Alexander

It's the former.

They left out some of the most important principles of Cribs: 1. The scarier you are, the more cute children you have to have around the house. Scowling, tattooed freaks make the best dads! 2. You must have no personal possessions other than cars, clothes, and shoes, and then you must have more than any human being could possibly use. 3. Your house should look like a Model Home at all times. There should be nothing in the house to indicate that anyone actually lives there. 4. When yo dawgz be chillin' at yo crib, they have to dress as though they're hanging out in someone's basement. The more expensive the furnature, the sloppier the clothes. And finally... 5. Your refrigerator must be empty of all food and drink except a Forty and a bottle of Crystal.

The way Bush is rolling back environmental regulations, that might not be too far off...

I've had depression related insomnia in the past, but the fact is that I've *never* liked going to bed. I don't know why. I feel like sleep is a waste of time. There's too much I want to DO (and read and listen to). My daughter is the same way. We put her to bed around 8:30, but she's commonly awake until nearly 11. All evening long, she's poking her little head out of her bedroom door demanding water, needing to go potty, etc. I sympathise with her, but I can't tell her that! I usually get to bed somewhere between two and three. Days when I have class, this isn't a problem because class isn't until late in the day and I can sleep late in the morning. But days like today, when I have to work, I'm dragging.

I saw it Tuesday night at a midnight showing. I also had the sense that a great deal had been cut for time (getting it down to a "mere" three and a half hours), I too was blown away. I didn't check my watch ONCE (haven't had that happen in a long movie since I saw "Lawrence of Arabia"). As great as Gollum was in "The Two Towers," I thought they did an even BETTER job on the animation in this one. He was absolutely flawless. After a while, I completely forgot that he was an animated character. Frodo and Sam's battle with Shelob was great too. I'm sad for the loss of Sauriman in this film, but I know the character will get his final scene in the DVD edtion, so I'm not too broken up about it. Frankly, there's so much happening in this film, you never notice that he's not there. The only thing that marred my experience was three assholes in the back row who evidently didn't know how long this film would be, because they kept groaning towards the end when the film kept on going. Finally, I turned around and said: "You know, if you'd read the book, you'd have seen this coming." The people sitting around me cheered.

Not my absolute favorite, but it's certainly one of mine as well. So you're not alone.

I've taken a much more "live and let live" attitude with music over the years. So it doesn't bother me too much that other people don't "get" jazz or treat it as "background music." It's their loss, you know? I do remember a comment similar to the "nobody really understands jazz" comment that I heard years ago, when I was first getting interested in jazz (early 90s). I was in a movie theater in Boston, waiting for the show to start. They were playing jazz on the in-house system (I wasn't sophisticated enough to recogize it, but it runs in my mind that it was Miles Davis, possibily something from "Kind of Blue"). The guy sitting in front of me was going on and on to his girlfriend about how much he hates jazz, how it's the "biggest scam ever perpetrated on the American public," and how "nobody really likes it. They just pretend to so they'll look smart." I wasn't knowledgable enough to respond to the guy, so I kept my mouth shut. If I knew then what I know now, I really could've taken the guy to school! But as I said before, I really don't care what other people like or don't like. Music is extremely important to me. I love jazz. Music isn't as important to other people. I can't change it, so why fuss?

Now THAT'S something to use the $750K on! Word!

That aspect of the story did strike me as somewhat amusing, I agree. And I know that your poll wasn't "about" Saddam, per se, but obviously everybody knew whose "true story" it was based on and ran with it. That's what I was responding to. At times like this, I feel like I should have been a Defense Attorney. I always feel compelled to stick up for the indefensible just because it would be so easy to kick them when they're down!

