I must be turning into an ol' softy, because this piece of writing in today's Boston Globe nearly made me cry.

Song now playing: Jay Farrar & Kelly Willis - "Rex's Blues"

One of the movies I had really been excited to see lately was Garden State, featuring Zach Braff from Scrubs and Natalie Portman, from the book "Actresses Jeff Has A Crush On." So Steph and I went over to the local suburban cineplex and saw it over the weekend, and it didn't disappoint in the least. Garden State is my favorite movie of the year thus far.

Both of us are big fans of Scrubs, but I've always had a feeling that Braff has been capable of much more. This film, which he wrote and directed, is about a sullen twenty-something male and his struggles with medication, his parents & relationships. The film is largely a quiet, sunken affair, but Braff adds such incredibly interesting touches of uproarious oddball humor, interesting characters, strange left-turns and fantastic dialogue - plus a knack for "getting the right shot," while not over-doing any of it. His talent isn't just in plot or writing: it really lies hidden in the cracks - it's the extra few moments of pause before a character says something, or how the sweet and gentle touches of each character play out after you see their harshness; or, most importantly, how silence becomes the most deafening roar. It all made this movie shine. I mean, really shine.

Natalie Portman also takes a pretty nice leap forward for her resume, too. She played her slightly dippy character to perfection and ends up as one of the key players in the movie's success. Nice to see that she's not just taking roles where she wears half-shirts (uh, you reading this Lucas?).

One more note: from what I've read about Braff, he has great taste in music and I've said it dozens of times - music can put a film over the edge, positive or negative. The movie skewed towards the dark in both plot and ambiance. So a big, huge, fat A-plus for the music selection in Garden State. The Shins, Nick Drake, Iron and Wine, Simon & Garfunkel and even Colin Hay (from Men At Work) contributed some stunning musical accompaniment. This is Braff's first full-scale film and an absolute must-see; I'm incredibly impressed and looking forward to what he can do in the future.

Song now playing: Prince - "Controversy"

Yes, I know this is the second week without an Item Five interview, but it's certainly not due to lack of effort on my part. I have several committments from a few people, the only problem is that they haven't gotten their answers back to me. So I wait. Absence makes the blog-heart grow fonder, doesn't it?

So this morning I had to bring my car in for its annual check-up and three month oil change. Additionally, the interior door handle on the passenger side has broken, which means if you're sitting in passenger seat, you either have to open the window to reach out and open the door from the outside or wait for me to walk around and open the door for you. They will be looking at that. So why the hell am I writing about this? Well, my warranty expires at 36,000 miles. When I pulled into the service bay this morning, my odometer read 35,999. I kid you not. I told them to scour the car for anything that might be able to be fixed under warranty. How many think they will? (crickets.......tumbleweeds........crickets....)

One of the finest inventions the internet has ever seen is BugMeNot.com. You ever get a small rush of excitement when you click on an article on the web from in a distant newspaper that you really want to read, but then you have to register for the damn thing? Usually I just don't bother taking the time because it's intrusive and annoying and, as Stephanie once said, "I don't want to get spam emails from the Miami Herald." Well, those days are over. BugMeNot.com has passwords and usernames for nearly every registration-based newspaper out there. Bless their little hearts. Go to the site, get your password, read your article, everything is good in the world, brothers and sisters.

A couple of news stories:

So, up there in Canada, they're looking for roughly $57,000 worth of stolen beer. Hmmm.....if they have any common sense up there, they should be on the lookout for a large, 350-pound bear, maybe?

Finally, and most importantly, is the news that Quentin Tarantino will be making an appearance in the next Muppet movie. I am waiting with baited breath to see the newest Muppet, The Gimp.

Song now playing: The Pernice Brothers - "Number Two"

I love that The Onion went out and asked a bunch of celebrities "if you could send one message to the children of the world, what would it be"? Some of their answers are priceless, particularly Patricia Heaton from Everybody Loves Raymond and Trey Parker, one of the architects of South Park. Good stuff.

