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I don't know if it is the same everywhere, but here, they sell reserved seats (in pairs, though you can order just one ticket) and then the entire row in front and behind are blocked off. Then there are three or four seats left vacant until the next available pair, on both sides. I didn't calculate, but at this theatre, max. capacity is probably closer to 15%, not 35%, with all the blocked off seats. This could be an issue this weekend, but if it is too crowded, we obviously won't go (or even be let in). It is fair to say, I am only considering going (to the movies and also to the gym) because community spread is pretty low in Toronto, though edging up very slightly. In states where there are still thousands of new cases a day, it would be very foolish to go.

Saw the re-release of Inception in the theatre two weeks ago. Only 4 of us in there, and the tickets were only $5! I will have to find a mask that doesn't fog up my glasses though... Probably will see Tenet this upcoming weekend. Expecting somewhat larger crowds, but probably still not up to the 35% capacity limit.

About halfway through this. Definitely some good stories in here. It's been far, far too long since I read the canonical Cheever stories, but these early stories tread different ground (from what I can recall). Mostly they are about men and women at the margins of society, either dancers in burlesque shows or quasi-professional gamblers and other grifters. I guess it's arguable that Cheever came back around to writing about hard-luck types when he wrote Falconer (rather than this being a completely new direction). Technically 2 of these 13 stories ended up in the LOA volume of Cheever's Collected Stories, but one would be hard-pressed to track down the other 11. Still likely going to read Don Quixote next, though I may sneak in The Pilgrim Hawk by Glenway Wescott, as it is supposed to be quite good and is fairly short.

Very impressive. Was not familiar with the Willis Jackson/Groove Holmes LP. Apparently, this set also turns up as Live on Stage (The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions), so I'll check it out that way.

I'm sure it's gotten worse. I thought Amazon wasn't that terrible 10-15 years ago, but like everything (Paypal, etc.) the fees for the small sellers have gotten much, much worse. Then the postal rates started increasing, but Amazon didn't (at that time) allow any increase in what they reimbursed for shipping. Then I moved to Canada, where the postal rates are basically insane (and there is no media rate equivalent), so I just stopped listing items. It simply isn't worth it any more.

My kids (and most Gen Z'ers) are 100% digital. They can't even conceive of wanting to hold onto a big pile of CDs or LPs. (Some Gen Y'ers/Millennials are definitely into the vinyl resurgence, which I honestly feel is a silly fad, but Gen Z'ers don't seem to want any part of this.) I would say over time I have really shifted. I am now 75% streaming, 20% purchasing downloads and 4% CDs and 1% LPs (in both cases only if there is absolutely no other legitimate way to listen to the music). I just look at how much stuff I have (and my heirs will end up trashing anyway), and I said to myself - no more. It's actually quite rare that I listen to a "CD" at all, though at work I listen to the music that I ripped from the CDs that I do own. (I still have plenty from my collecting days.)

I thought the Vijay Iyer livestream a few weeks back was not bad. But I am not that discerning an audiophile and was just listening over a laptop...

I see that as well, but I am just not sure it actually means what it is supposed to mean. I'll let someone else take the plunge...

I will be quite surprised if this is actually fulfilled (anytime soon), but if anyone succeeds going this route, please let us know.

I don't think it is necessarily an either/or option. I'm leaving my Amazon.ca order in place, just in case Canada gets the release before the States. But that doesn't mean I'm not poking around a bit on the interwebs...

This looks pretty interesting, though the wordless vocals are definitely a turnoff for me. I'm listening to the preview track now on Bandcamp, and I'm not really sure I will order it after all. This is really not something I would listen to more than once or twice. Somewhat curious that Tusques can't actually confirm whether Barney Wilen is on the tapes or not...

We Worked Hard So You Didn't Have To

And of course, "It DID a body good."

Did she or didn't she? Every kiss began with Kay What could brown have done for you? (UPS) Did you hear me then? Took a licking and kept on ticking The Quality Was slogan is choice. Is there a current slogan like "You've got a good thing going?" I did some sleuthing and didn't see anything, perhaps because it is too generic.

Looks interesting. Will keep an eye/ear out.

