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I was taken to classical concerts growing up, but probably no one terribly famous. I was only becoming aware of pop music in high school, which is when I got my own radio. Pretty much nobody came through Kalamazoo, MI, and I was envious of a couple of kids who managed to get to see U2 in Detroit during the Joshua Tree tour. However, I do recall during my high school days, Maynard Ferguson put on a pretty awesome show after a marching band competition held in Soldier Field. It must have been the first year I was with the band, since we didn't make the finals; thus, we were in the stands. The second year, we made finals and performed in the late afternoon/early evening, but I can't recall if they had an act close the competition. Maynard should count, even though I wasn't paying to see him. First rock concert was probably the Grateful Dead coming to Ann Arbor while I was in my first or second year of university.

That's what I seem to remember, which is why I found it a little off-putting. I mean you can go too far the other way (Lou Donaldson), and I don't begrudge him wanting to focus on the music, but I think a bit of interaction would have warmed up the crowd. Still a good show.

I saw the Greg Osby 5 at the Green Mill last night. I have to say that the smoking ban has really improved the experience there. There was something about the layout of that place that you would come home just reeking of cigarettes, even if you were not smoking. But they may have gone too far in the other direction of trying to make this a temple of jazz. This was advertised as a quiet show, where the bouncer did come around and hush people during the first set. Standards had slipped a bit by the second set, but Osby was playing a little louder, so it still wasn't a problem. But without the crowd's encouragement, the music felt a little spacey and etherial -- you couldn't really dig in. Applause was light and polite. It wasn't really until the middle of the second set that I recognized anything* -- they played East St. Louis Toodle-O -- that there was much energy from the crowd. Granted I was all the way in the back, but this seemed a lot more like a Keith Jarrett concert than a typical show at the Green Mill. I'm certainly glad I went, but it just seemed strange. * If pressed I would say the first set was mostly drawn from 9 Levels -- the tracks without vocals. I do have 9 Levels but I have not internalized it. Anyway, Osby did not say one word to the crowd (certainly no songs were introduced). It was the Green Mill manager that introduced him and the other band members. I think I remember previous Osby shows with a bit more interaction. Anyway, it just sort of added to the somewhat negative feelings of preciousness I was getting. I'd really hate to see Osby go further in this direction.

Griselda Gris-gris Tabatha (yes I give my pets people names)

Seconded. I think I have all of Hill's albums and sideman appearances, but this is one of my very favorites. In fact, I'll make sure I play it tonight when I get home.

The poem is based directly on Giacometti's piece of artwork in the MOMA: Palace at MOMA. It turns out more than one person has been inspired by this somewhat haunting piece (or its title at minimum). There is a play by Howard Moss and an album by ex-Wilco member Jay Bennett. This is perhaps too literally inspired by the piece, but in the process of writing it, I developed a longer sequence of poems of 7-8 poems about the goings-on in this strange kingdom. The Palace (at 4 A.M.) This early in the morning, few are up except those supposed to chase the bats away. The backbones are all hung up in the closet. The are sorted out, lined up by size. The should be taken to the cleaners. The guests are folded up and tucked under their beds on the fourth floor. A tiny woman, dressed all in red, enters through the main door. She has missed the last train. She stands in the hallway, rain dripping off her red coat onto the carpet. There are three large doors behind her. She will stand there until dawn. On the second floor, the bathtub tilts against the wall at an oblique angle. A plastic pillow floats in the tub all night. It waits for someone with a wet head. An eagle sits on the roof and screams.

Here's a little list: Ray Bradbury, Farenheit 451 Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake Kasuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go Cormac McCarthy, The Road If you want the grand-daddy of dystopian future books, you might consider We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. It was written in 1921, though it saw publication in English and French long before it was published in Zamyantin's native Russia. There are some sci-fi themes but not too much (apparently they eat a petroleum-based diet that killed off the majority of the population when it was introduced!). Anyway, Orwell said it was definitely an influence on 1984, and he thought but couldn't confirm that Huxley was aware of it as well.

I do feel a little sorry for him -- he clearly has some issues -- but I just think he's crossed the line of what a live performer can reasonably expect. A rant or two about photos and people recording the show may be justifiable, though ultimately futile. But to rage at the audience because they are coughing? In the winter? Please. It's time for him to go the Glenn Gould route. At least Gould had the honesty to say he just didn't like live performances and stopped doing them. As far as I know he never cursed out an audience. Anyway, I am doing my part by permanently boycotting any and all of Jarrett's performances.

Was it called the "Iowa State Teachers College" then? Hey, my parents went there too. I tried to get in touch with my dad to see if he was excited, but I couldn't get through.

