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Well, there's certainly that, but I do think these "bricks" are a huge step up from the Reader's Digest like LPs back in the day that merely collected the most famous movements or arias. These collections still appear occasionally, but have mostly been crowded out by these sets with complete symphonies and/or orchestral works.

Well, I can see that, though there are certainly some artists I would only have gotten in a substantial box set, mostly the Sony OJC Collections. I have less of a problem with the giant set approach with classical music than jazz. But it is probably fair to say with most sets, I go through the box once and then don't return to it for quite a long time.

I've actually had a standing order for Jazz Icons IV for what seems like forever. I think I will cancel and just get the Hawkins and the Art Farmer. As for series V, I'm very interested in the Griffin and the Monk but would probably pass on the others, unless the video quality of the Blakey is much better than I expect.

Larry: Have you been moonlighting over at Dusty Groove? Anyway, between you and Allen, you've got me pretty well convinced to try this out, though I will have to wait until I have refilled my DG account with more trade-ins...

I have Tequila, the Half Note material and I had* the two Jimmy Smith-Wes Montgomery CDs, which was enough for me. It seemed to be the cream of the crop, so I don't think I'm in the market for this. * They went to a better place, specifically Australia.

That's what I just bought!

I don't know. The site seems to be up now. I was thinking of getting a few things, so I will go see what happens when I put them in the basket. No kidding. Wonder if it's because I'm out of the U.S. I just get a contact screen: --------------------------------------------------------- Could be. Seems to be working fine for me, and I just ordered something from Laurie Pepper's Widow's Taste label.

Please report! It's been sitting on my shelves for a while. I tried Doomsday Book, but bogged down pretty quickly; not a good sign... I thought it was an amusing time-travel romp. It's not as self-serious as (perhaps) the Doomsday Book. I spent most of my life avoiding Dickens; imagine my surprise when I finally read some... At one point, I was going to read through Dickens more or less chronologically. I may still some day, but it has been pushed into the future. (I actually have read far more Trollope than Dickens.) The odd thing was that I read Pickwick Papers in my 20s and liked it, but then was less taken with it when I reread it in my late 30s. I do remember reading Bleak House for college and thinking it pretty good, so maybe I should reread that and see if I still held my interest; if so, I could go loop back and start with the middle novels, maybe Dombey & Son, which is where I think he really hit his stride. Or maybe just stick with the original plan and start in on Oliver Twist. I will be making quite a few trips between Chicago and Seattle/Vancouver between now and Jan., and long novels might be just the thing...

I don't know. The site seems to be up now. I was thinking of getting a few things, so I will go see what happens when I put them in the basket.

I read this about a year ago. Enjoyable. Didn't make me run out and read anything else by Connie Willis, but I may someday. Worth noting there is a minor riff on the classic English comic novel -- Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat.

I am definitely going to check out Randy Weston on Thurs. I'll probably swing by for some of the other events, but I am not feeling compelled to see anything in particular. If Cassandra Wilson is at the Millennium Park stage I would most likely go. If she is at the Petrillo Band Shell, I would skip it. I've seen her on another cavernous stage, and it was definitely not worth it.

Right BestBuy bites for this kind of thing. Either a local stereo shop, or if you have to go on-line you are much better off with a dealer like Decibel than some random eBay or Craigslist seller.

There isn't a stereo store in town with used equipment? A place like this: http://www.yelp.com/biz/saturday-audio-exchange-chicago or this: http://www.decibel.com/ ? Decibel does ship, and I would trust them way more than a random ebay store. While they make their money from DJ equipment, they do sell used turntables for people like us. I got a decent turntable from them for under $400. I would not go to BestBuy or the like. They only have one or two turntables brands in stock and they likely play at the wrong speed. That was certainly my experience.

Actually the reverse is true too. For several years I ate California rolls, convinced that were vegetarian, but they have crab meat or some other fish substance in them. I would definitely have preferred that the fake crab meat was soy-based rather than fish-based.

