Kevin Bresnahan

Technically, a 1955 recording is no longer a bootleg in the EU. It's public domain there. Anyone can distribute it in the EU.

My daughter just sent me a link to the Jars Of Clay's version of "Little Drummer Boy" last week. She said it's the first version of the song she ever enjoyed. I thought it was nice. Then I sampled the rest of the tunes, including this one, and I thought they were just trying too hard to make every tune unique. There's something to being unique, but it doesn't have to be every tune. BTW, if you want to hear some interesting new Christmas music, try Pink Martini's new CD or download Coldplay's new single. Kevin

Of course you can "go wrong". You're talking about running this player's needle across your LPs. If it's a crap cartridge/needle, it might play fine the first time, but the next time you go to play that LP, it might be ruined. The ION TT does not have a very good cart. Haven't you ever ruined an LP by playing it with a cheap needle? Back in the day, I used to loan LPs to friends. After I got back a couple that looked white-ish and realized it was ruined, I stopped loaning them to that friend until he got a new cart.

Personally, I wouldn't use one of these on my records if it was given to me, but maybe I'm just paranoid. I don't even like playing my records on my entry-level Denon turntable because the cartridge is iffy.

Which version of WMP are you using? I'm using version 11.0. If I click the arrow while in the Now Playing tab, all I have to do to get back the panel on the side is click the small arrow under Now Playing and then click Show List Pane and that panel shows back up. Kevin

Unfortunately, Windows Media Player is the only freebie player I've found that includes a graphic equalizer. What's more unfortunate is that it defaults to "on" and if the settings are wrong, you can get terrible sounding music. Still, I use it more often than other players because I like the way it manages my music and I use the EQ often to compensate for poor headphones. FWIW, if the software is playing a CD and not mp3 files, it should sound the same no matter which program you use unless they purposefully mess with the bitstream. The application is not "playing" the CD, the computer is. Software players don't somehow change the D/A converter in your PC. What's likely happening here is that you WMP is still in the default mode of "Rip CD when inserted". It rips to .wma and that's what you're hearing being played back, *not* the CD itself. Shut that setting off. To play a CD in WMP, you click the "Now playing" tab and hit the little down arrow. You should see the CD as D:CD title. BTW, to get that panel back, simply click the arrow next to the "Search" box at the top right of the window.

I have seen this go for a less than this in the past. I have been looking for one for a couple of years now & so far, I missed one with a "Buy It Now" for $120 and another for a little less. Maybe I should use that "Make Offer" link and offer $120? Couldn't hurt to try. Later, Kevin

And Michael Cuscuna was right about those two, wasn't he? They put them out and they didn't sell at all. I remember finding them in used bins all over Boston for a while. The funniest thing was that nearly every time I talked to Michael about upcoming reissues, he would always bring those two reissues up. He wasn't gloating, just reminding me that us Blue Note junkies on the Internet Jazz forums don't represent the normal CD buying public. We're fanatics. You need more than fanatics to sell some of this stuff. Later, Kevin

Rolf - After facing the possibility of losing my wife a few weeks back, I realized that I'd be very, very lost without her. I imagine you're feeling that way right now. Like you, I have two daughters and they were what I leaned on when my wife was in surgery and I continue to lean on them for emotional support as my wife slowly recuperates. Your daughters will be a big help getting you through this. You can help them get through it as well. My condolences to your family. Kevin

There have been many bad movies throughout the years. In recent memory, one of the worst I can think of was "Dragon Wars". It was heavily hyped, with commercials touting it during primetime television for weeks before its release. Luckily, I didn't get to see it until the local library got a copy on DVD. Ugh. What a stinker. The worse thing about it was the comically bad acting. The Mystery Science Theater guys could have a field day with it. Combine really bad acting with a plot with enough holes to drive a bus through and you get a movie that you have trouble watching after about 10 minutes.

Lon - I debated keeping this but it really would be a back up to another back up. I have too many players. The player is on hold pending payment. Thanks for looking, Kevin

NAD T-585 Universal Player $300 including shipping to a continental US address. Alaska/Hawaii and international shipping will be actual cost. PayPal preferred but I will accept money orders from US buyers. International buyers: this is a US unit. 120V/60Hz. This units plays DVD-V, DVD-A, DVD+R, DVD-R, VCD, SVCD, SACD, CD, CD-R, and CD-RW discs. It also decodes HDCD, MP3, and WMA. NAD still has the product page live at: http://nadelectronics.com/products/dvd-players/T-585-Universal-DVD-Player. It listed for $1199 at intro. I bought this unit a few years back for a second listening area and it has performed like a champ. Unfortunately, I had to convert back that area back to a bedroom so I no longer need it. It probably has a little over 100 hours on it, with almost all of that being SACD on a two-channel system. I hooked it up to my main listening area the other day to verify the multi-channel capabilities and everything works great. This is an excellent sounding player. The guts are identical to NAD's Master Series M55, which listed for $1800 at intro. This is a lot of player for little money. Thanks, Kevin

I'd rather go back to 1978 and break open Bucky Bleeping Dent's bat to show the world its corked innards. Of course, going back to 1986 and somehow getting the Red Sox's idiot manager to 1) Leave Bob #@%# Stanley in the pen where he belonged and 2) Subbing for old man Buckner at first for a player who could actually bend over. I still blame Bob Stanley more than Bill Buckner for that screw up.

