. I love most of Burn Notice (Bruce Campbell!), but that strange, overly tanned, fish-lipped actress that plays Fi kind of gives me the heebies. Also, Michael and Fiona = zero chemistry. Sharon Gless more than makes up for this, so I'll keep watching.

Also, Yitzhak, I could not agree more with you regarding the amazing John Thaw. The Remorseful Day was truly devestating.

Not Lam.

Stephanie's taste in movies is so consistently...contrarian is the polite term I think. This movie looked positively revolting in the trailers and provoked a universal eeewwww from the audience that watched it with me before Wall-e. I'm starting to think that Pineapple Express might be a good bet...

I call bullshit on Ms. Berman. She lost me when she wrote this:

"the indie buzz band of the year, Vampire Weekend, is both exploiting its upper-crust image and disguising it under layers of filched African pop"

O.k. So, Vampire Weekend have created a buzz amidst college preps and Starbuck's frequenters (the only place I've EVER heard them being played). They were soundly rejected by most serious music fans because their music is shallow, pretentious, and, as you say horribly derivative.

Plus: Cassadaga rocks.

Except for the reality show obsession of course. Why Heather, why?

But True Blood sucked me in. I am a lover of vampire lore, read Bram Stoker's Dracula when I was eleven and never looked back. Don't get me wrong, I'll take a pass on Ann Rice and Stephanie Meyer's tripe, but loved everything from The Hunger to Lost Boys to Dusk till Dawn to Buffy.

Tomreedtoon, I have an apposite aversion to gangsters, hate'em, and cannot for a moment feel any affection for them as protagonists. Loathed the sorry excuse for a human being that was Tony Soprano from day one. Even the gangsters who don't leave huge body counts (a la Soprano) ruin economies, neighborhoods, and lives. They trade in human misery (see hard drugs) and fear (protection rackets are alive and well!) and they destroy lives. Tony Soprano deserved to die painfully, and I just could not get past it.

Vampires, on the other hand, well, they're mythical, which excuses all manner of perfidy.

O.k., so Redshooz and the rest of the Foghat fans should realize that there are a bunch of us thirty-somethings (who read the Globe and Mail, watch PBS, pay taxes, have kids, and careers) AND were raised on a steady diet of Sonic Youth, The Beastie Boys, Ministry, Pixies, Nick Cave... We work long days, pay bills, vote, and yet we still find time to discover, listen to, explore, buy, download, talk about, and become enamoured of NEW MUSIC.

I didn't turn thirty and find myself on the other side of a generation gap - well, o.k. I admit that I don't 'get' boy-bands, but I'm pretty sure that's just because they're revolting (at any age) - but I still love indie-pop and always will. Sure I still listen to Guided by Voices and Husker Du, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the delicious sugarpop of The Submarines or haunting melodies of My Morning Jacket.

This piece brought up some pretty rough memories. My Mom worked too, and hard. I worried about money before I was old enough to know what I was worried about. The working poor are excluded from so many state benefits by dint of earning an income that often doesn't cover till the end of the month. When you work hard all week at a so-called decent job and still can't make ends meet, it's hard not to succumb to anger and despair.

I applaud the author for channeling her troubles into writing an article that should serve to wake readers up to the harsh reality that it is not just the unemployed who need support. A first step here in Canada would be universal day-care, which was in the works under the Liberals, but was nixed by Harper's conservatives in return for a paltry tax break.

Chez moi, we're still enjoying that Earl grey infused vodka and limonata combo that won a few years ago. It is absolutely one of the best cocktails ever, which is why I will try this year's winner at my soiree tomorrow night.

Rest assured, your perfumed, citrusy beverage is a standard, not just with me, but also my sister and brother. We are all avid earl grey tea drinkers (age range mid-twenties to mid-thirties), so trying your recipe just made sense. We adjusted it slightly - here in Canada the Earl's blend is way to strong to infuse for much over 2 hours without turning the vodka deep amber and taking on a pungent tanic quality. Other than that, we've stuck to your recipe to the letter, and it makes one of the best summer beverages ever. Impresses persnickity guests too.

...Frank T.J. Mackey, author of Seduce and Destroy. No doubt an inspiration for this moron.

...because I love a good old fashioned farce. Plus, Bowzer is right about Fargo v. The Big Lebowski. There is no question in my mind that Fargo is technically the better film, and I certainly enjoyed it in theatres. I ran out to see Lebowski and was distinctly disappointed. Fast forward 10 years, and I still enjoy re-watching the Dude et al., but rarely watch more than a few minutes of Fargo.

Yep, you are truly, truly vile. Your lonliness and rejection are not the result of a lack of "fuckability". You are alone because you are a horrible misogynist, and that is simply not attractive. You reek of gross, unibomber weirdness, and I only hope that when your rage ignites, it turns inwards rather than on those around you.

Alan Ball is talented, and I will definitely be giving True Blood a chance this fall. Also: I have loved Simon Baker since The Guardian, which was actually a pretty good show.