Kind of a stupid question, but USB turn tables are supposed to work without pre-amps, right? I know my regular turn-table can't be used for recording unless I put a pre-amp in "the chain." I wonder if there is a USB-compatible pre-amp. Maybe a good business opportunity...

It's harder than ever to make a living as a poet or a playwright, and most of these creative types can only survive by teaching in MFA programs. Thus, in many cases you end up with the character flaws of typical artists married to the navel-gazing so common in academia. And then another bunch are there primarily to try to screw the co-eds. One thing you don't normally find is poets that are naturally encouraging of their rivals or potential rivals -- which certainly begs the question of whether they should be teaching in MFA programs. The only teacher I ever encountered who was genuinely encouraging of students knew he was a minor poet and wasn't so competitive. I've certainly enjoyed Levine's poetry, and that of his predecessor in the post, W.S. Merwin. I do find Levine's pose of being a working man's poet to be an odd stance. I mean, really when was the last time he worked on the shop floor? When he was in his 20s, 50+ years ago?

Everything has been mailed out from the last round of orders. Thanks again. I'm now taking stuff to the shops every few days. I still have a lot available, but the inventory is not current for sure. On a total tangent, I've also been selling CDs on Amazon and got an email from one of the buyers asking if he could return it because he just didn't like the music! Just wow.

Glad to hear that.

Same here, except I got the music when it first came out (on vinyl). Bought the first three LPs and skipped the fourth one! This seems to be the general consensus (that CD4 isn't that interesting), which is probably why it didn't circulate as much and is the most expensive now...

Yes, there is a 4 cassette tape and a 4 CD incarnation. At one point I had 2 or 3 of the cassettes. I did track down all 4 CDs used (as they are OOP). Looks like they are all available at Amazon for prices ranging from $5-20 for each volume. http://www.amazon.com/One-Night-Bluenote-Vol-1/dp/B000008AED/ref=pd_sim_m_2 http://www.amazon.com/One-Night-Bluenote-Vol-2/dp/B000008AEE/ref=pd_sim_m_1 http://www.amazon.com/One-Night-Bluenote-Vol-3/dp/B000008AEF/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1312855264&sr=1-2 http://www.amazon.com/One-Night-Blue-Note-Vol/dp/B005237UD0/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1312855300&sr=1-2

Probably 10-15 years ago, I would have been all over that. I think I can pass at this point in my life. Took them long enough, but they finally released a more compact Prisoner set, and Amazon is selling for under $35, which is not bad. Prisoner set This is supposedly a pretty great set from an early innovator (Ernie Kovacs), who influenced David Letterman and Terry Gilliam: Kovacs set However, there is word that there is a 7th bonus DVD which can only be bought when ordering the set from Shout Factory, for more like $55 plus shipping, which is not a particularly good bargain. So a tough choice for people with completist tendencies, not that 7 DVDs is a complete set of Kovacs, but it is pretty much all that was saved.

Some interesting things coming from Library of America -- the first in a three volume set of Vonnegut: Vonnegut on Amazon. Oddly, they are publishing the middle works first, then apparently will be publishing a volume with his first three novels (and more stories). Not sure what the last volume will contain, as it probably couldn't be all his novels post 1973. I could see it going through 1985, which would be 4 novels and a bunch of stories and maybe some of the essays. Or it could focus more heavily on stories and essays. I've actually only read two or three Vonnegut novels. I might be in the market for this set, but I think I'll hold off until some used copies start circulating. Anyway, then they have 2 collections of Harlem Renaissance fiction. As it happens, I have read nearly all of the material, since I took a course on the Harlem Renaissance in college. Some of it was quite interesting, but I won't be buying these volumes as my shelves are pretty full at the moment!

Turns out the whole thing, including the "study" was an elaborate hoax -- Hoax unraveled The crazy things folks do when they have too much time on their hands. Well, better than creating viruses, I guess...

I don't have a dog in this fight - really - but Wynton sure makes it easy for people to justify their dislike of him.

Or do something worthy enough that story B' (a new story you tell on yourself) is interesting.