thebes

Bump! What nobody here reads?

It's the middle of summer, you grab a week and head out to the beach, mountains, whatever. In between, eating, drinking, driving and yelling at the kids ("Johhny, please stop playing with the sharks, Johnny, oh no Johnny!)you settle in and pick up a book. So what do you have that you'd like to share. I'll start with: John Birmingham's "Weapons of Choice". Just issued first in a sci-fi trilogy. Premise is a modern (year 2021)carrier battle group is warped through time and lands in the Middle of Admiral Spruance's fleet on its way to the Battle of Midway early in World War II. Neat combination of techno-thriller, historical fiction and sociolgoical study. Some of the best stuff is how a modern racially and gender integrated society's military gets along, or doesn't get along with folkss as they were back in the 1940's. Also includes a cast of historical characters including the likes of Einstein, FDR, Ribbentop,Yamamoto, Beria etc. Hisorical stuff is very well researched. Very cool.

D-Man great statement. Also the comments on room acoustics. In a perfect world our mansions would have several listening rooms, one for each type of music we prefer. I'm sure Forum members would be willing to chip in to build me such a place, and of, course they'd be able to stop in anytime for a listen BYOB, of course). I'm sure this is heresy here but at some point you do the best you can building up a system, and then step back and listen. Hopefully most of us don't listen to just one type of musics and enjoy the various offerings and flavors that are out there. Sure it involves compromises, but doesn't everything? IMO there's nothing inherently "wrong" or "misguided" about anyones reasoned approach to building a system. Good luck and good listening to all of them.

It was coming on High Noon on a late summer day. The green growth of spring had long since given way to high summer and the foliage was brown, shriveled by the light from a blood red Sun. I was making my morning rounds and had stopped to chat for a moment with Miss Amy. I had been sweet on Miss Amy back when we both were young, but had lost out to a fellow by the first name of Paul who ran a ranch just outside of town. Still liked to talk to her, though, and spend a moment with the warmth of her easy smile and look into her aggie eyes. Our visit was cut short, however, by the sudden appearance of the town drunk, man by the name of Henry Watkins. Short feller carrying a limp from a Minnie Ball hed taken back in the 60s. They say hed seen too much during that late unpleasantness and had taken to drink to dull the sadness. Sheriff, he said, youd a better come quick because the Receiver Gang just rode into town and theyve got a couple of boys from the Amplifier Gang with them. Theyre at the Klipsch Corral and got trouble written all over them. Oh Sheriff, whatever will you do! exclaimed Miss Amy with just the beginning tremor of fear in her voice. Should I run over to the jail and fetch your deputies? Wouldnt be no point to it Mam, I replied, both of em arent in town today. Deputy Garys over in the next county taking delivery on a fancy new player piano he bought for his Missus. Also, you may recall that this is the time of the year Deputy Larry heads back east to listen to some of that fancy pants orchestral music. I guess Ill just have to mosey on over there and send them boys on their way. Ill tell you honestly folks my heart skipped a beat when Miss Amy looked me directly in the eyes and said in a soft low voice, I now its your job Thebes, but you be sure to come back to us, because I for one, would miss you dearly. Well I headed on over to the Corral, whistling a tune from a couple of strummers from down Mexico way by the name of Willie and Lobo. There they were, standing and lounging around the Corral in seeming indifference to my presence. Gotten to know them well since coming to this place and a nastier bunch of desperadoes youd ever seen. Theyd earned their spurs in the 70s and 80s and were one tough bunch of hombres. There was Pioneer Pete, a muscular fella, a stubby character by the name of Marantz, a French dandy who called himself Setton, a youngster called NEC, a Chinaman known as Sansui and an interesting looking character I had never seen before. Except for Sansui, who was decked out in basic black, they all wore shiny spurs and silver buttons on their clothes. Guess they thought sun reflecting off the metal would blind an opponent, but it was High Noon and they had no advantage there. They were in the pay of the Solid State Ranch, owned by a raspy, grating voiced fellow by the name of Parrot whod been muscling in on, and running off the tube ranchers that had settled these parts. Pioneer Pete was the leader and made the first move. We stood there blazing away at each other until my guns ran dry. As the smoke cleared away and I went to reload I noticed only one was left standing. It was the stranger. I said to him, I dont know who you are fella, but are you sure that this is your fight. My names Panny Sonic he said, and I think youre right. Rode with these fellers cause I needed the money, but I kinda like the tube ranchers here abouts and if ya arnt a mindin I think Id a like to stay awile. You strike me as an honest man, I replied, so lets head on over to the Khorn Saloon for a little red eye Well, we left that blood soaked Coral and on the way to the Saloon we stopped by to see the towns undertaker, Neo. To order up some pine boxes and send a few more desperate souls to a lonely grave up on Heresy Hill. As we left Neos I turned to Panny and said yur in for a rare treat, Lillie Von Stoups singing tonight and I hear shes going to play Im Tired, its a great song. ______________________ Ok here are the details. These are all 1970s and 1980s Stereo War era SS receivers and /or amps tested with KG 3.5s and 5.2s over a period of several weeks using a variety of musical styles. Im going to rate them in reference to my Denon 2802, a recent production model considered to be mid-fi. I did not reference to tubes because ones being rebuilt by Craig and the other also needs some work Panasonic SA-5500. Receiver. Circa 1970s? Wattage: unknown would guess about 30. The winner by a mile. Very warm, detailed and wonderful to listen too. More like a tube amp than SS and cost me only about $12. A real surprise to me and my favorite amongst these fellows. Like it better than my Denon. Marantz 2015 Receiver. This is a baby Marantz, the smallest of the 2000 series 20 or 30 watts but still puts out a strong sound with excellent details, imaging a surprisingly good soundstage. Very warm, my second choice amongst this group. Pioneer SX 750 Receiver. 50watts/channel. Built 1977-79 Powerful clean sound with a nice soundstage and imaging. Would rate it even with or slightly better than the Denon Setton RS220 Receiver. I think 80 watts; Very nice, effortless power, detail and staging. Near or at the Denon Sansui 5000 Receiver. 80 watts; Effortless power, good soundstage and imaging but harsh with Klipsch. Not a good matchup but probably would be very good with other speakers. NEC A420E Integrated Amplifier. Its a lightweight toy. All the sound is mostly in front without much depth, but crisp, clear sound.

