JSngry

Yes, I think so. See you at Planet Fitness!

Nowhere Man Chicken Man (He's everywhere, he's everywhere!) Goose Tatum

I've gotten burns of all those Atlantic sides, and I can only say that although Harley was definitely not a "major figure", he made some good albums that very effectively held together as "presentations" of his "point of view". No rush, but I'll probably spring for this set at some point.

Informed and concerned yes, but trying to discredit a book before it's even been seen or read is hardly a case of "expectations", it's just plain being a blowhard and tossing negativity without reason. Members of the audience have a right to expect discussion based on actual knowledge of the work being discussed, generally obtained by actually reading it or, at minimum, having some first hand exposure to it. This is the same kind of rubbish that goes on continually at the whiner's forum (www.stevehoffman.tv) - endless complaining and bitching about every single little trivial thing, even about stuff that not only has yet to be released - but has yet to be created! Please! I've read nothing in this thread that reflects any other sort of attitude than a desire for a good book, tempered by what I would consider legitimate concerns fueled by a review, concerns which were addressed straightforwardly and (at this point, convincingly) by the author himself. The author's answers were recieved graciously enough and the general attitude now seems to be one of eagerness to read his work, w/o any guarantees of finding it to anybody's particular likings (anything else, a "I know I'm going to love it before I even read it!" attitude is the fawning of fanboys). Fair enough, and what's the problem? And as for Tom's assertion that I can only say that both Larry Kart & Allen Lowe, each in their own way, have shown an ability to discuss their work in a very palatable manner (when the discussion stems from genuine points of concern and not disingenuous "criticism"). There's another guy who's seemed to take a Planet Fitness approach to his work, but hey - there's always that type. Tom, to his credit and at this point, seems to be the former type of guy. Here's hoping that once the book is out & has actually been digested, he comes back to address any concerns, questions, and/or criticisms that anybody might have in the same fashion that he's handled this pre-release mini-flurry of same.

Having played all-acoustic gigs in restaurants where they tell you to "play softly" and you do, only to be told to "play softer", and you do, only to be told that "it's still too loud", so you play so soft that you can't even hear each other, only to be told that "it's still too loud", I sympathize with the guy's probable realization that they didn't really want him there in the first place, so they were going to have to make him leave, and fuck'em on the way out while we're at it. Seriously - how can there be exertion w/o the occasional noise? Impossible. This gym is marketing the illusion of working out, not the thing itself, and they need to be honest about it ("Come to Planet Fitness, where nothing really happens!"). Some poor souls still mired in tired, outdated 20th Century notions like doing what you set out to do probably think that the object of working out is to work out. Planet Fitness owes it to the Wondeful World Of Tomorrow to not accept these people as members in the first place. Doing otherwise leaves the impartial observer with the impression taht they're only in it for the money, and I know that that's not it. They're on a mission to get people to exercise. Of course they are! They called the police on this cat! For the "crime" of making noise while excercising. In a gym! It's a world gone wrong, I tell you, a world gone wrong...

God knows I'm out of shape to the point of embarassment, but if & when I decide to get it back together, I'm not so sure that this is the place I'll be going... http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/18/nyregion...l?th&emc=th Hey, I used to work out a little, and I understand that those "serious" types can be intimidating, either directly or indirectly. But geez, you gotta grunt sometimes. Besides, it's been my experience that people who fear being around people who have proven themselves highly adept at accomplishing a certain task don't really want to accomplish the same thing for themselves nearly as much as they want to just revel in the thrill of thinking about doing it.

Wow. Maybe somebody will start a smashmymosaic group...

Lady Bird Johnson Misty Knight Newton Minnow

otoh, writers should be encouraged by the fact that at least a portion of their potential audience will be informed & concerned enough to expect a well-researched & well-written book, unless they're hoping for the opposite so they can get by with writing slop. Knowing that expectations ae high tends to lead one to either excellence or evasion. Thankfully, Tom sounds like he's in the former category.

Post-Clifford Max on Mercury is some of the very best major label/artist music that you're going to have a hard time finding w/o effort. For those who know most of the music included, the set's a "no-brainer" (as in, yeah - you're going to want to get it, it's that good). I myself am going to wait until it hits Running Low, but I'll definitely be getting it. I've got most of the material on old Trip LPs & various Japanese issues in various formats, but what I don't have + my expectations of the total packaging make getting it the aforementioned "no-brainer". If I let it pass, it'll be one of the more stupid things I've done.

Tiberi lives to the best of my knowledge. You're probably thinking of Frank Vicari.

R.I.P. Ms. Brown. You kept it real. Much love and the fullest of props.

You made them up! (Where's the smiley with an accusing finger gone?) The first two are real, as any Superman fan will tell you. The third one, I don't know Gsptisnz was Mister Mxyzptlk's lady friend in a TV version, or something like that. I got it from Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Mxyzptlk

Mister Mxyzptlk Mr. Kltpzyxm Gsptlsnz

Damn fine album. One or two lulls, but immensely more peaks. Just don't expect Sonny to sound like he did in the 50s, 60s, or 70s.

The Doug Carn made Japanese CD. It's a good, slightly Larry Young-ish set, but I much prefer his Black Jazz albums.

Nasty Gal . One chart.

Jim - I thought that John Jenkins played on the Clifford Big Band Mapleshade, not Clarence Sharpe. I don't have the CD, so I may be wrong. Probably one for me to pick up, whichever altoist is on it, as I've heard good things about it. Just checked, and you are indeed correct. My bad. And yeah, it's good. Better, I think, than the Milestone(?) side.

When her shit was right, it was tuff. When it wasn't it was pretty flimsy. Of her 3 "main" albums, I thnk the most consistent is her first: Bay Area out the ass! And if "Anti Love Song" don't make you wanna stick your johnson somewhere, then, hey... Check the AMG sound clip. But all those albums have plenty of good/great moments, and they make a nice trilogy.

And guess what? IT'S NOT EVEN FULLY BACKWARDS COMPATABLE!!! We need to get my son Charlie (board name dional, although I call him Pete, in memory of the late Johnnie Taylor) in on this. The kid's a frakin' encyclopedia of all things gaming, past, present, & future. He has a preorder, was #6(?) on an EB list. But Sony's behind on production, so the very first shipment is about 50%(?) short of promised. The EB has to cut off at #4 for this launch release, but the store has been guaranteed him one from the second shipment, which is supposed to be before Christmas. We'll see. You know what's wack? Sony's taking a bath on this system. Supposedly the PS2 didn't turn a profit until fairly recently. They sell them at a big loss (the DVD player in the PS3 is a $300 standalone item by itself). The money comes from software, controllers, memory cards, etc. So says Charlie/dional/Pete, and I'm sure he'll correct my factual errors if I've made any. He's good about that. BTW - anybody get G4 on their cable? If you got an even halfway serious intrest in gaming, that station appears to be the shit.

Two shows actually. The T.A.M.I. Show & The T.A.M.I. Show The Big T.N.T. Show T.A.M.I. Set For DVD!!!

To those of us coming of jazz-age in the early-mid 70s, those Prestige covers are the originals! It's the OJCs that were new! !

You know I love you, bro, but if you got zero Bird in your collection, that thumb would be more properly placed up your ass. You do know I love you, don't cha?

Mary Worth Hadda Brooks Little Milton

No shit. That's how the Democrats took back Congress - by relentlessly playing the Killer Asteroid card!