Big Wheel

Nothing but water. In fact, that's been my entire diet for the last 24 hours (hooray for food poisoning). Going to try some rice porridge in a bit to see how my stomach reacts...

Have been watching this one all week. Zappa live at the Pier - Whippin' Post

There's always a few amusing ones for sale at www.bustedtees.com . I think Aric might have this one:

Other than a mention by johnagrandy in the Live Shows forum, there doesn't seem to be any mention on this board of this new album. I had never really paid attention to Apfelbaum. I'm paying attention now. Fans of Dafnis Prieto's drumming will want to grab this posthaste.

Re that poll, I deleted it mainly because I needed to edit some of the poll choices. You can't edit poll options once the poll is created, though, so I deleted it and just never got around to redoing it.

Are you offering that as an excuse for what I've said, or as an explanation of what I supposedly am? How about C) "Both of the above"? There's a reason I'm 3000 miles away from my birthplace right now.

Two words, gang: South Florida.

RIP John. When I want laughs from a Belushi these days I have to settle for

The pros do it with

My cousin is there right now...he went through Sapa briefly. You can check out his vlog at www.hugeinasia.com - he is probably fairly busy but does check his email if you have questions. I'm looking into going to Laos to meet him in mid-April.

right now: tap water earlier today: celadon green tea last night: $2 Red Stripe specials! (plus my first-ever shot of Jagermeister to end the night. Why do people drink this stuff? It tastes like a cross between NyQuil and Twizzlers!)

Is this the correct location of the Blue Note jazz club in Tokyo? I'm doing a fun little project creating a world map of internationally known jazz clubs.

The version of "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" from the Evans CD is glorious.

Anyone see this yet? Prince giving a Super Bowl "press conference." http://www.detnow.com/cr/cda/player/1,1272...320_240,00.html

It's just a silly English drinking song anyway.

It is a very good album, and one of the few cases where a bonus track is a standout. I don't remember if I've mentioned "This Could Be The Start Of Something" before here, but I love this version even if it's not really complete. It's as hard as you'll hear Oscar swing, and the arrangement is so damn tight...

I'm not sure what genre this disc falls under...think very, very well-produced Brazilian pop with a house undercurrent, I guess. Whatever it is, it's damn good. The grooves are hard enough that it actually makes the cover of Manilow's "Copacabana" excellent, and though there are a few weaker spots here and there (they don't do a whole lot with "Mas Que Nada" that hasn't been done before, though it's still good), overall it's well worth it. I haven't been able to find out much about Salome de Bahia except that she has apparently been around for quite awhile and that she's based in Paris. If you have been enjoying Jim's forays into house music, you owe it to yourself to get this one. A party the whole way through.

Seems to be working again, though I didn't try to complete a purchase. Also, it appears that all the titles that were still available after the Blowout Sale are still showing the sale prices.

I agree that TV is a pretty stupid thing to argue about (and I don't even currently own one), but on the other hand, I think it's interesting to try to analyze things about what makes a successful show and see if you can come up with a model to trace the arc of its success. There have been two or three articles on this type of subject recently in the New Yorker (on hit movies and hit songs) and I guess they tempted me to indulge in a little armchair analysis myself.

Dan, you're putting words in my mouth. Read my post again. I never said that it was flat-out impossible for AI to have more than 300 episodes, I said that it was very unlikely for it to cross the 300-episode mark without also experiencing a significant decline in terms of ratings. I don't doubt that all those lesser shows are still profitable; they wouldn't still be on the air if they weren't. Hollywood is shallow, but it isn't stupid. The bulk of this discussion has been about ratings, not profit. Anyway, time will tell and we'll see by the end of 2009 who's right.

Lots and lots of fluids, mostly green tea and herbal tea. It's day 4 of what I think is probably the flu...

I honestly wonder if you know anything at all about television. According to MSNBC, last week's premiere was seen by a record 37.3 million people, representing a five percent INCREASE over last year's record. How do back-to-back record ratings constitute "tapering off"? Because the rate of the increase is decreasing. The second derivative is negative. Learn some calculus, Dan. As for AFHV, it may be a success in that it's still on and making money, but it's not a success the way I define it above (viewership still peaking and stable personnel). AFHV peaked in its second season in 1990 with 38 million viewers a week. It now has about 8-9 million and is jockeying for position with such heavyweights as According to Jim. It's starting to resemble the Jeopardy model - it's doing well enough that you just can't cancel it, but it's certainly not burning up the ratings. I didn't say that I think AI will be outright canceled by 2009, I said I think it will start to be a shell of its former self in terms of ratings. Bonus link for everyone who hates Jim Belushi:

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. True, but the tanks these days are usually very rapid for a variety of reasons. AI really took off in seasons 2 and 3, but it appears to be finally peaking (graph the number of viewers of the season premiere per year and you'll see that things are starting to taper off). Also, there really are very, very few hit shows that cross the 300-episode mark. 250-270 seems to be a brick wall to me. AI already has 189. America's Funniest Home Videos had 350, and my guess is that the last 80 or so of those were made after Bob Saget left and nobody even knew that dreck was still running anymore. It's true that there are a bunch of very long-running game shows with 1000+ episodes (Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune being the two big examples), but obviously if AI comes to emulate that model, it will do so with a fraction of its former audience and at a weaker timeslot. I don't think the personalities will leave of their own volition, but I do think there's a good chance the producers will force somebody out (Paula being the prime candidate because of her age - yes, I realize she's the youngest of the judges, but that's Hollywood for you). By 2009 Abdul will be 47, and the other two judges will be over 50. I guarantee you someone behind the scenes is going to get very nervous about that fact and exert pressure to put some younger faces on there.

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).

I dunno, a move like this (MORE ANGUISH!! MORE PAIN!! MORE UNFUNNY AND NOT-AT-ALL WITTY REMARKS FROM SIMON!!!) strikes me as a Hail Mary kind of move, a sign that the producers see the writing on the wall and are going with shock value to try and keep the ratings up. Of course, I don't follow the show or its ratings, so it's possible I have no idea what I'm talking about.