The guy who invented TV-B-Gone ought to get a Nobel Prize. I don't mind being at bars or places where people are actually <I>watching</I> TV, but I resent being the only person in a waiting room with the TV blaring inanities. And when you ask the receptionist to turn it off, you get answers like "Other people like it."

No matter how you feel about the whole New Orleans fiasco—my two cents: Ray "chocolate city" Nagin’s lack of chops are now going to be exposed posthaste—there are parts of that town that cannot be allowed to go away, first and foremost the musicians, many of whom still teeter on the brink or have fallen head first into the abyss of financial ruin.

<B><I>Dirty Little Secret</I></B>

Four Thursdays have powered up and cooled down since this year's Home Entertainment Show in Los Angeles, and I'm still reading the show reports. Beyond that, I'm enjoying them more and more. This is a good sign, I realize. I'm enjoying the reports more because they're making more sense to me. The language is becoming a part of me.

I've been remodeling my downstairs into a dedicated office, small listening room, and home theater and, as a result, I've been constantly scratching my head and muttering <I>how do you do that?</I> Well, the answer to most of those questions has been in the Lee Valley Tools catalog and website.

I love the way the interview begins with a line that echoes the opening line of Burgess' <I>Earthly Powers</I>. The man who gave us <I>The Quiet American</I> also had some prescient things to say about future conflicts America might participate in.

But this one's the Best Summer Music Reads from <I>Pitchfork</I>. And the only one I've already read is <I>King Dork</I>.

But this one's the Best Summer Music Reads from <I>Pitchfork</I>. And the only one I've already read is <I>King Dork</I>.