Aggie87

The more I think about it (and the celery thing notwithstanding), my vote goes for the Sun King, Louis XIV. He reigned for 72 years (!), and turned France into one of the most powerful countries in the world. Probably set the stage for the French Revolution as well... He gets props for Versailles alone, if nothing else. 10,000 people lived at the palace in his day. Pictures don't really do it justice.

...from CNN... 'Looney Tunes' DVD ticks off buyers Fans disappointed by cartoons left out Wednesday, October 29, 2003 Posted: 9:47 AM EST (1447 GMT) LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- What's the rush, doc? That was Warner Bros. response to the backlash from some "Looney Tunes" fans who complain that a handful of their favorite cartoons are missing from the collection of 56 shorts released Tuesday. (Warner Bros. is a division of Time Warner, as is CNN.) "Looney Tunes -- The Golden Collection," the first-ever DVD release for Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Yosemite Sam and Elmer Fudd, includes such classics as "Rabbit of Seville," "Duck Dodgers in the 24th-and-a-half Century" and "The Scarlet Pumpernickel." Animation fans, however, have debated and second-guessed the selection of shorts endlessly on Amazon.com and elsewhere on the Internet. Among the notable absentees: "What's Opera, Doc?" with Bugs tormenting co-star Elmer Fudd, who sings "Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit!"; and "One Froggy Evening," which showcased the "Hello, My Baby!"-singing amphibian Michigan J. Frog. "We held back some of the jewels for future releases," acknowledged George Feltenstein, the marketing executive who helped pick the shorts for the inaugural DVD release. "We couldn't release all the best ones at once ... what would we do for an encore?" Some fans see that response as cynical, saying they feel like their loyalty is being abused. "I would have rather never had these shorts be released than to deal with this garbage," Aaron Strader of Houston wrote on Amazon.com. "I hope it sells well enough to justify a full release on DVD of everything." Warner Home Video counters that its plan to release a set of 60 cartoons each year is not just a marketing ploy -- it's as fast as they can clean up the originals. Dorinda Marticorena, WHV's director of children's marketing, said it takes months to restore the original cartoon prints to their original bright colors. "Looney Tunes" admirers could have a total collection sooner, but it would be a DVD full of grainy, faded cartoons. The "Golden Collection" ($64.92) and the lesser "Premiere Collection" of 28 shorts ($26.99) is part of a bid by the studio to rejuvenate its trademark characters, Marticorena said. A new feature film, "Looney Tunes: Back in Action," is set for release November 14. Fans have waited nearly six years since Warner Bros. began creating the DVD of classics, so Feltenstein said he understood why they're as impatient as Porky Pig's speech therapist. He described the "Golden Collection" as "an all-star sampler," with a lot of Bugs and Daffy, and a little bit of Foghorn Leghorn, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Marvin Martian and the Tasmanian Devil. There is also the first Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoon, "Fast and the Furry-ous." Nearly 1,100 "Looney Tunes" cartoons were created between 1930 and 1969, so there are a lot left to choose from for future DVDs, he added, although not all of them are created equally. "About 300 of them are excellent," Feltenstein said, "300 of them are very good, 300 are good, 100 of them are OK, and 100 of them are lousy."

Would've looked better on his c.v. had he been DIRECTLY responsible for this. Certainly it's a unique claim though. And where would the good folks of Nottingham be today without celery??

Morgana King anyone?

I just noticed that BMG now has the following titles available: Bill Frisell - The Intercontinentals McCoy Tyner - Land of Giants ...there's also still a few goodies in the Clearance section: Bob Belden/Tim Hagans - Re-Animation Live! Don Byron - Romance with the Unseen Ravi Coltrane - Moving Pictures Mark Shim - Turbulent Flow

Vinyl West is probably the best place in Stuttgart for second hand jazz vinyl. They also sell used cds. The other used vinyl/cd store I frequent here is called Second Hand Records, located at NeckarStrasse 140A (telephone 0711-260404). Not a real big place - the ground floor is used (& some new) cds, and the cellar is where they keep all of the vinyl. It's definitely worth a visit as well. Not vinyl, but for jazz cds, there is a good store called "Einklang", located at ChristophStrasse 7. (telephone 0711-234-8771). Large selection of both jazz and classical discs. They also have a website - www.einklang.de.

I haven't been doing this too long, so all of mine are in-person and fairly recent (i.e within the past 5 years): Dave Brubeck Gary Burton Charlie Haden Herbie Hancock Stacy Kent Diana Krall (I know, I know) Christian McBride Pat Metheny Sonny Rollins John Scofield

Saw this one on the Hoffman website, and had to share it. There is nothing moving in this picture.

