CDs listened to today:

• Ace of Base: The Sign (Cheesy pop-music, sure, but also an interesting melding of reggae-based rhythms with contemporary dance rhythms of the time.)
• Ted Leo & The Pharmacists: Shake The Sheets
• Alban Berg: 3 Orchesterstucke (This disk also includes the Schoenberg 5 pieces and the Webern 6 pieces. I can't say I think much of the Webern. His usual efforts to keep things as brief and compact as possible betray him here. Anton seemed to have a problem with the orchestra--perhaps it was too many colors and textures for a guy who thought in terms of miniatures. In spots, the pieces seem to be trying to make every note a different hue and it just feels squirrelly. Schoenberg's works are always welcome and as usual, his are the best on the disk. While these three composers are fairly linked in musical and historical terms, their personalities revealed in the music are radically different. Only old Arnold makes a complete personality appear--confident but retiring, joyful, sad and a million other shades of feeling and thought well up in just a few minutes of these works. This is the Karajan recording of these and I'm sad to say that I believe this is out of print in this version.)
• Charlatans: Up To Our Hips (I think this might be the last act to use an organ effectively. Steve Nieve, best known for backing Elvis Costello, had mostly abandoned the organ in favor of the piano by the time this disk was released [1994]. The Charlatans used the organ like a second bass; big, low leads that powered some very funky grooves. The closest we've heard since then is the production team that once powered N'SYNC and Britney Spears' best tunes with big, synthetic bass leads)

CDs listened to today:

• Ludwig van Beethoven: Missa Solemnis (This recording is a period-instrument item from John Eliot Gardiner. I find that, for the most part, Beethoven is better when performed by "authentic" crowd. I don't really think that the instruments are the key to why these are better, although they do seem to blend better with the human voice than the modern, nylon strings and mylar drumheads. The key for why these performances are so good are the tempi. Beethoven was a bit of a fanatic for tempi and a big fan of metronomes to enforce and accurate tempo for performers. 20th-Century conductors had a bad habit of slowing down Beethoven from the original tempo, probably to emphasize the majesty of the music and the weight of the sound. What was lost in the more brisk pieces was a sense of wildness that is truer to the Romantic era that old Ludwig was helping to forge. In the slower pieces, the even-slower tempi favored by 20th-Century musicians might lead you to think that Beethoven wasn't interested in rhythms. Take a listen to his 7th Symphony and think again. The right tempo makes all the difference. Of course, those guys from the 1900s also tended to make rubato choices where Beethoven didn't mark one--insult to injury in my view.)
  

I'm on vacation this week at work. I can't say I have elaborate plans, just need to burn the vacation days or lose them. I've had faint plans, maybe to go to Chicago or something, but work seemed to make that difficult to plan and I had some sticker shock about what a few days would cost, what with the airfare and hotel costs (unless I stayed about a million miles from downtown). I just need to sort myself out and try not to waste the entire week. Unlikely!

CDs listened to today:

• Rufus Wainwright: Want One
• Luigi Nono: Como una ola de fuerza y luz
  

CDs listened to today:

• Various Artists: Freezone 2: Variations on a Chill, disk 1
• Andrew Bird: Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production of Eggs
  

CDs listened to today:

• Sugar Ray: 14:59
  
• Elliott Carter: String Quartets, disk 1
• Elliott Carter: String Quartets, disk 2
  

I'm trying out Match.com's new dating service, Chemistry.com. They're test marketing it in Denver and a couple of other cities and the differences are illuminating. If you grant the assumption that the Chemistry site is probably the result of Match's customer feedback, including surveys and focus groups, you can draw some interesting conclusions.

Chemistry's site has more in-depth personality evaluations, similar to eHarmony.com and other sites. Presumably, this is at least partly a competitive response to the other companies' claims of more "scientific" matching. The evaluations may be more than just that, though. The claims of "better love through science" are hard to swallow whole, but it's also hard to dismiss the claims entirely. Like eHarmony, Chemistry uses sliders to ask the client to show their attitudes toward ambition, money, tidiness and other relationship matters. After the survey, they class the user by some set of personality classes that seems vaguely familiar to me. I've noticed that my own profile and that of the women I've checked on the site are all classed with attributes from four categories. Each category seems to have a baseline value of 25%, and every user I've looked at has values in the 23-27% range. How they distinguish personalities from this is beyond me.

