in order

Soundgarden, Arcade Fire, Devo, Cypress Hill, Green Day,
The Strokes, Wolfmother, Gogol Bordello, Drive By Truckers, Lady Gaga,
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Phoenix, Social Distortion, Jimmy Cliff, Mavis Staples,
The Black Keys, The Cribs, Rogue Wave, Spoon, The New Pornographers,
The xx, AFI, Erykah Badu, Metric, Blitzen Trapper,
Grizzly Bear, Minus the Bear, Deer Tick, Yeasayer, X Japan

meanwhile check this out, Lolla VIP goes for $850 which gets you a three-day wrist band and this:

* Unlimited access to Lolla Lounge North and South
* NEW for 2010: Access to VIP golf cart shuttles for transport between Lolla Lounge North and South
* Viewing platforms of the Main Stages with premium sightlines
* Beer, wine and specialty libations all day
* Catered food servings daily
* Daily gourmet Happy Hour with guest chef tastings by Chicago’s top chefs
* Mini-spa treatments
* Reserved Lolla Lounge air conditioned restrooms
* Shaded and relaxed lounge seating
* Much more…

so who’s with me? 8/6-8/8 Grant Park, Chicago

i give you the greatest baseball story ever

this is the unbelievable (but true) story of one Dock Ellis

a young black pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates who one day

accidentally

took LSD the day he was supposed to pitch.

he took the mound, and threw the best game of his life

A NO HITTER

how rare are no-hitters? so rare there were only two thrown all season last year, both in July.

both thrown on acid. jk.

kurt kobain blew his head off

and we haven’t had a great band like nirvana since. his death affected my life more than his life, because in many ways it proved that Gen X was exactly what they said we were: idealistic slackers who hated phoniness and were far more freaked out by success than failure.

i cant say that the nirvana show i saw at the forum was the best show id ever seen, but it was good, and i was glad to have gone. but i will say that this suicide note was the best one ive ever read. and i hope i dont ever read another one.

To Boddah

Speaking from the tongue of an experienced simpleton who obviously would rather be an emasculated, infantile complain-ee. This note should be pretty easy to understand. All the warnings from the punk rock 101 courses over the years, since my first introduction to the, shall we say, the ethics involved with independence and the embracement of your community has proven to be very true. I haven’t felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music along with reading and writing for too many years now. I feel guilty beyond words about these things. For example when we’re backstage and the lights go out and the manic roar of the crowd begins, it doesn’t affect me the way in which it did for Freddie Mercury, who seem to love, relish in the love and adoration from the crowd, which is somehting I totally admire and envy. The fact is, I can’t fool you, any one of you. It simply isn’t fair to you or me. The worst crime I can think of would be to rip people off by faking it and pretending as if I’m having 100% fun. Sometimes I feel as if I should have a punch-in time clock before I walk out on stage. I’ve

tried everything within my power to appreciate it (and I do, God believe me I do, but it’s not enough). I appreciate the fact that I and we have affected and entertained a lot of people. I must be one of those narcissists who only appreciate things when they’re gone. I’m too sensitive. I need to be slightly numb in order to regain the enthusiasm I once had as a child. On our last 3 tours, I’ve had a much better appreciation for all the people I’ve known personally and as fans of our music, but I still can’t get over the frustration, the guilt and empathy I have for everyone. There’s good in all of us and I think I simply love people too much, so much that it makes me feel too fucking sad. The sad little sensitive, unappreciative, Pisces, Jesus man. Why don’t you just enjoy it? I don’t know! I have a goddess of a wife who sweats ambition and empathy and a daughter who reminds me too much of what I used to be, full of love and joy, kissing every person she meets because everyone is good and will do her no harm. And that terrifies me to the point where I can barely function. I can’t stand the thought of Frances becoming the miseraable, self-destructive, death rocker that I’ve become. I have it good, very good, and I’m grateful, but since the age of seven, I’ve become hateful towards all humans in general. Only because it seems so easy for people to get along and have empathy. Only because I love and feel sorry for people too much I guess. Thank you all from the pit of my burning, nauseous stomach for your letters and concern during the past years. I’m too much of an erratic, moody, baby! I don’t have the passion anymore, and so remember, it’s better to burn out then to fade away. Peace, Love, Empathy. Kurt Cobain.