Thanks electric, it's been ordered. Oh yeah, like the Stones too!

If you do please check in on IWillWalk's thread down in General. Also applies if you have a good friend or relative there who is handy with gear.

That's terrible. It's got to be worse then Christmas Day and they won't let you open your presents until company comes. Where in Florida are you? Maybe a Member's nearby and can swing by and give you a hand.

Thanks Jazz, It's one of those conundrums where I don't know enough and I'm trying to describe it at best I can. I have always gotten a kick out of Dixieland, but I know what that sounds like. In other words, I've heard it, I like it but I don't know what it is. Basically thanks to you, Electric and others it appears what I may be searching for is a transition from Dixieland to another jazz/blueish form. I'm hoping to grab up a coulple of the suggestions I have and listen to see if that's what I was searching for. Off and on this has puzzled me for years and thanks to the fine folks here I'm sure I'm closer now then I've ever been.

gizmomaniac: a member of the Klipsh Forum

Electric, thanks for the info and links. Mike, I like it whose it by. Really makes a mood. Electric, checked around and nobody seems to have the the 1999 re-issue of Pete Kelly's Blues. If you have it could you tell me what label put it out maybe they still have copies.

I only go to Vegas when I need to make an offering to the Gambling Gods. PS. While you're down here don't forget to make a contribution to this week's Music Recmmended by Members

Details. Nothing wrong with details. I thought "the furious staccato of their stiletto heals on the pavement" was pretty good. Maybe I have a future writing cheap detective novels.

Memo to Doug: don't grow up. What's the sense of listening to music if you don't internalize it whether it be emotionally, personally or intelectually. In at least a small way the music we like becomes at least one aspect of our personalities, and to me this is a very good thing indeed. We're all flawed in some respect. We're also all different from each other in one way or another, and that's a good thing. Edwin mentions Elvis. Never met him but seemed to be a tremendously likable man who at times created some great music. I'm not mad, but saddened that his drug habit was his undoing. Didn't toss his music because of that or his bizarre friendship with Nixon. Keep Linda's stuff in your collection. Enjoy them. She has great pipes.

