trans-siberian snorkistra, havel in nyc, dc nostalgia

Am poking around in Ohio, not much to report. I did buy for my family today tickets to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I have to tell you that I suspect it to be the most horrendous kitsch on the planet, the merging of my least favorite aspects of rock with my least favorite aspects of classical in a line not tred (or crossedover) since Metallica's S&M. I suspect that, Radiohead by even mid OK Computer tour, it's most favorable performance attribute would be its lighting design. Sigh, and I LIKE big budgets, and even prog rock, and even a well-placed rock cello. Well, at least they play a few Christmas numbers.

NEWS:

You there in the (ny) metroarea: I highly recommend seeing some of the events related to Vaclav Havel's residency at Columbia this fall. Havel is of course the first president of the CZ after the fall of Communism and the country's most famous playwright. He's also really, really into Frank Zappa. Dig the topic: the meaning of citizenship.

On a related note:

You're my (Miss Washington DC): Holy mall punk Jem Cohen, it's a google map, text message and streaming video tour of the old DC punk scene. Now can zoom into the actual roofs of gentrified neighborhoods while Ian Mackaye lectures you about them! Dig the idea, reminds of me of a zine I got in high school in which the author wrote about all the places that used to exist in his city, and what remnants of them could be seen if you looked hard enough. Place and time, history history. Anyway, when Ian M. says the word "punk" it comes off his tongue like its just a group of great folks, his friends, who made rad stuff happen in the 80s/90s. There's none of that "I know what I'm saying is about History" halo that say, Ian S. gets (does 13 point program hold up, sadly no) when he discusses "the meaning" and "the impact" of (sigh...) "punk." Is Ian M. terminally termite? Maybe, but the monk lives in part to remind us that at some moments, we all should fast.