I did a quick google for "theremin kit" - damn, prices vary a lot. And somebody actually made a MIDI theremin for $4950 (no longer produced). [link]

Her reaction when Richard told her he'd met someone else & was leaving: "The first thing I said was, 'Can she sing?' I mean... what normal person would say, 'Can she sing?'"

And it's not like there are a lot of women who can sing better than Linda Thompson anyway.

JZ and I had dinner with her friend, G, who is a serious record collector. Joe, you and Hayden would love to go through his records. Massive Coltrane collection. Lots of Richchard Thompson bootlegs - including stuff he recorded himself. He's got a gorgeous setup - all vintage vacuum tube stereo equipment.

"The first thing I said was, 'Can she sing?' I mean... what normal person would say, 'Can she sing?'"

I dunno. If my husband left me, the second question would be "Can she cook?".

The first question would be "Which testicle do you feel you can spare?"

I thought your husband was the one who did all the cooking.

Yup. Which is why I'd be nervous that he's looking for a wife who cooks more than I do.

Lots of Richard Thompson bootlegs - including stuff he recorded himself.

Yes, I would love to check it out. Do me a big favor & ask him if he has the 11/7/88 show at the Bayou in DC. The show was broadcast by WHFS. Actually, the early show was broadcast & a friend taped it for me. (I went to the late show. Really thought about going to both, but since I saw him the night before in Baltimore I thought 3 shows in 2 nights was excessive. I was young & stupid then.) Anyway, my copy is on its last legs, or on whatever a tape uses to walk, and I would LOVE to get another. Previous efforts to find one have not been fruitful. Thanks.

Do me a big favor & ask him if he has the 11/7/88 show at the Bayou in DC.

I'll check. Btw, I dug out my copy of The Horse Whisperer soundtrack I'd mentioned to you previously, so I can get you that Iris Dement track you were interested in.

Cool! I bought some albums just because she was on them. Love John Prine's In Spite of Ourselves, but Tom Russell's The Man from God Knows Where broke me of the habit. Iris is great, and so are some of the other guests, and I still like the concept of the album, but the execution -- on Russell's part at least -- is everything I hate about folk music (too reverent, too concerned with precision, too lifeless.) Of course, Van Ronk's war whoops and Iris's beauty are why I'm willing to keep trying the form even though I'm not wild about it. Peter Stampfel would have turned that CD into a gem. But Russell... blech. Anyway, if there are any Iris tracks you want but don't have just let me know & I'll see if I have them.

ETA: Link doesn't seem to want to work for me unless I paste it into a new window.

Joe, G says he doesn't have it but he thinks he can trade for it here:

[link]

Is this the right show?

I guess we haven't mentioned the passing of Jimmy Smith. (Damn you Arthur Miller!)

Genius organ jazz player. Which, if you're not familiar, is a fairly disreputable sub-genre within jazz since it was always about dancing. Being a Mod in the UK in the late fifties/early sixties (well before the Who) meant you were a Modernist. That means you liked modern jazz, but most especially you walked around with a new Jimmy Smith LP under your arm.