Now reading...

[Niko]

Oh, didn't he ramble

the autobiography of trumpeter Lee Collins, used but in good shape, even including the Flexi-Disc with an additional track from "A Night at the Victory Club"... Thought I'd show my daughter what a used bookstore looks like, allegedly the biggest English-language one on the continent no less, and take the briefest of looks at the row of jazz books... where this one stood, had been looking for it for a while without high expectations or high effort... it's a very enjoyable inside view on a live in early jazz from New Orleans to Chicago in the form of an endless stream of anecdotes

[jlhoots]

Louise Erdrich: The Big Red

[Chuck Nessa]

Still have my original copy purchased in Ames Iowa on my lunch hour.

[T.D.]

On 10/7/2024 at 4:32 PM, T.D. said:

Every year in Woodstock NY there's an anniversary performance of 4'33' at a museum/art gallery. Kay Larson, a Cage scholar, usually (in my experience) opens with a lecture. Then the celebrated piece, which the musician(s) follow with a "normal" performance.

 

On 10/8/2024 at 1:53 PM, mjazzg said:

I really enjoyed that book

Sounds a fascinating listen

It's really good. Larson seems to be a Zen practitioner (based on her intro/dedication) and gets far more into the Buddhist aspect than anyone else I've ever read on Cage. And the whole thing is extremely well written.

About 3/4 of the way through.

In the meantime I finished this (more urgent because it was from library):

Funny thing. I browsed a bookstore I hadn't visited in a while and saw Larson/Cage, Threadgill/Edwards and The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins on the same shelf, which triggered a reading binge. Purchased the Cage paperback, got the Threadgill via interlibrary loan. Couldn't bring myself to buy the Rollins notebooks because it's a slim volume with a lot of white space; may need to because the (pretty good) interlibrary loan system doesn't have it. 😕

[GA Russell]

Amazon has announced today its new lineup of Kindles.

https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/devices/new-kindle-color-scribe-paperwhite-entry

[mjzee]

2 hours ago, GA Russell said:

Amazon has announced today its new lineup of Kindles.

https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/devices/new-kindle-color-scribe-paperwhite-entry

IMHO, it's hard to see the value proposition of a Kindle vs. buying an iPad Mini.  The Mini has a better screen, more advanced technology, it's a full-fledged iPad, very lightweight, and you can load the Kindle app on it and access your Kindle library.

[ejp626]

Wrapping up Dawn Powell's The Golden Spur.  I believe this is the last of her "New York" novels.  Quite droll.

Next will be Eric DuPont's Songs for the Cold of Heart.  (Which is much better known as The American Fiancée.)

 

 

[GA Russell]

I have been reading the Fletch books in order.  This is #8.  It's much better than the previous three or four.

I've read rave reviews about this, and I think it's good, but not that good.  Chock full of items I didn't know about, although few were important.  One interesting thing is that the author feels that some famous old-timers were underappreciated because they played before the days of WAR statistics.  I was struck by the author's belief that it is harder to play against so many other teams than it was in the days of playing against only seven.

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, GA Russell said:

I was struck by the author's belief that it is harder to play against so many other teams than it was in the days of playing against only seven.

Why do you think it was harder to play only against seven teams .... ?

[medjuck]

But isn't Fletch Won the first one chronologically in Fletch's life though not in order of publication? 

[GA Russell]

15 hours ago, medjuck said:

But isn't Fletch Won the first one chronologically in Fletch's life though not in order of publication? 

Correct!

I assume that "won" is a pun on "one."

15 hours ago, soulpope said:

Why do you think it was harder to play only against seven teams .... ?

I had the pleasure (Quite a thrill!) of meeting Bill Veeck in 1972.  He told me that adding water to a glass of wine does not increase the amount of wine.

Soulpope, the idea is that there is a limited number of quality players, and increasing the number of teams merely calls players who are less than top-quality "major leaguers" without increasing the quality of their play.  So the more teams there are, the more the quality players are dispersed amongst the less-talented.

[JSngry]

But - the available talent pool today is exponentially larger today than ever before...

In the end, I think it's apples and oranges, it's almost two different games, then and now. Not even all of the rules have stayed the same...DH, anybody? Does Ohtani get 50/50 this year without it?

As just one of many examples, I am starting to get a little pissed off about whatever hype is spewed about "post-season" records. Totally meaningless comparisons are being made and swallowed whole.

[JSngry]

Otoh...

The shrinkage of the minor leagues has meant that some younger players arrive in the bigs, not with inferior talent, but with less than complete "seasoning".

[soulpope]

7 hours ago, GA Russell said:

Correct!

I assume that "won" is a pun on "one."

I had the pleasure (Quite a thrill!) of meeting Bill Veeck in 1972.  He told me that adding water to a glass of wine does not increase the amount of wine.

Soulpope, the idea is that there is a limited number of quality players, and increasing the number of teams merely calls players who are less than top-quality "major leaguers" without increasing the quality of their play.  So the more teams there are, the more the quality players are dispersed amongst the less-talented.

Fair enough .... on the other hand with just seven teams hitters could quicker adjust to top pitchers while facing them more often/on regular basis 🧐🤔 .... 

[GA Russell]

18 minutes ago, soulpope said:

Fair enough .... on the other hand with just seven teams hitters could quicker adjust to top pitchers while facing them more often/on regular basis 🧐🤔 .... 

Perhaps that what he was thinking.  Also, there are that many more hitters for pitchers to learn.

The author did not explain his thinking.  He behaved as if it were obvious.

[soulpope]

6 minutes ago, GA Russell said:

Perhaps that what he was thinking. Also  there are that many more hitters for pitchers to learn.

The author did not explain his thinking.  He behaved as if it were obvious.

Agreed ....

[jlhoots]

Elizabeth Strout: Tell Me Everything

[jlhoots]

Attica Locke: Guide Me Home

[Brad]

[ejp626]

>>Next will be Eric DuPont's Songs for the Cold of Heart.  (Which is much better known as The American Fiancée.)

I'm mostly done with this. I'm liking the second half (in modern era) more than the parts set in Quebec in the 50s and 60s (pre-Quiet Revolution).

I decided to take something different on a trip out to Edmonton.  I got almost all the way through Oliver Twist (never tackled it before) and read a bit into Manu Joseph's Serious Men.

[Referentzhunter]

[Referentzhunter]

[jlhoots]

Liane Moriarty: Here One Moment

[Brad]

[jlhoots]

Michael Connolly: The Waiting