BIG WILLIE STYLE: It is easy to be cynical, and lord knows, the trailers for the new Will Smith film The Pursuit of Happyness have led me to wonder, do I really want to see a film that seems so completely inspirational and sappy?

Well, now that I've read this 2005 SF Chron piece on Chris Gardner, whose life is the basis of the film, the answer may well be yes. It's a hell of a story, and it really does make you feel good about the opportunities available in America. Here, Carrie Rickey has more with Will Smith.

COUNTLESS SCREAMING ARGONAUTS CHILDREN: It is an open question as to whether They Might Be Giants have always been fundamentally a band playing music for kids or whether they've only embraced it recently with No! and Here Come The ABCs.

(Craig, if you're reading this, yes, I still regret not heading down for that TLA show back in, what, 1989?)

Regardless, I took Lucy (and Adam C. came with his family) to see The Johns at World Cafe Live today, and it was just a total blast -- a mix of the great kids' stuff and classics like "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)", "Particle Man" and, hallelujah, "Birdhouse in Your Soul", which is one of the most perfect, ecstatic, wonderful pop songs there is. Lucy and I pogoed to it. We had a blast. I think everyone did.

A TASK EVEN PARTICLE MAN CAN'T ACCOMPLISH: I can't recall the last time iTunes' database failed to immediately produce results when I stuck a CD into my drive, no matter how obscure and old or recently released the CD might be. But of all the things that would not be found in the database, it shocks me that Flood from They Might Be Giants (which I picked up for like $6 at Tower Records' close-out today to replace the old copy I lost) would be absent from the database.

137-YEAR OLD BEER: Okay, not a catchy title. But a damned cool story about a cache of 137-year old beer discovered . . .and discovered to be more than drinkable.

I GET UP, YEAH BABE, AND NOTHING GETS ME DOWN: This eight-and-a-half minute video of a guy running around and jumping over, on, through, into, out of, up, and down stuff is unbelievable. In a lot of ways, it's a great self-contained short film. The background -- presumably some part of Russia, given the cyrillic title shots -- is bleak and hardscrabble; the action is thrilling and bouyant, and, frankly, probably the most amazing amateur thing I've ever seen. So two thoughts: first, how is that guy not just broken right now; and second, isn't this the movie that Patrick Dempsey's Run should have been?

IT'S JUST A GUESS, BUT I AM PRETTY SURE IKE TURNER IS NOT GOING TO TOP THIS LIST: According to The Eyeball Kid, a blog about Tom Waits news, Waits' wife and collaborator, Kathleen Brennan, appears on a list of the top 20 rock spouses in the new issue of the UK's Word Magazine. I couldn't find the list anywhere, but the comments are open to any suggestions of who should (Yoko, Pam Anderson) and should not (Yoko, Pam Anderson, again) be on the list.

WE TALKIN' BOUT LEAVING? It may only be a matter of days before the Allen Iverson era in Philadelphia comes to an end.

He gave us his best, and the Sixers cannot give him the supporting cast he deserves. Wherever he goes -- except if it's Boston -- I'm hoping he gets the championship he has earned. It's a sad day.