T.D.

Many thanks! Much appreciated.

Happy Birthday!

Again.

The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies This is an excellent and scary story. Bloomberg hit a home run with this one. Disclaimer: No intent to introduce politics, I just found the story compelling. On a somewhat related note, I recommend Edward Jay Epstein's How America Lost Its Secrets, which is mainly about the Edward Snowden enigma but contains a lot of info on foreign intelligence services; details omitted in order to avoid politics.

Yup. When I saw the headline I assumed he was stepping down as CEO. When I read "Chairman" I thought "WTF???". Making the company pay half of the paltry fine is ludicrous. And who will vouch for the "independence" of the directors to be selected? Puzzling "strategy" by the SEC...make dire threats and settle for a slap on the wrist. But nowadays, any action whatsoever taken by a USA regulator is surprising.

Musk settles with SEC. Stays as CEO, has to step down as Chairman. Musk and Tesla each pay $20mm fine. Tesla has to appoint 2 new independent directors. Fairly light penalties IMO.

Interesting follow-up story on this fiasco.

Discs 1-3

Discs 5-7

Hey, SS1... Browns won!

This is a strong performance by La Venexiana Excellent disc; I generally enjoy the Huelgas Ensemble Another strong ensemble

A few years ago I got into Gesualdo madrigals and acquired these recordings. Never completed the set with the first 3 books...

No, the article said he lives in Woodstock: On a recent visit from Woodstock, where he has lived with his wife, Catherine, since 1976, he retraced his old Village route, more exuberant about the memories than wistful. “It’s all gone,” he said, “but so are the crooners. Everybody has their turn. When did I leave? The real answer is I’ll never leave the Village. It’s mine.”

Agreed, and not just for jazz - theater and all types of music. I often read the entertainment listings (but rarely any articles) through the '80s and '90s. Paid no attention to the paper after leaving the NYC area in 2001. Feels like the end of an era in some way, though I figured the Voice would close when it went to free circulation. Kinda surprised it limped on as long as it did.

If anyone enjoys British-style cryptic crosswords, Guardian cryptic 27,608 (Friday 7 Sep)

Agreed. I'd never heard of Devyn Rush, but apparently she became well-known via American Idol (!? - I haven't watched TV for years.) Deservedly so IMO.

Browns player charged with insider trading He was on the Eagles at the time of the alleged offenses. Gave tickets and cash for stock tips.

Some contemporary classical pieces come to mind, but the "famous" stip DQ's them. Composers like Ligeti, Xenakis and Scelsi, but they're subject to the "audience can't tell whether the piece is played correctly" objection... I've gotta believe that Morton "It's too fucking loud, and it's too fucking fast!" Feldman's music is very difficult to play. I'm not a fan of the "New Complexity" school (Brian Ferneyhough is chief exponent), which is by definition fiercely difficult (back when I read Usenet newsgroups, someone on r.m.c.c. called NC "the reductio ad absurdum of the Second Viennese School"). A musician advocate (Carl Rosman) once told me that when a performer is able to overcome the difficulties, playing NC music becomes joyful. But the only time I ever heard that is on the Nieuw Ensemble's recording of Ferneyhough's La chute d'Icare; everything else just sounded like drudgery (a recording of a James Dillon solo drum piece I heard even came across as unintentionally funny). Granted, I gave up on NC pretty early and didn't listen to a great deal.

Might not have gotten paid much (being featured was likely good publicity), but I'm sure they received the clothing gratis.

Indeed. Remarkable how performances of the late quartets have changed/evolved. Sorry, can't help re. Leonard Rose (not familiar).

Haven't heard the stereo Budapest...there are so darn many good recordings of LvB SQ that I'd rather not double up on any particular ensemble. Relative to the earlier mono set, I'd expect better sonics but more intonation issues. I have the old Vegh/Valois recordings, so am no stranger to scrappy intonation, but personally would seek to avoid intonation problems in future purchases.

+1. Best wishes.

Surely there's no "last word" on the late quartets! But I wouldn't want the Budapest 1951-52 to be my only recording of the Grosse Fugue, for instance.

The Budapest SQ Beethoven seems to be a remastering of the 1951-52 mono set. I have the earlier UA reissue* and enjoy it. I recommend it if you like "historical" recordings of that era, but I don't feel this set is the "last word" on the late quartets. [* When in print it was cheap; funny to see the high Amazon offers now that it's oop, but there'll be no takers with the Sony reissue in the pipeline.]