In a classic "anything you can do, I can do better" stroke of political genius, reportedly John McCain nominated Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate. The goal: fighting the allure of a voting for a traditional political minority with a traditional political minority.

You talk about a chess match. Where candidate Barack Obama went for a prolific foreign policy public servant in Sen. Joe Biden, McCain is accompanying his wealth of experience with someone who has next to no experience.

I’m sure some GOP strategist piped up, “Listen, trust me: do this and you’ll win.” And that person is probably right. What better way to diffuse the appeal of the first ever minority candidate than to add a first of your own.

Nevertheless, the tickets are, alas, set. Thankfully, on either side of the VP ticket: no Mitt, no Hillary. I play my political hand so scarcely, but I will make no qualms about those two: both are next level narcissists that would not mesh with the title "second most powerful person in the world." Mercifully I think we all realize that.

Gov. Palin, by all accounts seems to be the Anti-Hillary: diametrically opposed on all issues, family-oriented, and, so far, not unlikable. Also, if I might add—in interest of full disclosure (and I’m not the first to say it)—she is quite attractive. And if you think that doesn’t matter to voters, you’re naïve.

Proof once again that we, some 45 years after The Dream, still judge each other by the most superfluous criterion. But, at least we’re making progress.

Records:
1. The National – Boxer
2. Angels of Light – We Are Him
3. Grinderman – Self Titled
4. Shellac – Excellent Italian Greyhound
5. M.I.A. – Kala
6. Akron/Family – Love is Simple
7. Jay-Z – American Gangster
8. Gena Rowlands Band – Flesh and Spirits
9. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
10. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – Living With the Living
11. Nina Nastasia & Jim White - You Follow Me
12. Radiohead – In Rainbows
13. Richard Swift & The Sons of National Freedom – Dressed Up for the Letdown
14. Various – I Belong to This Band
15. Michael Casmore and Antony Hegarty – The Snow Abides
16. The Brothers Martin – Self Titled
17. Ghostface Killah – The Big Doe Rehab
18. St. Vincent – Marry Me
19. Baby Teeth – The Simp
20. Scott Walker – And Who Shall Go To The Ball? And What Shall Go To The Ball?

Songs:
1. Grinderman – "No Pussy Blues"
2. The National – "Fake Empire"
3. Akron/Family – "I've Got Some Friends"
4. The Arcade Fire – "Intervention"
5. Gena Rowlands Band – "God and the Way Women Walk"
6. Shellac – "The End of Radio"
7. BARR – "Content Ender"
8. The Book of Knots (feat. Tom Waits) – "Pray"
9. St. Vincent – "Now Now"
10. M.I.A. – "Paper Planes"
11. Radiohead – "All I Need"
12. Richard Swift & The Sons of National Freedom – "Artist & Repertoir"
13. Jay-Z – "Ignorant Shit"
14. Baby Teeth – "Diaghalev Was Right"
15. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – "Some Beginner's Mind"
16. Joy Electric – "The Ushering in of the Magical Era"
17. Kanye West – "The Good Life"
18. Page France – "The Belly in the Fish"
19. Bad Brains – "Give Thanks and Praises"
20. Neon Horse – "Cuckoo"

Shows:
(All shows took place in Chicago, Illinois)

1. Iggy & the Stooges (Lollapalooza) – Grant Park – 08/05
2. Grinderman – The Metro – 07/25
3. Michael Gira – Lakeshore Theater – 11/10
4. Daft Punk, LCD Soundsystem (Lollapalooza) – Grant Park – 08/03
5. The National, St. Vincent – The Vic Theater – 08/22
6. Daniel Johnston – Lakeshore Theater – 05/10
7. Instant Band Party w/ Anathallo – Berry UMC – 04/14
8. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – The Metro – 04/28
9. Richard Swift & The Sons of National Freedom, White Rabbits – Schubas – 04/24
10. The Nightwatchman – Schubas – 07/12
11. M.I.A., Blonde Redhead (Lollapalooza) – Grant Park – 08/03
12. Page France, Starflyer 59 – Beat Kitchen – 06/29
13. Baby Teeth, Baby Dayliner – Schubas – 03/17
14. TV on the Radio (Lollapalooza) – Grant Park – 08/05
15. Joy Electric – Champs Rock Room – 05/17