If you could drop down to DVD/Music under Entertainment and look under "Blue Note" could use your help with a couple of jazz questions I have. Thanks

Sound like a fun piece of trivia and I can state with absolute certainty that (drum roll please) I have absoultely no idea. Would be happy to send a few bucks along, but it would probably be best for you to collect and send a combined amount that might enable him to pay some bills rather then buy lunch. We'll need some sort of address in any event. Good for you Boomac. PS There's an organization (I'll try to find the name) that helps out old blues musicians-don't know if they do jazz.

Yeah Doug I can still kinda, sorta agree with you. I'm political myself so don't mind this type of talk at all, but I could see where it could bug others. However, a couple of strong caveats. One: I don't view my love for music as a simple financial transaction: product sought-product delivered. Sure like everything else music is entertainment and in many aspects a commercial enterprise. It's also artistry and in many ways these artists lend texture, context and feeelings to our lives we would be much more barren souls without. Believe it or not at times, some of these artists have helped clarify my thinking and also raised questions on my views over many varied subjects. Two: Yes, fame does create a platform we all don't enjoy but has also launched many on political careers where their talents and beliefs have been put to use to hopefully benefit society. Off hand I can think of one President, One Senator, One Governor and one Congressman's widow one the Republicn side and one Congressman on the Democrat side where acting provided the entre into public service. On the music side we have only one bad sax player, and one fairly good deceased blues guitar player. Now Doug, I'll paraphrase the Bible and ask you to turn your other cheeck as far to the right as you can get it so I can give it a playfull slap and center it up.

Well Henry it didnt start out so well. I did my usual heavy date preparations: showered, pomenaded all three of my hairs, slapped on a little ode de colonie then slipped into my middle age bald man trys to look cool duds: silk black t-shirt, linen/nylon black pants, black penny loafers and a medium charcoal gray Armani jacket. Rejected the gold neck chain at the last minute but I did slip on the rolex and pinky ring for just a dash of color. Collected the girls and headed out to a wonderful little French restaurant with excellent service and warm ambience. Now this was a bold choice on my part since the gals favorite restaurant is something called Pappys Polka House and Sausage Emporium. It worked out ok though. With my guidance we went light on the dishes with heavy sauces and, of course, I kept them from ordering the escargot. The usual cocktails, and only one bottle of Dom to keep them from getting too frisky too quickly. I didnt even grimace when Tickles exclaimed, Oh, the bubbles tickle my nose. (Fellow gourmands, just how often must we listen to that insipid line!) Our next stop was for a movie and here is where I made a serious tactical error. I took them to an art house cinema playing a French movie (I think it was called Les Glories de Pomes Frits). Well Tickles reading skills are minimal at best and the subtitles gave her no amount of trouble. Tawny, on the other hand is like a cat and needs to stretch and found the seats confining and the pacing of the movie entirely too slow. Sensing this I tried out the old yawn and end up with my arms around their shoulder trick, and they didnt seem to mind this at all. But, then I got a little carried away and tried the old popcorn bag trick and this turned out to be a very bad idea. After the movie ended I could tell they were upset because of the way they speeded up when we walked back to the car and the furious staccato of their stiletto heals on the pavement. I went into full damage control mode and started telling them every hoary old joke I could think of. You know: the old Bear Walks Into a Bar, A Three-egged Dog Walks into a Bar and my best shot: Pat the Postmans Last Day on the Job. I throw in a few funny faces and the mood lightens enough that they agree to go back to my place for a nightcap. So, we settle in I pour them up some sweet concoction that masks industrial strength liquor. Armed with all the suggestions from our fellow members I could gather up at short notice I head over to the changer. First up Metallica. The ladies immediately slap their hands to their ears, and although I like the interesting view this creates I can see Im in trouble again. Sorry, wrong record I say and flip on Zappa. Their hands never leave their ears. I cover with must be the candlelight and slip on some Samba. Oh yeah, now were getting somewhere. They start to sway. Pretty soon Ive got some tango on and were doing a little dirty dancing. Foreigner, Prince and Annie Lennox make brief appearances but dont do the trick. The Police do just fine and were now getting a little hot and sweaty so its time for my big move. Using a little Sugar Daddy as a transition I pull out the really big guns and drop the really big guy, oh yeah, Barry White on the player. A few beats in and they start to get that dreamy light in their eyes, you know the one, so I So here it is Monday afternoon, the vitamins, aspirin and soaks in the tub have helped a little but Im still really beat up. At least the blue tint is gone from my vision. Now if I can only get that smirk off of my face.

