• Do you feel like starting your own record label, boasting an artist lineup that includes Elvis Presley, Ella Fitzgerald, and Maria Callas? A recent New York Times article by Anthony Tommasini has brought to light another weakness in the American record industry's armor - the upcoming tide of European import CDs that take advantage of Europe's copyright-protection laws that put recordings into the public domain after only 50 years.

With the rolling wheels of the record industry grinding down for a holiday break, here are more of my picks for the best of 2002. Best Spoken Word CD of the Year: Paul Krassner - Irony Lives! (Artemis Records) Recorded earlier this year in the post-September 11 dialogue, this thinking-man's comedy release comes from the fertile and skewed mind of the co-founder of the Youth International Party (Yippies) and all-around muckraker, a nail among the balloons of government and the media elite.

What a season under the cult of celebrity! Moby takes a beating, Lisa Marie Presley is single again, David Lee Roth is suing Van Halen, and Kid Rock is firing guns with Carson Daly on TV. Any assorted boyhood home of Eminem sets off a multi-million-dollar bidding war on eBay's real-estate site! Future Slim Shady Gracelands are popping up all over gritty Michigan hamlets.

The Quad City Symphony Orchestra (QCSO) performance on Saturday, December 7, demonstrated the sharp contrasts within classical music. From rugged romanticism to stark minimalism, the concert led by Conductor and Musical Director Donald Schleicher was balanced, and the performance was well formed, as the orchestra played pieces by Kearnis, Mozart, Respighi, and the Paganini of the piano, Franz Liszt.