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Not sure why I would take offense (maybe I should thank you for the qualifiers). Your loss.

I posted my brief thoughts on the movie in its own thread.

I've never, ever listened to Aaliyah. I think that's because Aaliyah's first big hit ("Back and Forth") sticks with me more than it should, and for a while it looked like she was nothing more than an R. Kelly side project. I seems almost ludicrous to say that now given what she went on to do, but that's still what I think of first when I think of Aaliyah: a really, really young girl sining "Back and Forth" and hooking up with R. Kelly. I really should give something for hers a spin.

Alicia Keys: Songs in A Minor So the next album on my list is Alicia Keys's <u>Songs In A Minor</u>. I loved this album when it came out (as most people did), but I have to say that this album isn't standing the test of time as well as I would have thought. The year this album came out I always compared it to India Arie's debut (<u>Acoustic Soul</u>). At the time there was always this internal debate which swayed one way or the other based on whim and mood. But now ... India Arie's album just holds up much better. On this (Alicea's) album, there are only a few songs which continue to stand out. The best example of this is "Fallin'." This really exemplifies the whole album. This song was huge. It was and is a good song. But this song just doesn't have the same appeal anymore. At least not to me. Maybe it's been played out? I don't know. For me, the song isn't really representative of the other music on the album, so it's more difficult for me to develop an attachment for it (as I don't have a record with which to identify it). I'm only about half way through listening to the album, but I still really "A Woman's Worth" and "Jane Doe." "Goodbye" is a really good song, too; just different in mood (it's a little heavy). "How Come You Don't Call Me" probably should be mentioned here, too. Other thoughts? My overall feeling is that this is a very good album, but it's an album that's not going to be in heavy rotation for me ... that I'll probably only listen to it once or twice a year. But I am very much looking forward to her next release.

I just got out of the theater. Saw Mystic River. Anybody else seen it or wanna talk about it? Although there were differing opinions from others as the crowd left the theater, I thought the movie was very good. It's been getting great reviews, and I can see why. THe actors are top knotch and give top knotch performances. That said, I didn't think it was as good as those critics would have your believe. While the acting was very, very good, the movie certainly isn't close to a classic (or even an Oscar nominee, IMO). But I definitely thought the acting was enough to make this a must see. Sean Penn was great. Great is kind of an understatement. He gave me chills. There are were so many places he had to take this character. It was amazing. I thought this was the best performance I've ever seen from him and I would think that, given how much critical respect he carries, this would be his best chance to finally win an Academy Award. Tim Robbins was great, too. He played more of a supporting role in this movie but was extremely convincing. I think he should also get a lot of credit for this performance. I wouldn't be surprised to see him win awards (incidentally, I'm no expert). Marsha Gay Harden plays Robbins's wife and is also very, very good. I'm running out of adjectives to describe these performances (partly because I don't want to give away too much to somebody who might be reading this and deciding whether to go to the movie). Needless to say she also deserves praise. Laura Linney, Kevin Bacon and Laurence Fishbourne also play prominent rols in the cast, but even those actors are overshadowed by the three formerly mentioned. Each of them are good also. The movie's plot is well developed, the story good. The only problems I had with the movie involved the editing and direction, but those negatives are far over shadowed by the acting. OK, enough pompus criticism. I recommend the movie. Anybody else have thoughts?

That is stupid. Kids are lame. They should know that the only thing you have to do to be cooler ... ... is smoke. Duh! Disclaimer: Everything I learn I learn frmo movies.

man ... people don't know their songs.

the whole putty and elaine dynamic was great, but putty ... putty was one of the great characters, for sure. oh, that coat.

animation

That avatar is wicked cool!

Alicia Keys ... Fallin' Apparently, she's been fallin' in and out of love with a guy for the past four years. It's getting kind of old.

:o

just got back ... i loved the movie, though i heard others in the movie groaning as we exited the theater.

I've heard of Brisbane. What are their colours? That will help me recognize then in my head. For some reason I'm thinking red and blue.

Maybe another time. I'm going to go try and catch "Mystic River," a movie that just came out today in the States. It has Sean Penn, Laura Linney and Tim Robbins (among others). You probably can get information on it from http://www.imdb.com. Anyways ... if it's sold out I'll be back real soon. If not ... I'll be back a whole lot latah!

Oh yeah. Definitely. I love that game! I don't know all the terminology, but I know the rules and can follow the game really well when I watch it. For a while I was trying to buy the EA Sports game for the Sony Playstation. Anyways ... I like it. Is the club in Melbourne any good?

What's wrong with "them"?

AFL rulez!!!!

Yes, they are. The Houston Texans are an american football team. They're an average to slightly-below average team.

Bad joke time: What's the name of Brad Pitt's ugly brother? Arm.

that's an awfully sharp tongue from such a young lass best watch it don't still my cane up your ass

you really don't know this song?

I love you ** Richard is shamelessly sucking up **

Woah!!!! What was his name?

TOne of the things I want to do is go through all my music and listen to it again ... all of it. I have it almost all of it ripped and Windows does a good job of organizing the files, so I'm just going through and listening to my stuff alphabetically. This brings me to 10,000 Maniacs. I have some other 10,000 Maniacs albums in storage (or something), but the only one I have ripped is <u>Our Time In Eden</u>. I'm hoping some other people have this album too and would want to talk about it a little. I had forgotten how really good this album is and this group was. Natalie Merchant has a great voice, no doubts. There is something about her voice that really lends itself to telling a great story in a song. This is probably why, although I like songs like "These Are Days" and "Candy Everybody Wants" (the most popular songs off this album), my favorite songs are "Jezebel," "How You've Grown," and "Stockton Gala Days." I don't want to start this thread with a whole diatribe (especially if nobody ever shows an interest), but I was just hoping that somebody else out there liked this album.