Between innings at the Red Sox game they showed a video about Fenway Park; the background music was a U2 song that I couldn’t quite place at first.  I asked my friend, and he said, “Sorry, I don’t know anything about U2.”

This startled me for a moment, but it shouldn’t have.  You pick and choose your life; you can’t pay attention to everything.  And why bother?  Most of it is junk.  Some people reread Jane Austen every year; I wouldn’t do that, but I’d gladly spend a lot more time with Shakespeare than I currently am able to.  On the other hand, I have never watched a full episode of Seinfeld or Friends or The Sopranos; I have only the vaguest interest in modern art; ballet leaves me cold…

…And I never heard of Adam Yauch until he died.  I’ve heard of the Beastie Boys, but never listened to any of their music; hip hop is something else that leaves me cold.  Anyway, here they are, back when their lives were ahead of them:

And here is that great U2 song I heard at Fenway: