Pumpkin Seeds: 2004 VMA Edition

1) Did Outkast officially step beyond the constraints of hip-hop and establish themselves as pure musical artists able to weave sonic magic from thin air?

2) Did Usher finally break through the inexplicable logjam of cookie cutter whiteboys and their stolen dance moves with his two awards last night?

3) Has a celebrity ever seemed more conspicuously absent than Britney Spears did last night?

4) Did Christina Aguilera deliver the final "enough is enough" nail to the "there is no comparison between Britney Spears and I" coffin with gusto, or what?

5) Was there anything sweeter than the love the audience gave Fat Joe during his performance of Lean Back, all on their feet and dancing, even Bruce Willis?!?!

6) Has a sports figure ever received a more spectacular welcome than Shaq did last night? And deserved it?

7) Whose idea was it to throw the Kerry daughters to the wolves with an ill-timed, horribly set up PSA? Was it the same person that thought Carson Daly - BIGGEST. DORK. EVER. YO. - should introduce them?

8) I'm looking forward to LL Cool J's new album, primarily for his collaboration with Timbaland, but I have to admit to also being swayed by those TV screen t-shirts his entourage was wearing.

9) If there is a God, this was Jessica Simpson's swan song, appropriately delivered as a circus act.

10) I don't care how much they push, MTV cannot sell me on taking Hilary Duff seriously. Or Ashlee Simpson. Or Mase.