Alexander

I was interested last year, and I'd still be interested this year. I agree that buying someone a duplicate of something they already own is a risk. Here's an interesting idea: We have to buy the person something that ISN'T a CD and has nothing to do with jazz.

I watch very little. My only regular show is "The Simpsons," which I will watch until it goes off the air. My wife is a channel surfer, so every so often I'll sit down and watch a show or two with her if she stops on something I like (which is generally an episode of "Law & Order" or "Law & Order: SVU"). My daughter has a couple of regular shows she likes to catch: "Fairly Oddparents" and "SpongeBob" on Nick. "Teen Titans" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" on Cartoon Network. We usually watch a movie as a family once a week. This past Sunday we took in "The Incredibles" which is AMAZING. Too talky for my daughter, but I LOVED it!

Nice trailer...but can anyone tell me how Anikan Skywalker is going to age from this: To this: In a little over Luke's lifetime which is, what, less than 25 years?

You could use my canned line that listening to/watching Monk play is sort of like watching a man walking a tightrope: You're not sure if he's going to make it, but then...damned if he doesn't pull it off again!

I just got back. There were several people arriving just as I left, but there were only two or three people there when I arrived, and most of them were voting in another discrict. I had only one woman ahead of me, so I had virtually no wait. New York (or at least my district in NY) uses those big-ass voting booths with the levers. I voted straight Democrat, and was out of there in no time.

As much as I love the MBB and Holland's group, I went with the Danish Radio Big Band. They're easily the most versitile large ensamble around.

Two points: One: The reason Costello stopped playing "Less Than Zero" on SNL and launched into "Radio, Radio" is because he'd been specifically asked *not* to play "Radio, Radio" (which was his then-current single). It was felt (by NBC) that the song would be offensive to some of their affiliate stations, many of which owned radio stations as well. "You'd better shut up or get cut out, they don't want to hear about it, it's only inches on the reel to reel. And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools tryin' anaesthetise the way that you feel..." Funny, I think that with Clear Channel, that song becomes more and more relevant all the time... Costello was also apparently a bit honked off because he and the Attractions had been booked as last minute replacements for the Sex Pistols (or the Ramones...I can never remember which), and because Dan Ackroyd had mocked him backstage earlier that evening. Costello also claims that he'd been inspired by a famous moment on British TV in which Jimi Hendrix stopped playing "Hey Joe" and launched into a version of "Sunshine of Your Love" saying that "Hey Joe" was "a lot of old rubbish." Two: I believe that the "Dallas" version of "Less Than Zero" on the Rhino edition of "My Aim Is True" is actually from the "Live at the El Mocambo" album, which was recorded NOT in Dallas, TX but in Toronto.