Came across a new (to me) Scofield disc yesterday, called "Shortcuts! Jazzpar Combo 1999", with Hans Ulrik, Lars Danielsson, and Peter Erskine. It's a mix of studio and live tracks, on Stunt Records. It's a very good recording, and the group play in a style similar to the scolohofo group. But it seems to have a little more life to it than that disc does - something to do with expectations in both cases I guess. Worth picking up if you come across it!

Kenny Burrell - God Bless the Child Herbie Hancock - Headhunters Dave Holland - Extended Play Brad Mehldau - Places Thelonious Monk - It's Monk's Time Thelonious Monk - Underground Oregon - Winter Light John Scofield - Shortcuts! Jazzpar Combo 1999 (w/Ulrik, Danielsson, & Erskine) Phish - A Live One

There's a recent interview with Steve Howe at Classic Rock Revisited. In it there are a couple of interesting (?) jazz references, thought I'd share them here. Howe can be fairly obtuse in interviews at times, but these comments can be followed pretty easily, by Howe standards. Steve Howe Interview October 2003 ***** CRR: When I heard those two (new) songs, I thought immediately of Wes Montgomery and some of the stuff that he did in the early 60’s with a big band. Howe: I’m totally beyond myself that you said that, besides flattery will get you everywhere <laughs>. Wes has a particular presence with me because I actually saw the guy live and he was one of the few jazz guitarists that I was able to see in that era. I later saw Kenny Burrell who I love as well. CRR: Yeah he’s another great player. Howe: Yeah, I like guitarists who are cool. I don’t like guitarists who are un-cool, who do too much who fall over themselves doing it like some of the blues players started to do. They got their reputation and then they started to play a hundred notes. CRR: Right, it’s important that it’s tasteful and they don’t over do it. Howe: That’s right. Wes was almost a revolution in my mind because being young, I was 16 at the time; I thought I was going to go and see someone who I could pick things from <laughs> and when he came out of the dressing room he had this big smile on his face and he never lost that smile. He’s was one of the few musicians who actually smiled when he played. It was a wonderful thing to see, so Wes was onstage at Ronnie’s (Ronnie Scott’s a popular club in London) and he just sat on this stool and played his ass off. It was just amazing. CRR: You saw him you were only 16. That must have been a real eye opening experience. Howe: It was a total thrill, but I learned nothing visually because watching his hand was like watching a glove go across a walking stick. You couldn’t really see how he formed his octaves. They were mainly what I call back ended, where the higher figured finger is actually on top and the lower figured finger is below, and he strummed these octaves much more than he ever picked them. What I did get from it was this marvelous feeling of being able to close my eyes and feel that what I was absorbing was actually from the man himself. This guy was sitting in front of me and that was enormous. I think one of the attributes that guitarists have to have and it’s as true in jazz as it is in all other forms of guitar music, is they have to be very caring about their sound, they have to be very loving about their sound. You’re nurturing and your learning and this is an important thing that I think that maybe some Yes members haven’t realized is that over the years you are expected to learn about you’re craft. You are expected to be more sensible, more practical, more realistic about what makes this tick, what makes it happen. So now when I walk into the studio, sure I know certain ingredients I know I’ve got to have if I’m going to do certain things. I go for them, experience tells me it’s right and then they are actually, but if I was a fool like many musicians are I’d walk around thinking it’s just me that has to do it. I just have to be there and it’s right, bullshit! I’ve heard that from musicians for a long time, you know they think that their presence is sufficient. They have to bring with them the wealth of knowledge that they learned along their career, not just bringing their career along. CRR: And what you can still learn as a player. Howe: Oh yeah, that’s the challenge because to make a song like “Westwinds” and “Pacific Haze” was like, you know I’ve never wanted to pastiche other guitarists. I’m not a guy who’s really good at copying, even guys like Chet Atkins who is one of my favorites. I’m not a big copyist but what I am is, I absorb, I’m like a big sponge. For example Wes gave me rhythm, he showed me that a guitarist without a strong sense of rhythm is nothing you know? When you add a real distinct phraseology to your playing like Django (Reinhardt) did and Wes did it so brilliantly. His phrasing is all about use of keen and interesting rhythmical patterns as opposed to lamenting on the straight ( makes simplistic guitar sounds), that’s nowhere. It means nothing. Sorry that’s not music. So yeah I’m totally a Wes fanatic.

