Dave Garrett

Quite a few that have been mentioned already, and a couple that haven't:

You don't have to sync your entire iTunes library to your phone - you can selectively sync only certain songs or albums. So you can maintain a large music library in iTunes but only load a small portion of it on your phone: https://www.lifewire.com/itunes-sync-only-certain-songs-1999555 Also, to add to what Scott said earlier about backing up your phone to iTunes on your computer, IMO an iTunes backup is preferable to an iCloud backup because an iCloud backup is not as complete as an iTunes backup is - I forget the details, but iCloud backups only capture key data like Contacts, Photos, etc. If you want to be able to reset your phone to factory settings and restore it exactly as it was including all app data and settings, you need to do an iTunes backup. I highly recommend doing an iTunes backup before every iOS upgrade as well, as I've had to restore a phone from a backup before when an upgrade bricked the phone.

IIRC the renamings were for legal reasons, a loophole that somehow allowed them to release MOFO, Lumpy Money, and Greasy Love Songs without breaching the agreement the Zappa trust had with Ryko/Warner.

Likewise, after a couple of hours of trying to reload the dead.net page punctuated with occasional swearing. I can't believe they weren't able to figure out that the site was going to get slammed as soon as this was announced, and at least temporarily scale up capacity to handle the demand beforehand. I'm still pissed off about the Europe '72 fiasco, and am not entirely convinced that I won't wind up empty-handed with this one as well despite having an order confirmation in hand.

(shamelessly stolen from Usenet) Funeral funeral!

Hail and farewell.

The complete-series Blu-ray set of the Dick Van Dyke show is a significant upgrade over the older DVDs. It looks amazing. It's been on Amazon (very) briefly in the past for as low as $49.99, but has more often been in the $100+ range. If you're a fan of the show and run across a used set at a bargain price, you won't regret taking the plunge once you've seen how good it looks.

I remember the pre-web days, when Usenet was the king of online communities. Soon enough, forums were the ascendant new kid on the block and Usenet had entered a decline that it never recovered from. Things have changed a bit since then.

The 2008 Taschen edition has 552 pages, measures 10" x 14", and weighs ~9 lbs. The earlier 2005 edition has 720 pages, measures 13" x 19", and weighs ~17 lbs. In addition to the deluxe edition, there was a "regular" version, which is unsigned, unnumbered, and does not have the clamshell case or prints. It's also considerably cheaper - $200 when first published, and it looks like copies can still be had for less than that. I haven't seen the 2008 edition, but I'm assuming that they reformatted or abridged the contents to fit into the lower page count. That's Taschen's usual practice when they republish one of their larger volumes in a smaller/less costly version.

FWIW, I've had reasonable luck in the past with Amazon UK marketplace sellers who didn't offer international shipping by contacting them and politely asking if they'd be willing to ship to the US while emphasizing that I had no problem with paying the additional cost. I think a lot of overseas sellers quit offering international shipping when costs went up drastically, and they got tired of explaining to irate customers that they were only passing along increased costs that they had no control over. Just a thought, in case you haven't already tried that approach.

Just saw this - I was there as well, and likewise wish I'd known y'all were in attendance, as I'd have definitely said hi. How many board members at a performance constitutes a quorum, anyway? Anyway, I don't have a lot to add beyond what's already been said. It was a truly remarkable performance, full of power and subtlety, in a perfectly matched room. Quite fitting that it is a house of worship (for those who aren't familiar with it, "Friends" = "Quakers" in the context of "Live Oak Friends Meeting"). It's unfortunate but understandable that they couldn't open the roof; if you've ever been in one of Turrell's other skyspaces, the combination of carefully-designed interior lighting and a changing sky at sunset really adds a whole other dimension to the space. We were sitting behind and to the right of Ran, in the back row. When he got up at intermission and turned in our direction, my wife, who works with seniors, said "I know that look. It's 'where's my walker?'" And after a brief pause, his assistant came out of the back room and wheeled it over to him. He may need aid to walk, but when he sat down to play, any perceived frailty vanished as we were immersed in the aura of a master in complete command of his instrument at close quarters.

You would be amazed (or possibly appalled) at the number of people on the Hoffman board who regularly admit to sneaking large music purchases into their houses. Such discussions often devolve to a comparison of specific strategies on how to do so.

Interesting piece from Medium on Brian Rust and the culture of record collecting in WW2-era Britain: Hot jazz and air raids

Finally got to go see the staggeringly comprehensive Degas retrospective at the MFAH today. It was fairly crowded even on a weekday afternoon, not too surprising given that this is its only stop in North America and there are less than two weeks remaining before it closes. May try to pay another visit if I'm able to squeeze it in, as the sheer size of the exhibit certainly lends itself to multiple visits just to fully digest the works on display. http://www.houstonpress.com/arts/the-degas-exhibit-at-the-mfah-is-powerful-indeed-8888722

This one is somewhat better (but you still shouldn't expect audiophile quality):

Temporary installation (through February) at Project Row Houses encompassing both museum exhibits and live performances: https://www.houstonjazzchurch.com/#home The Jazz Church of Houston Highlights Bayou City Musicians

Frat houses across the country will be observing a moment of silence in memory of Mr. Hulseman, to be immediately followed by the ceremonial chugging of cupfuls of Everclear-based punch and random involuntary regurgitation.

Her legacy would be assured if she'd done nothing but SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, but something that is often overlooked is her role in preserving a particular aspect of Hollywood history long before many other people cared: http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2016/12/debbie-reynolds-protected-and-preserved-hollywoods-most-precious-relics?mbid=social_twitter I hadn't realized that health issues had prevented her from attending the Governors Awards a full year ago until reading this.

Great music, and Sinatra was at the peak of his powers then. Unfortunately the BN CD is marred by the heavy-handed use of noise reduction. The set had circulated among collectors for years in better sound quality before it was issued by BN.

This does indeed work in Chrome for the NYT's site. They allow you to read 10 articles for free each month until the paywall kicks in, but in order to track the number of articles you've read, a cookie has to be set. If you're browsing in incognito mode, no cookies, so you're always under the 10-article limit. Until recently, links to NYT articles posted to Twitter or Facebook would also bypass the paywall, so if you followed them on either platform, you could access quite a few of the articles on their site (they tweet frequently, and I assume they are likewise frequent posters on FB, but I only follow them on Twitter). That is no longer the case.

Damn, I downloaded PhotoScan to my phone a couple of weeks ago, intending to check it out after reading some very positive comments about it, but got busy and haven't gotten around to it yet. Noted for future reference the next time I need to combine multiple photos.

Yeah, they're not as good as a stereo with built-in bluetooth, but again, this is a budget solution. It's adequate for my needs at present, especially given that my car's cabin is pretty far removed from an ideal listening environment. Minimal sound insulation, and I really have to crank the stereo to hear it over the road, engine, and exhaust noise at freeway speeds.

I installed a bluetooth stereo in my previous car, but when the car got stolen a couple of years later and I replaced it with an equally old car of the same model, I opted for a bluetooth FM transmitter instead. Plugs into the power outlet and pairs with your phone, transmitting over one of several otherwise-unused FM channels on your factory car stereo. The advantage is that they're dirt cheap compared to a new car stereo, but some are better than others when it comes to music vs. voice calls. Wirecutter has some good recommendations: The Best Bluetooth Kits for Every Car Stereo