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Happened to be flipping through Rolling Stone and they mentioned that Clapton was a big fan of Derek Trucks and that one really should listen to the version of Afro Blue on Truck's new double CD Roadsongs. So I did. It's a good cover, taken at a fast clip, some guitar wankery, but overall I liked it quite a bit.

Simplistic in the sense that having a slide rule and knowing how to use it makes you a morally superior human being, unlike the simplistic Twilight message of if you have sex you will die, die, die! I'm spending more time in the children's section of the library (to get books for my son, really) and certainly most of the juvenile literature of today seems pretty simplistic, not that there aren't honorable exceptions...

Interesting observation, though of course many of his novels were written for juveniles. Not sure if any of the juveniles would hold the same appeal to me now, though of all of them, I would probably still enjoy Citizen of the Galaxy and The Rolling Stones. Tunnel in the Sky was an early favorite, but I know that one has largely lost its appeal (for me). It has been a long time since I read any of his work. I would suspect that the short stories hold up best, perhaps followed by Moon is a Harsh Mistress and, for a real 60s time capsule, Stranger in a Strange Land. Of the later, kinkier stuff, I think Friday might hold up, but probably nothing else. I can't recall if I actually did read Cat That Walked through Walls or not. That might be an interesting experiment to read now, along with the expanded version of Stranger. However, I suspect the expanded Stranger would simply show how important editors were back in the day. Zelazny also wrote a lot of stuff in the pulp/juvenile mold, though I feel that has aged better, maybe because he often consciously worked in mythic elements. I could envision myself working my way through Zelazny again in a way that I would be unlikely to do for Heinlein. Perhaps I will pick a year to mostly reread science fiction to recharge my batteries, but I have too many other "important" things to read first, not least of which is Proust.

I would be sorry about that, since I thought Derek was taking less money to stay in LA for his little girl's eye problem (of course, maybe treatment went well and is almost over). Is he really that worried about LA being dethroned by Miami? From what I gathered, L.A. has been trying to low-ball him on a new contract or something, so he's checking out other options. From the LA Times - "The Lakers have offered Fisher about $5 million over two years. He made $5 million last season and was hoping to secure a multi-year deal worth that much annually." Maybe he's feeling insulted at them trying to cut his pay 50%, when they also just signed free agent guard Steve Blake to a 4 yr $16M contract. So he's feeling disrespected by LA (which I can certainly understand) for a contract worth $2.5 million a year (harder to feel his pain here, but ok) but then he goes to Miami which is pretty much trying to sign a bunch of ring-hungry role players for $1 million each? Isn't that the score? Miami is going to be looking to pay everyone else the league minimum...

I would be sorry about that, since I thought Derek was taking less money to stay in LA for his little girl's eye problem (of course, maybe treatment went well and is almost over). Is he really that worried about LA being dethroned by Miami? I really do find it hard to believe some of the jumped up rhetoric (outside Cleveland). Owners have been colluding since the beginning of time. Now the players do it, and they're somehow getting out of line?

Yes, but Toronto was pretty sure from the start that Bosh wasn't coming back. AFAIK they didn't make any real attempt to keep him on board, nor is their team identity bound up with Bosh. I don't know what their plan going forward is, but they seem ok with being a team in the bottom half of the East. (Probably have some secret subsidy from Stern just so he can say the sport is international like baseball or hockey.)

Dennis Rodman comes to mind. Not a top 5 player (unless looking solely at defense), but he made the Bulls "experience" quite a circus for rings 4-6. Also, I think Allen Iverson was as much of a legend (in his own mind) as LeBron, but never took it quite as far. And for all Iverson's faults, he did know the history of the game in a way that LeBron clearly doesn't.

I liked this quote: “His brand is [bleep] now,” one high-level NBA official said late Thursday. “He’s destroyed everything.” Well, winning changes almost everything. If the Three Muskateers can bring a ring or two for Miami then the sport-writers will be all at their feet again. And most people outside of Cleveland will eventually "get over" whatever it is, so long as they were entertained during the Finals. Frankly, I am amazed at how personally people are taking this. I'd say 90% of all athletes are ridiculously pampered individuals who have (unjustly) been put on a pedestal by society and are basically just a bunch of man-childs (many of the women as well). From a game theory perspective, it is actually pretty interesting watching what happens when collusion is allowed on one side but only partially allowed on the other (trades must be worked on for some contracts, not others). I'd say the Cavs and the Knicks are the biggest losers, NJ didn't seem to improve itself (maybe an opportunity cost there), the Bulls are marginally better and the Heat are heads and shoulders above the rest (simply speaking about free agency).

So I had to take a break and skim a lot of books on South Africa, specifically Johannesburg, but I have some time for fiction again. I am in fact reading Bradbury's Rates of Exchange. Droll, but I'm enjoying it. Then I'll probably read Metropole and then maybe back to Mahfouz and Nabokov, though I haven't been enjoyed them as much as I thought. I have a new gym book, and it's pretty good - Millhauser's Dangerous Laughter. (Love the cover - like an old Astounding anthology cover.) I am, however, starting to fret about the huge number of really good (unread or only lightly skimmed) non-fiction books on my shelves, and I may start to try to work them into the mix.

Wasn't the best of days, wasn't the worst. I did, however, spin Structurally Sound, and that was nice.