Perhaps we could bribe Piglet to take out Sigfried as well? Never having seen Sigfried & Roy, are those "costumes" really what they wear? Looks like a combination of Rick Wakeman & Luke Skywalker!

Thanks for the info! I haven't heard any highlife music that I'm aware of. In fact the Nigerian music in my collection is limited to some Fela and some King Sunny Ade, which is more in the juju/afrobeat camp than this appears to be. I don't have African Beat yet either, so both are now on my want list. Thanks, Erik

Bill Frisell - Good Dog Happy Man Dave Holland - What Goes Around Hank Mobley - Soul Station Thelonious Monk - Criss Cross Oregon - Moon and Mind Ralph Towner - Blue Sun Don Wilkerson - Elder Don Yes - Magnification

I was reading through a TOCJ insert earlier, and noticed this album, which I hadn't seen before. What's the story on this one? It doesn't seem like a typical Blue Note release, but it was recorded by RVG, with a Miles cover and everything. Is it worth seeking out? And is it available domestically, or just in TOCJ form? Solomon Ilori: African High Life

...zweitausendeins has the Complete General Electric Lightbulb Collection (12 bulb set) on sale this month, for just €6.99! Unfortunately at this price they don't come with the instruction booklet, and they're the older 40Watt Fantasy versions, but hey - at this price how can you pass 'em up?

Surprise Your Pig: A Tribute to R.E.M. This one is kind of interesting, from 1992. Not many well known artists, with the exception of Mitch Easter and Vic Chesnutt - if they're well known... Some of these covers are VERY different from the originals. Encomium: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin You know all the songs, so here's some different versions of them. Includes Uncle Skid's favorites, 4 Non-Blondes. I'm not too happy that Hootie and the Blowfish are on here, but I guess they were big names back in 1995 when this came out... edit: Can't get the REM link to work for some reason...

Larry Coryell - Bolero & Scheherezade Miles Davis - Vol 1 Kenny Dorham - Una Mas Dexter Gordon - Our Man in Paris Harry "Sweets" Edison - The Swinger and Mr. Swing Sonny Rollins - The Bridge Chucho Valdes - Live at the Village Vanguard ProjeKct One - Live at the Jazz Cafe

