patricia

An excellent book about the mindsets of some of the lesser-known serial killers is "Alone With The Devil", which was written by a forensic psychiatrist, Ronald Markman in 1989. As I read about these murderers, I was surprised by how otherwise "normal" serial killers often are, even personable. Chilling.

Which makes me think of how much trepidation film makers must feel when they let their "baby" go out into the world, not knowing whether we will see what they did when they originally came up with the concept of their film. Their job is finished when the film is and their enjoyment was in producing it. The added value is in the audience's reaction to it. There we are, regular people walking around, passing judgement on their life's work. I suppose it could be compared to any free lancer who depends on the opinions of those who can't do what they do to admire their work enough to go to the theatre and see it and, more importantly like it. The stress must be almost unimaginable. The handful of films which are widely seen and appreciated are only a tiny number compared to all the films which are released in an average year. The film makers who produce and release the lesser films work their buttocks off, with few exceptions, as much as the acclaimed ones do and almost never are recognized as great artists. Kind of sad, really.

Good point, Patricia. Even though I'm a musician myself; I still have a hard time understanding what I'm SUPPOSED to be listening for in jazz. That's why I don't participate in a lot of jazz criticism. I LOVE the music, but sometimes I feel like there's some hip secret I'm not in on. I think I know what I'm listening to and for, but I know it's tough for someone new to the music. Okay... I'm guilty of a little too much navel gazing, but I'm all for sharing this artform with all. I appreciate ANYONE who does so. Regarding the Oscars: If I was going to watch an award show, I'd watch this one. As I keep saying, my only sadness is that people revere celebrities too much. I've seen shows where people are getting surgery to look like their favorite star. I just wish everyone could see their own value and not put stars on such high pedastals. There's absolutely nothing wrong, IMO, with respecting someone for their great work, but celebrity oftentimes seems to trump craft. Thank you AfricaBrass. I just think that encouraging new listeners of jazz to feel jazz and enjoy it for it's beauty does not necessarily mean that the new listener should feel that they must understand the technical aspects of it's production. More than once, while talking to jazz musicians I have gotten the impression that if I don't understand what is involved in producing the sounds and rhythms, that the sheer joy I feel in listening to the music is not enough. I would compare their attitude to that of many of my fellow photographers who get hung up on the technical aspects of the process and lose sight of what the goal is. The goal is producing a picture that will be enjoyed at many levels, regardless of whether they understand how it's done or what I saw when I shot it. The goal in both endeavors is to show the listener or observer what is at the very basis for them and that is the joy that can be had by them. That's why the artforms exist. Without the listener or the observer, there is no point. Everyone gets something different out of the art and that is, ultimately it's beauty.

You're right, AfricaBrass. But, in a way, jazz has made itself an elitist artform. Sometimes those newbies who have just discovered the magic of jazz are put off by the navel-gazing that they see many jazz musicians and longtime aficianados doing. Not understanding the nuances of the artform is not a weakness. It's fixable in time, if those who could help them see the total spectrum would just do that, mentor them. I don't see a solution, because "accessable" quite often is wheeling in the dreaded Kenny G. There are many veteren jazzers, such as Oscar Peterson and others who have been great ambassadors, trying to spread the joy of jazz to the masses, but I fear that there is much of what I can only interpret as an unwillingness to share this most precious jewel we all know and love.

I grew up in Wichita when this was going on ... pretty chilling at the time, although it still is. I am glad for the families that they caught this guy. Why do these guys so often otherwise seem "normal" ... They seem so "normal" because, aside from their crimes, they are. There is no Mark of Cain. The reason that mass murderers, pedophiles and rapists can walk among us, undetected, is that look like us. They don't look like the monsters they are. That's why murders, molestations and rapes continue to happen. These warped people are US . That's what is so disturbing.

Considering that millions and millions of people have at least one television in their house, I think that it's ridiculous for so many to claim they "never watch TV". Of course they do. It always amuses me when decorators go to such lengths to create ways to hide the TV. We watch it. Of course we do. I despair at all the schlocky "reality" tripe and much of the other stuff not worth watching, but come on, we watch TV.

