Robert J

CW, pretty unanimous that the Toronto gig was good for MBVs sound. I wasn't going to attend if they had kept it at the hockey arena. http://www.chromewaves.net/?itemid=3196

I bought the Jazz Loft sleeves http://www.jazzloft.com/p-34281-space-saving-cd-sleeves.aspx

Saw them last night. They wisely switched from the arena to a normal venue, as there was less than 2000 people. Lots of youngsters there. One guy said to me "so you saw them back in the day?" I guess I am getting on if 1992 is back in the day. Not sure if many realized how loud it was going to get, even though plugs were offered as you walked in. I felt like the old cranky guy telling people to put em in, don't be stoic, it will get louder. You will hurt, you will have tintinnus for a very long time. My plugs were stronger than what they handed out but I did put these on after 1/3 of the 25 minute sonic assault of Realise, the closer. The volume grew in such intensity it was shocking. In NY on Monday at the ATP they say it was atound 128 db! Some poeple looked like they were going to cry during Realise, more than a few bailed off the floor. I could tell they were in pain, because even with plugs, the pain can creep in slowly. Its those bass frequencies. Felt like you were being punched in the chest at times. But of course, for me, insane lover of feedback, it was an epiphany. It was like the ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey. However, with my "protection", I can still hear fine today. Crazy that I saw a few loser dudes who opted not to wear plugs at all. They played pretty much all of the 2 albums including Loveless, very faithfully. So no Sonic Youth improv, except for the "holocaust" solo noted above. Not that you'd watch all (or any) of this, but this is fairly accurate (from Catskills NY), especially the stunned faces. I was one of the few last night smiling the whole time through Realise. http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1817750855

A damn shame, cause you know he didn't make much at all off the Sidewinder sessions.

You should see the boneheaded comments being made by our Prime Minister on the campaign trail, re arts support. “I think when ordinary working people come home, turn on the TV and see a gala of a bunch of people, you know, at a rich gala all subsidized by taxpayers claiming their subsidies aren't high enough when they know those subsidies have actually gone up, I'm not sure that's something that resonates with ordinary people,” he said during a campaign stop in Saskatoon. So the ordinary people and the artists are fighting back: Globe & Mail

This is what happens when Organissimo makes the Smooth Jazz charts. They all come a-knocking

So all is good now - just print some money and ban shorts. TSX goes up 660 points, the Dow 340. We can all sleep easy now!

But one of our biggest insurers is not so lucky! __________________________________________________ Canadian insurer Sun Life Financial Inc. disclosed Wednesday that it has $315-million in exposure to American International Group Inc. after its stock had dropped more than 9 per cent. Shares of the Toronto-based company had lost $3.51 each, falling to $35.40, before its disclosure. Earlier in the week, Sun Life reported that it holds $334-million of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. bonds. More on this...

As I understand it, the problem is not whether the banks in a given country are strict about home loans, but about whether they invest in the financial products whose value is uncertain because they contain "subprime" home loan credit originating in the States. Those subprime mortgages were sliced up and packaged, resliced and repackaged with other stuff, and so on, and sold and resold all over the world--all the while being given good credit ratings. Therefore conscientious Canadian banks could well be stuck holding the same risky assets as banks in any other country. Our Big 4 banks did take sizable hits from holding ABCP. They did numerous write-downs in the last year which slightly affected some of the already obscene profits these same banks usually record. A few years ago CIBC paid off a massive amount (2.4 billion) to settle their Enron lawsuit, but the bank is still there. However, there is close to $32 billion in frozen ABCP assets in limbo. The courts and banks are still working out that deal. So yes, there will be some issues for Canadians for sure, but it looks like it will weather OK in the long run after the restructuring of this debt happens. An update http://www.financialpost.com/reports/legal....html?id=795010 The big issue now is the lawsuits agaisnt investment advisors who sold these products as AA, possibly knowing teh junk value. The Supreme Court has ruled that lawsuits may be possible, but the whole intent part will be difficult to prove.