Here are some football quotes from Neil Smith, a former player who is now in television as a sports reporter in Kansas City, I believe (Rooster can correct me if this isn't completely accurate). They kind of remind me of some of the things Pres. Bush says in some ways... •“I think Dick Vermeil said it best. This team is now jilling toward each other.” •“Actually this guy (Troy Brown) had a perceptional year today. … I think he went 10-for-10 or 12-for-12. … His completion percentage was great. I love the way he was catching the ball.” Smith, on the Patriots wide receiver. •“You know why? I think why. This is the reason why. Because I think what New England did today, they axe-ually they just everything you could probably the reverse they tried to do all kind of trick plays.” •“We having very, very much problems right up the center of our defense. … That’s a lot of balls that he do underthrow that he shouldn’t. … McGloski (Chiefs Linebacker Mike Maslowski) picked off this ball here but McGloski, please, whatever you do, don’t let an offensive lineman catch you! … This is great coming out after halftime what Dante Hall do here. For a little guy, he’s very shifty. … ” •“I can’t take too much of this there no more as far as them winning these close games.” Smith after the Chiefs lost 41-38 to the Pats. •“There are some changes that have to be made. I think you start on the cornerback position. You actually have to start with (Eric) Warfield. I think Warfield needs to be put down before he can really realize exactly what’s happening to him.” •“This guy is just tremendously. … He’s got a lot of more football left in this season.” Smith on Priest Holmes. •“I’ll tell you, you cannot have Masnowski (Mike Maslowski) run with Shannon Sharpe. You just can’t do that. That’s like an offensive lineman running with a tight end. We just have to do a better job of getting those safeties to (Sharpe) and not leaving Maslowsli to run with Shannon Sharpe for 80 yards.” •“Here’s what I think is going to happen. The coach, Dick Vermeil, is going to overlook everything and there will be some changes here (on the defense). I think what’s going to happen is that they are going to have to putting some players and benching them.” •“They always come through because they always says what they have to mean.” Smith on veteran players like Shannon Sharpe coming through in the clutch. •“Trevor Pryce uses the chop move (past John Tait). … I does that when I was playing and I think he picked it up.” Smith while watching video of Pryce blowing past Tait to sacked Green. •“Rod Smith actually did have a great game but what when he did come back and redeemed himself early he dropped the football.” •“The Denver defense has been outstanding against players but they haven’t played against (Priest Holmes). This guy is inceptional because he’s got so many things he can do to hurt your defense.” •“Only thing he do is he go along the line of scrimmage and no one untouched him.” Smith on the Broncos Keith Burns blocking a Chiefs punt in overtime. •“To give up 113 yards you know to the Denver defense but we still lost.” •“I don’t know if this is Mixnutchzki or perhaps Glenn Cadrez…” Smith attempting to identify Mike Maslowski. •“I think this team is on track to getting to where they want to be at. They having a slight little problem, but they have to work it out within the home of that Chiefs offense. I tell you what, if they can do that then they can get it together they can go out and win it.” •“In Denver, they going to use (the scoreboard) to get the Broncos fired up. They going to actually pronounce the scores (of other games) and what quarter it is so they will know today (if the Raiders and Chargers win or lose).” •“I think (Trevor Pryce) was simply saying that we have what it takes in this room to get it done. But then if one thing lead to another, then when the media take something and run away from it, then the coaches have to step up and say, ‘You know, I did it.’” Smith, referring to a controversial quote from Denver Bronco Trevor Pryce who said the Broncos are the most talented team in the NFL. •“I’ve never known Mike Shanahan to leach out at a player.” Smith when asked about Shanahan’s angry response to Price’s above comment. •“I think it does effect you when you there. I was there for two years and it took me about that long to get aptitude to it.” Smith when asked if the altitude in Denver bothers the players. •“I think both of these teams respectively give each other respect. And that’s why it’s become that real, real crucial of a rivalry. What Chiefs team’s gonna to show up is going to bow down to what’s going to happen today. They have to show up today and play some solid football. If not they will be right back where we was again flat if they don’t get this win.” •“Clearly, no one untouched and you’re not going to out footrace Dante Hall when he’s in first gear…or second gear.” •“Well, what it it did, is the Chiefs actually brought eight in the box. So they actually have more than they need. As you see, McNowski (Mike Maslowski) right here takes the inside charge and beats his guy to the snap.” •“They moved the (Broncos’) stadium over from the parking lot and that’s kinda like the mystique ground is not there no more.” •“They don’t care who you are. If you don’t be on the plane at a certain time when you supposed to, they will leave you on the dot. And you will have to find your way to Seattle to try to get a plane that day to beat us to get to the play on tomorrow.” Smith trying to explain how much emphasis Marty Schottenheimer places on his players in regard to promptness. •“I think anytime you have a guy that’s been out for the second time he’s been out and he gets the second-string guy gets a second opportunity, I think this is his time to shine.” Smith when asked how he thought Mike Cloud would fare in the San Diego game. •“I think the biggest responsibility is when you lose Tony Richardson. He’s pretty much the focus of the running game. I think that was a big, big hurt.” •“Rob Smith does a great job of keeping both feet inbounds here after the play was resumed.” Smith reviewing video of the Chiefs loss to Denver. •“Derrick Thomas has a little problem being late for the airport…”

Lawrence Brown - Slide Trombone Larry Coryell - Planet End Art Farmer - Listen to Art Farmer and the Orchestra Wayne Shorter - Adam's Apple Jack Teagarden - Think Well of Me Porcupine Tree - Coma Divine ProjeKct Three - Masque

Now this is a deal - original purchase of $20, sell for $60, re-purchase for $20. This means you're up $20, AND you own Oblique and Total Eclipse! I want some of this action!!!

John Coltrane - Dear Old Stockholm Larry Coryell - Eleventh House at Montreux Miles Davis - Quiet Nights Ellery Eskelin/Han Bennink - Dissonant Characters Grant Green - Am I Blue? Ike Quebec - Blue & Sentimental ProjeKct Four - West Coast Live

It's a two-disc set on Tzadik, with Haino Keiji, Bill Laswell, and Rashied Ali. My first tast of Keiji, and it's actually pretty interesting. Not sure what I can compare it to, but it's loud and aggressive. Keiji is an interesting guitar player, and an unusual vocalist as well. Not really lyrics to this one. AMG compares it to Sonic Youth, but I'm not familiar enough with them to decide if that's apt. Only Youth album I had was the Ciccone Youth/Madonna takeoff.

Count me as another who's really looking forward to this. I am still enjoying Belly of the Sun alot! I saw Cassandra in concert here this past July, and it was a fantastic show. She played a few of the tunes from "Glamoured", and they came across well. I find it interesting she is covering another Dylan tune so quickly, after "Shelter from the Storm", but I guess she must really be getting into him of late. The other title she played live (that I remember by name) was called "Broken Drum", and was also quite good.