BillF

Fine book! I'm almost entirely ignorant of the wider story of the Russian politics of the time, but I'm enjoying the simplicity of the prose. I've only dabbled in Russian literature (Dostoyevsky, Gogol and some Tolstoy) but I find it speaks to me somehow. All bleak and cold and filled with injustice - don't know what that says about me! I've read some tremendous novels that came out of Stalinist oppression: First Circle, also by Solzhenitsyn, Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon and Victor Serge's The Case of Comrade Tulayev. Darkness At Noon is a great one. Though it's been ages, admittedly, since I read it, the book left a lasting impression. Yes, I'd say it was the best of the three.

Mel & Griff Griff & Lock Locke & Hobbes

Willie Cook Friar Tuck Robin Hood

Bernie Glow Lord Lampton Taras Bulba

Gruffydd ap Llwelyn Irving Welsh Scott LaFaro

Fine book! I'm almost entirely ignorant of the wider story of the Russian politics of the time, but I'm enjoying the simplicity of the prose. I've only dabbled in Russian literature (Dostoyevsky, Gogol and some Tolstoy) but I find it speaks to me somehow. All bleak and cold and filled with injustice - don't know what that says about me! I've read some tremendous novels that came out of Stalinist oppression: First Circle, also by Solzhenitsyn, Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon and Victor Serge's The Case of Comrade Tulayev.

Bean Stalking Byas a Drink The Kid and the Brute

Fine book!

Max Miller Charlie Chester Arthur Askey

Adrian Rollini Roland Rat Ratso Rizzo

Rembrandt Van Rijn Salford Van Hire Betty Driver

Yeah, I saw George's band on the tour when that one came out too - with Hilton Ruiz on piano, Herbie lewis on bass and Billy Higgins on drums. Bought the LP pronto after hearing them. George was in magnificent form that tour. The next visit he did to Scotts, he brought his Octet ! Once again, it was Lyttelton's selection of a track from the Octet's album Big George (Affinity) that led me to put it on my wants list, where it remained for many years until I found a discarded record library copy fairly recently in Manchester's Vinyl Exchange.

Mr and Mrs Pinch and the Nippers Punch Miller Pancho Hagood

Ool Ya Koo Koo Stark Norah Baring

I have never been called for jury service and after November, when I reach 70, I will no longer be eligible. I'm also told that over-65s have the right to refuse if called. This suits me fine. I don't think I could stand listening to a child abuse case, which seem very frequent in the courts nowadays. In England you can refuse if you have a good reason and work commitments are usually accepted. The result is that juries are disproportionately composed of unemployed and retired people and the legal profession is worried about the effect this has on verdicts.

Bebop Spoken Here from KBCS Now playing: Arturo Sandoval, "The Real McBop" from Live at the Blue Note

The Inkspots Laszlo Biro Ronnie Ball

Slim Shady Shadow Wilson Shades of Kenton

Joe Bananas Sharkey Bonano Bono

Yeah - great band. I saw them around the time that 'EB II' came out - Berg had just replaced George Coleman on tenor. Vol 3 is the only one I am missing on vinyl. Anyone got a spare Timeless pressing? Bought (and still have, of course) the first vol after Humphrey Lyttelton played a track from what was then a newly released LP on his Monday evening show. Uncanny ! Same here. I've got the feeling that the track in question might have been 'Mode For Joe'. That I don't recall, but Lyttelton also featured at about that time a track from George Coleman's Amsterdam After Dark, also on Timeless, which sent me out to buy another album which I still enjoy.

Simon Bolivar Thelonious Monk Monk Montgomery

Morecambe and Wise Gilbert and George George and Dragon

Yeah - great band. I saw them around the time that 'EB II' came out - Berg had just replaced George Coleman on tenor. Vol 3 is the only one I am missing on vinyl. Anyone got a spare Timeless pressing? Bought (and still have, of course) the first vol after Humphrey Lyttelton played a track from what was then a newly released LP on his Monday evening show. Only came to hear some of Vol 2 recently, courtesy last.fm. Now quite an obscure item, search engines tending to say "Do you mean Easter Rebellion?" First tried to buy the CD via US amazon, but the supplier canceled as unobtainable. Finally got it (quite cheaply, actually) from a Swiss supplier, via the French site priceminister. Now playing: great stuff - worth all the hassle!

Having been brought up on the Goon Show, I could never take seriously anyone called Moriarty.

Captain Beefheart Jeannie Lamb Bob Mintzer