Dave Makes up a Controversy

So you wanna boycott the Baltimore City Paper because you’re sick of their pandering to an elite few while ignoring your favorite artists (like Davey G and the Keyboard?) Boy, are you in luck!

I have (had) been a City Paper reader for 13 years, and I’d always found it to be worth the ten minutes or so I spent with it every week. But now, I just can’t even conceal my disgust for this Alternative Weekly. The complete pandering to their butt buddies from whatever local group is cool this week, the snotty and useless movie reviews, their handling of the Talking Head situation (where they unnecessarily highlighted the owner’s criminal record in a “fair” and “balanced” assessment of why the club had to close down last winter), the god-awful ramblings of Mr. Wrong (yeah, I get it, you’re supposed to be that guy everyone loves to hate--only you express yourself so poorly that even when I agree with you I want to disagree). Hell, they can’t even admit when they actually LIKE something, as that would somehow subtract from their coolness. In short, I am sick of reading the City Paper, and I refuse to support them anymore.

But there is a problem. Do I throw out the baby with the bathwater? After all, there are things in the CP that I do like to read, such as Savage Love, Political Animal, This Modern World, etc. Not to mention that CP is a free source for what’s going on in Baltimore on any given week. How can I still get this information without having to resort to picking up the paper that irritates me so much?
Well, here’s where my plucky resourcefulness comes in. I am making my own bastardized version of the City Paper, for my own personal use, (minus their snotty, annoying commentary) and you can too! Print it out for yourself, add your own columns!

Here’s where I begin:
I love Brain Morton’s Political Animal, and here’s where you can get it: http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/10287

I also love my Savage Love. Here you go! http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove

This Modern World!
http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2007/10/08/tomo/

Like the Maakies? http://www.maakies.com/

Straight Dope. http://www.straightdope.com/ You can subscribe and get their e-mail every week!

There are about a million places to find movie and book reviews. I invite you to find a place you like and tell me about it.


Stuff to do! Pick up the Thursday Baltimore Sun for the Live Section!
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/custom/live/

Friend “Baltimore” on Myspace for their weekly newsletter! Ask people you know! Pick up that music mag. (I’ll get the name later)

Other stuff to do: Read a book! Go to Davey G and the Keyboard shows!

This is by no means comprehensive. But it’s a start. Any suggestions on alternatives to other things you may miss in the City Paper? Leave a comment!

Boycotting is hard. But the alternative is to support an institution that has lost sight of it’s purpose. If you are not part of the in-crowd with City Paper, you are out of luck. In their own way, they represent everything that is wrong with Baltimore: parochialism. Yeah, you heard me: parochialism.
Goddamn Parochialism.

Join the fight! Let us never soil our hands with City Paper again!

Davey G.
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com