listen, listen. most of us believe that this is wrong.

--First, I'll use my immense star power to plug Patrick's new blog and Sam's new (excellently-titled) blog.  Godspeed, fellow Blogfricans.

--Since you're dying to know, here's what's in circulation on my iTunes right now:

• "Gideon," by My Morning Jacket.  Powerful, with some excellent lyrics.
• "Obstacle 1," by Interpol.  Interpol was/is more consistently excellent than Joy Division ever was.
• "We Can Get Down," by A Tribe Called Quest.  So fresh.
• "Church," by Outkast.  I'm loving Speakerboxxx.
• "What It's All About," by Girl Talk.  Solely for the "C.R.E.A.M." section.
• "Grounds For Divorce," by Elbow.  Dig the lyrics, the Peter Gabriel vibe, and the lead singer's uncanny resemblance to Stephen Fry.
• "Can't Say No," by The Helio Sequence.  One of three excellent songs on a pretty bland album.
• "Famous Blue Raincoat," by Leonard Cohen.  Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.
• "The Rake's Song," by The Decemberists.  I love how much fun Colin Meloy has with evil.

 --Syracuse is still alive in the tournament, and their chances are really looking pretty good.  Assuming a head-to-head with Kentucky - who appear even stronger at the moment - Syracuse has a few advantages:  Kentucky starts slow, Syracuse starts fast; Syracuse's big weakness is outside shooting, and Kentucky lives on drives to the hoop; Syracuse's bench is monstrous, Kentucky's is nothing special.  I know I just jinxed the shit out of the Orange, but I still like their chances of taking the title.

--A ridiculous dunk, even by his standards.  Amare's been killing it since the All-Star break.

--God almighty, this is funny.  I love you, bearded prince of the stars.

--This is a terrific idea.  I can't wait for "Paper Planes," "Wish You Were Here," or (especially) "Two-Headed Boy."

--I'm completely fine with the NFL's new overtime rules; more sensible than sudden death, and less kooky and stat-padding than college's overtime.  Speaking of the NFL, I'll update my draft later this week (some pretty serious changes are in the works after free agency, the combine, and an active rumor mill).

--I've been working on a creative nonfiction story for the last few weeks that I'm very proud of (it's probably better than "The Regulars," the one I posted earlier), but I also feel it's too intensely personal for me to share at the moment.  If there's any clamoring from my approximately zero active readers, I'll post it.

--Craig Loston, LSU's all-world safety recruit from last year, got a medical redshirt.  This is extremely reassuring a) because it means we potentially get to keep him from going pro longer and b) it explains his absence from a safety rotation that was pretty mediocre outside of Chad Jones.

--Thanks for reading. 

(h/t to roboshark, av club, and the valley shook, and everyone who's given me music these last few weeks.)