Aggie87

My first preference is to offer thing up for trade here on this board. I've enjoyed alot of the music I've received in trading with fellow board members, and am glad when my cd's go to someone here that also might enjoy them. I'm not in this for the money, so trades for me are preferred over sales every day. I have found I have some things in the past that could be considered rare, and have traded for things from other people that are also rare. In these cases we try to make trades of roughly equal value. Sometimes things work out where we make a 2 for 1 trade, or even 3 for 1, depending on the item. It has worked for me both ways.

If we can expand this to other sports, my all time favorite basketball name: World B. Free

Heads up on some Clearance Items: Bad Plus - Suspicious Activity $1.99 Bad Plus - These are the Vistas $1.99 Gato Barbieri - Bolivia/Under Fire $1.99 Art Blakey - Drum Suite $1.99 James Carter - Gardenias for Lady Day (SACD Hybrid) $1.99 Regina Carter - Paganini $1.99 Miles Davis - Complete Jack Johnson Sessions $9.95 Miles Davis - Round About Midnight (Legacy 2cd) $3.98 Roy Hargrove - RH Factor Hard Groove $1.99 Stefon Harris - Grand Unification Theory $1.99 Hiromi - Another Mind $1.99 Christian McBride - Vertical Vision $1.99 Jason Moran - Bandwagon $1.99 Danilo Perez - Til Then $1.99 Sonny Rollins - Essential RCA Years $3.98 Kurt Rosenwinkel - Heartcore $1.99 David Sanchez - Street Scenes $1.99 David Sanchez - Travesia $1.99 John Scofield/Mark Anthony Turnage - Scorched $2.99 John Scofield - Up All Night $1.99 Cassandra Wilson - New Moon Daughter $1.99 Cassandra Wilson - Glamoured $1.99

Keith Jarrett - Carnegie Hall Concert

Coco Crisp cracks me up every time. Cool older names: Mookie Wilson Vida Blue Catfish Hunter

Anybody know anything about a group called Secret Chiefs 3? Appears to be a Faith No More/Mr. Bungle spin-off. I heard a song of theirs on Pandora.com that was pretty cool. Where's a good place to start?

The follow on recording from 1992, "Fly Away Little Bird", is also well worth picking up! I still need to get the 1996 "Conversations with a Goose", on Soul Note.

FYI- Make sure that your set doesn't contain a duplicate of one of the discs (I believe #2) and missing one all together (#3?). Even though they may be labeled correctly be sure to check them out right away. There have been issues with some sets including my copy. Thanks for that heads-up Tom. I'll definitely check it out quickly when it arrives. -Erik

Finally ordered the Miles Complete Stockholm (Dragon) 4 cd set today. Got it for a good price on half.com ($35).

Newbury Comics is offering autographed versions of Fear of a Blank Planet for preorder, if anyone's interested! Just like the previous autographed version of Blackfield II. Good deal, and as cheap as anywhere else you'll find it ($11.85).

Memphis beat A&M tonight, 65-64. Hats off to Memphis for moving on to the next round. There is going to be some controversy about the ending of this game, as the refs took 1.1 seconds off the clock (3.1 down to 2.0), when all of the replays seemed to indicate only about 0.1-0.2 seconds of clock should have come off. This affected A&M's last play, which ended up being a long 3 pointer that was off the mark. With the correct clock call, they might have had a chance to run a real play - or at least something more than a desperation shot like that. I think that clearly affected the outcome of the game. All in all, A&M had a fantastic year, and I couldn't be prouder of them. They've really never been this good before, ever. I think they had ONE prior time making it to the Sweet 16, not sure how long ago that was too - at least 25 years ago. Hats off to Acie Law for a great career at A&M, and for almost single-handedly elevating the program from an afterthought at a football school to something of real substance. Ok, Gillespie's not too shabby a coach either.

I agree with your first comment. But regarding sniping, it's hard to tell if you're underbidding until the auction is over. That's the frustrating part for some people, because you don't really know what the "right" bid is, and maybe you'd have made a higher bid if you had the chance. No chance for a counter-offer. But even with a snipe set up, you have the opportunity to adjust your maximum bid during the auction as you watch any ongoing bidding. If you get outbid by another sniper, it's just that someone wanted it more than you.