Ebay took a 25% stake in Craigslist. There's rumors of Monster.com being acquired by Google. Something tells me that the next year is going to be even crazier in the internet space than the last twelve months were. I mean, look no further than the search engine belt buckle, right? Thing is, I'm not sure if this is real and the fact that it wouldn't surprise me if it were real makes me feel like I need to shut down the 'ol laptop and go on vacation for a month. Or twelve.

Listen, everybody needs 30 pounds of scissors, right? Of course they do. Of course.

Song now playing: Bob Dylan - "Seven Curses"

A single mother and her three children are forced to live in a minivan. Why? Because if you make $24,000 in the state of Massachusetts, then you're not eligible for state-funded shelter, no matter how many people are in your family. So this single mother, who earns roughly $300 per week in take home pay and has to spend it on food, clothes and storage, has to crash every night in the driver's seat of a van? Sickening. Think about the assistance our state may have been able to provide had we not laid out the cash to bring something as useless as the Democratic National Convention to Boston. The conventions serve no purpose anymore, other than to throw some parties for mostly rich, obnoxious white dudes. Shameful. Puts things into perspective, doesn't it? Your life ain't so bad after all.

In much lighter news, Queen is the first western pop band allowed for airplay in Iran. I would give almost anything to have been a fly on the wall when the powers-that-be in Iran were whittling that list down. Was Culture Club one of the finalists? George Michael? I can see it now - young Iranian boys running around on their front lawns, dressed in a one-piece leopard-skin, chestless leotard, flamboyantly singing "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy" at the top of their lungs. I guess it could be worse. It might have been Judas Priest. I've made the claim many times, in fact, that Mercury possessed one of the best voices in pop music of the past 40 years. I've always been a fan of Queen, since the 1970s when my parents brought home the vinyl version of "News of The World" and I saw the huge gatefold vinyl artwork with that large, mechanical monster terrorizing all the concertgoers. Of course, the music was great, too.

Song now playing: Queen - "I'm In Love With My Car"

Want to see just how insane the search engine business is? Look at this chart.

Comcast is set to start launching DVR offerings for their cable customers. Look for this technology to go crazy-ass mainstream in the next 1-2 years. TiVO has already laid the foundation for it and it might very well be the better product, but if I can have both my cable box and my DVR in the same device (which will be the case with Comcast), then sign me up. DVR has seen a groundswell, but it's going to revoloutionize your TV watching experience when this thing really rolls out. TiVO's response, not unexpected, was to drop their prices for their box down to $99, which is compelling. Still, I'll wait and take the conveinence.

I finished up my season on EASports MVP Baseball. As the Padres, I made it to the playoffs by winning the NL West with a 93-69 record, then got slaughtered by the Cubs 3 games to 1 in the opening round. The Cubs, backed by Derek Lee's .455 average, went on to lose only one more game in the entire playoffs and won the whole thing. I'm starting season #2 soon, and I'm still figuring out what team to play with.

We saw The Village last week - very much worth your time and money to see it on the big screen.

Song now playing: Camper Van Beethoven - "Tania"

I could swear there might have been a similar story about me back in college, but I always get a good laugh out of stories which involve beer in heavy volume. I wonder if he's got a hangover? Or if he puked?

Saw Prince last night here in Boston. Nothing I can say or write can come close to justifying the show this man puts on. Nothing I can say or write will explain how hard of hearing I was afterwards, either. Maybe the loudest show I've ever witnessed. I remember twenty years ago when Purple Rain came out (oh, that hurts), I thought that the movie should have been nominated for an Oscar. I was 13, give me a break. I'm fairly certain there were much better films in 1984, but the movie still actually holds its own. I'm not sure what I'm getting at, really.

