seeline

I hear you - and have always disliked it in classical, too, except as color.

Many thanks for posting that piece!

It really is - so much so that it can be extremely hard to tell where the sadness and depression that are part of the process end and other kinds of depression begin. As you've said, it can really help to go to an experienced clinician, but.... the process of grieving is such that sadness (and other emotions) wax and wane in a very unpredictable way. About all you can do is ride it out and go through it. (I lost a sibling last fall and am definitely having both good days and bad, though so far, music has been - for the most part - bearable, even helpful. But - as rachel said - there are days when it isn't.) Edit: Something just occurred to me - that even on bad days, a bit of practice and/or playing *my* instruments can be really helpful. It's recorded music that's difficult.

I'm so sorry for your loss, Larry. have been through the not being able to listen thing myself, and it does seem (for me, at least) to be directly related to depression and other kinds of mood "lows." I know of other people who've been through similar experiences during/after breakups and deaths of family members. It's not weird at all... except when it happens to you. There's nothing I can add in the way of suggestions, as the bases have been covered pretty well. But I'm willing to bet that this is part of the whole grief cycle. (Sorry if that sounds trite; can't think of a better way to word it right now.)

I think that Triple Earth died long ago, but I could be wrong.... I used to have some LPs they'd put out in the late 80s.

I think that's true for these 2 chains in general. I've been window-shopping for TVs at these stores (locally) and think Circuit City more than has the edge, for price and customer service.

I just got my mom a 22" LCD Toshiba (this year's model) and tried it out at home 1st, so that I could help her with it. Very nice, and given the screen brightness and intensity of colors (even when toned down quite a bit), I don't think I'd want to go for a much larger screen for myself - 27" max, I'm thinking. But that's just me - and I'm not much of a TV watcher, either.

Poignant writer, Jenkins is. Yes. I hope that hits the people who need to see it the most.

Excellent article - I hadn't read any of her work in a long time, and am very impressed with where she's coming from. I also found her May 4th column, Is Horse Racing Breeding Itself to Death? here's a quote or two -

Yes - there are all sorts of deplorable things in the world. Most of them have some kind of defensible rationale behind them - even if one doesn't agree with the rationale. This is done for pleasure, which seems to put it in the same category as snuff movies. MG Oh come on. Despite the fact that "snuff films" are mostly the stuff of urban legend... http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/snuff.asp ...even if they were true, there's a big difference between the intentional killing of a living being (horse or human) and engaging in an activity that may result in an inadvertent death. I'm not a fan of horse racing, but I won't let hyperbole cloud my judgement about it either. You might want to check out this New York Times article, then - written by someone who has racehorses but only runs them on European tracks: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/weekinre...amp;oref=slogin

MG -

Personally, I think that's the problem right there. I'm just not that fond of what's being done in animal breeding of any species. Too many problems are created in the "perfection" of the line. Agreed completely, though the bigger picture re. the racing industry encompasses much more than poor breeding practices... Here's an MSNBC article on bad breeding and the track . Photo of Eight Belles (taken at a workout last week) -

A few more things - - Our Thoroughbreds (today) are, in some respects, accidents waiting to happen, in terms of light bone structure alone. - On Sat. evening, I saw a post parade photo of Eight Belles and my impression was that her forelegs looked incredibly spindly. I'm no expert on equine matters, let alone racing, but I couldn't help thinking that she should never have been entered. (but I hasten to add that that's a "lay" impression, not a vet's!) - She probably was given anti-inflammatories (so she would run even if she was experiencing pain) - sadly, this is standard procedure in the US. - Could ego have played a part here - the owners', maybe? (First filly entered in the Derby in I forget how many years.) I hate to say it, but probably yes. So many people see racehorses as property/investments. You'd think that those folks would have some sympathy for the welfare of those "investments," but many don't. _____ papsrus wrote My thought is that the limit was reached a long time ago, and people are still trying to avoid dealing with it. Maybe this awful accident will help propel things in a better direction, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

You know far more about horse racing in the U.S. than I do, but what I have read is this: The track veterinarian said he had never, ever seen such a breakdown so far after the finish line. If that isn't the very definition of "fluke" and "incredibly unusual" I don't know what is. Its also been said that synthetic surface would have made no difference, due to the steady reduction of force while the horse 'gallops out.' I have no idea why you think she should have been scratched prior to the race, as I have heard of no adverse medical report about her fitness to run. If you're saying that fillies shouldn't be allowed to race against colts, then fine, but its not like they've never competed, or won, before, even if it is a rare event. Finally, isn't it in fact not surprising that after one ankle snapped, the other gave way due to the added stress? Yes its sickening but that is what happens when these animals break down. (Just to be clear, I bolded your comments about whether the injury was fluky or incredibly unusual) You seem to be citing an NYT article that also says this: The rest is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/sports/o...amp;oref=slogin Like I said above, I used to ride. Horses suffering from injuries are regularly scratched from horse shows, three day event competitions, barrel racing, rodeos, etc. It should be the same in flat racing, if the people involved want to even think about giving a sporting chance to the animals whose lives and welfare are in their control. There's a *lot* more regarding cruelty and welfare issues that I'm purposely not raising so as not to derail the thread. Perhaps knowing that many racehorses end up as "throwaway animals" is a hint, though. As papsrus said, the horses aren't the ones making the choices. It's up to the humans involved to see to the welfare of the animals, including fitness to do anything in competition of any kind (not exclusive to racing). In referring to the snapped ankles, I was thinking of the excruciating pain experienced by Eight Belles - from all accounts, she was writhing wildly after she went down. (i.e, her pain had to be doubly bad due to the fact that it was *both* legs.) TV people covering the event made a deliberate decision to not show that as part of the Derby broadcast. I do believe that people who are kind to animals have a great capacity to act compassionately toward other human beings, while those who could care less, or are deliberately cruel.... well, you guys can finish the sentence, no?

