This past Monday night I met a friend down at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center on Essex St and caught a couple sets of pretty good music (jazz). I had to leave before the third one because my poor pup hadn’t been walked since probably noon but here are some pics.

The songs Cooper-Moore and his group played weren’t as “progressive” as I’ve come to expect from him but I liked that for a change of pace.

This set with Rob Brown and Steve Swell was really solid.

I saw a really good show last spring. It was just a little bit of luck that I saw it. My wife and I were in Paris and, as I don’t know the city, before we left I searched online for live jazz. I found this Craig Taborn solo concert at Sunrise-Sunet. It wasn’t easy to get a sense of what kind of jazz Taborn specialized in just from a web search but he had played with good people so I decided to try it. I’m really glad I did, too… He really is an incredible musician…

Incidentally, at the set break, I met another Brooklynite who actually lived in my neighborhood. He was a musician who was touring Europe with his band, Pitom. I haven’t run into him since I’ve been back or gotten a chance to hear his band but he was a nice guy and it was funny running into a neighbor halfway across the globe….

some sunsets from the past spring/summer

My external drive died last Tuesday…  Dagnabbit!  and of course I hadn’t backed anything up…  looks like I’m going to have to cough up some dough for data recovery…  I would try something like GetDataBack (http://www.runtime.org/howto_datarecovery.pdf) but the drive doesn’t show up in windows explorer or even spin…

If anyone has any ideas, I’d love to hear them.

heh…

Last night I ran into a cool store on my way back to the subway (I had tried to go to Academy Records on 10th St but, alas, it was closed) – Forbidden Planet. Pretty cool in it’s own sweltering, non-ac endowed way. Had it not been so hot, I probably would have stayed longer…

Anyway, found this great compilation of Little Nemo comics… I have always (since I was very little) loved Winsor McKay’s drawing style and the dialogues always crack me up. An example:

“[frame 2 - some characters are loading a giant red polka-dotted ball/capsule with Nemo in it into a cannon]

per 1: Come! You fellows! Put that ball in that muzzle and be quick about it!

per 2: You are too high boys. Low er down!

per 3: Now it’s all right

per 4: Get a move on you. Low er it a little

[next frame - the cannon fires]

per 2: Ooh!Umm!

per 1: My! I put an awful big charge in that cannon!

per 3: Ooooof! My ears are busted!

per 4: Wow! That’s a roarer! Oowow!

Nemo (from inside the capsule): I don’t like this, one little tiny bit not one tiny weeney bit.

Princess (also in capsule):Oh! My!Don’t you? I do! I think it’s fine!”

I suppose a lot of the dialogue comes from the times (early 20th C) but it seems to be different than I can remember hearing anywhere else representing that era…