"Whee. Sal, we gotta go and never stop going till we get there." "Where we going, man?" "I don't know but we gotta go." I had problems with a 104 error, that's why this post published is one day late. It would have been Jack Kerouac's 80th birthday today. Jack Kerouac is one of the heroes of my youth. The first book I got into was The Dharma Bums. Jack and Gary (Snyder) climbing mountains with some raisins and nuts (Studentenfutter in German) in their rucksacks. Zen it was. On the Road was never my favourite book of his. Too many people, too chaotic, too much stream-of-consciousness. On the similar hobo travelling theme I preferred Jack London's more straightforward The Road. Big Sur was the book that really hit me. Jack in a cabin south of Monterey at the Pacific coast. An alcoholic experiencing the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome in one of the most beautiful landscapes on earth. A true nightmare. Later on I discovered Tristessa where Jack writes on a junkie in Mexico City he falls in love with. A compassionate account of human weakness. Some more links:

• Random Jack Kerouac Quotes

• Pop! The Jack Kerouac Haiku Page

• Jack Kerouac Haiku

• Glorious Noise on a concert of John Darnielle's Mountain Goats in Chicago: "On Friday night at the Bottle, Darnielle’s self-effacing nature, chuckling anecdotes, and folksy delivery made for a sort of Prairie Home Companion for indie kids."

• ILM: I hate hippy music (i.e. the dead, phish, jam bands) do you and why?