Seeing as this was one of the least eventful weeks in recent memory, but in order to avoid this site from turning into nothing but a succession of “random ten” entries, I’m going to just play stream of consciousness and toss some random observations and links out into the aether for anyone who’s interested….

♦If anyone’s been paying attention to the year in books reading list, I’ve just crossed over 80 for the year; as there’s really only only three weeks left in the year, I doubt I’ll break a hundred, but oh well. I wrapped up Emma Bull’s “War for the Oaks” the other day, which I’ve had lying around for months, but just got ’round to. It’s really very, very good, and allegedly one of the precursors (having been first published in 1987) of the immensely popular “urban fantasy” genre that’s absolutely clogging up sci-fi/fantasy shelves these days. Full of 80s rock, obscure creatures from British myth and legend, and affectionate descriptions of the Twin Cities; definitely worth a look.

♦I just started Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road”. Very good so far; sparse desolate prose in service of a small, intimate story against a desolate backdrop. It’s a shame that the film version got booted to a “some time next year” release. You’d think it would be a no-brainer; a Pulitzer-winning novel, written by an author who’s last film adaptation snagged Best Picture…put it out at Thanksgiving, it’s prime Oscar bait.

♦I got my ears on Guns N’ Roses “Chinese Democracy” this week. Given the decades’ worth of myth, legend, and horror stories about this one, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but in the end, I actually found it quite listenable. I’m not sure I’d quite call it “Guns N’ Roses”, per se (the lack of Slash is very apparent), but I kind of like it. Big overblown arrangments, some strange production choices, but a satisfying experience with a couple of really good tunes (“Better” is damned good). It’s not unreasonable to call this Axl’s “Smile”; though Gn’R fans only had to wait ten years (rather than forty) for their demented genius’s “teenage syphony to god”.

♦I know it’s completely played out, but I kinda love that this exists. Some people have way too much time on their hands, but at least they’re doing something with it.

♦I managed Back-to-Back wins in the “guess the lyrics contest” – I recognized “(Everybody’s Waiting for) The Man With The Bag” when no one else could. Originally recorded by Kay Starr back in 1950, everybody’s done this thing at some point (I mostly remember the Brian Setzer Orchestra version), including me; as part of the high school jazz band’s rather dirge-like version one year. In case you don’t recognize it, here’s Jane Monheit’s version, which is not at all bad.

I expect if I nail next week’s contest I’ll be forced to retire from competition.