Christiern

Patricia is right, Dan. There is absolutely no evidence that the passengers were motivated by a noble goal, and the fact that some of them knew of the WTC attack proves nothing--remember, those who knew probably surmised that they were involved in a similar attempt, which meant that the plane was going to be crashed. Do you really think it mattered where that crash might take place? Don't you think man's natural instinct for survival kicked in and took over all other considerations? I think it is far more logical to assume that the passengers had their families and loved ones on their mind when they acted to overpower the hijackers. Nothing wrong with that, but turning this into self-sacrificing patriots is a stretch that in and of itself smacks of exploitation. Dan Gould: "We KNOW from their families what motivated them to act. It was to PREVENT the terrorists from reaching their target. It may not have been "patriotic" but it was sure as hell self-sacrificing." Really? Is that reflected in any of the recorded phone conversations, or is that understandable wishful thinking on the part of the families? The fact is that we know no such thing--would we like that to be the fact? Of course, but we don't know. Besides, we still don't know what the "target" was, so I hardly think that the passengers did. Remember how adamant you were re the WMDs? This gives me dèjá vu, Dan.

In other words, Dan, you won't accept a film that does not follow your imagined scenario. As you pointed out, nobody knows whether or not any of the hijackers hesitated, so you object to that being suggested in the script--I agree, but we also don't know if a feeling of patriotism motivated the passengers. So, is one conjecture acceptable and the other not? The way I see it, none of these films were called for--at least not while the loss is still felt to strongly, and Oliver Stone's forthcoming version will probably be little more than a veiled political statement. Ask yourself: Did they make any of these films to set straight a twisted record? Did they make these films to give "closure" (a dumb term) to families and friends? Did they make them to raise money for a worthy cause? Answer: None of the above. Why, then, were these films made? Ask yourself. Finally, ask yourself why you seem to accept all this not being relegated to the forbidden "O" zone.

It just so happens that A&E is running a fictionalized Flight 93 film. It is probably very different in approach from the one in question here, but the story is the same. Suddenly, the screams and tense atmosphere created by the film gives way to a commercial: Why would you want an ED tablet that lasts 4 hours when life is full of interruptions?" Nice, huh? Exploitation? You bet!

Ray, I didn't have to see the movie to reach my conclusion that it is exploitative, because I think the very concept of making and releasing a semi-fictionalized film on this subject so soon conveys exploitation. Yes, I know that some of the families approved, but I have to tell you that seeing them on the red carpet, all dressed up and smiling for the cameras did not sit right with me. I am sure that Paul Greengrass worked hard to make a film that wasn't tasteless (not easy, all things considered), but the very notion of making it seems tasteless to me. The moose brings up a good point when he mentions "first on the shelf" books that are rushed out and the author sent out to do the PR circuit. This isn't quite that bad (no real rush, here), but the PR has been heavy. If I ever see this picture, I may well conclude that it is well made and absorbing, but I don't think I can divorce my opinion from the circumstances that now make me take a dim view of the project. I would find a straight-out documentary less offensive, but here we apparently have a scenario much of which can only be based upon conjecture. Also, I alluded to the patriotic aspect of this film; I don't know if Greengrass incorporates the "heroes who saved D.C." aspect that has so conveniently floated around since 9/11, but I think that is wishful thinking (spin, if you will) more than reality. The passengers were, understandably, trying to save themselves--had they taken action to avert another jet-as-missile attack, they could simply have worked to destroy (crash) the aircraft. I think that would have been too much to ask, so, again, I don't mean that as a criticism of the victims.

I see nothing wrong with Concord releasing decidedly commercial material. In fact, I hope they sell heaps of the stuff, as long as it enables them to continue issuing jazz. To fear because this is the company that owns the Prestige catalog is, IMO, silly (sorry, Brad). Prestige itself issued albums that had nothing to do with jazz, as do most labels.

I hope this is not the number one film, but that would not surprise me. I agree with those who believe that is far too soon--it really smacks of exploitation, even with the obligatory charitable donations. Besides that, I seriously believe that the action taken by the passengers was not a patriotic attempt to save Washington buildings--these people were trying to save themselves, and we cannot fault them for that, but neither should we bestow sainthood upon them for the sake of perceived patriotism.

Let us all bow our heads and hope that porcy62 hasn't suffered too much by reading this thread.

Is this going to place outside of the political forum posts that will have Dan G. reaching for the smelling salt?

