@slaw: I put the EU pressing of Little Village (which I learned of from you) on my To Get list, but have yet to do so. Say, your mention of a Vinyl Flat carbon fiber heating bag is the first I've heard of that. I need to investigate the matter!
When The Pretenders came to L.A. on their first tour, they appeared at, of all places, The Palomino. The place was absolutely packed, the most crowded I've ever seen it. They were pretty damn cool. Too bad the guitarist and bassist couldn't handle their drugs. ;-)