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Americans write the month before the day. Godless European and Russian Socialists/Communists write the day before the month. Therefore God exists!

I registered at hmv.co.jp and the site would not let me place an order. I got stuck at the first stage, selecting a shipping address. Could it be the CDSOL-XXXX item I selected could not be shipped to my country of residence? I'm a bit puzzled and have already deleted the account I created earlier today.

I managed to get through Dune somehow, in High School, but didn't much care for it. Haven't been tempted to read any others ever since. I've just finished re-reading The Hydrogen Sonata. The better Culture novels are very fun indeed. The rest are a mixed bag. But I'd have to count Banks as one of my favorite sf writers of the last 30 years or so. I'd be interested in reading some of the Culture novels. Which ones would you suggest and what order should they be read in ? I would suggest "The Player of Games" and "Look To Windward" in that order. But I very much suggest first reading an essay by Banks titled "A Few Notes on the Culture" before any of the novels. It will give you the lay of the land. It's in the story collection "The State of the Art." Then you might read the title story in that collection, "The State of the Art," a novella about a Culture Contact ship visiting Earth in 1977. I read the story first and THEN the essay and wished I'd done it the other way 'round. I remember finding some terms a little obscure (such as 'Orbital' as a name for a type of habitat) but then the essay made them clear. If you read the essay and don't like it, then you need go no further. Then if you don't like the novella, you need go no further. I went on to read everything, but I really wish I'd read "A Few Note on the Culture" FIRST, although reading it second certainly didn't kill things for me. The essay in question can also be found online here. Next, I would suggest getting one of the full novels, not the short story collection State of the Art. Player of Games and Look to Windward are good suggestions. The high point in the series is Excession. That novel should not be read unprepared as it focuses most intensely on the advanced artificial intelligences called Minds. The early Culture novels (Consider Phlebas, Player of Games, Use of Weapons) lack this inward focus on the Culture itself. The final two, Surface Detail and The Hydrogen Sonata, are not to be missed. I would (initially) avoid the following three: Consider Phlebas (not representative of the mature Culture universe & novels, overrated), Use of Weapons (highly overrated imo), Matter (the weakest of all).

I'm surprised the Walmart employee could afford the ammunition on his starvation wage, but then the right to keep and bear arms is protected by your constitution so no surprise a bullet is cheaper than healthy food. Sick and hungry? F... off! Must be your own lack of effort and ambition.

Streaming music is (currently) rubbish unless your ears are nostalgic for AM radio and you're willing to pay a subscription fee for it. And for artists with huge discographies like Braxton it is important that their best albums remain available to a new generation of listeners (in optimal sound quality).

I was just expressing my frustration at seeing these Braxtons as scheduled for release in the near future (first on DMG's site) for years now. I was gullible enough to believe these reissues would see the light of day sooner rather than later. Another issue I have with Hat are their stupid digipaks which scratch up any disc before it even reaches the consumer. They look nice but are among the most idiotic in choice of material around. Couldn't Mr. Uehlinger have held a few CDs under lamplight after the first batch was released or even when samples of these cards were first provided? Point taken about the music business, record stores and the average consumer.

I decided to buy a near mint copy of Braxton's Willisau set the other day. That Hat release schedule is a joke.

Not that old cliché again... Not a cliche for me.YMMV. OK. I guess too many Americans have asked me if we're all still wearing wooden shoes. It's a persistent fairytale. Seriously? You'd have to be a geriatric farmer or horticulturist to still wear wooden shoes.

I've attempted to read Dune, but it was not for me. Herbert's prose was poor. I'm now rereading Ian M.Banks' The Hydrogen Sonata (the paperback contains a good interview from less than a year before his diagnosis with cancer). To me, Mr. Banks set the gold standard in science fiction with most of his Culture novels.

Concerto in the Utrechtsestraat close to Rembrandt Square is the best record store in Amsterdam (Jazz, Classical, Rock, World, new & second hand), but its jazz section is not as great as it was a decade ago.

The first to arrive of two books recommended in the heated Crouch thread. The Baldwin piece is the same as the one The other one will take some time to arrive as it was out of stock at amazon.co.uk at the time I placed my order.

Because it's the one I compared the Japanese disc to. Also, I might not have been importing Japanese CDs for thirty years, but I have been collecting Japanese discs from the eighties, nineties and 21st century for a while now and comparing these against EU/US releases.

Interesting. Can't really say I hear treble boost in most of those i have. The Blakey-Monk and Mingus clearly show a treble boost on my system, especially when compared to the Passions of a Man box set and the following release of the Blakey album. I think you mentioned somewhere you can easily adjust the highs on your system so it is possible for you to enjoy most modern remasters? I did not plan on ever discussing these Warner Japan Atlantic discs again, so this is likely the last time I will reply to this thread.

The treble boost on the Warner Japan CDs is highly grating, but might compensate for thirty years of hearing loss. On second hearing some BNLT999s have set me thinking after reading comments here. Unfortunately my equipment is all packed right now. The two BNLA999s I've heard have not set me thinking (Bobby Hutcherson's Live at Montreux & McCoy Tyner's Extensions).

Christmas present to myself.

As a relatively recent arrival I'm curious. Could you provide some links to threads and posts from the past that support your accusations? Else, you'll keep coming across as someone intent on simply stirring things up.

http://youtu.be/GOAEIMx39-w Best viewed in HD and full screen.

Looks like chilled olive oil.

So technically there is still time to become a republic again before 200 years in thrall to that family.

Thank you for that link Face of the Bass. I placed an order Family Properties just now.

The paperback edition is now available for £28 on amazon.co.uk. (Naturally, I just ordered a copy.)

You mean former northern East Prussia?

I love the turkey who labeled Turkey 'India?'.

Holland is divided into North (provincial capital Haarlem, national capital Amsterdam) and South (provincial capital & seat of national government The Hague, Rotterdam). The least obvious should be the one in the middle. That piece of land called Flevoland was claimed from the sea last century after the Afsluitdijk between North Holland and Frisia (Friesland) was constructed.