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Lots more posting going on there than here.

The National. High Violet. 4AD CAD 3X03CD, 2010. (on CD)

My first impression was that it’s pleasant but bland, but every time I’ve listened to it it’s grown on me a bit more. It’s understated and confident, with a strangely quiet, laid-back feeling for a band that’s making a lot of noise. Reminds me of Arcade Fire, late Bowie, and a little bit of Depeche Mode.

8/10 (Great).

Little Richard. The Very Best of Little Richard. Specialty SPCD-30748, 2008. (on CD)

Excellent compilation.  It has all his classics, and none of the later “come back” crap that always seems to plague compilations of older artists.

9/10 (One of my favorites).

The Top Ten Books I Read in 2010
#1. John Wyndham. The Day of the Triffids. 1951.
#2. Larry Niven. Rainbow Mars. 1999.
#3. Dashiell Hammett. The Thin Man. 1933.
#4. Pierre Boulle. Planet of the Apes. 1963.
#5. Cormac McCarthy. Blood Meridian or The Evening Redness in the West. 1985.
#6. Philip José Famer. To Your Scattered Bodies Go. 1971.
#7. Raymond Chandler. Farewell, My Lovely. 1940.
#8. John Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men. 1937.
#9. Robert E. Howard. Conan the Conqueror. 1936.
#10. John A. Lomax & Alan Lomax. Our Singing Country: Folk Songs and Ballads. 1941.

There are some truly wonderful books at the top there, but honestly I could crop it down to a Top Five and not feel like anything was being left out. I only read about 40 books this year, so it’s not a bad list considering.

The Top Ten Albums I Heard in 2010 (in alphabetical order)
- Johnny Cash. American VI: Ain’t No Grave. 2010.
- Blossom Dearie. Blossom Dearie. 1956.
- Blossom Dearie. Give Him the Ooh-La-La. 1957.
- Blossom Dearie. Once Upon a Summertime… / My Gentleman Friend. 1958 & 1961.
- Fats Domino. Rock and Rollin’ / This Is Fats Domino. 1956 & 1956.
- Buddy Holly. Buddy Holly. 1958.
- The Muppets. The Muppet Show 2. 1978.
- Dave Rawlings Machine. A Friend of a Friend. 2009.
- Otis Redding. Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul. 1966.
- She & Him. Volume Two. 2010.

Even cheating (if they’ve been repackaged onto a single CD I can count them as one album, right?), there are still a lot of great albums that didn’t fit on this list. And I couldn’t put them in order; every one is one of my favorites.

Robert E. Howard. Conan the Conqueror. Sphere, 1974 (originally published 1936). 191 pages.

An outline of the plot would read like a laundry list of the worst fantasy/adventure cliches, but it’s fun anyway. The writing is a mix of efficient storytelling and extremely corny language, which is perfect for the story. But most importantly, Conan is the baddest badass of an antihero you could hope for.

8/10 (Great).

Aloe Blacc. Good Things. Stones Throw STH2245, 2010. (on CD)

A great soul singer, singing songs that sound like classics, in an ode to 1970s Motown. It’s not a throwback like Sharon Jones, though; it has a modern sound, drawing from various pop styles from the past 50 years – everything from classic rock to hip hop. Most of it isn’t as good as the (relatively) famous song, “I Need a Dollar,” but there’s not a single bad track on the album.

7/10 (Good).

Queen. Greatest Hits I & II. Hollywood Records HR-62042-2, 1994. (on CD)

Some great songs, lots of terrible songs, and very little in between.

6/10 (Okay).

Game: Checkers
Overview: a two-player strategy game in which players try to capture their opponents’ pieces
Edition: A cheap magnetic travel set. Instructions from Play According to Hoyle: Hoyle’s Rules of Games, edited by Albert H. Morehead & Geoffrey Mott-Smith, 1946, re-published 1983.
Duration: less than a half hour, including reading instructions

Winner’s Impression (Lynn)
I can probably count on my fingers the number of times I’ve played checkers in my life, and I suspect that this is the first time I’ve actually won the game. Games which incorporate strategy, as we’ve noted, are not my strong point. Honestly, this game should probably have ended in a draw. As for the game itself, I could take it or leave it. Mostly leave it.

Loser’s Impression (Daniel)
A simple, abstract strategy game should be the sort of thing I love, but for whatever reason I never really get anything out of playing checkers. It just seems sort of automatic, kind of like tic-tac-toe. I mean, obviously there’s more to it than that, but it has that sort of flavor to me. Nom nom. Whatever. Must stop typing now. 5/10 (Indifferent).

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ETA: I apologize for the quality of the ads that run before that video. It is inexplicable and shameful.

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