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Just a small follow-up on Playtime. Criterion emailed me back, saying they hope to re-issue Playtime, but there are no definitive plans at the moment. I have no idea what that means. I hope they are working on the re-issue and don't want to tip their hands too much. I may see if I can get a used copy of the R2 version in the meantime, even though the colors are a bit off (green tinged).

I thought Season 1 was quite good, and maybe the first half of Season 2. Perhaps renting the second season is a better approach. The question is whether you can go on, knowing you are turning your back on so much of the story. I guess I have survived so far ...

It's pretty interesting up close, but mostly due to the scale. It really helps outline the immensity of Central Park and all its trails when you see the gates criss-cross in the distance. They were unfurling these things in teams all over the park in the morning, and there were still some to be unfurled by the early afternoon. It was kind of funny, since they pulled on this tab (with a long pole) and the material unrolled and a cardboard tube dropped out. Then the wrapper and the tube were put into a bag (probably to be sold on-line later). All the while there were people taking pictures and probably some teams were filmes for a documentary. Probably there will be pictures of this procedure for every one of the 15,000 gates. It did feel a little cult-like so I moved on. There were many people out walking through the park, and that was great. The numbers are way up for a cold afternoon. Best of all, if you ran into a Gates volunteer and were nice to them, you got a small 2 inch square piece of the fabric used in the Gates. I managed to get one (no it's not for sale) and it is basically orange with some yellow in it if you turn it in the light.

Ok, well I guess I will show up a bit earlier then (I was going to wait until 4 PM when admission becomes free (Fridays only)), but it sounds like it is worth taking the extra time.

I've been to the old MOMA many times, and even made it out to Queens three times, including the awesome Max Beckmann show. I'm going to check out the expanded MOMA tomorrow. Has anyone been through it? Roughly how long does it take to see everything? Two hours? Three? Four? I can probably go through a little more quickly, since I am quite familiar with their core collection, though there will be many favorites near which I like to linger.

I do want to apologize for implying that art lovers are lemmings. I was in a terrible mood and the puffery in the Travel Arts Syndicate "news piece" irritated me. I can believe that 2 million people might see The Gates, but most of them will be locals. The NY Times piece with its guestimate that 200K people would travel to NY to see the piece is much more reasonable. As it happens, I am coming to NY this weekend, for completely different reasons, and I will go ahead and try to see the Gates myself.

Do you really think millions of people will come to NYC just to see this? Millions? Maybe I should try to check it out. I've always wanted to be a lemming.

A UK seller is offering the ultra rare inner glow on Ebay. The opening bid is a bit more than I want to pay (I have my fingers crossed it will show up on the Select). But knock yourselves out.Inner glow

Gotta agree with Dan here. Bluesette is better of course, but I also like Bluesette II. Kind of a warm recording. Amazing really that they got almost all the original performers back together.

I think I only made it to VV once to catch Don Byron. The set consisted of two pieces, long jams each over 30 minutes. The group was kind of Latin-tinged. It was fine, but I enjoyed his recent tour to support Ivey-Divey more.

Well, I agree it is nice to find musicians that can actually sing. Still I didn't find the Super Bowl interesting and I think I succeeded in only watching 20 minutes (if that) as I went around the house. I actually was coming back from the Jazz Showcase as it started (a much better use of my time). I did find the whole thing so sanitized and boring (the game and halftime) that I am not surprised that ratings are down. I also am still so mad over the FCC going crazy from last year and becoming super censors that I will probably feel negatively towards the Super Bowl for years to come (but no more on that in this thread).

Yes, Larry Gray was incredible. I didn't mean to run down Mabern's rhythm section, but I wasn't blown away by them the way I was by Gray. Still, it was a fairly full room for a matinee, and people seemed to really enjoy the music.

