neveronfriday

We've got 30° C in the shade here and in my small village, all hell just broke loose. Absolutely everyone is on the streets, celebrating. Cars. Vuvuzelas (yuck). Lots of good-looking, scantily-clad ladies (most of them seem to only be wearing flags). An insane amount of totally drunk people. I think sleep will be hard to get tonight. If I didn't know better, I'd say we won the war.

For the past 25 years or so, I've been asking myself why aliens only visit the United States when they feel like checking us out again. Some posts in this thread finally answered that nagging question. I can sleep again. Thank you!

That should be quite a homecoming for the team. Pity that things developed that way. :/ Let's see if Germany has to go home the day after tomorrow (as usual, return tickets are already booked ... in case)

No change here either.

Glad to see all this US paranoia hasn't killed this thread.

Just a quick thought before I head into the real weekend. Have a look at the Cowon S9. Great player, flac and ogg (gapless), 32GB, etc. Video support with excellent (small) screen. Excellent sound! Negative = interface takes some getting used to (not logical across all screens).

The 2nd half was about 5% better than the first. I just couldn't figure out if the Dutch team was playing a "smart" game or if they were just ... bad.

And ... another 3-rd rate, regional league quality match. Japan is actually the better team. How utterly boring, unimaginative and ... horrible. Lol

Yawn. Still the most boring World Cup I've ever seen. What's the ratio of good vs. bad so far? 1:100? It all sucked. I'll drop the rest of this sorry display of ineptitude (has anyone ever counted the millions and trillions running around on the field(s)?) and enjoy the nice weather coming up here next week.

This has got to be a) the lamest and b) nuttiest World Cup I've ever watched. What a waste of time.

I'm moving to Greece. Today.

I got your point. Still, I prefer to use that expression because everyone who read my complaint got my drift (at least I hope so). I've used it to describe a group of assholes (wankers, idiots, criminals; take your pick. ...) If you always apply the term to "[...] crimes against humanity, war crimes and mass murder as committed by the Nazis [...]" exclusively, "Surfer Nazis Must Die" (US, 1987), to cite just one example, would then be a film about ... what?

They are.

Hey, come on, that's not fair; they're only doing their job, they didn't make the rules. It's totally fair. Want an example for them bending the rules every time I have contact with them? a) You get a note saying there's a package waiting for you. b) You pick it up two days late. c) On that note it said: If you don't pick it up after 7 days, we still start (!) charging a storage fee. d) Yoiu pick it up after 9 days and ... e) They charge a storage fee for the whole 9 days. When asked on what basis (direct quote coming up, from today): "Sue us." (I guess nobody ever does for 5 Euro and something (that's what I had to pay)). Illegal, but they won't stop doing it until you drag their asses to the Supreme Court. Plus: The last four times they over-charged me by about 6 Euro each time by simply making up (!) postage although they have all the papers in front of them, etc. Because I have to deal with them via mail, they ALWAYS pull shit like that because they know nobody is going to go through the trouble for petty change. Nazis.

Mine is 7424 (ordered May 10th; (only arrived today because of German customs Nazis)).

...

I like Monty just fine but I wouldn't be the former GHF if I didn't say that I wish Ray had brought Gene out of retirement sooner so that those Ray & Monty recordings might be Ray & Gene instead. Oh. I'm also a big fan of Gene Harris. What I said above also applies to him. Actually, I think I have more Gene Harris recordings than Monty Alexander ones.

I'm a huge fan of Monty Alexander, but he happens to be one of the (many) artists (like Oscar Peterson) I have learned not to chime in on here because I (and others) usually get a lot of flak for just having said so. I have, in no particular order (favorites are bold): 01) The Monty Alexander Trio Live! at the Montreux Festival. 02) Monty Alexander Plays the Songy of Tony Bennett. 03) Monty Alexander Live at the Iridium. 04) Monty Alexander - Goin' Yard. 05) Monty Alexander - Stir It Up 06) Monty Alexander - Caribbean Circle 07) Monty Alexander - Facets 08) The Monty Alexander Quintet - Mory & Steel 09) Monty Alexander - Alexander the Great - Monty Swings on MPS 10) Monty Alexander - Ray Brown - Herb Ellis - Triple Treat II 11) Monty Alexander - Ray Brown - Herb Ellis - Triple Scoop (Triple Treat I, II and III) 12) Monty Alexander - Ray Brown - Herb Ellis - Straight Ahead (Trio & Overseas Special) plus a bunch of downloads of rare material. Yeah, I'm missing a ton. :/ Two things I love about his style: a) his percussive approach at times and b) the dynamic and explosive swing he can knock out. Cheers! Edit: P.S. I just noticed that I have more that are filed under "Ray Brown" in my collection. Too lazy to get those now.

Kevin, yes, you are right, although I, personally, think that a lot of the jazz remasters are plagued by that "make it bright" (not make it loud) mastering style. In case of the Fitzgerald remasters, it was more the depth and natural sound of the Drake remasters that won me over (once again). But, I didn't really want to start a technology discussion. I'm happy that I'm not the only one taking one or several (financial) steps back to get the better version of some of the music I love. If I wanted to replace it all, I would need to sell just about everything else I have. That's not a viable solution, but I thought replacing some cornerstones of my collection will make me a lot happier. Thanks for chiming in, Kevin. P.S.: I shudder at the thought of what it would cost me to replace those crappy remasters in my rock/pop collection that I simply don't play much (unless it is on my PC) because the sound is just such a downer.

Thanks, Hans.

Oops, this belongs into "Miscellaneous music". Can someone move it, please (Hans)?

I didn't think I would, but life's just too short to not admit to one's own stupidity and defeat. I've only started, but I think it might be my (potential) downfall. I was one of those people gullible enough (with a stereo shitty enough at the time to be so) to go out and buy those 90s and later remasters. It was only after a while that I really noticed how horrible some/many/most were. I'm not a "Hoffmanite" (and will never be one), but I do trust my own ears (only). I think the one reissue that did it for me was that Verve "Complete Fitzgerald and Armstrong" package. That just sounded so thin and lifeless that I was hugely disappointed. Really, I'm still pissed off years later that I shelled out money for that crap. Unfortunately, I had gotten rid of the old Dennis Drake masters BEFORE the new package arrived. Well, when I was in hospital etc. these past weeks/months, I decided to re-purchase what I once lost, hit the Amazon marketplaces around the globe (and some other shops) and re-bought all the Dennis Drake Ella Fitzgerald (and Fitzgerald/Armstrong) remasters. All of them. Although the postage is quite stiff at times, the CDs themselves are usually laughably cheap (all below $5). And, you don't need to be an audiophile or an expert or have an expensive stereo at home to hear how much better these original remasters are. They beat the crap out of that later Verve shit. It's depressing. Life is just too short to put up with shitty sound. So, I'm re-buying some material central to my collection. I feel utterly stupid while doing so. My question: Am I the only one stupid enough to have embarked on this road or am I in good company?

@ Flurin: Shall do, this Sunday. @ Everyone else: Thanks!

Thanks, guys. My current attitude, in a nutshell: