Friday Varia and Quick Hits

Some days don’t really get started until they’re upon you in a fierce and irresistible way. Today is one of those days. So, Friday Varia and Quick Hits is late. 

Fortunately, it’s also a beautiful day outside and the chaos of the morning should give way to some genuine conviviality this afternoon and evening. It’ll at least be enough to keep me from fretting about how the Phillies are pissing away their playoff chances, the Eagles position themselves for the kind of disappointment that only Philadelphia fans understand, and an F1 driver’s championship that should be all but clinched this weekend in Singapore. 

Not to mention the horrors in the aftermath of Ian in Ft. Myers (where my brother and parents live) and my stack of responsibilities with early October deadlines.

At least I can celebrate the publication of the very first novel from The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota. If you haven’t checked out Brian R. Urlacher’s The Library of Chester Fritz, you’re really missing something. It’s exactly the kind of early fall read that sets the tone for the season! Go here to download a copy for free!

So sometimes a little chaos has a way to keep me on my toes even if it means that I’m a bit late with this week’s quick hits and varia.

• A review of Deserted Villages at Rhea Classical Review!

• Three Books to add to the pile:

The Archaeology of Yesterday (2021).

The Greater Plains: Rethinking a Region’s Environmental Histories. (2021)

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands (2022). For more on this go here.

• Special Issue of Religions: “Religious and Insular Identities in Context: An Introduction“

• Benin Bronzes.

• Stories Where Nothing Happens in the Middle of Nowhere: A Reading List.

• Some New Albums:

William Parker’s Universal Tonality.

Sun Ra Arkestra, Living Sky. (comes out October 7).

• And a reissue: The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra.

• Omega Speedmaster Marstimer.

• What I’m reading: Matthew Milliner’s Mother of the Lamb: The Story of a Global Icon (2022). 

• What I’m listening to:  William Parker’s Universal Tonality.