Chrome

Point taken about how people used to view jazz as being "down and dirty," etc., but I doubt Adorno got his ideas from the Nazis. He was an assimilated Jew who was kicked out of his university professorship by the Nazis and left Germany in the mid 1930s, although he did return after the war. On the other hand, even though Adorno's criticism of jazz was couched in academic terms (he was also a professor of music or something similar), I always secretly thought he really DID hate jazz for exactly the reasons you mentioned, not the Nazi stuff, but basically looking at jazz the way some people looked at rock when it first entered the mainstream.

That happened to our cat ... seriously ... damn thing jumped up on the kitchen table when we had some candles there and caught himself on fire! He was one of those "-ese" cats ... Burmese? ... I don't know, but with long hair and his whole side went up in flames. Luckily (?) I was right there and wrapped him in a dish towel to put out the fire ... no burns to either of us, but the cat looked even stranger than normal for a while.

Dwarf-date show sparks controversy Some criticize, but show has support from little-people group Friday, January 30, 2004 Posted: 9:43 AM EST (1443 GMT) LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Critics may roll their eyes at Fox television's upcoming dwarf-dating contest "The Littlest Groom," but the head of the advocacy group Little People of America says the show could end up giving his members a boost. While some audiences may snicker at the spectacle of a dozen dwarf women competing with average-sized females for the affections of a 4-foot-5-inch bachelor, LPA president Matt Roloff said the Fox show may benefit people of short stature by depicting them as regular folks "just being themselves." In other words, a person's size doesn't matter. "Yes, the radio jocks will have a field day," Roloff told Reuters in a telephone interview. "(But) hiding us behind closed doors or in funny costumes will never give us the exposure needed to desensitize society to us." Fox said this week that it would air the show, essentially a dwarf version of ABC's "The Bachelor," as a two-part special next month on February 16 and February 23. The announcement sparked a flurry of angry letters to the LPA from little people and their parents and a debate within the Portland, Oregon-based organization over its response to the show, Roloff said. "The fact that Fox is doing this reality show is outrageous," Roloff quoted one e-mail he received from the parent of a dwarf child. "It is one more avenue to make fun of their stature." Roloff credited the producers of the show for consulting with his group in an apparent effort to develop and promote the show in a sensitive manner. While the LPA neither supports nor endorses the program, Roloff said he would withhold judgment until he sees it. "My sense is that they probably didn't do anything too derogatory." But the retired software design and sales executive said he remains troubled about the idea of throwing averaged-sized women into the mix, an element of the show he called "ill-advised" and potentially hurtful to his members. "Personally, I think that the (bachelor) guy might have the same tastes I have and prefer a little woman and reject the average-sized women," he said. "But at the same time, if it did go the other way around, it might be problematic, and make America think there's something wrong with little people." He said there are roughly 100,000 people in the United States who have been born with dwarfism, a genetic condition that usually results in an adult height of 4-foot-10 or less and disproportionately short arms and legs. "Littlest Groom" Executive Producer Bill Paolantonio defended the program as a "celebration of diversity." "We have gone to great lengths to make sure everybody on this program is treated with dignity and respect," he said. "Human emotion is human emotion, no matter what the package is, and this program ultimately is about that" He said all the dwarf contestants on the program had dated a mix of little and average-sized people, and that one little woman on the show had never dated a little person.

Just an FYI, Daniel, I don't mean to seem as if I'm picking on Swedes with this and the anti-Semitism post on the other thread.

Another vote for "Inner Circle" ... that Osby guy seems like he know's what he's doing, huh?

Theodor says: Those who have been thoroughly informed lend themselves to thorough utilization. -------------------------- The more participation in mass cultured exhausts itself in the informed access to cultural facts, the more the culture business tends to resemble contests, those aptitude tests which check suitability and performance, and finally sport. -------------------------- For the citizen the free capacity to produce replaces the idea of a life free from domination and he seeks in the world of achievement the human significance that this realm specifically denies him. -------------------------- The dream industry does not so much fabricate the dreams of the customers as introduce the dreams of the suppliers among the people.

