Radiohead tickets went on sale yesterday for their LA and NY stops and buying tickets via ticketmaster proved to be a nightmare once again. For some insane reason everything must go onsale Saturdays at 10am, so obviously the millions of Radiohead and Janet Jackson fans were pounding the system the same time I went online. Why oh why can't they stagger the onsale times throughout the day? 

I filed this under Technology because Ticketmaster needs to improve theirs. Click read more to check out the rest of my story...

"I take seven kids from Columbine,
stand 'em all in line,
add an AK-47, a revolver, a nine,
a Mack 11 and it oughta solve a problem of mine
and that's a whole school of bullies shot up all at one time." 
-Eminem, from the original lyrics of "I'm Back,"
wisely edited by the folks at his record label before shipping.

Hrrm... So there's been another school shooting.
I got to watch "Dateline" on NBC, which is a program I abhor and try my best to avoid at all costs, but I found myself sucked in by the story of the Incredible Lactating Man (a story best saved for another forum, methinks.) And, lo and behold, I was subject to yet another sensationalized expose' on the shooting.

     Squeezing through the window pane, bypassing the rope entirely, I managed to save the boy from drowning in the house filled with Pepsi. And a thought occurred to me which -- to put it lightly -- made babies cry, skewed orbits, caused rabbits to fall on nearby rooftops, and quietly suggested to women that they should clutch their bosoms with fear and adulation: does anybody really like Lenny Kravitz?

[Concept]: blather on about some sort of predictions for the year 2001.

[Reason]: boredom.

[Execution]: as follows...

The end of the year column is always sort of a pain in the arse to do, 'cause (a) it's easily the longest column I write every year, and (b) it's a tough column to put into words. I'm not a music critic - that much is self-evident. What I am is a music FAN. And when I hear something I like, it's really tough for me to justify that inner "like" about a record. I simply like it, and that's that. The joy of music isn't a joy that can easily be put into words, otherwise we'd be a Book of the Month website... music brings an inner joy - something that's a couple shades outside the realm of normal thought processes. And what I'd really like to do is simply force all of you guys to listen to all of my favorite records, and, of course, force you to like them as well. It'd make my job a lot easier... cause essentially what I have to do now is not only talk about the 25 records that really made 2000 happen for me, I also have to sell you on them. You already know these are gonna be positive reviews... all I have to do is make my pitch as to why you should go buy them, listen to them, and snag some pretty good emotions from 'em. Sounds easy, right? Well, wish me luck...
But before I turn into Casey and do my countdown, a couple words about the Year In Music 2000:

"NOT BAD."

     Quiet. Compartmentalizing Of Music According To The Christian Calendar System going on here. And you, at the back -- yes, you -- check out the Top 10 Records of 2000:

For Giselle

     Okay, Kid A. We've all got it by now, right?

     Kinda perplexing, isn't it. Kinda frustrating. Kinda unreal.

     It's fascinating to watch as the mainstream public on both sides of the Atlantic flock to the album in droves. It's even more fascinating to realize just how much of an Emperor's New Clothes situation we have here. While we all have our various degrees of Radiohead Appreciation (Tm.) -- "maudlin hacks" to "impassioned geniuses" -- I think a reasonable person can see that the band has dropped the proverbial ball down the proverbial storm-drain and made themselves looked like the proverbial ass.