Uncle Skid

Chuck -- there was an article in yesterday's Muskegon Chronicle that said there are still tickets available, at the box office from 11am - 6pm. -- Mark

Mary Rademacher, Tim Johnson, and Mark Kahny definitely put on a great show. Mary's voice is terrific, and she's a great dancer as well. She'll be back next Sunday night. The worst part was the turnout -- not bad, I suppose, but it's a damn shame that more people aren't showing up for these types of things. A group with as much talent as Mary's (and Organissmo, as welll) certainly deserve to have a larger audience. What else is there to do in West Michigan on a Sunday night, in the winter? Watch TV?? Go Bowling??? The acoustics in that part of the restaurant sounded pretty good to me. I'll bet you guys will sound great there -- looking forward to hearing you again! The kitchen being open is a nice bonus. I had already eaten prior to the show, but Bill had a plate of fried perch that was smelling and looking pretty damn good!

*very* long line! I arrived at about 9:45 AM, and the line was already pretty long. By 10:15, it had doubled again, with it stretching back and forth from the box office, all the way down to the Theater entrance at Western Ave and 3rd and back again, three deep. At least they managed to keep the line inside for the most part. I waited about an hour, and got my two tickets. I saw Upright Bill and his wife there as well, ahead of me in line. The line had cleared by noon (I had to go back to drop my daughter off at Civic Theater), so it looks like everybody who was in line probably got tickets. People in line seemed to be quite excited about this event -- it's great that the festival is making a stop in Muskegon, and even better that it's free. Joe - I only got two tickets (my wife couldn't make it this morning), but Bill has one for you. -- Mark

:o "If Calista Flockhart were an acoustic bass, this would be her." 11 string bass??? I heard Joe G is selling his Ibanez Artist and replacing it with this: I'll be at their next gig yelling STAIRWAY!! STAIRWAY!!!

Was it the ignitor (assuming you have a gas dryer)? I think a new Select or two is certainly an appropriate reward for your appliance repair successes. Come to think of it, I've fixed my 25 year old dryer at least 3-4 times in the last 15 years, all before I discovered Mosaic Records. Hmmmmm.......

Oh yeah -- I forgot to say "Congratulations", Tom. This is a great set!! -- Mark

I'd think it would be pretty difficult for them to predict -- the website says "Last Chance reflects our best estimate that the set will be sold out soon which can range anywhere from tomorrow to two months". I'm sure the mad rush on the Blue Mitchell set that this thread set off generated a big spike in their sales during the past few weeks. It would be nice if they had a "total number remaining" counter or something. At least that would give us an idea of how soon things might run out.

I had a feeling someone might find 'fess up to that one. I couldn't remember exactly who posted it, but I do remember I was laughing my ass off when I first read it!! It just seemed very appropriate for this great band as well!! I can only wish that someday I could write something as great and eloquent as that great review. In fact, this band is so awesome that I think they should change their name to SoMeThInG CoRpOrGrAtE!!! Wouldn't that be great?!?!?!?!?!

Ya know, once, JUST ONCE, I'd love to read ANY thread about Mosiac releases where someone says: (no, not really. My Mosiac "want" list is growing exponentially, and you guys aren't helping matters!! B) )

oh, for sure!!! How can this not be great????? Josh is such a great guitar player and even a greater singer and a great songwriter. It would be great if they would let us give more than 5 stars - it's gonna be that great. Josh is great and it will be great to hear him on his great new CD. It will be great to hear all his great new tunes. His old songs were great and these will be even greater. I'll bet this is going to be the greatest CD ever.

yeah, but if MTV wrote an article about them, they MUST be good!!!

As it was highly recommended by Dan and other board members, I finally found a copy of Roots. It definitely has exceeded my expectations -- now I'm trying to find "The Composer". Cedar's coming to my home town in February as part of the Newport Jazz Festival "All-Stars". I certainly won't miss that one!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CEDAR!!!

I was planning on going anyway, but now I find out that this one is FREE!! Jazz Superstars to Play Free Concert Upright Bill and I are planning on getting tickets on Feb 7th. Any other board members in Michigan interested in going -- Chuck, Joe, Jim, Randy....??? If anyone needs tickets, we may be able to get some extras (we're limited to 2 per person). This tour also makes stops in East Lansing and Kalamazoo: Newport Jazz Festival 50th: Tour Dates

Looks like Tina Brooks' "Minor Move" is also still available -- if I wasn't done buying CDs this month, I'd be all over that "Add to Shopping Cart" thing. Maybe next month... street singer: you may not be aware of this, but The Complete Blue Mitchell Blue Note Sessions is on the "Last Chance" list at Mosaic.

Our Sunday paper published his "I Have a Dream" speech in its entirety yesterday. It had been way too long since I had read his words, and they still have as much power and beauty today as they did in 1963: I Have A Dream I didn't realize that he was only 34 years old at the time of that speech!