Well, my plans have been shot to hell, but I've still read some interesting things. I wrapped up Divided Cities. It's pretty good actually, for an academic book. I finished Buffalo by Sidney Blair (it's been my cardio workout book). Not to be confused with The Night Buffalo by Guillermo Arriaga, which is also on my reading list. I've continued my detour into Soviet literature and am about 1/3 through Alexander Kaletski's Metro. I'll probably wrap up The Burn by Vassily Aksyonov by the end of March and get back to my master plan of Mahfouz, Narayan and Nabokov.

I have a ticket to this show but I'll have to miss it. I'll actually be out of the country, so I'll end up exchanging it for something else. I've seen him before at Orchestra Hall and of course at Jazz Fest in Chicago. Still, I wish I could make the gig.

Fire. MG Ok, but man didn't invent this. The honor goes to Prometheus.

RIP. I hope they keep them archived. I had listened to a lot of the ping-pong sessions and have most of his CD compilations. Also, he was one of 3 rotating DJs for the BBC 3 World on 3 slot, and I was listening to that pretty regularly as well.

Certainly worthy, but most worthwhile? I'd probably go with the lightbulb -- or maybe the gaslamp before that.

Sounds like you have one on the way. Oddly enough, the Verve single-CD edition just showed up in the new arrival bin at Reckless Records. I don't recall ever seeing that format before, but I wasn't ever looking for it either.

Not quite as good a deal, but JazzLoft seems to have it in stock for $37: http://www.jazzloft.com/p-38492-monks-casino.aspx Here's a YouTube clip of the guys doing their thing: Monk's Casino

Saw Jon Langford (former drummer of the Mekons and a bunch of other bands) playing a solo gig at Schubas. Interestingly, a while back he learned guitar, then he formed the Waco Brothers and started playing music that incorporated folk and country. To me his set seemed a bit more in the folk than country tradition. He even did a few brand new songs and then ended with three covers (including Save the Bones for Henry Jones by Danny Barker -- the closest he ever gets to jazz he told us) He played what I guess was an amplified acoustic guitar. I did like his banter between songs, often quite amusing. While it probably is just in my mind, it felt like maybe what it would be like to catch Paul Weller doing an acoustic set in a tiny, intimate venue. A lot of fun.

Yes, we did this before. I couldn't hear it, but it turned out that my headphones were turned off. When that was fixed, I could hear it just fine. Well past 25.

Pretty much the same. I'm solidly a Gen-Xer, but I scored a 10. Must be rarely watching TV, thinking Facebook is stupid and not texting. Also, we have a (phone) land line, though that is only because of my wife. I would be more than happy to give that up. I am surprised the quiz didn't ask more about blogging and torrenting.

Yes, I can see that. There is some elevated debate going on, but for the most part tribalism and mug-slinging rule. That doesn't change the fact that the internet is not a fad, as the writer was intimating, and that it does change the way Americans shop (mostly for the better) and interact socially (for worse).

I guess I don't quite get your point, Moose. Some things have not happened (mass numbers of people telecommuting), but most of the things that the writer pooh-poohed have precisely come to pass. Kindle is taking over the way people read, though its take-up is a little slow. But certainly newspapers are predominantly read on-line -- and are collapsing because they can't figure out a workable paywall. And as for buying books, CDs and movies on-line? I'd say 80-90% of my music purchases are on-line rather than brick and mortar, and 95+% of books and movies.

Rapidshare has definitely become a real drag in a really short period of time. Since I am a night owl, I am able to occasionally get on for free, but it's real hit or miss. What I find so strange is that there hasn't been a mass migration from the blogs to megaupload or mediafire or some of the others that are vastly superior to Rapidshare.

Congrats on getting this done!! Or almost done at any rate. Let us know when some clips and/or writing excerpts if any are available. I do hope that if we order directly from you as these are released one at a time, you can let us in on any discount available to those buying all 4 volumes at one fell swoop. That might help smooth out cash flow on both sides. Just a thought.

Please do. I'm a big fan of his stuff. It's been almost 10 years since he last book, but apparently Katchor's The Dairy Restaurant is about to come out. I have no idea which strip it will collect. I kind of wish he would gather up all of Cardboard Valise and Shoehorn Technique, since there doesn't seem to be any easy way to look through them at once (or some of the uncollected Knipl for that matter). Those two also seem thematically similar, whereas Hotel & Farm is in a different setting.

My understanding is that he has had someone animate a bunch of podcasts he did several years back for the Guardian (which I downloaded at the time) but he might keep it going with some new episodes.