Time-machine sidecar

Two things that make me happy about this blog: It puts a lot of people and images and music I loved as a kid in one place, and it gives me a second chance to understand what I witnessed the first time around.

Sharing an adult perspective on the passions of our youth is a very cool thing to me. Even with those tools, though, I sometimes find it hard to explain to people who know me now what excited me then.

Hence today’s conversation-starter: Is there anyone you wish you could take back in time for a one-day tour of your wasted youth in San Diego? If so, who would it be? What would you like to show them?

Read moreTime-machine sidecar

Seen any good shows lately?

(Distracted dad Paul Kaufman pops in for what is sure to be an infrequent concert review.)
Thurston Moore with Sonic YouthRegular readers of this blog will understand why I’ve been pretty scarce lately: We have a newborn daughter in the house! She’s brought lots of joy, but naturally this means my extracurricular activities are pretty limited, and our baby-centric bedtime rules out most nighttime excursions.

I’ve made one exception since she’s arrived; a few weeks ago, I went to the first concert I’ve been to in quite some time (first since the Ché reunion, actually) to see Sonic Youth play.

People either love or hate this band, and I’m not writing this to promote my own fandom, but the show did make me think of a couple of things of more general interest. First, I couldn’t but help think about the fact that it was over 20 years ago I first saw them. That alone wouldn’t be so remarkable, except this show displayed no hint of nostalgia — they played mostly new material. (Though they never had chart-topping hits in the first place, “Teenage Riot,” their biggest college-radio tune, was not on the set list.)

Read moreSeen any good shows lately?

The Che Underground