Exactly. Until you know what the "star" list is, then you can't reasonably make sense of this list.

I went back and took a look at the piece and saw that Colin implied that Coltrane and Miles are in the top group, which is fine, though I think they were much, much bigger stars for other labels. So the writer gets up to 8 big names without even name-checking Hill, Hutcherson, Larry Young, Donald Byrd, Hank Mobley(!), Kenny Burrell, Grant Grant, Turrentine(!), Lou Donaldson(!), Elvin Jones, etc. So his list of the BN core stars just has to be more than 10 (or it will be laughed out of town). The number of "stars" could easily be 20 or even 25, which makes it impossible to assess if he got the "overlooked 10" right because I have no way of knowing where he draws the line in the first place. In other words, I'd say what about Duke Pearson, and Colin would go, "No man, he was so incredibly groovy. He's right up there in the upper echelon. How could you even imagine I would classify him as not amongst the elect?" (Sorry, still channeling those Tristano robots...)

I have too many specialized programs (mostly statistical packages or transportation planning software) that were never formulated or compiled for Mac, so I went back to PC a long time ago. While it is true there are Windows emulators for Mac, given the memory needs of these programs, it didn't seem like a feasible option.

I'm not quite understanding this dichotomy. Are they talking "stars" in terms of recordings as leader, raw publicity/buzz at the time, units shifted? Or just the consensus among today's jazz cognoscenti? Dan would know better than I, but I think the Three Sounds sold a ton of records. I'm assuming (though not 100% sure) that Bobby Hutcherson and Andrew Hill are considered among the "stars" by JT, but Ike Quebec is arguably more central to Blue Note's operations than either of them. Where does Donald Byrd fit?

I believe it was unissued albums/sessions that had previously made it to LP but not CD. I don't think there were alternates or out-takes but I could be wrong. I don't think I ever downloaded any at that time.

Verve did this for a while (From the Verve Vaults), in the midst of the CD reissue craze. I think most if not all eventually found their way to the streaming sites legitimately, whereas if they hadn't digitized them at all it would have just been the usual PD suspects. I've completely given up on eMusic in large part because it was so glutted with PD dross. iTunes certainly has some of this, but it is a bit more under control, and they generally seem to promote major label releases.

Harry Beckett - Joy Unlimited

Wrapped up Life is Elsewhere but it really didn't do much for me. I really didn't like Duteurtre's The Little Girl and the Cigarette. Even though it is short, I abandoned it 1/3 in. The satire was just so obvious, and it wasn't remotely as daring as the author thought it was. Tales of Belkin still looks promising and will probably be the next thing I read. Probably some early Cheever stories after that (from Thirteen Uncollected Stories). Then maybe on to Grossman's translation of Don Quixote, which I've been meaning to start for a while now.

Incredibly enough, there were only 5 reported new cases in Toronto today and under 100 in Ontario as a whole. We've been under the 100 new case mark for over a week now, with one or two minor spikes, and deaths are way, way down thankfully. More than anything it is probably due to pretty strict indoor mask rules (that people follow without too much fuss) and keeping the US-Canadian border closed... I'm still avoiding transit and biking everywhere, but when the rates are this low, I'm sure transit is reasonably safe. I haven't gone to any movies, though I might next week as they start ramping up again. I am going to the gym twice a week, and that is a level of risk I can live with for now. I may have mentioned that I am back in the office 3-4 days/week, but it is basically a ghost town (it's purely voluntary at this point). It will actually get harder to follow all the social distancing rules as more people return. For myself, I do prefer having a bit more separation between home and work. I'm not sure what others will do, but we are going to be sending the kids back to school in the fall (probably half in-person and half on-line, though the school board hasn't completely made up its mind...). Again, it's a combination of fairly low rates in the community (at the moment) and not having any grandparents living with us. I would probably make a different decision if we were in Florida or Texas, for instance, and I certainly sympathize with parents facing tough choices...

I was going to link to the same thing. Marion County's largest city is Ocala, and the Ocala City Council voted for a mask policy only for the mayor to veto it, largely because the sheriff said flat out he would refuse to enforce it. American exceptionalism at work...