vibes

She actually found it very entertaining. And, I was able to throw it back at her when she told me she was going to work out before cooking me dinner. "No," I said, "there should be a delicious meal waiting for me when I get home from the office." Nevermind that she usually only gets home 30-45 minutes before I do. She laughed about that, too. She probably won't laugh when she finds out tonight that I wasn't kidding.

I saved it and then emailed it to my wife. Cross your fingers...

Just ordered some SACDs from CDUniverse: Godsmack - The Other Side Gil Evans + 10 Cal Tjader - La Onda Va Bien

Don't know if you're interested in all these attractions, but if so, this might be a good deal: Citypass My wife and I bought the Chicago version for our trip a few weeks ago, and saved quite a bit of money. We also didn't have to wait in ticket lines at most attractions because we had the Citypass.

Depends on which store you go to, but this should be happening at most Best Buy stores. Shrink (theft/damage) is often a big problem, so they generally check receipts to make sure that everything is OK. Best Buy stores have shrink budgets, and if they're missing their budget, you can be sure they'll be very strict about not letting people out the door before their receipts have been checked. Don't feel offended - that's just how things are when a few people can't be honest and ruin it for the rest of us who are honest.

Gary McFarland - Soft Samba

"Pop" isn't just a Midwest thing. I noticed that most people in Utah called it that when I was going to school there. I'm from the Los Angeles area. Most people call it "soda" there. I do live in the Midwest now, and yes, "pop" is definitely the word of choice.

Congratulations, Jim!

I have and highly recommend the Pioneer DV-563A. I've seen them for as low as $140 at Best Buy. The nice thing about this player is that in addition to progressive-scan DVD, it also has DVD-Audio,SACD and mp3 capabilities. It's a very nice multi-format player at a great price.

We need a "both" choice. I use both. I much prefer to use my desktop, but my wife complains that I'm "hiding from her" when I do, so I usually just hang out with her and use my laptop, connected to the internet via a wireless LAN.

Jim, where did you see apple Fanta? My friends and I were addicted to this stuff when I studied in China, but I've never seen it anywhere else. I would love to have it again.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome Alanis Morissette to the board!

The correct way to say that, I've been told, is "go boldly," rather than "boldly go." I can remember one of my high school English teachers complaining that Star Trek had caused millions of people to use adverbs incorrectly.

43F and cloudy. Heavy wind and thunderstorms last night, which made my drive home from Iowa very interesting. It got so bad that I even had to pull over for a few minutes. Gotta love those Midwest thunderstorms.

Good choice...I think I would rather hear him on vibes than piano, though.

Walt Dickerson

I voted to remove it. I'm not offended by it at all, but like Jim said, we're trying to attract a diverse crowd here, and I wouldn't want someone to be offended by something like that. Also, a lot of people like to read and post from work, and it feels a little safer when you don't have to worry about scantily clad women coming up on the screen.

I listen all day long, every day. My 20GB mp3 player has become my best friend at work.

Andrew Hill Herbie Hancock I've only been to a couple of shows, and don't know how many more I'll go to. I find sitting through concerts very difficult - I can't hold still or pay attention for that long.

March 22, 2003

Thanks, Dan. I'm assuming that book is way out of print?

Dan, About those framed album covers, where did you get the prints? I would love to have something like that for my apartment.

Last year, another board member was kind enough to provide me with burns of two of Walt Dickerson's 60's albums: "Unity" and "Jazz Impressions of Lawrence of Arabia." To my knowledge, these are the only two Dickerson albums to have never made it to CD. They're both excellent albums, and I would love to have them in a remastered, legitimate release.

My wife and I wanted our refund ASAP, so I did our taxes in late January, if I remember correctly. We got our state and federal refunds by mid-February. I do our taxes online at H&R Block's website every year because we don't have anything complicated to worry about - we don't own a home, have no investments outside of my 401k, and have minimal charitable contributions. Doing our taxes online doesn't even take me 30 minutes.

I just wanted to say "thank you" again to all of the suggestions and information everyone provided me. My wife and I just returned from Chicago, and had a great time. Here's some of what we did/saw: Art Institute of Chicago Hancock Tower Dinner at Gino's East Pizza Dinner at Portillo's Shedd Aquarium Field Museum Bulls/Hawks game Adler Planetarium Museum of Science and Industry Jazz Record Mart The Jazz Record Mart was definitely a highlight for me. I had never seen so many jazz CD's/records under one roof, and there was a lot of OOP stuff, too (if anyone's interested, they have sealed copies of Walt Dickerson's "Impressions of a Patch of Blue," Jack Wilson's "Something Personal" and John Patton's "Understanding," among other things). I picked up a few CD's, including a sealed Conn of Ike Quebec's "Heavy Soul." Anyway, thanks for all the recommendations.