ODDS 'N ENDS: Thursday Is My Friday

AHHH, THE END OF THE WORK WEEK is nearly here. From the breeze blowing in my window, I can tell it's considerably cooler than it when I headed off the work yesterday. (My father tells me that back in Grand Rapids, Mich., it was 24 degrees this morning with six inches of snow on the ground. And I'm going to a wedding in Milwaukee the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Hopefully all the warm hearts of all the kind souls in the Dairy State will melt any snow that's on the ground. I'll bring a heavy coat just in case.)

Just a few things of note this morning, before I head off to work.

FIRST, my write-up of Open City is in today's Express, in Weekend Pass. Pick up a copy or go read it online on the .pdf (p. 57/E25). Just to be clear, it's not a review. You can't adequately judge a restaurant's food/performance/etc. from one visit, especially on its opening night. But since I live a block away, I will definitely be returning.

SECOND, Kyle over at Information Leafblower unveiled the results of the 40 Greatest Bands in America Today 2005 survey. He got in touch with a bunch of music bloggers from all around and took their rankings to survey experts at the Brookings Institution's Musicology/U.S. Popular Culture Research Division(*) to get the results.

(*) Please note, there is no musicology/U.S. popular culture research division at Brookings. Though Kyle admits there are some flaws in how things were tabulated, he has some great music minds contributing their input, including some bloggers who I have met or know, like DCeiver, Seeking Irony and Coolfer.

The top 5 you ask? ...
1.) Sufjan Stevens
2.) The National
3.) Kanye West
4.) LCD Soundsystem
5.) Sleater-Kinney

>> "'Open' for Business" [Express, p. 57/E25]
>> "40 Greatest Bands in America Today 2005" [Information Leafblower]