Back Off: It seems like I am endlessly complaining about my health. First it was the bio-terror attack that laid me out for a couple of days a while back. Then I was battling a head cold (a battle I won, by the way -- it never got past the early stages). Now I have vicious back spasms to deal with. I have gotten back spasms occasionally over the years but these were pretty bad. So my doc wrote me a script for some muscle relaxers.

Long time readers will remember that I was previous given to preventative, regular visits to the chiropractor. That ended partly because I was too time consuming, and partly because my current insurance no longer covers it unless my primary physician advises it. It is very unusual for a physician to ever recommend a chiropractor, since the two industries tend to be at odds. If anything a physician will recommend a D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathy) if some manipulation needs to be done. So I suppose it is possible that if I had continued with the chiropractor this would never have happened. It’s also possible it had nothing to do with anything -- like I said, I have a history of this.

Anyway, all this is pretty much apropos of nothing. But if my posts start to lean over to the incoherent side, blame it on the muscle relaxers.

Coming soon are a couple HBO articles. One on the extended dream sequence on last Sunday's Sopranos (so it had better be done soon), and another on Deadwood, now that I have discovered what it is about.

For now, a short stack of links:

• Men's Journal selects the 50 Best Places To Live in their June issue. Here's a preview. They aren’t posting the full list. I agree with the selection of San Diego, but once again, they missed the boat by not including Dexter, MI.


• Since all the grown-ups I know seem to be refurbishing their homes, check out artistic linoleum if you're feeling creative. When your done, you can redo my bathroom. Thank me later.


• My Reston crew is in the middle of the emergence of the famed 17 year cicadas, also known as Brood X. I recall being down there in the midst of the previous one 17 years ago. It was insane. Huge, creepy insects everywhere. That horrendous sound they make. Driving down the freeway was like being in a hailstorm of prehistoric bugs. Ick. I think they have it right over at Cicadaville.


• I can’t think of anything more offensive than a reality show about wife swapping. Yet, here it is. I'm begging all of you to not watch this.


• Tarantino wants to do a James Bond film, specifically Casino Royale. That might be interesting. (You recall that I reviewed the original Casino Royale novel a while back.) I'm guessing that wouldn't be your standard Bond film. He'd probably work in a lot of Kung-Fu, which gives me an opportunity to link my article about Bond and Chopsocky. Hey, wait a minute. Where do you suppose Taratino got these ideas? Hey, Q-man, nice to know you're reading. Call me. We'll do lunch.