crimsoncanyon3 said:I would suggest repeating the tumor marker tests in about a month... if there is any further increase, particularly with CA19-9, we will likely need to move forward with more diagnostic imaging like a CT scan. Wishing you all the best...
My mother, who was born in 1952, underwent surgery for bile duct cancer about two years ago. She didn't undergo any chemotherapy following the procedure. Everything has seemed to be going quite well up to this point...
About a month ago, she started experiencing pain in her lower abdomen, though both an ultrasound and an X-ray came back clear. It turns out she has a severe bladder infection caused by E. coli, so she’s currently on a course of antibiotics. The pain is relatively mild when she's lying down, especially with painkillers, but once she stands up, it becomes almost unbearable. She's still finishing her antibiotics, which have helped things improve just a little bit...
She also had some tumor markers tested, and unfortunately, the results aren't looking great: Carcinoembryonic antigen 1.9 (0-3) Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 104 (0-35) CYFRA 21-1 13.29 (up to 2.08)
I was wondering if anyone might be able to offer some insight or help explain what these elevated marker levels could mean...
Thank you so much in advance for any help you can provide.
It’s truly wonderful how such simple things can bring a little extra sweetness to our day... like a perfect marshmallow... kaže: I'm with you on that one, my friend...👍
Hey there, my friend... 🙂
I wonder if those champions will finally make their appearance soon...
If not sooner, there's a Kawabat show coming to the city next Friday, so I'm looking forward to seeing if those guitars still have that same beautiful, melodic ring to them... 😬
voodoo Child Jimi Hendrix Velvet Underground - Sister Ray Captain Beefheart - all the songs from the Mirror man era Pink Floyd - Interstellar Overdrive Can - Halleluwah / you Doo right Neil Young - Cowgirl in a Sand Television - Marquee Moon Sonic Youth - Hits of Sunshine Acid Mothers Temple - la Novia
Why on earth would anyone drop a hundred bucks on an original CD? I mean, why wouldn't someone spend $100 on a nice perfume? Or pick up a designer blazer for a few hundred dollars? We all have our own little luxuries... Personally, I tend to pick up about 60 or 70 original releases a year—though I probably burn twice that many—whether it’s at shows to support a band I actually dig, or finding gems online through specialty shops or directly from the label, since walking into a local record store rarely turns up exactly what I'm hunting for. That said, my heart belongs to Vinyl Records. Since I’ve got a high-end turntable and a solid setup at home, I find myself agreeing that the sonic quality of vinyl is just superior to anything digital... it's simply more musical, if you follow me. Plus, the LP format features such stunning artwork, and there’s nothing quite like that nostalgic feeling of holding a physical record in your hands... back when I first started getting serious about music, vinyl was actually pretty hard to track down before CDs took over everything, so coming home from a trip to a local shop with a couple of albums tucked under my arm made me feel as happy as a kid caught raiding the Hershey's factory. And then there's the ritual itself. You take the record, give it a quick clean, set the needle, and just listen to the music. Purely the music. You don't really play records just to have some background noise while you're doing something else. And honestly, a good collection of vinyl lasts much longer than a stack of CDs ever will. Of course, CDs definitely have their perks, like convenience, the ability to burn custom mixes, and how easy they are to find everywhere. But if you're asking for my collector's vote, it goes to the LP. (As for MP3s, those are just for the car or playing on my computer at work).
bluemaker said:Since we're talking about guitarists, I was wondering if anyone would be willing to share their thoughts on these names:
Wes Montgomery Django Reinhardt Joe Pass Grant Green Barney Kassel Jim Hall John Scofield
I haven't spent a massive amount of time diving deep into jazz guitarists, but there's always plenty of time for that... As for the ones mentioned, here is what I've gathered so far:
Wes M. I've listened to a few duets with Jimmy Smith and that Moving' Wes album, and I really enjoyed it, truly quite good... Apparently, there are some recordings of Wes playing with John Coltrane's classic quartet from those old Village Vanguard sessions, does anyone know where to find them?
Django Reinhardt = the king Everything I've heard from him has been absolutely magnificent...
Joe Pass I have one of his Pablo records featuring Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Brown, and the playing is just superb, wonderful stuff... I picked up an original pressing at a flea market downtown for next to nothing. A friend and I were walking away from the market, chatting about how incredible the musicianship had to be just looking at that lineup, when this older gentleman walks past us and says, "Oh yeah, those guys are all absolute legends." I looked closer, and it was actually Jimmy Stanić... 😁
Jim Hall I recently caught a sharp duet he did with Pat Metheny and found it quite lovely... His album Concierto is a total classic, definitely worth a listen...
As for the rest, I haven't had the chance to give them a serious listen yet...
