Kevin Bresnahan

Michael Cuscuna tells me that the "HQ CD" is EMI's SHM-CD. It's merely a CD with a different reflective layer. If the mastering sucks, it'll still suck.

My packages arrived but I have yet to give it a spin. Hope to do so tonight.

The weird thing is, this has been a problem for years. I had a Mosaic disc crack pulling it off that locking tab too. It had to be 6 or 7 years ago by now. These slim-line doubles are a pain. What I do now is rotate the disc off the first time, like Sidewinder, and after, I use a razor to shave down that little hook. Kevin

Good to hear that they're finding more & more ways to cure this. I figure if I can hang on long enough, they're going to invent some micromachine that will unclog my arteries. BTW, Bruce, my Dad survived the prostate cancer and lived 4 or 5 cancer-free years. It never came back. Unfortunately, his heart didn't keep up with him and he died of a heart attack two years ago now. Luckily (? ), all of these things in my family history have put me and my brothers on high alert. Maybe our Dad wasn't done protecting us. I doubt any of us would have had our PSA checked unless this hadn't happened. Kevin

Bruce, Excellent news! The fact that it is localized means they can kill it. Is a "cryotherapy procedure" the one like my Dad had? His treatment involved injecting these small little needles into the wall of the prostate that they irradiated. He was "radioactive" for about 6 weeks but the cancer was gone about 3 months later. That procedure worked great for my Dad. Good luck with the procedure and let us know how it's going. Kevin

She's 50 in August. She looks pretty damn good for someone who's turning 50 in less than a month. And I don't think she looks anorexic at all. Not with that stomach and those knockers. She has plenty of meat there. The arms look like someone who lifts weights. I can't tell you what's up with her face. Maybe she just got caught sucking on a Lifsaver? EDIT: Well, she's definitely not sucking a lifesaver. Here's another photo that seems to make her look even worse than the first: But I still think she looks pretty good for a 50 year old mother of 2. A lot of woman look a lot worse.

PM for these. Kevin

Damn! Well, the JAMFs can't bother him any more. RIP Johnny. You were one of the best.

That's actually just about list price for these reprints. They are listed at 1500 yen. A few stores were selling them for around $10 each when they came out a few years ago. I believe they are straight re-pressings of the original mini-LP disc and the sound is usually very good. Kevin

Bruce, I do not want to co-opt your thread. It's great to read your positive take on this shine through in your posts, but I'd like to add a serious note here... If you are a man over the age of 50, PLEASE, PLEASE - at your next physical, ask to have your PSA done when your blood work is submitted. They will not do it unless you ask and they usually only ask you if you want it done if it shows in your family history. It is a simple thing to ask but it can save YOUR LIFE. If you have a family history (as I do), start IMMEDIATELY. At your next physical, get a PSA reading. It will establish your baseline. THE FINGER TEST IS NOT ENOUGH!!! Kevin

Wow. Good to hear everyone came through OK. Watch for latent neck problems. It may take a few days for neck and back problems to crop up. It's good to hear that the Prius was able to protect you. It's all well and good to buy all those safety features but you never know how well they work until something like this comes along. I hope I never have to find out if the side air bags in my Prius were worth the extra $$. Kevin

Unfortunately, work & life in general has been keeping away from NYC with a stopover in Stamford. It's been quite a while now and it probably is time to plan a visit. Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, you should be pretty pleased Chuck.

Bull Moose Music offers CD scratch removal services. I have used it and the results have been fantastic. The machine they use doesn't merely grind off the top surface of your disc, it actually heats it up under high pressure to flatten it a bit first. The discs come out looking pretty good. I can't see any residue either. Kevin

God, I hate cherry pie.

I'm having trouble interpreting this whole thread right about now. A thread about a large layoff at EMI has somehow gotten off into a discussion of music business ethics.

Everything I own has been offered. You're the second, after Hans, to inquire about non-existent sets. I understand if my desperation appeals to your sense of a buying opportunity but ... Dan, in your initial post, you said, "I'll be organizing and offering CDs and LPs soon", which I took to mean you had some Mosaic LP sets as well as the CD sets. I now see that it could mean regular LPs and not just Mosaics. As for the smile, that probably should have been a wink. After all, these prices you have here are pretty low.

Dan, let me know if you have and are going to part with MR6-126 "The Complete Johnny Hodges Recordings 1951-1955" - especially at these VERY reasonable prices.

I just got an E-mail from Michael Cuscuna and he said that Tom had been strictly working the classical side of things for a while now but that it was still a very bad omen. He says that there are no more label heads or even label managers. It sounds like they're going to just lump everything together. To me, I'm seeing Jazz=low selling genre=low priority=no more reissues. I hope I'm wrong.

I just heard that EMI/Blue Note had a layoff on June 24th (some details can be found here at the Velvet Rope forum. Our old Blue Note forum favorite Tomatbluenote (Tom Evered) was caught in this wave of layoffs. As much as Tom managed to piss off a lot of people on the Blue Note board, I don't think this is a good thing for the Blue Note label. He was passionate about the music and worked on "the suits" to try and get as much of it out to the buying public as he could. He was pretty proud of being able to issue non-selling titles that had languished in the vaults for decades, particularly when the royalties could help a living Jazz artist make ends meet. Later, Kevin

Hope you're having a great day Jack!

Gerry Mulligan - Meets Ben Webster (Verve) I picked up a mono pressing. Steve Hoffman recommended the mono. Eh. He says the echo is gone on the mono mix, but I think it's still there, just not as noticeable. The high end is non-existent for the most part. Pretty dead sounding recording in mono. I still prefer the Mobile Fidelity gold CD by a wide margain. Besides, the CD one doesn't have HUGE pops in it, even though this $10 LP looks perfect. I hate it when perfect-looking vinyl plays like this.

I just had two ancient silver amalgam fillings replaced last week. They were so old, they were black. I have read too much bad press about the mercury in the silver amalgam, so I went for those glass-impregnated epoxy fillings instead. The best thing was that the dentist didn't have to open up the old holes too much. Later, Kevin

I'll miss him. You saw his name on the bill and you knew it was going to be good night. No matter who he backed, you just knew it would cook. It was as if he raised the bar for the rest of the band.

At more than twice the price of a "regular" Impulse! pressing, they should be. I just got back from Stereo Jack's, where he got in a bunch of vinyl. I'm spinning Chico Hamilton's "Tales Of Ellington" on Blackhawk. Other than that annoying late 70's/early 80's bass sound, it sounds pretty good - especially for $2.99. Kevin

John Coltrane - Coltrane (Impulse!) 180 gram reissue %#@$ clicks & pops at the beginning of side 2! Too late to bring it back. Damn.