I saw this listed at Circuit City for $149. Has anyone here tried it, or something similar? ION USB Turntable (ITTUSB) Convert vinyl: ION has created the world’s first USB turntable, allowing you to convert your old vinyl collection directly to CD or MP3 with the included recording software. (No special drivers needed.) Features: This turntable also has line level output for connecting to any home stereo with CD or auxiliary (AUX) inputs. It features 33 1/3 and 45 RPM (software allows for 78 RPM), adjustable anti-skating control for increased stereo balancing, high-speed vinyl recording, line level RCA outputs, and adjustable pitch control +/- 8%. Software: The ION USB turntable includes Audacity software for Mac/PC for recording and allows for 78 RPM conversion. It also includes a trial of Bias Soundsoap 2 for cleaning and restoring vinyl. Computer requirements: PC running Windows 98, 2000, or XP Mac running OS9 or greater One available USB1.1 port

Redundant post. There is already one here

In the garden of the Rosetta Hotel where we all stayed ...

This article is almost a month old, but...--CA Musicians Still Hear Paris' Call Tuesday, March 28, 2006 By Sebastian Rotella Los Angeles Times PARIS -- The Little Giant comes back to town on a winter day the color of cobblestones. It's a three-hour trip to Paris by car and fast train from the village where he lives southwest of the capital. After a childhood on the South Side of Chicago, a career forged in the smoke and din of jazz dens the world over, he has become a country gentleman. Once, a crowd might have been waiting at Montparnasse station. When he first toured Europe four decades ago, he marveled at the photographers who turned out at airports as if he were an ambassador. Not today. He stands on the emptying platform: a short, grandfatherly 77-year-old bundled against the chill of the cavernous hall, a wool cap pulled over his ears and down to his glasses. He carries a small suitcase. He's here for another doctor's appointment to repair the damage of a stroke, heart ailments, years of night work and hard drink. "I've been in the hospital so many times," he says. "I was falling apart. ... I saw this heart doctor in Poitiers. He told me: 'My advice to you is go back home, put your horn in the closet and you're finished blowing.' " Johnny Griffin, a.k.a. the Little Giant, is a titan of the tenor saxophone. He has played with the best of them: Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Lester Young. Jazz books invariably mention his reputation as the fastest saxophone player of them all. He grumbles a bit about that label, a mischievous grin lighting up his weather-beaten face. "That stuck with me, so I shut up. Got the publicity. Why do they always say that? 'Fastest gun in the West.' If it's a ballad, I play it slow. I didn't always play fast." The taxi rolls into the Saint-Germain-des-Pres neighborhood on the Left Bank. Griffin stares at streets thick with memories, melodies, ghosts: the site of the now-defunct Blue Note, where a triumphant gig in 1962 set the stage for his move overseas. Le Chat Qui Peche, a club where he had some great shows and courted his Dutch wife. The Hotel La Louisiane, where the scent of red beans and rice filled the halls and his neighbor during his first months in Paris was the brilliant, tormented pianist Bud Powell. Powell's friendship with Francis Paudras, a fan who took him in and helped him fight his physical and mental demons, inspired the 1986 film " 'Round Midnight," about expatriate jazz musicians. Griffin got to know Powell and Paudras and moved with them from La Louisiane to a notorious nightlife district. "In Pigalle, I lived right across from Bud Powell and Francis Paudras," Griffin says. "Third-floor apartments. I could step over my balcony and be on their balcony. ... I was cooking on a little pad on my dresser. When I met my wife, she made me move." Leaving his suitcase with the maitre d', Griffin maneuvers laboriously into a seat in a restaurant on the narrow Rue Saint Benoit des Saints-Peres near the former Club-Saint-Germain, another jazz haunt. Then he gets up again. "Gotta get my pills," he says with a sigh. "Old folks." Although they don't know exactly who he is, the waiters and waitresses treat him with gentle deference. They sense that he represents a remnant of the history of the neighborhood, a musical Mohican. "Have you got a good Bordeaux?" He peers slyly over the menu. "C'est bon? You sure? Let me look at your face. ... Yeah, OK. I can trust you." Properly fortified, he tries to explain the allure of Paris for so many American jazz musicians during much of the 20th century. "I made more money here," he says. "Bought me a big house out there where I'm living. Bought houses in other places, sold 'em." But it was more than the money. The French have always venerated jazz as an art form on par with classical music. For black artists who had endured the humiliation of Jim Crow laws touring the South, the sting of racism was softer across the Atlantic. As the character played by Dexter Gordon puts it in " 'Round Midnight," "No cold eyes in Paris." Griffin recalls: "I liked the attitude of the people. They listened to the music. And the people liked me. It was not that they didn't appreciate the music in America. Because they did. That's where the music comes from. But it was such a hell of an experience. ... "The people were friendly. Even if I didn't speak the language, I could tell if somebody was not being friendly. I could hear it. Being a musician, I had that kind of ear for people being friendly or what." The expatriate tradition here dates to Sidney Bechet, the swashbuckling clarinetist and saxophonist whose first foray ended in 1929 when he and a banjo player got into a gunfight that wounded three bystanders. Bechet was deported, but he returned after World War II, established his band at the Theatre du Vieux Colombier and died a national hero in 1959, honored with a street, a statue and the nickname "Le Dieu" -- The God. Other pilgrimages were shorter and less violent. Coleman Hawkins became a tenor godfather after a four-year visit in the 1930s when "he was really discovered and ... in turn, found himself," according to the liner notes of his 1955 album, "The Hawk in Paris." After Miles Davis played the postwar clubs, romanced an actress and hung out with existentialist philosophers, he said Paris had changed him forever. Billy Strayhorn, the gifted composer and collaborator with Duke Ellington, recorded one of his few piano albums here in 1963. Strayhorn kept a separate address book for his beloved Paris, whose magic he evoked in "Lush Life," the sweetest of sad songs: A week in Paris will ease the bite of it All I care is to smile in spite of it The image could not sustain the reality. The music began to suffer in the 1970s, just as it did elsewhere. American artists ran into tax issues, union hassles, resentment from French counterparts. Europe is no longer the jazz mecca it was, but it still helps pay the bills. Many Americans make a living by dividing their performance schedules between the U.S. and European circuits. And, although in smaller numbers and with lower expectations, expatriates keep moving to Paris. Chasing the music and the mystique. Griffin talks about his children and grandchildren scattered around the U.S. Some took up music, others didn't, maybe because he pushed too hard. He doesn't dwell on regrets. Despite the dire diagnosis that his blowing days were over, he still performs now and then thanks to the care of a doctor from Marseilles, an amateur jazz musician. But in general, Griffin is content in the country house where he's lived for 21 years, cultivating his vegetable garden a la Voltaire, although a gardener does the actual work these days. "I don't miss anything," he says. "Right now, it's hard to get me to leave home. ... I haven't been everywhere, but I have been a lot of places. The Orient. Scandinavia. I've been to Russia. I've been to Turkey. Haven't been to Egypt. Wait a minute, I have been to Egypt. I remember going across the desert and seeing the Pyramids." After the long, late lunch, he gets into a taxi. He will spend the night at the home of an American friend. Looking tired as the cab cruises into the dusk, Griffin recounts an anecdote about trying to persuade the solemn, introverted Thelonious Monk to tell a drummer to keep it down during his sax solos. "I can still see all those cats," he says wistfully. "They are gone, but I can still see them like they were walking around here." And here ara couple of pictures I took of Griff in Perugia, 22 years ago: With Lockjaw...