Anyway, Prince's talent, showmanship, humor and energy all made for a pretty unbelieveable show and his band, whether backing him for traditional runs through a 3 minute song or pumping out a spectacular ten minute funk jam, were just amazing.

Prince has an uncanny ability to throw a song out there that nobody has heard and make you just relish it. He had the 20,000-plus there loving each and every minute. Let's face it, we were there to hear the hits and while he did play them, he didn't dedicate the night to them and he offered many subtle differences to the hits, too, shortening many of the big ones into a medley-style casserole ("Let's Go Crazy," "Kiss," "Take Me With U") and completely revamping a few others, including an acoustic version of "Little Red Corvette" that may very well have been the highlight of the night.

It's hard to imagine Prince not singing that song in that tricked-out, synth-laden pimp style mega-hit it was, but Prince strumming this song alone on stage with an acoustic guitar was every bit as powerful. It was stunning and Prince's talent on guitar, electic and acoustic, may very well make him the most underrated guitar player on the planet.

The roughly 30-minute acoustic set as a whole was equally as soulful and stirring as the full seven-piece band were. Prince's stripped-down version of "Cream," another song that's so overtly sexual that you just can't imagine unplugged, almost worked better than the radio hit. Then there was "7," a song I had entirely forgotten about which happens to be one of my favorite Prince songs ever. When he started playing that alone on guitar, he moved the Earth for me. This was the transition song back into the full band and by the end of the song, the band was firing on ALL cylinders again, a brilliant mish-mash of Jimi Hendrix, Funkadelic & James Brown. While I am by no means an expert on dancing, Prince is also a tireless, gifted dancer and entertainer.

As with any show, nothing is perfect. I had been hoping all night for my favorite Prince song ever, "The Cross," and "My Name Is Prince" was also notably absent, but it wasn't to be. That said, he reminded us all that his string of hits from the early '80s to the early '90s is right up there and possibly better than anyone's most powerful run of songs. The man has got it, and then some. And then some more.

Click on any of the pictures above to get bigger versions.

Song now playing: Jay Farrar - "Dent County"

I'll be attending the Prince show tonight at the Centre De Fleet in Boston. I'll only go if you take off all of your clothes and jump in Lake Minnetonka, though. '80s reference......

Song now playing: Merle Haggard - "Movin' On"

Here's a great article (but long) from the blog Daring Fireball about how Apple is not making the same mistake with the Ipod that they made in the computer business 20 years ago. While I'm not entirely sold on the logic behind it, it's still a very worthwhile read, especially the part where the author takes a USA Today writer to task, which isn't a difficult thing to do, but it's still fun.

Personally, I think the IPod will win out in the short-to-medium term for three pretty simple reasons: 1) it seems to be the best product out there, 2)it works on Mac's and Windows and 3) like Google, it's built a seemingly insurmountablemindshare. The truth is that, functionally, the competing players out there seem to be comperable. But mindshare is a gigantic thing. Ask the people behing VHS and BetaMax.

In the long term, though, I wouldn't be surprised to see one all-purpose "super" device that does it all - phone, PDA, 40+GB music player, GPS, internet (and search) enabled toy. Someone will make it, it will have almost unlimited power and space, it will probably not be made by Apple and yes, I will buy it. Right away.

Song now playing: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "The Mercy Seat"

A few thoughts on the hurricane:

We were watching the news yesterday as the cameras panned north-south-east-west across the devastation this thing left in its wake. It's pretty much the same footage you see on the news every time a hurricane hits. Not to belittle it, but it's true. Anyway, we saw that George Bush was walking around and I couldn't help but wonder when he would blurt out something like "we're going to get the terrorists who did this to our country."

As you may or may not know, Stephanie and I spent 6 nights at Captiva/Sanibel island for our honeymoon just two weeks ago, a small island just off the coast of Fort Myers. The news said that there are 160 residential houses on Captiva and roughly 100 more on Sanibel. Guess how many of those houses were damaged on Capitva? 160. Of the 160 damaged, 30% were destroyed. Let me tell you, these were just run-of-the-mill ranches on Captiva, either. Most of these are multi-million dollar mansions. Not anymore. Oh yeah, Captiva was also split into two different islands after the hurricane. Wow.