Ah yes, Mr. Adorno ... this guy was so right on about so many things (in my humble opinion) that it amazed me when I learned of his pathological hatred of jazz. What's really ironic is that he'd probably agree with 99% of what's been posted here in terms of the deterioration of culture, except that he'd consider jazz as part of the problem!

Child pornography was legal in Sweden until 1999?!?!

Georgia considers banning 'evolution' Friday, January 30, 2004 Posted: 7:48 AM EST (1248 GMT) State Superindendent of Schools Kathy Cox answers questions at a news conference in Atlanta, Georgia, Thursday. ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- The state's school superintendent has proposed striking the word evolution from Georgia's science curriculum and replacing it with the phrase "biological changes over time." The change is included in more than 800 pages of draft revisions to Georgia's curriculum that have been posted by the Department of Education on its Web site. The middle and high school standards are expected to be voted on by the state Board of Education in May, after public feedback. Superintendent Kathy Cox said the concept of evolution would still be taught under the proposal, but the word would not be used. The proposal would not require schools to buy new textbooks omitting the word evolution and would not prevent teachers from using it. Cox repeatedly referred to evolution as a "buzzword" Thursday and said the ban was proposed, in part, to alleviate pressure on teachers in socially conservative areas where parents object to its teaching. "If teachers across this state, parents across this state say, 'This is not what we want,' then we'll change it," said Cox, a Republican elected in 2002. Educators and legislators criticized the proposal, saying science teachers understand the theories behind evolution and how to teach them. "Here we are, saying we have to improve standards and improve education, and we're just throwing a bone to the conservatives with total disregard to what scientists say," said state Rep. Bob Holmes, a Democrat. Social conservatives who prefer religious creation to be taught instead of evolution criticized the proposal as well. "If you're teaching the concept without the word, what's the point?" said Rep. Bobby Franklin, a Republican. "It's stupid. It's like teaching gravity without using the word gravity."

In case you haven't checked your recent post in the Art thread: Such piracy or stealing is not acceptable.

Another for "Flight to Jordan" ... and to "Change a Pace," one of his Steeplechase releases. A nice trio date w/NHOP (bass) and Bill Hart (drums). A great showcase for his playing.

Ghost: I think the basic problem comes down to the length (or lack thereof) of the book. Amis is a great stylist, but he needs “room” to in which to work. With enough pages, he could provide anyone with a believable, readable motivation to do just about anything. With Night Train, I often felt he was holding something back. Occasionally he couldn’t help himself and he’d get into a groove, but then those sections didn’t feel integrated with the rest of the book. I think he could have gone the short, hardboiled route on this … or kept closer to his usual style … and I would have like it more. But he tried to do both and it was kind of a muddle. Also, the intro paragraph really grated on me, so the book and I got off to a bad start. I had a hard time believing cops say stuff like “I’m a police” and I thought naming the main character “Mike” when she was a woman was kind of gimmicky. Again, maybe if Amis had more room he could have made the latter point more believable to me.

I think that pretty much covers the industry's point of view, huh? Great idea by Gabriel/Eno!

eric: see above. The Amis/Bellow love affair has been going on a while ... I met Amis at a book signing in Chicago back in the mid/late 1990's ... Bellow was there, too!

Ghost: I'm a huge Amis fan, but to me, Night Train was pretty disappointing ... and while London Fields is excellent, his Time's Arrow is an absolute tour de force. It was one of the best books I've ever read in my life, both stylistically and content-wise. It's about a Nazi doctor who had worked at Auschwitz but escaped to the U.S. ... when he dies in some unrelated accident, his "soul" tells the doctor's story, but going backward in time ... for example, he describes his "work" at the camps as helping people ... taking dead Jews and healing them (the reverse, obviously, of what really happened) and then sending them in crowded trains back to where they originally lived. So it's like watching a movie going backwards and then making up a narration to describe the backward events. Hard to explain, but he totally pulls it off and uses it to great effect in describing some of the horrors of WWII.