Balkanijan Pimp said:Who could really be a role model for Sach? It isn't just Hendrix, but a whole list of others who are objectively much weaker than him (though comparing art is always a bit of a question mark)...
The guitar is a relatively young instrument, so one can really only draw from what was being offered at the moment they picked it up. Just as Sach brought so much to his own playing and pushed the boundaries, perhaps Hendrix did that first, which means in a broader historical sense you could say Hendrix is the greater figure... but regardless of all that context, if you took someone who is a top-tier guitarist themselves—someone who doesn't know their history or their work—and let them listen to and learn from both of them without knowing who they were or when they lived, I think they would simply conclude that Satriani is far ahead of H-a...😎
Technically speaking, Satriani might actually be more polished and advanced than Hendrix...
But with Hendrix’s guitar, actual MUSIC comes out... 😍
To me, it feels like in Satrianija, technique has become an end in itself. It's the victory of form over substance. Pure punk, as David Thomas might say...🤣
Congress said:It’s quite fascinating that one of today's premier fusion guitarists, John Smith, released the album "Purple" back in 2002, which features his takes on Hendrix standards. In one interview, he mentioned that Hendrix's playing style remains a massive enigma to him, and that this album was just the beginning of trying to solve that puzzle: "Music Has its Gods , and Jimi Hendrix is One of them". It's truly interesting how a jazz musician who practices guitar twelve hours a day still struggles to define Hendrix's technique, yet here in the States, everyone who has been playing for five years thinks they've already surpassed him...
That’s so true. I would also add that with Hendrix, it isn't merely about his technical skill, but rather that masterful musical intuition and the volcanic energy that seems to pour directly out of his instrument. When you consider that level of intensity, you could almost compare it to Cecil Taylor...
Whether people love his music or not, Hendrix is a legend. Personally, I certainly do.
P.S: Bill Frisell also cites Hendrix, alongside Joe Pass and Jim Hall, as a major influence...
Grandma Moses said:on all those professional rankings for the top 10 or 15 guitarists of all time, Jimi Hendrix consistently takes the number one spot, even though anyone who has been playing for five years or more actually plays twice as well as he does...
Haha, wow... 🙄
That is certainly an interesting take. You're talking about Jimi Hendrix? 😠 Maybe take a breather and just relax a bit...
Are you perhaps part of this elite group of "masters" with over five years of experience who could easily outplay Jimi Hendrix before breakfast?
You might be better off finding a hobby like gardening instead...
Ethan Perez97 said:I’ve never really been a fan of Hopper as a director, so his movies have never quite clicked for me either. And when you combine that with how much I absolutely despise those hypocritical hippie types, it becomes pretty obvious why I can't stand that film. The 60s were just a mess... 👎 plus, I'm not even on drugs, so maybe that's why it doesn't work for me; you almost have to be tripping on acid to enjoy a movie like that... not to mention the soundtrack was incredibly dull.
I don't usually use such colorful language... 😁
Ha, ha, ha, ha, .... How many hippies have you actually crossed paths with to feel this much animosity toward them?
On a different note, you did a lovely job explaining why it's just so incredibly mindless.
Oh dear, I just realized I'm quoting such an unruly youngster...
I suppose your absolute favorite movie must be Raven, then?
Rebecca Taylor57 said:Does anyone left with even a shred of cinematic taste or actual knowledge still genuinely support Emir Kusturica, aside from those academic types who just want to insist how "sooooo different" we are from everyone else compared to the French?
Emir hasn't made a film worth watching in at least two years, and he repeats himself so often that, quite honestly, he isn't even interesting to himself anymore... so, just by pure intuition, without even seeing his latest work, I could probably predict exactly what he'll throw at us next:
- a massive orchestra, probably a billion musicians, preferably with some Gypsy roots... - animal motifs that have absolutely nothing to do with the plot or script, just sitting there so the French critics can wax poetic about "wildness in the North America"... - an absurd love story, likely unconsummated, between characters who can NEVER, not even on screen, actually be together... - at least two scenes in that "Dragojević style," where during some "wild North American feast" accompanied by trumpeters, all the men are devouring veal brains and eyes while grease drips down their dark faces onto chests adorned with fake, heavy gold chains... meanwhile, the women are in a state of ecstasy, either collapsing in a heap or dancing wildly on tables like notorious nymphs... oh, and one of those scenes definitely has to be a wedding... - at least two scenes where Emir will reveal something "totally new," unseen, impossible, or just plain surreal—again, with zero connection to the narrative—like flying houses, massive fish blocking the view of the screen, or sudden (un)natural disasters appearing out of thin air...
but, well... I’m really just wasting my breath here, because the fans of today's Kusturica are exactly looking for this kind of thing anyway... so, in the end, what is there to say, besides
frozenfox13's list serves as a wonderful starting point for anyone diving into cinema, just as he mentioned... I've managed to watch almost all of them.
