[random] Damn... Now I feel old.

To quote The Gunslinger, "...and the World moved on."

Tuesday, December 27, 2005 1:52 p.m. ET By STEVE LeBLANC Associated Press Writer BOSTON (AP) -- Maybe it was the last greasy burger served at the Tasty Diner, or the final copy of Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" sold at Wordsworth books, or the last Hohner harmonica discovered amid the dusty bins of sheet music at Briggs and Briggs. Ask longtime denizens of Harvard Square and they will be able to lament the exact moment the old square seemed to lose its bohemian charm, when a favored haunt or hole-in-the-wall vanished, often giving way to a national chain. Earlier this year, the Wordsworth bookstore, which introduced generations of high schoolers to the illicit pleasures of Henry Miller, William Burroughs and Anais Nin, sold its last volume. Now the Brattle Theater, which for half a century has catered to fans of American film noir, French New Wave and Russian avant-garde, is teetering on the brink.

Given the 300+ years of Harvard history, fifty years is nothing. Even WordsWorth Books was just 30 years old, so 'generations' is perhaps a bit too glib. My favorite sci-fi bookstore in Harvard Square was but 20 or so years old when it closed in 1989 (Thanks for all your hard work, Spike! (And you too, Tyler, for carrying the torch w/ Pandemonium.)). But still... so much stuff is being, well, sanitized and commoditized. Stores. Album covers. You name it, there isn't anything that can't be made safe and non-threatening for consumers. Maybe 'old' isn't the right word. Maybe I'm just feeling crochety. Feh.