Ok, we've been at this for a month now, and I hope your as pleased as me at the steady progress being made in building this little ongoing effort to feed the music machine. I, for one, purchased six cd's this weekend that were recommended by members, and after listening to them for a few days I'll have a review for you. Don't forget to tell your friends in the Forum what we're dong here. Rules are simple: Name of Individual/Group, Title,type of music as best you can (rock, classic etc.) and weather its's a cd, lp etc. My offering for his week is: Tom Waits "The Heart of Saturday Night" Cd. This is perhaps his finest music. Poetic vingnettes of the working class invoke dark rainy nights, loneliness and desperation. Great music and the lyrics would just not be complete without that gravelly voice. If you own only one of his, make it this one.

Oh whine!!!You can't tell me their the only musicians with a political axe to grind. Better start listening less to the sound and more to the lyrics in a lot of the tunes you probably play. Don't worry about it though, Doug. I'll take you under my wing and before your know it you too with be a frothying at the mouth unrepentant liberal.

Gary, it seems I've dragged you into the Dark Side. How about the trumpet solo on the last track, awesome isn't it?

You know I may not be remembering Pete Kelly's blues right it could have been a straight up Dixieland Band. After all I was only 10 years old at the time. I guess the style of jazz I'm after is evocative of butt filled ashtrays, floozy blondes and detectives in cheap suits. Where the colors are black and white and the nights are Noir. Hope that makes sense to you.

I suspect Lynnm speaks from experience. So what were their names? Just kidding (maybe)-thanks. Speaker, now we're talking. Don't know anything about the specifics of the music you passeda long but from the titles alone I know I'll be in the record store tomorrow morning.

Should've googled first but didn't. Here's and extract from a wedsite devoted to the tv series. Anydoby recognize these names, accociated albums they might have made etc. Pete Kely's Blues: Starring: William Reynolds as Pete Kelly Connee Boswell as Savannah Brown Than Wyenn as George Lupo Phil Gordon as Fred Fred (Anthony) Eisley as Johnny Cassiano Premise: Pete Kelly's Blues was life in Kansas City during the Roaring Twenties, from the standpoint of a musician working in a Kansas Speakeasy at 17 Cherry Street. Pete was a trumpet player and the leader of Pete Kelly's Original Big Seven Band. His best friend was the band's pianist Fred and his closest female friend was Savannah Brown, a blues singer at another speakeasy. The stories revolved around the adventures of Pete as he ran into people who got him involved in all kinds of trouble! Background: Jack Webb, who produced this series, had been the original Pete Kelly in the radio series of the same name, which ran for six months in 1951, and also starred in the movie version which was released in 1955. Offscreen Trumpet Player who dubbed in Pete's solos was Dick Cathcart, a well know jazz performer of the period. He had originally been picked by Webb for the radio series and also appeared with him in the movie version. Band Members: Johnny Silver, Than Wyenn, Fred Beems, Ricky Allen Theme Vocal "Pete Kelly's Blues" Sung by Connee Boswell Music for the Club Scenes: The Matty Matlock Combo ############## Pete Kelly's BLues ############ ############## season Summer 1959 ############ ############################################## NBC Sundays

Thanks to fellow members posting down in Entertainment I picked up another batch of member recommended music today. Working my way through it, but right now the totally outstanding suggestion is: Windmaster "NightHawks" Check your pacemakers before you toss this one on. From the first notes you are: ASSAULTED MUGGED GRABBED SUCKED IN Hate to waste so many perfectly good adjectives on one album, but this thing rocks! These folks are the real deal successor to Queen. Rock, metal, opera with truly great harmonies thrown in. Mostly one strong beat so may pale with repeated listening. But if you've still got a heartbeat throw this one on the changer!

Slammin, you can run... He's on the right track though. Oh, and Slammin, about that viagra crap, listen up Sonny I've waited half a centufy to become a dirty old man, Even if the room has a strange blue tint to it, and the Sea bonds disolving and loosening my teeth, Im' still in the game and not nodding off over my keyboard. Why, hell in my day we walked 12 miles to school uphill both ways... Nobody's even trotted out the obvious yet: Barry White, Temptations, Randy Newman's "You Can Leave Your Hat On", Root Boy Slims ode to his inflatable doll. Help please.