ejp626

I read that one a long time ago on the recommendation of a sociology professor. He was one of the earliest proponents of a cyclical view of history (rise and decline of kingdoms), writing centuries before Toynbee, Spengler or Gibbons. I forgot the 4 wives part. Marco is a little coy about it, but I would infer from the detailed description of odd marriage customs in different parts of the world, that he didn't keep it in his pants until he got back to Italy and a good Catholic woman.

Their on-line store often has some really unusual OOP CDs. I picked up some rare Benny Golson and Clark Terry CDs once.

Recently I read The Pickwick Papers for the second time. I don't know if it was because I read it over such a long period of time (several months) or I am just a different and slightly more sour person, but I didn't enjoy it as much the second time around. I found long stretches really boring. I did think it picked up a bit of steam in the last quarter, and that was enjoyable. It does seem true that you need to be in a different frame of mind to enjoy Victorian fiction (less pressed for time certainly). It took almost half the way through Trollope's first Palliser novel before I got into the rhythm. After that I enjoyed the series. I am currently reading The Travels of Marco Polo, which I have never read before. Some parts are really interesting. A lot is fairly repetitive. I do find it amusing that Marco had quite an eye for the ladies.

I remember this. I even wrote a very simple knock-off in BASIC (anyone remember that?). I was pretty proud of myself for figuring out how to use the random number generator function to throw a few curve-balls into the program. There was a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy interactive text game also, which I bought (it came with a Don't Panic button and some black shades). I don't know if this is the original game with new graphics or something else entirely: HH Game I'll have to check it out later when I have more time. Oh the memories. We had Atari 2600 at home. I played Atari's Adventure, Defender, Missile Attack, Yar's Revenge and Berzerk the most. I didn't go to the arcades all that much -- maybe once a month. At first we only had one in town. It was called StarWorld and it was also a pizza place (sort of a precursor to Chucky Cheese). Eventually one or two opened up in the mall. But by that time, I was over the whole game thing.

Saw Toumani Diabate and the Pan African Band (I think that's the new name) in Chicago at Hothouse last night. Very good, though a bit short (just over an hour). On one of the songs the kora and balafon traded 4s or 8s or something. It was amazing. They got half the people in the club dancing on the last tune, and that's quite an accomplishment. They'll be coming back through Chicago on July 12, and I'll be there!

I believe it is. You can order it new through Amazon (and probably CD Universe) and there are a bunch of used copies floating around. Inspired by this thread resurfacing, I will probably go pick it up this weekend. I've got the 2-CD set with The Soul of Ben Webster and the other Sweets-Webster session.

Maybe this is more maddening than madness, but I've noticed that the shipping/handling prices (particularly for many Ebay stores) have gotten really high. Sometimes over $10 for domestic shipping for a single CD. Just in general, I find Ebay a real drag now and only go to it as a last resort. I did a lot of Ebay shopping in the second wave where it was getting quite popular (2000-2003) but now I find there are too many scam artists, too many sniping programs, too few deals and too many people that want to gouge you on shipping. I'll just stick with the other internet sources from now on.

Looks like this was released March 13, a bit under the radar. Anyway, I was in Jazz Record Mart (every time I am in there it is a bit more disorganized and depressing) and they already had a promo in the used bins, so I snatched that up. First impressions later.

So anyway, Chicago is in the running for 2016. I would rather they didn't get it, but I don't think it would be quite as disastrous as being in London in 2012. People are already pointing to the London Olympics as a famous warning case, i.e. how can you prevent the overruns that are happening in London. I'd say that's pretty impressive in a sick sort of way. Meanwhile a bunch of pompous windbags in England are (grimly) saying that no matter the final cost, it will be worth it in the end for regeneration, when of course you could just cut out the Olympics and throw a big street party and put the same amount of money into basic infrastructure. Pardon me for being less than impressed at English efficiency in the building trades, especially when there is a big deadline to make. You're already in the warning zone in terms of CBA (cost-benefit analysis) and I am sure the London Olympics are going to end up being a big turkey.

Isn't Tessa blaming EU accounting rules for this? That's what I recall.

All things considered, that's not a bad price. Curiously enough, I was checking out something about this set, and I find it has gone completely out of print (maybe only a few weeks ago). I suspect it is a rights issue (about 75% of the performances were taped for Dutch radio). So now I have a rarity. I'll hang onto it, but if it ever starts going for astronomical prices on eBay, I'll probably sell. Unlikely I know. sounds like an interesting investment. I can't explain exactly what grabbed me so much about it, but after I read the review about the set, I thought hard for two days and then bought it. I've listened to about 1/3 of it so far. Only a few of the discs are devoted to Schoenberg. The music is pretty good, if you like "contemporary classical" or whatever they call orchestral and string quartet music being written after 1950. (Actually I have to say that the BBC radio 3 seems light years ahead of anything in the US for sponsoring and playing loads of new compositions, and I tried to listen to most of these shows. And I see that the Chicago Symphony has a few world premiere pieces and I may go see those shows. So I guess I am doing my bit to support expanding the canon.) I've been slowly putting myself onto a music budget (so no Hutcherson Select this month), though I did recently buy a copy of J.R. Monterose (the Conn version), and I am leaning towards getting a used copy of Here Comes Louis Smith. I think I will hold off on Smithville, as there seems to be a reasonable chance this will be rereleased by BN in 2007 or 2008.

