patricia

I note that these shelves are particleboard. Unless it's the heaviest guage, it might not hold up to the weight of LP records, and might bow. Records are amazingly heavy. Ever lift a full moving box of them B-) That's why it's a good idea, though IKEA has a nice bookcase, to look for OLD bookshelves with solid wood shelves, to avoid the bowing problem. Particle board is not nearly as solid as vintage wooden bookshelves are. If you want a more modern look, you can sand them and paint or varnish-stain them. Then you REALLY have nice shelves which will last longer than you will. Did you know that milk crates were sized slightly smaller recently because vinyl fiends like us were stealing them? They are now just slightly too small. They used to be exactly the right size to fit LPs and you could stack them three or four high. So, I guess if you can still find old ones, you might want to try them.

Yes, Leeway, I can. Jazztone records were an offshoot of a mail-order classical record company which existed from the early 1950s, their releases mostly high-quality compilations, much like the one you have are still to be found secondhand, and are all excellent. Dixieland is particularly well-represented, as well as all the HUGE jazz names of the period. When you see these heavy, distinctly labelled records at vintage shops, garage sales in old neighbourhoods and at secondhand stores, SNAP THEM UP!! They are great sounding and well worth whatever you have to pay for them. But, don't let that last sentence scare you. I have bought them for as little as $1, although I have seen them online for as much as $50, which is a little rich for my personal exchequor. The Jazztone covers are very distinctive. They are varying colours, but they have the same skyline and vague band on the front and capsule bios of all the artists on the tracks on the back of the album. [by the way, I'm green with envy at your find. Wonderful!!!] Sometimes there is a booklet included.

Any good, as deep as the width of the records, WOOD bookcase, with adjustable shelves works well. Be careful that the bookcase is not too long. If it is, the weight of the records will bow the shelves. Better to get two 3-4 ft. long ones than one six ft, one. Mine are 25" high and 35" long. You can stack another one on top of the first, if space is a problem. Then, if you have a lot of records, just do it again, next to the first two. Also, I have lightweight, cardboard dividers, the same dimentions as the record covers, which are alphabetized with little tabs, that I slip between the records to make finding a particular record easier. [compilations are in the "C" section, before the artists whose names start with "C".] Works well and the whole thing is inexpensive.

I know that this may seem obvious, but I still remember being the official snow-shoveller in my household in the winter of 95/96 when we lived in central British Columbia. It hovered around -25-30C and the snow just kept coming. Instead of waiting for each fall to stop, before shovelling, I went out sometimes four or five times a day. Each time, I shovelled down to the cement, on two large driveways and the piles of shovelled snow alongside the shovelled areas were taller than I am. The upside was that my upper body would have been envied by most body-builders. I didn't have to do my usual two mile run for over a month that year. So, if you can, don't wait until the snow stops. This is the weekend, so shovel a few times a day. I did that because the stuff would have been too heavy to do all at once, but you can do a better job if the snow on the ground is not three feet high.

Ellington at Newport.

Johnny, Melissa will NOT be pregnant forever, though to her it may seem like it. Her mission, and she has chosen to accept it, is to bring another Democrat, or at least a politically open-minded citizen into the world. You're right, we love them, even if they should choose to go over to the Dark Side. I have every confidence in Melissa and when the little one bursts into the world, I, and everyone here want to know all about it. Good luck pre-Dad!!!

One thing that surprises and delights me is the generosity of people when they hear of our vinyl addiction. I mentioned a while ago that a young man who works with me GAVE me a top of the line turntable when I mentioned that I collect vinyl. I tried to pay him, but he wouldn't hear of it. Spinning now: "Dixieland Classics" on Jazztone. The personel are Muggsy Spanier, Bobby Backett, Pee Wee Russell, Max Kaminsky, George Brunies, Mel Powell, Jack Teagarden, Eddie Condon, Fats Waller, Miff Mole, Bud Freeman, Jess Stacy and "others" JAZZTONE, people. A magnificent set of releases and well-worth looking for.

