Buzz Blog

Today's Six Pack on the Dashboard news round-up.---

Above the Fold Ale: More than a decade ago, I lived in Bellingham, Wash. Gorgeous town in a beautiful area, smack-dab between two of my favorite cities, Vancouver and Seattle. At the time, Death Cab for Cutie were the local rock stars and only about a year away from breaking out as the indie superstars they are today. I saw the band a half-dozen times in local bars ... and was never impressed. I probably saw them so many times because everyone up there talked about how Death Cab was so awesome. (Okay, not everyone -- I delivered pizza with about a half-dozen juggalos who hated Death Cab).

I consider myself music-savvy, and always open to new sounds and new bands. I never want to be the guy who -- as an X96 ad is currently promoting -- wants a radio station that plays all of my old favorites (in X96's ad, it's Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana and Sublime). But it can be hard, especially with limited time, to continually discover new artists. And it's even more frustrating when you latch onto a band with heavy buzz and discover that ... well ... you don't really like them. You want to like, you try to like them, but never really do.

You eventually start feeling less hip, more old. It's a feeling that will only get worse, because when your children -- or nieces and nephews -- become teenagers, trying to like (or worse, liking) their music can make you look desperate to prove your eternal youth. But not trying to like it can make you seem unhip and out-of-touch, which is everybody's worst fear as they age.

Today, the world's greatest living columnist, Mark Morford, tackles this very topic because of his inability to like Arcade Fire. It's a great read, even if it's not the politics or news that typically dominates these updates. By the end, he reaches this conclusion:

I find it sort of mandatory, in other words, to defy the onset of the ugly conservative mindset, increasingly inflexible and limited, unable or unwilling to be pleasantly surprised, revitalized, renovated. This way pain lies. This way intolerance lies. This way curmudgeonry and angst, mistrust and Fox News. I have no need to fit in with the skateboard crowd. I have plenty desire to avoid turning myopic and bitter.

Now, to feed the daily political and news beast (and clear out some of the 20 tabs currently open in my browser), here's the rest of the six pack:

Political Pocket Rockets: The $13 million question continues to dog Herbert, with a KSL/DVN story about e-mails between UDOT, Herbert and his gala organizer here and a Paul Rolly blurb about a UDOT official and senior official at one of the companies making asphalt together here. The County Council, meanwhile, is upset that Salt Lake County Mayor (and gubernatorial candidate) Peter Corroon canceled the Valley Mental Health contract without consultingthem. EnergySolutions defends its reputation and Herbert in afull page ad. The Utah Young Republicans attack Peter Corroon, while Jesse Harris attacks Gary Herbert. And, finally, Cody Judy is attacked by a dragon, which is actually God, and the Lord Dragon sayeth to Cody, "Tell 5 people about your website!" I'm serious. Read the post.

Utah Beer: Looks like FEMA may not foot the bill for the Machine Gun Fire after all. For a nice little rant about this, check out CW Editor Jerre Wroble's post from a few days ago. Enjoy the hookah smoke, kids, while you can. Dog owners defend pit bulls in Ogden.

Leisure Time Lager: It's still Utah politics, but some legislators are in Arizona looking at the gaps in the border fence. In case you're confused about what a gap is, the Trib makes it graphically clear in their headline. I hope the spacing is intentional, because that's wicked funny (to me, at least). Also, semi-unrelated, but welcome to Utah, David Montero.

Josh's Java: I got the new Twitter interface the other day. I like it. Call me a sucker, but I generally like improvements to existing software (iTunes 10, Snow Leopard, Civilization IV) -- but not always (hello, Facebook). Oh, and follow me (@joshloftin) or friend me on Facebook. I'll accept requests from almost anyone, including Dragons posing as God.

City Weekly Weizen: Our cover story is about weed growers going west. I've got a profile of Libertarian candidate Jake Shannon. Also, my Hits & Misses, Shaun White defies the laws of physics and Dan Nailen reviews the awesome Band of Horses.

The Six Pack on the Dashboard update is published every weekday. To subscribe to an e-mail version, send a message to josh@joshloftin.com or click here. For an RSS feed of the Open Container and all of the other City Weekly blog posts, visit the Salt Blog at cityweekly.net.