But that's just it...he's not evil. Look at him. He's mad. He's been mad all along, but this ordeal has crushed what little sanity he had left. I agree that he's responsible for horrible, horrible crimes, and for that he has to pay the piper. But there's no question in my mind that we're not dealing with a devil, but with a lunatic. You also must remember that Saddam was put in power, and partially maintained, by the United States. Does anybody REALLY think that the people who backed his installation didn't understand the kind of man they were dealing with? Don't kid yourself. They knew. They knew what kind of person he was, what he was capable of, and what he would do once he was in power. And as long as he served the interests of the U.S., that was fine and dandy. I know that people are going to say that this was a mistake, that France and Russia continued to support Saddam long after the U.S. stopped, but that's not the issue. The point is that our government was a willing accomplice in Saddam's crimes for years. At the very least, Bush should acknowledge this. At most, we need to rebuild Iraq in penance for what we helped Saddam do to his own people. I mean, for Christ's sake, our current Vice President was Saddam's BUSINESS PARTNER during the Clinton years! Many of the men in the current administration not only count Saddam Hussein as a former crony, but as an old friend! And these are same people who stumped the hardest for his removal. This is sick, sick business. There are no good guys here, people. Everybody involved in this war has innocent blood on his hands, not just the guy in the hole.

I know I'm gonna catch shit for this but... As I've said before, I really am glad that Saddam's been caught. He has a great deal to answer for, and I truly hope they throw the book at him. However... I'm really uncomfortable with all of the gloating that's going on (not just here, but everywhere). It's not sporting to kick a defeated foe when he's down. I don't know why, but I've always felt that way. I remember feeling that way when my friends were joking about Reagan being shot, I felt that way when people made fun of Gorbachev when the Soviet Union collapsed, and I felt that way when people mocked the Unibomber after his arrest. Punish the man for what he did, yes. Mock him when he's beaten, no. When your enemy is on the ropes, that's the time to extend the hand of friendship. It's the right thing to do. I just wanted to put that out there. I don't expect it to have any effect (other than convince Dan and Berigan that I'm a Saddam supporter)....

"Just a little piece o' paper coated with clorophyll..."

Well, if you asked my wife, she'd say I'm a collector, because I've filled every square inch of our home with books, comics, and CDs. But I see myself as a listener (and reader) because I'm not interested in the monetary *value* of my books, comics, and CDs, but rather in enjoying them while I can (knowing full well that I am mortal, and don't have unlimited time). I have a very real *sentimental* attachment to my stuff, but I don't let that come between me and the things that really matter...my wife and daughter. Or at least, I don't want it to. I'm not a completist, but I do enjoying hearing a LOT by the artists I admire. One Stan Getz CD wouldn't do, so now I have 50. On the other hand, I feel like I have enough Getz right now, so I don't feel any compulsion to pick up any further CDs by that artist, even though there's more I don't have.

Not only do I own all of the listed RVGs, I own all of the albums listed there as well (well, not the Kenton, but I don't want the Kenton...)!

1. "Songs for Kazoo and Screaming Whistle" by Big Toe Stewart and the Grangers. Excellent performance. 2. MC Hammer's "You Can't Touch This" performed by the Avram Malemsteen Accordian Quartet on the "Live at the House of Beef" album. Classic. 3. "Get Away from My Mother" by Morrie Mo and the Mo-Fos. Is this a bootleg? I don't remember all the screams of "How's the soup?" on the LP. 4. Ah...a rare alternate take of "So What" from Kind of Blue with Avram Malemsteen sitting in on accordian. It's only 30 seconds long. It cuts off after Miles says, "Oh my God! Who the fuck let that guy in here?" 5. This is a great recording. "Needa Nuttin' Fo' Sho' Fo' Fo'." A rare Blind Lemon Pye 78. The amazing thing about Blind Lemon Pye was that he wasn't blind, he didn't play guitar, and he didn't sing. Most of his 78s involve him crying, "Git dat goddamn microphone outta mah face! Ah'm tryin' to take a bath!" 6. Oh God, someone always drags out Vinnie & Vinnie D'Angelis doing "Grotto of My Heart." Please. This is so cliche. If you have to have a Vinnie & Vinnie tune, why not "Liver and Onions (and Salt Water Taffy)?" 7. Whoah! Is that Little Johnny Kneecap? Not sure if it's "Stop Hurting Me" or "Give Me Ten Cents (So I Can Feed The Meter)." 8. Ok, that's one's too weird for me. Is it Otis Otis? George "Milk Up My Nose" Lozenge? 9. I know that one! "Cracking Knuckles" by Sid "Knuckles" Cracker. Good one! 10. Hmmm. It's either Charlie Parker or a dog with it's tail on fire. Hard to say.