Al - The auctionstealer website that RT mentioned above offers 3 free "snipes" per week if you sign up with them. You can pay and get more, if your volume on ebay is worth it. The free snipes are usually within the last 10 seconds (I think) of the auction, and as long as nobody else snipes with a higher price, you'll get what ya want.

Newbury Comics is a legitimate business, and I've never had problems placing and receiving orders with them. They ship quickly domestically, as well.

Sinead covered Elton John's Sacrifice, and did it far better than Elton, IMO. Her version gives me chills. Unfortunately there's not a full clip of it on youtube, but here's what I could find:

Domo Arigato Mr. Robot edit - check out their version of My Sharona, too!

Even within the same company (i.e. Allstate), you will get different quotes from different agents. I'd make ALOT of calls before you settle on any one, Paul.

So do I but I don't think I have the nerve to tell Frank. I don't think he'll lose any sleep over it.

New Beatles-related movie coming out, called "Across the Universe". The trailer can be found here. And here's an article from today's NY Times about it, as well: ********** March 20, 2007 Film Has Two Versions; Only One Is Julie Taymor’s By SHARON WAXMAN LOS ANGELES, March 19 — In Hollywood, creative differences among moviemakers often make for more interesting results on the screen. But rarely do those battles escalate so much that a studio takes a movie away from an award-winning director. Such is the case — for the moment — with “Across the Universe,” a $45-million psychedelic love story set to the music of the Beatles, directed by Julie Taymor, the stage and screen talent whose innovative interpretation of the Disney animated film “The Lion King” is one of the most successful modern stage musicals. After Ms. Taymor delivered the movie to Joe Roth, the film executive whose production company, Revolution Studios, based at Sony, is making the Beatles musical, he created his own version without her agreement. And last week Mr. Roth tested his cut of the film, which is about a half-hour shorter than Ms. Taymor’s 2-hour-8-minute version. Mr. Roth’s moves have left Ms. Taymor feeling helpless and considering taking her name off the movie, according to an individual close to the movie who would not be named because of the sensitivity of the situation. Disavowing a film is the most radical step available to a director like Ms. Taymor, who does not have final cut, one that could embarrass the studio and hurt the movie’s chances for a successful release in September. Ms. Taymor declined to be interviewed, but issued a carefully worded statement: “My creative team and I are extremely happy about our cut and the response to it,” she wrote. “Sometimes at this stage of the Hollywood process differences of opinion arise, but in order to protect the film, I am not getting into details at this time.” Mr. Roth, a former Disney studio chief who proclaimed his ’60’s-influenced, artist-friendly ethos in 2000 by naming his new company Revolution Studios, is himself a director, of films like “Christmas With the Kranks,” “Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise” and “Freedomland.” He said that Ms. Taymor was overreacting to a normal Hollywood process of testing different versions of a movie, something he has done many times before, including with Michael Mann’s “Last of the Mohicans.” He called his version of “Across the Universe” “an experiment.” “She’s a brilliant director,” he said. “She’s made a brilliant movie. This process is not anything out of the ordinary. Her reaction through her representatives might be. But her orientation is stage. It’s different if you’re making a $12-million film, or a $45-million film. No one is uncomfortable in this process, other than Julie.” And he warned that the conflict could hurt the movie. “If you work off her hysteria, that will do the film an injustice,” he said. “Nobody wants to do that. She’s worked long and hard, and made a wonderful movie.” A spokesman for Sony Pictures Entertainment declined to comment, saying the project was developed by Revolution. “Across the Universe” stars Evan Rachel Wood as Lucy, an American teenager, and Jim Sturgess as Jude, a British import, who fall in love during the turbulent 1960s. The movie, set to 35 Beatles songs, seems to spring from Ms. Taymor’s experimental sandbox, combining live action with painted and three-dimensional animation and puppets, and featuring cameos by Eddie Izzard, dressed as a freakish Mr. Kite; Bono, singing “I Am the Walrus”; and Joe Cocker, singing “Come Together.” Ms. Taymor has been editing the film for the better part of the last year, after completing the shoot in 2005. An initial release date of September 2006 was pushed off. Mr. Roth said he had been working with Ms. Taymor on and off during nine months of editing, and that the problem was merely one of length. Under pressure from Mr. Roth and after test screenings, Ms. Taymor trimmed the film from an initial 2 hours 20 minutes. She told associates she considered the film finished. Fights between visionary filmmakers and studios are nothing new. Orson Welles spent most of his career fighting with studios that took away his movies, editing options and even limited his film stock. And those fights commonly focus on the running times of movies, which, as critics have noted, seem to grow inexorably longer. But it is rare for an executive to step in and cut the movie himself. Ms. Taymor was still making her own final edits to the film when she learned several weeks ago that Mr. Roth had edited another, shorter version. That version was tested last week in Arizona, to a younger audience than the more mixed test group than saw Ms. Taymor’s cut in Los Angeles on March 8, according to an individual close to the film. Mr. Roth, who vowed never again to allow a director final cut after the disastrous 2003 Martin Brest movie “Gigli,” said that the various versions were testing well, but that he had a responsibility to find the most successful incarnation. “It’s ‘show’ and it’s ‘business,’ ” he said. Ms. Taymor has been showered with numerous awards, including a MacArthur “genius” grant in 1991. The stage version of “The Lion King,” which currently has nine productions worldwide, is notable for Ms. Taymor’s unusual staging and the use of mechanical masks that make the actors seem like real animals. (Mr. Roth, who ran Disney at the time, admitted to having been skeptical about the masks but later told Ms. Taymor he’d been wrong.) Ms. Taymor has had more mixed results in Hollywood. Her bloody Shakespeare adaptation, “Titus,” bombed at the box office, taking in just $1.9 million. “Frida,” in 2002, about the artist Frida Kahlo, was successful, winning two Oscars and a moderate financial windfall. Mr. Roth said he believed that the current tensions would be worked out, and that Ms. Taymor would find the best, final version of the film somewhere between his own and her last cut. But those in Ms. Taymor’s camp were more skeptical, saying the director was not inclined to make any more changes. Ms. Taymor herself struck a more conciliatory note in her statement: “I only hope that we will be able to complete the film we set out to make.”

