Thanks to Netflix, I have now checked off the last film left on my Rated R movies list from middle school. My parents were crazily adamant about not letting me watch Rated R movies, so I started a list of them and vowed that when I turned 17, I would begin the process of renting them all. The last film left was The Adventures of Sebastian Cole, a prime example of pre-Entourage Adrian Grenier flick. I can't really remember how I found out about it, as it came out in 1998 and was an "independent movie". And I lived in a small town called Cape Coral, on the coast of southwest Florida. Which was culturally depraved.

Ain't it interesting that most of my cultural exposure back then came from Seventeen, Rolling Stone and MTV? I'm pretty sure I read about this movie in Seventeen. All of these things used to be so cool during my childhood. Then the boy-band, pop-slut movement took hold of the entertainment industry, and it all went to shit.

I blame everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, on that phenom...enon. The situation this country is in now, culturally, socially, economically, environmentally - it's all linked back to this boom in bubblegum pop. Paris Hilton made it worse. Miley Cyrus is making it worse-er. And God, I hate this wasteland.

Can You Still Feel the Butterflies?

On February 23rd, I experienced nearly two hours of pure joy. One of my favorite bands in the world performed one of my favorite albums of all time in its entirety, and oh boy, did they perform. It was flawless. You couldn't tell it had been 10 years since they played most of those songs. I can't imagine how intense their rehearsals must have been.

But yes, witnessing Jimmy Eat World play Clarity cover to cover (yes, even Goodbye Sky Harbour) is on my list of "BEST NIGHTS EVER". I have only ever been so wholly satisfied with a show once before - Explosions in the Sky on April 13th, 2008, Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, GA. Actually, I take that back. I have only ever been so wholly satisfied TWICE before. I have to add Owen and Caithlin De Marrais on December 6th, 2008, at Mercury Lounge in New York, NY.

From Jimmy Eat World Clarityx10

I wish my friends could have been there with me. You would think that I could have befriended a Jimmy Eat World fan in New York by now, but no. Meeting people at concerts never works out, either, because they're all there with THEIR friends.

...I don't think I have ever used that many homophones in one sentence.

Anyway, to answer the question: yes, I definitely still feel the butterflies.