Can You Take Me Lower?

One of my all time top 5 favorite movies is High Fidelity.  And in it, John Cusack's "Rob Gordon" observes:

... what really matters is what you like, not what you are like... Books, records, films -- these things matter. Call me shallow but it's the fuckin' truth...

I don't agree with it completely.  What you are like matters more.  But, yeah, we all make judgments about what we like; books, records, films, etc.  And we make 
judgments about associating with people based on those things.  If something is not up to our own personal tastes or critical standards, we might turn our noses up at it.  If we find out somebody likes a band or TV show that we find unappealing, perhaps we roll our eyes.

Facebook comments in Youtube form

But in an age where so much of a our communication seems to occur through social media, where we seek "likes" and "retweets", our glibness seems more pronounced, our sarcasm sharper.  So it's not enough to just say to ourselves, "Ugh, I can't believe they like that!"  We have to put it out there.  It needs an audience, whether online or in person.  And, like I said, it can often be flippant, glib, caustic, or just flat out mean.

 I have to recognize my hypocrisy, because I'm as guilty as anyone.  

Which brings me to Creed.  I'm pretty sure I don't know anybody who is a fan of Creed, or at least openly a fan.  In fact, when I look them up on Facebook, nobody I know shows up as "liking" them.  I never got into their music.  I'll confess I kinda' like "My Sacrifice."  The rest, not so much.  "With Arms Wide Open", pure overwrought, syrupy schmaltz.  If I had a friend who was a Creed fan, would I tease them, give them shit?  Sure.  But I wouldn't denigrate them, or anybody who's a Creed fan for that matter.

Writer Drew Aisles blogs about music/pop culture for the City Pages.  I think it's safe to say he finds a great deal of fulfillment listening to some visceral, unfiltered power punk music in a small club, imbibing some cold beverages made from hops.  A review of some of his work shows he's insightful (I am one of those who feels very awkward running into people they've only been introduced to once before), he's acerbic in his commentary, has a strong point of view, and often punctuates his work by taking aim at himself (I can always appreciate that).

But recently, this piece caught my attention:

Laughing at Scott Stapp's Downward Spiral Makes You Even Worse Than Creed

A punk fan defending Creed's front man?  In City Pages no less, or any Village Voice publication for that matter?  Yep, that really happened.  And you can certainly find any number of unflattering pieces written about him or his band through their publications.

This is a writer who, whether by choice or through assignment, attended the Imagine Dragons concert last Spring (which, by his own admission, he may not have been sober for) and wrote a review with thinly veiled contempt.  And here he is standing up for Scott Stapp.

Some key passages:

   

...  many of us are using the fact that we simply don't like him as a license to pump our fists in some sort of warped triumph and pleasure as we laugh at someone's misfortune.

But it's not misfortune. "Misfortune" is a word we use when a car splashes a puddle on you... What is going on with Scott Stapp is honestly more of a tragedy, the way it is to see anyone desperately struggle with a legitimate illness. Regardless of whether we want to acknowledge it, Scott Stapp is a human being with friends, family and other people who care about him, who are being forced to watch him deteriorate in the public eye.

Oh, but wait, there's a difference between him and other people, right? Doesn't Scott Stapp suck? ... Shouldn't it be OK to make fun of him?

... Whether Stapp is suffering from a drug addiction that's triggering his delusions or he's in the throes of a schizophrenic episode, mocking the suffering of another person is worse than anything he's ever done. 

I was troubled by the headline (I used it to title the link to the original article).  At first glance, I found it to be at odds with the core theme of Aisles' piece.  But I wasn't sure if it was an editorial choice, or something direct from the article.  But then there's the final line:

In fact, it's worse than any song that Creed has ever written. Do you really want to be worse than Creed?

I was troubled, because here's Aisles taking what could be considered an unpopular position, and I'm not sure how he's trying to tie it all together.  Is he trying to keep some level of street cred by suggesting, Scott Stapp was in Creed, and Creed sucks, so Scott Stapp sucks, and putting him down is worse than that because he already sucks.  Or is he turning the mirror back at us?  If you think Creed/Scott Stapp is so awful, then why would you lower yourself by doing something that's worse?

I hope it's the latter, and not the former.  Particularly given some of the responses:

Fuck him and his shit music.

Dudes a total tool. I didn't put him in this place....he did. So fuck Scott stapp and motherfuck creed. Lame!