Stand up:
1. Todd Barry – The Improv – 01/28
2. Marc Maron – The Improv – 03/09
3. Judah Friedlander – The Improv – 01/04

Films:
1. Grindhouse: Death Proof, Planet Terror
2. Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
3. Black Snake Moan
4. For Your Consideration
5. The Ten
6. Paul Mooney: Know Your History: Jesus Is Black… So Was Cleopatra
7. Danielson: A Family Movie
8. Knocked Up
9. American Hardcore

TV:
1. Weeds
2. Human Giant

The same could not be said for Sunday's lists of artists. Or at least, for one of Sunday's artists. Here's the rundown on all the artists I got a chance to witness:

Juliette and the Licks – Nothing special. Entertaining to see the Natural Born Killers actress perform, sure, but that's about it.

White Rabbits – I saw New York City's White Rabbits earlier this year at Schubas opening for Richard Swift. A couple songs into their set then, I was impressed, but shortly thereafter, forgot about them after seeing Swift's set. Then recently they were on Letterman and I was intrigued once again. I'm not sure if having two drummers necessarily helps them, but they were an amusing band nonetheless.

David Vandervelde – I really wanted to like the guy, but I just wasn't into it. I tried.

Amy Winehouse – She showed up to the stage 10 minutes late more than slightly inebriated (one can only assume) and still managed to end her show a few minutes early. Her band is all men, which has got to be emasculating for all of them whether they know it or not, as talented as they may well be. That said, she played a decent show. Of course, the entire crowd was waiting on their hind legs waiting for "Rehab".

Iggy and the Stooges – Here's a story. The Stooges are undeniably the most important band on the bill this year, if not the most important, influential and dynamic band still active today. It doesn't matter that The Weirdness is nowhere near the brilliance of Fun House or Raw Power; all that matters is that The Stooges are back.

I stayed in the crowd after Amy Winehouse for a solid hour, waiting for The Stooges to take the stage. My patience had managed to get me within two rows of people from the gate located directly in front of the stage.

The band took the stage wasting no time by opening with "Loose" and "Down on the Street" off of Fun House. He would proceed to play the rest of the Fun House record scattered throughout the set.

The Stooges themselves are Iggy Pop on vocals, of course, Ron Asheton on guitar and Scott Asheton on drums. Notorious punk bassist Mike Watt also joined the band for their reunion.

While the Asheton brothers are as rock solid musicians you could ever hope to have in a rock band, Iggy is anything but. I'm not sure anyone could harness the energy that this man has, made all the more remarkable by the fact that he is now in his 60s. Meanwhile, on bass, Watt is in sprawled out on the stage like third baseman fielding a groundball, maintaining a puckered facial expression on every thumping note.

About eight songs in, preceding the performance of "No Fun", Iggy addressed the crowd: he would like the crowd to join him on stage. As the song started, there was a slight hesitance I noticed from the people around me, but I had a feeling that he was serious. At which point I see the middle of the crowd open up and begin rushing the stage. Myself and a handful of others jumped the fence into the security/photographers well and proceeded to run up to the steps to meet The Stooges on the stage. I landed on my elbow as I stumbled over the railing, gathered all of my belongings and proceeded to run towards the steps. Others were just jumping straight on the stage, which was a good 3 feet taller than myself in stocking feet, if not more.

The scene was unbelievable. It was like the absolute inverse of the Titanic. As I am frantically running my way up the steps, a security guard shoved his hand into my chest and said that no more could go up on stage. He instructed me go back down the steps immediately. I decided to push it, and waited on the steps for his attention to be diverted. Fifteen seconds later, I am on the stage between Ron Asheton's Marshall amps and the drum riser.