I used Turbo Tax Federal/State and also Turbo Tax Business (I'm self-employed), and never had any major problems with them. I stopped using it last year when things got too complicated – health insurance/SEP-IRA deductions, investment buys/sells, etc. The programs probably would have handled all of this, but I wanted a professional to make sure I didn't miss anything. I agree it's simply a matter of “you get what you pay for” -- the extra money spent on a professional gives you more, but as long as your taxes aren't too complicated, Turbo Tax (or its various competitors) should work just fine. Incidentally, are you aware of the fallout that happened with their software from 2003? I believe it had something to do with copy protection and the ability to print your returns on a different printer and/or computer. I didn't use it last year, but it sounded like there was quite a few *really* pissed off customers: Turbo Tax DRM Writes to Your Boot Sector? Tax Preparation Software for 2003? Intuit Apologizes to Turbo Tax Customers It sounds like they have remedied all the bad stuff this year, but I'd still be a little leery of a company that would do that kind of crap, even if they apologized for it. -- Mark

CONFORMIST!!!

> How easy it to quit? I believe their current plans all have no "contract" term like the previous ones -- so you could join for one month, and then quit, and start up again later. > can you monitor your account? I think there's an indication of how many tracks you have left each month; BFrank would know for sure. They also had a feature that gave you a complete list of all of your downloads. > Does anyone know what they are encoding with and/or what bitrate, etc. they are using? Most of the stuff I downloaded in November was encoded variable-bit rate (VBR), using the LAME encoder. If I recall correctly, they used the "--alt-preset standard" option in LAME, which encodes at 128kbps min/320kbps max. The sound on most of these was pretty good, but there were still quite a few that were 128k only. I don't thing anything has changed since then, except possibly some of the 128k stuff being re-encoded with VBR.

I'm glad you guys scared me straight, too. I was sitting the fence on this one, and after hearing all four discs, there's no doubt I made the right call. Thanks for all the recommendations! If there's anyone else out there still on the fence, consider the score: 29 - 0!! BFrank Jazz Groove Rooster Ties sidewinder mgraham333 sal chris olivarez Brad king ubu street singer Jazzmoose Alfred Gary Quincy Out2Lunch mikeweil montg Parkertown JSngry Leeway wesbed Uncle Skid jackknife chris Big Wheel Claypone dig dis Soulstation1 BruceH (None) edit: it's still 29-0 after the addition of BruceH. I have a hard time with this counting thing -- there were originally only 28.

The "unavailable tracks" thing must be very frustrating, if it happens frequently. When I was a member, once I had downloaded a complete CD, I'd pretty much forget about it for awhile and go on to the next one. I'd hate to have to go through all my downloads, checking for missing tracks. Oh yeah, I forgot -- it's not unlimited anymore. I suppose it'd be much easier to deal with when you only get 40-60 per month. I'll probably wait for at least a few more months -- I still have quite a few downloads from November that I haven't listened to yet. Plus, I've been on a CD buying binge lately, and a box from Mosaic showed up a few days ago. So much music, so little time!!

Happy Birthday, Mike! How's that website going? Did you get your board software up and running? -- Mark

Thanks for the update! I check their site periodically to see what's new, but I haven't signed up again yet. Has downloading got any better since November? Did they finally take care of all the bugs and problems in their software? -- Mark

street singer - I assume you are as happy with your purchases as I am? I've only listened to the first disc of each, and I'm just blown away by this music. Can't wait to listen to the rest of it. How's the Mobley set? I've seen lots of high recommendations for that one, as well. More importantly (since buying the Mobley's already a done deal for me, just need to wait until next month): what's next?? I've got my eyes (and ears) on the Carmell Jones Select. I've listened to the sound samples on the Mosiac website, and they are sounding really good to me. Also found this thread to find out what other board members think about this set. As far as the big box sets go (after Mobley), there's just too many I want to narrow it down just yet. The Byrd/Adams, Tristano.Konitz/Marsh, Morgan/Shorter and the Kelly/Chambers are all high on the list. Dang, this is an expensive hobby!!! B) -- Mark

Mine just arrived this afternoon. My wallet is a little lighter, but my ears are feelin' pretty good 'bout now. Also picked up the Moncur Select. Definitely excited about that one, as well. This is my first Mosaic purchase -- I was going to go for the Mobley first, but didn't want to miss out on the Mitchell. I'm hoping the Mobley doesn't show up on the running low list too soon!! Dumb question: how come I have #3555/#5000? These must come off the shelves randomly?

I just had this mental image of Joe, in full Mike Reno/Loverboy garb: red leather pants, headband, etc. I don't know Joe -- that image might work for you!!! After all, everybody is indeed "working for the weekend!!"