The world would be better off lol what a chump. Weak minded fool.

Stapp sucks. Hope he blows his head wide open.

(My disappointment, yet lack of surprise, about those comments could easily be an entirely separate piece about how the internet has reduced the quality of our communication.  Taken away a sense of responsibility for our words, and the ease with which they become ugly, even violent.  How too often communication can can revel in a lack of empathy.)  

Laughing at other people's misfortune is nothing new.  And I'm not using misfortune now as Aisles defines it.  I'm giving that term a bit more weight. It's part of comedy's foundation.  And most writers, comedians, performers, etc. have used others' misfortune to get laughter and/or applause.  As an audience member, a performer, a person, I've done it.  We all have.  But reveling in it, taking delight in it, particularly when it does become tragic, there's certainly something graceless about that.  

I guess I'm bemoaning that fact that we are so quick to show contempt for what others like, when it doesn't fit our tastes.  And the ease with which we condemn, when it's not deserved.

I think Justin Bieber is a spoiled little twit punk, and I don't like his music.  And while I may  not understand why some people do, that singular fact doesn't lessen them as people, doesn't make them worthy of my scorn, and certainly doesn't cause me any harm.  But I do think he's worthy of being mocked. And if someone I knew was a huge Bieber fan, I think I'd probably enjoy a lively & funny conversation debating the merits behind that choice.

Back in 2007, former Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson (wish that wasn't so) proved that he was truly unlike any of his pears, by delivering a monologue about Britney Spears that I think succinctly captures what  Aisles is writing about.

Cosmic Books

I've been reading comics books since I was a little kid.  (Yes, another way of reading that is, "Wells still reads comic books.")  It's a bit of a ridiculous hobby... or would that be habit?  Every Wednesday I go to one of two local stores (Yep, I got two dealers.), get the new arrivals, spend too much money, and walk out with a small pile.  Now by "too" much money, I don't mean hundreds of dollars, or even hundred of dollars, but when you add it all up, it's still dumb.  (It would be much worse if I didn't have a library card.)  

And even dumber, I have a really stupid-dumb amount of comic books in my basement.  I've had to schlep around a whole lot of long boxes as I've moved around the past 15 or so years.  Dumber still, the piles aren't getting smaller.  (It's not stacks of newspapers, shut-in bad, but like I said, it's dumb.  Every bit as dumb as my over use of parenthetical asides.)

I just love comics books.  I think there's a strong argument to be made that they are one of, if not in fact the, greatest contributions American has ever contributed to pop culture.  Ever since Siegel and Shuster gave us Superman in the 30's, they've just gotten better & better & better.  The writing, the characters, the art, the variety, all good.  Pure escapism.  For a kid who loves to get lost in his imagination, what could be better?  That's pretty much how it's always been for me.

When I was in third grade, my parents went to my teacher and asked for a reading list in the hopes I would start reading real books, and a lot less comic books.  I'm pretty sure I didn't read any, not a one of them.  My book reading has dramatically improved, but comic book reading, well, you pretty much know that.  These are some of my favorites in no particular order.

JLA

The Justice League of America was and is DC's flagship team, but in the mid-90's, the title and concept had lost significant steam.  Grant Morrison was brought on board to revamp/relaunch the title, and got back to basics.  "The Big 7."  The seven DC characters who originally made-up the team when it was launched in the 60's.  Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, Martian Manhunter, and Green Lantern.  And the book did what truly great team books should do, made the characters even stronger by contrasting them against each other.  Morrison and artist Howard Porter had a great run together. And every threat had end-of-world implications. (It even included Superman's mullet, and Superman Blue... but that one wasn't so bad.  He fought an angel when he was blue, and it was kinda' awesome.). 

JLA: Deluxe Edition Vol. 1

Avengers/New Avengers

In the mid-2000's, Brian Michael Bendis disassembled the Avengers.  He ended the the current title at the time by having one of it's core members destroy the team.  It wasn't as if the title was in desperate need of a creative shake-up.  In fact, it had already recovered from a creative low point in the 90's with The Crossing and Heroes Reborn.  But Bendis had a creative vision, and you should never turn down a great story idea.  And this was that.

Avengers Disassembled

Bendis took a very different, yet equally successful, approach than Morrison when he reformed the team.  He used core Avengers characters, top tier Marvel characters who had never been associated with the title, some B squaders, a red herring, and a mentally ill super-hero who wasn't even supposed to exist in the Marvel universe anymore. 

Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman, Ronin, and The Sentry. (Daredevil was the red herring)  This also met the requirement of strengthening characters through contrast, but also elevated characters.  Particularly Luke Cage, aka Power Man.  Cage had been one of the aforementioned B squaders.  He was part of a generation of heroes introduced in the 70's that were very much influenced by pop culture of that time.  Unfortunately, as with many of the 70's Marvel characters, he didn't evolve much.  During Bendis' run, the character grew, even leading the team at one point, and is now going to have his own place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a Netflix mini-series. And whereas Luke Cage was elevated, Spider-Woman (yet another 70's character) was resurrected.  In fact, her character was key for story arcs Bendis had planned out for several years.   

The story line Bendis introduced with Avengers: Disassembled, was the basis for House of M, the first company wide mini-series/event he wrote.  That was followed by Civil War, which resulted in splitting the Avengers into separate teams/titles.  And that brought us to Secret Invasion.  There were already Skrulls amongst us, now there were going to be a whole lot more.

Bendis' work on Avengers increased sales on the title, resulted in great stories, and has influenced the MCU, too.  And that's just the some of the work he's done at Marvel.  Not a bad run.

New Avengers Vol. 1: Breakout

Kingdom Come

This was Mark Waid and Alex Ross' semi-commentary on the comic industries' excesses of the early 90's.  For a time it seemed new characters were being introduced regularly with guns, armor, little substance, action over story, written with little concern for consequences of their actions.  The story took place in a possible future of the Post-Crisis, Pre-New 52 DC Universe.  Follow?  (If you don't, it doesn't matter.  The story is good enough to stand on it's own.) In a world that preferred over the top anti-heroes with over the top guns, and even more bullets, was there even a place for an anachronism like Superman?  

There's several more themes to be found, security vs freedom, faith, forgiveness, amongst others.  And then there's the art. Alex Ross is arguably the gold standard amongst geeks, nerds, and fan boys when it comes to comic art (Jim Lee being the other artist that same group would argue the point with).  And he drew and painted this beautifully.  New character designs based on classic origins.  And Easter eggs galore.  When people who've never read comic books before ask what they should check out, this is one that you tell them to get.

Kingdom Come

Green Lantern

"In brightest day, in blackest night.  No evil shall escape my sight."  

Hal Jordan, the silver age Green Lantern, went nuts, killed a bunch of Green Lanterns, destroyed the Green Lantern Corps, became the all powerful Parallax, then became the Spectre, and then... they brought him back as a plain ol' Green Lantern.  DC had to some extent given up on the concept of the Green Lantern Corps.  It was too broad, unwieldy, they wanted to simplify.  Take all the rings, and pared them down to one single ring, ditched the "vulnerability to yellow", and made it the most powerful weapon in the universe, and gave it to the proverbial fish out of water, Kyle Rayner.

It was a great creative choice, but fans long remained divided on the matter.  Many wanted to see Hal Jordan brought back, while others believed that the character of Kyle Rayner should remain the featured GL in the DC universe, fearing that the Jordan character's return meant Rayner's demise.  Mind you, the Alan Scott, John Stewart, and Guy Gardner characters also shared the Green Lantern mantle, but nobody worried about them being written off.  And neither did writer Geoff Johns.  He brought back Hal Jordan, kept the Kyle Rayner character, made the entire Corps relevant again, and knew there were exciting cosmic stories to tell in the DC universe.

Johns not only brought the Green Lantern Corps back to prominence as an entity, he created the Sinestro Corps (yellow/fear), the Red Lanterns (rage), Star Sapphires (violet/love), Blue Lanterns (hope), Orange Lanterns (greed), Indigo Tribe (compassion) and Black Lanterns (death).  And it made for some rip roarin' good times.

Green Lantern Rebirth

Green Lantern The Sinestro Corps War

Green Lantern Blackest Night

The Amazing Spider-Man 

There's an argument to be made that the only person who should ever draw Spider-Man is John Romita Jr.  Romita had drawn Spidey many times before, but this run with J. Michael Straczynski really knocked it out of the park.  They got back to the core basics of the character; hard luck Peter Parker, who despite every obstacle thrown in his way, facing insurmountable odds, a struggling marriage, still epitomized, "With great power, comes great responsibility."  Straczynski introduced Ezekiel, who somehow had the exact same abilities as Spider-Man, the idea that Spidey's powers perhaps were not the result of a random act of science, but something more super-natural, and Morlun, the deadliest adversary he ever faced.

