vibes

China, in fact, has a massive gender imbalance due to the one-child policy -- I read somewhere that there is a surplus of about 50 million males. This could lead to massive social unrest! Guy p.s. I wonder if it will get to the point where China starts importing brides from the rest of the world. Or exporting husbands, for that matter. Guy, you are correct. I wasn't referring to China, but rather to the population of a country in general (although, I can see how I could have written that in a less ambiguous fashion). The early years of the one-child policy were a disaster in terms of balancing the population in China, simply because Chinese society has always placed a higher value on males than females - people frequently killed female babies or abandoned them just so they could have another chance at having a son. Fortunately, the one-child policy isn't as stricly enforced in rural areas now, where the problem was most serious. On my last visit there, I actually saw signs promoting larger families in a few small towns. China's a long way off from importing brides, if you ask me. Most Chinese couldn't afford to do so, and most people don't want to live in China anyway.

I find a very strong King Crimson influence in this album, most noticeably in the drums and some of the guitar tones I've heard a lot of these references to King Crimson. I guess I should go check them out, since I've never heard any of their music before.

I should also say that the idea sounds appealing to me simply because I like the idea of having a daughter (I don't have any children yet), but based on my heritage, it seems less likely that I'll have one. There are four boys and one girl in my family. There were two boys and one girl in my father's family. There were seven boys and 3 girls in my grandfather's family. Knowing this, being able to select the gender of my child sounds somewhat appealing.

Pricey, so it doesn't look like it will be widespread any time soon. Regardless, I don't have a problem with the idea. When I first heard about this, the first thing that came to mind was the implications from widespread use of this technology, especially in places like China, where one gender is favored over another. Upsetting the natural gender balance in the population could have disastrous effects down the road.

Claude, you bastard... It's a good thing I'm running XP. My machine is very stable, and I was able to just close all the windows at once using the task manager.

I have the CD but am too lazy to go to the trouble of playing with it to see if it works. Regardless of whether or not it does work, "Lateralus" is an excellent album. Tool's music can be challenging to listen to at first, but repeated listens are extremely rewarding. I've listened to this CD dozens of times in the last few months. Definitely one of the best rock releases in the last decade.

I use IE 6.0, and while I saw the picture, my CD-ROM was not opened. Perhaps I have my security set up differently...

It pays to scroll down...

Can anyone verify that that list is correct? I have "Jazz Guitar" and "New Bottle, Old Wine," but they don't look like the few WCC releases I have, such as "Bud Shank and Bill Perkins" or the Brookmeyer. The Shank/Perkins is probably my favorite of the few I have. I have the Curtis Amy Select and was listening to "Katanga" for the first time yesterday, and that's a good album too. I never was a huge fan of the instrument, but Amy's soprano is some of the most bearable I've ever heard.

What happened to RonF, anyway?

Geoff, overall, I like what you've written. I think it takes a lot of guts to share your thoughts with this crowd, especially considering that you're relatively new to the board. One small piece of advice - proofreading is very important. I believe there's one instance where you refer to "Some Other Stuff" as "Some Other Time." Watch the punctuation, especially the commas. Also, be sure to be consistent with capitalization. For example, if you're going to capitalize the name of an instrument in one place, it's probably best to be consistent and capitalize all instrument names in your article (although, I can't recall seeing this done in any publication I've read). Again, overall, I like what you've written. Keep the reviews coming!

A good pair of gloves is a must. I find my hands get cold faster than any other part of my body. Sometimes I leave my gloves in the car and getting into a cold car and having to touch a freezing cold steering wheel is not the most pleasant thing in the world.

Philly, is your site using Big5 code? My Chinese OS is having trouble decoding whatever you're using on your site, so it all comes out as 亂碼。 I frequently have this problem with Chinese boards. I've love to be able to browse your site.

Just go to www.ropeadope.com scroll down a little. Look for the Blue Note logo.

I used TurboTax a couple years ago and found it to be pretty easy. Last year, I just did everything through H&R Block's website, and will probably do it that way this year as well. I don't like having to install software on my computer if I'm not going to frequently use it, so I find that the web option works well for me.

Hey, glad to see you are here! I had no idea rries and kulu se mama were one and the same...

rries (Bob) is a good guy. The first time I bought a CD off anybody at the BNBB, it was from him. I recently won one of his eBay auctions, and everything went smoothly there as well. I don't recall seeing him here or at AAJ, which is unfortunate.

Check these out: They're not available for sale yet, but they look really cool. I can't wait to see what else they come out with.

I found this kind of weird (bold parts added by me): REVIEW FOR JIMMY SMITH'S "BASHIN'" Although still a regular Blue Note artist (he would make four more albums for the company within the next year), Bashin' was organist Jimmy Smith's debut for Verve, a label that he would record extensively for during 1963-1972. On the first half of the program (reissued in full on this CD), Smith was for the first time joined by a big band. Oliver Nelson provided the arrangements, trumpeter Joe Newman and altoist Phil Woods have a solo apiece, and "Walk on the Wild Side" became Smith's biggest hit up to that point. The final three numbers feature Smith's regular trio with guitarist Quentin Warren and drummer Donald Bailey swinging with soul as usual. The historical set (a bit of a turning point for Jimmy Smith's career) has its strong moments although it is not all that essential. — Scott Yanow It's not all that essential, but they gave it 5 stars anyway.

I forgot that I had this album ( ) as a part of the Mosaic set, but am listening to it right now and thoroughly enjoying it. While I really love some of Lou's up-tempo work ("Sputnik" from LOU TAKES OFF comes to mind), I find that I definitely prefer his slower, more bluesy playing. The title track from BLUES WALK really does it for me. For me, one of the best things about this album is the addition of Ray Barretto on congas. I almost always enjoy the addition of the congas to a session. Creates a nice feel as long as the playing isn't overdone, and I find Ray does a nice job of that. If you like Lou and don't have the Mosaic, it's well worth looking into. There's a lot of great music in the box.

Yet here you are, wide awake at 2:19 AM! B) True, but I went to bed at 8:45pm.

I usually wake up between 4-5am. I generally fall asleep between 9-10pm, but have been known to fall asleep on the couch as early as 7pm. I've never been a night person.

Sepultura's "Schizophrenia" album has some yelling on the first track. A long time ago, I recorded it onto my hard drive and played it in reverse. The yelling was actually one word - schizophrenia.

2003, Iowa City Jazz Festival. Andrew Hill and Fred Anderson were the highlights for me. Fred Anderson's set was the first time I ever felt moved by free/avant music. Hill's set was very intense. I'm glad I went.