Of course, the local weathermen/women up here in New England were frothing at the mouth at the thought of any abnormal weather that might arrive, so as usual, they stammered and just about jumped up and down and told us we were really in for very heavy winds and enormous amounts of rainfall yesterday morning. We fall for this every time - it's like the Blitz. Naturally, yesterday rolled around and we got a rainstorm and that's about all. There was some minor flooding in the southeast part of the state, but other than that, nothing. All the local meteorologists are now back on their zoloft, I guess, quietly and bitterly back to forecasting partly sunny days in the mid-80's.

One other quick note: my IPod might have a brain. Took a drive on Sunday morning, a cloudy, gloomy day and it played cloudy gloomy, acoustic songs, all right in a row. Interesting. Today it clearly had classic rock on its mind:

Guns N Roses - Don't Cry
Jimi Hendrix - Fire
The Faces - Borstal Boys
Autumn Defense - Circles
Bottle Rockets - Gravity Fails
Bruce Springsteen - Spirit In The Night

Song now playing: Nick Lowe - "Heart of the City"

Bonus RustedRobot weekend coverage:

Last night I logged onto my online bank to do a transfer at around 11:30pm and when I entered my password and looked at my balances, I knew what it felt like, for just a few fleeting moments, to have $90 billion dollars in the bank. And it felt good.

Song now playing: Led Zeppelin - "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp"

Have you ever had a year when there just seems to be no really great music to latch onto? When all you want is one great record? Or even a record in which even half the songs are good? 2004 is shaping up to be one of those years. I've already sold back the new Beastie Boys album. See, they made the mistake of constructing one of my favorite albums of all time - Paul's Boutique - and now they have to live up to it. They haven't yet. Check Your Head came close, but no cigar.

The new Wilco album isn't killing me yet, but it took me a while to like the last one, too. But hark! The new Drive-By Truckers album will be out later this month, so there's some possible light ahead. If I had to pick my favorite album of the year so far, it would be a close two-horse race between Ambulance LTD and Franz Ferdinand, whose "Take Me Out" is my song of the year, hands down. At this time last year I had ten records I knew were gonna make the list. This year, shit, I have no idea.

Which brings me to Earlimart. No, it's not the new convienence store that just opened in the next town over. They're a Califnornia based indie-rock band who blew my mind last year with Everyone Down Here, their debut for the Palm Pictures record label. Everyone Down Here was a kick-ass mix of standard three-chord rock songs, intricate and sometimes spooky ballads and experimental studio tinkering. Think about the dings and clanks of Sparklehorse, the brilliant, unorganized mess of Pavement - and you have Earlimart. I have serious regrets that I didn't include their beautiful song "The Movies" on my top 10 CD from last year.

Anyway, chief Earlimart guy Aaron Espinoza (guitar, vocals, lyrics, producer) was nice enough to take a few minutes to answer some of my questions. Let's listen in.....

1. Do clowns scare you? Please explain.

Of course. They're child molesters.

2. Do you really "owe it all to the movies?"

Yes. Specifically, Cabin Boy.

3. Please tell us about the new Earlimart record.

Just finished it - we're all pretty happy. I had a great time recording it - everything seemed to make good sense and it sounds good. Give it a listen - I think it's out in late September.

4. If some Wicks are Slicks, and some Slicks are Snicks, then some Wicks are definitely Snicks. True or false?

SATs got you down?

5. Which is more fun - touring or recording? Which is more tiring?

Touring is fun because when adults are trapped together for such long periods of time, your inside jokes go on and on forever... Touring is tiring at the point you realize that your tour IS the inside joke. Recording is less about fun or being tired, and more about getting satisfaction.