I don't think it's so much about Ray Charles being handicapped as it was about Foxx capturing all the nuances of the man. Even the hyper, seemingly perpetual motion that Ray Charles had were perfectly realized, I thought as I watched the film. It's a challenge to play a character who was so well known as well as Foxx played Ray Charles. It could have ended up being an homage [as Kevin Spacey's portrayal of Bobby Darin in "Beyond the Sea" was.] That's not to knock Spacey, but to me a biographical film must make me believe that they are the character they play and Jamie did that, at least for me.

Best Performance By An Actor in a leading role............JAMIE FOXX!!! YESSSS!!!!

I must confess that the Oscars are one of my guilty pleasures. I love the excess and it's nice to see everyone get awards at such a dressy occasion. Of course film is not as important as the jobs that teachers, doctors and others do, but I like the Oscars. Just call me shallow. The actor I wanted to win won, Jamie Foxx, who I thought did a superb job as Ray Charles in "Ray". Best gown?? Hillary Swank's. WOW!!! Elegant. Simple. Absolutely the best, IMO. It didn't hurt that she had been working out for her role in "Million Dollar Baby" and her back is astounding.

Oh, THAT Gene Scott!! My ex used to sit in the basement and watch this wild man and call me down there to hear his most outrageous pronouncements. We lived in central British Columbia at the time and had a sattelite dish, before they were fashionable. I'd love to be a fly on a cloud, right near the fabled Pearly Gates when Gene showed up. He was definitely a character.

For a kitten you look amazingly fine at 101, Jazzkitten;). HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Needed to wind down. Rough day. So, I put on The Ballad Style Of Stan Kenton, then followed it up with Mancini's Dear Heart. Perked me right up [along with a nice glass of seedless red ] Oh. And I was hipped to a new vinyl source, right in my neighbourhood!!! It's within walking distance and I will be exploring it tomorrow.

Late to the party, as usual. But, to Noj, one of my very favourite people, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! TWO pieces of cake and the very best libation!!

I think that you're right, Wolff. But, funny thing. For several years I had no turntable. I had purged my life of vinyl and gave my turntable to the guy who bought my record collection for a pittance when I moved. CDs seemed to be the wave of the future and new vinyl had virtually disappeared, much like BETA when VHS became the only film on video. Even so, I still went to record shops during the time I had no turntable. During my visits I bought records, some factory sealed, but didn't keep them because I couldn't play them. Rather, I sent them to a friend who could. After about a year I decided that I needed a turntable, encouraged by him and got one. Since then, about two years ago, I have collected around a thousand vintage jazz records and playing them is one of my joys. Just having the records, for me, was an empty experience. The pleasure is in the playing of them.

RDK I take your point about sealed vinyl as collectables. My point, I guess, was the same as those who talked about records as a means to hear the music. The garage/vintage car analogy was apt. I'm not flingin' aspersions at anyone who sees sealed vinyl as collectables, but rather wondering why anyone would want to have records, sealed, vintage or not, if they didn't want to play them. Surely their monetary value is not that high? Wonderful things, whatever they are, are meant to be used and enjoyed, not salted away to be looked at occasionally, on the chance that one might want to sell them someday. No interest in the music?? Then collect stamps or coins. Just my opinion, but there it is. Of course why anyone collects anything they have no intention of using is their own business, but my curiosity got the best of me. Forgive me?? For my own part, I have about a dozen first editions of books which are over a hundred years old. I treasure them. But I read them because that's why books are written. The authors did not intend to have their books sit on a shelf to be admired as collectables. Neither, IMO, did musicians intend to have their records sit on shelves to be admired.

WD, Isn't the saying "Hotter than the hubs of Hell"?

