And I got bored when I didn't have a blog/ And so I started a blog, man
Things get meta, Twitter gets f*cked, and we look for something better.
Previously: Yawn On The Fourth of July
It's understandable that people search for complex conspiracies, the reality is boring corruption.
… It was song number three on John's last CD "Gonna make it through this year, if it kills me" And it almost killed me And song number four on that first D4 You want the scars but you don't want the war That's just hardcore These kids are clever to the core
— ‘Girls Like Status’, The Hold Steady (Boys And Girls In America, 2006)
I’m writing this in the lobby of the Millennium Knickerbocker, Chicago at 5.52 am. We travelled 4,000 miles for our belated honeymoon to see The Hold Steady, The Mountain Goats, and the Dillinger 4 play at The Salt Shed. I’ve seen the first two in many different locations in the UK and Ireland, but D4 don’t bother with international flights and European tours. It was a special gift to see them crank mercilessly through a set of heart-racing hardcore. I want the scars and the war.
And while me and Kate were trying every possible Chicago delicacy, chasing through thrift stores, and — in my case — hopping around the Sports Museum, the war was on again as Twitter’s owner, the vandal Musk, trashed the joint. It means a lot to me for a social network as it’s where I met my wife and all sorts of friends (IRL and otherwise). Twitter could be special then and it could be special again but Musk wants to remake it in his own image and his is the image of a broken, flailing charlatan, the guy making jokes from 20 years ago that weren’t even funny then.
The slow death of Twitter — an overgrown teenager pulling its legs off one by one — is a problem for this newsletter as it’s where lots of people discover it and then decide to subscribe. If you’re inclined, please share this edition and any of the previous ones you enjoy and — if you can — consider upgrading to a paid subscription, which gets you bonus editions and helps me afford to keep writing.
Normal service from this newsletter (including a recommendations edition) will resume on Tuesday. Thanks for reading.
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Enjoy my hometown with one of my favorite bands! I've seen The Hold Steady all over that city. This holiday weekend my husband took our daughter to Chicago while I stayed back in Detroit to do chores Iike a complete killjoy. This is not a helpful or insightful comment at all. I'm just excited that you're having the trip I wish I was having.