AfricaBrass

I can supply those. Hey! I got a copyright on those... Doesn't bother us here at EasyTee. Actually Cat Shatner's head came from a picture of someone's cat I found on a Google image search and the shirt came from an old picture of Captain Kirk... I'm the copyright infringer!!!! Back to the slammer for me...

Jeff, you know everything is black OR white dontcha? I know. That's why my personal ethics have a lot of room for the grey area, yet I admit that there are laws that go against what I believe to be right, and in the end my opinion is worth jack squat. It is difficult to respect the law when our own leaders use and abuse it, though. I just wish the law would crack down on all the speeders where I live... This is the type of black and white that I like to see. Balance.

I can supply those. Hey! I got a copyright on those...

Time for your bread & water, AB! I understand where Mike's coming from, though. It's a sensitive issue for jazz artists in particular, who have rarely gotten the money they should have from recordings. The whole brouhaha with the Roscoe material getting put up there not long ago is a good example; and though Easytree may have acted with haste to take it down, it's still unfortunate & detrimental to artists' livelihoods. I agree. That's why I backed down. I really want artists or their descendants to get what's coming to them. I'd be happy to purchase recordings from the artists or the family if they were made available for download. I'm just sad to see Easytree go because it made music available that few have heard or ever will hear. Having said that, I'd be surprised if the lawyers that went after Easytree represented any artists in the first place. My guess is that they represent the big record companies, of which many have shown a complete lack of concern for the artist or the consumer. But, I do see how this stuff can hurt the smaller labels like Chuck's, and that's something I don't want to happen.

You're right. The law is the law. It doesn't make it right IMO, but it's the law. I won't argue that with you. This is why I do appreciate artists that have allowed sites like archive.org to post recordings of their shows. I hope more will do so in the future.

I'm not trying to rationalize things. I see nothing wrong with sharing unreleased material. If the artist decides to release said material, I will buy the legitimate version. I always do. Heck, I've bought some albums 4 times in different formats. What some don't understand is that most IMO people using Easytree are the real music fans. We're the ones who do buy the cds. I've got over 30 Dick's Picks cds by the Grateful Dead, yet I still download their shows. We are the ones who do respect and remember the artists. Fans have been sharing tapes, DATs and now cds for years. It's not going to stop. The wise artist is the one who understands this and sees how this attention brings them new fans and goodwill. Michael, You can't tell me you don't have any unreleased material in your collection. I'd be shocked if you didn't.

I hope you won't sue me for quoting your post I wish I lived in Europe... What happened to the land of the free?

Thank you Noj! I'm sure you don't need my opinion. You do nice work.

That crossed my mind... Fortunately there is still some great music that is still available through archive.org or etree.org, but they are hurting in the jazz department. My thanks to anyone here who participated in Easytree. Thank you for all the great music! AB (last easytree share ratio 1.37) :rsmile:

Wow! Not completely unexpected, but this is a drag. This and the late sharingthegroove were a music lover's dream. You can argue about copyrights all you want, but these sites were diligent in respecting copyright. They'd delete anything that had one. Whoever threatened their provider with legal action is foolish. Sites like Easytree and STG effectively killed bootleggers. They took all the profit out of it for them. Now, I guess a door just re-opened for them.

I really like your work, Noj. I'm looking forward to seeing what you're working on.

Thank you for sharing that Al! There's nothing better than being proud of your kid. That's the kind of lesson that could have long lasting meaning to him.

I'll second this one!

I like the different colors, but I wish I could make those pesky words go away. They junk up the whole site.

Bukowski. Exactly!

Haven't seen one since I left Iowa in '66 unless you count some business associates. I ran over the damned thing in the Jeep. I never saw the snake (which proves how well rattlesnakes are disguised in the desert). My friend, behind me, saw the snake slithering away. He jumped out of his Jeep and got a digital-camera video of the snake. I wouldn't have approached the snake, had I known it was there, to snap a picture. I prefer to let rattlesnakes do their own things (away from me). I used to ride my mountain bike daily and I hated when I'd come blazing down a trail and there'd be a big ol' rattler sunning himself on the trail. I usually had no choice but to keep going and bunny hop right over him. I'd see scorpions too... I hate poisonous critters.

I just like him to steer me to a good job...

Oh sure. If he's so "smart" why couldn't he have warned us about Che? haha He probably did, and Jeff wasn't taking his advice. "Now son, we need to treat all board members the same, no matter how off the wall of a fuck face they may be. "Remember, there is no problem that can't be solved with a PM or two". Sorry, Jeff. I deserve that. Edit: Maybe I can have him look at the board with me and give me a yay or nay by looking at our avatars...

Good points! Actually, I have another good non-psychic story about him. When he was a couple months old he would cry a lot. NOTHING would stop him from crying, until I put Lee Konitz' Motion cd on the stereo. The music started and he stopped crying and (it seems like) he was listening to the music. I'd bet money he was listening. For the first couple years of his life he loved jazz. I played it all the time, when I wasn't at work, for him. He really dug the Lee Konitz, Flip Phillip's Verve recordings and LD's The Natural Soul. He would get that cd off the shelf all the time for me to play (this started when he was around 1 1/2). Now he loves cartoons and wants to see them instead of listen to jazz.

That was the best one, but he does little ones. Just this morning, he was talking about going over to my wife's friend's house tomorrow. My wife hasn't taken him there for months, but during the day yesterday (when he was at school and she at work), my wife had made plans to go over there tomorrow night (Wednesday). We hadn't talked about this in front of him. I know this because my wife was just as shocked as I was when he started talking about going to this woman's house tomorrow. If he says not to leave the house because it's dangerous, I just might stay at home.

So... I guess he's the one on the right with the larger head. No, but I think his brain is bigger than mine. That kid is scary smart!

....Carnac! Yes, Carnac, the psychic boy! For those who don't know what we're talking about: A couple months ago, he predicted that my wife would be in a car accident. She dropped him off at school and he was crying and having a fit (which he never does), and he told her not to leave him because it was dangerous. Less than a half a mile later, some kid ran into her at 40mph. She was okay thankfully. I picked my son up from school later that day and asked what he meant when he told his mommy that it was dangerous. He said that it was dangerous because a car was going to crash into the back of her car, which is exactly what happened. So... that's why Mark calls him Carnac.

Here's a picture of me and my boy:

I enjoyed the track, Hip Hug Her, in the movie Barfly. My favorite Booker T & the M.G.'s is the early stuff and I too prefer their originals. Alexander beat me to the punch, but I dig McLemore Ave. - I've loved that album for years. I'm really into Steve Cropper's guitar playing. I love his style.