Guy Berger

I think J Larsen said made an interesting point in another thread a while back (too lazy to search the archives) -- even if intelligent life exists somewhere else in the cosmos, the relatively short life span of any given civilization means that contemporaneous existence with ours is much less probable. Guy

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Too bad they didn't include the 1966 Newport performance. Guy

I've had this problem as well. I feel the same way, but I figure I'll completely adapt within a month or two. Guy

As long as it's up--how is that Holland/Phillips album? I've seen it everywhere, but I'm somewhat tentative on what seems (up front) like it could be mismatch. This album is (surprisingly) available on yourmusic.com, so you can try it out for cheap. I have it but haven't listened yet. Guy I've finally gotten around to listening to this. Very nice! Recommended if you like this sort of stuff. Guy

Since the board died, I bought: Henry Threadgill, Carry the Day AND I also bought almost every BN that BMG has for about $5 a pop: Cannonball Takes Charge Cannonball Plays Zawinul Count Basie, Chairman of the Board Art Blakey, Like Someone in Love Clifford Brown, Memorial Album Donald Byrd, Off to the Races, Free Form, At the Half Note Cafe Kenny Dorham, Trompeta Toccata Dexter Gordon, A Swingin' Affair, Gettin' Around Grant Green, Feelin' the Spirit Johnny Griffin, The Congregation Herbie Hancock, Speak Like a Child Andrew Hill, Compulsion Elmo Hope, Trio and Quintet Freddie Hubbard, Here to Stay, Hub Tones Joe Lovano, I'm All for You, Joyous Encounter Jackie McLean, new and Old Gospel, Demon's Dance, It's Time Blue Mitchell, Boss Horn Hank Mobley, Another Workout, Dippin', Hi Voltage Lee Morgan, The Cooker, Tom Cat Diz'n'Bird at Carnegie Hall Ike Quebec, It May As Well Be Spring Horace Silver, Horace Silver Trio, Horace-Scope, Silver's Serenade, Doin' the Thing Jimmy Smith, Home Cookin', Prayer Meetin', At the Organ vol 3 Stanley Turrentine, Joyride

Thanks for all the hard work, Jim. It's good to have the board back! Guy

Start a new thread to replace the old one... Guy

I definitely prefer the parts where Monk comps behind Rouse, but that's because I'm a huge fan of Monk's comping. I think it's just as interesting as his solos. I agree that they aren't that exciting, but I prefer having them there. I don't feel they detract from the music and hey, they're part of the story. The charm of this set, to me, is that it's just "another gig" (albeit a very good one) for Monk and the guys. The other members of the band aren't superstars and it allows the spotlight to shine on Monk. Guy

Ethan Iverson on Paul Bley (I thought the comments on Bley's left hand were interesting):

SS1, I was at the airport today and saw somebody wearing a #21 (Duncan) jersey. I thought of kicking him on your behalf...

Sorry about your blind spot, Clem. Sorry, that comment was unnecessarily rude. That said, hey, the guy has made lots of good music (not just with Dewey) and it's too bad that you can't hear it. Guy

Fortunately with Jarrett, the music generally more than makes up for the personality. Guy

You would probably like Live in Tokyo. Guy

It's fantastic. Guy

This is probably true. That said... 1) You would be right only if the IQ gap between 1st and 2nd borns varies according to economic background. An economic background effect that affects IQs across the board would have no impact on the results. 2) I would be very surprised if the authors did not attempt to control for economic background in their study. edit: From what I can tell, the authors controlled for the parents' education level, maternal age at birth, family size and birthweight. To the degree that these factors fail to completely account for economic background AND economic background has different effects on the IQ of 1st and 2nd borns, MG's point is meaningful. 2nd edit: Upon brief examination of the paper, it looks like the authors DO control for the factors above but don't consider the possibility that they would have differential effects on 1st and 2nd borns. So while my point #1 still stands, point #2 is true but irrelevant. Guy

Well, we aren't talking about intelligence -- we are talking about IQ. That said, this isn't an "assumption"; it seems to be an empirical fact. Guy

Well, the article isn't talking about a "theory" -- it's talking about the actual evidence, using a statistical examination of the empirical data. I haven't read the paper so I can't vouch for its substance. I'd be also interested in: A) How second-borns compare to third-borns. B) How first-borns in two child families compare to single children. Since (I believe) wealthy families tend to have less children, these kinds of results could have interesting implications for wealth and income inequality. Guy

Top 10 economies in terms of GDP per capita (PPP adjusted) / service sector as % of economy 1. Luxembourg: $80,471 / 86% 2. Ireland: $44,087 / 49% 3. Norway: $43,574 / 56.3% 4. United States: $43,444 / 78.6% 5. Iceland: $40,277 / ? 6. Switzerland: $37,369 / 64.5% 7. Denmark: $36.549 / 76% 8. Austria: $36,031 / 70.9% 9. Canada: $35,494 / 71.3% 10. Netherlands: $35,078 / 79% At the time (mid-19th century) agriculture was still quite unproductive. Hence, the fact that Britain had gotten a head start on industrialization made a big difference. Let's also keep in mind that Britain was a MUCH poorer country in 1870 than it is today, despite being the wealthiest in the world at the time. It was "economically strong" simply because everybody else was so ridiculously poor. Guy

That was my point. Well, it's a very underwhelming (and incorrect) one. Though I'm too lazy to dig through the historical data, I'm willing to bet that its fall from the #1 spot predates the peak of manufacturing's share in the British economy. Also, most of the countries currently ahead of Britain in the rankings have a very high services/GDP ratio. I'm also not sure why a tripling of British GDP per capita over the past 50 years counts as an "economic decline". Guy

Me too. Guy

But Britain has been slipping farther and farther down the league table. Since about the 1870s, I think. MG What if you had told an Englishman in 1870 that Ireland* would be a substantially wealthier country than Great Britain 140 years later? Guy *The service sector takes up 49% of Ireland's economy.

While you are correct to a degree, I don't think it's as big of a degree as you think. The British thought "services" could replace manufacturing, as did other major economic powers of the past. When they reached that stage, they were already fading. As are we. Not sure what you are talking about -- Britain's per capita GDP is now higher than it was 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago. Guy ps From Eurostat, Britain's GDP per capita in terms of 1995 Euros (?):