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Saw the Pacific Rim String Quartet perform Schubert's Rosamund Quartet, then Schubert's String Quintet (with Eric Wilson as guest cello). Quite nice. Some aspects of the quintet come through more in a live performance than in the recordings I have. There is this one section (in the 3rd movement?) where the key keeps changing. I also really liked the almost percussive use of the 2nd cello in the first movement. Jazz concerts are definitely few and far between here, so I'll probably have to wait until the Vancouver Jazz Fest to really get my fix.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Well, Michigan is usually about a day behind Chicago, so I suspect you'll have snow tomorrow. Anyway, I am certainly glad that I can skip winter in Chicago this year, even if it was freakishly warm the first week of Jan.

I really liked this one. Wasn't quite as taken by his next novel Too Late The Phalarope, which isn't nearly as memorable. I did read a few of Paton's short stories and thought they were fine. Anyway, I wrapped up Himes' If He Hollers Let Him Go. It stayed pretty raw throughout. One thing that I wasn't crazy about is how unstable the main character seemed, not exactly in an on edge, near madness sort of way (though he was that way a lot), but how he would be in one frame of mind, then suddenly shift to another. Finally you thought he might be getting on a more even keel, then external events force him into a very bad spot. I think the person who wrote the introduction alluded to Camus's The Stranger, and that isn't a bad comparison. It is a bit of a period piece in the heavy reliance on dreams to comment on the action and (to my way of thinking) a weird mix of civil rights awareness and existentialism. The end certainly has a bit of a nightmare feel to it (Richard Wright's Native Son by way of Camus?), but the ironic denouement kind of salvaged the book for me. Just started Robert Pharr's S.R.O. and this is already a wild ride. The main character is a Black waiter who has fallen pretty hard (he's alcoholic) and he ends up at a Harlem S.R.O. which is populated almost entirely by junkies and prostitutes. The writing is really gripping. I will certainly look into Pharr's other novels down the road, including The Book of Numbers and Giveadamn Brown (this one looks like it is largely in line with Himes's Harlem novels). Both S.R.O. and Giveadamn Brown are on the Old School Books imprint. This (S.R.O.) may be the best of the bunch, though Man Walking on Eggshells by Herbert Simmons may be of interest as well. It is about a (fictional) jazz musician from St. Louis. Anyone heard of it?

I've given up on a number of disappointing books lately. I'm definitely doing that more now. Mating by Norman Rush and Hopeful Monsters by Nicholas Mosley. I'm just starting If He Hollers Let Him Go by Chester Himes. It is pretty raw and not really my cup of tea, but it is relatively short (and the prose is better than the much longer novels above that I have dropped). In the introduction, some commentator says this novel is more important than Himes' Harlem crime novels. Not sure about that, but the Harlem books are just so much more entertaining that I would always gravitate towards them (over this one).

Damn. Definitely seemed like an interesting guy. I just read through most of the essays in Talkin' Moscow Blues (generally either on jazz or on politics). I have many of his novels in translation and just picked up The Engineer of Human Souls (for the second time! -- first one lost in a move). I was definitely planning on reading Engineer this year, and I'll try to move it up to this spring.

It is strange how much higher it is for the Amazon.com pre-order ($200+). Had this come out closer to the Living Stereo set, I probably would have jumped on it, but I've tracked down many of the key Living Presence CDs (or at least listened to them at the library) and there are perhaps only 5 or 6 that are really calling to me (beyond the ones I already picked up), and I can't justify that cost. If it came down to $50 or so, I might still go for it, but I think I'll end up passing.

I guess the question is what are you looking to do. If you go with a laptop, then virtually all will have wi-fi (in fact I think they all would). If you get a desktop (which is the cheaper option), then you can either 1) just leave the computer plugged into the modem, 2) get a wi-fi router attached to the modem, but if you go this route, you would also need a wi-fi adapter for the desktop. Unless the modem is in a terrible location, you probably don't really need wi-fi. I recently bought an Acer desktop (and yes I would probably avoid Dell and HP) for $500 or so. I didn't bother with wi-fi. When I moved the desk, I just bought a slightly longer cable to hook it up to the modem.

I read one of his very first novels -- The Twenty-Seventh City -- which started out kind of promising, but then got increasingly implausible (and even absurd). I also wasn't quite sure if this was supposed to be set in a futuristic, somewhat distopian St. Louis or it was just a contemporary novel. I own a copy of The Corrections, but it isn't even on deck, so to speak. The earliest I might get to it would be 2014. As an aside, I am generally finding myself impatient and losing interest in books over 350 pages. I don't know if this is a temporary or permanent condition, or indeed if it is simply a function of reading several too-wordy books in a row.

