liner notes to the CD of Forever Changes (hello, Corwood!

From the 2001 re-release? 'Cause they're sitting in front of me at this very second. Freaky!

Hey, I started the Jon Ronson book, which is freakin' fascinating so far.

Condolences to Kate P., whose grandfather passed away. He was active in Habitat for Humanity. I sent to buffistarawk two wonderful, apropos tributes in song to a couple other goodhearted handymen, John Prine's "Grandpa Was a Carpenter" and Tom T. Hall's "The Ballad of Bill Crump". (Kate, I'll email you the password if you don't have it.)

Freaky!

I'd find it much freakier if you didn't have Arthur Lee on the brain! As for other obsessions of ours, Eliot left me a message consisting solely of him reading the passage where Billy kills Claggart. "Fated boy,... what have you done?"

ETA: The Ronson book... ahh, yes. Took me a second. I thought you meant the Lee/Love bio. The Ronson book is like a Buffy S2 or S3 episode where the balance of funny and frightening was just perfect.

I'd find it much freakier if you didn't have Arthur Lee on the brain!

True, true. There is rarely such a time.

As for other obsessions of ours, Eliot left me a message consisting solely of him reading the passage where Billy kills Claggart. "Fated boy,... what have you done?"

Niiiiiice. In my "reading Moby Dick aloud" project (we're, what, 4 months in?), I've just reach Ahab's first appearance. Li'l Sphere was thrilled, but I figure that might have had something to do with the toy he was playing with. On another note, I have The Confidence Man, which I've never read, next up on my plate.

I have The Confidence Man, which I've never read, next up on my plate.

Let me know when you start. I also have it & have never read it. My guess is that it's in storage. Friggin' NY apartments! Bought this (used) recently, mostly for the cover. (Make sure you can see the bottom half.) Hmmm, any music connection to this... well, Bob Z loved Dylan T enough to adopt the name. And in "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" he's a sailor and there's a Captain Arab (rhymes with Ahab). And that gives me the opportunity to throw out one of my favorite lyrics: "They asked me for some collateral and I pulled down my pants." Bwah! And a bonus: "God said, 'You can do what you want, Abe... but the next time you see me comin' you better run.'"

Ah, yeah. I read that one (and Adventures In The Skin Trade) as an undergrad. In fact, I wrote a paper arguing that Thomas was a greater prose stylist than poet. If I recall correctly, my professor gave me an A. And here I am, bragging about it on the Internet a mere 14 years later! People say you can't do anything with a liberal arts educations, but to them I say, "nyah."

Joe, I got your email, but wanted to catch you here as well. Thank you for putting those songs up.

Kate, I'm so sorry for your loss. Your grandfather sounds like a wonderful person to know.

I'm having a brain freeze: A free jazz legend -- plays piano. Not sure if he's still alive. I saw him at the Western Front in Cambridge 15-20 years ago. Name????

Albert Ayler. Matthew Shipp.

A free jazz legend -- plays piano. Not sure if he's still alive. I saw him at the Western Front in Cambridge 15-20 years ago. Name????

Piano? You probably mean that guy with the dreads who likes to hammer the block chords with his forearms, right? Cecil Taylor.