For me, the real fascination on Chemistry is that they now have carefully structured paths for matching. They only let you view five profiles daily and you are asked to rate your attraction via a slider and then decide whether to make the match "active" or archive it so you can never see her profile again in your matches. Once you express interest, they transmit the interest to the match and she has to also express interest. They then push you through a set of sliders for a few relationship issues and once both people complete that, they push each user through brief essay questions before permitting email contact. At any point in the process, either user can archive the other, ending the whole thing. Apparently, they even offer to set up face-to-face meetings if the emails go well.

What I find interesting about Chemistry's "guided communication" approach is that it seems to me that they must be responding to customer complaints. I imagine that they found people do more browsing than contacting, leaving users unwilling to pay for the contact part. This "push" process looks like a response to that.

CDs listened to today:

• Liz Phair: Exile in Guyville
• Wolfgang Rihm: Jagden und Formen
• Ned Rorem: An Oboe Book
• Royal Crescent Mob: Spin the World
• Aimee Mann: Bachelor No. 2
• The Kills: No Wow
• Dmitri Shostakovich: Preludes & Fugues, disk 2
  

I'm such a dweeb. I volunteered today to wear a company mascot suit for a company function. I even roped in a teammate to be my helpful assistant. At least photos won't show my face...

CDs listened to today:

• Howard Hanson: Symphony No. 3
• Jawbox: For Your Own Special Sweetheart
• Benedict Mason: String Quartet No. 1
  
• Nikolai Lopatnikoff: Concerto for Wind Orchestra
• Modest Mouse: Good News For People Who Love Bad News
• Sam Phillips: Fan Dance
• Thea Musgrave: Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra

CDs listened to today:

• Charles Wuorinen: Genesis
• Frederic Chopin: Nocturnes, disk 1
• Fishbone: The Reality of My Surroundings
• Dizzee Rascal: Boy In Da Corner
  

Since college, I've had the habit of "time-shifting" my television viewing. Even before the development of TiVo, I had a VCR while I worked nights in school. Then, I got a second VCR. After all, I wouldn't see any prime-time TV at all when I worked nights.

Using the VCRs, I found that the time-shifting had other benefits beyond catching the evening's TV news or a favorite show. Not only did I see shows I wanted to see, but I also was freed from the tyranny of the television schedule, and could shave about fifteen minutes from every hour of shows!

I certainly knew when TiVo came out that the dual-tuner and recording capabilities, matched with the "chasing replay" feature, were for me, but I wasn't too thrilled with the darned price ($12.50/month software subscription fee). Or I could have paid $200-300 in addition to the cost of the device for a lifetime subscription fee, valid only for the life of the device! DirecTV finally solved that with a $5/month TiVo subscription and now I'm hooked.

Problem is, I got so used to time-shifting that I no longer feel the need to keep close to the TV viewing date. I continue to never miss a favorite show, but I end up weeks behind on shows. Right now, I'm about three weeks behind, and the November sweeps month has a lot to watch. I'll only fall further behind. I have to move programs from the TiVo to videotape to save room on the TiVo hard drive. Maybe I really should work on that hack and expand the TiVo hard drive capacity.

Or, I could watch less TV?

CDs listened to today:

• Muhal Richard Abrams Orchestra: Blu Blu Blu
• Ted Leo & The Pharmacists: Shake The Sheets
• Alban Berg: Concerto for Violin
• Nick Cave: Nocturama
  

Hah! Just iTunes fun and no CDs.

I had three late-night anxiety attacks this week. I think I've figured out what the sources are, but I need to see if I can reduce this stress level. I spoke with my pal Cody about one of them and I hope that will help. Now I just need to reduce the stress from work and the shambles of my love life!