Earlier today: Tapestry of Dreams - Charles Aznavour - I used to love this album. Now it sounds maudlin. So I followed it up with This Is Benny Goodman Then, I wanted a couple of chuckles and played Lily Tomlin's "This Is A Recording" which is a collection of her standup routines. Hard to describe, but those who know her know that she is wickedly hilarious. After that, I played Columbia Jazz Masterpieces - Sampler Volume II. The tracks are: Side I Miles Davis Quintet - Bye Bye Blackbird Errol Gardner - Teach Me Tonight Duke Ellington - All Of Me Billie Holiday - What A Little Moonlight Can Do Benny Goodman - Bluebirds In The Moonlight Thelonious Monk - Monk's Dream Side 2 Miles Davis - The Buzzard Song Count Basie - How Long Blues Charles Mingus - Fables of Faubus Duke Ellington - Newport Up Dave Brubeck Quartet - Gone With The Wind :

Another thumbs up for "New York, New York". Just put up with Liza Minelli. di Nero does his usual marvelous work and the big band soundtrack is worth the price of admission

He's about as smart as a sackful of wet mice. Sticks like soft shit to a wool blanket. Has an I.Q. two points lower than a potted plant. Slicker than snot on your sleeve. Stands out like a wart on the end of a witch's nose. An ass two axe handles wide. Walking like his/her ass was a bag of feathers. Good coffee is thick enough to walk a mouse across. Ears so keen that he could hear a mosquito fart on the ceiling. As hopeless as trying to catch a fart in a mitten. ................. Each and every one of the above was used by my late father, a quiet, dignified man who rarely joined into frivolous conversation. These were off-the-cuff remarks, which always took me by surprise.

No, there were no smilies. I neglected to say that I was referring to my ex. As much my fault as his, if only because the evidence was there, but I chose to ignore it. Lovely man. Wonderful father. Great sense of humour, HORRIBLE taste in music, literature and art. Years, not wasted, but I should have paid attention to the early signs. Doomed from the start.

What would then cause the warping?? Almost everywhere I've ever bought records have carefully stored them on their edges, in their paper sleeves, inside their original covers. Of course, more unconventional sources are more chancy, though dirt and scratches seem to be more of a problem than is warping. I was, however, witness to a supreme warping of a treasured Little Richard LP, lent to my brother and subsequently left in the back window of his '56 Ford in summer heat. It looked like one of those wavy-edged seashells that one sometimes sees.

I hesitate to ask this, but why would you want to have fabulous music on vinyl, without wanting to play the records?? I play all my records at some point. I know that original factory-sealed records are coveted by collectors, but I've often wondered why?? From time to time I have bought records in their original shrinkwrap and the advantage to me was that there were no scratches or nicks, but I immediately unwrapped them and played them. I know that people collect records, just like they collect everything else, but the whole purpose of a record being made, it seems to me, is that somebody recorded something that they wanted us to hear. Even though the same stuff, for the most part is also available on CD as re-issues, so it's not a case of never hearing the material, I still don't understand. I'm reminded of my mother's beautiful things, which she kept wrapped, in a drawer, un-used, when I inventoried her house, after she died at ninety-two.

In my area of southern Alberta, we have what are known as "chinooks". They are warm air-masses which radically change the temps, sometimes two or three times in the same day. So, a person could get up in the morning and it's minus twenty degrees Celcius below zero and dumpin' down snow, By noon, it could be ten degrees above zero and thawing. A couple of hours could then go by and the temps could drop and the streets become trecherously icy. Although there are those who like the spikes of warm weather, I would rather know that it's going to be cold, or not cold, or whatever. I grew up in central British Columbia and at this time of year it was not uncommon for the temps to hover at around forty degrees below zero, for weeks at a time. I hate the cold, but there were four definite seasons there. In the summer it was hot as hell and there was a definite spring and fall. It was easier to aclimatize if you knew what the weather was likely to be. I hate snow and cold, but if I'm going to get some, I want to get it all at once, then it can go away until next year.

If only I had known. It's not just women who pretend to pass the test. I stayed married to a man, for years who, while professing to like jazz and classic rock, with a smattering of flamenco and classical music, was clandestinely listening to Creedence Clearwater and [gasp!!] rural accordian music, as well as being a devotee of the Laurence Welk Show. [i know that Peanuts Hucko played for Welk, but the polka music was too much for me to bear ] I had a hint of this aberration, early in our relationship which should have been a red flag. One evening I had chosen some Hartman and Bill Doggett to accompany an anticipated evening of mutual affection. He walked over to the stereo and TURNED IT OFF!!! Still, I held out hope for him. The lesson seems to be that there is a chance for them to wake up to the beauty of good music, but don't wait forever for it to happen.