Fear of a Blank Planet will be released in Europe and elsewhere on 18 April, and in the U.S. on 24 April. Also, a couple of U.S. dates have been added (Detroit, Grand Rapids, Chicago, & Milwaukee). Here's the full tour plan: Apr 18 2007 GLASGOW, UK: ABC Apr 19 2007 NEWCASTLE, UK: Academy Apr 20 2007 PRESTON, UK: 53 Degrees Apr 22 2007 NOTTINGHAM, UK: Rock City Apr 23 2007 WOLVERHAMPTON, UK: Wulfren Apr 24 2007 BRISTOL, UK: Academy Apr 25 2007 CAMBRIDGE, UK: Junction Apr 26 2007 LONDON, UK: Forum May 08 2007 SEATTLE, USA: Showbox May 09 2007 PORTLAND, USA: Aladdin May 11 2007 SAN FRANCISCO, USA: Warfield May 12 2007 LOS ANGELES, USA: Avalon May 13 2007 ANAHEIM, USA: Grove of Anaheim May 15 2007 BOULDER, USA: Fox Theatre May 17 2007 CHICAGO, USA: Park West May 18 2007 CLEVELAND, USA: House of Blues May 19 2007 NEW YORK, USA: Nokia Theater May 22 2007 BALTIMORE, USA: Ram's Head May 23 2007 PHILADELPHIA, USA: Electric Factory May 25 2007 BOSTON, USA: Roxy May 26 2007 MONTREAL, CANADA: Spectrum de Montreal May 27 2007 QUEBEC, CANADA: Salle Albert - Rousseau May 28 2007 TORONTO, CANADA: Danforth Music Hall May 30 2007 DETROIT, USA: The Majestic May 31 2007 GRAND RAPIDS, USA: Intersection Jun 01 2007 CHICAGO, USA: Park West Jun 02 2007 MILWAUKEE, USA: The Rave Jun 17 2007 Interlaken, Switzerland: Greenfield Festival Jun 23 2007 Neuhausen, Germany: Southside Festival Jun 24 2007 Scheesel, Germany: Hurricane Festival Jul 14 2007 FINLAND: Ilosaarirock Festival

Let me guess, you don't eat fast food or surf porn, either.

I wish I had said no to them more often earlier on, when they were gaining their near-monopoly of local business. Buying there has hurt, ultimately, because they've put everyone else out of business, and now only stock the biggest sellers and brand new releases. So there's effectively no local marketplace for anything other than the biggies and the brand new stuff. I do buy from them occasionally still, since there's no other local option, especially on the exclusive deals. But otherwise it's all online buying. That's sad.