ejp626

I'm pretty much through with Borders and Borders.com. Their server was crashed on the 23rd with people trying to cash in their Borders bucks, leaving many people unable to reclaim them. I tried 5 times throughout the day to place an order. Unacceptable. And then I decided, what the hell, maybe I can go get Jazz Icons 4 with the 50% off coupon. Two stores said it was in stock, even on their internal system and it was not on the shelf. I had to wait forever to get help at one of the stores because they were short-staffed on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Bad website. Bad inventory control. Very bad service at the brick and mortars. Not going to be too sorry when they go under.

Guess I'll take Montreal - 15

Again, the utter inanitity of it. There is even a list of the airports with and without the new screeners, so if one were a terrorist, one could pretty easily choose a smaller airport and make sure you transfer to a larger plane at Denver or O'Hare or somewhere (assuming taking down a small plane isn't impressive enough). For the time being, I'm going to fly out of Midway which supposedly has the old-style security. The whole situation is absurd and, yes, I do hope the protestors manage to shut down an airport or two. It's long past time to have a real conversation about risks and benefits and even profiling and other kinds of intelligence measures -- and not simply rely on the word of security experts who have a vested interest in growing the TSA.

Not sure if this is still available, but I could give it a new home. I can offer this (free shipping to US, bit more elsewhere): Noisettes What's the Time Mr. Wolf Should mention that this arrived safely. Thanks! Noisettes still on offer, but probably only through Dec. before everything goes to the great cut-out bin in the sky...

Very sorry for your loss.

Well actually the only reason the box cutters were sufficient was because we were operating under the old rules of negotiating with hijackers and trying to keep the situation calm. Since no one had experienced any hijackers so nihilistic as to be willing to try to steer planes into buildings. The screening process in place a year ago (without the nude photos and junk-touching), and the secured cockpit doors, would be far more than necessary to prevent that type of attack. That's what I call selective memory. Believe me, I wish the conservatives had been on board prior to the Patriot Act, since that monstrosity never should have passed, but I will gladly take their assistance in helping roll this back, even if it causes a black eye for Obama. At a certain point we are just going to have to live with some uncertainty. This new super-invasive screening IS NOT adding to airport security and most experts will admit (under some duress) that 1) the underwear bomber would probably still have gotten through and 2) this screening isn't going to stop anyone who puts explosives in a body cavity. And almost certainly this latter approach is going to be tried some day. If the oh-so-predictable response from TSA (and Obama or whoever happens to be President) is that you have to spread 'em to get on a plane, I will never fly in the US again. That's all there is to it.

Since the next wave of attacks is most likely going to involve stuffing an explosive into a body cavity, are you going to be willing to submit to this kind of screening (which does on rare occasions already happen at border crossings) for all air travel passengers? I, for one, am not. I would rather take the miniscule risk of being blown up than putting up with this. This is The Fear talking and taking over the country. There are better ways to prevent these attacks than adding more layers of absurd security that 100% of air passengers must submit to. This would involve much greater attention on looking at unusual transactions. It might mean there is a larger class of frequent travelers (and pilots) who get extra attention periodically but then bypass the scanners on the majority of their trips. Most of all, it means being smart about security rather than over-reacting.

First, I think many of you haven't experienced the upgraded pat-downs, which are significantly more invasive than before. They are starting to touch your junk. There are reports of women having to show their panties... Second, I don't think the health impacts of the new technology is nearly as innocuous as they say. In fact, there are two different technologies, and one delivers more radition than the other, but the TSA wants both types of scanners to ensure there is more competition. I think this is a problem. Third and most important, the real question is whether this over-the-top approach (both the nude imaging and the invasive pat-downs) truly adds security or is it "security theatre." I vote for the latter. I really hoped we would be able to sit back and review some of the post-9/11 changes and undo some of the poor decisions of the TSA under the last administration. Obviously that hasn't happened. I will be flying less until a saner approach to airport security returns. It could be a while.

A few more: 8 Bobby Timmons Born to be Blue 5 Malachi Thompson Blue Jazz 5 McCoy Tyner Prelude and Sonata 10 Harold Vick Watch What Happens 5 Phil Woods-Donald Byrd The Young Bloods 13 Larry Young Mothership 13 Larry Young Of Love and Peace (24 for both Youngs) Thanks for looking

Have not entirely decided but I may see Benny Golson at the Jazz Showcase. I would definitely have preferred to catch him on the Sunday matinee with my son, but that's not an option. So I may go to the late set on Thurs.

