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Yeah, 'specially Dubya managing to fall off his own bike and then a Segway. Didn't think JQA was all that impressive, probably would have moved Jackson into that slot and probably promote Lincoln.

One never knows about these things, but according to EFF (as of Jan 22), the copywright extension had failed: EFF Today I have good news -- thanks to your phone calls and emails to the right MEPs, the proposal was defeated! The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Danny O'Brien sez, Just got word from the European Parliament all three of the filtering/copyright extension amendments were defeated or withdrawn in the committee vote. We're still waiting on the official record, but if that's true, it's an amazing victory -- one was originally proposed by the original author of the report, Guy Bono himself, one was voted in by the powerful industry committee, and one was drafted by an EPP-ED member, the largest bloc in the parliament. We're sure copyright extension, ISP snooping, and any number of foolish policies will pop up again in the EU process or national governments: but together we'll kick them out every time.

I'm no lawyer, but I'd guess it's stated in the same place where you can find the permission to even make that "copy for personal use", no? They don't put that on the CDs either. Ok, this is from Electronic Frontier Foundation, so you know where there biases are. While the Betamax decision is largely irrelevant to ripping MP3s, the RIAA v. Diamond Multimedia decision is timely. It was a 1999 decision from a federal Appeals Court which has not been overturned. Wikipedia is also very interesting: Wiki copying Perhaps this is too opaque, but the general feeling is that fair use doctrine (in the US) does allow for ripping CDs you own (a non-infringing use), even though RIAA is not going to print this in CD booklets. The ruling would not cover CDs you do not own. However, the law is silent on cases where you have ripped a CD you own and then the CD is damaged to the point it must be discarded. Taken to extremes, one might time-shift a song past the point where one owned the physical copy (i.e. sold it to a second-hand store) and be covered, though this has not been litigated. In practical terms, it is a moral issue and not a legal one, given the loopholes in the law and that RIAA focuses on Napster-like sites. Just a note that Canada (like Italy) also collects a fee on blank CDRs to reimburse copyright holders.

I have been reading a cartload of South African literature for a paper I am working on. I've actually never read Paton's Cry the Beloved Country before now. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Then I read more obscure novels such as Welcome to Our Hillbrow, Ways of Dying, and now Tsotsi (the last one was made into a movie). Generally kind of depressing. For the most part, the evil tidings hinted at in Cry the Beloved Country came to pass and the later novels are soaked in fear and violence: Black on White, White on Black and Black on Black.

You can agree or (obviously) disagree, but jazzshrink is drawing a distinction about someone being wilfully defiant, even celebratory about their drug use (compared to jazz musicians who were drug addicts but tried to keep it on the down low), and thus not wanting to support that kind of art. FWIW, Amy's parents have asked the public to stop buying her records and giving her awards until she truly cleans up her act, so they do see there is some connection.

I saw the new "opera" Ainadamar by Golijov, performed by the core cast of Dawn Upshaw and Kelley O'Connor here in Chicago. First up, I should admit that I hate opera. I've seen 4 or 5 and never enjoyed them. I've really tried listening to a couple of the Russian ones where I care for the composer (Prokofiev, Shostakovich) but can only enjoy the instrumental suites pulled from them. I don't know what it is exactly, but probably the artifice and the elevation of the voice to an instrument in contrast to the fairly insipid content of most arias. It's the same reason I don't like wordless vocals in jazz. So I had pretty low expectations (only went because it was part of a subscription series), but it was definitely more interesting than I thought it would be, precisely because there is such a mixture of Spanish rhythms, even a touch of jazz in the score, some electronic sampling, and the music was definitely foregrounded. The orchestra play on the main stage (not in a pit) with the singers standing in front of them. I could even see listening to this again. Of course, most opera purists don't like this and call it a PC mis-mash, but that's probably exactly why I found it listenable and very enjoyable in spots.

My laptop died a while back. An IT friend was able to save most of the data on it, so that wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been (and I do back up but certainly not everything). I ordered a new ThinkPad, which arrived yesterday. The main reason I went with Lenovo is that they were one of the few places you could still order a loptop with XP loaded and not Vista! This situation will probably last another 6 months and then they too will give in to the pressure of not selling non-standard IBM platforms. Of course, there appears to be a real backlash against Vista (much greater than with XP), so who knows.

Forgot to post this a few days ago. Charlie Haden's Quartet West recorded live for BBC Radio 3. Should be accessible for roughly another two days: Charlie Haden on BBC3

I'm on my second. I went ahead and got one with extra pages, though I don't think I will use up all of them. I did make it to about 10 countries in a 18 month span. But I suppose we are not a typical American family, my 3.5 year old and my 1 year old have passports!

What the hell. They can play Ann Arbor and Columbus, but they can't play Chicago? They would have been a perfect fit at HotHouse, but of course that is gone. I also like Stoa and have listened to it quite a bit over the last month. I will get the new one fairly soon, though I probably would have bought it sooner (at their show) if they had come to Chicago.

