There seems to be a bit of cognitive dissonance between the notion that "everything's going online" and the fact that people get all up-in-arms when their newspapers fold or threaten to. Just as there's a cognitive gap between the idea that journalism is something of value and the idea that you don't have to pay for it.

Any fool with a spreadsheet could make an excellent case for a weekly paper whose initial run of 10,000 came to serve some 75,000 people — all of whom are now without one.

"If Rodney would get a little more engaged, as in history, he might not find the world so confrontational."

"It's the wet dream of some of these people that the Daily News goes out of business," says Dan Gross. "Well, that's just a shitty attitude. For the most part, the city's news still originates from us."

So why do the Phillies pay so much attention to the Mets? It's a fair question, I suppose. After all, the Mets are just the lowly two-time consecutive NL East runners-up, hardly a group the World F. Champions need to fear. Still, I think there may be an answer, and we at City Paper, being good Samaritans, are here to provide it.

Brandishing traditional bachi sticks, the 15 musicians circle and attack their wide drums with a violent, artful fluidity that harkens back to taiko's ancient roots in the martial arts.

For Philadelphia-area artists, the Fleisher Challenge is a once-in-a-career rite of passage.

100NakedLocks is a dark sci-fi vision with an industrial score, where the cast represents the last people left on a post-apocalyptic Earth.

It's hard to beat the choreographed whimsy of two dancers wandering around singing "yada yada" along with a Rossini aria.

With No Line on the Horizon, U2 have made their first bona fide AOR record, which is industry shorthand for a record that has a lot of music but no songs. Predominantly a meditation on love and commitment, it meanders for nearly an hour without ever stumbling on anything like a melody. In some pockets of the pop universe this is considered brave. In most of the rest of the world, it's just considered boring.

Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes is a particularly creaky incarnation of the Elephant Six aesthetic, what with Julian Koster's warbly blurt of a voice, fetish for antiquarian recording devices and reliance on novelty-factor instruments like banjos, toy organs and his beloved singing saw.

The Nottingham, England-based Tindersticks specialize in a more subdued aesthetic, cushioning Stuart Staples' deep, quavering vocals with cinematic strings and all-around elegance.

Though attention is always paid more to creation than to interpretation, late Texas saxophonist Julius Hemphill deserves to be honored as much for his skill as an arranger as for his compositions.

| Green Meadow Farm Double-Smoked Hickory Bacon | Duck Prosciutto | Sliced Pickled Beef | Penang Rojak | Kimchi Jigae

Chima Brazilian Carnival | Taste of Italy at the Flower Show | Phil Roy Dinner at Osteria | $12 Express Lunch at Blackfish | Atlantic City Restaurant Week

"In the past the black politicians who did get elected did it by appealing to a black base — people like themselves. What was surprising about Obama ... is that he instead built a coalition of people who were unlike him."

Fri., Feb., 27, 1 p.m., free, Penn Bookstore, 3601 Walnut St., 215-898-7595, upenn.bncollege.com

Every first Mon., 6:30 p.m., free, Germ Books & Gallery, 2005 Frankford Ave., 215-423-5002, germbooks.com

$30-$110 at Vagabond Boutique, 37 N. 3rd St., 267-671-0737, ericaweiner.com

X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft But Can Still Keep Everything From Sucking | Thu., Feb. 26, 6 p.m., free, Penn Bookstore, 3601 Walnut St., 215-898-7595, jeffgordinier.com

Thu., Feb. 26, 8 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., Feb. 27-28, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; $20-$30, Helium Comedy Club, 2031 Sansom St., 215-496-9001, heliumcomedy.com