Wes Phillips

But he's still amazing, as this subdued (for him) performance of "Le Moribond" proves amply. Leave it to Brel to put this much life into a song about dying. Forget "Seasons of the Sun," this was the original and still the greatest.

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Really cool site with labels from Jamaican singles. Get your analog nerd on.

Because evil has a blueprint.

I saw JB in concert about this time and it was a life altering experience. I probably wasn't the only white boy-child in the audience, but it sure felt like it. I wasn't unwelcome—I was simply out of place. Once the Flames started playing, and we music geeks were pulled towards the stage, I felt right at home. JB was mesmerizing.

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And his mom, of course—and the upcoming movie. The Virginia Quarterly, which is rapidly becoming my favorite periodical, published Ellroy's afterword to the new edition of The Black Dahlia.

Why baffle people with efficient 1-byte American emoticons when you can confuse 'em with more obscure 2-byte versions from Japan?

Really!