Long Days, Long Months: 29 July

Finished the third season of Weeds. Such absurdism, presented in a manner that exudes impulsive childishness. The turn towards the surreal/fantastic in contemporary humor - the shift from Seinfeld to It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, from The Simpsons to South Park, from Gilmore Girls to Arrested Development, to some extent arises from the shift toward cable telvision (the lack of censorship). But one could also see a sort of response to the horrors of the W Bush administration, often quite absurd themselves - and, more importantly, the brunt of which Americans themselves rarely had to face (thousands of them, compared to hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Afghanistanis). Comedians like Jon Stewart and Bill Maher have replaced journalists for some - presumably those who don't want to deal with politics really, but love to rant about it - because the only response to a world that seems beyond one's control (like, say, the hideous planned communities, and the equally-hideous continued prohibition of marijuana, portrayed in Weeds) is a self-aware cynicism, a good-natured amorality that only damages oneself.

Also continued reading the book on Rough Trade, trying to make sense of the business side of the tale. The record shop and distribution service that turned into a record label and a publishing company, in the process falling into financial disarray. I'd like more detail on these matters than what's given. The Smiths seemed to getting a lot of the blame, while Geoff Travis's return from disgrace is presented glowingly. For this listener, the mere presence of The Strokes on Rough Trade Records was enough to announce the end of Indie Rock being even remotely relevant.