About Lugnut -- Patrick Malone

Pat - This is my first post to you but I would like to wish you the best of luck. For 45 years I had a severe case of asthma which was unrelenting. To put it mildly, it certainly cramped my style through childhood and well beyond. Though many days were unrelentingly bleak, I persevered. Now because of diffrent treatment I am 90% better. It will happen with you.

I am a major Coltrane fan and he has made a major impression on my musical life. I had the intro of "A Love Supreme" played during my wife and I's wedding processional. Then it was turned low during the entire ceremony. Guess what? Noone ran out screaming or requested Boston. Needless to say, my wife Gina is a saint. We even had one of our English Bulldog's as the ring bearer. He was quite stately in tophat and tails. No shit.

I think you'll find Coltrane to be incredibly spiritual. There will be no need to go to church. Just put on "A Love Supreme". His cries of search and salvation transcend words. And this comes from an agnostic. Peace. Richard

Lots of happenings at the Lugnut house. First, a short note about my health. I'm responding well to the Taxol. I received my third treatment on Tuesday after visiting with the oncologist. I now get a break of one week from treatment and since I haven't had any major side effects the steroids were cut in half!! I've also stopped taking any pain medication. What a nice thing. My doctor feels that at some point soon I may be able to stop the Taxol until the cancer returns. No clue about how long a respite this would amount to but I'll take anything I can get.

I have a lot of gear in the music room trying to decide which way to go. The Supratek is working and, of course, I love it. A local club member came over with a Sutherland PH-2000 phono stage and a CJ Premiere 10 preamp which I can buy also. The CJ preamp is surprisingly good but the Sutherland is noisy like a ground loop. I doubt that is the case but I'll do some experiments to see. Anyone having experience with the Sutherland can email me direct with advice.

The Syrah just makes everything happen right in my system. Between the ZYX coming along nicely and the preamp issue working well I've stayed up way too late listening, actually rediscovering all my vinyl. The bass just grabs you by the shorthairs and won't let go. The highs are very detailed and as smooth as I've ever heard. Most of the midrange harshness that was evident is gone becoming smoother and smoother with each hour put on the cart. In spite of being a modest system by Audiogon standards it is a stellar performer I'm extremely happy with.

Joe emailed me that A Love Surpeme is on its way. Can't wait and a big thanks Joe. Hopefully, I'll be able to wrap my mind around it. A couple of new (to me) records worthy of note are Aaron Copland's Billy The Kid-Ballet Suite and Louis Armstrong's under the stars. Both of these are superb recordings and the material is great. Copland was an especially pleasing find. It's much more to my liking than most classical offerings. I'm really happy I got turned on to it.

Visitors keep coming. My sister will be here in early May and Paul Frumkin is deciding on when he'll be coming for a visit. I'm thrilled that I should be feeling well enough to go do things with them. This area has so many events happening all the time it's difficult to decide what to do. Then, when it's warm the rest of the state opens up for exploration. Idaho is beautiful once out of the high desert valley I live in and it's just a short drive to many interesting spots. There are a number of cool ghost towns and abandoned mining operations I've been to that have a magnetic attraction. And the old cemetaries make you appreciate modern medicine. So many people died of things like a broken leg, slivers or an insect bite at such young ages. Fly fishing doesn't really come alive until July and later but the scenery in those places I've fished is breathtaking. I'm sure that I'll be taking Paul to Stanley which is where the headwaters of the Salmon river is. This is the longest undamned wild river in the lower 48 and flows through the Frank Church River Of No Return Wilderness Area. At Stanley one can see the Sawtooth Mountains which look like miniature versions of the Alps. This is just a day trip thing with interesting places to stop and eat or look about on the way. Hopefully, the roads will be clear in the Owyhee range of mountains. My favorite ghost town, Silver City, is there and also just a day trip. The entire town is privately owned and just about every building has been restored. During the summer months it's quite active with the owners spending a lot of their time there but during the winter the town gets snowed in until mother nature opens them up again. The drive is a lot like watching an old Cisco Kid televison show. Huge boulders and twisted, gnarly trees along with tons of wildlife. It's not uncommon to spot mountain lions and bear as well as all types of antlered critters. Photos of all of these places are available online with a quick Google search if you'd like to get a feel for what it's like here.

Great news, Pat. Been a busy week, but I will try and get in touch this weekend. Hang in there, bro!

Excellent Pat. Have some FUN buddy.

Great news Pat........My prayers are with you and your family. Keep on enjoying the music...it's great medicine!