Mid song, about two and a half in after I got to the Knitting Factory last night during Owen's quiet solo set, someone by the bar shouted out "Emo Sucks!" and the place went quiet. Yikes. I'm not sure anyone knew how to react. Well, yea, it does? But, no, this guy's good...But is this really emo? Perhaps, in the most basic and grounded sense of the word, but...is this EMOSUKS! emo? Or does emo that sucks involve hysteric teenage girls and eyeliner? This was more Elliott Smith or Bright Eyes emo, which most people seem to agree doesn't suck at all. Wait, was that guy actually even serious? It was really quite the loaded statement, uttered by someone who was either a paying attendee of the show or a guest of the band. The idea even crossed my mind that this was part of the song. Mike Kinsella (aka Owen) stopped and attempted to address the guy, but was mostly drowned out by the even more curious calls from the audience that the heckler was a terrorist and hated our freedom. Yeah, this was weird. And we hadn't even gotten to Joan of Arc yet. more ›

It was very sad to learn that Fred Rogers died overnight. (The New York Times detailed obituary.) Growing up, I watched a lot of television and I loved watching Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood because of its stability as well as this magical element of discovery - whether it be with the Land of Make Believe or just taking ordinary things and seeing them in news ways. Mr. Rogers was wonderfully patient teacher, and gave kids the opportunity to absorb the little moments - a wonderful counterpoint to the noisy and hedonistic in comparison chaos of The Electric Company. Also, having the Land of Make-Believe gave kids more encouragement to dream and imagine; my favorite in the Land of Make-Believe was Daniel Tiger. more ›