Ouch. That’s Hot.

Maybe it was the pending solstice, which seems to have hit at 6am this morning. I don’t know, but something flipped today for the better.

Yesterday was a bad day for my insides. How do I know?

I felt compelled to listen to Born To Run (both album and song) repeatedly. For some reason, it’s a guaranteed tear-jerker for me. Ask Rocs, she’ll tell you: there’s times I’ve bawled. Oh yes. Yesterday’s listening was shear masochism. Tramps like us… (sniff)

Then it switched to the music of my youth. America. (The song, not the band.) Which has just a darn tootin’ few too many similarities to the aforementioned Springsteen number. I’m getting concerned.

So I’m trying to run away from something. But then I woke up with Love Bites on the brain. At 4am. It’s a breakthrough!

The days are again getting longer. Springtime is in the air. I can hear the birds. Can’t you?

Do we hate it when our friends become successful?  No!  We’re even happy when marginal acquaintances get a little love and affection.

Which brings me to the new Spin! Magazine, and their inclusion of not just one but two (count ‘em!) Columbus bands in the latest issue, with nice reviews and snazzy photographs.

It’s not the first time that c-bus has made it’s mark on these fine brooklyneers ears, but we usually don’t get much ink — a reference to the Royal Crescent Mob or the Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments in an interview, a little blurb in the “other releases” section — that sort of thing.  I was stoked (yeah, stoked!) a few years ago to find The Marbles before me as I enjoyed my morning throning.  And then pissed (yeah, pissed!) when I read the too-short review that didn’t even give them a chance.

But back to the now, you’ll find the fearless folksters The Black Swans on page 96 (topless, no less.)  And the avant-rock of Times New Viking on page 103.   Be blessed, and may your rock-n-roll dreams come true.

As is often the case, my favorite column in this month’s edition is “Listening To My Life” by Andy Whitman. Yeah, I know the guy and maybe that helps a bit, but his columns have been a consistent reason for me to revisit this magazine. I’ve got enough media hitting me already without it, but having a few writers on deck like Mr. Whitman and Bud Scoppa makes Paste worth my while. (And as a well-rounded, maturing sort of guy I need something to balance Spin, eh?) But where to keep up with the High-School Musical crowd? Apparently, the biggest song of the year is Rhianna’s Umbrella. I have never heard this song. Perhaps the grey-hairs are a misnomer no more.

Anyway, Andy writes about Joe Strummer. It’s like Chocolate and Peanut Butter. Pick it up. Share it with a friend.

Right now, K-Fed is asking me: “Why do you read Details?”

Well, Sir… Because they have articles that I can relate to (”Are you turning your kid into a douchebag?”) and articles that I can’t (”Enough already with the fake boobs!”) And it was part of a two-fer off-er.  But no apologies, no excuses.  I kinda like it…

Just barely made it through this month’s GQ. They ran their “best of the year” issue, which is just a lazy way of filling extra pages with recycled nothing. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a “Best of GQ 2007″ issue. There’s more than few well-written articles and interviews every month to fill that one. No, it’s just another top-10 of everything list. And if it hits the top-10 of magazine like GQ, odds are that you’ve already seen it or heard it somewhere else. Give me something new. And by the way, your cover shot of Daniel Craig is creeping me out:

(No matter where you go, his eyes follow…) At least I wasn’t sent the edition featuring Kanye West or Bill Clinton. I have no idea why Daniel Craig is worthy of a “Man Of The Year” nod, but at least it’s something new.

However, Fast Company tossed me something worthwhile on page 73 in Robert Scoble’s column “Stars, Stripes, and Social Media.” He took a quick look at the on-line strategies of various contenders to the title of POTUS and summed up that you could learn a lot by applying the same to your business. As I’ve been making my cheese as a tech-consultant, I’ve been thinking the same for awhile now. Seems the first step is doing it for myself. Step two is helping you…

But please Daniel, stop staring.