The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

Sometimes being road-weary is a good thing. Like maybe, say, when Neil Young handpicks your band to tour with him around North America. From now through the middle of December, such is the fate of Everest, a Los Angeles-based group whose debut album, Ghost Notes, has won some much-deserved acclaim since its release in May.

Photos by India Bell

By special guest Defenstrator correspondent, Max Ross. You may know him from such fine pieces as "Protest Music for the New Millenium" and "American Idle - Achin' Aiken - [Insert Pun]."

Why are the media even here?

While terrorists plotting to obliterate the Xcel Center in a fertilizer-scented blast of hellfire would seem to be the larger cause for concern among the various agencies responsible for security around the RNC, the Department of Homeland Security, in conjunction with Texas Security Threat Group officers, the California Department of Corrections and the Sacramento Intelligence unit, is bringing its "A" game. In other words, it's examining all threats, no matter how unlikely.