Alexander

Terrible news! Steve's family will be in my thoughts...

Always one of my favorite actors. I never watched "Everybody Loves Raymond" more than once or twice, but when I did, I primarily watched it to see Boyle. "Young Frankenstein" is a fantastic film, one of the funniest ever made. I have it on an ancient VHS copy in the basement. I'll have to watch it in Boyles honor. I also love the frank discussion that Boyle has with DeNiro in "Taxi Driver" (about girls). He was also great in "The Candidate" with Robert Redford. One of my favorite Boyle roles was one of the episodes of "The X-Files" in which he plays an insurance salesman who can fortell how people will die. The episode was titled "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose."

Funny stuff, but I gotta say that I don't think much of Hammond's Connery impression. I've seen Hammond do some very funny impressons, but his Connery is weak. The material is golden though! "The rapists!" Haw!

The version on Ray Charles' Christmas album isn't too bad. I usually hate that song, but Ray does some good "rump-a-bum-buming," especially when he starts doing it behind the beat...

I find it sad that these beards and moustaches all evoke earlier eras of facial hair. As though the 20th and 21st centuries have seen no great beards! Why, in order to compete, do you need to resemble a Civil War Officer, a 19th century banker, or a Mountain Man?

Supposed to happen next year, from what I've heard. Of course, that promise has been made several times during the last decade and change...

Yeah, the CD of "Riot" sucks. There's such a thing as "lo-fi," and then there's crappy 80s remastering. This has both, and it sounds awful. If this comes to pass, I will welcome it with open arms.

Everything I've ever heard/read about survival in the wilderness says that when you are lost and awaiting rescue, you should STAY PUT. Yes, burning the tires was a great idea. It eventually helped to signal the rescue teams. Do everything you can to make yourself visable, but NEVER walk off trying to find help. Had he stayed with his family, he could have helped to warm them with his body heat and he could have tried to keep the car cleared off to make it easier to see. Lots he could have done without wandering off. I feel bad for the guy and his family, but I wouldn't call his actions heroic. Desperate, perhaps. Maybe even noble, but certainly not "heroic." Heroes don't abandon people in their time of need, even with the best intentions.

Amazing to think that someone who employed Charlie Parker outlived Parker by more than 50 years (of course, one tends to forget how young Bird was when he passed)...

I am not so sure that it is generational. By putting artistic creation in the public, by publishing, it has by definition been put in the public domain. What did you think public domain means? That was the understanding in the U.S. in common sense terms by the generation of the founding fathers. You can look at the foundations of the Enlightenment philosophy if you like. Being made public means being in the public domain. Those were the facts understood by the founding fathers in the U.S. I think too many misconceptions are being read into the concept of the public domain, as though you could have an ownership conflict between Owner Public Domain vs Owner Sweat of His Brow Artist/Publisher/Engineer. It's like a law suit between a fact and a person! Public domain is NOT a right like a private owner's right to their property. It is more like the absence of property rights. It's more like a fact. If anyone asserts that public domain is the public wresting ownership from a private owner, I would disagree on the facts. The private owner is only a private owner by statutory grant, not in fact. An artistic creation is like an action or a word one utters. You cannot make it private once it is out there. And you can only assign property-like rights for so long, in my opinion. That said, now that artists and their families, publishers and their families, and engineers and their families, are economically dependent on this long-wayward trend of copyright protection, what can we do? We cannot cut loose these people. I do not see any reasonable proposals for addressing this. It is not as though special compensation is awarded creators as wards of the state, or like beneficiaries of Medici-like patrons of the arts. Is there a new model forthcoming? I don't see any reason why copyright as currently configured should be the social instrument of providing economically for the creators/performers/publishers/engineers of music etc. Ok, I meant that with a pretty good will. Guess it'll go over like a lead zeppelin. No, no...you make a lot of very interesting points...

I tend not to buy too many "classic" recordings as I already have most them!

I agree that there is a canon of "classic" jazz recordings, which would include "Kind of Blue, " "My Favorite Things," Monk's Blue Note records, Pops' Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings, among others. I do think that people should check these things out sooner or later, but I think that it should really be a part of a balanced musical diet.

I have it in the CD edition. I'll have to pull it out and give it a spin, as I haven't heard it in a long time. I have a few other J.J. Columbias (on vinyl). I'll have to give those a spin as well!

I finally got it not too long ago and have listened to it all the way through once. I love the music on set, but I do have a few quibbles about both the packaging and the organization. First of all, I think it's criminal to put this in an expensive booklet that is made up entirely of pictures and lyrics, but doesn't tell us who plays on what track and doesn't tell us whether the track is new or was originally released in another form. I also wish that instead of the thematic approach (Brawlers: Uptempo rocking tracks; Bawlers: Largely ballads; Bastards: Everything else, including spoken word) they had assembled three discs that mix the tracks up (essentially creating three great Tom Waits albums). As I said, I LOVE the music. The third disc is my favorite by far, however, because it's full of the kind of weirdness one expects from Waits. The first two discs are all a little too similar in tempo and mood. Had they mixed it up a bit, it would have helped vary the mood.

I suspect that for the albums mentioned in this thread, the owners got tired of them and got rid of them. But my hunch for both USA and Aja is that their owners upgraded to CD and then disposed of the LPs. We shouldn't forget that most people consider CDs to sound better than LPs. Yeah, I think it has less to do with people wanting to rid themselves of the music, and more to do with the fact that they just don't own a turntable anymore. They got rid of the records because they don't listen to them. "Aja" is one of the best Steely Dan albums (probably THE best late period album). I can't imagine someone not liking it. Now one album I see ALL THE TIME in used bins (on CD) is Joe Henderson's "Lush Life." For the life of me, I can't imagine WHY anyone would get rid of that album. I think that a lot of people bought it because it won a Grammy, and it was the only jazz album they owned. They got rid of it because they never listened to it...

