I had a landmark experience in eating last week. It was one of those infrequent happenings that only come along every now and again, if you’re lucky. Like being a Boston Red Sox fan and living in Utah — you’ll probably make it up to Fenway only once or twice in your life, but the experience means everything when you finally do. Walking into Vetri in downtown Philadelphia was like that for me — like going to Fenway and smelling the freshly cut grass, except for me it was the smell of the best pasta in the country.

This week, the Billboard Hot 100 crowned Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” the 1,000th song to top its chart since it was created in 1958. Here are some of the highlights from the past 1,000 No. 1s, including songs by the Beatles, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey.

This week, Lady Gaga scores her third No. 1 single as “Born This Way” storms the Hot 100, debuting at No. 1 and earning the distinction of being the 1,000th No. 1 in Billboard history. What makes it all the more impressive was that she did it in less than three days.

Billboard was so excited about its 1,000th No. 1 that they leaked news of the occasion three days before the new charts are posted. And what better time is there to be excited and take a look back at the Hot 100 — the Dow Jones of music.

MTV’s recent announcement that the cast of Jersey Shore will head to Italy has brought mostly groans and grimaces from the blogosphere. But what many people may not realize is that crew of self-proclaimed guidos and guidettes has already been in what MTV described as the “birthplace of culture” for some time.

The 53rd annual Grammy Awards were broadcast Sunday, and Lady Antebellum, Jay-Z and Lady Gaga walked away the big winners. Lady Antebellum won five Grammy awards including Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Need You Now.” Although Jay-Z and Lady Gaga didn’t win in any of the general categories, each took home three Grammys apiece in the rap and pop categories respectively. Arcade Fire won Album of the Year for “The Suburbs,” shocking everyone who assumed Eminem’s “Recovery” was a shoe-in. Slim Shady was nominated for 10 Grammys – the most of any artist – but he only won two, one for Best Rap Album and the other for Best Rap Solo Performance for “Not Afraid.”

After the show, I caught up with fellow music lover Chase Hilton to talk about the show, the winners, and the performances. Read our conversation after the jump.

This Sunday, as the Green Bay Packers accepted the Vince Lombardi trophy for winning Super Bowl XLV, I thought it was a forgone conclusion that Wiz Khalifa’s Pittsburgh Steelers anthem, “Black and Yellow,” would not be going No. 1. I estimated that the only way the song could top the Hot 100 was if the Steelers won the Super Bowl which would inevitably lead to fans flocking to iTunes to download the track as a post-game memento. But on Sunday, the Packers won, Pink’s “F**kin’ Perfect” was on the rise, and I thought I’d spend this week’s edition of Chart Watch writing about the very first explicatively titled No. 1. I’m not a Pink fan though, so I am not complaining.

I severely underestimated “Black and Yellow”. It reaches the penthouse thanks to a 6 percent rise in sales – 198,000 digital downloads – and an 11 percent increase in radio airplay where it is now the seventh most played song in the country.

Real Salt Lake begins meaningful play on February 22. The team is coming off its most successful season, in which they broke various records in MLS history, including least amount of goals allowed and longest streak of unbeaten matches at home.

Midfielder Andy Williams has been with the club since its founding and remains a fan favorite. He graciously agreed to participate in a recent email interview with Rhombus. You can read the full interview after the jump.

I doubt you remember Andy Richter Controls the Universe. Heck, I doubt anybody does. It was a fairly rote sitcom, unceremoniously cancelled in 2003 for its low ratings, which averaged around 8 million viewers a week. The show aired on FOX, then the fourth-place network in America. (This is a pre-American Idol world, mind you.)

In 2011, NBC’s biggest scripted hit is The Office, which averages, not kidding, 8 million viewers. The number of viewers FOX scoffed at eight years ago are now the champagne wishes of NBC executives, who hold on for dear life to any show with numbers above 4 million.

“I can kill a man, dismember his body and be home in time for Letterman. But knowing what to say when my girlfriend’s feeling insecure … I’m totally lost.”

So laments the protagonist in Showtime’s critically acclaimed Dexter — originally based on Jeff Lindsay’s novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter — one of the most imaginative, entertaining and haunting shows on television.

American Idol is celebrating a decade of television dominance by releasing a greatest hits album. The album features songs by the winners of each season, as well as songs from some of the more successful contestants who didn’t take home the Idol crown. Although there are some big hits on the compilation, a scan through the track listing is a painful reminder of how American Idol‘s alumni have severely underperformed.

Don’t blame the show though. Idol has been a ratings juggernaut ever since it debuted in 2002. For six of the past nine seasons in fact, it was the No. 1 show on television. You sure can’t tell that from the 12-track album.