Letters are just symbols. Words are a different animal completely. I recently taught a class on semiotics, and we went over all of the sign, signifier, and signified stuff. Noam Chomsky has made the argument that our brains are hard-wired for language, whatever form it may take. Here are some basic definitions: Icon: Charles Sanders Peirce's term for a sign that functions by means of sharing resemblances with what it signifies. Portraits or maps, for example, are natural resemblances rather than arbitrary and conventional signs. (See also Semiotics.) Symbol / symbolization: A term used by Charles Sanders Peirce to describe the sign proper, wherein the relation between signifier and signified is entirely arbitrary and conventional. Unlike the icon, the symbol bears no natural resemblance to what it signifies, and unlike the index, it has no causal connection with what it signifies. A map of a country is iconic, smoke as the sign of fire is indexical, but the word "map" and the word "smoke" are symbolic. The two words signify because a language user can differentiate them acoustically and conceptually from, say, "mop" and "stoke." Such differentiations are arbitrary and conventional. (See also Semiotics.) Note the use of the term "arbitrary and conventional." Such is the nature of sign and symbol. There is no reason that we call an apple and apple. That just happens to be the word we use to describe that concept of "apple." Plato believed that everything - both words and objects - were merely imperfect forms of an ideal form that existed on some other plane of existence. Ancient Hebrews believed, literally, in a connection between language and life. In the legend of the Golem, it was believed that the Golem (a humanoid creature made of clay and animated by a Rabbi) could be brought to life by writing the letters alph, mem, and tov - spelling "emet" (which means "truth")- either directly onto the creature's brow or on a scroll that would be inserted into the creature's mouth. The Golem had to be deactivated on the sabbath, so the Rabbi would erase the first letter, alph, leaving mem and tov spelling "met" which means "death." Moreover, the Hebrew characters were believed to be the very building blocks of creation. Some Jewish scholars claimed to have cracked the code of creation by arranging the Hebrew letters in their "original" order (from which they had been allegedly scrambled) and creating their own universes, which they called "tabernacles." All of this simply points out that human beings have some pretty wild ideas about the power of words. Semiotics teaches us that all language is a collection of random sounds and images that have been arranged by our brains in a manner upon which we all agree. But that's just on a very basic level. If words have meaning only because human beings agree, the waters become murkier still when you have a disconnect on the cultural significance of a word such as "cunt." As a word, "cunt" is simply a slang term for female genetalia. It can also act as a general term for a woman one doesn't like ("she's a cunt") just like male genetalia is used to describe men one doesn't like ("he's a dick"). It's a crude word. Jim's use of "cunt" was meant to be a harmless poke at a woman we all agree is talentless. But RD's interpretation of that word was something quite different. "Cunt," you see, is a word that has become weighted with cultural significance. It has become associated with sexism the same way the word "nigger" is associated with racism or "faggot" with homophobia. Should Jim avoid the use of the word "cunt?" No more than I should avoid posting pictures of crosses dipped in urine. It comes down to accepting the consequences of ones actions. If Jim is willing to accept that RD is going to be offended by the use of the word "cunt," then I see no reason for him to stop using it (other than - you know - in order to be nice). In short, I understand both sides of the debate. Jim is right - "cunt" is just a word - and RD is also right - "cunt" is a term that some people find offensive. When it all comes down to dust, no matter who is right, Ashlee Simpson still can't sing.

Lip synching was a staple of music progams like American Bandstand and BBC's Top of the Pops. Elvis Costello and the Attractions got kicked off BBC tv for revealing the "state secret" that they were miming the music when drummer Pete Thomas played the final drumroll on his head.

It's at the end of "The Godfather." Michael (Al Pacino) is standing Godfather to his sister Connie's son. The best part is that right afterwards, Michael has her husband rubbed out!

So what's the creationist view of this? Fairies? Gnomes? Or is this evidence of God's attitude that "size doesn't matter?"

I've never been happy with the practice of record lables and publishers "buying" display space in record and book stores. Barnes & Noble partook of this practice (as I'm sure do most big stores), and it just seemed wrong to me. That authors and artists represented by big companies with deep pockets should get an advantage over independants and artists on smaller lables seems unethical. For my part, I refused to play ball...I played what I liked on the in-store-play. I'm sure that had something to do with my being fired, of course...

Cool. Didn't see that.

EMI just released a batch of Chet Baker reissues, including "Chet Baker Sextet" and "Chet Baker Big Band." For some reason, the left-hand spine (the side that faces out when you put it on the shelf) on "Sextet" reads "Big Band!" The right-hand spine is fine, so I just turned it around. I wonder if it will be worth anything someday? Old books with errata are very valuable!

I'm what you call an "end-of-the-season" baseball fan. I follow the Sox via the paper throughout the season, then I get really interested during the play-offs. Having lived in Boston - and having grown up with a Yankees fan for a father - I've always pulled for the Sox, so needless to say I'm THRILLED! This is definitely the year. Sox in October...Kerry in November...it's gonna be a great fall!

I just got Ptah... and I love it. Fantastic album. Not at all what I expected. I'd certainly be interested in getting more Alice. What album should I get next? I also got her new one, which I think is quite good as well. Anyone here listened to it yet? I'm kinda surprised it hasn't come up.

Two BIG disappointments for me were hearing both "Haitan Fight Song" and "Pink Moon" in car ads.

