ATS finished up yesterday. A very successful endeavor, the class generated positive feedback that hopefully will encourage others to take it in the future.

What a show last night was the Counting Crows in Lawrence! I haven’t blown out my voice from yelling in years, but I did last night. My favorite quote was when Adam Duritz said something about getting ready to play an old song, then remarked “at this point, anything before this album is pretty fucking old.” He’s right. The last studio album was 2002’s Hard Candy. It was a great disc, but six years is a long time between fresh material. Sure, they put out a compilation, a live CD and remastered their first CD August and Everything After, but six years is just too long to wait. Maybe that’s why the moved from what is now Verizon Amphitheater, where I last saw them in 2000, to Liberty Hall.

I just ate with John and Sara Grahm. It was the first time I’ve met my newest first cousin once removed, Maggie. Maggie is short for Margrett, and her brother is Will and sister is Ainsley. That’s right, folks, now they just need to have Josiah, Leo, Josh, Donna, Toby, Claudia, Charlie, Amy and Kate to be an Aaron Sorkin tribute family. Better get crackin’, John.

I’m relaxing to HBO, which is kindly airing John Adams for me. Its oratory often resembles Deadwood without the sex and violence. Truly not quite as good, it does serve as the best replacement so far to the ill-fated, canceled series.

Is it me or does Sarah Lacy look like Justine Joli?

I’m on Twitter as atraffas. Follow me, where I go, what I do, and who I know…