6. Who is the most important rock band from the 1970s?

Have you read Steely Dan's lyrics? Amazing. "Turn up the Eagles, the neighboors are listening". Brilliant. I change my mind. Neil Young.

7. Why don't you ask me a question?

Hmmm...are you happy your law/communications/psyche degree is paying off? :)

Answer (in Beavis voice): Are you threatening me?

8. What are your thoughts on Arnold's job as governor of California so far?

I need your clothes, your boots, your motorcycle.

9. What is the last completely ridiculous thing you witnessed in Los Angeles?

Clothes, boots, motorcycles.

10. Who would you rather be: Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy or The Swedish Chef?

Kermit. Miss Piggy is a pig, and the other dude has no eyes.

Thank you Aaron and I'm looking forward to latching onto the new Earlimart album soon. Oh, by the way, I'm wearing new glasses. As soon as Stephanie called me "toilet face" I had to act quickly.

Song now playing: Beatles - "Taxman"

Today I would like to quickly discuss english muffins. First of all, nobody makes an english muffin as good as Thomas's. I will not argue this because it's 100% correct and you know it. However, Thomas's really ought to reconsider the whole "fork split" thing and let us do the slicing. In case you're not sure, Thomas's does this thing where they sort of cut the muffin for you, but it's up to you to slide a small knife in there to finish the job - there's really very little work involved for us. The problem is that the way they cut them is just wrong. You always end up with one very large part and another the size of a quarter.

This lends itself to clear problems when toasting the muffin - because the small one is as crisp as a newly burned building in Lawrence, MA (Massachusetts inside joke) and the big one is still kinda "raw" - and nobody eats Thomas's english muffins before toasting it. Anyway, let us do the extra work. I'm pretty darn sure I can cut the muffin adequately, or at least more adequate than the Thomas's machines are doing it.

In the news, you can expect to see a lot of mail with my picture on it, after the U.S. Postal service implements this. Strange but true.

Ever since I was in high school, I have recurring dreams about hockey and its always very similar - I arrive at a hockey game just in time, but for some odd reason, I have a very difficult time getting all my equipment on. And I start to panic, which makes me more rattled and I have an even more difficult time. Every minute or so I rush out to look to see how late I am or what period the game is in, yet I can't seem to finish putting my equipment on. By the time I finish, there's like 1 minute left in the game. Who can translate (or guess) the true meaning of this?

Song now playing: Mark Lanegan - "Borracho"

Here's a heartwarming story for you. Yesterday I was working from home and I got up and went into the bathroom because I needed to, um, pee. So after I finished up with that and flushed the toilet, I decided I needed to blow my nose because I was a little congested, which is basically the story of my life. I blow my nose about as often as desperate, attention starved people apply to be on reality TV shows. Anyway, in order to blow my nose, I needed to remove my glasses, because if I left them off they would either fall off while blowing my nose or get all nasty if I left them on. Those of you with glasses know. So off they come and of course, I drop them. Do they land on the floor? No. In the sink? No. Like a slow motion film, they hit the toilet seat, bounce slightly and teeter, as if deciding which direction they want to fall. I lunge for it (I might have sworn) but naturally, the glasses make their swift decision before I can reach them - into the toilet. So there they sit. With extreme relief that I already flushed the toilet, I work through the multitude of scenarios for retrieval, but lazyness and time win the moment. I just reached in and grabbed them. Then proceeded to wash my hands approximately 612 times. The glasses - I washed them 4,345 times before placing them back on my head. I also called the eye doctor and made an appointment for an exam and new pair, which I needed to do anyway. This event was the straw that stirred that drink. Fun.

Staying on subject, I'm looking through my traffic logs a few minutes ago and someone came to my site after typing in the query "see me shit" into Google. I have no idea how my site would be a relevant stop on the information superhighway for such an inquiry, but whatever. I've also noticed a lot of people typing my name into search engines, which I find very, very interesting. Who are you?