Probably I buy much of my jazz semi-blind in that I have a few recordings by the leader (or a really strong co-leader). No question I have picked up most of the CDs that Rudresh Mahanthappa is on as a sideman for example, esp. if I can get them as dls. But I picked up Booker Ervin's The Space Book without too much info on him at the time. For a little while I was picking up a number of jazz and latin CDs under the Whatmusic imprint, as they rarely steered me wrong (like a somewhat more discriminating Dusty Groove ) And if it's used and cheap, then sometimes I will even be swayed by cover art. Those don't always work out as well though. I'm trying to think of the last time I did that -- probably Ken Moule's Adam's Rib Suite, which is ok, but hardly essential.

Well, sorry that the US didn't advance, but I thought they did awfully well for themselves this WC. Something to build on. Anyway, I have to say that I am glad a number of countries got shafted by really inexecusable poor calls in this round. This is just an unacceptably poor level of refereeing, and if I were a major sponsor, I would simply refuse to put any advertising dollars towards the next WC unless they adopted some basic replay action.

Really sorry to hear this. RIP. I didn't see him nearly enough times living here in Chicago (perhaps 5-6) but I did enjoy seeing him live, probably the most mellow being at outdoor concert at MCA.

No real updates in this Trib piece, though the outlook (from my reading) seems somewhat grimmer: http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-live-0622-jazz-20100621,0,213782.column The piece mostly focuses on what might happen to the Velvet Lounge down the road. Sounds like this is the year to go to the After Fest gigs if you are so inclined. I'll have to try to fix the link later. The editor is acting all funky.

I've been fairly restrained these last few months, other than getting the 2-CD Joe Newman on RCA set. Today I dropped by DG and picked up a used copy of Elvin Jones' Youngblood, a cut-out of Taft Jordan's Mood Indigo and Barney Kessel's Feeling Free (Contemporary). I don't think I've ever heard of Feeling Free, but it looks fascinating with Kessel joined by Bobby Hutcherson and Elvin Jones. Looking forward to hearing it later today.

Going to catch the matinee this afternoon. Really looking forward to it. I believe sheldonm will be there also. Well, I did not see Sheldonm at the matinee. It was pretty full, not quite standing room only, but close. A very talented group: trombonist Robin Eubanks, vibraphonist Steve Nelson, saxophonist Chris Potter and drummer Nate Smith. Aside from Dave himself of course, I think I was most interested in the vibes. I'll definitely see if Steve Nelson is on record, aside from the Holland recordings which I already have*. The group played a number of tracks, including one or two big band cuts rescored for quintet. I think they did a total of 7 songs; I recall Metamorphoses, Fly a Kite, something called A Rio? and I believe he ended with Free For All. Very enjoyable. After the set, Dave Holland was very nice and took a few moments to talk to several children in line, including my son, saying that he had started played music at age 6 (on ukelele!). He also mentioned that he now has a special traveling bass where the top part actually detaches, since the airlines mostly won't allow full upright basses anymore. What a really nice guy. * Looks like he mostly played with Fathead Newman and Mulgrew Miller. Don't have that many of his sideman appearances, but he is on Jackie McLean's Rhythm of the Earth. Maybe I'll see if I can dig that out tonight.

Going to catch the matinee this afternoon. Really looking forward to it. I believe sheldonm will be there also.

I've managed to catch a few more Shostakovich Symphonies since my last post, including the fairly monumental #11. Anyway, for those in Chicago, there is a pretty incredible chance to see the Pacifica Quartet do his entire String Quartet cycle over 5 concerts (and we all remember clementine saying the String Quartets were the real shizniz (I think I spelled that right), right?). I am definitely leaning towards going. Details here: http://www.pacificaquartet.com/shostakovich.html

Last night: Bassekou Kouyate and his group Ngoni Ba. They played for an hour at a free concert in Millennium Park. Then they were joined by blues artists Otis Taylor and Eddie Shaw. It wasn't the most polished jam session, but it was fun. I left a little bit early. Next Thursday: Tinariwen!!! Also for free in the park! I saw them for the first time earlier this year, and they are incredible.

Point taken, but I still don't want to buy the Mosaic just to find out the music doesn't really speak to me. I think even the recent 4 CD set might be too much. I am a bit more interested in the John Carter Select. I do have Castles of Ghana and a few others, but I still don't reach for them that often. I am trying to re-prioritize and maybe having hundreds of CDs on the shelves that I never listen to isn't the way I should play out the second half of my life. I have one bookcase of the most important CDs (maybe 300) and I could sell all the rest off and probably never notice the difference. I've been thinking about that a lot lately, especially as the second hand CD market looks set to collapse as well.

I'd probably go with Roscoe Mitchell. I've picked up almost all his CDs, including most of the AEC outings, but aside from Snurdy McGurdy, which I just love, the rest leaves me pretty cold and I've parted with most of it. I'm almost certain I would feel the same about Threadgill (whom I don't know nearly as well), so I've decided getting the Mosaic box would not be a good decision for me.

Well, my kids get rashes if they wear clothes (even those sealed in plastic!) before being washed, so all new clothes are washed. So no worries on my end.

I guess I don't see this set of interest to their core market. If they were a European PD outfit, maybe they could take such a chance, but I just can't see it.

That's a good one, though I actually thought Between the Assassinations (by the same author) was better. Something to look for later perhaps.

Beatles envy... Anyway, after going through the thread, I decided to go for the 1994 remasters of Exile and Sticky Fingers (Reckless had them for pretty cheap and I didn't have to worry that someone was selling them under the wrong category). These new remasters don't do anything for me. Completely off subject, but in general, it just depresses me that once upon a time Mick was a pretty interesting guy, but that seems completely drained out of him now. As late as 1982, he played a significant role in getting Herzog's Fitzcarraldo off the ground, and indeed he had a role in the film but interminable delays in shooting (and the illness of Jason Robards who was to play the lead!) forced him to drop out.