We have Steve Vai 'Passion & Warfare' blasting out in the office right now. A little challenging to program in places to but still an awesome bit of 80s rock virtuosity ;)

To test the A9 I built this play list ... which is now my daily companion on my commute

• Carmen - Act 1: L'Amour Est Un Oiseau Rebelle; Avec La Garde Montante;  Sur La Place, Chacun Passe; Prélude
• Hayley Westenra – Pokarekare Ana
• Dvořák: Symphony #9 In E Minor, Op. 95, B 178, "From The New World" - 1. Adagio
• Vladimir Ashkenazy – Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition - 14. The Hut On Hen's Legs (Baba Yaga)
• Emil Gilels – Beethoven: Piano Sonata #29 In B Flat, Op. 106, "Hammerklavier" - 1. Allegro
• John Barry – Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
• Claudio Arrau – Beethoven: Piano Sonata #21 In C, Op. 53, "Waldstein" - 1. Allegro Con Brio
• Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphony No. 9: An die Freude (Ode to Joy)
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Tchaikovsky: Symphony #5 In E Minor, Op. 64 - 4. Finale: Andante Maestoso, Allegro
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture, Op. 49 Yesterday 11:21am
• Jacqueline Du Pré; John Barbirolli: London Symphony Orchestra – Elgar: Cello Concerto In E Minor, Op. 85 - 1. Adagio Moderato

Hi Søren,

Whoa, McAllen, TX is a long way from Mexico City just to pick up parcels from Amazon. I may never complain about Canada Post again.

That said, today I received a phone call from a delivery firm who insisted that I pay (are you ready for this?) $95 customs and duty for my Il Divo CD’s and book. I was so shocked that I asked if they were sure….. they were.

For Christmas music I have been playing a music box CD from the Vanderbilt Estate. The original was playing in the gift shop, so I jumped at the opportunity to buy a copy…. and glad I did. Sets the mood perfectly for the holidays.

As for the cooking, lately I have reverted to playing a couple of LP’s from No Fear, a mediocre and redundant band from Miami, but they have a good beat and what the heck, l like them.

And you are right, the food tastes better this way. Maybe I should try the Miami Sound Machine next. I feel an enchilada is going to be on the menu this evening based on the music.

Jeff

P. S. I am delighted that you approve of Nana Mouskouri and Il Divo. 😁

Hi Jeff: I pick up a lot more from McAllen, one set S45s, a BG TX2, a sub woofer black side, a variac, a new soldering station, a vacuum, pieces for a dim bulb tester and some odd pieces and items, I hope I get through customs without problems.

How could Canada customs charge so much for music and a book ???

Today I had some Danish friends for dinner, Danish Beef with soft fried onions, butter sauteed vegs, white potatoes and cream gravy, Apfelstrudel with vanilla ice. the most fun was cooking and listening to Danish music during the meal.

If you can, check out a Danish singer, Hanne Boel, good voice and good backup band/chorus.  😂

Piaf wrote:

Maybe I should try the Miami Sound Machine next.

MSM is indeed funkalicious! I would imagine they would induce some sort of BBQ themed food for me😁

Hi Søren,

I take it that you prefer picking up things in McAllen rather than using Postal Mexicano.

Customs Canada is in a world all its own, like many countries. There is no duty on books, but as this is an Il Divo “package” they must have decided to tax the entity adding a HEFTY brokerage fee. Had these folks charged our full HST it would have come to less than $30, so someone made a nice commission on this package.

I have learned that using Canada Post, there is almost (note I said almost) never customs charges, and definitely no brokerage fees.

UPS however always charges a brokerage fee. The broker guarantees that customs fees are paid, however in reality, the delivery person will not leave a package, no matter what services is used without the duty payment, thus basically paying for nothing.

UPS dropped my Beocord 8004 breaking the glass, then “lost” it for over a month in their warehouse. (They paid to replace the glass panel.) And I personally saw a Canada Post employee throw my Beogram 4002 about a meter, in spite of FRAGILE written all over the box.

As such, pretty much be default, I use FedEx, which is expensive but comes with a lot less drama.

You dinner plans made me hungry just reading the planned menu.

I will check out Hanne Boel and let you know what I think.

Jeff

Does no one else like classical music !

I assembled my collection of classical CDs by researching the rosette category (exceptional performance and exceptional recording) in the annual Penguin Guide

I am particularly fond of piano playing by amazing people like Horowitz who was still recording when he was in his eighties

Last night's commute was spent listening (via my A8s of course) to a TELARC recording of some of "The Planets"

elephant wrote:

Does no one else like classical music !

Of course...Zeppelin, the Stones, Pink Floyd, Beatles...

elephant wrote:

Does no one else like classical music !

Certainly! But actually purchasing classical music is a vast mine field and often disappointing. Therefore I am mostly on the mercy of our domestic broadcasting company which runs a 24h classical music radio channel on DVB (and on FM at night), and another commercial channel, which is sponsored by the Chinese and often interrupted with thoroughly annoying propag... feature programs.

I do have a short collection though; I've never been disappointed at anything composed by Arvo Pärt (Estonian, 1935-) or sung by Magdalena Kožená (Czech, blonde). Every summer me and the FS visit a