Song now playing: Cracker - "St. Cajetan"

Back in the late 1990's, I considered the band Nada Surf to be "just another radio band." They got some solid radio exposure and even a bunch of video airplay on MTV with a song called "Popular," which is still probably the song they're most well-known for. That is somewhat unfortunate as their latest album, the 2003 release called Let Go, completely slaughters "Popular" or anything they had recorded previously. Something happened to this band between all that exposure and 2003. The songwriting got sharper, the music was more inventive, it was deliciously catchy and they basically made an entire album of very damn memorable rock songs. Good for them. They're one of the very few "radio bands" out there who just may have staying power. They're working on a new album and it should be out soon. Personally, I cannot wait to see what they're up to next time.

That said, I consider it an honor that Matthew Caws, lead singer and guitar player for the band, took some time to answer some questions for today's Item Five. Won't you come along for a ride on a very special Rustedrobot? Thanks to Matthew for not responding in caps.

1. When you sing ".....tripping in 7-11, the shelves were stretching out of control," was that, uh, autobiographical?

Yes it was. I only took acid once, but I took a lot (four little Bart Simpson heads in all). I was impatient and thought that nothing was happening. Silly me. It turned out to be a very long and memorable night. But good lord, never take that many.

2. What can you tell us about the next Nada Surf record?

It's weirder? I thought that about "Let Go" at the time, but this one really is, I think. I don't mean that in a bad way. But we haven't really entered the full bell and whistle over-dub stage yet, so there's still room for it to move around. I do know that there are more spontaneous moments on it, and I'm very happy about that.

3. Which is the better choice of cover songs:

a) I Fought The Law - The Clash
b) It's My Life - No Doubt
c) Take My Breath Away - Jessica Simpson
d) Blinded By The Light - Manfred Mann

Jessica Simpson sounds a little scary. I'm not sure i want to hear it. Mrs. Simpson's style is a little too, er, decorative for my taste. No Doubt is pretty good. The songs by The Clash and Manfred Mann are amazing. I think "Blinded By The Light" is the better song, but The Clash executed theirs better. It's still got a lot of life.

4. What was the last thing you really laughed hard at?

I don't know! That's terrible! I haven't had the hysterics in weeks. Thank you for the quesiton, I vow to totally lose it as soon as possible.

5. Bruce Springsteen once made the claim that it is hard to be a saint in the city. Assuming you are a saint, what are your thoughts?

I think it's hard to be a saint anywhere. But I think that what makes it hard in the city isn't so much what's there (plentiful diversion) but what's not there (nature). The country's good for you. I should really get out of town.

6. Do you secretly believe that the movie "Alien" just might be a true story?

No. But.... it would be awesome if this interview was just an excuse for you to use that question as an opening to telling me the "truth." I do have one concern though. If scary aliens are real, do we still get to watch them from comfy movie seats while eating popcorn, or do we actually have to interact? I think I'd get pretty shy around anything that angry and huge.

7. Why don't you ask me a question?

Who did you have your first kiss with and who made the first move?

Jeff answers: Her name was Dawn Chaisson. It was 1984 and I was in seventh grade. Nobody really made the first move because we were playing spin the bottle at her house. I do remember it quite clearly though. I guess if I had to definitively say, then I would say she made the first move, because I'm shy.

8. Who is the most underrated band of all time?

A Boston band called Big Dipper. They put out an EP called "Heavens" and an album called "Craps" (a gambling reference)on Homestead Records in the mid-eighties. Amazing stuff. They signed to Epic after that but kind of lost the magic. I'm glad i got to see them a few times.

9. Ric Ocasek produced Nada Surf's first album, back in 1996. I believe The Cars might be the best band to ever come out of Boston. You think? I also believe that Ocasek wins the contest for "most unlikely dude to get a super-hot model. You think?

