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About halfway through Seven Serpents and Seven Moons by Demetrio Aguilera-Malta Somewhat overripe magic realism (about half the characters can turn into animals of one sort or another, plus there is a wise-cracking Jesus statue who occasionally comes down from his Cross). Probably this can be laid at the feet of Garcia-Marquez... On deck is Kirn's Up in the Air, which yes was just released as a movie with George Clooney. I've actually owned it for a long time, but would like to read it first before I rent the movie via Netflix.

So you're saying in a year or two, we'll look back and wonder "what was that all about" (it being the flavor of the month)? I'm seeing it everywhere -- on the train, at the office, even in the hands of someone waiting to get into an Audrey Niffenegger reading. I'm sure the film rights are already being procured...

I was thinking seriously about this set, but I just can't see getting it now, given how you'd still have to buy (or rent) all the films to hear the commentary and see the various episodes of It is Wonderful to Create. It certainly doesn't free up any shelf space if you already own some of these already (that would have been something at least). I guess they didn't want to cannibalize sales of the main line Kurosawa's, but how are they going to move enough copies of this to people who aren't film buffs? (Film buffs almost by definition would want the bonus features.) It just strikes me as a poorly thought out marketing decision. Someone on the Criterion board said they sell a lot of these bare bones box sets to interior decorators whose clients want to purchase a lot of class, but that was before the recession hit... That said, if in a year or two it starts showing up at a much, much lower price point ($100-150), I might get it.

Agreed. I actually emailed someone at Criterion and asked. I think the hope is that two of the early films are on 1 DVD and Seven Samurai remains on 2, but that is probably wishful thinking. Nonetheless, supposedly all new transfers (except maybe Dodes’ka-den), which would make it more baffling if there were no audio commentaries (I asked this as well). Again, what is the market? A lot of fans already have too many of the films to buy this, but then why go to the trouble of new transfers? Ok, now I am even more confused. In some of the promotional material -- and as discussed on the Criterion boards -- it sounded like they were all new transfers. This is not the case. And the commentaries will be dropped off. I think a lot of people will be fairly pissed off about this (specifically the fact that they have to wait so long for the unreleased films to be released separate from the box, since the box is frankly kind of lame and definitely not for Kurosawa connoisseurs).

Agreed. I actually emailed someone at Criterion and asked. I think the hope is that two of the early films are on 1 DVD and Seven Samurai remains on 2, but that is probably wishful thinking. Nonetheless, supposedly all new transfers (except maybe Dodes’ka-den), which would make it more baffling if there were no audio commentaries (I asked this as well). Again, what is the market? A lot of fans already have too many of the films to buy this, but then why go to the trouble of new transfers?

I've been watching the Nikkatsu Noir. The local store (Facets) got a couple of sets in. My impression is this is pretty bare bones (no stand-alone bonus DVDs), though I suspect the commentaries already on disc will be included. I would be a lot less likely to buy this if it didn't at least have the commentaries! A lot of questions raised, but still a pretty tempting box set, particularly if (like me) you enjoy Kurosawa films but don't own that many.

Curiously this came up already in the reviews. Criterion lost the rights to Ran, so grab a copy while they are still floating around. Similarly they never had the rights to Dreams.

I see that Criterion is re-issuing Monsoon Wedding: http://www.criterion.com/films/2364. No question that the bonus features are great, as ever. But this was out already and had a pretty good commentary by Mira Nair. Will the transfer be that much better? It isn't clear whether the Criterion commentary with Nair is recycled or a new one. Still, this is on the questionable side for me. I'll probably just rent the bonus features and decide how much I love them. This is one I will probably get (financial situation permitting), but it is a bit on the extensive side: http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/678 The AK100 box set celebrating Kurosawa's 100th anniversary has 5 unreleased films and 20 others. I've seen many of these, but as it happens I only own Ikiru. Pre-order price of $320 at Criterion and $300 at Amazon (though it may go lower).

Not sure what the price was back in Feb., but with some careful navigation you can now get the 1925-2005 version for $20 or 1925-2008 for $40. I opted for the first case. Still sort of pondering whether the (last) update DVD is worth it for 2005-2008, but at $20 the answer is probably no. Now a book just of the Seymour Hersh investigations beyond 2005, that would be worth it. Looks like his Chain of Command was published in 2004, so it stops short (not that I shouldn't get it anyway -- if my blood pressure can tolerate it, that is). BTW, there is a coupon for 15% off anything at the site (probably good for about a month): CATV515 and here is one for 20% (through Friday Oct. 2) but it may only activate if you have bought previously: CLEANUP20 Shipping is still a bit steep as noted.

