Chicago is a city on the verge, winding up for something. I don't think it's my imagination, there seems to be a distinct sense of torque here at the temporary center of the universe. Currently on movie screens these buildings beside Lake Michigan are set upon, in the role of Batman's Gotham, monopolizing the nation's attentions as a theater of chaos. In a subway station this evening a citizen sang Patsy Cline's Crazy and Amazing Grace, playing a guitar and wearing home spun and tie-die, seeming to dare her audience of commuters not to react. Out on the very tip of Navy Pier, a century old tourist trap looking out on the lake, I think I've just sat in seagull poo.

Lollapalooza has a co-orporate sponsor for every single one of its stages. From one end of Grant Park to the other, a strip of well tended grass and pavement looped around an enormous landmark fountain; AT&T Stage, MySpace Stage, Adidas Stage. It's tough to walk around, all alone, without a sponsor's logo. My parents never had that talk with me…is it ok that I'm not like my favorite artists, sports teams, events and stadiums? Am I normal?

Radiohead play tomorrow night, and if that's not enough to get you moist with anticipation there's little reason my continuing.

Cities like Chicago absorb most events like and barely notice. I'm looking forward to Lollapalooza '08 because with a line up that includes NIN, Kanye West, Rage Against the Machine and Wilco, speaking a language of communion through commerce, it may fully register a shiver up this city's spine.

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