I watched everything! Dick Van Dyke (my favorite) Andy Griffith Avengers Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Time Tunnel Lost in Space Ed Sullivan Perry Mason, though I didn't always understand it Bonanza (another favorite) Flipper Lassie (maybe these two were more kids shows...) Addams Family Car 54 Wh...

Relax, amigo. don't beat yourself up too much at this point. Let's all move forward. I have no idea what the controversy was about, and don't really want to know but I forgive you your sin regardless.

Robot Visions, Asimov and another writer. Short stories from the '60s mostly. Love them, even though the 'twist' is almost always not a complete surprise to me.

I just realized that top honors should probably go to Weather Report, and close behind Michael Brecker. Then Scofield.

Interesting question--I certainly have my favorites and the fact that loading new music into my iPod is usually a frustrating process slows my explorations down a little. I have lots of Bill Evans, Brad M, Pat Metheny, Scofield, Manhattan Jazz Quintet, Peter Erskine, Steps and Steps Ahead, Mike Ster...

I just suffered through Killing Season, with Robert deniro and John travolta. Despicable torture porn masquerading as a war revenge adventure. Deniro is fast becoming the new Nicolas cage, turning in average performances in total crap.

I finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep--thanks, sozamora--and have decided that I like Dick's ideas better than his writing style. Next was No Beethoven, Peter Erskine's autobiography which I loved. Now I'm reading ACtors Anonymous by James Franco. At first it was a bit hard to understand wh...

Ender's Game, adapted from the book written by the prolific and batshit-crazy Mormon author Orson Scott Card. I'm partial because I not only read the fascinating book, but also the entire series that sprung forth, following these characters as they aged and changed their priorities. I really have no...

About Time, another charming love story that revolves around time travel starring Rachel McAdams. Next time, she gets to go through time. It's from the same writer who did Four Weddings and a Funeral and a few others like that. Good acting all around, some fun surprises but could have used more; mor...

Thumbs up for two: Ender's Game and Last Vegas. The latter was the big surprise--I've seen too many comedies with big names that just didn't make me laugh. This did!

More about Ender's Game later.

Captain Philips. Relentless but effective thriller. Hanks is a sure bet for a nomination, as is the film I think.

Going to see Ender's Game in one hour.

Carrie-- kind of annoying, really. I didn't like to see Julianne Moore playing someone ugly and strange. Runner Runner, about an online gaming magnate, with Ben Affleck and and an unimpressive Justin Timberlake. Not worth it. Enough Said. I really enjoyed this romantic comedy with James Gandolfini. ...

Whatever Works is the one Woody Allen film I genuinely hated. There have been some I didn't care for, like the recent one set in Rome, but this was a real stinker. I saw a despicable one today--MALAVITA, the mob family/witness protection comedy with Robert DeNiro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Tommy Lee Jon...

"Definitely not an easy sound to replicate outside of the studio environment."


Something like the Cars? Super easy, actually--just no fun to watch as it doesn't involve more than one human being.

The Paper Boys, with Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConnaghy, John Cusack. A deep south legal thriller that manages to be super sexy, super disjointed and still somewhat entertaining. Kidman has had too much work done and it was distracting in another flick, but in this one she pays an overly made-up tart...

Best would have to be Poco, with opening act of Johnny Winter and Rick Derringer, with a close second being any of the four times I saw Lee Michaels and Frosty play the identical but always perfect show. :) I'd say that the worst was Blue Cheer, but I still love telling the story of their volume. Ju...

"Stalled, or not, Joe Lovano is one of the most well-established modern Jazz artists out there. No way he qualifies for this list. "


I agree, but I think he's the perfect example of a 'next big thing' that took.

Maybe but he sure looks like he enjoys the attention, doesn't he? Great player.

I don't know the answer to your question, but I bet the band got sick fast of watching Billy K's solo night after night.

The best guide is what works for you, AK. I don't think I could stay in the song, thinking 'short, short long' and so on, especially since arrangers tend to switch things up. I've played in 5 and 7 enough the last 8 years that I rarely even count until I feel a little lost, like if the guitarist pla...

And when I come back, we're going to make music, Michael!

"Doug, my dear fellow ... were you high?" Maybe just a little. Wait, you weren't? Well, don't come crying to me about bad performances unless you're going into the theater throughly prepared, mjb. :) Yeah, I thought Clooney and the voice of--was it Ed Harris?--were pretty wooden, you're ri...

Wow, Bulgarian Bulge. I still can't count it. My high school band did a few of Ellis' things, but nothing more exotic than 11 that I can remember.

It's funny--some of these artists were indeed pretty damned big, so perhaps Stanley Jordan *was* the next big thing, and the only thing we need to agree on is the definition of and required qualifying length of 'bigness.' Just because you're the next big thing doesn't mean you can't also end up a mi...

Gravity. Pretty much the first 'don't miss it' flick released in theaters down here of the year for me. Really excellent, gripping, unusual and seemingly impossible to film. Editing, sound, score and direction all aces. The acting is good, though there were two lines of dialogue that made me cringe ...