patricia

I've been there too in real life. No records like the back room in the dream, though... My vinyl emporium is in a building that dates back to the thirties. It actually has a "back room", but not one where rare albums are necessarily stored. It's slightly damp and has the overflow of the overflow from the store in it. If I want to look for 10" LPs, or Jazztone compilations, that's where they usually are. Yes, I've found some gems. But mostly the records are oddments that didn't fit anywhere on the shelves in the store proper.

Thank you. I did, Jon. My youngest and her fiance cooked dinner, including a very nice cake for me. She also gave me a The Out Of Office Countdown calendar, as well as David Rakoff's "Don't Get Too Comfortable." Rakoff's style could be compared, I think, to that of David Sedaris. I had just finished reading the two she gave me for Christmas, "The Year Of Living Biblically" and Patricia Cornwell's new one, "Book Of The Dead", so the timing was perfect.

Thank you Clifford. G.A. and Medjuck, no such thing as late good wishes. Thank you both. Scott, thank you.

Aw shucks. [kicks the sand]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 7/4!!! Most of the cool kids are Capricorns.

I'm overwhelmed you guys. Tim, I'm blushing. Thank you. M.G. Thank you. Chuck, I may be 102 but I look wonderful for my age................they tell me. Clifford, thank you. g slade, Thank you and I love your avatar. YIKES!! PhillyQ, I'll take being called a "great gal" as a compliment, as it was meant. Thank you. Porcy62, thank you. TonyM , thank you. Bill, you're a peach. Thank you. Bright Moments, Love the Marilyn picture. It is Marilyn, isn't it?? Free for All, Thank you. Aggie87, Thank you. Patrick, Thank you. Rachel, The intended hat smilies were received and appreciated. Thank you.

Thank you B.G. My favourite Oscar album. How did you know??

Thank you 7/4. And back at ya.

Thank you jazzbo. And thank you King Ubu. I don't get a lot of birthday wishes from royalty. Magnificent Goldberg. Thank you. Sidewinder, yeah, 102. And I look fabulous for my age. 7/4 thank you. radissimo, you know I have a special weakness for drummers. Thank you.

Oh no! You don't meticulously organize all the shelves in the fridge and place the bacon next to the carrots next to the cauliflower next to the chives...... do ya? You wound me!! I do, however, arrange my spice bottles and canned goods according to what their use is, then alphabetically, labels to the front. My closet is organized from black through greys on down through colours, ending with white. What can I tell you? I like order.

Busted!!! I told my friends I was going to catch some rays.

A person almost has to figure out some sort of order if they want to know where a particular album should be, in a reasonably large collection. Filing the albums, or re-arranging them after some thoughtless trogledyte has picked out several and put them back, just anywhere at all, gives you the opportunity to review your possible selections, or remind you of stuff you'd forgotten about. But, I'm compulsively organized, so it follows that I would be about my records. My books are arranged by genre and then alphabetical too.

I understand why you would do that. Unless you've never tried to remember who did a holiday album, or who the first artist was, if it's a compilation as many are, you keep them separate to save time at Christmas when you have other things on your mind. Classical being separate makes sense too. If you want to listen to Bach, you don't want to be sidetracked by Bassey, Bostic, or Brubeck or..........................

The way that individual people arrange their collections depends on what sort of collection it is. Nobody I know arranges them according to what label they are. I have Blue Note, Verve, Blue Bird, Joker, Plymouth, Colortone, Jazz Tone, Wing etc. etc. etc. I don't know about most people, but I separate them into genres, then into alphabetical order, according to the main artist's last name, or the name of the band. So, I would have for example, a classical section arranged by artist, a blues section, a flamenco section, a jazz section and so on. Boxed sets are in a separate shelf space, arranged according to what type of music they are, similarly. Records that are spoken word, or comedy are again in a separate shelf space. But, I don't carelessly chuck them around like this guy is doing. I couldn't arrange my collection as genres, you know, I strongly believe that all records are born and remain free and equal in rights, without distinction of race, religion, genres or sexual orientation. A part Kenny G

The way that individual people arrange their collections depends on what sort of collection it is. Nobody I know arranges them according to what label they are. I have Blue Note, Verve, Blue Bird, Joker, Plymouth, Colortone, Jazz Tone, Wing etc. etc. etc. I don't know about most people, but I separate them into genres, then into alphabetical order, according to the main artist's last name, or the name of the band. So, I would have for example, a classical section arranged by artist, a blues section, a flamenco section, a jazz section and so on. Boxed sets are in a separate shelf space, arranged according to what type of music they are, similarly. Records that are spoken word, or comedy are again in a separate shelf space. But, I don't carelessly chuck them around like this guy is doing.

So this guy files Art Blakey under "B" and the Jazz Messengers under "J". I think that about tells you all you need to know. Up over and out. What I noticed is that he had them all propped against the wall in his version of alphabetical order. Then, he flipped through what, three or four groups and put each bunch over to the left, not facing the same way as they were with the first one facing the wall and then back, keeping them in the same order as they were. His way, they were no longer in alphabetical order. And flinging them around the way he was made me wince slightly. I wonder if he actually listens to them.

Patricia Corwell's latest, Book Of The Dead and A.J. Jacobs' follow-up to his The Know It All, "The Year Of Living Biblically" As well, my daughter gave me a beautiful silver bracelet with the inscription, "We can do no great things. Only small things with great love. Mother Thresa" Other stuff too, mostly hockey related, [one of my passions], so a pretty good haul.

Music For Torching - Billie Holiday - Verve label. The back of the cover has some nice candids taken by Norman Granz. Accompanying Billie are: Jimmy Rowles on piano Harry Edison on trumpet Benny Carter on alto-sax Larry Bunker on drums and John Simmons on bass Nice collection that includes one of my favourites, "I Don't Want To Cry Anymore."

My all-time favourite from my childhood was the original "AVENGERS which featured Patrick MacNee and the fabulous Diana Rigg. I wanted to be Mrs.[not Ms.] Peel. It was on every Friday night and nobody I knew missed it. The writing was top-notch witty and totally nuts, but in a good way. Loved it!! The feature film made recently with Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman didn't come close to the magic, it's multi-million dollar budget notwithstanding.

Ewww!! My skin, she crawls.

My favourite Doggett album. Oddly, I was captivated by the feather on the cover when I bought it. I have other Doggett collections, but this one remains my favourite.

bashin' the unpredictable Jimmy Smith. Verve mono 1962 This has, IMO, the definitive version of "Walk On The Wild Side."

The Best Of Danny Kaye. Columbia label [Formerly titled, "Pure Delight"] I had no idea that there were records of Danny Kaye's work, I don't know why. I do remember how many delightful films I saw when I was a little kid, at Saturday afternoon matinees, which featured this super-talented man. This record's tracks are: Side 1 Anatole Of Paris Dinah The Babbitt And The Bromide Minnie The Moocher The Fairy Pipers Side 2 Jenny Tschaikowsky [and other Russians] It's Never Too Late To Mendelssohn The Princess Of Pure Delight Molly Malone No liner notes at all. I have no idea who the excellent orchestra backing this collection is. Kaye does a kick-ass version of Minnie the Moocher.

Les Baxter's La Femme. Capitol label. Recorded in Paris in the late fifties. Arranged by Franck Pourcel and his French strings. Nice.

H G, I think we may be referring to the same book.