Yes, they're raced way too young, and too many owners could care less about possible injuries (like hairline cracks in bones) to make pulling a horse out of a race a real concern. Dosing horses with Lasix and other drugs so that they'll run injured (because they'll have less pain) is... well, I truly think it's evil. In fact, the whole "sport" as practiced here leaves a hell of a lot to be desired. I used to ride, and Eight Belles' totally unnecessary death (i.e., she should never have been entered in the Derby and/or should have been scratched prior to the race) has hit nerves that I didn't realize I had... Not just one ankle, but both ankles snapping - it's sickening. Seriously, I need to quit reading this thread. If Eight Belles' accident had been a fluke, or incredibly unusual, it would be one thing. But it's not... am beginning to think that there must be people who actually enjoy watching these kinds of bust-ups (as with many spectators at car races).

I use Firefox and Opera and have never had a problem seeing the "pound" sign as it's supposed to be displayed, although both browsers (like Safari) allow you to change character encoding options. As far as keyboard layout, Windows users can switch to a lot of different settings, including English-UK. The problem is remembering where the "special" characters are located! (BTW, I use the US - International setting, which is nice if you want to be able to type things like this without having to go to the Character Map - ¿ ç ü ... and so on.)

This article (on racing in Europe vs. the US) has a lot of good info. about the way in which racehorses are treated... The US comes out as being very inhumane. here's an excerpt -

Unfortunately, veterinary medicine isn't there yet (meaning that it's just about impossible to treat those kinds of breaks at this point in time). The other side of it is that the racing industry in the US is pretty brutal.

CDs usually come out anywhere from 17-20 USD at regular retail here. Anything higher than that is (usually) an import or a used disc that collectors want (or else just a used CD seller overcharging). None of Concha Buika's albums have been issued in the US, which is a real screwup (I think!) on her label's part. I'm sure she would do well in multiple categories if they got some decent distribution and PR for her. She certainly deserves to be on the radar.

Thanks for this, though "Bah!" about a US release - it's not being released in the US, period. (That's an import price.)

Exactly - and unless you're writing for the ethnomus crowd, you really have to try and come up with ways to catch the readers' eye. OTOH, the "blues" designation is slapped on all kinds of things that don't sound remotely like blues. In this case, I'd guess it came about mainly because some Tuareg groups (like Tinariwen) play electric guitars, though what they play on them is another thing altogether! You're right in saying that I wouldn't, but some other writers are not so careful, or honestly don't know that the idea is questionable. There's a *lot* of confusion about this, as I'm sure you know.

Yeah, it's a weak designation. On one hand I understand the inclination to attach it to some genre that is known, but on the other hand it sells a lot of people short who are interested in the actual roots and history of the music. But y'know, if i were a promoter, I'd more than likely be very tempted to use it... because I do think it works as a draw. Back when I was writing reviews, I avoided this kind of phrase, but it does go down easier than a semi-scholarly explanation of Tuareg and/or Wodaabe music might. (Hee - I think I just proved my own point about awkward wording. )

Sounds like a great show! but I do wish that promoters (etc.) would come up with something a bit better than "desert blues"... I say this because "[something] blues" seems to be a favorite designation here in the US, also the UK. The word gets slapped on just about anything - even European styles like fado. Oh well. I guess there's nothing I can do about it, is there?!

"Inolvidable" ("unforgettable") was composted by Julio Guitierrez and published in 1944, while the Cole Porter song in question was written for a 1943 movie, Something to Shout About. "Inolvidable" is one of the great boleros... It would be interesting to see if Guitierrez ever acknowledged a debt to Porter. I'd never thought about the connection before, but it makes complete sense. (There are so many borrowings of this kind - Cachao and his brother Orestes reworked part of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" for their piece "Africa Viva!," which Cachao talked about in a documentary that's o.p. now.)

Fascinating. If you've ever seen the David Byrne produced documentary Ile Aye about the Candomble in Brazil, there's this great image early on of Africa and South America as one continent, part of Pangea if you will, breaking apart and moving into separate continents. The implication of course is that they're inextricably linked, and he explores these connections in the film. Has anyone heard Victor Deme? He's from Burkina Faso and apparently is releasing his first album after a long career as a local musician there - his MySpace page has some clips and it sounds great. Amazon is only carrying the MP3s right now but hopefully the disc will get distribution stateside so I can pick it up. Oh gads - I don't want to get started on David Byrne! I'll just say that I think some of his production efforts are very good (mostly the compilations he's done), but beyond that... there is a vanity press feel (to my mind, anyway) to a lot of his other projects. Example: he and Caetano Veloso "curated" a series of summer concerts in NYC a few years back. Cae was supposedly bringing the best new, younger artists from Brazil - and you know what? Everyone he presented was/is signed to the label he and his wife own (Natasha). The PR for that series was (I think) a great deal of bs. I think I'd better stop now, especially because i haven't seen the film you mention and need to give it a shot, instead of acting like I'm somehow superior to Byrne. (Might make my ego feel better, but... it's not true! ) As for Victor Deme, I don't know his name - got any more thoughts/links? A *lot* of African musicians are showing up on MySpace, which is great! They'd probably never get exposure any other way, outside of their local area (for the most part).