Jim R

Max Factor Chill Wills Zero Mostel

Just watched that CICGC episode recently. Always thought he was a natural. RIP.

Lonesome George Gobel Tommy Smothers Gary Mule Deer

Forthee (https://www.facebook.com/forthee/) John Donne

Hermione Baddeley Hermione Gingold Emma Watson

Happy Hairston Hap Palmer

Matt Stairs Wink Martindale Picabo Street

Big Joe Williams Little Joe Blue just a regular Joe

Alphonse Mucha Freddy Adu Wallace Nutting

Samuel Pepys Peeps Dan Noyes

Chip Monk Brother Theodore

Augustus Caesar Raphael Septien Octomom

Johan Cruyff Morey Amsterdam Milt Holland

Penn's uncles Antz DeMarcus Cousins

It probably should have increased participation, due to the sheer convenience of streaming. Then again, now that the "responsibility to respond" factor has all but disappeared, there's less investment in the process. I think it's more complicated than that, though. I'm sure there are a variety of reasons that people stop participating.

Jazz is a vast spectrum of music. You can't necessarily expect anything different in terms of people's reactions to what you like. Making connections across eras and styles and continents was never going to be easy. I think this is a big factor in the decline in participation. I don't know what you mean here. Hasn't it been pretty unusual for tests to go beyond 80 minutes (one CD) of music?

The key thing here, in terms of my viewpoint concerning selective participation, is the online stream. It's there, it's convenient, I can listen or not listen. I can comment or not comment. I wouldn't mind if somebody presented 3 CD's worth of material. I might not get to all of it, but knowing that I don't have to get to all of it, I'm still going to look for something interesting, puzzling, appealing, recognizable, or whatever. Something that I want to respond to. If there wasn't time for me to get through the whole list of cuts, oh well, too bad for me, but no harm done. If the presenter was (hypothetically) offended or hurt by a low level of response, then they would need to consider presenting less material next time. But to make a law that people can't present 3CD's worth of material seems completely unnecessary to me. If not for the online streaming, and if we were still mailing out CDR's, then that's an entirely different scenario in terms of responsibilities, expectations, etc etc. That's where we've come from, so I wonder whether some of those thoughts about needing to listen to and respond to everything is carrying over from that era of the BFT.

I guess I still don't understand this. What reason is there for wanting fewer tracks to listen to and analyze? If you don't have time to listen to 14 or 16 or 20 cuts, just listen to your eight or ten. There's no requirement that you respond to the entire list, and it's always been common for a number of people to have done that (selectively participate) anyway. There's no shame in it. I've been doing this more and more in the past year or so, because I'd rather jump in and comment on a few tracks in a test where there are only a few tracks that I can relate to/enjoy/understand, etc, rather than sit the whole thing out just because most of it is not to my taste. For the people who may want to present 2 CD's worth of material, limiting them to eight or ten cuts seems completely unnecessary and maybe even unfair to them. If somebody presented 2 CD's worth of material and most of it was ignored (which I'd say is pretty rare), then oh well, perhaps lesson learned for them (or not). But who cares? Where is the problem? I hope I don't sound combative here, I'm just not getting the logic.

Robbie Robertson Dave Davies Johnny Johnson

Exactly. In fact, it's always played out this way since the beginning, to some degree. The way the system works now logistically, it's even more convenient for people to participate in selective fashion. I think it's great this way. When someone mailed you a CDR, there was a greater expectation and responsibility for people to respond. Now, even the whole sign-up tradition is kind of unnecessary. I still like to jump in when I can, and when I find tracks that interest me, and I hope it will continue. At any rate, if it dies, it dies. Doesn't mean it can't come back any time, though... does it? Why couldn't it exist sporadically?

Allen & Rossi Burns & Schreiber The Furniture Guys

Thanks GA. I haven't seen the things you've seen, but everybody seems to see different things in that artwork. If you'd care to elaborate and describe where you're seeing what you're seeing, here's a link to the thread about that:

Anything's possible, GA. Nobody has been able to solve this riddle thus far. Why the Four Freshmen suggestion? (I hope you're on to something!)

Glenn Shorrock, a cat who sang another hit from that year (or pretty close). Steve McQueen, a cat who danced with his wife in 1963 Somebody, ANYBODY who can be identified in this album art!!