A ridiculously packed week of touring music just rolled through town, from Vic Chesnutt to Billy Bragg to the East-West erotic fusion of NQ Arbuckle and Carolyn Mark. Oddly set up like a soft-seater (except with hard chairs), The ARTery paid the bills as the older-seeming-but-not-actually-grey crowd burned through copious wine. Carolyn and Neville Quinlan did sets of six songs each, came together as a pair, switching off guitars, taking the lead and manning the rented organ. Especially awesome was Quinlan’s walrus-flipper piano solo, where he just ran a bottle along the keys in a way that shouldn’t have yet totally did do the job. Salty vaudeville.

Another notable moment was a nod at Jr. Gone Wild’s “Downtime,” which I guess not so strangely really does sound like a song from a long time ago, even if it’s only been 14 years. I’m holding a beer-damaged copy of Simple Little Wish in my nostalgic hands right now, checking off these names strangely all in one place, one time: Mike McDonald, Kirby, Holger Petersen, Steve Loree, Joe Bird. Back in the day when Warner Music was digging around local scenes in every city, promising dreams.

Besides inventing the word “slober” together onstage Saturday, Mark and Quinlan expanded the meaning of Carolyn’s “Don’t Come Over Baby” into a mutually dismissive duet. And “The 2nd Time,” which asks how you can keep accidentally hooking up, was extra-moving. Guitar tabs for this song are at greatbahen.blogspot.com, by the way, an ethereal place where the term “alt-country” has decided to live on.

Speaking of extra bloggage, why not enjoy a quick plug for former Gateway cartoonist Mike Winters, who recently had the bright idea to do 30 high-quality cartoons in 30 days? They’re turning out fucking hilariously as usual, especially the adventures of three nerds trying to lose their virginity in a strip called “Forever Buddies,” which last saw them pantsless in a dungeon imprisoned by some low-rent Marvel supervillain with, as Winters put it on the phone, “a rainbow of penis types.”

Full disclosure: I’m also tossing strips in, as is Steve “Bob the Angry Flower” Notley, breaking out of his template with great results. But it’s really Winters who deserves the credit he’s getting — including being interviewed by Toronto’s NOW magazine because, apparently, nothing is happening in the city of several million souls right now. Totally kidding. Check out the ongoing artistic workout at chamberofcomics.
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On a serious closer, Marlon Wilson of Politic Live is joining friends in the community, who hopefully include you, with a food drive starting Dec. 6 until Xmas Eve. Wilson’s label Music for Mavericks urges us to drop off non-perishables at Room 322 Urban Clothing, 10988-124th St.

This summer, he was instrumental in the Hip-Hop for Hunger tour of B.C. and Alberta, which raised 1,366 pounds of food. You all know it’s getting rough out there, especially in the real world where food prices have doubled in places where hungry people already spend more than 70 per cent of their income, just on nutritive. If you can, remember there are lots of folks out there, even in our city, who would appreciate whatever you can help them out with. No one knows what road we’re heading down with Viggo in the next year, but I do know it’s never a good time to ignore each other.