[Favorite trombonist]

Okay, I voted for JJ, and Teagarden obviously deserves votes as well, but so does Kai Winding! Where is the Kai contingency?

[An alternate Guitar Poll]

Ouch! This is a really tough one! How am I supposed to choose between Charlie Christian and Django?

Okay - I'm going with Django.

[Freddie Hubbard's "The Melting Pot"]

As an aside, Hosea Taylor was a decent defensive end on the Indianapolis Colts in the early 80s. I think we can safely assume we're dealing with a "he" here.

EDIT: Mike, our posts crossed up.

[The Matrix Reloaded]

Yes, in particular the revelation re: the oracle.

I'll get back to you about the French guy. It's a little too late for me to think about it right now.

[Van Morrison a Blue Note artist?]

Good point. I'm going to stick with my "not getting the hopes up too high" strategy, though. I'd rather be pleasantly surprised than let down.

[The Matrix Reloaded]

For me, watching this movie was (for the most part) like watching someone else play a video game (with an exceptionally cheesy soundtrack). The first movie was a somewhat interesting idea that opened the door to a lot of (at the time) novel fight scenes, but the concept was first and the fight scenes were just a by-product. In Reloaded, the fight scenes take center stage and the concept seems nearly forgotten for much of the movie.

That being said, the one major plot twist was very inventive and unexpected.

[Van Morrison a Blue Note artist?]

I could, but I don't see the point. I will, however, say that I'd rather listen to anything from before 1980 than after.

[Van Morrison a Blue Note artist?]

On a certain level, I'm excited. I love his first couple of solo records (Astral Weeks in particular). But I'm not going to get too excited too soon. As far as I'm concerned, he's cut a lot of really bad records (even in the 70s). I hope to be proven wrong, but I'm going to go into this one with very low expectations.

As an afterthought, who will BN sign next? Leo Kottke and Van are unlikely signings, to say nothing of Ms. Jones.

[Shared birthdays...]

Billie Holiday also died on my birthday (again, not the same year).

[Race and Racial Interaction, in America and beyond]

I think making a resolute effort to understand another race of people may be a mistake; it is something that should happen almost by default, it is something that happens the right way when people see each other as people. I think a person should not get to know someone of another race in any way that differs from how they would get to know someone of their own race.

Now that I agree with 100%. The notion of making contrived efforts to meet people of a particular race rubs me the wrong way (and also reminds me of a very funny Seinfeld episode).

[Shared birthdays...]

I was born the same day (but not the same year) that John Coltrane died.

[A Poll is a choice, 1 entry is not a choice]

I think at least two levels of sarcasm have been missed.

[Explain the etymological origin of your user name!]

I go by J because my first name is often misinterpreted as a female name. Jan, pronounced "yawn", is the Norwegian equivalent of Jon. About 40% of the people I know call me "yawn", 50% call me "Jan" (American pronounciation, which I actually don't mind too much), and the other 10% call me "Jay".

I guess the punchline is that very little of my blood is Norwegian. I'm predominantly German, with a bit of French and Welch. It's a rather long (and not fully understood) story as to how I wound up with the name.

[A Poll is a choice, 1 entry is not a choice]

I really like the 50s Hank Mosaic. I don't think I could be paid to endure the Four Freshmen set in its entirety. One disc, sure. Many discs?

[dang it]

Man, that really sucks. That's one of my favorite sets.

[dang it]

Uh, yeah. I'm sure there are some very benevolent people on this board, but you're not flying out to MO to look for a bunch of cds unless there's some element of self-interest involved. If you found them, it would probably be cheaper than ebay in the end.

[dang it]

I wonder how many board members are looking into plane tickets to KC. It could be like an easter egg hunt.

[Recent pick ups]

I agree. I think that's true of all cds with truly bad sound quality. Good stereos just seem to make them sound worse. I've been listening to Brilliant circles on my walkman connected to computer speakers in my office.

BTW, the guy at the record store told me that the cd of Brilliant Circles is really just a collection of outtakes from the original vinyl version. He said the vinyl is unbelievable.

[Recent pick ups]

Stanley Cowell - Brilliant Circles ($8)

Jason Moran - Black Star ($5)

Jimmy Lyons - Other Afternoons ($11)

I like them all.

[Race and Racial Interaction, in America and beyond]

They were (are) a great success story. They immigrated to America in the 60s, went to work at an investment bank and went on to both have outstanding careers in finance. Their final employer was one of the big five investment houses. They accrued massive stock options which they cashed in early 2000, right before the crash. Now they live in a staffed 10,000 sq. foot mansion.

[Race and Racial Interaction, in America and beyond]

Hey Johnny, I'm a little less conspiratorial about it, but I basically agree with your last post. I'm just saying that because I can't help but feel like you must think I'm constantly jumping down your throat.

Here's my take on affirmative action: on a certain level, it does make sense. Generally speaking, employers and academic institutions have never hired/taken students based solely on their credentials. They (at least the best ones) have also tried to take potential into account. To my mind, affirmative action programs are simply an acknowledgement that for certain groups of people, credentials do not always give an accurate indicator of potential. For instance, you can have a kid who might have the potential to be a great mathematician, but if he's never had access to decent schools, you can't expect that talent to have translated into a publication list, academic awards, etc. That being said, I am not comfortable with race being the relevant variable in the affirmative action equation. Poverty prevents people of all races from exploring their potential. I am a white guy from a bad neighborhood who went to incredibly shitty public schools and grew up with basically no connections whatsoever. My girlfriend is a black woman from a rich neighborhood who went to elite private schools and whose parents are fairly well connected. We are both graduate students working on our PhDs in the mathematical sciences (I'm in physics, she's in atmospheric modeling). Neither of us thinks it makes sense that she has had preferential treatment with regards to university admissions, government research grants, etc.

[dang it]

That's a mighty expensive clipboard.

[Weather Report: Black Market]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. Heavy Weather is a record I got before my BB days, back when I relied mostly on the Penguin guide and the guy behind the record counter for guidence when it came to jazz. My initial reaction to the album was "man, this group really sucked". Looks like I probably just picked the wrong album to start with.

[Weather Report: Black Market]

Is that generally a tough disc to find? There's a shop near my office that has a couple copies. It's a double cd from Japan with a black cover, and not terribly expensive as I recall.

[Weather Report: Black Market]

Okay, this thread convinced me to give Heavy Weather another chance. I still hate it. I mean REALLY hate it. It has nothing to do with it "not being jazz", a position I'm not interested in taking a stance on one way or the other. I just think it's bad. Maybe I'm just a little too young to understand its context (I was in my Sesame Street watching years when it was released), but to me it sounds not unlike something I'd expect to hear in the grocery store.

Given my pronounced dislike for Heavy Weather, would it be worthwhile for me to explore the earlier portion of their catalog or am I just not a Weather Report kind of guy?