Dr. Rat

We did a mini-feature on him this morning, read the Times obit and played five tracks. He really had a warm, approachable style compared to some of the "classic" Cuban voices (like More or Pio Leyva or Carlos Embale). And he exuded a sort of dignity that always made me for good for him (and me). I am very happy he got his day in the sun before he left us, though I'm sorry he apparently had to work so hard once he hit the limelight. --eric

Jennings was always my favorite, too. He seemed the least affected of the big anchors, and always seemed to have a sardonic edge to him when appropriate (about 75% of the time in this country). He seemed to have something of a lightweight image, though, in spite of all his experience (I can rmeember a few comments passed both publicly and amongst journalists about him). Anyone know more about this? It awlways puzzled me but I never bothered to pursue it. --eric

Man, Said's name sure is a red flag! --eric

I had a good day at Goodwill the other day, but amongst my finds are some that aren't my kind of thing, but which may be of some appeal to folks here. I am not looking to get absolute top dollar here (whatever that might be), but I'd like to cover costs and maybe buy a beer or two. So, to be sold as a lot to a good home: John Coltrane, OM, VG+ (gemm standard) John Coltrane, Concert in Japan (VG-VG+) Paul Bley, Open, To Love (VG+) Roland Kirk, Left & Right (VG-VG+) Wayne Shorter, Odyssey of Iska, VG Wayne Shorter, Moto Grosso Feio, VG Anyhow, if anyone is interested, make an offer through email. --eric

Personally, I like to think of books as statements in one big discursive conversation, which we've been having for thousands of years. Cretainly someone like Orwell or Swift is best read as one side of an exchange, but I think most books can be looked on that way. --eric

I'd also note that anonymity has absolutely nothing to do with whethe or not one stands behind what one writes, as the above examples should make clear. And I see no difference at all in the degree of rashness or stupidity between those who post under their own names and those that don't. Though it does seem there may be a self-righteousness gap! --eric

I THINK that the organissimo.net problem is throwing the whole app for a loop. --eric

And why shouldn't one address this potential cruelty by being more responsible in what one posts? When you know that your name is behind what you're saying, might that make you think twice? And isn't that thinking twice a good thing? It's not bizarre at all. Absolutely, people read what I have written via dejanews (oops - sorry, it's Google groups now) - going back well over a decade. And it's always been my name behind it. Have I changed/grown? Sure - what you read then is how I felt then, but it still had the full backing of my name then. Mike ← So what do you think of Swift or George Elliott or George Orwell or "boz" or Mark Twain or . . . . . . --eric

Finally got a listen to the who disc today. "This is the PLace" should be called "This is the Shit." But then I couldn't announce it on the radio. I have to disagree with an early poster who mentioned that Boogaloo Sisters was derivative--I think you guys have always had a certain sound of your own, but I think this CD certainly takes that sound to a new level, your playing seems very together and sure. I think Lazaro touches on something interesting in his notes: one of the hallmarks of your music, I think, is a tension between getting downright and dirty, and "skipping around the rhythmic hooks." That tension is what keeps interest up, and what makes the downright and dirty stuff really pay off when it comes. Also, great work providing variety in the material, in terms of presentation--stop/starts; time changes; odd signatures; peaches; latin elements. This is a release that's going to get a lot of play here, so I'm going to have an opportunity to live with this one a while. I look forward to hearing you guys a lot over the next few months! My Plays today: Greeze Monkey and Tenderly (listener thumbs up!). Earlier: Peaches (two listener calls) and Brother Ray (kudos Brother Randy). Looks like a lot of other folks have been giving you guys a test run: you are quite close to the top of our Top 30 for the week. --eric

On Rainy Day: Perhaps we can put this one behind us? On anonymity: I think having a fig leaf is important. After all what you do here is public in a way that most things aren't. As bizarre as it might seem, people could be reading this stuff years from now at the archive. I like a level of accountability-- which I think we have here--Jim can track our IPs easily enough and effectively ban us if we abuse his hospitality. That's good. And anyone who is truly intersted can find out who I am, and that's cool too. But I don't think we need to have our true life names attached to everything we write here for all eternity. That'd be cruel indeed for some of us! --eric

yes that seems to work. I fixed the original link as well. --eric

hmmmm. let's try this

Organissimo in French

Kind of like pointing out the board's use of the world wide web, isn't it? He who is free of narcissism, cast the first stone, and it should be cast through your computer monitor screen. --eric

When can we start on the cake? --eric

Shane! --eric

I ain't gots the wherewithal to fulla yawl. --eric

I sense that it must be pickled peanuts. --eric

Somebody gots a problem with gots? Youse guys better watch it! --eric

I'm certain reality fairly well exceeds what I can imagine from the available evidence. --eric

Pronounced yah-ILL

Yeah, me too and I hardly remeber anything about it except that it was sloppily edited and patience trying. OTOH, the Faulkner I read at 20 (the other two books Oprah has assigned plus Go Down Moses) I remember vividly. But maybe that's just me. --eric

Sound and the Fury is some heavy going. That's a Faulkner they ought not assign to 19-year-olds. --eric

I think you are observing something that is true of all contractions--they become so internalized that one doesn't think "will not" but "won't" and we only recognize that won't and will not are interchangable because they teach us that in school. Y'all or yall or yawl has grown away from where it came from, but the proposition isn't that people now think "you all" when saying yall, but that that is where the word came from. Y'all is kind of like ain't--the contaction is just a kind of recognition that this sound used to, in some past world, represent two words. So it's a matter of etymology rather than of current usuage. --eric

Me three--keep getting hung up trying to load little sidebar images, etc. I can still read, but the browser has to be stopped with each page load. Not a browser based problem btw. --eric