I've been reading some of the writings of Josef Skvorecky, who frequently writes on jazz and Eastern European politics. I believe he was an admirer of Havel, though they probably had some differences. I'm going to see if I can track down this short piece by Skvorecky: - "I Saw Václav Havel for the Last Time", in Jan Vladislav (ed.) Václav Havel or Living in Truth, Fa ber and Faber, London, pp.274-277. BTW, has anyone actually seen any of the early plays by Havel? I've seen one in translation (The Memorandum), and while I'm sure it did lose a lot in translation, the satire was still quite biting. Slightly more absurdist than Bulgakov, but they (to me) seemed like fellow spirits. If you find it please let me know. I have most of Josef's writings that have been published in English but not that one. Actually, this volume is being remaindered and there are plenty of copies: Remaindered Truth I decided I would just try ILL, but I came close to buying it (probably only holding off because I went and bought the collected plays of Havel in 3 volumes -- and that will be of more long term interest than this particular collection).

Actually, I was thinking the other day about the Alice in Wonderland remix done by Randy Greif (in the late 80s/early 90s). I got the first reissue, and then they reissued it again in 2000: http://www.amazon.com/Alice-Wonderland-Randy-Greif/dp/B00004WJAD (Probably not something you would want to share with the kids.) I believe, but would have to double-check, that this set was the source material.

I've been reading some of the writings of Josef Skvorecky, who frequently writes on jazz and Eastern European politics. I believe he was an admirer of Havel, though they probably had some differences. I'm going to see if I can track down this short piece by Skvorecky: - "I Saw Václav Havel for the Last Time", in Jan Vladislav (ed.) Václav Havel or Living in Truth, Fa ber and Faber, London, pp.274-277. BTW, has anyone actually seen any of the early plays by Havel? I've seen one in translation (The Memorandum), and while I'm sure it did lose a lot in translation, the satire was still quite biting. Slightly more absurdist than Bulgakov, but they (to me) seemed like fellow spirits.

Most likely it isn't an issue.

Right, but why would they let people cherry pick through the catalog if there is a reasonable chance they can sell the whole thing (didn't 32 Jazz have the rights to the whole Muse catalog or something)? I can understand the logic at least. You could argue that one or two limited releases like we are talking about here might actually increase the visibility of the brand and make a sale more likely, but that is pure speculation. I guess it is the ratio of clinkers to the good stuff that determines if this is a reasonable strategy or not. Of course, anything they get in 2012 is going to be less than in 2000, for instance, just because of the consolidation/collapse of the music industry.

I think the e-tailers are going to give you the best price -- I would look at Amazon or DeepDiscount.com. DeepDiscount is currently running a sale on Criterions and that should include Blue-Rays.

Did you order it again? Have not ordered too much, though in the last month, I did order Roarin' by The New Don Rendell Quintet, Peace by Chet Baker, and today I ordered Lake of Perseverance by Dom Um Romao (which I believe is his last or next to last recording).

Not sure if this will last only until Tuesday morning or if it will be left up longer, but BBC Radio 4 has a 30 minute piece on PKD: PKD on Radio 4 Nothing terribly revelatory, but still worth a listen if you are a fan.

As soon as I hear E. Spalding is involved, I tune out. Not at all interested in her work after suffering through one of her concerts.

Finally have my home library more or less reconstructed, though I am missing a few books (and more annoyingly some key DVD sets). At this point, I have to hope they are in the boxes still in Chicago, which are getting shipped up in Jan. (The goal was to ship all the office stuff, books, DVDs, CDs, etc. in the first batch, then household goods and clothes in the second round. Who says I don't have my priorities in order? ) Anyway, I realized that I had relatively little in the way of Faulkner. While the LOA sets are pretty nice, I don't think I need a full set of Faulkner -- that's what the public library is for. While this is old news, Oprah pushed a three-volumne set of Faulkner in 2005 (As I Lay Dying/The Sound and the Fury/Light in August), and it is hard to beat this price for some of the used sets that are kicking around: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307275329/ref=oh_o01_s00_i00_details I just ordered one of them for just a bit over $5 plus shipping. Personally, I think what Oprah did for some of these somewhat more challenging novels was great. I don't understand at all people carping at her for her book club. Someone commented that Faulkner would be turning over in his grave! Are you kidding me? He would have been thrilled for hundreds of thousands of new readers to pick up his books. She might have actually moved a million copies of this 3 book set (can't come up with exact figures), and if even 10% read them all the way through, and I expect it was considerably higher than that, I think that's amazing. For a slightly deeper push, I might go for Absalom, Absalom and then perhaps the Snopes Trilogy (conveniently collected into this Modern Library edition): http://www.amazon.com/Snopes-Trilogy-Library-William-Faulkner/dp/0679600922/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322852552&sr=1-1 Then some of the collected stories, and I think one would be set. Not saying that other Faulkner isn't worthy of reading, but probably wouldn't need much more for a home library (where space is always an issue). On the other hand, I may break down (someday) and get the entire LOA set of Steinbeck's novels. For some reason it has a greater pull to me as a set. Anyway, I certainly would if shelf space weren't a consideration (with cost a slightly secondary consideration).

Well, it's always something. I was looking into mobile phone service here in Vancouver, and there are a number of studies showing that for a complete package, including a basic data plan, the US and Canada cost more than nearly all other countries, including most African nations -- by a factor of 10 in many cases. As it happens, I went with a start-up (Mobilicity) that is ultra cheap, but their coverage is super limited.

