1. Saw a couple of shows last week: William Elliot Whitmore and The Pogues. Both enjoyable though neither one blew me away. Which given my love for The Pogues is perhaps surprising. Others who saw the show absolutely loved it. It would be tempting to chalk it up to my tendency to be critical mixed with sobriety--who the hell sees The Pogues without having anything to drink?--but I don't think that accounts for it. Shane Macgown can still sing but he has clearly suffered some serious neurological damage as a result of many years of various types of self-abuse (it was interesting to see him having just read the Oliver Sacks book Musicophilia). He doesn't walk, he shuffles like a much older man and his speaking voice, unlike his singing voice, is often incomprehensible. Combine that with a little knowledge of the band's turbulent history and it couldn't help but color my perception of the show. I never got the feeling that they were truly happy being on stage playing their music. I hope I'm wrong. All that said, I'm glad I got to see them and I particularly enjoyed "Body of an American."
2. Although the economic shitstorm has rained on my household too, and we will certainly feel some pain next year, we have nonetheless enjoyed the fruit of some good fiscal karma. I am no longer propping up Citigroup so without any further government money they are sure to fail.
3. I'm no economist, thank you God, but I can't help but think that the shitstorm is the correction. And that while we may need to mitigate its worst effects we cannot simply wish it away by throwing money at it. We are being shortsighted. The most broken parts of the system truly need to fail for the longterm health of the system itself. But it appears we will continue trying to play the rigged game while avoiding the accounting.
