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Well, I basically agree with you, but I was pretty startled at how much repetition there was for these orchestras in Prague and Vienna, with this year even more Mozart-heavy than normal (if that is possible) and the same pieces repeated at least weekly, and sometimes daily. On the other hand, it was a very steady gig throughout the summer. Eric

I know there are many complaints from jazz musicians tired of playing standards or the same numbers over and over. Artie Shaw allegedy quitting over Begin the Beguine is a prime example. Some simply feel that playing in front of audiences is worth it, even if the material isn't so great. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had insight into how classical musicians feel over this. This is sparked by a few concerts I have been to in the last few years. A "pops" concert in Portland, OR, where I felt sorry for the orchestra, since it didn't appear to me from looking at their concerts for the year that they ever had a chance to play challenging pieces. I'm generally pretty snobbish about classical pops concerts, though perhaps interleaved with other things, it might not be so bad. This summer I was in Vienna, and had a chance to listen to a big orchestra play the "hits" of Mozart and Strauss (a movement here and there but no entire pieces). So this was marginally better than a "pops" concert, but still not great. It looked like the orchestra played the same set list over and over through the whole summer. There is a lingering feeling, captured in the guidebooks, that the orchestra members largely are going through the motions. In the end, I ended up going to a smaller concert where a quartet played 3 complete pieces, including Mozart's Dissonance Quartet. I looked over other programs, and it was somewhat varied, though quite Mozart-heavy as one would expect. Finally, I was in Prague and had a chance to see a large orchestra play Dvorak's Symphony 9. Movements 1 and 3 seemed a bit fast, but 2 and 4 were terrific. Anyway, it looked like they had some variety, but played Symphony 9 about once a week. So I guess I was thinking this was a mixed blessing. The tourism industry is keeping loads of musicians in Europe occupied, but at the price of playing the same pieces over and over (it is striking how different this is from London or New York or Chicago where the various orchestra's seasons are geared towards locals and have a reasonable amount of variety within any given season). My personal preference is away from the "hits," so I would be doubly disappointed if I was in the Vienna orchestra. But do classical musicians feel this way, or do they know going into the profession that they will have trouble finding work and that a steady job is better than variety. And perhaps it isn't really an issue. Maybe individual creativity and variety-seeking is not relevant for classical musicians, and job satisfaction comes from making the ensemble sound good. Or maybe it is a combination, where people don't think it is an issue when they start out, then get jaded and tired of the repertoire after many years. I only knew a handful of classical musicians starting out, so just thought I would throw this out there for comments.

I was just in Dusty Groove on a very short trip to Chicago and picked up two promo copies of Chico Hamilton's new CDs -- Juniflip and Believe. If you can believe it, he has 4 CDs coming out in 2006. The other two are Heritage and 6th Ave. Romp. I'm still deciding what I think. They don't grab me by the neck and shake me, but they seem pretty good. Maybe a third of the tracks have vocals. I have to admit, I don't think I have heard of the people in his "Euphoria" ensemble: Cary DeNigris on guitar, Paul Ramsey on bass, along with Evan Schwam on flute, tenor & soprano saxes, Karolina Strassmayer on flute, alto & soprano saxes, Andrew Hadro on flute, alto & baritone saxes, and Jeremy Carlstedt on percussion. Anyway, I still think it is terrific that Chico, who turns 85 this year, is still active and has found a new label - Joyous Shout. He is doing a bit of touring as well, mostly in New York. Here are some details from the Joyous Shout website: Chico live dates I'd be glad to hear what others think, or if you have heard the other two. I'll probably spin them a few more times and have more detailed comments later.

But he must have been quite good in the later section of the book after Arctor has flat-lined. I'll try to get around to renting this fairly soon. Anyway, I just finished the book on the plane to Chicago. It was a bit darker than I expected and also a little more linear, in the sense that "reality" isn't in question, though one person's reality is fragmenting. I then followed up with Ubik, which like Flow My Tears, is far more ambiguous about reality. I liked Ubik better than Scanner, and actually Ubik might make a decent movie.

