Wes Phillips

This video is making the rounds of the internets. It's a good way to remember a player who got far less respect than he deserved.

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On November 16, while listening to the radio, I was mesmerized by Howard Dully's audio coverage of what he found out about his own lobotomy at the age of 12 by Dr. Walter Freeman. This is powerful stuff—and I'm in awe of how even-handed Dully is in his reporting.

Tomorrow night, I'm going to attend a wake for Tower, an event held by ex-Tower classical employees where we will commiserate, dissect, and reminisce about the good old days.

Richard Schickel ruminates on an American art form.

Here's a sobering story about computer buying. [H] Consumer went to Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, and Fry's Electronics to buy a computer and simply tells us what happened. The money quote: "Most retail sales people are simply not going to possess the necessary knowledge to correctly recommend or explain every nuance of a piece of hardware. Even if a sales rep has all that down, a greater skill is required from them: relating that 64-bit-Lightscribe-GeForce knowledge in a non-condescending, helpful way to someone who is unsure what his hardware needs even are. The potent combo of techie know-how and properly relating it to an 'everyday' consumer is a difficult knack to develop. Most sales reps you’ll encounter are polishing one or the other, if not both of those skills, if they posses them to begin with."

A new feature for the blog: Every Thursday, I'll spotlight a recording of special merit—stuff that grabs me for both its content and its recording quality. Think of it as the return of Quarter Notes, sort of.

No, not those guys, the real thing.

Ever been stuck for a word—say, you know exactly what it means, but you just can't remember le mot juste? A good reverse dictionary can help.

This is a great response to a bone-headed manufacturing ploy. Yes, it happens—a reviewer contacts a manufacturer for a review sample and the manufacturer responds, "Sure, as long as you guarantee good press."

I'm with Calvin Trillin on this one: Never eat in a restaurant that rotates.