Alexander

PM send on the Robert Pete Williams...

Hell, the *Somali* pirates don't sound so bad in comparison!

Having read a bit about the book (I ordered it from Amazon, since it looks quite interesting) it does seem that the title is an inaccurate reflection of the book's content. But then, if he had called it "A Quite Different Look At American Popular Music," I doubt we'd all be talking about it at all!

Yeah, Obama rocks...

Yeah, I don't buy it either. You would certainly notice 56 stars being tattooed ON YOUR FACE. Now, I think she looks pretty good, personally. But what do I know? I just shaved my head! (My daughter cried for ten minutes when she saw me.)

Branford's quartet is amazing. I don't know if they are the "best in jazz today," but they certainly are AMONG the best. Don't hold Wynton's statements against Branford. Branford's a dude.

From the start, there was something mysterious about Danger Mouse’s latest project, “Dark Night of the Soul.” Word of it first came at the South by Southwest music festival in March, on a poster that simply listed the name Danger Mouse — the record producer and member of the R&B duo Gnarls Barkley — along with the singer-songwriter Sparklehorse and, among others, the director David Lynch. A YouTube video in Mr. Lynch’s unmistakable style stirred interest but added no details. It was classic teaser marketing. And yet when “Dark Night of the Soul” was finally unveiled a few weeks ago, it still left fans puzzled. The project, it turned out, is a large-format book-and-CD package that Danger Mouse was releasing by himself, with 50 photographs by Mr. Lynch intended as accompaniment to the album’s 13 songs. But the CD is blank and recordable, and a sticker on the shrink wrap explains cryptically: “For legal reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.” Read the rest of the story here. The CD is amazing, BTW. Great stuff!

Well, yeah...in this case he is. But at least he's not afraid to change up his approach...

Any thoughts? I like the country/bluegrass vibe (although it hearkens back more to the roots rock of "King of America" and "The Delivery Man" more than it does "Almost Blue") and many of the songs are terrific (albeit recycled, as in the case of "Complicated Shadows" and "Hidden Shame"). I do think the seams show a bit (some of the songs were written for a musical and have a Brecht/Weil feel), but it doesn't bother me too much. Another solid effort from a guy who's never afraid to try new things...

Sad story. Funny, though, that this was the plot of a SpongeBob Squarepants episode... Mr. Krabs has been sleeping badly and complaining of his lumpy old mattress. SpongeBob and Squidward decide to throw out Mr. Krabs' old mattress and buy him a new one. When they do, they learn that Mr. Krabs has stuffed his old mattress with all of his money and SpongeBob and Squidward have to get it back... Squidward: Haven't you ever heard of a bank? Mr. Krabs: No!

Ugh. Please. I admire those who fought in WWII, especially those who felt obligated to serve, but I have HAD it with all the "Greatest Generation" crap. Sorry. They were human beings, just like us. They are no different from the generation that came before or the generation that came after. Every time period tests humanity in its own way. You can't make comparisons. If anything, what made the soldiers who stepped onto Normandy Beach capable of such an act was the fact that they were (in a way) somewhat more naive than the generations that followed. The reason your average 18 to 21 year old today would be less likely to face certain destruction in the service of doing the "right" thing isn't because they have less character, but because they came after Watergate, Iran Contra, and the Bush Iraq fiasco. They have less reason to believe in what their government tells them. I saw a sign up in Johnstown, NY tonight (I was there performing in a production of "Bus Stop") that said that "those who forget the fallen forfeit their right to freedom." I thought that was a ridiculously overblown and provocative statement. Those who fell didn't do so in order to be remembered with parades. If they were doing it for the right reason, they weren't expecting to be remembered at all.

Fire ants...yet another reason to live in the Northeast! Our ants don't bite at all. They just eat your house...

RIP. "Kill Bill" is one of my all time favorite films.

I knew they'd find a way to get one of the old characters in there somehow, that's typical in Star Trek history. The old Spock/new Spock thing worked better in this film than the awful insertion of old Kirk into the Generations film. It could easily have been left out (and I wish it had been)...but at least it didn't derail the entire second act the way Generations did. I'd like to see this in IMAX, that would be fun. It ROCKED in IMAX!