Here is one of them... and another...

Did anyone catch it?

If you are in the NYC area, tune in channel 7 NOW for a very interesting McLean segment.

Talk to my attorney.

Sorry to hear about your bug problem, Conrad. My advice is to call Tom DeLay, he has the experience and he will probably have some pre-slammer time.

I had a lot free time during the Eisenhower years, but inner sleeves were never on my to-invent list.

A cool little movie.

To find out, Chuck, check your e-mail.

You had me there, Conrad. I thought this would be about "The Boswell Sistsrs Do Dallas."

People like Goldstein think only in terms of marketability, and it never occurs to them that they have the power to shape the market. Goldstein's remarks reflect a bottom line mentality.

I have not had any problems with Vonage (except that down/uploading can break up the signal), but AOL was always a pain in the ass, and I have a lot of problems communicating with AOL subscribers. So, I urge people to stay far away from AOL. For one thing, they have a nasty habit of converting files to something the recipient cannot open. The Vonage problem is pesky, to be sure, but if I do any heavy internet file transfer, I just do it at night. It's a small inconvenience when one considers the low price.

I imagine that there is a Thiele estate, somewhere--or a Brewer estate (did she die?). They may not have the masters, but they should know what became of them.

As I grew taller, my grandparents had my manger extended, accordingly. I have the hay refreshed regularly and I have, of course, reinforced the frame.