Unfortunately, when this arc ended, Romita moved on, while Straczynski continued as the writer, and the quality dropped.  But while they were together, it was fantastic.  (Romita is also part of that Jim Lee and Alex Ross debate).

The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing/Superior/Amazing Spider-Man

Peter Parker and Mary Jane got married in 1987.  Jump ahead to Civil War, and Peter reveals to the world that he's Spider-Man.  That seemed like an exciting, bold direction to go with the character.  And while Civil War was a great story, revealing Spidey's identity to the world turned out to be more of a stunt, as they quickly put that genie back in the bottle by having him make a deal with "the devil" (Mephisto), who makes the whole world forget the identity reveal ever happened, all at the cost of Spidey's marriage to Mary Jane.  Apparently because they wanted to get him back to "his roots."  Which, in the words of the "Apparently Kid", apparently meant being single... and having unprecedented professional/financial success (more on that in a sec).

Writer Dan Slott sent Spidey on some fun adventures, and gave him a great job making real money.  But he really shot for the moon, as he approached issue #700, and had him square off with his old, and dying, enemy Doctor Octopus.  Doc Ock, in final act of vengeance, appeared to switch bodies with Spidey, leaving him to whither and die in Doc Ock's body.  But lo & behold, Doc Ock retained all of Spidey's memories, along with his sense of, yep, "responsibility."  But because he still had to feel like he "won", he vowed to be a "Superior Spider-Man!"

And Spidey-Ock soon finished his PhD, started his own multi-million dollar tech firm, hooked up with a little person, and yeah, was lookin' pretty superior.  But of course Spidey-Spidey wasn't gone forever and... well, you can figure it out.  I realized I was buying ASM regularly ever since Slott took over, and it's a lot of fun.

Spider-Man: Big Time

Superior Spider-Man

Ultimate Spider-Man

In 2000, Marvel wondered what it would be like if their core characters had been introduced in modern times, instead of the 60's.  They started with Spider-Man, putting him back in high school as a 15 year old.  This is Brian Michael Bendis' return to this list as a writer.  Mark Bagley joined him as the artist.  They had a 130+ issue run together, setting a record for a writer/artist duo on a series.  Spidey as a teenager, filled with angst, doubt, hormones, and no grasp of how the world around him actually works.  Re-interpreting classic characters, stories, while introducing new concepts, yet still showing what makes this one of the all time great comic book characters. 

Ultimate Spider-Man: Ultimate Collection Vol. 1

The Ultimates

Two years after Ultimate Spider-Man, we got The Ultimates.  Writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch gave us their take on what the Avengers would like if they came together in a post 9/11 world.  Some heavy socio-political themes, bio-medical ethics, co-dependent relationships, and pretty kick ass action.  

The Ultimates: Ultimate Collection

The Ultimates 2: Ultimate Collection

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Exiles

This was part of the X-men family of titles.  The Blink character was originally introduced in Uncanny X-men, but was killed off pretty quickly.  The character was reintroduced and gained a following during Age of Apocalypse.  Exiles brought together a cast of "X" characters from various alternate realities, and set them on adventures through the Marvel multiverse.  This had the added benefit of bringing back the AoA Blink.  The series overall was a bit inconsistent, but the initial run with Judd Winick as the writer, and artists Mike McKone and Jim Calafiore, was pretty cool.

Exiles Ultimate Collection Vol. 1

Daredevil

Bendis, there's that name again.  The Bendis/Maleev run on Daredevil is considered one of the great critical successes that has been seen in modern comic books.  Before Spider-Man revealed his identity to the world, Daredevil's was outed to the world by his enemies, which then put the FBI on his back, and, well, things pretty much fell apart.  And probably due in no small part to Matt Murdock being a good Catholic boy, there would be no deal with the Devil in this case to fix that.  This series was very much in the streets, alleys, and gutters of Marvel's New York. And that's where the consequences and solutions would be found, too. And Maleev's art... how do you describe it?  Definitely dark, and unique to say the least, but it absolutely worked.

