Monthly Archives: November 2006

Nintendo Wii a big success!

I’ve been following news reports about the new Nintendo Wii console. In its first week on sale, the Wii has sold over 600,000 units, and roughly 3/4 of all Wii buyers have purchased the Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess game to go with it (over 454,000 sold). Even though Nintendo kicked up production in the summer to have a lot of units available for this holiday season, my guess is that there will still be shortages through the beginning of next year. This is turning out to be the must-have game system for the holidays. Sony’s PS3 didn’t fare so well–a hardware shortage, coupled with a very high price, leaves it in a distant second place.
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Antonio Carlos Jobim: Stone Flower

For the past 20 or so years, I’ve owned both of Jobim’s A&M/CTi albums, Wave and Tide, on the Audio Master Plus reissue vinyl. They both sound fantastic, and even Verve’s reissue of Tide on CD sounds quite nice. The music is better on Wave, but to me, Tide always sounded like the album was comprised of half-finished songs, and it was rather short in playing time as well. Even the title track was a bad, noodly imitation of “Wave”. It turns out that Tide was the last A&M/CTi recording before Creed Taylor picked up his label and moved it to Columbia. A few years ago, I had found out that there was a third Jobim album, called Stone Flower, that was like the final piece in a trilogy. And others had told me how good it was. And call me a skeptic, but after having heard how Tide came out, I was in no rush to hear it. So is it any good, or is it another mediocre recording?
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Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to wish all of our Rudy’s Corner friends and supporters a happy Thanksgiving! We have no big plans for the day–just a quiet dinner at home, and a long walk after dinner to make the food settle. We’re fortunate in that we have some nice, temperate weather this year–last year it was 13 degrees when we went out in the evening! Today, we’re expecting a nice, sunny mid-50s afternoon. We’re also avoiding the shopping craziness tomorrow. And to be honest, looking at the ads for Black Friday, there aren’t many good deals out there anyway! We’ve got our shopping weekend scheduled for two weeks from now, but to be honest, most of it will get done on Amazon anyway.

Have a good Thanksgiving, everyone!

Rudy’s Corner Store

We now have a new Amazon-powered store that is completely ours. I’m proud to present the new Rudy’s Corner Store! In our store, you’ll find a unique shopping experience that is geared to our articles here at Rudy’s Corner. The Amazon connection means your order is taken securely, and your merchandise is shipped promptly. So, what exactly will you find in our store?
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Carpenters: Singles 1969-1981 (SACD Hybrid)

There are countless Carpenters compilations available, both in the U.S. and as imports. In many cases, compilations with the same titles often have minor variations between countries. This particular title, Singles: 1969-1981, is the most recent version of the first Carpenters compilation that covered 1969-1973. Since this one is an SACD hybrid, it is playable in both CD and SACD players. What is there to recommend on this compilation? Remixes. Remixes that you’ve never heard before.
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