Back from Chicago. Pitchfork was amazing -- it makes me wonder why there are so many tools who will shell out for Lollapalooza when a) Pitchfork is $50 for three days of amazing music, b) both small and big music venues are available all day, c) the food is reasonably priced.

Oh, and lest we forget: the music, on the whole, is SO MUCH BETTER, mostly because it is more diverse. On Saturday alone, I saw jazz, indie rock, electronic, rap, and metal gigs... with some surprising results. Mastodon, a metal band, put on one of the best shows of the entire weekend (although Clipse put some fighting spirit into the hippy crowd as well). Yoko Ono was so out there and crazy that one couldn't tell if the crowd was riled up for her or against her ("Don't Worry Kyoko" was either an extremely high or a devastatingly low point -- I still can't decide which; "Mulberry" was much the same). Cat Power... I love her, but she had sound issues like crazy and I just couldn't watch her with much enthusiasm after spending an hour witnessing the amazingly entertaining spectacle of Clipse.

But there are cons with Pitchfork, too, that I found most annoying:
1) no re-entry
2) not enough t.p.
3) too many hipsters

Hipsters at an event like Lolla would be easy to deal with because not only did they spend their money on a huge event like Lolla (ie - they have obviously not been to many other smaller festivals or concerts in the past two months), but also they think they know everything about music because they've heard of the Flaming Lips. Hipsters at Pitchfork are arrogant, mostly rich fucks who I hate even more because they're the people hanging out with the music-makers I adore... and they know too fucking much about music.

If you are naturally awesome like that, and have naturally awesome connections like that, you do not need to be arrogant or spend money on fintage (fake-vintage) clothes that cost multiple hundreds of dollars per item!!! No! You do not!!

An exciting and passionate weekend, you can tell.

I'm actually very surprised that Jimmy enjoyed it all so much. I bought tickets for him behind his back so that he couldn't refuse to go with me -- otherwise I would have had to fly solo the whole weekend and work out sleeping arrangements that may have cost money??

Instead, I got to crash at his place all weekend, and he kept me fed, and was also amazing company. At one point during Yoko's set, he tried to see if he could out-howl her (much to the amusement of bystanders). The one thing he didn't like, apparently, is the fact that he kept getting mean looks for his attire; dude looks like he just got off work from the office all the time, and the white-collar look wasn't a popular choice at the festival. What can I say? He tells me dress pants are comfortable, and button-ups are convenient because of the breast pocket for his smokes. I can't really argue, nor do I really care.

It's kind of stressful being back. I'm going job-hunting tomorrow with Ryan (and possibly Gene), starting at 10am until... well, until whenever I find a job. Definitely could use the influx of cashola at the moment.

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