Stevie Ray Vaughan

For those interested, have you ordered your MoFi copies of Soul to Soul, In Step and The Sky is Crying? Depending on where you live, they are either available to purchase or pre-order.

I think that Amazon listed Nov 8 for all of them. I have not pre-ordered yet, but I should.

I placed my order this morning. I think Music Direct is carrying them, but I get hit with both international shipping and duties when ordering from them, so I prefer to go with Amazon, when possible.

Amazon US has them listed. No luck with CA?

Yes, I pre-ordered through CA (the albums' release date are November 8 up here). I think the albums are priced higher on CA than on US Amazon, but then I don't have to worry about duties or shipping, so it works out.

Well, I will get 'er done.

I had a slight panic attack when I picked up the Blu-Ray set for the Jurassic Park trilogy. Right from the "boom" in the music during the opening titles, there was a nasty clipping sound and distortion -- for a second it sounded like one of the drivers had popped out. The sound stayed that way during the whole movie. So I put in some older material, including SACD, and everything sounds fine. I tried all three movies in the set and all of the discs exhibit the same problem -- it sounds like digital clipping. So the good news is that my system is working fine for the new Stevie discs. The bad news is that either something is wrong with my discs, or I have to chase down a setting that is causing it with the JP Blu-Rays.

Just a shot in the dark here, but have you tried updating the firmware on your Oppo?

They have not done an update in some time. If there is a compatibility problem with the JP discs, it will likely be some time before that got included in a new firmware. I messaged Bill Hunt at TheDigitalBits.com and he said that he has not heard of any issues yet, but he will keep me posted if he does. (He also owns a BD-83, though he uses the HDMI outs for audio.) He did note that he has been hearing quite a bit about audio problems with the new Star Wars discs. I opted out with those, so no problem for me.

You're forgoing Star Wars on Blu? I'm shocked and stunned.

Time to put up or shut up. I have given Lucas enough of my money already, and if he is not going to give me what I want then I am done. By the way, I do not know if you are aware of this, but he has made even more changes for the Blu-Ray release, such as having Darth Vader scream "Noooooooooooo" as he throws the Emperor over the edge in Jedi. To me, that really sums up Lucas: take one of the things that fans hated the most in the new trilogy and add it to the old one just to spite them.

Guess I should have thrown in an exclamation mark. I was being facetious. I've read all about the changes and I agree that they're nonsense. I, too, would very much like the original theatrical releases in HD. Period. Unfortunately, there is no one around to contain and control Lucas these days. He does as he pleases.

Oh, I knew that you were being facetious; I just felt the need to explain myself anyway. It comes from being married to someone who never gets any jokes.

It really is a shame though. I would love to see the original Star Wars saga in HD.

No real reason to rehash my views on that, of course, but denying Lucas any more of my money is a valid response.

I bought it for the kids. Some how they don't hate Jar Jar, of course their age averaged is 5...

As far as the prequel trilogy is concerned, I am not sure that I can even sit through the whole thing again, HD or not. I am becoming increasingly convinced that whatever good qualities I may have seen in any of the films was due to nostalgia for the original trilogy. Remove that nostalgic lens, and there is little of value left.

Guess you won't be going to the theaters in February then to see Episode I in 3D, ...huh?

Hmmm. A movie that I do not like, post-converted into 3D, which is a process that I do not like . . . Not looking good.

Iago wrote:Hmmm. A movie that I do not like, post-converted into 3D, which is a process that I do not like . . . Not looking good.

Ha ha, ...the perfect storm!!!

McGregor is about the only good thing from the pre-trilogy, but I'd argue that even his acting was restrained and seemed fake. Watching Anakin burn had its moment too.

McGregor was probably the best thing in the series, but I am still bummed that the first rumour for young Obi-Wan never panned out: Kenneth Branagh.

Yeah, I actually thought Kenneth bore a closer resemblance to Alex Guinness.

Mind you, I was pleasantly surprised by how well McGregor pulled it off. Speaking of Branagh, have you tried Thor yet? That is my favorite of the recent batch of comic book adaptions.

Seajunior watched it and told me it was great. I'm still not convinced, but that stems from my dislike of Thor and any other superhero whose powers are too super (i.e., Superman).

Looks like the Stevie discs have been delayed in Igloo Land.

I have yet to preorder. I will go to Amazon US and check it out.



Seajunior was right. If it helps, Odin strips Thor of his powers for most of the movie. When Thor is in full glory, he is fighting other gods, not earthlings. Regardless, I think that you will be pleasantly surprised.