Then you find the Uzbek warlord

One album I cannot stop listening to in the year or so since I first picked it up is Olé! Tarantula by Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3. I've always liked Robyn, but this is the first album of his I've become fanatical about. It doesn't hurt that his band includes Pete Buck of R.E.M. and Scott McCaughey of the Young Fresh Fellows, who help give the album a late 80s college rock feel that sounds remarkably fresh and undated.

Of my favorite tracks is the acoustic guitar and single-finger piano tune "Belltown Ramble." When I lived in Seattle I worked very close to Belltown, and thus know the neighborhood rather well. In his narrative Robyn walks its streets, muses on life and:

Then you find the Uzbek warlord
You collide with Tamerlane
His teeth are brown

Tamerlane. I know that name, but from where? Ah yes, the 14th Century Tatar ruler and conqueror. Hasn't someone written a biography on him?

Well yes, as a matter of fact, several people have, the recent book of most note being Justin Marozzi's Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World.

Only Denver Public Library does not hold a copy. Fortunately, nearby Jefferson County’s library does, and through the remarkably easy Prospector Inter Library Loan service I was picking up their copy on my lunch break yesterday.

"This was easier than falling off the couch," I told the circulation librarian, who seemed quite pleased to hear it.

Thanks Robyn. Thanks Prospector.

(Photo from Wikipedia.)