Guy Berger

I've been watching the 8th season. In general not as inspired as the best moments from the 4th, 5th or 7th seasons, but with plenty of enjoyable moments. That said, no apologies or excuses need to be made for "The Yadda Yadda", an incredible episode by any standard. I should've known it was a Peter Mehlman. Guy

Another funny moment -- or rather series of moments -- is from the 1st season episode "Justice", where the Enterprise visits a planet that's part resort, part fitness club and part orgy den. (The scantily clad natives jog from place to place.) As one would obviously guess, this easygoing paradise imposes the death penalty for breaking a handful of infractions -- one of which is triggered when young Wesley Crusher ignores the ankle-high warning fence and trips into a flower bed. "WE'RE FROM STARFLEET -- WE DON'T LIE!" I was literally laughing for five minute straight during this one. Guy

Well of course... Actually, I heard that at least part of the second season overlapped the 1988 writer's strike, which gives them an excuse for not improving the storylines much from the first season. Overall, the third season was an amazing improvement over the second, and I agree that the fourth was their best. It was steadily downhill from there, though. Growing up I always thought the funniest moment in the original series was when the cascade of tribbles fell on Kirk. But then, that was supposed to be funny. If we're talking about unintentional moments, there are too many to choose. Season 1 generally sucked with only a few exceptions. Season 2 is genuinely better -- there are several good episodes and two great ones. I think the writers were starting to figure out what to do with the show. Season 3 was the big leap forward and season 4 the best. However, while I agree that later seasons were not as good as 4, season 6 was probably the 2nd best of the series and season 5, while somewhat erratic, had three of the episodes the series ever ran. Season 7 was probably the weakest aside from the 1st 2 but that's probably because they were working on other stuff. DS9 was a substantially better series. Guy

I remember watching this terrible episode, but not this (especially at 0:45). Guy

Not sure if it's literally a fugue, but the head to Bird's "Ah Leu Cha" has an imitative counterpoint thing going on. Guy

I was thinking the same thing. Lots of great movies (and some not so great) mentioned in this thread that I wouldn't call "action films" -- though hey, vox populi vox dei. Guy

i repeat the heat might not win another game I hope not. I can't stand that team. Guy

When was the last time the West wasn't the better conference? It's been a really long time. God, that Lakers trade pisses me off. I hate the Lakers! (Sorry Noj ) Guy

Extensions is excellent -- one of those albums I listen to only rarely, but which surprises on the upside every time. Guy

The best! I thought this was overrated though there were some classic sequences. Guy

Yeah, I felt a little guilty putting "Road Warrior" up there -- but man, that was one hell of a chase scene. Perhaps I will check out Apocalypto. My brother's philosophy on Gibson is to pirate his movies and share them widely in order to take away his revenue. To add -- my comment about subtitles was tongue-in-cheek -- feel free to add non-Anglo action movies, eg Crouching Tiger. The most recent Batman was excellent, as was the first one with Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton. Guy

Alright -- nothing artsy-fartsy, no characters that look like they came out of a Sprockets skit, and subtitles only when the bad guys are talking. Some favorites: Raiders of the Lost Ark The Last Crusade Die Hard (first one) The Road Warrior Terminator 2 the most recent Bond movie The French Connection I'm sure there are a ton that I am not thinking of.

It is a bitch to keep up. I get most of my reading done on a stationary bike. It seems like once I get caught up the Technology Quarterly or one of the other interesting special sections comes around and I fall behind again. I almost always turn to Business first and go on thru the Obit, then to the front on thru International. Not that anyone asked... I am the same -- stationary bike (reading it on the treadmill is a bitch, but doable). And yes, the Tech Quarterly is a killer as far as keeping up with the issues. Guy

Don't foreigners own the Federal Reserve banks? That bothers me a lot more than their owning Citibank. Foreigners owning Federal Reserve banks? Where did you get that idea? Here is how ownership of the Fed works: Since there are some depository institutions in the US that are operated by foreign banks, and since many foreigners own stock in "domestic" banks, it is inevitable that in some sense foreigners own part of the Fed districts banks. Guy

The way I see it -- good for us, bad for their countries. TD -- apologies on the outdated nature of the articles -- a lot of the time I am catching up on back issues. Guy

Assuming you are talking about fiscal policy -- that's a question that should probably be left for the politics forum.

If the business cycle is an inevitable part of most economies, it isn't inevitable, yes? Softening the sharper edges of a recession is a worthwhile endeavour; however it's one which usually turns out to make things worse in some unforseen way. That's because everyone's problem is some other bugger's opportunity. MG Hence Milton Friedman's recommendation to replace the Fed with a DeskJet that prints out money at a constant rate. I agree that the Fed should avoid trying to fine-tune the economy -- but also think that when the economy is slipping toward recession there is scope for well-executed monetary policy (and well-executed fiscal policy, if such a beast is possible) to mitigate the pain. Guy

I have read this paper -- the parallels are very alarming.

What is this? The world needs to know! Seconded! I haven't heard Gary Peacock recently, so I can't say if he was lobotomized or not. Reports are he sounded great with Bley not too long ago (a pesky pianist whom Jarrett claims never to have heard). When did Jarrett claim never to have heard Bley? In the Carr biography he is quoted as saying that he listened a lot to Bley in the early or mid 60s. Guy

I couldn't disagree more . The Fed is taking their customary hair-of-the-dog approach : an economy drunk on cheap money needs...........more cheap money ! The Fed's move was acknowledgment , if any was needed , that the U.S. economy and the consumption which drives it , are now structurally dependent on unbounded credit expansion and concomitantly rising asset values. In such a debt-saturated society inflation is tacitly welcomed while deflation is openly fought . Given that the business cycle is a function of an unchanging human nature , attempts to abolish it are misguided , and what's more , are downright dangerous . Forest rangers know that if occasional small fires are always extinguished , the risk of a forest-destroying conflagration grow enormously . Likewise , small tremors relieve some of the pressures that cause devastating earthquakes . The economy is like this too . The Fed is in effect trading the current economic pain of the few for the future economic pain of the many . That the Wall Street tail now wags the economic dog is reason aplenty for gloom . I disagree. Recessions are usually miserable -- particularly ones that last a long time -- and usually don't cause pain for "the few". Just because the business cycle is an inevitable part of most economies doesn't mean that governments and central banks shouldn't attempt to soften its sharper edges. That said, I agree that the Fed's apparent response to a prospective sharp fall in the stock market sets a bad precedent and one that will cause them pain in the future. Guy

I don't think the date on the second recording is right, judging by the personnel. Guy