vibes

Damn. I thought no one was looking.

From weather.com: Rita's now the third most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic, according to weather.com. Best wishes to everyone in Texas and other areas that might be affected by this.

I'd love for our resident MD to weigh in on this, but I've often heard that being too careful about cleanliness and germs can actually weaken a person's immune system. Anyone else heard this?

I love this album, and I think it's a great AOTW choice. I'm biased, though--I'm pretty sure it was the first I heard of any of these musicians, as it was one of the first jazz albums I ever purchased. A couple of my favorite things about the album: - Dizzy's singing on "Sunny Side of the Street" always puts a smile on my face. Something about the way his says "Rockefeller" (Rockyfella) totally cracks me up. - "The Eternal Triangle" really cooks, and this version is far superior to the version that appears on Sonny Stitt's "Only the Blues" album (I believe it was called "The String" on that album). "Duets" is well worth owning, too. I think I probably listen to that one more. I love the alternate take of "Con Alma," as I think the solos are superior to those on the master take.

Seeing this thread reminded me that I had purchased the SACD of "Straight, No Chaser" several months ago and never opened it, so I opened it a couple hours ago and am now on my second listen. This is the first I've ever heard of Monk's Columbia recordings, but I'm really enjoying it. The SACD sounds fantastic, especially the drums. Very realistic.

At first, I thought it said "Israeli Terrorist/Flutist."

What I'm looking for is something higher than just a word processor. I need something where I can do graphics easily. It's not a high-powered graphics need, but one for brochures, pamphelts, etc., maybe some Powerpoint stuff. ← Do you plan on keeping it mostly in one place, or will you be using it on battery power quite a bit? If so, and you go the PC route, I recommend getting something with Intel Centrino. Much better battery life than you'll get with a P4, and more powerful than a Celeron. I have a Dell with Centrino and the battery power is excellent. I can get through 3-4 hours of DVDs before I run out of power.

Yeah, this guy is a major jackass. I watch less than one hour of TV a week, but I've seen him enough times to be annoyed.

Jackie McLean, "High Frequency" session.

Sounds like a great show. I love that Red Norvo date. I'll be sure to check the archives (I'm usually asleep by 9pm).

Mrs. Vibes is purty. Just kidding about the I know that's your responsibility. ← Thanks, I think she's pretty too (well, I'm supposed to be biased. ). Mrs. vibes cut her hair short last week. I think it looks pretty good:

So what happened? Didn't spend enough time with yer grandpops as a child? ← I grew up in LA, and these grandparents (my mother's father and stepmother) live in Utah (being a Democrat in Utah must be a lot of fun ) , so I didn't see them very often. My mother didn't end up being liberal, either. My paternal grandparents, on the other hand, lived five minutes away from us. My grandfather was (and is) a Dittohead if there ever was one. I was always embarrassed when he wore those god-awful Rush Limbaugh ties to church and stuff, but that was his thing (I think he's retired them, finally). There are probably few people in this world that hate liberals/Democrats/those who would raise taxes more than my grandfather. It makes me laugh, and cringe a little too. He'd probably die of a heart attack if he knew I didn't vote for the president in the last election.

Hanging out at my grandparents' (they're Democrats--my grandfather was a union man ) home, last November. Mrs. vibes and I are on the right, and my cousin Lolly is on the left:

Up for fun. This is an entertaining thread.

Why do you hate iTunes? I haven't had any issues with it. In fact, it seems so simple that everyone I've showed it to seems to pick it up immediately. And its free! I'm interested to hear your dismay. ← I have all my mp3s ripped into folders, by album. With iTunes, you have to import everything into iTunes, and then you have to transfer the files with iTunes. I find that annoying. I much prefer players where you connect the the player to your computer, and it's recognized as a hard drive. It makes things much easier. Were I to purchase an iPod, I'd also buy a separate program that would allow me to use the device like an external hard drive (I believe Anapod can do this). iTunes isn't too difficult to figure out (I've set up my parents' players and figured it out pretty easily), but I find it a bit tedious. iTunes is also very slow when it comes to ripping music. I have other programs that do it way faster. iTunes does have one feature I like, however: the ability to join tracks and then rip them as a single file. That's very handy for classical music and some albums, like "Dark Side of the Moon." I've never purchased music from the iTunes store, but I've browsed and it seems pretty simple. I like having something tangible, though, so I'll probably never purchase a download.

Any opinions?

I played with a Nano at the store yesterday. In terms of size and features, it kicks ass. Even though I hate iTunes, I'm very tempted.

Mrs. Vibes appears to be extremely hip. You behave yourself and hang on to that fine woman! (not that I'm telling you anything you don't already know!) You should bring home some flowers for no particular reason (or something to that effect). ← She resisted buying me music for a while, but she finally realized that music is about the only gift I want (until she can afford to buy me that Ferrari I've been wanting ), so she doesn't hassle me about it any more. She bought me the Bill Evans "Turn Out The Stars" box and the Johnny Hodges and Cooper/Holman/Rosolino Mosaics last year, as well as some hi-rez Bill Evans and Frank Sinatra stuff. She also bought me a couple of those Blue Note t-shirts last year, and it made her really happy that I wear them all the time, so she bought me a couple more this year. Even though she's not really a jazz fan (she does enjoy a few artists, like Bill Evans and Vince Guaraldi), I've purchased a couple of those t-shirts for her, too (Tender Moments and Brown Sugar--she has dark hair and skin and my last name is Brown, so there's a bit of a double entendre there), and she loves them. In any case, yeah, it's nice to be married to someone who will support the habit a little bit.

If box sets are any indication, your local stores have a way better music selection than mine. I'm jealous.

Thanks again for all the wishes, especially from those of you with whom I've argued on other threads. It's nice to see that people can discuss, disagree and not take things personally.

Andrew Hill Mosaic Select--now getting my first taste of Andrew on organ. Mrs. vibes bought it for my birthday. I've listened to three of the sessions so far, and I've enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

"When I play a theater, I play the theater!" Pretty entertaining to watch. I've been listening to "Blues Caravan" a ton lately and although I'm not a fan of Buddy's long solos, I've gained a ton of respect for his groups and his music.

I already have "Turn Out The Stars," but have always been curious about these two boxes. Any recommendations on which is the better of the two, or which should be purchased first and why?

Happy Birthday!

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. It was a good day. Someone brought in a cake at the office, the wife made me a very nice dinner and brought home some excellent carrot cake, and she gave me some great gifts, including the Andrew Hill Mosaic Select and the "Evolution" and "Speakin' My Piece" Blue Note t-shirts, among other things.