I'm from the Detroit area, so it's like White Stripes central here ... if anyone's heard of the Von Bondies, the mother of their lead singer, who was in a much-reported fistfight w/Jack White, was our nurse for the birth of my 4th kid. (The Von Bondies singer got into the fight, not his mother!) The music ... well, on the one hand, not too much of today's rock engages me, but, on the other, I really think part of that is a function of my not focusing too much on it in the first place. I mean, I think most of the criticisms I could lodge against rock could just as easily be lodged against jazz by a non-jazz lover, if that makes sense.

"Photo novel" ... is that like a graphic novel? If so, that actually sounds pretty cool to me.

I second a for Bad Plus ... the covers are interesting, but they sound like they really have their own thing going, too. For example, I've also got MMW's "Tonic," the one on which Medeski plays piano instead of organ, providing an interesting opportunity to compare two semi-similar piano trios ... I found myself preferring the Bad Plus in this context. On the other hand, perhaps MMW playing out of their regular format had an effect, too.

The Garcia thing reminded me of my favorite dead musician joke: So this guy is a real Beethoven fanatic ... buys every recording he can find, goes to the orchestra all the time, names his dog "Ludwig," watches "Immortal Beloved" nonstop, etc., ... finally he saves up enough cash to go visit Beethoven's birthplace and all, and ends up at Beethoven's grave. Now this guy is a real fanatic, and he gets the idea that he'll dig up ol' Ludwig ... so, he digs and digs, finally gets to the casket and pries it open ... there's Beethoven, with a mess of musical scores and a pencil, and he (Beethoven) is just erasing like crazy. The guy who digs him up says "Beethoven, what are you doing?" Beethoven says "I'm decomposing!"

Jazzmoose: Just beat ya to it, huh?

I bet the Jethro Tull guy was thinking the same thing ... all together now: "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay!"

TV's 'Captain Kangaroo,' Bob Keeshan, dead (CNN) -- Television's Captain Kangaroo, Bob Keeshan, died Friday morning in Vermont, a family friend told CNN. "Captain Kangaroo," a children's show, featured the walrus-mustached, bowl-haircut Keeshan entertaining youngsters with his gentle, whimsical humor. Among the show's other characters were Bunny Rabbit, Mr. Moose and Mr. Green Jeans (Hugh Brannum). The show ran on CBS from 1955 to 1985, and then moved to public television for six more years. Shows were frequently interrupted with silliness, such as hundreds of ping-pong balls dropping from the ceiling or Mr. Moose's knock-knock jokes, but the mainstay was Keeshan, who chatted with Brannum and told stories.

Eric Drooker ... anyone have one of his graphic "novels"? I have "Flood," which is pretty incredible. No words at all, just pictures, yet incredibly moving.

Hope there wasn't a "Bungle in the Jungle."

(insert dreadlocked smilie here!) Early Marley tracks to see light Thursday, January 22, 2004 Posted: 11:30 PM EST (0430 GMT) LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Previously unpublished tracks from Bob Marley's early years are to be released this northern spring, more than 20 years after the reggae icon's death, Universal Music said on Thursday. The record company said it had signed a 10-year global licensing deal with reggae label JAD Records for their early catalog recordings of Bob Marley & The Wailers. Over 200 tracks, recorded between 1967 and 1972, feature a young Marley with street attitude, influenced by the U.S. civil rights movement and beginning to explore Rastafarianism. "It is thrilling, both personally and professionally, that Universal is now able to present to fans virtually the entire recorded works of one of the most prolific and influential artists of the 20th Century," Julian Huntly of Universal Music International said in a statement. Jamaican-born Marley, who died of cancer in 1981 at the age of 36, became a global superstar with reggae anthems such as "Stir It Up" and "No Woman No Cry." The deal includes songs composed in Kingston, Jamaica, during the early years of The Wailers, the band the godfather of reggae formed with Neville "Bunny" Livingstone and Peter Tosh. The first release is a three-CD set, which will hit start hitting the shops in March. Tracks including "Music Gonna Teach," "One Love True Love" and the Peter Tosh version of "Little Green Apples" are to be released on CD for the first time. The catalog also includes reggae classics such as "Stir It Up," "Small Axe," "Guava Jelly" and "Concrete Jungle." Universal said there was "every possibility" that more previously unreleased songs could be found. Universal Music International is the international division of Universal Music Group, part of Vivendi Universal.