A very good show. The band is quite loud, although I was only a couple of rows behind Mark. Mabern really does pound on that piano. I suspect it will need a tune-up after this weekend. Mabern did steal the show, as several people indicated he would. He's really the only reason I went. I thought Alexander was pretty good. I wasn't terribly impressed with the drummer or bass player (maybe because the bass player at the Golson show was so much better).

I actually try to avoid them. I've had at least two and I believe more items go out of stock. Once I eventually got the item. The other time(s) I had to cancel. If there is anyone else with the comparable product at a comparable price, I will go with the other seller instead. But I have occasionally used them and probably will in the future.

Are the deleted scenes actually inserted into the movie (like expanded Lord of the Rings or Apocalypse Now), or are they off on their own (like 90% of movies)? While I like watching deleted scenes, you just can't get much flow or feel for them, when they are separate.

I'm listening to the Modern Sounds from the West, and it sounds fine, even great to me, but I really am no audiophile. I can do a bit of a review after I hear it again. I also thought that the Oscar Pettiford Big Band CD sounded good, though the live material (3 bonus tracks) was just a bit rougher. It's really hard to decipher how legit this is. Both the Cds I am listening to have material recorded in 1956 (and Pettiford has a 1957 date) so it isn't "pure" public domain, even in Europe. Both CDs have little notices on them, indicating the material was licensed. So that's a start for Lonehill. But was it only licensed for the EU? Did the record companies that own this license it for a trifle, since they probably figured they only had a couple more years until it went PD in Europe anyway? I don't know. It's still pretty grey to me, but it is better than Blue Moon or Definitive, for example. Still, I am glad it is available to a new batch of listeners.

I agree the whole thing is unusual. It looks as though they intend to sell $11 per disc, and then when someone orders something and they discover it is a set , then the price is adjusted (one of the Mingus sets and the Sinatra, for example). But someone pointed out that the Selects have been priced that way for 6 months. I'll keep my order open for a little while (it's on a card I was just about to pay off and destroy anyway) just to see what happens.

available as a Japanese re-issue (2003) While I know many have qualms and reservations about Lonehill, this material with 3 bonus cuts has just come out as Oscar Pettiford -- Complete Big Band Studio Recordings on ABC/Lonehill. It appears to have been licensed, but perhaps only for the European market. Pettiford at Dusty Groove

Shortly after reading this thread, I found a copy of the 2-fer for $10 at Dusty Groove. It was in good condition, though side 4 probably could stand to be cleaned. I'd be happy to pass it along. PM me if interested.

What I'm really waiting for is word on whether Criterion is going to release Playtime in 2005 or not. I sure hope so, though maybe it will be 2006. Any later than that and I will just get the R2 release and be done with it. Still, Criterion has the opportunity to use the 70 mm release (very nice) and correct some issues that others have pointed out. I still vividly remember when the Tati films showed up in J & R Musicworld. I decided to watch the films first before buying them (seems sensible to me though there are people who buy all Criterion films sight-unseen, much as some of us (not me) buy every Mosaic). I didn't actually care for them on first viewing, though they grew on me. By this time, they had gone out of print. I do kind of regret not getting them, since I would have made a killing on ebay, especially with Playtime. Oh well. It's better that they be restored and kept in print.

I'm leaning towards getting the Criterion of Altman's Short Cuts. Not only is it an interesting film but the packaging is nice, with a booklet including the Raymond Carver stories drawn on for the film. Of course, I already have those, but that's besides the point.

Tranemonk: I just ordered the Roach set, but it is paired with the Hill Select, so I won't get it for another couple of weeks, so I don't have anything that useful to say now. I don't think you would be disappointed. He's got great sidemen, and it is from a high point of his career (musically speaking, even though he was trying to recover from the loss of Clifford Brown). Eric

I think we could use a beating a dead horse gif, but I don't have the skillz to do it myself.

"JaMo plays the Times Square HoJo"

I missed that, though I have Will Ferrell in my Netflix queue just to see this infamous cowbell sketch. I have spent some time at the cowbell project -- what a hoot!