Well, they got 6 of 7 right in my last order, but somehow the warehouse scrambled some digits and I got Johnny Cash instead of Sonny Stitt. Despite my calling, and then sending along a letter explaining the situation along with the return, they proceeded to send me the Cash back. At this point, I'm through with them. I had nearly all the OJCs I wanted anyway, and I need to cut way back on music purchases, so it's not a difficult decision.

See you keep over-egging the pudding. I can easily imagine nearly all Beatles albums without Ringo's vocal contributions, and I vastly prefer them that way. If I am close enough to the player, I skip over Ringo's features with only a couple of exceptions.

Sounds like something that would have come out in Astounding or Analog (maybe even one of their best of annuals). I doubt it would have been Asimov. It does sound vaguely familiar, and I'll see if anything comes up. You could ask these guys: http://www.outofthecradle.net/forums/viewt...asc&start=0 (I can't get their search working)

Please explain. The fiasco that was The Complete Fillmore West 1969, that was released a couple of years ago. Sold out quickly, people make a killing off it on ebay, record company "forget the customer, we won't print any more." so everyone buys up a ton of the sets to sell on ebay. Why is Apple going down this road anyway? Just print all the mono boxes that people want, why this limited run stuff to begin with? I think I read that there is no longer an upper limit on the number sold, but they will still be available in a fairly narrow window for ordering. Still a bit dumb, but anyway I am pretty sure that my order for the mono box from Amazon will go through.

Just listening to this today. Jelly Roll was quite the story teller. It's like the pre-cursor to Behind the Music (or maybe a Benny Golson concert ). Talk a lot, play a couple of tunes, talk some more, repeat for approx. 8 hours. I think one disc at a time is the way to go.

I'm in pretty much the same position as last year. If anyone here knows anything about academics, it is that the bottom fell out of the academic job market and hiring for 2010 looks even worse. I am moving closer and closer to going to half-time at work and take the rest of the time to work on a non-fiction book and some articles. However, I did manage to finish a project - a 90 page play. (Now that it is done, I can afford to spend a bit more time here after a long lay-off.) Some actors I know will be giving it a reading soon to help me polish it. Then I don't know. I suppose try to get it produced locally. I have a couple other significant projects, including the proverbial novel in a drawer, that I would like to finish up. I'm hoping the inspiration from actually finishing a project will carry over for a while at any rate. Eric

A few clunkers lately. Now to a certain extent, this doesn't surprise me, since I am working through a stack of paperbacks I am pretty sure I will give away when I am through (trying to reclaim some shelf space). But it can be a bit tiring. Expiration Date by Tim Powers One of only a handful of novels I've stopped reading midway through. It's a ghost story, but more specifically about living people that go around and try to snort up ghosts. This is preposterous, but ok. Then he adds more unusual ground rules, such as pre-adolescents can't absorb ghosts and then they carry around the undigested ghost "inside." Pushing the envelope but ok. This kid gets into a stressful situation, and the ghost emerges and creates a flesh shell around the boy while it (the ghost) goes Rambo and takes on one of the villains -- and eats a dog in the process. Ok, stop, just stop. This is stupid. There have to be half a dozen better ways to extricate the boy from the situation without completely violating a dozen rules of physics (like the instaneous creation of flesh). It struck me that the Onion had it right, as always: Sci-Fi Writer Attributes Everything Mysterious To 'Quantum Flux' http://www.theonion.com/content/news/sci_f...iter_attributes A writer that just keeps adding one inplausible thing after another without having any stable ground rules is not one I want to read. 'Nuff said. Platitudes by Trey Ellis A very sadly dated exploration of Black literature from the late '80s. Basically, an experimental (male) Black writer is getting feedback from a feminist Black author, who rewrites his chapters in her own voice. So the book zigzags between these two disparate styles. It should surprise no one that the two authors meet and "get it on" as the ending to the book. Highly recommended by Ishmael Reed, which probably tells you everything you need to know. It is very short, however, so I will finish it up and give it away. I've also been reading some of the shorter fiction of Stephan Zweig (put out by Pushkin Press). Some I think is ok, but I'll never be a huge, huge fan. His preoccupations are just so different. Maybe works that are so "interior" and psychological fare worse than ones that are more action driven when social mores change over time. It's a little like watching someone raised on a steady diet of Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther try to cope with the late Twentieth Century. And there is no question that suicide plays a huge role in Zweig's fiction, as well as his actual life.

