RDK

i was gonna mention what kyo just did: emusic has no DRM, never has, and i believe it's the second largest digital music service on the net.

Seriously, though, great twist! Didn't see that coming.

With a (presumably) bionic arm!

Same as now... RDK.

Well I'm back after 24 and Studio 60 (had to dvr Heroes). Monday nights are busy around here!

Heh. I'm curious what will happen when Idol comes on tomorrow. Much of America watches the show, but most of us jazz fans poo-poo it.

Seriously, I've never heard of a library charging to loan books.

Maybe you could borrow Chuck's copy for twenty bucks.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...7012101164.html Special Olympics: No Beef With 'Idol' By Lisa de Moraes Monday, January 22, 2007; C07 Special Olymics International says "American Idol" should be commended for giving one of their former athletes the opportunity to be seen last week on national TV getting the Simon Cowell treatment. "While polite isn't a word one would normally associate with Cowell and company, a viewing of the episode in question shows that the judges were in fact gracious and very encouraging to [Jonathan] Jayne during his rendition of 'God Bless America,' " the organization said in a statement, noting that "at one point, [judge Paula] Abdul commented admiringly about Jayne's spirit and advised him to 'always believe in yourself.' " This year, as in the past, early episodes of "American Idol" feature mostly lousy auditions and the snarky reactions to these "Idol" wannabes by judges Randy Jackson, Abdul and, mostly, Cowell. Fox and "Idol" producers and judges got a thumping late last week on TV talk shows and in newspaper articles for including the tryouts of the 21-year-old Jayne and another 20-something wannabe, Kenneth Briggs, with whom Jayne became friendly. "The View" led the charge, with Rosie O'Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck calling it an "all-time low" for the singing competition -- both episodes of which drew around 37 million viewers last week. Those who condemned the inclusion of Jayne in Wednesday's episode are preaching against the Special Olympics' message. "Whether on the stage of 'American Idol' or on the field of competition for Special Olympics, people with intellectual disabilities don't want pity or special treatment," the group's statement read. "They want to be judged for who they are and appreciated for what they can achieve. " 'American Idol' should be commended for providing Jayne with the same opportunity to succeed as any other contestant." Cowell had already taken issue with criticism of the decision to air Jayne's audition. "To suggest that because somebody has done something like [participate in the Special Olympics] they shouldn't be allowed to enter the competition smacks to me of censorship, to be honest with you," Cowell told TV critics over the weekend at Winter TV Press Tour 2007. "I don't think that we should be censors on the type of people. And what we're trying to be, I think, on the show, more than anything else, is representative. A lot of the bad singers you are seeing -- trust me -- there are thousands that didn't make it through. And I think if you asked any of those thousands who didn't make it through, every one of them would say, 'I wish I had the chance.' " Meanwhile, Jayne called the experience "absolutely wonderful" in an interview with the Seattle Times, explaining that he did it because he hopes to eventually land a job as a DJ or talk show host.

No, no, definitely worth seeing - one of the best of the year.

Excellent film! The sequel, though - Children of Women - is fairly routine.

Of great, but they still can't hit the West Coast! Seriously, that's mighty cool. On the road to world domination...

I don't think any of the Proper boxes make any "completeness" claims.

Fair amount of torture and bloodletting. The problem is, the grizzlier parts are mostly with the "real" (Spanish civil war) parts of the story, not so much with the fantasy/dream-like sections, which are wonderous and nightmarish but relatively bloodless.

A fine movie indeed, but much more intense than you might expect. Not sure i would take a pre-teen to see it.

The graffiti on the bathroom wall...

Hey, I've got some old cassettes of shit I recorded off the radio back in the 70's if anyone's interested...

Indeed. If Chuck, who's so quick to dismiss AI, could figure out how to get just 1% of the massive AI audience to be as obsessed/interested in jazz as pop music then we'd all be in pretty good shape right now.

Comin' up on 45, no audiologist since grade school. Low frequencies come in loud and clear, but 15 Hz is faint and buzzy - no surprise given my relatively cheap (non-audiophile) headphones, which simply can't reproduce 15 cycles. I can hear the upper frequencies all the way up to 22K, but at diminished volume. Not sure if that's due to my ears or the frequency response of my 'phones. Oddly enough, 16K and 17K are quieter than 15K and 18K on up, suggesting a dip in the frequency curve of the phones (or perhaps my ears, though my wife experienced this as well.

It will happen. The show is way over exposed now. Between all the clips being played 24/7, syndication, and whatever else they have going on, it will go the way of "Fear Factor" some day soon. I remember there was a time you couldn't go a day without people talking about "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?", and now? I'll put money on at least one of the following two things happening by the end of the 2009 season: a) a drop in audience of 33% or greater; b) a cast shakeup that results in the departure of at least 2 of the 4 personalities (my guess is Seacrest and Abdul, although there's an outside shot that Cowell will expire before either of them leave, smothered in his own milquetoast). Well of course the show will tank eventually; all tv shows do. Still, it's doing gangbusters now, in its sixth season, with its best ratings ever. Fox never expected it to be so successful and run for so long. And gloating about Simon "selling knives" after the show's run its course is like worrying about Bill Gates ending up in the poorhouse if Microsoft ever goes under. I think he'll be okay...

What, you guys don't have volume controls? Seriously, though, I hope the music isn't compressed all to hell.

I'm game for downloading. Please send along the links.

I gotta say, most of them deserve it. Self-delusion is a powerful thing (don't i know it my business) and a lot of people simply can't handle the truth about their "talents." One thing seems clearer this season than in the past: the producers do seem to have weeded out most of the "fakers," leaving only the truly self-deluded bad singers. Saw this earlier today... http://deathbycamera.com/?p=30

Used to see Jimmy and his wife many, many times back in my SDSU days (1980s). Always put on a fun show. Very sad news. RIP, Jimmy.

I'm fond of both of those, though I favor the trio session. "Flavor remover" is a great description of that Concord style. Doesn't mean it's bad though; far from it in this case.