It’s amazing just how personalized MSN can get.  Late at night it knows my willpower and sensibilities are at an all time low, and lies in wait for me to open a browser before flashing pictures of gooey, rich foods all over the screen.  I’m hungry, and a gigantic burger floats as a link on the homepage.  On closer inspection, the article is about best burgers in the nation.  As in, far far far away.  Relieved, I click without fear, knowing there’s no way I’ll be tempted to take a late night drive to go get one.  Wrong.

Number two on the list is the White Spot.  MSN’s Bret Stetka says:

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I tend to be skeptical of negative reviews—be they reviews of restaurants, CDs, movies, or whatever. It’s just easier to rant than it is to rave. A good bit of this difficulty lies, I think, in the desire not to sound overly earnest, since praise can certainly quite easily slip into maudlin sap.

And, given the choice between maudlin sap and the vitriol of many a negative review, I’d demure on the choice, preferring instead the subtlety of a brick slamming into my head.

Having said that, bad reviews are inevitable. And ’round these parts, the most frequent species is negative restaurant reviews… »Read More

I was privy to a houseguest this weekend, he a U.Va. alumnus who hasn’t spent much time in Charlottesville since being graduated in 2003. We shall call him Cristóbal.

Opportunity! I bum-rushed him with as much cVillainy as his senses—and his liver—could handle. Below is our hitlist from the weekend. »Read More

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This is the real deal, folks. If you disagree, you obviously have not the powers of the bearer of thunder and lightning, nor the gentle powers of a storm demon who brings death and disease to your village. »Read More