Adam

How about we discuss whatever my latest History Channel show is on. Then I can tell you what's going on; and you all can tell me what you might find interesting in a show, and watch the final thing. And I am a fount of information on my current show for 6 months. Or is that too self-aggrandizing? Anyway, the topics at hand are: 1. Tomb Raiders - archaeological site theft and illicit artifact trading. Topics discussed include the Frederick Schultz case, in which a NY antiquities dealer was recently imprisoned for supporting the smuggling of artifacts from Egypt. The James ossuary - a looted artifact, so impossible to ever really know its authenticity. The looting of the pyramids in ancient Egypt. The antiquities auction market - estimated to be over 90% looted artifacts. 2. Hannibal the Carthaginian general and the Second Punic War

Pretty much as above. Music is great. Sinnerman, Four Women, etc etc etc.

Wait, I don't understand, is it a 57 page article or a 550 page book?

"I ain't denying there wasn't no bottle." - Leon Spinks You know, it's funny, but if it successfully communicates what they are trying to say, then what does it matter?

Wait, isn't Presley HER name as well?

I have that song on a mixed tape. I think it is in the Sister Rosetta Tharpe Proper box.

My general faves from the 80s are The Waterboys (Fisherman's Blues was the first CD I ever bought) and the Pogues. Prince Bruce Springsteen avoided all references to New Wave, and Born in the USA and Tunnel of Love are both very good. And The River is 1980, I believe. Echo on the Replacements. Some early rap. Some Elvis Costello And Costello comes closest to "New Wave." I have to say I don't have much from the 1980s in my life.

Most peculiar, then. It's still not working. My work has a newly-installed firewall. I wonder if that is affecting it. Although I'm still getting this site. It's still www.jazzcorner.com, right?

For me, AAJ is up and Jazz Corner is down (and has been for 2 days).

Isn't that rule #2?

I saw "Scarface" last night at the Cinerama Dome in LA, and I have to tell you, I don't quite get it. Well, I do in part - it is entertaining, one doesn't notice the passage of 3 hours. I think most of the credit goes to Oliver Stone's script and Pacino's performance rather than anything De Palma did (but there are some great crane & jib shots in there.) But why should this film be this pop favorite/influence on hip-hop? The only full on "success" sequence is that musical montage where money is coming in, and they get the big house, and he marries Michelle. Then it's all down hill. Is it the idea of "you can make yourself and have it all" combined with the over-the-top elements and the quotable lines? I guess that's enough to make a cult film. But any input on that? Is it the sort of film that just plays in the background of a party? Did you hear that the studio wanted to replace the Moroder score with a hip-hop soundtrack, to make it up-to-date? Even Pacino liked the idea. But De Palma, who has final cut, said no, and so it remains. I'm glad - De Palma's reasoning seems right to me - that the film is also a record of its time, and Moroder and that disco (and the hair!) is all that period.

Yes, sorry. Probably just echoing the "album" in the thread title. I still haven't read Mezzrow's autobiography; I need to rectify that soon.

Are you going to do it as a separate thread, as with #1? I think that's a good idea.

Well, the article only mentions pre-bop banjoists, and there were plenty of those down in New Orleans. You can still see one with most "Dixieland" revival bands. But a bop banjoist? Hmmmmm. I bet an avant-garde banjoist would be easier. In fact, I think I've seen one, or am I just thinking of the accordian player with Dave Douglas's group (well, one of his groups)? Must consult my notes....

Another 10 days gone by; any more opinions?

In today's bizarre thought, that Mezz Mezzrow album may have come from Panassie to Henry Miller, which would explain why it would be in an antique shop in Big Sur, where Miller lived.

I got that one too. Wacky isn't it, to think how many people might have just one credit card and might fall for it?

I think I have 19, including the Collector's Disc. I can't remember whether I have the Hank Jones or the Stitt.

I was about to add the same note about Henry, but Shane beat me to it. Grimes attended Friday night as well, but as an audience member. I then saw Henry again Sunday afternoon at the Coffee Table cafe in Silverlake. He and his companion were talking with a third person, and I didn't interrupt. Friday night was mostly songs, really, with Jarman's very Buddhist lyrics.

I have 7 or 8, maybe. A record store out here used to have some at decent rates, but no longer (I think the supllier started going to EBay). Like Chuck, stored on shelves (not CD slot, but regular shelves) with other CDs, and there are so few that I know what they are.

I'm going Friday; I have to work at another event on Saturday for an arts group with which I'm involved. Otherwise, Saturday would be it. I haven't heard that about Henry Grimes, but I wouldn't be surprised.

I always thought that the shoot-out scene on the steps in the "Untouchables" was a direct rip-off of the Odessa steps scene from Potemkin, mostly because of the presence of the baby carriage. I remember studying Potemkin in an Intro to Film course in college (a long time ago) and it always stuck w/me as a great film. What some of these early film makers did w/o the technology we have now (like story telling) is really amazing. I'll have to check the Untouchables again; my memory is a bit hazy. Also in my hazy memory are vague recollections of babycarriages in other films - because it is such an archetypal image of innocence. I mean counterpoising that with the relentless advance of the rifle-men ruthlessly shooting everyone down is a great coup, in terms of powerful contrasts. I think that might be a source of the great power of the scene, the abrupt contrasts, coupled with the lightning-fast editing, the move from peace to the chaos rushing down the steps.... Also I think the vigour of the scene comes partly from Eisenstein's ideological position. I suppose he was a true believer in the Revolution (at the time) and wanted to evoke that in scenes of comparable power. I think it does make a difference that, having something to believe in. It doesn't have to be Revolution, just some individual credo that is properly thought out. I think a lot of film-makers today don't have that. Basically just making films from a desire to make big bucks. And also I don't think this is a time of great belief. Simon Weil And now try to find Chris Marker's "The Last Bolshevik" (uh, oh, it might be "Grin Without a Cat") in which, among other things, he does a brief analysis of that scene, showing how it is false, etc. His interest is how media constructions of the Russian revolution become our memory & knowledge of events, even if they are false.

There's a place in the extras you can go to see a bunch of people delivering Alex Baldwin's big speech in various languages. It's quite amusing. It might be a hidden thing; I forget now.

I think we're related RDK - My Captain name is Captain Sam Rackham Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!

I will probably pick up a few that I don't own, but won't do any replacing for now. Amazon is carrying them for 13.99 or 14.99, and I can't see paying more than that, although I noticed that most retailers seem to have them at 16.99. But they really should have included a bonus something in each disc. Any new liner notes?