No, it doesn't. And for those who want to view Ronnie's current website, it's here. I'm going to hear Ronnie perform in Boston in two weeks and will probably pick up a copy of the new CD from him. For others, Infra-Rae is available on iTunes for only $6.93. Excellent! They finally got rid of the squatters. As of a few weeks ago, www.ronniecuber.com was still some sort of sex fetish site. It looks like they got booted off on October 1st. I was glad I had NoScript running in Firefox when I first visited. Checking out his new website - when the hell did Scullers add Ronnie?!? I was just checking out their schedule a few weeks ago and I didn't see it. I'll have to get tickets to that one for sure! Gotta get my bari fix. Too bad Joanne can't leave the house for another few weeks. Kevin

Your post became inappropriate once the offending post it referred to was deleted. Remember, there are multiple definitions to the word. If you stick to "not conforming with accepted standards of propriety or taste; undesirable", then yeah, you have a reason to be miffed. But if you use "not suitable for a particular occasion etc.", it describes your post very well. It was not appropriate to leave your post in place as it would no longer fit in with the rest of the thread.

Don't you think your post would've looked rather odd without the first post commenting on the price?

We had to put Jasmine down last Wednesday, the day my wife was coming home from the hospital after major surgery. I left in the morning and she was fine but by late morning, I had to have my brother come and take her to the vet. The hits just keep coming here at Casa Bresnahan.

Joanne came through great. Thanks everyone for the positive thoughts. She's still on antibiotics and steroids so she's not out of the woods completely, but she feels better and looks a lot better.

The empty nest is a bit emptier this morning as I wake up to an empty house. Wish me & my wife Joanne luck this morning (10/16) and if you believe in that sort of thing, toss a prayer her way. She's undergoing some major neck surgery. Kevin

Joanne & I talked about what to do when our dog Jasmine dies. We've always had a dog in our marriage. But this will be the 3rd one to leave us and we may take a break. It's such a heart-breaking event. Also, we're thinking we may be able to take off every now & then if we don't have a dog back at the house. A dog is like a child. You always have to have a local "dog sitter" handy to feed it and let it out to do its business. Our dog sitters just had their youngest go off to UNH this year too. They're spending most weekends up at their lake house. So much change going on in my life. It's pretty crazy. But you know what I always say... I'd rather get old than the alternative!

As anyone who has had children can attest, your life goes through a radical change. No longer are you responsible for just you and your significant other, your every waking moment is occupied with "kid things". When they're little, it's the simple things like feed, clothe & clean up. As they age, you become a chauffeur, coach, mentor, tutor & best of all "Daddy". Throughout the years that our two daughters grew up to be young women, my wife & I tried to stay very close. We are still "best friends". We also made sure to go on dinner dates every now & then - just the two of us. I took Joanne to France for a week, Germany for a week and London for a week. Our theory was that by doing this, we'd be better prepared for when the girls were gone & it was just us again. We'd be a couple again - the dreaded Empty Nesters. September 6th, my two little girls went off to college... well, they're not little any more. So now the big test - did all of our "preparation" help us handle being empty nesters better than other couples we've known? Simply put, no. I really hate it. I miss having a full house. I miss the hustle & bustle of dinner time, driving the girls to & fro and just being their Dad. Our house is way too big for just the two of us. And with the market the way it is, downsizing ain't happening any time soon. Even worse - I started having health issues. Dizziness, muscle weakness, numb left arm. For crying out loud, I'm already bummed out & now my health starts heading south. 48 is not old! After about 20 doctor visits, they still have no clue what's going on. Then it gets even worse! Our happy-go-lucky Golden Retriever gets diagnosed with an inoperable tumor on her heart. My wife is going to be devastated. Jasmine is her dog. She follows "Mom" around all day & night. So far, being an empty nester is not all it was supposed to be. Later, Kevin

This is precisely because the people who think it's OK to text are not going to pay any attention to a law making their stupidity illegal. Unenforceable laws do nothing to stop these fools. The thing that bothers me is that everyone comes up with some reason why they shouldn't shut off texting while the phone is moving but yet they all agree that it's a bad thing. What does it take? For everyone to know someone first hand who has been killed and/or injured in an accident?

You stop and make the call/text. That's the safest thing to do. Look, I realize that there would be situations where this would be very bad, but face it, bans on cell phone use would do NOTHING to stop the stupidity known as "texting while driving". All it would do is make criminals of millions of people because THEY WILL NOT STOP THIS DUMB HABIT. BTW, there is a GPS chip in every phone sold in the US since 2001. The feds required it so they can always trace a cell phone. This same circuit tells the cell phone provider where you are and how fast you're moving. It would be a simple software switch to disable certain phone features while that phone is moving faster than a certain speed.

I would welcome this, but only if they put it in place at the provider level. The feds have the ability to force the wireless providers to shut off the phone if it's moving. Simply making it a federal crime would do nothing to stop it. I have seen far too many people whipping down the highway at 75-85 mph, totally oblivious to the world around them as they chat or text away on their phones. I would love to see a return to sanity. What on earth did everyone do back in the days before cell phones? Well, for one thing, they drove better!

Oh, the road rash you'd get riding like that! Hell, never mind riding, imagine throwing your leg over and hitting the hot exhaust? Ouch! BTW, I haven't been able to ride for over a month. Neck & arm are all screwed up. On the bright side, I feel a little safer. The texting while driving crowd is getting bigger and bigger out there. I am constantly in fear of one of these idiots coming into my lane.