10 random thoughts on a chilly Sunday night

1) I'm stoked about the start of NCAA basketball this week. The man-child that Seth Fein referred to as "Greg Odom" was on the cover of the most recent ESPN magazine. I haven't skimmed the issue yet (the magazine is mostly a waste of ink and paper), but I have to say that the amount of attention that Oden is receiving is disgusting. The dude isn't even going to play a game until January, and he'll probably be leaving for the pros after just three months of college ball. THIS is what I have to be excited about thanks to the new NBA rules: three measly months of Greg Oden? Oh boy! It should be noted that Oden says he wants to stick around longer than a year. I just finished editing a book about him, and it seems like his desire to stick around college ball will depend mostly on two factors: 1) his mom, who really wants to see her son cash in; and 2) whether or not Greg feels as if he can step right in and contribute at the next level. If the answer to No. 2 is "yes", then he'll enter the draft this summer. By the way, many onlookers felt that Oden wasn't even the best player on his high school team, a squad that won three Indiana state titles in a row. That honor went to Mike Conley, who is also Oden's teammate at Ohio State.

2) M has taken to knitting. And talking to me about knitting. Kill me, please.

3) A surprise at work this week: my name was listed atop the bestsellers list for SP this week (I was given an author credit for the Cardinals book). That came a day after I asked for raise. Good timing!

4) It turns out that my friend Jon is starting a non-profit in my old stomping grounds of Peoria that will be dedicated to boosting the city's appreciation of live music. I don't know the details, but I'm glad he's working the promoter angle again. Jon booked many of the finest rock shows of my formative years, including Fugazi with the Make-Up.

5) I saw Babel this week. Best drama I've seen in months.

6) I saw Borat last week. Best comedy I've seen in months.

7) The local weekly released the "Best of CU" results this week, which only reinforced two things for me: 1) We need a non-campus weekly, as evidenced by many of the ridiculous categories/results (Q: "Best place to have a first kiss?" A: The Quad); and 2) I don't miss counting those ballots one iota (fuck ballot-stuffing restaurants and bar bands alike).

8) I've narrowed down my selections for the epic Songs About Girls compilation to 70 songs. I'm handing this sucker out for Xmas presents this year, instead of the usual "Best of 200X" CDs. (Sorry to all who liked those so much, but I didn't buy enough music from 2006 to justify doing one this year.) More on Songs About Girls at a later date.

9) Has anyone else discovered "The Tube", the random music video channel on our local digital cable package? I can't remember what station it is now that they've renumbered all the channels above 100, but it's worth flipping to during the commercial breaks during Bulls games. You're just as likely to get The Moody Blues as you are The Talking Heads, but at least it's all videos, all the time -- and no commercials!

10) Man, I miss the jukebox at Les' Lounge. I hate hate hate these new digital, internet jukeboxes. The one at Mike & Molly's is a rip-off with the worst songs/dollar ratio in town. Can we all agree that while it's convenient to be able to select "Trash" by the New York Dolls b/w "Look What the Cat Dragged In" by Poison as part of your "cock rock block", it doesn't excuse the fact that internet-aided automation equals laziness? Bars used to be defined by their beer selection and their jukebox. As a serious jukebox DJ, I prefer working around the limitations of a juke rather than having Napster at my fingertips. Fuck technology!