CDs listened to today:

• Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything
• Elliott Carter: Sonata for Piano
• Funki Porcini: Hed Phone Sex
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 20
• Vittorio Giannini: Symphony No. 3
  

I kinda forgot one TV show.

On Sunday, I mentioned a few of the fall's new TV shows, but failed to mention "Life On Mars" from ABC. I tried watching the original BBC version of the program (oops, since it's the BBC, I should say "programme") and found that, despite an intriguing concept where a policeman in today's world suddenly finds himself in 1970s London, it didn't hold my attention. The American show moves to New York and adds a bigger budget, including a sensational cast led by Jason Mara.

And yet, despite the intriguing story and the remarkable ensemble of performers (including another fascinating performance from Harvey Keitel), the show just doesn't quite work. The pacing is nearly catatonic, the mysterious interludes where our hero struggles to learn why he's in the 70s are irritatingly opaque, and the police procedural stories tedious. The worst part is how condescending the show gets as Mr. Mara's Sam Tyler displays his "enlightened" views on civil rights, race relations, and womens' roles, among other things--in contrast to those benighted people of the previous generation. There's no thoughtfulness to this comparison of attitudes between the free-and-easy 1970s and the uptight times he came from.

It's really a shame this show doesn't work better.

CDs listened to today:

• Steven Mackey: Tuck And Roll
• Peter Wolf: Up To No Good
• Phoenix: It's Never Been Like That
• Bela Bartok: The String Quartets, disk 2
• The Annuals: Be He Me
• Luciano Berio: Rendering per Orchestra
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Twelve German Dances
• Cornershop: When I Was Born for the 7th Time
  

CDs listened to today:

• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 10 (Leonard Slatkin conducting)
• Justin Timberlake: Justified
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• Joan Tower: Concerto for Orchestra
• Various Artists: Northern Exposure: Sasha & John Digweed, disk 2
• Henri Dutilleux: Tout Un Monde Lointain
  

CDs listened to today:

• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto For Violin And Orchestra
• Olivier Messiaen: Poemes pour Mi
• Sam Phillips: A Boot And A Shoe
• The Distillers: Coral Fang
• H. Owen Reed: La Fiesta Mexicana (Eugene Corporon conducting)
• Frank Sinatra: The Best of the Columbia Years, 1943-1952, disk 2

This fall has been a disappointment, TV-wise.

I found only one new show that really caught my eye on a thin offering of new programs. On the debit side of the ledger, we had two new "enigma" programs where our heroes, in the fashion of "The X-Files", plum the depths of the unknown. The problem with both shows is that they're really kind of hokey, mixing characters intended to be brilliant, yet "charming" and "eccentric", but are mostly dim bulbs with bad exposition scenes.

"Fringe", on Fox, is truly awful, filled with bad pseudo-science that's not fun enough to pass the basic standards of science fiction, nor close enough to the truth to allow us to perceive the wacky plots as possible. "Eleventh Hour" is CBS' similar effort, showing a brilliant, yet eccentric scientist helping the FBI crack oddball science cases. Thanks to Rufus Sewell's sensational screen presence, this is almost worth watching. Sadly, even the presence of the gorgeous Marley Shelton wasn't enough for me to keep watching.

CW brought us both "Privileged" and "Valentine" and they're both disappointments. While "Privileged" is just a bunch of pretty, pretty people and a vacuous plot about a poor tutor and her wealthy charges (spoiled of course), "Valentine" featured a cast that wasn't even good-looking for the most part--and is positively amateurish in production.

The only bright spot this fall is "The Mentalist" from CBS. Simon Baker's performance as a former con-man (a TV psychic, he was) is oddly balanced and off-kilter, but enhances this sort-of Sherlock Holmes character. It doesn't always work, but the mix of caper humor and police procedural is novel.

Maybe the mid-season appointments will be better!

CDs listened to today:

• Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra: Consummation
• Frank Ezra Levy: Symphony No. 4, "Structures of the Mind"
• Moodswings: Moodfood by Moodswings
  

CDs listened to today:

• Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything
• Elliott Carter: Of Challenge and Of Love
• Frontline Assembly: Gashed Senses & Crossfire
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 20
• George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
• The Joggers: Solid Guild
  

CDs listened to today:

• Bela Bartok: The String Quartets, disk 1
• Alice In Chains: (eponymous)
• Luciano Berio: Rendering per Orchestra
• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 6 (Sir Georg Solti conducting)
• John Coltrane: Giant Steps
  

CDs listened to today:

• Various Artists: Northern Exposure: Sasha & John Digweed, disk 1
• Henri Dutilleux: Tout Un Monde Lointain
• Duke Ellington: Suite from "The River"
• Kai Winding, J.J. Johnson & Bennie Green: Trombone By Three
• Phoenix: It's Never Been Like That
  

CDs listened to today:

• Maurice Ravel: String Quartet
• Frank Sinatra: The Best of the Columbia Years, 1943-1952, disk 1
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 10 (Gerard Schwarz conducting)
• The Thrills: So Much For The City
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4
  

It's ironic that I'm saying this on a day when I didn't listen to any CDs.

Between vacation time without electricity (and my old, old iPod is breaking down), and a bit of time-wasting, I haven't been keeping up with listening. And with my goofy rules about buying CDs, if I don't listen to enough disks, I don't buy new ones!

I really want some fresh, new CDs...

I've noticed a great thing at the local natural foods market.

They are now packaging cheese as if they were carpet remnants. If you've been to a carpet store, you know that they take the last few pieces of once-large rolls of carpet and sell them at reduced prices. While the market I visit didn't reduce the per-pound prices, I always feel a little silly asking for a single person's snack-size portion cut from the big chunks of cheese they put out for display. Now they have samples of things I wouldn't normally want to try because of the cost. For only a dollar or two, I can try all kinds of oddball cheeses!