In the end, I think it's not jazz per se that I'm into so much as I'm into good music, and jazz - on the whole - is very good music. Over 90% of my collection is jazz, so obviously jazz ranks extremely high in my esteem. But I don't think I will ever reach a point where I'll listen to jazz to exclusion of all else, because there's too much good music available in other genres. I've recently gotten heavily into Reggae, for example. I've also recently discovered Radiohead and the White Stripes. I think as long as your mind remains open to the infinite possibilities of existance, you'll never grow bored and you'll keep your ties to all of the musics you've enjoyed over the years. There's plenty to explore in rock, hip-hop, country, blues, etc. And they'll always be someone you've slept on (as I slept on RRK and Sonny Stitt for far too long) that needs exploring. As long as you maintain an open mind and a questioning spirit, you won't reach the end of the tether for a long, long time...

there you go again, dragging politics into the non-political forum. what does Tucker Carlson have to do with O'Reilly's lawsuit?? The Angry Conservative Pundit (hereafter referred to as the ACP) got a new lease on life under Bill Clinton. For nearly eight long years we had to listen to O'Reilly and his ilk (including Carlson, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, etc) jump up and down screaming about how Bill Clinton was leading us down the rough road to ruin. With the election of GWB, the ACPs became even more unbearable. Their smug gloating beating out even their shrill bleating as offensive noise. 9/11 added a new wrinkle: Now we were at war, and the ACPs could lord their righteousness over the rest of us. O'Reilly's sexual harassment suit might only be symptomatic of a larger chink in the ACP's cultural armor: Their self-righteousness masks their weakness. O'Reilly turns out to be a smarmy onanist. Tucker Carlson's drubbing by Jon Stewart reveals his weakness as well: he can't stand up to a reasonable argument. So I'm saying that hopefully these two events (along with Rush Limbaugh's drug problems) signal the beginning of the end for the ACPs. They've been on top for over 10 years now, and now they're beginning their descent. In other words, everything is political.

On the one hand, I basically agree: "Il Sogno" is, and will remain, a very minor item in Costello's catalogue. He does a nice job. It's pleasant to listen to, but it's nothing earth shaking. On the other hand, its MUCH better than the "classical" works by Paul McCartney and Billy Joel, partially because Costello essentially wrote this music under contract. The dance company contacted him, not the other way around, so this is music that performs a function. McCartney and Joel, on the other hand, entertained "composerly" pretentions. I don't think Costello ever intended to release this music until he was, again, approached to do so. I think it's good for any artist to step outside of his or her chosen genre once in a while and try his hand at something different. I salute Costello for his courage, even when he doesn't always succeed.

I just finished reading the whole complaint. Whew! O'Reilly is - well - completely fucked. I mean, he's not going to just settle out of court and let this die down. He'll try and fight it and it'll drag out, each sordid detail getting full media exposure until his career is dead. Hopefully, this and Tucker Carlson's roasting at the hands of Jon Stewart spell a sea change in terms of these angry conservative pundits. Hopefully their time is ending and we won't have to listen to their shit anymore...

This is a different situation, I know, but... I have an aunt (my mother's sister) who had a stroke at age 17. Although her situation rapidly degenerated, her mother refused to put her in a home. Years went by, and my aunt became a vegetable. She spent her days in a chair in front of the TV. I can still remember the horrible moaning sound she made. In fact, I think I'll remember it until the day I die. My grandmother hired help, but it was almost always substandard. My father tried to intervene at one point, and it drove a rift between him and my grandmother that never healed. Finally, when my grandmother's health sent her to a home, my aunt followed. Today, my grandmother is dead and my aunt is still going. And she's finally getting the care she needs. My point is that home is not the best place for such people. My aunt would have been much better off had she been committed when she could no longer care for herself. If Max is in a bad facility, something needs to be done about it. But I strongly advise against his being cared for at home.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy!

Poor, poor Max. Our thoughts are with him.

I dunno, I like her on this album. Maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment? Emmylou is pure heaven, though! For anyone who was into her work with G.P., this is a must-listen.