That's a tough call. Though they weren't all from there, it can be argued that the Pixies were a Boston band too - and don't forget The Modern Lovers. I'd have to vote for a three-way tie.

I don't know. I think Ric is really handsome. He's certainly not a Ken (as in Barbie and....), but he's certainly got a look, and a whole lotta charm. Paulina definitely had her head on straight. Serge Gainsbourg got a lot of flak too, and you should see who he hung out with, yikes!

10. Who would you rather be: Neil Diamond, Kenny Rogers or Barbara Streisand?

Are you forgetting someone? Anyone? Drat, ok. Let's see...Barbra sounds like too much of a diva. Being that demanding would be an effort after about five minutes. Neil Diamond wore a lot of polyester, which is an uncomfortable fabric even without spotlights frying you. I guess i'll be Kenny Rogers, but honestly, I'm a little nervous.

Big thanks again to Matthew Caws, a huge talent and a fun interview.

One more thing - yesterday as I was driving to work I spotted what I thought were geese - an entire family of them - crossing the road. As I approached I realized they were not geese, but a gaggle of wild turkeys, all walking around together. There was a very large one, either the mother or father, and then a bunch of smaller ones. Kinda cute, really. I have actually never seen a wild turkey until yesterday. I've seen plenty of them on farms, but not aimlessly wandering around the suburban woods of Sudbury, Massachusetts. Neato mosquito.

Song now playing: Angry Johnny & The Killbillies - "Old Boyfriend"

Some words about my wedding:

I thought I would be more nervous. In fact, all week previous to the wedding, I felt like I was getting nervous about being nervous. The thing is, I knew I had nothing to be nervous about - Stephanie and I have lived together for two-plus years, been together for over four years and also have already bought a house together. Nothing about getting married to Stephanie made me nervous. But you always hear stories about how nervous the groom is and you see countless videos of dudes passing out at the ceremony. Maybe there was a self-fulfilling prophecy here - was I was psyching myself out? Probably. Then I had a phone call with a co-worker of mine, someone whom I deeply respect, and he encouraged me to go to the site of the wedding and simply walk down the aisle with no one there and envision the day - that would help. So I did, and he was right.

The wedding day itself had to be one of the most special days I've ever had in my life. There are times in life when specific emotions pop up with intensity - anxiety when you have to present to a group of people, a rush of excitement when you make a nice play or get a big goal in a hockey game, or the great feeling of satisfaction you get when you see a truly funny or well-made film. Things like that. My wedding day was the most wonderfully intense combination of emotions I have ever experienced. Instead of just one prevailing feeling, there were many pistons pumping and the pedal was to the medal - excitement, happiness, love, and anxiety were all swirling around me like a furious swarm of bees and I had never experienced anything like it. Not to mention the 30 some odd people who were there with us - people whom we consider incredibly special to us, from the very young to the old. I wish I could have bottled the whole thing up.

The actual ceremony seemed like a ten minute dream. It was held in the backyard of a 200 or so year-old Colonial New England home - the house where my wife grew up. The gardens were, in a word, unbelieveable. A white dove had arrived a few days before and was present on the roof. The weather was humid, but not unacceptable and more importantly, dry. We had an acoustic guitar player. Suddenly, it was happening. My future wife was walking down the aisle and I could do nothing else but look her right in the eyes and clearly state our promises, our vows. I couldn't hear the guitar player, couldn't hear traffic, couldn't hear birds, couldn't hear anyone. The only thing I saw was the person who I would be married to within minutes and the look on her face - of love, of passion, of wide-eyed excitement and of admiration. It was a look I have never seen on her and certainly one I will never, ever forget. Ever. I was in the zone. The moments when I was up there are ones I will cherish forever. The moment we were pronounced husband and wife was simply magical. We walked down the aisle afterwards, at which point we embraced and completely broke down.

