We’re all Ukraine now. I mean in as much as Russia wants a taste of our peninsula. Hey now! This is a difficult one to handicap. On the one hand, you expect the State Department to at least anticipate aggressive behavior towards a sovereign nation. On the other hand, John McCain is batshit crazy. Thank god Lindsay Graham has a totes crush on him.

What would Tolstoy do? Probably write 90000 words on the subject and make you feel badly for all the parties concerned. For my part, I will continue to attend the annual Ukrainian Festival that takes place every summer in the “Bottoms.” Hmm, maybe Tolstoy was on to something.

Speaking of something, the Arcade Fire surely do not disappoint in concert. Not quite the indie experience the zonked out kids have come to expect, but still a spectacular show full of extra percussion, lots of guitars, horns, fireworks and confetti. Oh, and a great 20 song set that included a lot of “Reflektor” but also lots of “The Suburbs,” their Grammily awarded studio recording. Etouffe and I wore our monkey suits whilest the dames were bedeckled in their finery. Quite the evening.

And a hat tip to DJ Dan Deacon for reminding us of what early 2000 electronic music sounded like. Well, done Dan – both DJ and Deacon. Your nightclub and your congregation would be proud of you, sir.

Update on the Best of 2013. Still not done. I’ve been busy. Traveling a lot for “work.” I have 15 of the damn things written up but I’m too proud to publish a Top 15 list. What is this? Paste. Oops.