wangdang

You've given me a great idea for a TV show -- Little elderly southern gents in their shouldn't-wear-in-public frock coats, rolling hollow bowling balls off the tee boxes toward the flag, instead of having to swing the stick at the little white ball. While music plays in the backgrond, by Hootie and the Old Massahs. We could call it "Bowling Greens." And the players woud still be able to say "it ain't how you get there, but how many strokes it takes." is there a full moon out?

- It's the MASTERs!!!!! Tradition and syrupy music go hand and hand. That with other aspects IS what makes it the MASTERS!!!!! ---------------- What made this such a great gof tournament was the Sunday drama, the miracle shot, and the instant reply over and over especially the version with the two yahoos in the background going ape-***t. If one of the big four had not been back in the lead after Saturday, it would have just been another "same ole" golf tournament. Jim Nance and the guys at CBS need the commercials because they really don't know how to be interesting for 54 minutes out of every hour. You like the syrupy music? Keep it. I'll drop the TV sound and listen to some of the music Paul Klipsch had in mind when he started his tradition. (That green sports coat is another thing that has outlived its usefulness. Puke!)

Gotta give some credit to CBS for an absolutely pristine HD signal. Watching the Sunday Round was made even better by the clarity of the broadcast. But, gotta say, I am sick and tired of the syrupy old Masters back-ground music and the BS reverential tones of the common-taters. I ended up watching with the sound off. Golf needs a touch of NASCAR or bowling.

Here's 2 more for the database: Thumbs way UP: Los Lobos Live at the Fillmore -- 2004 recording, good sound, ok visuals, great song set. Small thumb up: Ben Harper & the Blind Boys of alabama -- Live at the Apollo -- 2004 release in support of their grammy award. Very good sound, nice video, but lost points because of the song set -- not enough variety for me, and not enough Revival Meeting Foot Stompin' in the concert.

Lots of articles on this topic are on ecoustics.com from all the top a/v magazines. Both can make yu happy Either way, don't buy cheap, but also don't pay high big box prices if you can avoid it. it's worth saving up for a model that fits your needs. I went with LCD -- here's why: 1. Avaiaible in 37-inch width, which fit my room better 2. Great reviews/features on the model i purchased (Sharp Aquos -- saved $2K buying it from a reputable on-line dealer over BB) 3. Weight of the model ( I'm an old guy with no kids -- I have to move the darn thing by myself) 4. Brightness 5. Maturity of the technology (an issue back when i bought mine) Happy watching!

---------------- On 3/28/2005 7:03:11 PM colterphoto1 wrote: never trust the advice of a commissioned stereo salesman, especially regarding a product he does not sell. ---------------- And if he/she is working in a big box store where no one is on commission, don't count on them to know a tweeter from woofer.

Great bang for the buck -- Hsu. Traded my klipsch sub for it and never regretted it. Models from around $500, with plenty of bottom end.

Study up -- go to www.ecoustics.com for one of the net's biggest collection of expert reviews of HT gear. For pricing -- www.pricescan.com to get prices once you settle on gear. Or froogle.com. Or any of the comparative shopping sites. I like Yamaha. i've read that "bright" remark in a lot of places -- but I've also heard that kKipsch suffers from "brightness." Frankly, i guess i am not audiophile enough to now what brightness means. Listen to your favorite disks on the gear you want, read the reviews, make sure you can connect what you want to connect and be willing to put off your purchase if you need to save up some more to get what you want. Happy listening and watching!

Some driving blues rock -- BB Chung King and the Buddaheads. Now all of you may have already known about "The Klipsch Garage" but for those, like me, that just fell off the turnip truck, here's how I found it -- while poking around the Klipsch Home page, I mis-clicked when on my way to the forum site and hit "Garage". It's a link to an Indie music site, with lots of songs divided by Genre's. These guys were at the top of the Blues Rock Genre list with a tune called "Company Graveyard". And thanks, Klipsch, for the link. This is great to listen to while monitoring the forum!

A couple more since my last post months back ... Thumb's Up -- Los Lonely Boys Live in Austin (these guys are much much more than just "How Far is Heaven") That's Entertainment 4 DVD set (not really a concert, but great fun) So So -- Yo Yo Ma/Edgar Mayer & Mark O'Conner -- Appalacian Journey (gets a bit tedious, in spite of guest appearances by Alison Krauss and James Taylor) Disappointing -- Heart "Live in Seattle" and Barbara Streisand "In Concert" (Thanks for all the recommendations. Here in the sticks, concert DVD's are about the only way to locally get multichannel good sounds)

The last movement -- vocal section -- of Beethovan's Ninth Symphony. I can't hear it with out goose-stepping aruond the room.

The Chieftains, for goodness sakes -- it's St. Paddy's Day!

Harold and Maude? There was music in it? And none of us have mentioned Help or Hard Day's Night -- how quickly we forget!) (By the way, if you are counting great concert movies as appropriate -- "Stop Making Sense" by Talking Heads.)

