Matthew

Are you planning on reading the trilogy in one go? I haven't tackled this, and indeed, currently it is packed up (only a small portion of Waugh is on the shelves at present). I guess I am afraid of a let-down. Several people/reviewers told me that Ford Maddox Ford's Parade's End was his finest achievement, far outshining The Good Soldier, but I found it turgid and flat and barely made it through. There could be many reasons for my reaction, though in general I don't like reading war stories, or at least traditional ones. I was moved by Nemirovsky's Suite Francais. You have to read the trilogy, it's my favorite Waugh, especially Men At Arms, where everything comes under Waugh's cynical eye. No wonder the military gave him leave to write a book, I can only imagine what he must have been like as an officer. Indeed, in Waugh's world, God cares very much about the English Catholic Aristocracy!

Waffles at Roscoe's are great, why ruin them with chicken?

I made my picks yesterday, my strange pick of the first week, Dallas beats the Giants. One question: I downloaded the CBS Fantasy app, and I can get to the league page, but it seems as if I cannot make my picks off my iPhone. Am I missing something?

Musical interpretation of Phillip Dick by Klaus Schulze: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpQV0vJ4S6o

I think I'm on board, at least I seem to be signed in, but don't see anyone else....

For the life of me, I can't understand this chicken & waffle thing as a meal, that's just some weird stuff right there...

Well, I seem to remember a snowy day in Dallas, and an OT named Leon Lett...

Have my pre-order in on BOC already, the other box I'm thinking about getting is the Brecker Brothers, though I'm not enamored with the way the albums were produced, if I remember how they sounded when they came out. I will also breakdown one day and get the Woody Shaw. Matthew - Where did you preorder the BOC? On Amazon UK, it can be had for 48.01 Pounds shipped to the U.S., which equates to $75.80. Do you know of a better price? I'm debating whether to preorder it at this price, or just wait and see if it becomes a special offer at some point on either Amazon or Pop Market... I got mine through Amazon Canada ($100), but I like your cheaper price!

Ah, the last 2 pieces of that disc make up my upcoming new release: Chuck: Has all the music on the original box been remastered? I've been thinking of buying all the remastered stuff when it's completed.

I'm tempted, as I should be around for the whole season

Have my pre-order in on BOC already, the other box I'm thinking about getting is the Brecker Brothers, though I'm not enamored with the way the albums were produced, if I remember how they sounded when they came out. I will also breakdown one day and get the Woody Shaw. The Brecker Brothers set is the only place I think you can obtain "Blue Montreux" which I think was issued in a condensed form on CD in the US. There is that fact to recommend it. I love this paragraph from the Pop Market blurb: In retrospect, the Brecker Brothers can be seen as dashing heroes, unafraid to follow wherever their muse lead them no matter what straight-laced critics objected to. From today's eclectic viewpoint, their up front blend of jazz and outright pop sounds was not only ahead of the curve, it was right up to the minute. [!!] I would be interested in giving them a try again, as I said, I wasn't too impressed with the production quality of the albums when they came out, and was more than glad to give the albums to a friend when I moved. Maybe I will like them this time around.

Have my pre-order in on BOC already, the other box I'm thinking about getting is the Brecker Brothers, though I'm not enamored with the way the albums were produced, if I remember how they sounded when they came out. I will also breakdown one day and get the Woody Shaw.

I happen know someone who is from Limerick, about the same age as McCourt (Ugh! bad Dodger flashback!), and he said, when the book came out, that it rang true to the times. He also said that what people objected to was airing out stuff like what's in the book in public and making $$$$$$ off of it, because it was felt to be catering to the American market, and to a certain type of Irish stereotype. As to the other question, I would say once a writer starts to make up events, even if it's a composite of true experiences, then you've crossed the line to "autobiographical novel," based on your experiences, but retold in a creative manner, which has a long history in literature.

