LATEST ADDITIONS

See these two smiling faces? That's my uncle Omar on the left. He's standing with John Rutan of <a href="http://www.audioconnect.com/">Audio Connection</a> in Verona, New Jersey, a short and happy drive from downtown Jersey City, along the Parkway and up good old Bloomfield Avenue, dotted with trees and liquor stores, pizzerias and movie theaters. A very fine place, indeed.

My great friends, Omar and Mikey, striking The Audiophile Pose, at Audio Connection in Verona, New Jersey.

"Dude, my system sounds <i>awesome!</i>"

"Where did the music go?" I remember vividly the crestfallen looks on the faces of the listeners when, at the demonstrations I did at last October's <A HREF="http://blog.stereophile.com/rmaf2007/">Rocky Mountain Audio Fest</A>, I played the MP3.

Earlier this month, we <A HREF="http://stereophile.com/news/020108apple/">reported</A&gt; that iPod Classic owners were experiencing hiss and DC offset problems when they updated their firmware to v1.1 from v1.03.

Writing about the idiocy known as the Grammy Awards Show just isn't that much fun anymore. I used to take great glee is slicing and dicing them but they’ve been so dumb for so long that, to quote Mr. King (as in B.B.): the thrill is gone. That said, I now look at it as live comedy, of the squirm in your seat variety. It's always mildly amusing to see the U.S/U.K. music business make an ass of itself for the entire world to see. In no particular order here's a few Grammy 2007 observations.

On one of those occasions when the camera whirled down and across the crowd, I saw Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, looking very adult-like, and his wife sitting in a coveted aisle seat. He's come up in the world. His band's <I>Sky Blue Sky</I> was nominated for Best Rock Album but lost out to the Foo Fighters.

Sinatra and Keys? A tragic mistake for her. Showed how limited her talent is, but then anyone would come up short against Frank. That little sound/image synch problem did not help. A bad idea gone wrong.

Tina and Beyonce. Tina looked spectacular at 69 and sounded even better. She is a wonder of nature. And plastic surgery. Beyonce? Damn, the woman has dancer thighs doesn't she? She looked and sounded very nervous. Of course again, she was matched, not to her advantage, with a masterful singer. Maybe the whole young/old thing needs a rethink.

Liked the commercials for Garth Brooks Greatest Hits records.

The Jerry Lee Lewis/Little Richard/John Fogerty segment was fairly amazing. The Killer, who has been rumored to be on death's door for at least the last decade, looked jowly as hell but was still having fun. Little Richard, on the other hand, was oddly waxen looking (yes, more than normal) and was downright grim when he played. It did occur to me that that performance could well be Jerry Lee's final television appearance, the last glimpse America will ever get, of one of the more unforgettable creators of rock ‘n ‘roll.

Thank God Michael Jackson <I>didn’t</I> show up to pay tribute to <I>Thriller</I>. The freak quotient was off the map to begin with.

Seeing and hearing Keely Smith was great. Kid Rock however is the same untalented dope he's always been. His only redeeming quality is his respect for rock's elders, which still ain't enough to make me say anything but: why does this man have a music career?

Loved the look on people's faces when Doris Day’s name was mentioned. Ooohh was that a LONG time ago.

Andy Williams looked like Andy Williams if he were one hundred and ten years old. It’s testament to what performing in Branson, Mo. ad nauseum will do to ya. And poor squinting Tony Bennett did not a whole lot better.

Great choice on Herbie Hancock. Blew everyone's mind. In a good way.

In my first job in New York, my boss walked into my office one morning with a folded sheet of paper and a pained expression on his face. I asked him, "What's that?"