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Well maybe, but it is more that American Idol offers better story arcs -- and the potential for conflict between the judges (mostly staged) -- and has more of a human element (wow -- I could be that goofy looking guy up there singing his heart out). Award shows are just a bunch of overpaid pop stars/movie stars/tv stars sitting around and exchanging metaphorical blow jobs. Who cares? I hate awards shows and have never voluntarily turned one on (my wife sometimes watches).

It really depends on the kind of music you like -- they mostly either have Brazilian or kind of eclectic freak-out jazz. I haven't regretted anything I bought. Probably the best is Collier's Deep Dark Blue Centre, then Paulo Moura Quarteto Charlie Mariano - Reflections Alberto Favero - Suite Trane Jacques & Micheline Pelzer Quartet - Song For Rene [this has a nice version of Naima on it] They have a few compilations they sell (and may be on emusic) which might be a good way to get a feel for what you would like. I've got a huge backlog on emusic to work through, but eventually I'll see if they have some new releases and download those.

They have a wide range of artists, with the best being from Brazil. But they are the ones who reissued Collier's Deep Dark Blue Centre and a few other key British jazz albums. They cut a deal with emusic a while back, and much of their output is there. This is especially good news for some of their OOP CDs, which they added as mp3s. I have 10 to 12 of their CDs and maybe another 5 albums as downloads.

I was extremely fortunate that I sold at the top of the market (to some idiot) and have been renting for a short while. Now that I am returning to Chicago, prices are slowly dropping, and it is a good time to buy again. Our house went up well over $150,000 in two years, though there was a fair bit of sweat equity involved as well.

Saw the Moscow State Symphony in Cambridge. The highlight was Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, but they also did well with Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty Suite. In the middle was a Rachmaninoff piece that I found unbelievably boring. I started looking over at the wall, counting bricks, waiting for it to end.

Thanks for the tips. I'll definitely consider the Musee Marmottan. I've seen pretty much all of the Louvre at one time or other, but would like to make a short trip (ha). I've been to Pompidou once, but not the newish Quai Branly, so I may go despite the crowds.

Oh, I forgot that at the Smithsonian American Art Museum there is a very nice exhibit called: Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination through Feb. 19, 2007. Definitely worth seeing in the next couple of weeks if you are in the DC area, since the best of the Cornell's seem to be concentrated in museums in New York and Chicago. Brownie -- it looks like I will be in Paris next weekend. Anything short-term exhibits I definitely need to see? I am thinking of a quick trip to the Louvre (saw most of it last time) but will probably skip d'Orsay as I was there quite recently. I've heard about the Musée du quai Branly. Is that worth a look?

Was back in the States for a quick visit and dropped by a lot of museums in New York and DC. The main exhibits I saw were Spanish art at the Guggenheim, Picasso and American Artists at the Whitney, art from Weimar Germany at the Met and a special exhibit on The Société Anonyme at the Phillips Collection in DC.

It looks like they are taking their 10 CD box sets and turning them into mp3 CDs. I don't know how the Cole box stacks up against the Mosaic box, though probably fairly closely. We've talked about the Piazzola Membran box before, and that it seems like a pretty good product, mostly live performances from the 1970s and 1980s.

My copy of Standards has 14 tracks: 1. Blues In The Night 2. Can't We Be Friends 3. Somebody Loves Me 4. All Of You 5. Dancing In The Dark 6. I Cover The Waterfront 7. Blues In The Night (Alt Tk) 8. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You 9. Ain't No Use 10. I Can't Give You Anything But Love 11. Black Velvet 12. I'm Just A Lucky So And So 13. The Breeze And I 14. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You (Alt Tk) It appears to still be in print. Excellent material. I love the cover of the Japanese version (not quite enough to import it though).