Daredevil by Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev Ultimate Collection - Book 1

The Kennedy Center Honor (Rock &) Rolls

I have what I might call "go to" clips on Youtube.  They tend to be musical clips.  I'll be sitting at work and think to myself, "Hmm, I feel like listening to..." A few of them are from the Kennedy Center Honors. I always look forward to the annual broadcast to see how they're going to pay tribute to the recording artists chosen for induction (and if it will include Kenny Aranoff).  The performers they select to honor the inductees can range from the obvious, the inexplicable, to the unexpected.  And it's the unexpected ones that tend to make the strongest impression.  Here are some of my favorites.  

Ann & Nancy Wilson honoring Led Zeppelin, 2012  

Hands down, my favorite. This is flat out extraordinary.  Jason Bonham's demeanor as he honors his father and the band.  The emotion on Robert Plant's face, how clearly he's impacted by the performance.  And then Ann Wilson's vocals.  Earnest? Exquisite? Epic?  Are there enough adjectives?  This is a song that has in many circles become a bit of a punchline.  Lumped in many ways with "Freebird" as classic rock cliches.  But Ann Wilson grabs hold and reclaims it for the band.  Breathtaking, amazing, stirring, can't say enough.

Steve Tyler honoring Paul McCartney, 2010

"Hey, who should we get to do the McCartney tribute?"

"How 'bout Steven Tyler? Yeah, he can do side 2 of Abbey Road!"

"What the?!  Are you $#%&in' serious?!"

Okay, I don't know if that conversation literally occurred, but I've got to believe more than a few people had that sort of reaction to the decision.  But then he gets out there, does what Steven Tyler does, he clearly loves the material, and it's awesome.  This is my second favorite.  The rest of these are in no particular order.

Bettye LaVette honoring The Who, 2008

I remember watching this and having absolutely no idea who Bettye LaVette was.  And truth be told, I still don't.  But her interpretation of "Love, Reign O'er Me" is amazing.  It's a song about desperation, and she utterly captures that. 

Libera honoring Brian Wilson, 2007

Wilson's own version of "Love and Mercy" isn't particularly remarkable.  In fact, I'd call it an over produced, "synthed" out product of the 80's.  But then you hear this performance and realize what a well written song it really is.  And there's a symbolism about a boys choir singing this.  How much of Wilson's youth, and life for that matter, was lost to an abusive father, drug abuse, and mental illness.  And watching Wilson, he's stone faced throughout this performance.  Is he overwhelmed?  Is he trying to block out something that this stirs?  Does he disconnect? Who knows. Then the beach balls start falling... there's something biographical happening here.  The story of what Wilson truly wanted and needed in all of that chaos that took so much from him.  It's quite beautiful.

Kid Rock honoring Elton John, 2004

Kid Rock covering "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" certainly isn't a stretch.  But the idea that he's something of a "regular" performer at these shows, and would be the guy to get that crowd out of their seats, well, both of those ideas seem unlikely to say the least.  And yet, there he is.  Good stuff.

Garth Brooks honoring Billy Joel, 2013

No surprise that Garth would honor Billy Joel, he's been covering him in his shows forever.  Clearly a fan.  And you wouldn't consider Joel a writer of socially conscious, protest songs, but "Allentown" and "Goodnight Saigon" fall under that banner.  Brooks does very faithful performances of both.  But then you bring out a bunch of vets to join in on the chorus of "Goodnight Saigon"... heavy handed?  Perhaps.  But you get the lump in your throat nonetheless.

Norah Jones and Dave Grohl honoring Paul McCartney, 2010

Now this is definitely one of those pairings where you ask, "Who thought of that?"  "Maybe I'm amazed" is one of my favorite McCartney tunes.  And these two are not who I would think to put together to duet on this.  But oddly enough, it works.

Honorable mention for Mavis Staples performance on this show, too.  She really does a great job with "Let It Be" and "Hey Jude", but there was absolutely no need to pair her with James Taylor, who sucks the life out of his part of their duet.    

Mavis Staples and Sam Moore honoring Al Green, 2014

Two classic soul singers singing a soul classic.  "Take Me to the River." Oh yeah.

Lady Gaga honoring Sting, 2014

I'm not much of a Gaga fan, but damn if she doesn't sing the Hell out of "If I ever Lose My Faith."  And she manages to wear a relatively subdued outfit.