This probably means that there will be no new reissue of KOB to buy in 2009. The will break my streak of 6 straight years of buying a new KOB. They've already done two "50th anniversary" editions of KOB. One was released in 2008. It was the box set with two CDs, an LP, and a DVD. Then, in early 2009, they released the two disc version (same as the box, but sans LP and DVD). I don't have the Davis/Evans box, so the reissue of "Sketches" is worth picking up for me.

I think it served two purposes: One, yes it showed Spock struggling between his Vulcan and Human sides. The "older" Spock of the original series had his hormones a bit more under control (except when it was time for Pon Faar). Two, it upset audience expectations that Kirk was going to be the one getting all the female action in this movie (actually, he only gets one girl). It also served to give Kirk a little ego-slapdown when it came to the whole Uhura thing: No, he really wasn't going to get anywhere with her. She's taken.

Spock already knew that Kirk was acting 1st officer. Pike had designated/promoted him when they escorted him to the transport earlier. Yes, but Spock neither gave command to Kirk, nor did he even acknowledge that he was suddenly OK with Kirk suddenly having command. Terribly out of character for Spock (no matter which universe we're talking about). But Spock didn't have to specifically designate Kirk as the commanding officer. Spock knew that Kirk was 1st officer, and would assume command by right/responsibility, once he stepped down. That is what a 1st officer does if the captain cannot perform his/her duties. Which is why the old Spock told Kirk what he had to do in order to make young Spock unfit for command. He knew that once young Spock had recused himself, he would respect the chain of command and accept Kirk as Captain without question. As for Scotty, my assumption was that Kirk had become thoroughly convinced of Scotty's engineering ability during their brief meeting, and that he had simply appointed Scotty Chief of Engineering once he assumed command (which he could do once he was captain). Since Scotty proved his worth in the crisis, he remained in charge of Engineering thereafter. As for the parachuting thing, once again, my assumption was that the ship was in close orbit and that they were within the planet's atmosphere when they jumped. So none of these things bugged me at all.

Agree with this assessment of the Bennett years except I really like Yankee Foxtrot Hotel, on which Bennett had a large role. In fact I would put that LP at the top of their work. YMMV. R.I.P. Jay. Whoa seeing that Uncle Tupelo comment reminded me of a show that I saw with UT opening for Teenage Fanclub. Gotta dig out that ticket stub.... I listened to "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" today in Jay's honor. Great album! I saw Uncle Tupelo with Michelle Shocked during the Arkansas Traveler tour (her brother Max was a member of the band at the time). Great band! It was the first time I'd ever seen them, but I had a feeling even then that they were going to go far...and they did, just not as that band!

Happy, happy, Jim!

"Great Expectations." It's always a treat to come back to Dickens!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_trek_countdown Ah. I mentioned this on the first or second page of the thread. It's the comic book prequel which goes into Nero's motives. If you just see the movie, you're not getting the whole story...

Wow. My reaction couldn't possibly have been more different. I LOVE that album. My favorite cut is "When In Rome."

Bye! I disagree that this forum is infected with hate. If anything, I think this is the more laid back of the two jazz boards on which I post.

I had this great idea a couple of years ago, and I'd love to have the opportunity to pitch it to Quentin Tarantino someday (more of a possibility than you might think: I have a family connection to Robert Rodriguez, who worked with Q on "Grind House"). Basically it's a comic book anthology series based on the Tarantino Universe (titled "Pulp Fiction," natch). It would allow writers to expand upon the world Tarantino created in his movies. For example, I've started writing a story called "Viva Los Vegas" which is about the Vega brothers (Vince and Vic) and is obviously set before the events of "Resevoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction." Think about it: You could do stories about Jules walking the earth. Characters like Butch, Honey Bunny and Pumpkin, Tony Rockyhorror, Mia Wallace, any of them could be the subject of a story. Bill studying under Pai Mei? Bud working at the strip club? O-ren fighting her way to the top of the Yakuza clans? Maybe it could established that Mia Wallace's maiden name is Kiddo, making her the twin sister of Beatrix! The Deadly Vipers no doubt have several adventures before the events of "Kill Bill." You could even work in characters Tarantino created for "Natural Born Killers" and "True Romance." There's a lot of untapped potential there. If anyone has any connections and would be interested in helping me pitch this idea, e-mail me! "Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction." It's a natural!

Awesome (in the true sense of the word)! I see you keep jazz musician hours, Bev...