All things considered, that's not a bad price. Curiously enough, I was checking out something about this set, and I find it has gone completely out of print (maybe only a few weeks ago). I suspect it is a rights issue (about 75% of the performances were taped for Dutch radio). So now I have a rarity. I'll hang onto it, but if it ever starts going for astronomical prices on eBay, I'll probably sell. Unlikely I know.

I started converting LPs over on an old turntable and found that the converted songs were 20-25% too short, according to track timings and so on. Obviously, that really wasn't acceptable. I eventually did replace it with a turntable with adjustable speed (and strobe built in) and found this worked much better. Al will soon find out that depending on the thickness of the vinyl, he should be making micro adjustments for each LP.

There is one piece actually called "The Stripper," which sounds just like you would expect. We played this in jazz band, and the score should be available. Whether it has ever been played "for real" in a strip act, or only for ironic intent is not clear to me.

Sadly, most Americans are simply not educated these days, despite near record levels of people going to college. But I do think we have to take these death of culture essays with a grain of salt. Adorno and others wrote long books about how horrible middlebrow and popular culture were, and this was in the late 1940s and 1950s, which is an era many of us consider to have produced some of the best movies and music of all times.

This spoof is also good. Apparently, Bob Dylan wrote every single popular song of the last 35 years. No Direction, Period The clip is called "No Direction, Period" but I prefer to Google "dylan baez lady lump" to get it to turn it up. It may take a long time to load.

For me it wasn't exactly a "find," since I got it at Dusty Groove, but it was a fair price. I do like the music, but I have Asante and a really clean transfer from Cosmos, so I really can't justify the Select. I think we must be talking about two different things. I was responding to Guy. Ok, I thought you were saying that Cosmos was a great vinyl bin find, which it certainly would be. To change the subject again, I did find Hill's One for One in a record shop set up in some guy's garage. Unfortunately, he knew pretty much what it was worth... But I bought it anyway.

For me it wasn't exactly a "find," since I got it at Dusty Groove, but it was a fair price. I do like the music, but I have Asante and a really clean transfer from Cosmos, so I really can't justify the Select.

Just want to agree that you want to avoid a Dell printer. You can only buy the cartridge through them by ordering by phone or on the internet. No running down to Staples or somewhere in an emergency.

Yes, I should be here another 4 or so years, maybe longer. I'm not downtown at the moment, but am looking around for something close to the Loop. Unfortunately, I have to be a bit selective about what shows I see because of the long trek to where I am staying, but this should get resolved in a few more weeks.

I saw this show on the HotHouse website: HotHouse home Toumani Diabate with the Symmetric Orchestra on March 22. It's $25 if you preorder tickets, $30 at the door. First show is at 7, second show is 10. I'm going to try really hard to make the 7 pm show. But my life is in flux at the moment. Still, this seems like a good time to make it back to HotHouse.

That's great news, but will it be possible to get them as a small box or something? I have all the rest in the series, so I might as well get these.

I have an even better story about the a**holes who are taking up valuable space on this planet. My brother and I were driving across Michigan on Christmas Day on I-94 which is mostly 2 lanes in each direction. We were not in any particular hurry and he was driving the speed limit or a bit over. And we were in the right lane. Somebody comes speeding up behind us, passes on the left, gets into our lane and slams on the brakes. Totally unjustifiable on all counts. And quite possibly he had a suicide wish or something, as it was a smallish car and we were driving a minivan. Fortunately, I had sensed something was up and told my brother to start slowing down as they guy passed, but we still had to slam on the brakes, fishtailed and went into the median. It could have been a lot worse, but we were pretty shaken up, and I drove the rest of the way home. I tell you some people do deserve to die. In a karmically just world, he would have wrapped his car around a tree the next week. I certainly hope he did. This is over 10 years later, and I'm still angry when I think about it.

Interpretations of Monk should be floating around there. I picked up a set from DMG, but that was several years back. Most of it is really good. That's the Way I Feel Now is pretty interesting. I don't like the Bobby McFerrin, but most of the rest is good. I actually like the Work piece quite a bit -- it is done with a driving beat that is really catchy. This is a case where the LP (a 2 LP set) has more material than the cassette or the very limited edition CD.

Sal: I imagine if you are in South of France, you have to see Provence -- otherwise, why bother? Marseilles was ok, but I wouldn't spend too much time there. Aix-en-Provence was a really beautiful, kind of touristy place. It has a lot of historic buildings, and the food was great. I did not manage to make it to Avignon (needed one more day) but that would be another key spot to visit, both in terms of historical importance and understanding what Provence is all about. I would imagine the wines to be good, but I don't drink wine, so can't give any personal recommendations. Enjoy! Eric