That's Hot - week of July 11

1. White House Press Corps
   Giving Spokesman Scott McClellan the bidness yesterday for playing "no comment" all of a sudden regarding Karl Rove's involvement in outing Valerie Plame to reporters. Guess they finally got tired of being lied to.
2. "One's A Couple" by Lee Ann Womack
   Standout track on a standout album.
3. Rodney Crowell
   Seriously digging his new CD (see below) as well as his other recent albums. I learned to Travis pick "I Know Love Is All I Need" (from The Houston Kid) on my guitar last night.
4. Shannon McNally - Geronimo
   Seriously cool record. McNally has a sultry, bluesy voice but applies it to arrangements that sound a lot like The Band in their heyday. Charlie Sexton's production and playing nicely complement her songs.
5. Firefly - The Complete Series DVD
   I recently finished all 13 episodes in a single day (yeah, bitch!), and I gotta tell ya, it's good stuff. I've dug through all of the extras and am now going back to the commentaries. The final episode does leave you hanging somewhat (damn you, Fox!), but the film promises to resolve a good deal of the loose ends. I never thought there would be another great cult series on TV, and alas, it did not last long. But it is really something special.