Here's an interesting gadget I saw on Attack of the Show last night (AOTS, formerly known as The Screen Savers, on G4TV, formerly known as Tech TV).  If you check this page out, you can enter any URL you want and the applet will map the site out, pages, images, links, and anything else.  Then it starts to do the same with sites linked from those sites until you get what looks like a forest.  I tried newpageone.com on it and it looked pretty cool.

My new thing is the band Interpol.  I had been interested in checking them out for a while now, but it's been a kind of a dead spot in the musical calendar for the last month or so.  People keep talking about the music that's coming out for the summer but nothing good is being put out right now. (Sure, I just got Beck's Guero a few weeks ago and Weezer has a new album coming in a couple more weeks, but I needed something from someone new.)  So to tide me over until Coldplay's new one comes out in June, I started investigating other groups.  First I tried sampling Keane over at Amazon, but it was too light and sweet.  I had others in mind, such as The Bravery and Bloc Party, but Interpol was on the cover of Spin last month, so I tried sampling their debut Turn on the Bright Lights, and it didn't take much of that to convince me that I had found the right one.  Another one of the New York-based post-punk bands, Interpol is like the Strokes in the sense that they don't do anything particularly new, but do it very well.  Their music is more Manchester-inspired (I'm thinking Radiohead without all the really experimental stuff and older bands like Joy Division or The Cure) but you can still feel a New York vibe in it.  Soon enough, I'll have to get Antics as well. 

I'm still weighing my options for Saturday night.  I'm not sure if I'm going to the Satan Haters' show, but then again I'm not sure if I'm doing much of anything else.  On May 1 I'm joining some pals to go up to Manchester to see some World Wrestling Entertainment, which is always a treat.  For the love of God, Hulk Hogan is going to be there.  I thought I had gotten to see him on his way out a few years ago, but the man just keeps coming back.  Running Wild, you might say.  I'm really excited about Chris Jericho and Shelton Benjamin taking each other on, though, because they're two of the only guys in the business that I find to be really entertaining these days.  If only Kurt Angle was a Monday night guy.

Is everyone enjoying the 48 Hour article?  I'm looking to see if I'm piquing any interest out there. 

That's all from here.  Time for dinner.

The party down at Sam's the other night was a really good time.  I got myself a copy of Cookie Makin' Satan Haters' new CD, which is very good.  If you can, you should see their release show at Ralph's Diner in Worcester this Saturday.  I'm going to try to be there, and I hope I see all you fools there, too. 

I just got off the phone with Fran a little while ago, and she's having a really good time over in Spain.  It was great to finally hear from her because I'd been at work every time she got to call.  I'm glad she's making the most of an opportunity like this.

Well, that's all I have to say right now.  Check back with you fools later.

Fran's in Spain right now.  She's only been there for about a day but I'm sure she's already having a great time.  It was kinda weird to come home the last couple nights and not having her around, but she's probably having a lot of fun, so I'm happy.

And now, I'm going to have a bit of Cherry Garcia ice cream, dammit.

I just watched Sideways, which was the best movie I've seen in a long time.  It had everything that I love in a good movie, great writing, great characters, beautiful cinematography, good music, and a lot of wine.  Ha ha, I have to admit I haven't seen much wine in movies lately, but it was still rather welcome.  Paul Giamatti was great as usual, but I was most impressed by Thomas Hayden Church, who I only knew from "Wings."  I don't care what your deal is, go see this movie.  Five stars out of four, hands down.

Meanwhile, in relation to the Pokey situation I mentioned in the last post, I didn't realize that it was, of course, April Fool's Day.  I should have known, Steve Havelka has been known to play some great pranks in the past (my favorite being when he swapped Pokey and Hatelife a couple of years ago). 

Saw Sin City with Nicky last night.  I thought it was pretty damn nifty to say the least.  "Stylish" is pretty much the key word when you want to talk about it as a whole, but there was decent amount of substance to go along with.  Not to mention violence, hot chicks, and a whole lot of delicious film noir atmosphere.  The cast was very well selected and the effects proved that the whole green-screen genre might work out after all.  It's not for everyone, but there's a built-in audience for this sort of thing. 

Meanwhile, Rob over at Cockeyed.com is currently selling space for ads on his site in a piece called "9 Websites I Encourage You To Visit."  I'm considering bidding for fun.  If I get in, I'll get some added traffic up in this piece!

Also, the Yankees won the season opener against the Red Sox!  One down, 161 to go.

So that's what I have to say about that.  I've got a feeling that church will be crowded tomorrow morning.  Adio, Papa.

Meanwhile, it was a textbook March this year.  The month started with plenty of snow and it ended with a straight week of gorgeous weather.  In like a lamb, out like a lion, and like a llama in between, I have to say that March has been the Best Month of 2005 thus far.  Congratulations!

And on a short note, one of my favorite comedians, Mitch Hedberg, passed away the other day as well.  I hate to seem like I'm taking steam from the pope here, but I figured it would be a better idea to put it here than to mention it at a later date and be higher on the page...  Just wanted to say that Mitch was unique and if I ever had a bad day, just thinking of an old Mitch routine would cheer me right up.  Thanks, Mitch, you were neat.