We love us our Indians, and our self pity

It could just be the naturally-bred low self esteem that comes from being born and raised in the Cleveland area and motivates me to assume the worst about this fair city, but Gawker seems to be mocking the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. From an entry about a casting call for an upcoming Strokes video:

Hey you! Yeah, you! Do you have what it takes to be a part of rock ‘n’ roll history? Do you want to be forever immortalized in a money-losing vanity project museum in a mid-sized city you never visit? Here’s the opportunity you’ve been waiting for!

I strongly dislike the Strokes and am not quite sure what scenario would lead to their being immortalized in the Rock Hall; I do kinda think the Rock Hall is a vanity project; and it is a simple fact that Cleveland is a mid-sized city. However, the Rock Hall is not losing money, and from time to time some people do visit Cleveland. Honestly. It is rare, but it happens. Like, Jay-Z once came here to watch LeBron play.

Defensive much? That's the thing about Clevelanders: we often feel badly that we are from this place, and we sheepishly acknowledge its suckitude when we have to. But outside criticism hurts. If we are cut, do we not bleed? If a spark from a welder's torch lands on our river, does it not burn?

Cleveland is a post-industrial wasteland with a horrible school system, heartbreaking poverty and a severe brain-drain problem, but, damn it, it's our post-industrial wasteland with a horrible school system, heartbreaking poverty and a severe brain-drain problem. Plus, we can't all be fabulous New Yorkers. Somebody has to toil in the unfashionable Midwestern trenches, if only to ensure Manhattan's superiority. You know, as Rush says, philosophers and ploughmen, each must know his part.