Most albums are available to Europeans and Canadians, but some CDs and even some labels apparently aren't. Curiously, I signed up for my account while in America, and even though my billing address has switched to the UK, I still have access to all US material. Still (mostly) on a world music trip. DL'ed: Gotan Project: La Revancha Del Tango Gotan Project: Lunatico Lhasa: The Living Road Rachid Taha: Ole Ole Youssou N'Dour: Immigres Bembeya Jazz National: The Syliphone Years Kélétigui Diabaté: Midnight in Mali Darko Rundek: Ruke Dexter Gordon: Jazz at High School Archie Shepp & the New York Contemporary Five Jaki Byard: Blues for Smoke

Ok, I went completely overboard and picked up something called the Schoenberg Ensemble Edition -- 23 CDs and 4 DVDs of contemporary classical music by the Schoenberg Ensemble. Don't think there is a real source in the States yet. This was the cheapest source for me (still in the UK): MDT website It will probably be something I listen to all the way through once, then will listen to selected CDs more frequently. I do hope I don't see it cheap a couple of years down the line though.

Some sound clips here of all places: VH1 Sound clips (Click on More Info) Definitely sounds like one to get, but nowhere to order yet. Calling CD Universe ...

Not saying that they will win by any means, but if the defense returns to early season form and forces a few turnovers and the offence mostly runs the ball -- it's definitely possible.

There are a number of software solutions to break copy protection, but the other option is the way I usually go. You simply play the files and rerecord them (using TotalRecorder or something similar) as new wav files without any copy protection and then do what you want with them. I agree though, it's a total drag to have to do this.

Yeah, does that mean 80 reviewers either turned down the box or actually returned it after reviewing the box? How amazing. I would have been happy to review the box, though I would have kept it. Anyway, congrats to the winners. About two years ago, I won a mid-level iPod in a company drawing (you had to agree to fill in some survey or other). I put a bit of music on it, but basically it has become my wife's property. That's the only thing I can recall winning in a long time.

I guess I agree with you regarding the competition-aspect, but I think it is a pretty cool back-story. Serena comes out of nowhere, plays her way back into shape during the tournament and stomps all over the pretty Russian. It's like Rocky IV but the guys are in drag and Rocky and Apollo had a mindmeld, or something like that. Anyway, I wish Serena the best for the next year on the circuit. She has always been my favorite female tennis player, though I have never seen her play live. I managed to see Venus win in a gutsy semi-finals match at the US Open one year, and that was cool too.

Just saw this article in the Times. This set looks pretty incredible. Unfortunately, I can't find a source for it yet on-line. Maybe we'll have to suggest that CD Universe look into importing this set.

Pretty much any Steve Lacy solo album. One in particular got 5 stars, but I couldn't stand it. I can't even recall the name, as I gave it away within a week.

I think the only thing I have is the Fargo material, so I would probably be in the market for this set, depending on the final price.

It was a Google search on the huge Jazz in Paris box set. I read the thread and some spin off threads and eventually joined. I have slowed down in my posting, but still enjoy reading.

Second day back in Chicago, so I stopped by Dusty Groove. I think I picked up the last copy of Clifford Jordan In the World and Harold Land's The Peace Maker. I also got Art Farmer's Art and Perception and Brass Shout/Aztec Suite.

So the Bears sneaked in there at the end. I didn't watch the game, just checked the box score while doing some other things. So what was the problem? It seems like the offense was ok, not spectacular, but no enormous screw ups by Rex, which is good. Has the defense just fallen apart? That's been my read over the past five or six weeks. This is just not the same defense that started the season. But I suppose anything can happen in the game against the Saints.

Somewhat amazingly, I should be able to watch this on an international United flight next week, so I'll see if it is good. It certainly sounds promising.

I'm trying to rent the Naruse box, though the UK equivalent of Netflix says there is a long wait. I'm a little torn over the Rohmer box. I have four or maybe even five of the films already, but I imagine that the mastering is a lot better and the bonus features are more extensive, so maybe eventually. There are two Rohmer sets available in the UK. One contains the entire "Comedies and Proverbes" series, plus Love in the Afternoon (from Six Moral Tales) and The Marquise of O. I'm not sure about this, for the same reason, that I have four already. What I am more likely to buy is Tales of the Four Seasons in a box set. I think one or two of these is not available in Region 1, but I could be wrong.