Stephen Mejias

It's important to have at least a little bit of fun. "Do doingfully," says JA.

He also says, "Kick ass." [Or is that me?] He also says, "Stick it to the man." He also says, "Rock on."

We will do all of these things while attending CES. We will do doingfully, kick ass, stick it to the man, and rock on. And somewhere in between all of the schmoozing and boozing, handshaking and backslapping, oohing and ahhing, somewhere in between all of the press conferences, breakfasts, lunches, and dinners — somewhere in between all of that other stuff — we're going to listen to a good bit of music. We're gonna have some fun.

We're going to do our best to have a good time, because in having a good time, we'll be doing doingfully. That works out nicely, doesn't it? Win-win. Like loving.

"Besides all of the newness and excitement, there's also this wonderful easiness between us."
"Easiness is good," JA tells me. "If you're with someone and you're struggling for something to say, feeling awkward and uncomfortable, well, that's not fun. There's no connection of the souls there."

We'll see what we can do about connecting some souls while we're at CES, too.

There've been some expressions of disgust over in our forums concerning the $90,000 Continuum Caliburn turntable reviewed by Mikey Fremer in our January issue. Without a doubt, $90,000 is a crapload of money. But Mikey feels the Caliburn is worth every cent, and wants to share its great sound with everyone. So, he's used the Alesis MasterLink to put together a CD-R of tracks played via the Caliburn. He'll have a few copies for us at CES, to use as demo material. This is part of the fun.

Mikey says:

I'm hoping that after everyone plays this disc at the show and hears how amazing it sounds, they will comment on it in your blog, on the forums, and in their show reports. And if they think it sucks, that's fine too. But they won't!

And here's the tracklist:

1. Ricki Lee Jones: "Up From The Skies" (Pop Pop)
2. Mel Torme: "New York State of Mind" (Live at Marty's)
3. Clarinet Summit: "Groovin' High" (In Concert at the Public Theater)
4. Boismortier: Concerto for 5 flutes in D major, excerpt (Flute Concertos of 18th Century Paris — Connoisseur Society 45rpm)
5. Praetorius: La Bouree XXXII, 1/2 (Dance Music of the High Renaissance — original Archive Production pressing played for 36 years)
6. Herold: La Fille Mal Gardee (Introduction + excerpt from original UK Decca SXL 2313 1962)
7. Bill Evans Trio: "My Foolish Heart" (45rpm Analogue Productions reissue)
8. Duke Ellington: "Happy Go Lucky A Train" (original "6 eye" Columbia pressing)
9. Greg Brown: "Brand New '64 Dodge" (Poet Game)
10. Elvis Presley: "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" (Elvis Presley's Greatest Hits Volume 3 — "rumble" is a bass dragging across floor in dark studio)
11. Stevie Ray Vaughan: "Tin Pan Alley" (Couldn't Stand the Weather, 2 LP reissue)
12. Cream: "Sweet Wine" (Fresh Cream — original Reaction Records UK edition)
13. OST: "The Telephone Song" (Bye Bye Birdie, original Columbia "6 eye" pressing)
14. Faure: "Apres un reve" (Arturo Delmoni, Meg Bachman, Songs My Mother Taught Me, John Marks Records)
15. Liszt: Piano Sonata in b (Robert Silverman, Sonata — Stereophile, engineered by JA)
16. Elvis Costello: "Accidents Will Happen" (Armed Forces — original UK Radar)
17. Them: "Here Comes the Night" (The World of Them — UK Decca compilation)
18. Nat King Cole: "When I Fall In Love" (Love is the Thing — DCC Compact Classics reissue, mic "pops" left in)
19. John Lennon: "I Found Out" (Plastic Ono Band — original UK Apple)
20. John Fahey and His Orchestra: "New Orleans Shuffle" — After the Ball)

I can't wait to hear this. And I'll be making a special CES mix CD of my own. I haven't decided all that'll be on it, yet, but I'm sure it'll feature a bunch of my favorite tracks from 2005.

I'll figure it out tomorrow, and I'll post the tracklist here. Unless I get too tired from having fun sifting through a hundred or so e-mails — invites to press conferences, demonstrations, and open bars.