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I'm always interested in what represents the Top of the Pops in other people's lives, so to speak. So here I present the albums, movies, books, web sites, et cetera that have been flowing through my brain of late. Perhaps you'll find something here that sparks your interest enough to check it out...

The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary I was fortunate enough to catch the author, Simon Winchester, on C-SPAN's Booknotes show, talking about this book. His TV presentation was actually even more charming than this book, which is saying something. Winchester is the sort of fellow for whom the word erudite was invented, but he also has a good knack for the bawdy and ridiculous, and yes, there's some of that in the story of the creation of the OED, as well.

Philips Natural Light bulbs I used to be a dedicated GE man. I loved the GE Reader light bulb. So of course when GE introduced their Reveal line of lights, I was excited. Turns out the Reveal bulbs suck. Then GE went and eliminated the Reader bulbs that I so loved. The color in my life became a dingy yellow. So when I saw Philips had a new bulb that purported to yield light closer to natural sunlight, I was cautiously excited. (They don't purport to be 5000 degrees Kelvin, but as I'm no longer in the business of color, I'm okay with close-enough.) My impulse purchase was rewarded––they produce a gorgeous bright-white light that instantly turns up the beauty in any room. I've only been able to find them at Home Depot, but maybe they're available elsewhere, as well. Don't wait until you're in need of bulbs; just go out and buy some and re-bulb a room and see the difference for yourself.

The Clorox Bleach Pen You might have seen this in the store and thought to yourself, "Huh. Sounds kinda like a good idea." That ain't even the half of it. The Clorox Bleach Pen is that rare item that fulfills its promise, is easy to use, and makes you wonder why no one came up with this thirty years ago. I've used it to clean grout and get out stains. It performs like a champ in either realm. www.cloroxbleachpen.com

Head of Femur: Ringodom or Proctor This album is that rare work that doesn't wear out its welcome easily. Perhaps that's because it sounds like nothing else I've ever heard, with the possible exception of some of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel's work in the mid-'70s. I don't know how these guys write songs, because their song structures are for the most part foreign to me. Every time I hear Mike Elsener's voice singing "You've had victory again, like chariots on the beach, spearing the enemy down," it puts a smile on my face. www.headoffemur.com

The Hornrimjobs Hailing from the midwest (no doubt somewhere near Emoha), these two vegan librarians deliver the satirical side of a subculture that has gone unmocked for too long. If you laughed heartily while reading the Hipster Handbook, you'll enjoy the Hornrimjobs. If you took the Hipster Handbook as your bible, you need the Hornrimjobs in your life. They feel your pain, and they like it as much as you do. The Hornrimjobs' web site

Yahoo's most-viewed news If journalism has guilty pleasures, this is one of 'em. This page features up-to-the-minute rankings of the most popular news items of the day. A fascinating window into what people like to see in their news. Mostly, it's sex & violence, in that order.

Downtown: The Greatest Hits of Petula Clark Lately it seems I've been buying a lot of compilations on CD instead of buying the old albums on vinyl. Am I becoming a fud?

Anyway, this is a great album by an amazing vocalist, and the arrangements are almost as good as Burt Bacharach. Plus, the liner notes are quite extensive. Little-known fact: her name is pronounced "Pa-chu-la."

Bright Eyes: Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground
This one gets better and better with repeated listenings, but "Don't Know When But A Day Is Gonna Come" knocked my socks off the first time I heard it and continues to do so. The songwriting and production have finally caught up with the lyrics, which have always been good. Other standout tracks are "Lover I Don't Have To Love" and "Nothing Gets Crossed Out."

The Female Celebrity Smoking List A searchable database of female celebrities, indicating if they smoke or not––in real life, or in the movies. If you're like me and harbor dreams of one day attending the Oscars on the arm of a famous actress, then you can learn in advance if you'll be enduring a smoke-filled night or not.

Harvey Sid Fisher: Battle of the Sexes
The credits to this one say, "music tracks were recorded onto the vocals" which, if you know anything about recording techniques, you'll know is practically impossible. But somehow Harvey Sid manages to do just that (with predictably weird drumming resulting), delivering ten amazing duets detailing the down sides of male/female relationships. The cover is printed––no, make that photocopied––onto goldenrod copy paper, a good indication of the overall presentation quality. But man, what amazing songs! I think Harvey Sid shows a strong Pete Shelly (Buzzcocks) influence on his vocal delivery on the end of "I Want Sex." If you get a chance to see Harvey Sid play live, don't miss it, or if you do miss it, be prepared for your friends who did see it to be talking about it for weeks. www.harveysidfisher.com

The First Measured Century: An Illustrated Guide to Trends in America, 1900-2000
My mother loaned this to me a few months ago, and it's so good, I haven't given it back yet. Each page contains a chart or two, along with accompanying explanatory text. Every few pages dispel a myth: for example, most people think the average age at which people get married has been steadily on the rise for the whole century: not so, it's only been on the rise since mid-century, before that, the average age was going down steadily. Fascinating stuff.

Marlee MacLeod: Like Hollywood This is Marlee's fifth album, and it has two of the best songs of her career, "Regretfully" and "Wallflowers." A remarkably gifted songwriter who also plays great guitar, I've seen her play live four times and she's always good. As a bonus, the cover art finally looks as good as the songs sound. www.marleemacleod.com

The Tuesdays (self-titled) (by the way, don't you hate it when people (like DJs) say "self-entitled" when they mean "self-titled"? I find myself asking the DJ, "Entitled to themselves? Aren't we all?")

At any rate, back to the Tuesdays: This album has four perfect jangly guitar pop songs, a couple of not-too-bad numbers, and five songs that are complete crap. All in all, that's a better batting average than the Bangles, whom this Swedish (!) quintet resembles musically. If you like classic pop hooks and female vocals, dig through your local cutout bin for this gem.

Heaven 17: The Luxury Gap I dug this out a few months ago, brought it into work (I'm the only person I know who isn't a DJ who has a turntable at work as well as home) and I've been turning to it regularly for a dose of chilly '80s soul-britpop. If you like the Human League, you'll probably like this album from the British Electrical Foundation's most famous incarnation. Sing along with "Temptation" and "Crushed by the Wheels of Industry." The weird thing is, when this first came out, all I noticed was the similarity to electro-britpop bands of the time; now I see how influenced they were by American soul music. Kind of explains why B.E.F. did a remake of "Ball of Confusion" with Tina Turner.