Loves me some Dan. And I found the letter and Wilson's response hilarious.

They ARE awesome! Smart and funny, just how I likes 'em.

And, love or hate their music, if you grew up in my generation, you can't NOT sing along.

Ajawas a must have album.

Not a big Dan fan, but OMG that letter was perfect, as was the response. I dare anyone to read the Open Letter out loud and not fall into a 70s stoner-surfer cadence.

And now I'm going to be saying "Do you want to be the Zal Yarnovsky of the 21st Century?" and "stuff that is not spiritually aligned with them on all levels" and "retrograde reality matrix."

I suspect, though, that Dupree is based on the song, and the studio cleared it with Steely Dan, and they are just ginning up some hype.

Aja was a must have album.

See, I love the Dan, but I prefer everything they did before AJA (particularly THE ROYAL SCAM, which was right before it - or as right before it as the Dan's perfectionism let it be). They never lost the snark, but I definitely prefer the gritty weirdness of their older sound to the smooth, tasty El Lay jazz-fusion they seem to have settled into from AJA on forward.

That said, Deacon Blues is a kick-ass song (and Peg and Black Cow are close to as good).

I wouldn't be surprised if Wes Anderson had a hand in this somewhere.

C'mon, Owen co-wrote Rushmore and despite his surfer stoner image, his commentary there reveals he's plenty capable of writing his own material.

C'mon, Owen co-wrote Rushmore and despite his surfer stoner image, his commentary there reveals he's plenty capable of writing his own material.

I was thinking more he might have had a hand in the original letter from Becker & Fagen - not writing, but suggesting they do something. I could totally see him meeting with them to discuss music for a movie and having the topic come up.

How shooting digitally changes acting: [link]

The answer: a lot. "I think shooting in digital changes acting as much as film changed stage acting, or as sound changed film," said Bill.

Why? Because film costs a lot and must be used sparingly, while digital tape is practically free. The difference between the scarcity economics of film and the abundance economics of digital is, as Bill put it, "the difference between pointing a loaded gun at someone and a toy gun. You point a loaded gun at them and they're going to act different. A film camera is a loaded gun. Digital is not."

Helena Bonham-Carter confirmed for next HP film where she will play Bellatrix Lestrange.

She kind of doesn't fit my mental image of the character. I pictured somebody taller and bonier somehow.

Maybe cause she's supposed to be.

HBC? Hmmmm........

Huh. I could see her as Tonks.