Guy Berger

Aren't the Knicks still loaded with huge, bloated contracts? Granted, James's contract isn't the most egregious in the league, but he's not worth $6M/year. I'll be money that his numbers will be closer to his career averages than to his fluke performance against the Kings. The Knicks still stand a good chance of missing the playoffs in the flimsy Eastern Conference. Guy

report: Knicks sign center Jerome James

Not a bad compilation, I agree. Guy

I have to agree with the Hot Rats recommendation as the most obvious place to start if you are interested. We're Only In It for the Money is overall a better album (surprisingly nobody's mentioned it yet) musically than Freak Out though probably not as innovative. Guy

Brown is going to be an underachiever for the rest of his career, but it's not like you guys are giving up a whole lot (or even half a lot) for him. Caron Butler, Chucky Atkins and Devean George are all expendable mediocrities. Guy

I hope his health gets better -- it looks like a very serious illness... Guy

1. Extras 2. Echoes 3. From Before 4. Love Song 5. Tee Tony Williams: drums Sam Rivers: tenor saxophone (1, 3-5) Wayne Shorter: tenor saxophone (1, 3, 5) Herbie Hancock: piano (3-5) Gary Peacock: bass (1, 3-5)

Woohoo -- I listened to the 90 minute The Man & The Journey suites today for the 1st time. Very cool! Guy

That might just be because his voice is completely gone at this stage.

I agree -- this would be an outrage. Guy

Can't listen to the Wall anymore (which is OK, because between the ages of 14 and 18 I heard it hundreds of times). Waters's whining voice just bugs the crap out of me, and even some of the better music just doesn't need to be heard anymore. Stuff I still like almost enough to listen to again: "Mother" (best tune on disc 1), "Goodbye Blue Sky", "Nobody Home", "Is There Anybody Out There", "Comfortably Numb" (though this one I can fast forward through mentally ). Side 2 (after GBBS) is pretty bad, and side 4 (after RLH) is awful. "The Trial" is just plain embarrassing. Even when I was 14, I knew it was terrible. Guy

I don't remember the book that well -- read it in high school, I think. But it stayed pretty faithful to the book. (Though how did the aliens arrive on earth in the book -- was it similar to the movie?) Anyway, for some reason I didn't find the movie itself engaging. Not sure why (maybe because I knew how it would end?). HOWEVER, they definitely managed to convey the complete and unrelenting terror/horror of the situation. There weren't any bullshit heroics (with the possible example of the cage scene), just people doing what they need to survive. I dug that. The cabin scene was excellent, though it looked like Ripley would have done better than Tom Cruise's character. I agree about the ending being a little over the top -- that's when they did dip into the Independence Day bag (with the soldiers doing their thing), and it wasn't that necessary. They should have stuck more faithfully to Wells's ending. The one thing that bugged me in terms of consistency was that some electrical devices worked and others didn't. How the hell did people have functioning digital cameras and camcorders at the crash site? Guy

Yoshi's is the best (and most expensive) spot, though they occasionally have some smooth crap there. Pearl's used to be great, but I haven't been there since the renovation. (Might still be great.) Bruno's in SF is worth checking out. Too bad SS, you are arriving just as I'm leaving. Man I love California! Guy

When I first encountered this dude's name I thought it was "Todd". I listened to a few tracks from this CD today @ Tower Records. Wasn't spurred to buy it, but if you like this sort of thing -- a melodic piano trio with a slightly funky touch and the spacious ECM sound -- then you will probably like it a lot. Guy

Or BOB BROOKMEYER! Guy

Is this a "quit the band 12 times, get the 13th free" kind of deal? Guy

Can I have another log in ID? ← If you get one, it should be 4/7 Guy

I'm going to hijack this thread, but I always it would be cool if we trained board members as counter-trolls. Kind of like counter-espionage. Guy

I want to pick this up, but I think ECM deleted it in the US. Guy

Thanks a lot folks! Guy

I actually agree with Chuck's point - better to get to know the recordings you do have (official or otherwise) than to constantly accumulate a steady stream of recordings that end up being played once and are then tossed to the bottom of the bin. But this applies to all music, not just the "unauthorized" kind. Guy

"Freddie Freeloader" has overdubbed vocals in Chinese... Guy

If anybody wants, I'm selling CD-Rs of Kind of Blue for $60 a pop. I am including my own original cover art. Guy

You could put this thread in the dictionary under "troll". Guy

I'm sure within a few months Yourmusic.com will have this for 11.98. Don't be angry, be patient... Guy