My first effort to sample cheese was very successful--I enjoyed all four of the varieties I bought. In particular, I discovered something called Fromager d'Affinois, a French cheese. It turns out that the cheese, made in Affinois, France (duh), is made using the same methods used for making Brie. The difference is that they filter out a substantial amount of the water in the milk used for the cheese--why they don't call this condensed milk, I don't know.

It's a great cheese, but wow, is it rich. But I recommend that you avoid baking it like you would Brie. The much higher fat content is likely to make a greasy, nasty mess...

This is a fascinating video view of London street scenes from roughly 100 years ago.

Ya gotta love the hats!

CDs listened to today:

• Rami Levin: Anima/Breath Of Life
• Modest Mouse: The Moon & Antarctica
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto For Violin And Orchestra
• Olivier Messiaen: La Nativité du Seigneur
• Sam Phillips: Omnipop (It's Only A Flesh Would, Lambchop)
• The Distillers: Coral Fang
  

CDs listened to today:

• John Coltrane: Blue Train
• Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything
• Elliott Carter: The Minotaur
• Bill Frisell with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones: (eponymous)
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 20
• Harald Genzmer: Sonata for Trombone and Organ
• Jet: Get Born
• Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra: Consummation
  

CDs listened to today:

• Phoenix: It's Never Been Like That
• Bela Bartok: String Quartet No. 4
• Alice In Chains: Dirt
• Luciano Berio: Rendering per Orchestra
• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 5 (Sir Georg Solti conducting)
  

CDs Listened to today:

• William Schuman: Symphony No. 9
• 3rd Bass: Derelicts of Dialect
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• Various Artists: Music From The Morning Of The World
• Henri Dutilleux: Tout Un Monde Lointain
• Steven Winteregg: Visions And Revelations
• Kai Winding & J.J. Johnson: The Great Kai & J.J.
  

CDs listened to today:

• Olivier Messiaen: Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum
• Sam Phillips: Martinis & Bikinis
• The Distillers: Coral Fang
• Einojuhani Rautavaara: Angel of Light
• Horace Silver: The Best Of Horace Silver
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)

CDs listened to today:

• Jellyfish: Bellybutton
• Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra: Consummation
• Benjamin Lees: Concerto for French Horn and Orchestra
• Modest Mouse: Good News For People Who Love Bad News
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto For Violin And Orchestra

I'm going to cheat and offer another video today so I keep the posting streak alive!

Who doesn't' love The Onion? Here's a parody of paranoid conspiracy theorists...

CDs listened to today:

• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 4 (Sir Georg Solti conducting)
• Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything
• Elliott Carter: In Sleep, In Thunder
• Bill Frisell Quartet: (eponymous)
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 20
• Celso Garrido-Lecca: Quartet for Strings No. 2

CDs listened to today:

• Henri Duttileux: Tout Un Monde Lointain
• Emma Lou Diemer: Concerto in One Movement for Piano and Orchestra
• Kelly Willis: What I Deserve
• Phoenix: It's Never Been Like That
• Bela Bartok: The Miraculous Mandarin
• Matias Aguayo: Are You Really Lost
• Luciano Berio: Rendering per Orchestra
  

CDs listened to today:

• Bernard Rands: Canti dell'Eclisse
• Remy Shand: The Way I Feel
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 7
• Thicke: A Beautiful World
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• Peter Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
• Various Artists: Logical Progression, disk 2
  

CDs listened to today:

• Jay-Z: The Black Album
• Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra: Consummation
• Lars-Erik Larsson: Concertino for Trombone and Orchestra
• MJ Cole: Sincere
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
• Olivier Messiaen: Eight Preludes
• Sam Phillips: Cruel Inventions
• The Distillers: Coral Fang
  

CDs listened to today:

• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 3 (Sir Georg Solti conducting)
• The Clash: Sandinista!
• Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything
• Elliott Carter: Double Concerto for Harpsichord & Piano with Two Chamber Orchestras
• Frente!: Marvin The Album
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 20
• Gunnar de Frumerie: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra

I love cinnamon candies.

The thing is, they actually don't taste like the spice in your kitchen. Cinnamon Imperials, cinnamon toothpicks, and my favorites, Hot Tamales, they all misrepresent the spice, but they're so tasty! But my all-time favorite seems to no longer be in business: Vernell's Cinnamon Bears. Most cinnamon bears are kind of cherry-flavored, which I find off-putting with the overlay of cinnamon (you know, a weird artificial fruit flavor), but the old Vernell's tasted of nothing but that artificial cinnamon. I miss 'em.

Just another video posting so I can keep my consecutive days streak alive...

How about a funny beer ad? I think the language is Dutch, but you don't need to understand what they're saying to have a laugh:

CDs listened to today:

• Paula Diehl: Right Of Way
• Robbie Williams: The Ego Has Landed
• Phoenix: It's Never Been Like That
• Bela Bartok: Divertimento
• Ryan Adams: Rock N Roll
• Luciano Berio: Rendering per Orchestra
  

CDs listened to today:

• William Schuman: Symphony No. 6
• They Might Be Giants: Flood
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• Peter Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini
• Various Artists: Logical Progression, disk 1
• Henri Dutilleux: Tout Un Monde Lointain

CDs listened to today:

• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto For Violin And Orchestra
• Olivier Messiaen: Eclairs sur l'Au-Dela
• Sam Phillips: The Indescribable Wow
• The Distillers: Coral Fang
• Shulamit Ran: O The Chimneys
• Shakira: Laundry Service
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)