vibes

And there's the Miles Davis Quintet albums, of course...

This does raise an interesting point, and this isn't the first time I've wondered about this kind of hypocrisy here on the board. Being a Christian or a Republican is a choice people make. (I dunno about fatness.) And many people are born into Christian or Republican families. As for being gay, one can choose to be gay, and one can be born gay. Either way, it doesn't make a difference. What is "PC" shouldn't have anything to do with these factors. I disagree. It seems one of the reasons why racial jibes are unacceptable is because people don't have a choice in the matter. Christianity and Republicanism can, in principle, be switched on and off. And so can being gay. And it does happen frequently enough. So, tell me why it's not cool to refer to Kenny G that way, but why it's perfectly legit on this board to rip on Republicans and Christians on a regular basis.

This does raise an interesting point, and this isn't the first time I've wondered about this kind of hypocrisy here on the board. Being a Christian or a Republican is a choice people make. (I dunno about fatness.) And many people are born into Christian or Republican families. As for being gay, one can choose to be gay, and one can be born gay. Either way, it doesn't make a difference. What is "PC" shouldn't have anything to do with these factors.

This does raise an interesting point, and this isn't the first time I've wondered about this kind of hypocrisy here on the board.

That's a point of view. Listening to any box set like that would drive me crazy, personally. I don't have the attention span to spend that much time on one artist (or even one thing). And as for the booklets and the pictures, well, I haven't read most of the box set booklets I have. I just try to enjoy the music without turning it into an academic experience.

Very nice work, Stefan. I especially like the landscapes.

Thanks for alerting me to this new crop of Verve LPR's. I picked up the Sweets and Al Cohn yesterday, and have the Sweets on right now. GREAT music, just like the other couple of Verves I have by him.

Could it be my avatar?

"Mispronounciation"

From the movie, it certainly looks that way. And the sound is not all that good. I get a lot more enjoyment out of watching the DVD that came with "St. Anger" (it has them playing all the songs on the album "live" in the studio) than I do out of listening to the actual album.

With all the Kenny G, Spice Girls and Britney Spears albums that have come out in the last 25 years, I think we're taking this a bit far.

I haven't been much of a Metallica fan since the "Black" album came out, but I did see this film in the theater and enjoyed it quite a bit, so I bought the DVD when it came out. The special features are very interesting. Until this DVD came out, I don't think I'd ever watched all the special features for any DVD I've owned or rented. What's nice about "Some Kind of Monster" is that it shows the human side of Metallica--arguments, pain, resolution, etc. So many artists and stars these days try to make themselves look perfect to the outside world, but this film lets the viewer see the real people, warts and all. The viewer also gets to see (what I consider to be) a more unfortunate side of the music business these days: songs being cut and spliced together in Pro-tools.

I'm guessing the jazz store cataloge?? Ropeadope Lots of cool t-shirts. In addition to the "Freedom" shirt, my wife bought me the "Unity" and "Where is Brooklyn?" shirts for my birthday last year.

Great album, and also a great t-shirt. I picked up the shirt a few months ago. Very nice.

Walt Dickerson - Jazz Impressions of Lawrence of Arabia Walt Dickerson - Impressions of A Patch of Blue I sure wish the former would be released on CD.

I'm surprised that I'm the only vote thus far for "Life Time." I much prefer it over "Spring," as I feel the music is much more varied and colorful. I wish that Bobby Hutcherson had been on more tracks on the album, but the album is great nonetheless. "Barb's Song to the Wizard" is probably my favorite track on the album. There was a period of a few weeks last year where I played it several times a day. I've always wondered about the bass sound on that track. Is that Tony hitting the strings with his sticks? Anyone know?

One way to save some extra money is to eat worse. My brother made his way through college by eating ramen noodles for every meal, except for on Tuesday nights when he would "treat" himself to tacos from Taco Bell. I think he spent less than $10/week on food this way. Cutting back on any and all forms of entertainment, from CDs to cable TV is another way. Best of luck, Bill. I've been there before, and I feel your pain.

I don't think using one's real name has anything to do with whether or not they are truthful or have the guts to stand by what they say. With all the crazy people out there today, some people prefer anonymity, like me. I have been stalked online, and that's one of two reasons why I don't use my real name on any message board. The other reason is that I sometimes like to share insider information or opinions related to my job, and it is possible that I could be fired for sharing that information. Rather than take any chances, I stay anonymous. If I send a PM, however, I almost always use my real name. That using pseudonym means a person doesn't really stand by what they write or say is an assertion I've seen many times before, and I don't buy into it at all.

I'm sure part of the reason you're finding Finnish so difficult is because of all the declensions (17 or so, aren't there?). It is often said that Finnish is the most difficult language for English-speakers to learn. In my opinion, the best way to learn a language is to use it, and to immerse yourself in it as much as possible. Languages, for the most part, aren't dead--they're living, breathing things. You're going to learn a lot more from listening and speaking and reading news and magazines than you'll ever learn from a textbook. Most importantly, have fun with it. Languages can be an absolute riot. I've studied seven in my lifetime, and have found them all to be extremely interesting and a lot of fun.

That's someone else--Zhang Man Yu (Maggie Cheung is her English name, I believe).

You can fight Tower and win if you want to. A couple years ago, I discovered during a sale that even though they offer many items as "special order" on their website, when you place an order for one of those items, they frequently don't even try to obtain it from the label or the label's distributor. Since the item in question happened to be the Nessa AEC box, Chuck was able to confirm for me whether or not Tower had tried to obtain the box, which they hadn't. When I brought this to Tower's attention and made a stink about it, they tracked a copy down in one of their stores and had the store mail it directly to me.

I work with several Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) people on a daily basis. I'm sure they'd love this.

I had never heard any Pink Floyd until last year. When I set up a small SACD surround system, I bought "Dark Side of the Moon," as many people agree that it has one of the best surround mixes out there. I was completely blown away, and highly recommend the SACD to anyone. I've heard that "Wish You Were Here" will be out on SACD sometime this year, and I eagerly await its release. Since SACD hasn't really caught on and will probably remain a niche format, I don't have high hopes that Floyd's other classic albums will be released in the format, but I will hold off buying other albums like "The Wall" just in case they do get remastered again.

I, too, hope that all those who left will come back. I've enjoyed all of your contributions over these last few years, and you all seem like nice, knowledgeable, genuine people. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that what you have brought to this board has been far more valued than you will ever know. Steve