Without getting overly verbose, the rest of the night was incredible. The entire party (roughly 32 of us) all had dinner together at a restaurant which we rented out for the night. The food was superb, the company was superb and night itself was unforgettable. After everyone had left, Stephanie and I stood outside in a very light rain, just hugging. We couldn't bring ourselves to leave yet. We needed another hour or two with the people we loved and had just gone through this experience with. We knew we had the next day, a day which would bring another party, this time with 130-plus people, but for that moment, I had never wished so hard for time to stop in its tracks so I could continue wallowing in what had been the best couple hours of my life.

Song now playing: The Beach Boys - "God Only Knows"

Last night Stephanie and I watched a movie called 4 Little Girls, a documentary about the four children who were killed back in 1963 by a bomb, which a white supremacist had planted in a church in Birmingham, Alabama. This event was something I certainly knew of, but only "the headline." The story itself was just incredibly sad. There were many interviews with the parents and siblings of the children and even after 40-plus years, some of those scars haven't healed.

Though racism is still alive in the U.S., I mentioned during the film last night that it's really quite hard to even imagine a time when one race was so completely divided from another to the point where they had different drinking fountains and bathrooms and couldn't get served at some restaurants. In my head, I just couldn't picture actually bearing witness to such atrocities and how profoundly that can affect someone, no matter how young or old, weak or strong. That this was happening as recently as 35-40 years ago in our own country is actually embarassing. Hopefully, the fact that I and many others of my generation can't imagine this happening is a large indicator of how far we've come.

I actually realized this during college nearly ten years ago while taking a course called "Classic Films," taught by an older gentleman named Robert West, who was very widely respected, quite hip for an older guy - and a great teacher. It was my last semester and I had credits to burn, so I thought this would be a good (and yes, easy) class to take. I was right, but I also learned way more than I ever thought I would.

Anyway, one of the films we watched was "Casablanca," which I had never actually seen at the time. So we watched the movie and afterwards Dr. West, whom I will never forget, flipped on the lights and the first question he asked was "now, was there anything you found a little odd about this film?" For a moment we all sat there, a bunch of 20-somethings, curiously and silently looking around the room to see if anyone had anything to say. Dr. West let the silence linger another 30 seconds or so and repeated his question: "you found nothing odd?" More silence. We all seeemed to have felt like we were being left out of some great inside joke. Or maybe we all felt stupid because there was some blatantly obvious element of the film that none of us had caught.

Dr. West went on. "This film was made in 1942. Nothing strikes you as strange?" Yet more silence, but he didn't let it linger too long this time. He went on to explain that in 1942, much of our country was very much segregrated and racism was very much alive. He finally gave us our answer by pointing out that this was probably the first widely screened film where the lead character, a white man played by Humphrey Bogart, was very friendly with a colored man, played by Dooley Wilson (Sam). The film crossed the "color" boundry - and only then did the collective light bulb flash on above all our heads. Ah hah! West went on to express some relief that nobody caught it right away - it meant that we thought nothing of a black man and a white man interacting as friends in a film - to us, they were just two men. Back in 1942, it was controversial. Dr. West almost seemed proud of us for the collective silence that ensued after his question - this is a man who probably remembers how painful it must have been to have lived through such a time. That we didn't even pick up on it was probably something that made him pretty happy.

Song now playing - Jet "Rollover D.J."

Oh! I'm back after a pretty unbelieveable week. I have lots to say. But not right now. Too much to do. Many emails to answer. Will post more very very soon, don't you worry. Thanks to Dave to cleaning up around here while I was gone, he's a good egg.

Song now playing (thanks Mike): Will Ferrell - Afternoon Delight

Welcome back, Jeff!

Here's a parting shot...

August 2
Nomar's arrival the surreal thing
Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey (registration required): " It was so odd and so right, all at the same time. It was one of those strange, almost irreconcilable pictures that makes you shake your head and laugh at the various ways life likes to mess with minds. Nomar Garciaparra walking to the plate in a Cubs uniform—now what confirmed dreamer thought this one up?"