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]]