seeline

There are some really good sites on gamelans and gamelan music. Here's one: http://www.gamelan.org.uk/index.htm - their discography covers music from central Java only; there's a lot more out there. and this blog has some very interesting videos and recs.: http://endofworldmusic.blogspot.com/ You might also check out the multi-volume set of Indonesian music on Smithsonian Folkways... over 20 discs (sold individually) with an incredible array of music and genres. Edit: I forgot this site - they also have a store, and some streamable recordings - http://www.gamelan.org/index.html

All the very best to you in this, paps!

Man, that's a terrible experience. This doctor I went to is a pulmonologist who has developed an injection that uses two medications: scopolamine, which is used in sea-sickness patches, and Atarax, which is an antihistamine. Together, they work to block the nicotine receptors in the brain. Very powerful injection. You feel drunk afterward. Someone has to drive you home and when you get home, you sleep through to the next day. Then, the day after the shot (today), I put a patch on behind one ear. The patches contain transderm-scop, which when used in conjunction with a medication called Chantix, works to continue to suppress any urges to smoke. Then I got some alprazonlam (generic substitute for xanax) to calm me down if I get edgy. All in all, pretty drugged up. But worth it, because I have had zero urges to smoke going on 30 hours now. They also give behavior modification suggestions to break up the "habit" pattern. Things like, take a shower first thing in the morning before you have a cup of coffee. Take a walk after dinner instead of going outside to light up. That sort of thing. Those are all very powerful drugs - ad Xanax is probably the nastiest of the benzodiazapines, in that its half-life in the body is extremely short and - well, it's the thing that made me start chain-smoking. Is this a doc you see regularly, or is this someone you went to specifically re. quitting smoking? I don't want to sound like an alarmist, but I feel leery of such "cures." (The behavioral mod stuff sounds good, though.)

Quitting is one of the hardest things I've ever done. I was in grad school at the time, which made things even harder (I was a chain smoker), but... M&Ms and prayer got me through it. (I'm not joking!) I'd tried to quit many times, and had always given up after day 10 or so, when I'd have a "cheat" cigarette. The final time - when I actually was able to quit - I'd decided that a few cheat smokes were allowable, and not a sign that I'd failed. I only allowed myself to have them in the student union's lounge area (not the car, not at home, etc.). The few times I did give in, I'd buy a pack from a vending machine, have 1-2, then crush the rest of the pack in my hand and throw it in the trash. The final straw came on an evening when I was waiting to take a very tough exam. Many of my classmates were smokers, and they were all lighting up... so I decided that I needed a cigarette, too. I went to the vending machine and dumped my quarters into it, pulled the lever, and... nothing. (It wouldn't give back my money, either.) So I repeated the process - same deal. And again... and after the 3d time, I just started laughing, and walked away. I won't lie: I had cravings (off and on) for years; usually coming out of nowhere and hitting hard. (I think this happens to most people, or at least, it's happened to most of the ex-smokers I know.) This can really throw you for a loop - I tried to stay focused on the fact that I really *didn't* want to be enslaved by the habit again, and that seemed to work. (M&Ms helped, too.) Like Lon, I do feel proud of this accomplishment, but am also aware that I could easily fall back into it... it's easier to stay away now that it's not such a common, socially acceptable thing. But... it's the psychological part of it that's the hardest (I think), not the actual nicotine addiction. (The only drug available at the time was Nicorette, and I didn't use it, because I didn't want to get hooked on chewing it - which can and does happen.)

You're welcome! It takes a bit of getting used to (or at least, it did for me), but it's a great tool - especially if you're needing to type a lot of non-ASCII characters.

Not that it matters, I suppose, but... that's a pretty sweeping statement. And disrespectful to boot. The early hip-hop folks that you profess to love were also baby boomers. Believe it or not, we don't all think - or act - alike.

Switch your keyboard layout to "US-International" and then you can type all the accent you want. Like this: ondulé.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but uh.... isn't that how records get warped in the first place??? Not always. In the wake of the first oil crisis, LPs were made of such thin vinyl that the cellophane wrap was capable of inducing a slight bend to the record. I remember my original copy of Boogaloo Joe Jones' "Snake rhythm rock" was like that. MG Or more than "slight." I bought some badly warped LPs in the 70s that had never been unwrapped.

That 3d cartoon is a gem, MG! (I like the others, too, but the image + political commentary is very nifty!)