Thank you for introducing the idea of male stripping/porn movies as a viable career choice not suggested by the bozo career counsellers at the school. I'm surprised that the Chippendale option was not presented to the eighth-grade boys. Although they may not earn $250,000 per annum, I believe that that "career" pays more than fast-food or retail. It is just a short step from recommending stripping as a career option to reminding both the eighth-grade girls, AND the eighth-grade boys that they are, to put it bluntly, "sitting on a goldmine". Prostitutes get paid in cash, so, barring an audit by the IRS get to keep most of their earnings, unlike regular workers. I'm surprised that the oldest profession was not part of the lectures on career choices. What were the career counselling co-ordinaters at this school thinking??? Whew!

We may blame Neal for breaching board posting ettiquette, but only gently. It's a common error. Many feel that bold type is easier to read, unaware that it's a posting gaffe. It's not a hanging offence though. However, many think of posting all in bold type or caps as "shouting", so frown on it. I, like Jim and everyone here am pleased when new people come into the fold and we welcome Neal.

Bless you, my son. As one who relies on eye-crutches, in leu of a dog or a cane, your advice is welcome. But, the only way to read the liners enclosed in many jazz re-issues on CD with the original cover notes, reduced, is with a magnifying glass. Can anyone read them with their original-issue eyeballs?? The print on the liners in CDs is often reduced in size, to fit in the booklet, from the original cover notes, especially on old jazz re-issues. Why do they do that?? Yet another reason to buy vinyl. The cover notes are in print that a person who is slightly sight-challenged can read.

Yes. That's the cover, so you see why I was intrigued. Minimal liner notes. No real description of what I was in for, but that cover..............very nice. Thank you Leeway. I was hard-pressed on how to catagorize this record. It's not pop. It's not jazz. It's not smooth jazz. What do you think??? I'm assuming that you have listened to it.

"The Nightfly" - Donald Fagen I must admit that I didn't know what to expect with this album. I was attracted by the black and white album cover, with a gorgeous shot of a setting of a disc-jockey speaking into an old fashioned microphone in a sound room, sitting behind a turtable. The tracks are very eclectic and slow and bluesy, with an interesting take of "Ruby Baby", which many of you probably remember as having been done by Dion and the Belmonts back in the early sixties. This version is much more sophistocated that Dion's. This is how Fagen described the album: "The songs in this album represent certain fantasies that might have been entertained by a young man growing up in the remote suburbs of a northeastern city during the late fifties and early sixties, i.e. one of my general height, weight and build." I was intrigued when I read the personel list. It included Randy Brecker on trumpet and flugelhorn and Michael Brecker on tenor sax. Drums were manned by Jeff Porcano on all tracks but the last, a tune called Maxine, on which Ed Green is credited. Although I had never heard of either of them, they do nice work. This has the feeling of songs that I remember from the late fifties and early sixties, so I guess that the liner notes are quite accurate. No tricks. Just good musicians and interesting lyrics. Very nice album.

Johnny is there for moral support and to remind his lovely wife to breathe and to keep those hard candies and ice chips comin'. A back-rub or two as the hours drag by is really nice and we assume that he won't take offence at any less than complimentary remarks which she may chance to utter. I look forward to welcoming another sane Liberal into the world.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLIFFORD!!!

Happy Birthday Jeff!!!

Maybe because I'm not a man, adjusting the innards of my turntable would never occur to me. If adjusting the stuff on the tone-arm didn't work, I would take my turntable to a record/turntable guy and have him look at it and make any adjustments to the inside. But, maybe it's just me. If Alexander doesn't know what he's looking for, it might be a little risky to try to do the adjustment, if that's what will fix the problem, himself. I've found the record guys, especially if they are not just clerks, very helpful. One thing that I've noticed, and maybe the rest of you have too, is that vintage record places are generally owned by those, like us, who have been seduced and won by the constant pleasure that vinyl gives them every day. They are usually tickled that the rest of us come to them, not just to buy records and the equipment to play them. They will almost always help you do it better, or know someone who will. Ask them. I don't think that you will be surprised.