Visual overview of the US sub-prime problem http://www.slideshare.net/georgenemeth/sub-prime-cartoon/ (hit the full button to see it better) Some "salty language" and badly drawn cartoons, but a surprisingly accurate portrayal / summary

Really? Our banks / lenders are far stricter about home loans, especially first timers. Most of our mortgages are "prime" and maybe a very small portion are subprime, and even then, a very small group of subprimers use variable rates. All high-ratio mortgages in Canada — those with less than 20 per cent down — must be secured by mortgage insurance such as the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. In addition, Canadian financial institutions do not finance more than 100 per cent of a home's purchase price, and that value must be verified with a separate appraisal.

The TSX took a hit yesterday, but will rebound as it was mostly energy stock devaluation. We are also having our manufacturing woes, but that's not going away. Ford laid off 500 workers in my town last week. Canada's banks will be fine as we aren't burdened with bad home loans . And in the last 6 months most of the major Canadian banks did their writeoffs for the ABCP crap they still held. The company I work for recently retained its AA rating so we'll be OK for awhile. I feel for my fellow American board memebrs though.

Best exemplified for me (early PF) by the live version of Astronomy Domine where he takes his solo after the guitar. His organ lines follows the chorus effect with a fading and rising that creates that other-worldly atmosphere. Also - I was listening to "Young Lust" yesterday and his organ padding is subtle but key to that song, not just Gilmour's solo. Something I missed before.

Also liked his work on the underrated "More" soundtrack. Check this short duet with Nick Mason Up the Khyber

RT - I agree, but this one was my fave. Maybe the first PF tune I transcribed by ear on the piano because it sounded so cool in its simplicity. Remember A Day

RIP One of my keyboard heroes as a teen. Very underated for his organ work.

I work for a financial services co in Toronto. Now watching what's happening down south as it all goes down south. ______________________________________________________________________________ Stocks on Wall Street plummeted just after the opening bell on Monday morning as investors grappled with a financial landscape vastly different from the one they left behind last week. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 300 points in just under 10 minutes of trading, and the major European stock exchanges sank more than 4 percent, in the first wave of investor reaction to some of the most dramatic developments in the history of high finance. More on this story....

Damn!

In the early 70s when ABC Movie of the Week was popular I was probably 4-9 years old. I couldn't stay up late for all of them, but they (or rather the trailers) certainly had some formative influence on my brain for sure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_Movie_of_the_Week Also just free associating some titles, I also recall (again on TV) One of my wives is missing (Jack Klugman) and Taking of Pehlam One Two Three (Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw) which for some reason gave me a lasting image of New York that I didn’t shake until I actually visited the city 30 years later) The one that scared the crap out of me after a diet of cheesy horror films on TV (Detroit members may remember Sir Graves Ghastly on Channel 2 in the 70s, Saturday afternoon) was The Brotherhood of Satan

That brings back some memories! Apparantly it's one of the best remembered scenes. The "sock and a shoe" scene came from real life. Hear Rob Reiner and Norman Lear explain. http://www.mortystv.com/media/a_sock_and_a..._norman_rob.wma

You are in luck again! James Taylor btw - it's free to sign up, you just get a weekly newsletter email. But it looks like they make $$$ on the posters. http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/ve/fillmore-...ter-art/CA.html

Chris - If you want to recall the full King Crimson set, here you go: King Crimson Fillmore East 11.21.1969

He was born in my home town of Windsor, Ontario. My great-grandparents - from Slovakia - had lots of Polish neighbors. They'd go see him fight quite often in Detroit and kept up with his progress after he left town. I think that's when there was actually a time when there was no phony wrestling.

I was a Yamaha guy for awhile and then went Roland with my current piano an FP3 (about 5 years old). They now have an updated version with much better organ sounds though I am still happy with what I have. The Rhodes is good too. I always liked Rolands weights. http://www.roland.com/PRODUCTS/en/FP-5/features.html Otherwise, when I worked at a piano store 4 years ago, I got hooked on the Kawai mp9500, though it is not cheap. Has real wooden hammers inside (but shorter) which actually strikes something giving a true feel. You can probably find one used somewhere. http://www.cleverjoe.com/synths/kawai_mp95...ano_review.html