Should have posted yesterday, but ran short of time. Tatsu Aoki has been doing more and more in the Silk Road, cultural-crossing vein. He has a big band called the Miyumi Project Big Band. They were playing a free gig in one of the Chicago Park field houses, so I went by. Probably the least traditional big band you will ever see. 3 saxophones, two string players (though one actually mostly does sampling), drum kit and bass. Now actually Tatsu is directing the band in this performance, not playing bass, and it appears his son is playing bass. Then 11 taiko drummers! 8 are students and only come on for part of each song, but when they are on the sound is just so low. It was just incredible. An absolutely unique experience. So glad I went. I'm about to listen to a recording (though with only 3 taiko) and I'll see if they could record this well at all. I might spring for another CD with more drums, though the musical sample suggests the recording equipment just could not cope with the waves of deep drumming. Supposedly this performance was also recorded and will be on public radio, so I will keep my eye out for that.

I could definitely do with fewer Yellow Pages. We get at least two full city ones, plus one just for our neighborhood. There was some investigative reporter who found that, even though there is technically an opt-out form for the Yellow Pages, the contractors who drop these on doorsteps simply ignore it. {Something got erased here.} Payphones are pretty much extinct in Chicago. I do kind of miss phone booths though.

Perhaps you could post the CD numbers, it would make identification of these discs easier. If the numbers are TOCJ-9xxx they're JRVGs, if they are TOCJ-1xxx they're "Blue Note Works" CDs. Ok, added.

Someone would probably enjoy these Hipp CDs: 10 Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims TOJC (no obi) 15 Jutta Hipp at the Hickory House vol. 1 TOJC (obi available) 15 Jutta Hipp at the Hickory House vol. 2 TOJC (obi available) It appears that the Hickory House CDs were remastered by RVG in 1998

A few more 5 Universal Syncopations Miroslav Vitous (ECM) 8 Gap Sealer Jimmy Heath (Jazz Beat) XXX Onzy Matthews Select -- a long scratch on disc 1 that does not affect play, otherwise set is in very good condition

Americana Don DeLillo Apparently his first novel. Really hits it out of the park. I try not to get jealous of first novels, but damn. Now this one intrigues me (also a first novel sort of in the David Foster Wallace vein), but I'll wait until it goes on deep, deep discount in about 6 months.

Added 45 Bernstein Mahler: The Complete Symphonies (this is the OOP 12 CD box -- very nice shape -- cheapest used on Amazon is $60) 12 Rene Urtreger Trio Move Also have several MPS samplers and the complete* Colors of Latin Jazz (on Concord) series if there is any interest. * I have 10 different titles in this series, there might have been 11 total. Thanks for looking.

I actually had all the Waller sets (I got them at some discount but not these prices). The only one I got was the Ellington Clinkscales. I am, however, fairly likely to get the Bernstein Symphonies box on pre-order. (There's enough of an overlap with his Mahler Symphonies box that I will probably part with that -- not that big into the songs.)

My wife occasionally talks about getting one but I doubt she ever will go through with it. Upthread someone mentioned their body being a poor canvas. That is certainly the case here. Overweight (finally starting to take this more seriously) and thick hair everywhere. I might be able to pull it off on my upper shoulder, but that would be the only place. I occasionally ponder doing something like my kids initials in a ring (my feelings about them are essentially permanent) but I don't feel obligated to do it either.

Well, apparently not a legal problem if they are still offering the MP3s. But even at the Lonehill site, they aren't selling this, so I expect the 2-5 week delay is going to ultimately translate into Sorry, unavailable.

It looks like the Ellington (Clinkscales) more or less covers the same territory as Masters of Jazz 1-5 (without alternative tracks) and about 1/3 of MoJ vol. 6. I may go ahead and get it, since I don't have MoJ or Classics, and they are sure hard to track down now. It doesn't look to me that there is anything new.

Does anyone know what the story is regarding Lonehill's Saxes Inc. / Trombone Scene? This one has gone OOP apparently and is very hard to find, while Brookmeyer's Trombones Inc. is still around. It's hard to imagine a legal problem getting in the way, but maybe that is the case...

Well, as a serious question, why hasn't someone in the EU just taken and reissued the 12 volumes of the Masters of Jazz series? I can't see anything that would stop them, and these things command $20-30 a pop when you can even find them.

Saw the CSO doing Shostakovich's Symphony 8. Incredible stuff, particularly midway through the first movement when the first oboist has what is essentially a long solo. I know these folks are professionals, but it would still seem to be nerve-wracking to have to pull that off.

Don't watch it enough, that's for sure. My main problem, however, is I consistently cheat myself out of sleep, and they have now found strong evidence showing that you lose some hormone (leptin) that helps regulate your appetite when you don't sleep enough. Sounds about right for me; I definitely snack too much. I've made some improvements in snacking on fruit at work, but I definitely need to do more.