The Mylie Cyrus photo flareup won't go away...so, as much as I've resisted until now, it's time to weigh in on the latest incident of pop culture idiocy.

The foolishness here was the decision to let good girl teen queen pose for Annie Liebowitz, who has made her career by taking provocative photos of celebrity subjects.

Once that decision was made, something controversial was bound to be printed...And once the photos, which are really tame, came out the inevitable firestorm occured.

Now Mylie and Disney are running for cover, trying to apologize for something they should have known better about doing given the photographer involved.

The only other interpretation for all of this is that the Vanity Fair appearance was a career move, the first step in Mylie's growing up into a late teen star rather than the idol of little girls. After all, she can't be Hannah Montana forever.

But if that was the plan, it backfired big time.

Well blog readers, the time has come to say farewell. This is the last day I'll be in the office at the Journal Star before I take off for the Omaha World-Herald to work all summer.

I just got done training the "new guy," and he literally is a guy, so that will be a change for you all. His name is Michael McHale.
Stats:
Junior at UNL, I think.
Generally nice guy.
Likes sports.
That's all I've got on him. But be nice. Help him out with the local music stuff.

Anyway. Just wanted to say thanks for all of the feedback and comments you gave me over the course of my internship - it has been a fantastic learning experience, and I've had the chance to meet a lot of really wonderful people.

I'll be back in Lincoln come fall to finish up school, so you'll probably still see me out and about at shows and around town.

Until then...

Ps. If you have any suggestions as to places to go in Omaha, things to do, people to see, be sure to let me know! I'd like it to feel like home...even if I'll only be there three months.

I was walking down P street tonight with a friend when suddenly we noticed that WCs was open after a baffling hiatus. The second-story bar between 12th and 13th on P street was lit up once again (apparently since mid-April), so of course we had to stop in.

This place is so great. I don't understand why it isn't packed all the time. It's basically the ultimate bar in the downtown area - there are five pool tables, darts, tons of space and tables and a really nice bartender. It has the no-frills vibe of O'Rourkes, only it's a little more spacious, less smelly and there's way more to do (plus it's off the beaten path, which is kind of nice).

I'm anxious for other people my age to latch onto this bar and give it another go-to stop on the downtown circuit.

The new owner told us that they're open Tuesday-Saturday.

Elvis Costello's latest "Momofuku," named after the guy that invented instant noodles, came out on CD yesterday. But it was released two weeks ago on vinyl.

If you're looking to buy it -- it's really good -- I'd recommend the vinyl. The record is pressed three songs to a side, allowing for maximum width of the grooves and top sound reproduction.

And it comes with a digital download code that worked like a charm when I used it earlier this week.

Also of note, The Bellrays, a great rock 'n' soul group, is releasing its 8th album on Tuesday and will be in Omaha next Friday night...

They're great.

I'm a little tardy with this post. Steve Earle and his wife Allison Moorer played the Rococo Theatre Friday night and I'm just getting this written Monday afternoon.

But better late than never to acknowledge one of the better shows that's been through Lincoln in awhile.

Let's get one more thing out up front: I’m a horrible judge of Earle’s shows.

I’ve known him for more than 20 years, seen him a whole bunch of times and have lost anything resembling distance in judging his performances.

But everything I've heard from anybody who was there has been glowingly positive and up in the dressing room afterward, Earle said he thought it was a very good show.

His two-hour set spanned his career.

“Someday” and “My Old Friend The Blues,” songs from his 1986 debut “Guitar Town,” anchored the opening 40 minutes with Earle singing and playing acoustic guitar.

Then Earle brought out dj Neil McDonald, his longtime monitor engineer, to kick off the innovative mid-section of the concert in which turntables and beats brought to life the folk-meets-hip-hop songs from “Washington Square Serenade,” Earle’s latest record.

That part of the set kicked off with “Tennessee Blues,” an updating of “Guitar Town” that chronicles the recent move to New York by Earle and Moorer, who opened the show with a 30 minute set, primarily of cover songs, that showcased her gorgeous voice and singer/songwriter style.

She came back out to duet with him on “Days Are Never Long Enough,” the touching love song they wrote together and on the raucous celebration of New York, “City of Immigrants.”

Switching acoustic instruments while Anderson dialed up the beats, Earle delivered powerful performances of “Oxycontin Blues,” “Transcendental Blues,” the title cut of one of his best albums and the heartfelt “Sparkle and Shine,” a long song he wrote for Moorer and sang immediately before calling her out to the stage.

For the first two thirds of the show, the talkative Earle was relatively quiet, but you can’t keep Earle out of politics for too long and by the end of the show he had the audience singing very loud to “Steve’s Hammer (For Pete)” an anti-war, pro-union folk song he dedicates to Pete Seeger.

The encore was moving in another fashion as he dedicated “Little Rock ‘n’ Roller” to his two sons, his brother Patrick and his boy and his late father Jack, who passed away just after Christmas before closing with “Copperhead Road,” his biggest hit.

After the show, Earle talked about how college towns have become some of his strongest markets and intimated that he'll probably be coming around these parts more often in years to come.

I certainly hope so.