Any confirmation on this box set of live Brubeck? I've been listening to the studio box set, and while I really enjoy it, there is an undercurrent of "planned for sales" feel to a number of these albums. The live stuff, I hope, will have a more spontaneous feel to them.

Think it's a bad deal for the Dodgers, just has a bad Karma feel to it, if the players are doing nothing in Boston, I'm not overly confident they'll do any better in LA. I am not a Beckett fan, at all, nor am I big on Crawford, but with the Dodgers walking into a huge tv deal, they have money to burn.

The Red Sox got crap in the deal, but they were never going to get anywhere with the currant roster.

Theo Epstein, what a genius.

Most positive review I've seen... Might have to give in. On the Ep collection I didn't notice much difference between the tracks on my tremelo cd single and on the new issue but most of the rest was unfamiliar and sounded great. A great value 2 disc set makes up for the 2 discs of the same music of Loveless, maybe? In no way is the new remaster a sonic revelation, after all "Loveless" is not one of those albums where you're listening to the individual instruments, so to my mind, it's more of a fine-tuning of the album. As long as the overall sound and feel of the album is there, it's all good. If someone is happy with the original cd, and doesn't want to pay the money for a sonic fine-tuning of the album, I don't think they will be missing out on anything. From all that I have read, the EP disk is definitely the one that is a must have, given the added cd, so I'm interested in what that will be sounding like. No one seems to be saying too much about "Isn't Anything," so I have a feeling my reaction will be the same as with "Loveless." I think the ep disc sounds great but I've heard little of the original eps (only tremelo and some of the others as mp3). Never loved "Isn't Anything" in the same way as "Loveless" ... Yeah, the ep disks are great, really some creative stuff coming from Shields on these songs (some of which I've never heard before), and the remastering is good. It's definitely the one to buy if a person can only get one of these remasters.

Weather Report: The Columbia Albums 1976 -- 1982. Finished with the 1971 -1975 box set, which I really enjoyed, now onto the Jaco Pastorius years.

Maybe if I ever get bored enough I could do this, but I really do wonder about ARod and the PED connection. He always seems to have a pretty scruffy posse in tow, and I would like to see how many of the players who have been suspended since ARod's Texas days have been in the same clubhouse with him. It just seems as if a lot of roads lead back to him or his hanger-ons when it comes to players and PEDs.

Interesting too that both have an ARod connection.....

A good example of what Vitous brought to Weather Report is found on Manolete from Sweetnighter, where he could have gone in, what Bill Milkowski calls in his booklet, a "groove-orientated direction," in how he played the bass in the song. Instead, he was very creative, and help produce an unique atmosphere for song, going away from the "funk" feel that Zawinual wanted in Weather Report's music, and that was something that Zawinul did not fully appreciate or understand. What you did get from Zawinul is this: There were too many ideas running around in his [Vitous] mind. He couldn't cope with being simple. You want to play a thousand note? You're a bass player, man! Play the guitar or the harp. This is not the bass. He was swimming around all the time. It's not really anything you can put a finger -- or especially a foot -- on. Will is also a nice addition to the album. As I said, going through these albums again, I've discovered a new appreciation of Vitous.

I also came away with a much deeper appreciation of Miroslav Vitouš, he makes some outstanding contributions on these albums. I found Zawinul's condescending attitude toward Vitouš a little over the top, but this whole question of a "funkier feel" to Weather Report was interesting, and Vitouš' statements that he wasn't into the Funk intriguing -- I guess if you don't have the feel, you don't have the feel.

I always found Unsworth a chore to read. "Sacred Humger" suffered from entropy to my way of reading.

Still. I know I'm supposed to be digging Live in Tokyo the most out of all the albums on this set, but I've been enjoying the studio albums more -- for some reason, "Live In Tokyo" didn't do anything for me. Strangely enough, I have come to really love their debut album the most, even though Zawinul is quoted in the booklet as saying that they were just trying not to step on each other's toes during those sessions.