The song is still going on, and I can't even see Iggy for all the people on the stage. People are mauling him with so much gratitude that you would have thought that he had given them all kidneys. I glance over to see Watt and he still has not broke stride. Likewise Ron Asheton, who is playing some very impressive chops, is now behind his Marshall stacks.

I am pretty sure at this point Perry Farrell is on the side of the stage, laughing and admiring the show, but I honestly could not see for all the people. Behind the amps is saxophonist, Steve MacKay, waiting to play on a couple forthcoming songs. I glance over at him with a look that said, "Do you believe this?" After the song was over, with well over a hundred fans now on the stage, I asked MacKay, "What now?" He smiled and shrugged and directed me to help move people along of the stage.

Being the reasonable person I am, I helped move people off the stage. The Stooges road crew is uncommonly cool about the whole situation; they knew it was coming. Before I leave I made sure to shake Scott Asheton's hand behind the drum set and thanked him accordingly.

After being escorted off the stage, I made my way to the back of the crowd and saw the rest of their truly extraordinary show. By the end, what had culminated was simple: it was without question, the best rock 'n' roll show I've ever seen. And in some unusual way, I was a part of it.

Even now 30+ years past their prime, I honestly don't think you can find a better rock 'n' roll show than The Stooges.

Yo La Tengo – You know what, they played great. It was what I expected, but I truly did not care. You can't follow The Stooges with Yo La Tengo; it just doesn't work.

The Wailers – Talk about a strange series of events. As I am walking past Yo La Tengo's set I see The Wailers performing "No Woman No Cry". I'm lucky I didn't have an aneurysm. Who honestly can go from hearing the entire Fun House record, to Yo La Tengo, to the survived The Wailers playing the best reggae song ever written, in a half-hour time span and not have the cognitive dissonance within to sit down and ponder what implausible events you are witnessing. I needed to rest.

TV on the Radio – Last show of the night for me (no thank you, on Pearl Jam). And TV on the Radio played very admirably. I bet their show, like most other bands, would have been much better played with in the four walls of a club, but that's neither here nor there.

Elvis Perkins in Dearland - first show of the day; ended up being the best (or only) singer/songwriter of the day.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Good, but sullied by the fact that I saw them in April and the setlist was pretty much the same.

Viva Voce - Their show certainly got me more interested in getting their record that came out last year Get Yr Blood Sucked Out.

M.I.A. - Perhaps the best show of the day; the two female emcees came out dressed like extras from a Wreckx-N-Effect video, and throughly killed on stage. They had problems with their turntables that briefly stopped the set and it still didn't matter. Definitely the best show up to that point.

Blonde Redhead - If I hadn't just seen M.I.A. prefacing this show, I'm sure it would have been easier to digest. Still, I can't hang that on them, they played great.

LCD Soundsystem - Very impressed by the band and the singer; I was working off little exposure to them (the "I've heard good things" method). "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House" was the highlight, since Daft Punk themselves were setting their set just a stage away.

Daft Punk - Last show of the night. I tried to get as close to the stage as possible. As it turned out, it didn't matter how close you were. You just needed some room to move your feet, that's all. An unbelievably elaborate light show, by the men in silver astronaut suits, perched above the stage in a electronic pyramid. I've said to much already; I don't want to spoil it for anyone else.

M.I.A. and Daft Punk were best shows of the day, though I'm not sure who topped who. I was impressed with little else at the festival, though. Too many overhyped bands for far too high a price.

While the best artists of the day on Friday were by and large all digital, expect the opposite to be true with Sunday's list of bands. I expect Iggy and the Stooges, The Wailers, Yo La Tengo and TV on the Radio to take us back home.

ps. On the train on the way to festival, I was invariably surrounded by others who were also en route to the festival who were talking about who they were going to see. I sent the following text message to my brother following a quite concerning conversation I overheard between two guys who were sitting in front of me on the train:

Text 1: "Conversation on the Train: 'Kings of Leon, Modest Mouse and then Pearl Jam: who wouldn't pay $80 for that?' I was looking [down] at my schedule like it was [the game] Battleship. [All the time, thinking] 'Miss.'"