Yes, they have a lot of episodes (123): ISIRTA. I don't know if that is the complete run or not. Wow! That is really interesting. And you get a hell of a lot for your money. What is an mp3 CD? Can I play it in my normal CD player (which doesn't accept SACDs)? Or is it only playable on computers? MG No it won't play on a normal CD player. It will play on most MP3/CD hybrid players and on all computers. Of course, you can extract the mp3s are play them in an iPod or other stand alone mp3 player. Actually many DVD players can play mp3 CDs, but not all. You could always take shows you really liked and burn them to a CD (the compression won't get better of course) but that would be kind of labour intensive.

Yes, they have a lot of episodes (123): ISIRTA. I don't know if that is the complete run or not.

Well, since there will only be one US music company in the future, that might be possible, though they would charge $750 for it. And a week later Lonehill would come out with the same thing for $25. Actually that reminds me that there is an outfit on the web that sells complete runs of radio shows as mp3s on a CD for about $5. I haven't ordered any yet, but I was pretty seriously thinking about getting the Benny Goodman shows (Madhattan Room and Camel Caravan among others). And if the quality is listenable then maybe some of the comedy or mystery shows.

Well, since there will only be one US music company in the future, that might be possible, though they would charge $750 for it. And a week later Lonehill would come out with the same thing for $25.

Not really a big sports fan. I think the vast majority of athletes are ridiculously overpaid, immature whiners which really dampens my interest in sports. And in Chicago at least management seems immune from taking any responsibility or facing consequences for what seems like 10 years of poor draft choices and talent evaluation. On top of everything else, I detest the corporate blackmail team owners put on cities to build them stadiums, then they skip town anyway. Too bad there is not a federal law forbidding tax payer money to go to support professional sports teams. In my dreams I guess. But I have a soft spot for the Red Wings (and hate the Blackhawks). Also like it when UMichigan teams do well (and dislike but not quite to the point of hatred OSU). I liked the way the Bulls were finally coming together, but now this season they're a bunch of whiny slackers and I can't stand them anymore, except for Noccioni. I do sometimes quietly pull for the Packers just cause it riles my wife up. I think a Green Bay-Patriots Superbowl would have been terrific. I guess that's pretty much it.

I absolutely agree but you almost only get these by going through a band's website and perhaps ArtistShare. It does seem crazy to me, since the marginal cost would essentially be 0. Emusic is now including a tiny jpeg of the cover, but I find it way too small to bother with.

I don't miss the CD per se, but I do miss even the reduced size cover art, liner notes and the ability to restore my music files if my computer/iPod crashes. In this last category, eMusic is 1000% times better than iTunes or the new Amazon site. I don't understand why the first two seem so out of reach for the majority of music sites.

I'm somewhat disappointed that HighNote has stopped licensing their Newman CDs to eMusic; they have a lot of the earlier ones They haven't completely stopped their connection as some Eric Alexander CDs are turning up. I guess it is worth dropping them and perhaps eMusic a line.

True, but not nearly as bad as Coleman Young of Detroit in his heyday. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to the Jazz Showcase reopening. Hopefully we can get Benny Golson in again.

The Village Voice just raved about this, and I was considering checking it out. Let us know if it lives up to the hype. I'm just about done with Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

I'm kind of indifferent to the MV story. Not that I don't think what he did was horrendous, but I'm neutral on whether he should be hounded the rest of his days. Even the Furies finally let up on poor Orestes. It is worth noting that there is a reasonable chance that Vick will still face state charges and spend time in jail if convicted on those.

I have just finished Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake. She is the author of The Interpreter of Maladies, a collection of short stories, which was quite good. I think this novel is a quantum leap above that. I was really moved by several sections, including a description of a train wreck in India and it's aftermath. It is mostly about first and second generation Indian immigrants in the US, as they struggle to come to terms with their new country. (I held off on renting the movie The Namesake, but I have it in my Netflix queue now.) Then I read and reviewed Noxious New York -- a book about environmental justice campaigns in New York City. I have a number of interesting novels I'm trying to work on next. I'll probably alternate through Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss, and Jesse Ball's Samedi the Deafness.

Hmm. At one point I had At Swim-Two-Birds, but I seem to have misplaced it. I don't think I finished it. Or at least it certainly didn't grab me. But I really liked The Third Policeman, so this might be a good time to look into his work again, particularly the harder to find novels.

Actually, I found this used in a local shop for about $8 just a couple of weeks ago. Had no idea it was so OOP (though according to Amazon it isn't hard to score an import for $12 or so). It is nice, though I also wish they could find a way to release the unissued tracks.

Huge number of things I listened to once and then set aside. CDs I listened to on a somewhat regular basis? Hmm Pilgrimage by Michael Brecker Time Lines by Andrew Hill Terminal One by Benny Golson Complete Africa Brass by Coltrane The Spoiler by Turrentine Steppin Out by Harold Vick Golberg Variations played by Glenn Gould