Wow! Costello's a New Yorker now! That should add some new musical wrinkles to his albums. He's been a die-hard Londoner for ages! Gee, my dad and Elvis Costello in the same year. Must be a good year for remarriages...

I'm down with it!

Yes, Joyce is wonderful. It's a great way to waste one's time...and I mean that in a good way!

Off topic, but I was wondering...does anybody know of any live discs with Miles, Cannon, Red, Paul, and Philly Joe? Miles brought Adderley in to replace Trane, but I don't think I've ever seen any recordings by this group before Trane returned. Just wondering.

Well, LOOK at the guy! He looks like he takes personal grooming tips from Iggy Pop! The funny thing is that he acts as though all of his problems with women had to do with THEM. Now based on his story I can believe that he fell in with some users, but the problem seems to be his total lack of social skills and his inability to read people. No one gets taken advantage of that often by chance. Obviously this guy has a big neon sign over his head that says: "LOSER! LOSER! CHUMP! CHUMP!" And now he has a website that says essentially the same thing!

That is pretty funny!

Yeah! That is great! I forgot about that one!

I'm not fan or anything...I don't own a single Santana CD...but I've got a lot of respect for the guy. He's got excellent taste, he's got good pop instincts (say what you like about "Smooth" and "The Game of Love," they were catchy and they were hits), and he's been doing it for decades. Like I said, I don't have any of his albums, but I enjoy myself whenever one of his songs shows up on the radio...

This is one I found myself returning to a lot following 9/11/2001: September 1, 1939 W. H. Auden I sit in one of the dives On Fifty-second Street Uncertain and afraid As the clever hopes expire Of a low dishonest decade: Waves of anger and fear Circulate over the bright And darkened lands of the earth, Obsessing our private lives; The unmentionable odour of death Offends the September night. Accurate scholarship can Unearth the whole offence From Luther until now That has driven a culture mad, Find what occurred at Linz, What huge imago made A psychopathic god: I and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return. Exiled Thucydides knew All that a speech can say About Democracy, And what dictators do, The elderly rubbish they talk To an apathetic grave; Analysed all in his book, The enlightenment driven away, The habit-forming pain, Mismanagement and grief: We must suffer them all again. Into this neutral air Where blind skyscrapers use Their full height to proclaim The strength of Collective Man, Each language pours its vain Competitive excuse: But who can live for long In an euphoric dream; Out of the mirror they stare, Imperialism's face And the international wrong. Faces along the bar Cling to their average day: The lights must never go out, The music must always play, All the conventions conspire To make this fort assume The furniture of home; Lest we should see where we are, Lost in a haunted wood, Children afraid of the night Who have never been happy or good. The windiest militant trash Important Persons shout Is not so crude as our wish: What mad Nijinsky wrote About Diaghilev Is true of the normal heart; For the error bred in the bone Of each woman and each man Craves what it cannot have, Not universal love But to be loved alone. From the conservative dark Into the ethical life The dense commuters come, Repeating their morning vow; "I will be true to the wife, I'll concentrate more on my work," And helpless governors wake To resume their compulsory game: Who can release them now, Who can reach the deaf, Who can speak for the dumb? All I have is a voice To undo the folded lie, The romantic lie in the brain Of the sensual man-in-the-street And the lie of Authority Whose buildings grope the sky: There is no such thing as the State And no one exists alone; Hunger allows no choice To the citizen or the police; We must love one another or die. Defenceless under the night Our world in stupor lies; Yet, dotted everywhere, Ironic points of light Flash out wherever the Just Exchange their messages: May I, composed like them Of Eros and of dust, Beleaguered by the same Negation and despair, Show an affirming flame.