I've heard most of the album now, and though I think there are good things about it, I don't think jazz standards are where she does her best work, or where she's most comfortable. Some of the best cuts on Blue Light 'Til Dawn and Belly of the Sun work (for me) because she's giving free rein to her own mixture of jazz, blues, cabaret-style singing (not the term I want, but I can't think of a better one right now), gospel and - big "and" - other African-derived musics. (From the Caribbean, Brazil, etc.) I don't care for her last few albums, as they seem (to me) overproduced and just not a good fit for her ideas. As commercial discs, they're probably what her label wanted, though... I wish she and Brandon Ross would work together again. Their concepts and arrangements worked - like the percussive pedal steel and conga combo on "Redbone" (Blue Light 'til Dawn). The plastic bucket percussion on her version of "The Weight" (Belly of the Sun) runs a close second to that, IMO.

MG, your fashion sense is off - those are most definitely a variation on the leisure suit. [said with a nod and a wink]

chauncey, please cool it with the insults. As for "mentally ill," that's true of most abusive people - and I do not mean that in a sarcastic or uncompassionate way. They are ill; they need help; their illnesses (often coupled with drug and/or alcohol abuse) are played out at others' expense. /end threadjack.

The "Jekyll-Hyde" problem is everywhere in this life - musicians (and "artists" in general) are hardly the only group of people where it can be found. And a lot of "Jekyll-Hyde" types are physically and emotionally abusive. so nothing you're saying surprises me, Randy. (I have some unfortunate RL experiences to draw on where this is concerned, and have seen it happening in many other peoples' lives as well.)

I think you mean attempted to be justified, no? Truthfully, that's the saddest line of B.S. that anybody can pull, the attempt to wrap their developmental immaturity in the cloak of "artistry". I've seen that firsthand more than once, and have cursed it out, often rather bluntly, as well, especially when it involves people dropping their own ball and expecting me to pick up their slack. Sorry, I got my own shit to deal with, and some days are better than others, if you know what I mean. Sorry, but I don't play that, not now, not ever. Shit happens, sure, but when there's a pattern, even a macro-pattern, hey, grow the fuck up, ya' know? Having said that, though... There are a few people who really are wired differently than the rest of us, and whose behavior is just...different by nature. But there's a lot less of those than the "Romantics" would want to think, and there's more than enough posers of this type to stock a human shooting gallery well into the next decade. Anybody who wants to round them up and take them there will meet no immediate resistance from me... Well, in their minds, they were justified, so that's why I worded my post as I did. As far as being wired differently, Bud Powell comes to mind immediately - his story always makes me feel very sad, so I try to avoid reading bio. material on him.

I've personally seen some incredibly rude behavior justified by the statement "But he's a musician" and "I'm an artist." Sorry, doesn't quite cut it.

Ooh, Joe Cuba! (Love the rest of your playlist, too.)

Thanks for the hint: Have tried it before - same here Even with the accent on the final letter of "Pathé"? * Never mind; I just tried it and see what you mean.... how frustrating!

Jim, I tried posting again on another board recently. Let's just say that I have no taste for anything remotely confrontational at the moment. Cool?

Thanks. I think maybe the word I'm looking for is "confrontational," which really isn't my style. (Not to pin it on you; it seems to be fairly common on BBs.)

Jim, I wasn't meaning to start a debate; I was just posting some thoughts for discussion. It's probably better if I just disappear from this thread, as the tone has changed considerably. (Though I'm not sure why.)

I think you misread what I was trying to say. Of course, there's ambiguity in all of life, but I don't believe that "art" is intrinsically more important that treating people well. To put it another way, I would rather be a so-so musician but decent person than a genius who is cruel and abusive to others. (There are very real reasons for this topic being of concern to me, BTW, but the details don't belong on this board.)

This is becoming interesting - from an ethical standpoint - for (maybe) young musicians. I wouldn't ever want a young person in the arts (or in any other field) to feel like it was OK for them to do whatever they wanted, even if it hurt other people - as long as their "art" didn't suffer. Ability at anything doesn't - in my book - trump the very real need to treat others (and oneself) well. Speaking of those who are dead and gone is one thing, but if you take some of the arguments stated in this thread and apply them to the here and now, well... the moral ambiguity of the message is (to me) scary.

Oh, I thought it was the other way around. Those Cohens ... get 'em all mixed up. Me, too! That's why I checked.

Her brother is Avishai C. the trumpeter. Check here.

Thanks for this, Ptah.