Having grown up reading comics in the 70s and 80s, Dave Cockrum was one of my favorite artists. Along with the Byrne/Austin pairing, Cockrum's art defined the X-Men during their first flush of popularity. As Nightcrawler's creator (he designed the character while drawing "The Legion of Superheroes" at DC), his version of the character is by far the best. I remember a wonderful Nightcrawler mini-series Cockrum drew during the mid-80s. RIP, Dave. ******************************************************************* COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) -- Wearing Superman pajamas and covered with his Batman blanket, comic book illustrator Dave Cockrum died Sunday. The 63-year-old overhauled the X-Men comic and helped popularize the relatively obscure Marvel Comics in the 1970s. He helped turn the title into a publishing sensation and major film franchise. Cockrum died in his favorite chair at his home in Belton, South Carolina, after a long battle with diabetes and related complications, his wife Paty Cockrum said Tuesday. At Cockrum's request, there will be no public services and his body will be cremated, according to Cox Funeral Home. His ashes will be spread on his property. A family friend said he will be cremated in a Green Lantern shirt. At Marvel Comics, Cockrum and writer Len Wein were handed the X-Men. The comic had been created in 1963 as a group of young outcasts enrolled in an academy for mutants. The premise had failed to capture fans. Cockrum and Wein added their own heroes to the comic and published "Giant-Size X-Men No. 1" in 1975. Many signature characters Cockrum designed and co-created -- such as Storm, Mystique, Nightcrawler and Colossus -- went on to become part of the "X-Men" films starring Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry. Cockrum received no movie royalties, said family friend Clifford Meth, who organized efforts to help Cockrum and his family during his protracted medical care. "Dave saw the movie and he cried -- not because he was bitter," Meth said. "He cried because his characters were on screen and they were living." Cockrum was born in Pendleton, Oregon, the son of an Air Force officer. He set aside his interest in art while serving in Vietnam for the U.S. Navy. He moved to New York after leaving the service and got his big break in the early 1970s, drawing the Legion of Super-Heroes for DC Comics before moving to Marvel. In January 2004, Cockrum moved to South Carolina after being hospitalized for bacterial pneumonia. As his diabetes progressed, his drawings became limited. His last drawing was a sketch for a fan, who attended a small comic book convention in Greenville, Paty Cockrum said. Meth said Cockrum will be remembered as "a comic incarnate." "He had a genuine love for comics and for science fiction and for fantasy, and he lived in it," Meth said. "He loved his work."

I think that it's even nastier in the book than in the film. In the movie, Bond is whacked in the nuts with a knotted rope. In the book, he's whacked with a CARPET BEATER. Eeeeeeech!!!

Hmmmmmm.... They don't HAVE a Hank Williams Mosaic...

Yes, my wife periodically comments that my collection seems to be expanding despite the fact that she never sees evidence of purchases. I tell her that it's just her imagination. I don't think she believes me...

The simplest method for buying CDs behind the wife's back is to pay cash. No paper trail! Nothing to explain!

I've been scouring the net to find tracks by "The Beastles" (a mashup of the Beatles and the Beastie Boys by Boston DJ, dj BC). It looks like it's been driven off by the lawyers. Anyone know of a working site where I can download it? (I can't seem to do bit torrent. If anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it)

I managed to find a free download (you're supposed to pay to get it from the Illegal Art website) and was able to get it last night. It's fantastic! Great stuff! As you say, instant party. I love the fact GT samples such a wide variety of music (even James Taylor sounds good here). I also found an album called "Revolved" by CCC. This album mashes up various tracks with the Beatles "Revolver." While some of it doesn't really work (mixing "Yellow Submarine" with "That's All" by Genesis gets dicy when the tempi fail to match up), the parts that do are extraordinary. One of the best tracks is "Sunshine a Go Go" which mixes "Good Day Sunshine" with "Getting Better" and "A Day in the Life," as well as "Eight Miles High" by the Byrds, "I Can See For Miles" by the Who, and "Groove is in the Heart" by Deee-Lite. It's worth downloading for this track alone. Seek it out.

I HATE the original "Casino Royal," and not because it's a Bond spoof. No, I hate it because its a complete MESS. Because it's the only occasion when three of the most talented directors collaborated (Woody Allen, Orson Welles, and John Huston) and it's one of the worst movies ever made. And because it completely WASTES Peter Sellers.

I saw this the day it was released and I LOVED it. Craig is a great, great Bond. He returns the character to the Connery days of straightforward brutality. Connery (and Craig) played Bond as, essentially, a thug who dresses up in a tux (M (Judi Dench) even calls Bond a "blunt instrument" in the new film). Moore and Brosnan played Bond as (I hate to say it) a bit more of a sadist. Not that Connery and Craig couldn't come up with a cool put down right after they'd put a bullet between someone's eyes, but Moore and Brosnan acted as though they *enjoyed* it. Craig gives you the impression of a man who has always thinked with his fists and just doesn't know any other way. I like the stripped down story, too. The lack of supervillians and gadgets was refreshing! On the other hand, Le Chiffre is probably the most brutal Bond villian of all time! Getting whacked in the balls is a lot worse than sharks with frickin' lasers on their frickin' heads...