CDs listened to today:

• Elliott Carter: String Quartets, disk 1
• Elliott Carter: String Quartets, disk 2
• Muddy Waters: His Best, 1956-1964
• Andrew Bird: Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production Of Eggs
• Luigi Nono: Como una ola de fuerza y luz
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Mass in C Major
  

CDs listened to today:

• Sam Phillips: Fan Dance
• The Musgrave: Chamber Concerto No. 2
• Semisonic: Feeling Strangely Fine
• Wolfgang Rihm: Jagden und Formen
• Ned Rorem: Diversions
• Talking Heads: Remain In Light
• Aimee Mann: Bachelor No. 2
• Dmitri Shostakovich: Preludes & Fugues, disk 1
• Various Artists: The Jackal

CDs listened to today:

• Richard Wagner: Siegfried
• Gyorgi Ligeti: Drei Phantasien nach Friedrich Holderlin
• Sam Phillips: Omnipop (It's Only A Flesh Wound, Lambchop)

CDs listened to today:

• Charles Wuorinen: Genesis
• Frederic Chopin: Etudes
• Jesus Jones: Doubt
• Dizzee Rascal: Boy In Da Corner
• Howard Hanson: Symphony No. 1
• The Muffs: Blonder and Blonder
• Benedict Mason: String Quartet No. 1

CDs listened to today:

• Andrew Bird: Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production Of Eggs
• Luigi Nono: Como una ola de fuerza y luz
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Incidental Music to Kotzebue's "Konig Stephan"
• Charlatans (UK): Up To Our Hips
• Ted Leo & The Pharmacists: Shake The Sheets
• Alban Berg: Chamber Concerto
• Foo Fighters: (eponymous)
  

CDs listened to today:

• Steven Stucky: Nell'ombra, nella luce
• Dogs Die In Hot Cars: Please Describe Yourself
  

CDs listened to today:

• Muddy Waters: His Best, 1947 to 1955
• Elliott Carter: String Quartets, disk 1
• Elliott Carter: String Quartets, disk 2
  

CDs listened to today:

• Sam Phillips: Fan Dance
• Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherezade
• Talking Heads: Naked
• Wolfgang Rihm: Jagden und Formen
• Dmitri Shostakovich: "The Bolt" Suite
• Various Artists: Hurricane Zouk
• Aimee Mann: Bachelor No. 2
• Luigi Nono: Como una ola de fuerza y luz
  

CDs listened to today:

• Benedict Mason: String Quartet No. 1
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 41
• Seal: (eponymous, 1994)

Work trip to Boise!

CDs listened to today:

• Bob Mould: Workbook
• Dizzee Rascal: Boy In Da Corner
• Gyorgy Ligeti: String Quartets and Duets
• Sam Phillips: Martinis & Bikinis

CDs listened to today:

• The Ben Folds Five: Whatever And Ever Amen
• Ted Leo & The Pharmacists: Shake The Sheets
• William Childs: Concerto For Solo Percussionist
• J.J. Johnson & Al Cohn: The Birdlanders
• Charles Wuorinen: Genesis
• Luigi Nono: Como una ola de fuerza y luz
• Georg Friedrich Handel: Sound An Alarm

CDs listened to today:

• Steven Stucky: Nell'ombra, nella luce
• Robert Russell Bennett: Symphonic Songs for Band
  

CDs listened to today:

• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Diabelli Variations
• Nick Cave: Nocturama
  

CDs listened to today:

• Was/Not Was: What Up, Dog?
• Aimee Mann: Bachelor No. 2
• Elliott Carter: String Quartets, disk 1
• Elliott Carter: String Quartets, disk 2
• Andrew Bird: Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production of Eggs
• Luigi Nono: Como una ola de fuerza y luz
  

CDs listened to today:

• Terry Riley: In C
• Tackhead: Friendly As A Hand Grenade
• Sam Phillips: Fan Dance
• Ralph Shapey: The Covenant
• Various Artists: Heartbeat Soukous
• Luigi Nono: Como una ola de fuerza y luz
• Wolfgang Rihm: Jagden und Formen
  

CDs listened to today:

• Sam Phillips: Cruel Inventions
• Dizzee Rascal: Boy In Da Corner
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 38
• Seal: (eponymous, 1991)
• Benedict Mason: String Quartet No. 1
  

CDs listened to today:

• Jet: Get Born
• Ted Leo & The Pharmacists: Shake the Sheets
• Sofia Gubaidulina: Seven Words for Cello, Bayan and Strings
• Bob Mould: Black Sheets Of Rain
• Charles Wuorinen: Genesis
• Gyorgy Ligeti: Nonsense Madrigals