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Reading about Thax's background and some of the details reminded me of Neil. So I asked if anyone had ever seen the "Up" series of documentaries by Michael Apted. They are good.

Agreed, brilliant series. Best documentary series ever made. (If not, someone please let me know what is, because I love documentaries.)

If the series is going to continue on schedule, I think this year is the year they're due for another installlment.

Anyone ever seen the "Up" series of documentaries by Michael Apted?

Yes, the mentally ill guy in the Up series goes into local politics. How does that relate to Thax's story?

He might be poor now, but in NYC he'll be poor AND homeless.

Sucks, yeah, but you have to have some income, or someone who will support you. Based on that article he is unwilling to even attempt to make either of those things happen.

Thax has a job - he's a poet.

Do they pay bums to write poems in Canada?

"Todd" is a pretty good one, too. The Nazz albums are all still available on vinyl, so I'd imagine they're on cd, too. Good stuff on those, but you have to suffer through some dull ballads to find the gems. Their song "Loosen Up" is a hilarious parody of "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell and the Drells.

I'm not that into Utopia generally, but their first album, "Todd Rundgren's Utopia" is probably my favorite Rundgren related album.

I like Todd, but none of his albums have ever held my attention all the way through.

A couple years ago I got a low end Stanton DJ turntable (I think it's called Straight 30, or something). It's light years better than the Akai turntable I got as a kid in the '80s, and is perfectly suitable for listening to albums at home. The only problem is the needle does not automatically return at the end of each album side. Not a problem for me, but worth considering. I think it cost $150 new. They don't make that model anymore, but I'm sure they have a comparable turntable in their current line.

A lot of people are going to tell you to get $400+ turntables. Forget that. $150 will get you a good setup.

In my collection, probably 10 out of 2500 recordings are rap. I like some rap, but never care to listen to it at home. Plus, I live in Atlanta, so I can't EVER walk down ANY street without hearing rap.

Rahsaan Roland Kirk is a guy that I rarely hear mentioned, but he is unbelievable.

Agreed, a great artist. Generally, I prefer his work before he added "Rahsaan". "I Talk With he Spirits" is one of my favorite albums. He only plays flute on that one.

Also, a couple people mentioned the Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane album...that is easily one of my all time favorite albums in any genre.

Jackie McLean deserves to be mentioned, as well. He recorded tons of excellent albums. I'd proabbly start with his any of his Blue Note releases.

i've wondered the same. i've heard quite a bit through a friend (fucked if i know what the music was) but i prefered the upbeat stuff a lot more... any ideas?

Charles Mingus: Mingus Ah Um

Nels Cline: Angelica, which is the earliest album of his I can find

Nels Cline Trio: 4 albums I've been digging, Silencer, Chest, Ground, and Sad

and w/ Mike Watt: Contemplating the Engine Room

these all give a good a example/range of what the guy can do. he totally rocks on the Watt album, Angelica is straight ahead jazz, and the trio albums are jazzy with some experimenting going on (but not enough to make you say, "WTF is this noise?")

These are all really good suggestions. I'd throw in both of the Nels Cline Singers cds. Angelica is his first album released under his name. It's out of print, but probably easily downloaded. Another early release he played on that's worth hearing is Tim Berne's 7X, which is also out of print. I was lucky to find those on vinyl after a good bit of searching. The Nels Cline Trio releases are all pretty easy to find (except for Ground, which I had trouble finding) even though some of them are out of print.

The Inkling is a great one if you want to hear some mellower tunes.

Awesome mix. Nice work.

And all this talk about it not being easy to get into and not for casual listening is code for it "this album will sounds like shit."

Lots of people said the same thing about YHF.

If "easy to get into" is your goal just save your money and play the CCR albums you already own.

but that is an especially unflattering picture.

In that case, the photo of him in the audience (from the same link, page 1) is equally unflattering. I don't care how he looks, but I prefer people who make worthwhile contributions to our culture have a handle on their physical health so they'll be around for a while longer.

corn syrup is the real culprit.

Seriously. On first glance I thought that was John Bonham.

would you mind disclosing said forum? I wouldn't mind poking around there.

I'll chime in, though these might not be the forum that was alluded to...

thefret.net

fenderforum.com (the name sounds like a Fender oriented site, but all guitar related discussion is welcome)

People rave about the construction of the Artcore. But most that rave about these guitars are "modders". They usually only use the body as a platform and completely replace the electronics and the hard parts, bridges and tuners etc.

I've found that people rave and complain about anything and everything, regardless of price. Electonics on guitars seem to be the thing most people are unhappy with. According to what I read on guitar boards, 95% of all production guitars have crap pickups and/or switches/knobs/jacks.

I don't know what I'll wind up getting, but I certainly appreciate your input.

Orville...interesting. I had not heard of those. The 335 style Orville on ebay now is $900. I'll keep an eye out for those, you never know when one will slip through the cracks.

It sounds like you're after a semi-hollow body.

Semi-hollow would probably be the way to go, althought there's something enticing about a Casino. I enjoyed the one I tried out a couple months ago. I have to admit I didn't realize it was a full hollowbody until today. When you say stay away from the "new Casinos", do you mean the very new ones (as in, the last few years worth of production), or ALL of the reissue Casinos (going back to mid-90s, or whenever the reintroduced them)?

I was more impressed with the Ibanez than the Epiphone Dot. I didn't get to try either of those through an amp, but the Ibanez felt better in my hands (possibly due to the bound neck) and seemed to have a nicer finish (thinner layer of clearcoat, or whatever they put on those things). I'd have to cover up that goofy lightning bolt on the headstock with some black tape if I got one of those.

So I guess the contenders are:

Used older model Casino (very likely over $500)

Epi Dot ($399)

Inbanez Artcore AS73 ($329)

I had a subscription to Uncut for a year. The cds were crap. Most of the cds had one great song, two mediocre songs, and the rest was garbage. I could probably assemble two good cds worth of material from a year worth of thier cds.

That thing looks great. I used to have an '81 Les Paul standard (black). It was an amazing guitar, but I traded it in on some '65 Ludwig drums in black diamond pearl. Wish I stil lhad that guitar, but the drums have served me better than any guitar ever has. Nowadays I have a Muddy Waters Telecaster. My next guitar will either be an Epiphone Dot, an Ibanez Artcore AS73 and possibly an Epiphone Casino. I'm leaning towards the Dot or Artcore since they have humbuckers and my tele has single coil pickups.

How do P-90s (which is what the Casino has) compare with Tele-style single coils?

Les Paul geeks will argue that unless a LP is '59 Standard specs, long tenon, maple cap, PAFs etc. it isn't a REAL LP. I say bah to that.

Les Paul doesn't even play a guitar that fits that descripton.

Actually I think it is poor taste. Can't they think of an orginal name? Pretty weak if you ask me.

By that logic, the Rolling Stones are also guilty of poor taste in naming thier band.

1. Wallpaper removal. Anybody found a really good method for this? Sprays? Steaming? Psionics?

Ask This Old House did a segment on wallpaper removal a couple years ago. Here's the article from their website:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/knowhow/re...,218040,00.html

I've seen two "The Pauls". They were both brown with wood grain showing if I'm not mistaken. I'd probably rather have a "The Paul" than a Les Paul Studio.

I used to have a 1981 Les Paul Standard that had low flat/wide frets. Wish I still had it. Great guitar.

Some independent owners are resisting the demographic challenges. Eric Levin, 36, who owns three Criminal Records stores in Atlanta

Not that it matters, but there's only one Criminal Records store.