There was a bit of a feature on Empirical's new CD Out 'n' In on BBC a week ago. I caught part of it and was pretty intrigued. Anyone else heard much about this CD? The CD doesn't release until a bit later in the month, but it can be ordered or downloaded from the Naim website: http://www.naimlabel.com/recording-naimcd139.aspx This is the same label that has the Charlie Haden Private Collection and some other things. They seem to be doing it right -- offering the CD, or MP3 or Wave or FLAC files (all formats with digital art) at different price points. I would definitely like more labels to move in this direction, which gives me an extra incentive to download from them.

I managed to snag this at Reckless Records -- used no less! According to Amazon, it doesn't even hit the US for another month. I had actually gone to Reckless to pick up Brubeck's The Riddle after some on the board were praising it. I also knew from their website that they had Abbey Road remastered -- used. It was still there when I went in, so I buckled and got that as well.

But if part of the attraction of these sets in the first place is that they are limited editions, I would think that Mosaic would, and should, do everything they can to ensure that they remain so. Otherwise they'll have to change their sales pitch to, kind of limited. Well, part of the attraction to some group of fans -- and of more importance to speculators. The limited edition aspect of Mosaic is of no interest to me at all. However, I understand/accept that they would not have been given the rights to the vast majority of their sets if there wasn't some kind of a limit.

Correct. I get the impression that posters here forget that. That's different from whether they could sell FLACs going forward. Furthermore, EMI (or at least the pressing plant it subcontracted to) clearly violated Mosaic's agreement with regards to the Selects and big boxes by destroying the masters to sets that were still under license. I find it fairly incredible that Mosaic had such a weak contract that they apparently get no compensation from this or at the very least cannot force the pressing plant to create new masters. Under those circumstances, I would certainly have my lawyers approach EMI and say that one way to make Mosaic whole would be to allow FLAC sales of this material during the remainder of the license period. In fact, the longer they take to attempt such a thing, the more likely that the holier-than-thou jazz blogs will start offering the stuff for free on the basis that there is no legal way to purchase the material anyway.

I'm leaning towards getting the Mono Box and then some of the individual Stereo remasters: the Beatles (possibly) Abbey Road Let it Be (possibly) Past Masters (possibly) I'm not interested enough in Yellow Submarine to bother with it, and probably won't bother with Past Masters since the mono material is in the Mono box. Is The Beatles best heard in mono or stereo? I've heard that the stereo mix is the one that the Beatles spent more time on. Edit: From one of the earlier posts, yes it is clear that anything I'd want from the Past Masters set is in the Mono Box and even the important Yellow Submarine songs are there too. The interesting thing is that if you go to Amazon and buy during this initial frenzy the cost of the CDs are lower than the typical retail price of the old CDs. I guess the only remaining question is whether I go ahead and get The Beatles double album remastered in stereo.

As of right now, DG has at least one copy of the Curtis Amy, so if you think Mosaic will run out -- or you were going to put in a big DG order, you might try that route.

Well, this may end up in its own thread, but really WTF!?! As it happens, I do have nearly all these Selects, and certainly all the ones that interested me, but this on top of the whole back-order fiasco makes me really wonder how much longer Mosaic can go on.

Well, what a huge disappointment. I don't have particularly strong sports allegiances, and mostly pull a bit for Chicago teams, except when it comes to hockey where the 'Wings are my team. I realize they won it recently, but I really thought they would pull it off again. I guess they just didn't have enough gas in the tank at the end there. It just seems like one more kick in the shins for Michigan.

In an interview, Mr. Scott said he'd never taken the subway except maybe once or twice when he was so drunk he didn't know what he was doing. An exaggeration, perhaps. However, shooting the subway for a film, mostly in one station and then CGI'ing most of the rest, is not the same as riding the subway and having any understanding of what that feels like and entails. The city is cleaner for better and worse, but that still doesn't mean the film needs to treat the city as no more than a video game background. I certainly have no intention of watching this version.