He's been at the Jazz Showcase at least twice in that time, and I went once. He'll probably be back there pretty soon. It's the main place he plays when in Chicago. Eric

Well, what about Ireland? Creative types, such as the members of U2, essentially pay no income tax on the proceeds from their art.

I think I have all the material, except maybe two of the Garland sessions and possibly the Elmo Hope (which I might have under a different title). With that much repetition, it doesn't make sense for me even at $60, even if it happened to still be in stock.

Why not? Because you say so? It seems Mr Hans has blocked PMs or PMs from me. I want to let him know I picked "Duke Pearson" out of the air. I could have said Charlie Parker, Albert Ayler, Duke Ellington, Roscoe Mitchell or Don Ewell. It was an example. Well, we'll remember that when the Noonah re-issue comes out.

Way back when -- at least 2 years ago -- DG offered the 12 inch single Pharaoh with Sleepwalker. I got it back then. Not sure I'll get the whole CD, mostly because of the price.

This is one of those cases I am really glad I held off buying. The first version of this came out on DVD and I think it was only two episodes per DVD -- a total rip-off even though there were discounts for buying large numbers of them. Then they started rereleasing them by season. And then the ultimate collection came out with some excellent bonus features. I have the first three seasons of the ultimate collection and will get the other two fairly soon.

What do you think so far? I liked it, though obviously it would have been improved had she lived to finish the whole thing and also had a chance to revise.

This is what I love. Guys with a chip on their shoulder telling other people that only experts can post on a topic, sports-related or not. Might as well shut down the board under those conditions. I could point to plenty of EU-commentators (who've grown up with the game) who offer similar suggestions to improve football as the dumb Americans.

Excellent news. I'm sure many of us are looking forward to buying the CD version of Nonaah from you. I certainly am. Let us know how it progresses, please.

You'll simply never convince me that a sport that allows its most serious games to be decided by PKs is a sport worth following. Not that anyone cares...

I'm confused, since I clearly remember this case coming up previously and that time around the CleanFilm groups won. Maybe there are different rulings in different jurisdictions. Or now that I am remembering it a bit more clearly, the other case involved a device sort of like a Tivo that filtered out offensive material (based on codes the company provided) and maybe it falls under some kind of personal use exemption. In any case, I think the other approach is still legal but I can't be bothered to look it up.

I just saw The Death of Mr. Lazarescu at the Cambridge Film Fest. The basic plot is that an older man in Bucharest feels ill and calls for the ambulance. His sickness is largely discounted by medical technicians, since he is clearly an alcoholic. The movie follows him as he is shuttled from doctor to doctor and hospital to hospital (this is largely due to a major traffic accident sending dozens of people to hospitals at the same time). It's still making the rounds of Film Festivals and hasn't had a general release in the US or UK. Probably won't be widely released in the US, even though it won at Cannes and elsewhere. The critics are just falling over themselves to praise this film. But I just can't see general audiences falling for this, since it is so bleak. (Scorsese's Bringing Out the Dead, which I enjoyed a lot, covers the same territory and is similarly fairly dark, but even that film has a more optimistic sense of redemption by the end. I don't think BOTD did that well in the US, but I may be wrong.) I think Ebert's review is quite good, as are some others: Ebert review; NYFF review. In fact, Ebert's recent review was what pushed me to see the film when I had the chance. How terribly ironic that he was just back in the hospital himself last week. It was even longer than I had thought - 150 minutes in almost real time (they cut out most of the scenes of the ambulance driving on the road, but otherwise it was real time watching the guy get shuttled from one doctor to another and the waiting in the hospital corridors, etc.). It is one of the more depressing, but realistic movies I have seen in a while, not terribly life-affirming at all. I think this is a valuable corrective to Hollywood movies, but it can be a bit much. I could have probably done with 90 minutes. The guy is complaining throughout the whole movie about headaches and stomache pains, and I ended up with a splitting headache myself. What I did like about the movie was watching the whole range of doctors interacting with Lazarescu and the nurse who rides with him in the ambulance. Most blame him for his fate (he should not drink) but most do their job and a few doctors are reasonably nice/patient with him. However, there is one very arrogant pair of doctors who decide to send Lazarescu away to the next hospital, mostly because it is late and the nurse rubs them the wrong way. On the whole, nurses seem to respond better to the situation than the doctors, but again, that is a simplification. There are many messages that come across in this film, and one is that people simply respond differently to the many stresses of being a doctor in a medical system under great pressure (Bucharest). Most just kind of cope and are a bit snappish (I certainly relate to that), some are still relatively engaged and even kind and would be great doctors in a better health care system, and a few are terrible. This is much closer to reality, even in the US, than ER or Scrubs or certainly House. I probably wouldn't watch the film a second time, unless the other five movies about life in Bucharest are made (according to the film publicity "the film is the first in Puiu's series, Six Stories from the Bucharest Suburbs, inspired by Rohmer's Six Moral Tales"), though I personally see greater ties with Kieslowski's Decalog, certainly in terms of tone.

