Kevin Bronson on September 14th, 2009

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Jim Carroll died.

The poet and punk rocker had a profound effect on a certain Midwestern ne’er-do-well. I was an on-again, off-again college student when “The Basketball Diaries” hit, and his raw tales from the streets of New York City, so beautiful in their telling, proved not only inspirational to a young writer but cautionary to someone who spent far too much time living inside his own head. Thanks, Jim. Miss you.

Kanye West acted like the world revolves around him.

I’ve now caught up on what I missed at the VMAs. Please, people, do we need pop culture heroes this badly? Cringeworthy performances, fake hype, spittle-inducing celebrity worship, and the mainstream media breathlessly analyzing it like it’s high art instead of crass commerce. Shameful. As for Kanye West, somebody should just go ahead and punch him out … out of the view of TV cameras, preferably.

Division Day got bloodied.

I generally don’t post promotional videos, but that one is just too weird. I still recommend the L.A. quartet’s album.