It's my second one for my main listening area that I need to set up. It has to be wall-mounted and I still haven't decided what to use for a shelf. I think I'm going to go with a thick slab of wood from these guys, but they're darned expensive... $60 for a chunk of wood? Like I said, that's all I need is a shelf. I have no room in the cabinet and I have a subwoofer so my hardwood floor isn't an option. It'll have to be wall-mounted. Later, Kevin My apologies. I was just really surprised. Space can be a problem and a wall-mounted shelf can be very tricky. Stability may be a problem. I'm assuming that the rest of your sound system in the selected area is filling up whatever it's on, or in. My entire shebang, including a good-sized TV is housed on top and on the shelf beneath a four-foot long hall table. The turntable is on the top, alongside the TV and the amp, dvd/cd/video player is stacked on the shelf below. I found that the cd player included with the video player was not as good as the one I was already using, so I added the old player. Everything runs through the amp, which is on the bottom of the stack. The large woofer/tweeters are on either side of the room and I'm a happy lady. Great sound. So, I guess I'm saying that the wall shelf is a little less recommended than is a more solid setup. How solid is the shelf?? Sixty dollars is not that much, if it works, but if it doesn't you have a place for some records, or books, or bowling trophies. Then sixty dollars is too much.

Kevin, my dear friend, are you telling us that you got a turntable for Christmas and YOU HAVEN'T SET IT UP YET?? Don't make us come to your house and pummel you. How difficult does it look like it's going to be?? All I had to do was plug mine in, attach it to the amp, check the attachment on the setting, turn the corresponding knob and............voila!! Get with the program. Immediately!!

Call me myopic, but living 90-something years in the years that he did it is more than a blink. It's more like an unending stare. Not to quibble, mind you. Ninety years of pushing people away. What that tells me is that Shaw was so insecure in anything but his music that he depended on it as his sole contribution. What a shame. He seemed like a very intelligent man and he certainly was charming enough to attract some lovely women to marry him, if only briefly. The list included Lana Turner, Ava Gardner, Evelyn Keyes [she played the middle sister in "Gone With The Wind"] and Kathleen Windsor [who wrote "Forever Amber"] as well as four others, equally enviable. All were beautiful and accomplished in their own right. I suspect that, although trophy wives didn't have a name then, that's what they were. For some reason he reminds me of a couple of my dearest friends who are almost loathed by many who know them. Although they also can be very charming and funny, there is something about them that is afraid of being vulnerable to anyone else. To have someone care for them and care back seems to be personally threatening to them. Of course we all know that vulnerability is the nature of love, even friendship, but some people just can't give up any power. I sure didn't know Artie Shaw, but he's not alone in being so insecure that he spent his whole life deliberately alienating those who tried to be close to him. Very depressing. But, we still have Artie Shaw's music.

Up, sluggard, and waste not life; in the grave will be sleeping enough. W. Shakespeare Taking Bill's advice, I generally go to bed around 1AM and get up around 5:30AM. Who knows what could be happening while I was sleeping??

I love Shaw's music and I think that it's not surprising that he is regarded as one of the greats of Jazz. However, he is much like many people in that he didn't seem to see the big picture and realize that our lives are over in a blink of an eye. Touching people in a positive way doesn't come easily to some, but it costs the same as alienating them. We will still have his music, but it's sad that he chose to be a jerk and that's how people close to him will probably remember him, while carefully qualifying their opinions with praise for his contribution to Jazz. So there's that.

How terribly sad.

I wanted to mention that if you are looking for examples of stride and boogie-woogie in vintage vinyl places, check with the nice man at the counter to see if they are in a separate section from their jazz stuff. I know that quite often they are, as is Dixieland. Some vintage guys don't consider those as jazz in the classic sense. I don't know why.

May only your dearest wish come true. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! Drink only GOOD booze and eat only the finest chocolate.

OK, you guys... knock it off! Euclid's selection is horrible, they're prices are outrageous, and Joe is a schmuck!!!! Euclid is for us locals and no one else. They're strictly our own private "layaway" shop for vinyl... warehousing it for us until we can slowly buy all of the tasty vinyl.... so back off! Fat chance!!