Unfortunately, I can’t review the book since I haven’t had a chance to crack it yet. However, the book is getting spectacular reviews from everyone, including the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Atlantic, and pretty much anyone who has actually read the book. Michiko Kakutani from the NYT put it on her top ten list for 2009. Terry definitely earned the praise, since it took him 5 years to source and write this biography.

• Easily sets the new standard for Armstrong biographies
• A FIRST RATE BIOGRAPHY OF A TRUE AMERICAN HERO
• The biography Pops deserves!
• A Musician’s Perspective on Armstrong
• Wonderful. authoritative bio of jazz great

I’m going away to Hawaii for a 2 week vacation/marriage/honeymoon. Usually I travel light and bring magazines, but in this case, I think I’ll bring this nice heavy tome along.

Both are referring to the work by Israeli-born musician Kutiman. Merlin says it so much better than I can when he says:

Unsolicited tip for media company c-levels: if your reaction to this crate of magic is “Hm. I wonder how we’d go about suing someone who ‘did this’ with our IP?” instead of, “Holy crap, clearly, this is the freaking future of entertainment,” it’s probably time to put some ramen on your Visa and start making stuff up for your LinkedIn page.

The video they are referring is below. All of Kutiman’s video tracks can be found here.

This sort of sampling, remixing, reissuing in new form was rampant in the 90s (sans video) before everyone got sued.

BTW, I found this through Kelly Murphy who is an awesome illustrator.

I like the V-Modas. They have a decent sound to them, they are stylish, and their cord is balanced and doesn’t tangle easily. Oh, and they attenuate a fair amount of noise, making them much less bulky than noise-cancelingphones. They were really expensive; they were about a hundred dollars when I bought them. They can be found for about 80 dollars now.

When looking around for a replacement, I found that there are a ton of choices. Top of the list, in my mind, are the Etymotic ER-6i They are supposed to attenuate from 20 to 35db. The other pair I looked at are rated very highly by headphone.com.

I ended up buying Sennheiser CX-300-B. These are balanced-sounding, but they have some quirks. First, they have an asymmetrical cord style that takes some getting used to. Secondly, the cord is definitely more lightweight, and I am not sure how it will hold up over the long term. Lastly, they sit somewhat shallow in my ear, and I don’t think they attenuate as much sound as the V-Modas. The real selling point though is that a NEW pair is available for about 20 dollars on Amazon.com if you look in their New and Used section. Overall, I think they are a great value at that price point.

Honestly, the ukulele stinks. It doesn’t stay tuned through more than one or two songs. The sound is actually very flat and the action is way too high. I am thinking about making some mods to it once I am done with Arkansas, but I doubt I’ll be able to make it sound half as good as my other Ukulele.

The running joke is that whenever I buy a second of something to use in Arkansas, it becomes Tracey’s. I purchased a second set of golf clubs…which are Tracey’s golf clubs. Now there is a ukulele that is really Tracey’s ukulele.

Lastly, as Terry Teachout pointed out to us, we’re a “two ukulele household.”

I haven’t seen a live show in months. I really need to find a way to get to see shows I want to see.

The main thing I wanted was an instrument that I can play while watching TV and vegging out. I thought about a buying an acoustic guitar, but I started to get interested in another four-stringed instrument – the Ukulele. So, I just bought an Ohana CK-50 on Ebay. It was shipped to me from Hawaii, and I am very happy with my purchase.

So far, it is awesome. It sounds great, and I have a lot of fun playing it!

Uke Stats: Ohana CK-50
Concert Size
Solid Cedar Top
Solid Rosewood Back & Sides
Solid Mahogany Neck
19-fret Rosewood Fingerboard
Rosewood Bridge
Pearl Dot Inlays
Nickel Friction Pegs with White Buttons
Aquila Strings

I heard on the Current that they have tickets on sale for their new tour, and that they will be playing First Avenue at the end of June. I think I will go pick up tickets the next time I’m in town.

My conflict is that the last time I saw them at First Ave, the crowd was the worst I’ve ever seen. It was filled with teenagers who were “moshing”. It was a really bad experience. I’m hoping that it will be better this time. My only consolation is that I saw Doug Martsch on a solo tour once, and it was one of the best shows I have ever seen.

I remember seeing the Faint upstairs at the Middle East a long time ago. It was definitely before they achieved rock star status because I think there was about 20 people in the audience.

According to Pitchfork, they have a handful of upcoming shows scheduled. They play on March 12th in Minneapolis at First Avenue. First Avenue is a legendary rock club for those of you reading this outside of the Midwest. Prince started out there. For my 2 readers in Minneapolis, go check them out!

Unfortunately, I will be stuck in Arkansas doing some consulting work for a major retailer for the indefinite future. Happy Happy Joy Joy.

On the bright side, the Bon Savants are playing at the 400 bar this Saturday. I believe Thom, from the Bon Savants, is dating my friend Emily. Oh, they have the obligatory MySpace page here.