I rented a house in Brooklin, ME a few summers ago. it's in the middle of nowhere, around 3 hours north of Portland. Absolutely beautiful, and there's a few wooden boat schools, if you want to whittle away the summer.

Lighten Up, Francis

Love him, but hopefully he'll avoid the leads in big FX spectacles (King Kong, Gullivers Travels). Seems he gets lost in those megabudget films, but Im sure the paycheck was worth it.

good point on the singer/songwriter observation. I think some of that can be credited to producer Rupert Hine, who worked with many other singer-songriters (Suzanne Vega, Howard Jones, Duncan Sheik, etc). Roll The Bones builds on that, and has more muscle.

complete agreeance. Also important is that the music keys are lower, so Geddy sings better IMHO (even with occasional harmony vocals). Plus opening track "Big Money" is as epic and awesome as it gets.

He played a free show @ Lincoln Center in NYC on Sat 7/25. Him + solo piano. See him before he can't do it anymore!

Look, this is a Hat Trick of Suck: A Happy Madison production; starring Sandler and James; and is a Chris Columbus joint. Anyone that had hope for this concept should have stopped with the track record of the "artists" above.

+1 for wailing sax solo

I worked there 99-2003. Generally, if it was a superstar release, CH wouldn't have it available for 12-18 months after retail release, so retail could milk revenue. But if expectations were low, we got it after 90 days. So when a low-expectation album with a 90-day holdback was an unexpected hit, it was absolutely…

dude, I worked there. those treatened credit letters were FAKE, to scare you into paying. without social security #, etc it shouldn't have touched your "actual" credit score.

I worked at CH, runnning the Rock and Jazz clubs from 2000-2002. This fascinating article is absolutely true. It was a license to print money, that business. And the fossils that worked there! A million stories from a bygone era.

The Manhattan Project A kid makes a nuclear bomb, right?

Pete is generally business/trendwise spot on. but since the insight comes out of his mouth, it's generally dismissed. He's more progressive (at least in business) than anyone else in the office.

yeah, it's in the book of my big band. gotta know your scales cold!

Bobby Darin/ Mack The Knife. That fucker changes with each verse, so like 6 times.

correct. I played it for years at clubs. tough to hit that key change cold - volcals first - in 3-part harmony.

Tears for Fears: Woman in Chains. Key change right at "So Free Her" lyric. cathartic and gorgeous.

Easy - ALF. bonus, any cat problem is solved with him around. Yo!

WM will veto abortion, rape, etc in films - or any other film, for that matter - if there was little prospect for built-in sales or publicity. They are a mass-market retailer that relies on sales volume and national (or star-driven) awareness in a relatively limited selection. The title needs to sell, first and…