They seemed ok with the pirate stuff, though the parts on the island itself could have been shortened up a bit. Anyway, I really thought Kidnapped dragged. While they don't have cell phones themselves, it is hard to imagine an entire world where not one person has a cell phone, which would have almost instantly cleared up so many matters. Oddly enough, they do enjoy The Railway Children, which doesn't hold my interest, despite the many various episodes that make up the book. Both Railway Children and Kidnapped have many sections that seem overly moralistic to me. This may be an apocryphal story, but I heard that some students were learning Romeo and Juliette, and they asked things like, why didn't Romeo put a mirror under her nose. Nowadays you'd probably have some kid say There's an app for that too.

Curiously enough, I am also reading this, and also from the library. I actually wasn't expecting it to come in nearly so soon, but I think they ordered a bunch of copies system-wide. I'm halfway through, and I'm going to have to go with some of the less positive Amazon reviewers -- meh. I do have slightly higher hopes for the newer stories in the last section, but I haven't found the first ones compelling at all. In particular, The Runner strikes me as a writing exercise where he was trying to write a Raymond Carver story and didn't pull it off. While I say I admire DeLillo, the truth is he is really hit or miss for me. White Noise is an outstanding book (I'm actually going to try to reread it in 2012) and I also really liked Americana. On the other hand, I really slogged through Underworld and can't recall much of it at all. I struggled with Libra and have put it aside for the time being. I wrapped up Kroetsch's Badlands, and it was ok but not outstanding. Fairly shortly, I will reread What the Crow Said, which I guess is a kind of magic realism (written before Garcia Marquez had really gotten much attention in the north). I think what Kroetsch is really trying is to take seriously what life would be like in a backwards, frontier town if mythology were real (Zeus as a golden shower and so on, though in this case it is a swarm of bees that seduces a young girl!). My understanding is that John Banville's The Infinities is along similar lines, and I'll be reading that relatively soon (nearly ordered a copy, then realized the library had many copies already). I finally finished reading RLS's Kidnapped to my kids. I know some people love it, but I found it pretty boring. The language was a considerable challenge and I found myself having to change a lot of the words in the middle of reading to make it understandable. Ultimately, I skipped over large chunks that were basically insensible if you didn't know the difference between a Whig and a Jacobite. This wasn't nearly as much of an issue with Treasure Island, which they did like. Probably read something shorter next time. If I can dig out my copy, I'll probably go ahead and read A Christmas Carol to them this holiday season.

Don't know about that, but I do know that Nickleback played the Thanksgiving Day game (Lions-Packers) and the good people of Detroit put together a petition asking for another band.

First off, let's not have some long debate about how crappy it is to run MS Windows products on a PC and how I would be better off with Apple. I'm not interested. My problem is that MS used to support Windows Picture and Fax Viewer and they kept scaling it back. You could basically force it back on in XP, but that was the last time. The program has been completely removed in Windows 7 and several tech boards have come up empty in terms of running the program in Windows 7. (Believe me I didn't want Windows 7, but had two computers die on me in the space of two weeks, and had to get something right away, and that's all that's in the stores now. It is better than Vista, but that's about all that can be said for it.) I am aware of a few competing products like STDU Viewer and IrfanView, but they don't actually have the features I wanted (or I can't make them work properly perhaps). For that matter Windows new Photo Viewer doesn't have them either, and I am definitely not signing up for Windows Live Essentials, which may be the wave of the future, but I'm not having it. If it gets to the point you need that to run Windows system, then I will take the time to learn Linux and go off the grid so to speak. Anyway, I seem to be one of the last people to use .tif files extensively, but this is what I use to store thousands of scanned articles (in multi-page tifs). The features that I am looking for are an integrated sidebar with thumbnails of the tifs. The ability to grab multiple pages and rotate them. The ability to cut and paste the individual pages of tifs, both to reorder the main tif file and to cut and paste across tif files. The ability to add notes (this was rudimentary in Windows Picture and Fax Viewer but you could do it). Some basic OCR capability (also rudimentary in Windows Picture and Fax Viewer), but this is not a deal breaker. To actually save the changes... All of this was handled very well in WPFV and I cannot believe that MS doesn't realize what a step backwards the Photo Viewer is. Or how much better tifs are than pdfs. Maybe I am not understanding STDU Viewer and IrfanView, but they sure don't seem to have this capability. Anyway, if anyone has suggestions, please let me know. My real preference is to turn on Windows Picture and Fax Viewer in Windows 7, but if there is another program with the features I desire, and it isn't ridiculously expensive, then I would go in that direction. As a last resort, I will probably just get a cheap reconditioned machine that is Windows XP, but that won't last me forever... Thanks.

Well, I had heard of Freap, but I was not aware that he had at least 3 other BN albums (2 appear to be Japanese imports only, the 3rd never on CD). If Mosaic was still going strong with the Select series, maybe his BN recordings would be a good candidate?