way down in the hole

i'm back to the crazy grind, but i did make it out on tuesday night to see steve earle and allison moorer at UCLA and review it for the l.a. times.

they were both pretty great, but allison provided me with that moment of synchronicity that's always so delicious. background: i'm in the middle of a soul-sucking commercial freelance gig that's all about tracking the every move of celebrities and making much ado about their dreary, glittery lives. so i was sitting in my seat, listening to her sing and thinking just what a relief it was to have this respite to enjoy some real art. i was pondering the differences b/w the two worlds i had visited that day -- the superficial star-fucker noise and the meaningful music then ringing in my ears. and then allison finished up the song she was doing, and launched into joni mitchell's "both sides now." ahahaha. brill!

speaking of opposites, today i have a citybeat column about good guys and bad guys, spinning off the madcap antics of lost's resident evil one, ben linus (that's him up there, looking a bit worse for the wear). and i really cannot say for sure, but i guess it might be my last "subbacultcha" for citybeat, given this cheery news.

i am rather in the dark about it all. i mean, the chief called me last night and filled me in on what went down. but -- in true "animal farm" fashion (that is, some animals are more equal than others) -- nobody from the organization has said boo to me about it. some of my fellow columnists and contributors did get the courtesy of a phone call from the publisher, but i didn't. it's a bit of a kick in the head, actually, considering that i'm a regular contributor and was the founding arts editor and all that.

i'm not the only one who's been left hanging, though -- and i'm in pretty damn fine company WRT that, which is no small consolation. still, it would be nice to know just where i stand. but it seems that's too much to expect.

ah, well. it was fun while it lasted.