Of course, you can find nearly any movie out there if you're willing to put in the effort...
A close friend of mine actually amassed about 2,000 titles on Blu-ray and DVD over a couple of years—though he certainly hasn't seen a third of them—ranging from half pure classics to the other half being total trash and pulp flicks, since he has such a soft spot for that kind of cult iconography...
External: Stalker - Andrei Tarkovsky Texas - Wim Wenders Dead Man - Jim Jarmusch Amarcord - Federico Fellini Stroysek - Werner Herzog Rashamon - Akira Kurosawa Seventh Seal - Ingmar Bergman Lost Highway - Lynch Citizen Kane - Orson Welles
Domestic + former domestic: Rondo Who Is Singing Over There Mystery of Orgasm The Feather Collectors When I Am Dead and White Father on an Official Trip
It’s just far too hippie for my taste, not to mention how incredibly dull and mindless it feels...
🙄 Well, if you find it too hippie, that's certainly your prerogative, but I would love to hear you explain why you found it so utterly mindless...
The movie is really a product of its era, and those psychedelic shots at the cemetery are truly priceless, plus I think the film works beautifully as a critique of the American society and establishment of that time... 👋
If I were to list a few works that have truly stood out over the last few months: Matthew Shipp - Pastoral Composure Marc Ribot - Spiritual Unity Jan Garbarek - Esoteric Circle Paul Bley - Time Will Tell Keith Jarrett - Survivor's Suite AEC - Urban Bushmen Marilyn Chrispell - Amaryllis Lacy + Mal Waldron - Live at Dreher Lennie Tristano - Intuition Lennie Tristano - Intuition David S. Ware - Live in the World William Parker - The Peach Orchard Michel Portal - Dockings Don Pullen / Sam Rivers - Capricorn Rising Ernst Reiser - Coll Parte Clusone 3 - An hour with jazz
Jazz doesn't just hit hard; it honestly makes my head spin a little... and since I’m constantly dealing with this dizzy sensation while listening to it, you might think I'm nothing more than a total jazz snob. Well, I suppose I am, and then some... But what else can one really do when there hasn't been any fresh, compelling rock music to satisfy my ears since those Kawabatin troubadours first appeared (that Mantra of Love album really hits home)... It all feels like imitators, posers, and pretenders lately, though I suppose I could make room for Spiritualised, maybe Dirty Three, or Neutral Milk Hotel... even a few albums from Yo La Tengo, Stereolab, Pavement, or Giant Sand might find their way into my player, and Björk is an absolute must... I found myself quite moved by m. Ward as well... Everything else? Mostly underwhelming, lacking that certain conviction... Rock died a long time ago, yet for some reason, they just haven't buried it yet...
John Zorn is certainly a savvy businessman who clearly knows how to make a profit.
One could debate his depth and originality as a musician, but there is no denying he has a knack for scouting and selecting incredible collaborators, much like Miles Davis did in his prime...
Personally, I find the likes of AEC, Wadada Leo Smith, David S. Ware, and Anthony Braxton from the old guard, along with newer talents like William Parker, David Douglas, and Mathew Shipp, to be far more musically compelling and unique than Zorn...
The statement made by Roscoe Mitchell regarding Zorn carried certain racial undertones, as Roscoe pointed out that the same white jazz critics who constantly praise Zorn tended to completely overlook the Black musicians of the second wave of the free/avant-garde jazz movement during the transition from the 60s to the 70s. There is some truth to that, as I read once about how Anthony Braxton had to play chess at tournaments just to make ends meet in the seventies, and how AEC eventually moved to Paris because they couldn't even make a living playing their music in a hypocritically democratic America...
Even today, AEC continues to release great records, though perhaps with less radical edge, while the veteran Roscoe recently recorded a masterpiece, Nina to get Ready, which stands out as one of the finest albums on ECM from the nineties...
Susan Clark10 said:😲 you're crazy. The Rolling Stones are the greatest band in the universe, and that was easily one of the best shows ever at the IEEE... and beyond.
To each their own. Personally, I felt the drums were largely unnecessary, almost like they weren't quite tapping into what the lineup could actually achieve, which left the whole thing feeling a bit flat to me...
As for the universe, The Grateful Dead are playing at the IEEE tomorrow, and I highly recommend them if you want cosmic energy beamed straight into your ears... Their first show in New York City was truly the pinnacle of music for me—especially regarding the guitar work—it was such an inimitable and cathartic experience...