Guy Berger

There's a long thread about this album somewhere in the archives. I enjoy hearing Hill in a larger ensemble. I should probably check out A Beautiful Day, I suppose. Guy

Very unlikely... Guy

Ws snap the Mavs' streak and keep their slim playoff hopes alive. I wish we played this well against other teams. Guy

How is The Spirits of Our Ancestors? I've been thinking about picking that one up. Guy

I found the video for "High Hopes" on google-video. I remember thinking the video was awesome when I was 16, but now it seems a bit silly. Good song, though. Is that large bust being carried around near the end supposed to by Syd? Guy

I'm not sure how seriously we should take John Hollinger, but he's still ranking the Spurs ahead of the Mavs. Guy

Am I missing some kind of irony here? It's still easily available from Warner - since 1988... OOP in the US. Guy

Is this a good session? I have everything else on the box. Guy

I'm really digging the characters of Maecenas and Agrippa. Chris -- if you are too impatient to wait for HBO reruns, you can download the episodes online. That's what I've been doing. Guy

Looks like the Mavs are well on their way to a 17 game winning streak. Guy

...and the hammer drops. The town crier's comment about maintaining mockery of the Jews and their one god to an appropriate minimum during Herod's visit was hilarious. I'm looking forward to tonight's episode. Guy

Based on a few spins, I think this one is pretty good but not great. The best track (and best title), IMHO, is "re-haired". Perry Robinson has a very unusual tone on clarinet -- almost like a soprano sax. Guy

An interesting article from the Economist:

Well, the good news is they are also reissuing Joe Zawinul's Zawinul -- I've never heard that one. Guy

What did they say about it? I don't remember... Guy

I Claudius is great, but not necessarily better than Rome. One of Rome's advantages is giving you a sense of what Rome and the provinces were really like, whereas due to budgetary reasons I Claudius focuses almost entirely on political machinations at the Imperial Court. Guy

By the way, I found the following interesting biography on wikipedia. I assume this is where they got the idea for Brutus's fictionalized death:

"Two Caesars are too many."

Good call, Larry. That would be a nice twist. Guy

I finally saw the Philippi episode. Very nice, though I wonder how they will wrap things up in the final 4 episodes since they won't be able to get to the Battle of Actium. Some great lines by Mark Antony directed at Octavian ("you are a ferocious cunt... with a pen" / "Now's the time to urinate..."). Cicero, Cassius and Brutus's deaths were poignant. The only shame is that Cicero and Brutus were two of the best characters in the show, but I suppose history rolls on. In the show, yes. If you're asking about the historical version, this is the account from wikipedia: No, I think that was Octavian responding to Antony's comment about enjoying the smell of victory.

Pedestrian? In what way? Surely you can't tell me the "pscychadelic breakdown" halfway through Dogs I guess you and I have different definitions of "psychedelic". Anyway, I think that section is so-so. A loud guitar riff repeated over and over. I agree, and disagree. The Final Cut is lightyears beyond The Wall conceptually. But, The Wall was pretty damn good all by itself. Filler? I'm assuming you consider Bring The Boys Back Home filler? I disagree.... "Young Lust", awful. "One of My Turns", awful. "Waiting for the Worms", awful. "Don't Leave Me Now", REALLY awful. "The Trial", worst piece of music ever recorded? Even Amused To Death? I thought that was a pretty strong effort. Have you heard Pros and Cons of Hitch hiking? One of the worst albums I've ever heard, up there with Genesis's Calling All Stations. Guy

Interesting. It got slammed on the Miles list. Guy

Despite some truly godawful play in the 4th quarter, the Warriors won their 3rd straight and kept their slim playoff hopes alive. Only 1.5 games out of the 8th spot... Guy

Happy birthday, Paul! Guy

So I picked this up a while back from yourmusic and am finally starting to make my way through it. I was initially planning to get the individual albums, but realized that some of those were incomplete compared to the box. I've heard Seven Steps to Heaven and the February 1964 concert on earlier issues. The other three albums are new to me, though I've heard unofficial recordings from throughout this period so I imagine I won't be surprised too much. So far I've made it through disc 1 and part of disc 2. Seven Steps is one of the most underrated Miles albums! I think Miles's judgment on re-recording the fast-paced tunes with Herbie, Ron and Tony was definitely vindicated. The west coast versions are alright, but the east coast versions blow them away. With all due respect to Victor Feldman and Frank Butler, they aren't Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams. "Joshua" and "Seven Steps to Heaven" are fantastic tunes. It's too bad that Miles dropped them from live sets after 1964. Interesting that Miles didn't let George Coleman play on the ballads on this album. Kind of harks back to his philosophy with Coltrane in the mid 50s. Guy