The movie is playing next weekend at the Cambridge (UK) film fest, but I don't think I'll be able to make the showing. I'll probably just wait for it to come out on DVD. Plus, it will give me a chance to finish reading the novel (got about 50 pages in and got distracted by life).

I like it quite a bit, but my favorite track is Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me by Mary J. Blige. It does sound a bit like something these punk remixers would do, but she is quite soulful actually.

Have a great time! I lived there for a year and still miss it terribly. Might even move there again if I can swing it. Anyway, between AGO and ROM, I'd go to AGO, but it depends how much is closed or under construction. If you have the time, I would recommend a walk starting from the University of Toronto (quite a gorgeous place), down University Ave. At Dundas you can choose to go west to the AGO, or south another block to Nathan Philips Square (this is the new city hall and winter ice rink). Across the street is the elegant old city hall. Then you are only two short blocks away from Adelaide/Queen St. W which is one of the hipper parts of town. Lots of coffee shops and trendy stores. It's great for people watching. Don't forget to scarf down a donut or two at a Tim Horton's!

Pm sent on Holiday for Skins. Eric

so you won't get scolded? To a certain extent, but also I've had problems with packages delivered when I am not home. As much as I would like to sit around all day waiting for jazz in the mail, it isn't possible. What about the fact that the work address doesn't have any numbers, just two names? Stick it all onto the street name line?

I have two related questions (to ordering on the 2001 website). Is it possible to have different shipping and billing address? Second, can you use one of these "English" addresses, i.e. Somerset House, Milton Rd., where there are two phrases and no numbers in the address? It certainly didn't look like the form could handle that, so I've had my previous order sent to my home address, but I would prefer it sent to work. Thanks. Eric

I think the US should have won 2-1. Waving off that second goal was totally unjustified in my view.

Excellent news! I have the UK version, but this one is based off the 65 mm print and should be much, much better. They claim it is coming in Sept. Oct. is a bit more likely, and I'll probably ask for it for Xmas.

Brockmeier's A Brief History of the Dead. I enjoyed this, but the reviews are mixed. The main set-up is that there is a city in which the newly dead reside, until everyone who knew them is dead, at which point they pass onto another, even more mysterious location. The next major plot point is that terrorists have released a virus that gets so completely out of hand that it decimates the entire global population, except for a handful of researchers at the South Pole. The chapters then alternate between the city of the dead and the South Pole. Some people wanted more of one setting rather than the other. I found the city of the dead chapters a lot more interesting and somewhat agree that aspects of it aren't really fleshed out or thought all the way through. My favorite bit from an Amazon reviewer is about how the dead eat burgers, so does that mean there is a small army of newly dead cattle kept for the sole purpose of being eaten a second time. But it was certainly an entertaining read. For a slightly more coherent metaphysical headtrip, take a look at James Morrow's Towing Jehovah about a captain who is given the task of towing God's dead body to the equator to atone for his past mistakes, most notably rupturing an oil tanker and spilling crude oil all over the Alaskan shore.