Big Wheel

Data will be fine. These are mostly just backup copies of CDs I already have, but have ripped so I can play them all on my mp3 player.

I need to do some burning of mp3s to CD (hard drive is filled up with music). My Nero trial version expired and it doesn't look like a new one is available on the website right now. Is ITunes a decent program for this? I've tried Feurio and found it mind-bogglingly complex for what I want to do, plus it seems to not get along with my particular model DVD/CD drive.

I got a haircut on Sunday from a very nice woman in La Cruz, Costa Rica, about 12 miles from the Nicaraguan border. One of the better haircuts I've gotten, and I am now sporting Latino-style sideburns.

I think it´s going to be an arroz con pollo Thanksgiving for me, as that seems like the closest thing they have to turkey down here in Costa Rica...

Go see the live Keystone shows if you get a chance. They dim the lights and play the films on a projector off to the side.

I've never really sat down for a whole episode of CYE, but I'm kind of surprised that everyone hates Richard Lewis. The funniest episode I've seen of Late Night with Conan O'Brien features Lewis talking about seeing Shaq naked in the Lakers locker room. (This was the one they later decided to remake in claymation.)

Birds are one thing, but feeding squirrels is not a particularly good idea for the squirrels' sake. Here's an old story I read in the Boston Phoenix awhile ago:

Cambridge, actually. Is anyone else going? The show at TT the Bear's last spring was a serious buttshaker. Also, did anyone see that the Dap-Kings are opening for Morris Day and the Time 1/28/06 in Brooklyn? I didn't even know those guys were still together!

It depends where I am and what's most convenient. 80% of the time: male barber in Boston--though occasionally there will be a woman cutting at one of the chairs; she's not bad 10% of the time: male barber in Miami (Cuban) 10% of the time: male friend who taught himself how to do it

Bobby Brown and Mike Tyson do the Monster Mash (may be gone in a few days but I'm sure will be linked elsewhere)

Yeah, I have a feeling my mom's back yard (in south Dade) looks like Dan's. We apparently lost one big loquat tree and also a medium-sized ficus (losing the ficus is a GOOD thing in my book--those things are nuisances). Fortunately the little lychee and longan trees that I spent hours putting in last summer were somehow spared. No power yet at my mom's or grandparents'; the grandparents decided to head to a motel for a couple of nights for the A/C. My mom is saying the damage is second only to Hurricane Andrew's.

BTW, the tissue-typing is extremely easy and fast. You basically just swab the inside of your cheek with a Q-tip four times and put it all in a bag to send off to the lab. I strongly encourage people to do it if there are facilities in your area.

When you're kind of a shallow, self-aggrandizing person, is it so surprising when you make shallow, self-aggrandizing music?

I've dug Dvorak's writing for years and I think this hits pretty close to the mark. Still not a big fan of Microsoft, though.

Heads-up to Miami folks--they are tissue typing at the Michael-Ann Russell JCC in North Miami Beach tomorrow (Sunday) between 10 and 4. I'm going to head to Blue Note Records if they are open and then swing by around 2ish.

You really need to ask this question around here? I won't be sated until they come out with a 1TB model. In fact, ideal would be a little 1-exabyte microchip implanted into my fingertip. I'd just have to be real careful when cutting onions and stuff.

I'm going to go against the grain and say that Hank Jones makes Somethin' Else what it is. Others: Joe Henderson on Unity Lee Morgan on The Sermon is gorgeous. Arsenio Rodriguez on Palo Congo

Not only this, but I believe all the Apple propaganda computes the capacity at a bitrate of 128Kbps or less. Many if not most people rip their CDs at a higher bitrate (I rip mine at 192 Kbps) for better sound quality.

The Finns are no slouches either. It's especially impressive when you consider that the entire Finnish population is about half the size of NYC's. Anyone check out the "Finnish Jazz" compilation CDs that come out every year or so?

Sadly, it appears that we're in the minority. Most Americans could care less about putting 1000+ CDs on their ipod, and I think the main reason is that most Americans have fewer than 100 CDs, to say nothing of 1000.

I would encourage people to check out the new Raul Midon album, as well. Midon is a blind guitarist/singer who made a big splash when he was coming up at the University of Miami a few years back. I've only heard sound samples, but my guess is that the CD is very, very high-quality pop music.

He used to post once in awhile on the BNBB way back in the day. I remember thinking the guy was quite the self-promoter, but the sound samples definitely differentiated him from the vast majority of people who just came along to spam the board.

Interesting question. I think "pan-seared" means you cook it in a pan with very little oil, on medium to high heat so that the juices do not have much time to leak out of the meat and dry it out. Obviously this works best with things like dark-fleshed fish, which are oily to start with. One reason I can think of for why the term has not been in popular use until lately is that Americans are eating a ton more tuna and salmon than they used to as they turn increasingly away from red meat. Not sure what the exact difference is between sauteeing and pan-searing. Maybe the quantity of oil used?

Interesting. We rarely use the dishwasher, mainly at the impetus of my roommate--incidentally, his father immigrated from Latin America and his mom grew up in Puerto Rico. There are certainly good reasons to forgo it--big use of electricity and probably uses more water than hand washing, especially if you give the plates a quick hand rinse before tossing them in the dishwasher.

Is it possible that the material on volume 5 was actually recorded before Places? Maybe WB had some material in the can that was ready to go, they just weren't ready to release a 2CD set right away for whatever reason.