Don't loan out CDs that you don't want to lose...

In the fall of 1994 I got to spend a few months in a magical, mythical place called London, England.  Our group from St. John's & St. Ben's were staying at what is now known as the Florida State University London Study Centre.  And in flat #... hell, I don't know.  One second I think it was 14, then I think it was 10, and suddenly its 8.  It really doesn't matter.  Anyway, in flat #whatever was me, Pete, Frosty, Ryan, Chad, and Andy.

Our flat was narrow.  First floor, small kitchenette/living room, bedroom, narrow hallway and handicap accessible bathroom (which is amazing, because given the aforementioned hallway, I'm pretty sure there's no way a wheelchair could access the place). End of the hallway, you basically do a 180° turn and go up the much more narrow staircase, at the top of which you could go into four places; the bedroom on the right, the shower, the toilet, or the bedroom on the left.

The upstairs bedrooms were a highlight of the place, and a sore spot.  A highlight because they had the most space, and each had a skylight window that gave both rooms plenty of natural light.  A sore spot, because Andy and I were supposed to room together.  But because I didn't get into the flat quickly enough, that went right out the, well, window.  Pete and Frosty grabbed the upstairs bedroom on the left, and Ryan and Andy grabbed the one on the right.  That left me downstairs with Chad.  And, yeah, in the grand scheme of things that was probably for the best.  Chad and our other roommates didn't quite click.  And I didn't mind rooming with him.  

Of Andy's many unique & distinguishable personality traits and habits, the one I enjoyed sharing with him the most was his habit of staying up all night creating characters for his Star Wars role playing game, listening to music, drinking cokes, and watching TV.  I could never hang with him, and usually ended up falling asleep.  He'd yell at me to wake up and go to bed. (Yeah, I've written about this before.  But when remembering somebody, you get to tell the same stories as much as you want.)  The one I didn't?  His propensity for making sandwiches in his boxer shorts.  But anyway...

On this particular night, ITV or one of the BBC channels were broadcasting the Pink Floyd concert from Earl's Court in October of that same year.  Andy was a fan and I knew very little of their catalog other than a few obvious tunes.  A couple of things we found remarkable about British TV, how much we enjoyed watching American shows we'd never watch back home, such as Baywatch & Sesame Street, and the type of programming you could find on broadcast TV after 8 PM.  Like a complete Pink Floyd concert.  

As I remember it, we came across this accidentally.  We got done watching one show or movie, and then the Coming Up Next... previewed the Pink Floyd concert.  Not that I needed to be persuaded, but I remember Andy assuring me it should be pretty good.  And it was, it really was.  I seem to recall he was particularly pleased that they performed Dark Side of The Moon.  These are some of the songs I remember enjoying.

Shine On You Crazy Diamond

Another Brick in the Wall

Comfortably Numb

Run Like Hell

It was a good night.  Just hanging out with your buddy, talking, watching a concert, goofing off.  And of course I eventually fell asleep.  How I did with such regularity on those couches, I don't know.  They really weren't coaches, more like glorified love seats.  Your head was bent forward resting on one arm rest, and then your calves were draped over the other armrest and hanging off the couch.  Andy was usually sitting at our dining room table, working on his nightly collection of pop cans.

A few weekends later, I found a bootleg CD of that show at one of the markets I usually hit on the weekends (And have also written about before.  Seriously, folks.  Because of the digital age, you'll never know the simple joy of buying these things). Of course I grabbed it.  Broadcast quality sound was the gold standard of bootlegs.  But it was also a recording of a show I hung out and watched with my friend.  And Andy thought it was cool that I found it.  Of course I grabbed it.

A couple of years later, I loaned that CD to someone.  It was the second of two CDs from that trip that I lost.  One, I'm pretty sure was stolen while I was still at school.  By someone I loaned it to.  This one, I think this person just lost it.  The lesson, though?  Don't loan that shit out.  

A few years ago, the show was remastered and released on DVD as The Pulse concert DVD.  The Pulse CD unfortunately is not entirely of the same show, but is edited from various shows from that tour.  Still, thanks to things like the above links, there's plenty out there for me to still watch, listen to, and enjoy and remember that night.  The fact of the matter is, that CD isn't even necessary to enjoy the memory of that night.

It's been 14 years, buddy.  Wherever you are, shine on man.  Shine on.