Frances and Courtney, I’ll be at your altar

Please keep going Courtney,

for Frances.

for her life will be so much happier

without me. I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU

my fearless predictions for the season

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cubs
NL West: Dodgers
Wildcard: Cardinals

NL Champs: Cubs

AL East: Red Sox
AL Central: Minnesota
AL West: Angels
Wildcard: Yankees

AL Champs: Red Sox

World Series champs: Da Cubs

i wasnt as exciting in real life as in fake life

so instead of shacking up with them in their party place

we made a last minute reservation at a super cool place in palm desert

my friend heather got married here, so i have good memories

like this

the place is classy and old school all in one

twas nice n warm last night so we had an italiano dinner at sunset

then watched how to train yr dragon in 3d which got a 95% on rotten tomatoes

which is what id give our continental breakfast

from the desert where there are grapefruits in the trees, Happy Easter!

wish you were beers

Who are you talking about?

titus andronicus is this weird bearded indie band from jersey who sing about the civil war and named their debut record after a Festivus reference.

my man mr todd martens blessed them so i listened and i cant stop listening.

its gnarled and hard and beautiful and pavementy and grungy and new.

it gives me hope in the kids

because that last crew that skipped through friggin blew

in palm springs

by us i mean me and my truest.

seems all sorts of people read the busblog, even lipstick lesbians seemingly fascinated with the apparent fact that an ex bf and ex gf can still be super close and hold hands and see movies every weekend and

be free

in every definition of that word you can imagine.

my truest thinks they just want me there because of who i work for.

this week i was at a bar with my buddy from work and he got the phone number of one of the prettiest girls in the whole damn place

while being obsessed over a girl he met a few weeks ago who hadnt yet called him back.

and i was all fernando, you just pulled the number of a 22 yr old with pink hair and the name of a hippie stripper. you win today.

and he said nah shes just delusional and is hoping i can get her work with us.

and i was all my friend, what if every pretty girl you talked with thought oh hes just talking to me because he wants to get with me? sometimes shed be right, and sometimes she would be missing out on a good conversation.

he kept drinking.

i said welcome to the being the prettiest girl at the dance club. sometimes you just have to accept the fact that someone wants to hang out with you, for whatever reason, and its your job to see if their alleged bad reason can jibe with your probable bad reason and meet somewhere in the land of good.

and what do you know? she may be the next joyce carol oates.

which is why im glad she hit on you cuz im looking for the next courtney love.

though sadly i dont think imma find her in palm springs.

not this weekend, at least.

shes 24

sarah and i go to lunch almost every day. its a chance for us to keep it real.

i first met sarah via email when i was editing LAist and she was a PR babe. she would write me pitches for things that i might be interested in writing about and usually id say no thanks.

one day she wrote me about some crazy booze made from acai berries. as a Gaucho its hard for me to say no to booze. so i didnt. sarah sent me a few bottles of Veev and at our next LAist bbq i shared it with the crew and it was a smashing success.

always recruiting, i asked sarah if she was interested in writing for LAist as long as it wasnt about the things that she was connected to. she was all, omg id love to! so she wrote about music and dating and all sorts of things. she was a natural.

when i moved to the times i ran into some of the ladies who ran Metromix and one day they asked me if i knew of anyone who might fit into the alternative arm of the times. even though sarah and i werent yet close friends, i knew that she and ali miller had the right amount of edge and professionalism for the weekly paper and website and sure enough they were hired and flourished.

metromix turned into brand x, ali moved on to sheparding huge video game companies on the wesside but brand x was so possessive of sarah that they wouldnt let anyone steal her away.

on the side, like after hours, sarah wrote and reported for the homicide report. even though shes very much a prissy girlie girl she was totally attracted to the hard core hard news that was contained in one of our longest-running blogs. shed hoof it down to south central, interviewing the grieving families, and come back with fascinating tales, many of which ended up in the blog and sometimes in the paper.

eventually the paper recognized that sarah wasnt just a smokin hot half iranian half mexican graduate of usc, that she was someone very special. so no she works with the Cool Kids on the data desk and cranks out the badass special projects that people see and say wait thats the LA Times? her most recent contributions have been on the Hollywood Star Walk project, but she still also tends to homicide report, usually uncredited.

because we hang out often some whisper that we must be dating, but ours is a strictly professional and friendly deal. plus i wanna date almost every one of her friends. a goal i tell her nearly every week. and tonight i will get a chance to drink with them and her as we celebrate her birth and her fascinating life.

happy birthday sarah, you have represented LAist beautifully, both by your hard work, independent streak, and dedication to your craft. i hope you get sloshed tonight and slap some b for lookin at your man.

the day Jesus was crucified for our sins

i dont know about you, but ive already racked up a lot of sins. some worse than others.

the tricky thing about hell is since Jesus paid for our sins, technically we’re cool as long as we believe in Jesus.

but the catch comes with the Grace of God. cuz even though our sins are covered, He doesnt have to say everythings cool.

and we can plunge into the depths.

for ever.

and suffer worse than this.

as an optimist i want to believe that no one would pay for our sins and still let us fry

but as someone who is constantly surprised by life each and every day, i worry.

part of me says that no matter what sins ive accumulated, none are big enough that the Lord couldnta paid for them. theres no debt that cant be unpaid.

and being a Christian means to have faith.

but still.