Lou Reed is dead.  Just let that sink in.

I’m not going to claim to be the biggest Lou Reed fan in the world.  I don’t know as much about him as I’d like to.  I have the first Velvet Underground & Nico album.  I love everything I ever heard him perform, but for some reason I never bought more than that one VU album.

That said, I felt a deep sense of loss when I heard that Lou passed away.  He was always one of those cool motherfuckers who represented a specific time and place, a certain attitude, a way of living.  He was a genuine rock and roll badass.  His lyrics were devastatingly honest, and his voice was pure imperfection.  I remember watching some awards show many years ago, and when Lou started to sing it sounded like everyone was booing.  I quickly realized that the…