Punk's Not Dead - It's just using a mobility scooter

Using AI to generate custom walking tours, as opposed to relying on standard tours outlined in guidebooks, masks most issues related to navigating London without getting lost and, through the miracle of the algorithm allows us to map out highly specific punk rock landmarks, including the 100 Club and the Sex Pistols' former flat on Denmark Street, early Rolling Stones history at Regent Sounds Studios, hunt down Churchill’s WWII haunts and re-enact movie scenes around Notting Hill. This targeted wandering allowed us to rack up a total of 220 miles walked for July, though, if we are being honest, about 50 of those miles were just us going back and forth along the street when our gps mysteriously changes directions.

By week three, the illusion of being sophisticated globetrotters was in part replaced by the glamour of doing laundry, hitting the gym, watching television, and trading trips to CVS for trips to Boots. It turns out cultural immersion often does not lead to participation in some unique, life changing cultural event it’s often limited to doing the same daily things you’ve always done, with a few twists, in a slightly different timezone.

We capped off this week with a weekend in Wales for a festival celebrating 50 years of punk rock. The Sex Pistols headlined inside Cardiff Castle, a venue that was genuinely impressive. Also impressive that three of the original band members are still upright and playing. Most impressive however was the crowd: many senior citizens who’ve, for better or worse, survived the '70s and their own questionable life choices. Now in their actual seventies, they’re still showing up at punk shows. The uniform of the day has shifted from combat boots and safety pins to canes and mobility scooters, but they’d get in the mosh pit if someone let them.