Opening Line

"Man, the talking animal, not only talks but he talks about his talking." (DeFleur and Larsen, "The Flow of Information," 1957)

With an intro like that, how can this book fail? [[justin]]

"We're on a mission from God."

You know, I'm all for equal voting rights, and few things made me more ill than the systemic disenfranchisement of Black and poor voters in Florida in 2000. But that said ... things like this make me wonder if maybe there are some people who really shouldn't be out casting ballots and having their voices heard.

- from the Smithsonian Museum of American History [[justin]]

Visceral Impact

This is a section of the communications antenna from the top of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, as seen at the Newseum in Washington, DC, framed amidst a collection of front-page headlines from around the world on Sept. 11-12, 2001. Watergate may have been the defining institutional moment of my lifetime, but there's no question that 9/11 will be the most significant overall. [[justin]]

... Rock Over Chicago

The Ten Best American Cities:
10. Berkeley, CA
09. Washington, DC
08. Seattle, WA
07. Portland, OR
06. Boston, MA
05. Oakland, CA
04. Philadelphia, PA
03. San Francisco, CA
02. New York, NY
01. Chicago, IL

[[justin]]

I Think I Missed My Calling.

Well, at least it's a recession-proof career. [[justin]]

You Say, "Pop" ...

... I say, "only in the Midwest." [[justin]]

Bitter. Sweet. Bittersweet.

Album of the Moment: Jawbreaker, "24 Hour Revenge Therapy"

I'll still go on record as saying that "Dear You" is a better album and, with the exception of "Do You Still Hate Me," has all their best songs ... but man, there's just not a whole lot about this one that I can argue with. [[justin]]

Tweet Tweet

At the risk of sounding like a curmudgeon two posts in a row, can I just take this opportunity to say that I really hate Twitter? As far as I can tell, it's nothing more than an exercise in vacuous narcissism for the sender and mundane voyeurism for the receiver. Take the pointlessness of 99% of Facebook updates (mine included, I admit), and then strip away everything else that makes Facebook tolerable - the photos, the shared videos, the quizzes, and so on - and you've got Twitter, the "social networking" site for people who are neither social nor interested in being part of a true network. [[justin]]

Smells Like Teen Spirit

I hate to be that grumpy old man who complains about how much better things were when I was young but these days, pretty much every time I turn on the radio or read Pitchfork, I really, really, really miss Kurt Cobain. Just once more before I die, I'd like to hear another new band that understands the common ground between The Sex Pistols, Cheap Trick, The Pixies, and Devo. Just once more before I die, I'd like to get another lyric as brilliant as, "One baby to another says 'I'm lucky to have met you. I don't care what you think unless it is about me. It is now my duty to completely drain you.'" Just once more before I die, I'd like to see another new band so thoroughly embrace the very industry that they so vigorously shun. Corporate rock still sucks, indeed. [[justin]]