1. Chicago 2. Fantasia (the original -- a wonderful lesson about music) 3. All That Jazz (aka the Prequel to Chicago) 4. Red Violin 5. The Sopranos Season 1 (sorry, couldn't resist)

"Greendale" by Neil Young. Three-piece garage-band rock. Pre-grunge, pre-punk, pre-lost-in-the-sweetness-of-CSNY, Neil Young could and still can rock. Tempos are a bit redundant, at first listen but the music grows on you. I have the DVD-A, which is nice, since the on-screen lyrics tell great stories. But this is also music to just rock with, dance to or move you to some fine air-guitar work. The story-line and all the alleged references to Young's life are fine for those who want to get into that sort of stuff, but it is not required for enjoyment. For DVD-A fans, this is not a demo for your system. The music is front and center -- just what a trio of top musicians should be. I did have to adjust the bass down a hair -- it was a bit overpowering.

Koko Taylor -- Royal Blue Koko is a freight train of the blues -- full of power, hard to stop, runnning over everything that might get in her path. This is a Woman who uses the blues to mow men down. Her deep, growling, commanding way around the songs leaves no doubt that she is/was one of the greatest blues-club stylists of the late 20th century. This CD is one of her last and the best engineered. Great songs, too, -- like Fuel to Burn, The Man Next Door, Old Woman, Keep Your Booty out of My Bed, and Don't let Me Catch You with Your Drawers Down. Guest musicians include BB King, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Keb Mo and others. (Side Note #1: my user name is a tribute to her version of Wang Dang Doodle -- the song that turned me on to the blues) (Side Note #2: Colterphoto1 -- after last week's thread, I played BS&T for the first time in years -- and for sure the first time since I went all Klipsch. Darn that music is good!)

Glad to hear the report about the concert. We are seeing her in Little Rock next week. It will be my second AKUS concert in two years. She really has developed a pop styling in the last couple of records. She's the only "countrry" artist I like. Can't wait! Thanks for getting us all excited about seeing her and the band again. (FWIW-- I like her little on-stage commentary -- she's just so darn cute!)

You can't go wrong at Parts Express or Accessories for Less.My personal favorites are the IXOS plugs at AC4L. They require some extra room, but the over-sized barrel cover is easier for arthritic fingers to turn.

More BS&T on The Newleywed Game: The editors dealt with the disgust by bleeping the frst word of the band's name when the women said it. When the men came out to answer, the answer cards said "The Sweat & Tears Group". Needless to say, it was a bring-the-house-down moment. Ahh the memories of youth, mis-spent in front of a TV that you could change channels by actually turning a knob! (Sorry, didn't mean to get so far off topic)

---------------- RE: BS&T: ---------------- One of the joys of being an old horse's patoot like me is correcting you young whippersnappers ;-). Feel free to return the favor -- I am sure I'll give you plenty of chances. My favorite BS&T story was their name's use as an answer on The Newleywed Game by 4 women to describe their honeymoons (no kidding!). I don't know Chase, but you reminded me of one of my favorite party records -- Bump City by Tower of Power -- originally recorded in 1972 -- Oakland's primo funk/rock /show band from the late pschedlic era. The cuts on Bump City still get folks dancing, especially "Funkifize" when the sax player goes for the high note during the chord change and he's got that horn going so high it sounds like a trumpeter. WooW!

---------------- On 2/28/2005 7:02:37 PM colterphoto1 wrote: Inside was a pristine copy of Blood Sweat and Tears, self-titled first album. ---------------- I don't want to throw water on the heat of your memory, but the self-titled album you describe was not their first. it was the second album. First. was "Child is Father to the Man" which most folks never heard of until the pink-covered album got so hot. It's pre-Clayton-Thomas, but still a nice work in itself. All that aside, I second your endorsement of this album. And recommend another brass-oriented rock band's second album for the early 70's -- Chicago II. The multichannel disk is a great trip down memory lane. Plus my older ears seem to appreciate the horn section more and more.

---------------- On 2/27/2005 10:36:18 AM Al Klappenberger wrote: You do not need an amp with as high power rating for the high end when bi-amping. What you WILL need is an active crossover network ahead of BOTH amps which will be fed by ONE of your two pre-amp outputs. ---------------- If I am following you correctly, biamping (and I assume, biwiring) skips the crossover network inside the speaker?

Here's a good music DVD for you -- "Play the Videos" by Peter Gabiel. Gabriel's brand of rock really lends itself to surround. The 23 cuts have all been remixed in 5.1 by his long-time collaborator Daniel Lanois. Dolby and DTS tracks are available, plus the original stero mixes. Some extras are included, plus a very detailed booklet If you like to watch videos, tthere is some very iimaginative work on this disc. But the music alone is worth it. BEST OF ALL -- you can set the disc up to play either with Gabriel's introducton to each song, or you can set it to play with no intro's -- just one song after the next. This overcomes my biggest gripe about many music DVD's -- too much talking between cuts. Gabriel gets it right!

In the interest of keeping things between the ditches: -- Blowin' in the Wind by Dylan is right there. -- No Beatles because it is the "American" music list (maybe same reason for Holst?) -- If you are not famliar with Cage, study up -- his impact on modern electronica is nothing short of gigantic (even if rarely credited). SURE THE LIST AIN"T MY FAVORITES EITHER -- BUT, man, this was one of the finest radio series I ever listened to. And the programs are still downloadable. To you folks who are always looking for some new music, download some of the episodes. A good one to start with IMO -- The Doors. Give a listen and you' ll learn why Manzarek and company are still influencing musicians today.

Anything from "Dark Side of the Moon." Great for its time, but it is time to retire Pink Floyd's jersey and hang it from the rafters.