RUS is great. I have 13 copies.

I can't say I'd enjoy being part of a circle where it wasn't perfectly acceptable to say, "I'm now gonna do MY version of..." without complaints from the peanut gallery. I don't think any such circle would last long -- the good performers would all leave.

The teaching tapes are NOT inspirational. For the most part I hate them (they give utterly drab interpretations of some beautiful songs), but very occasionally they're useful as a reference.

I'm pretty sure I heard a psych guy on the radio claim that recent experiments failed to show significant relationship between the practice of purposeful memorization and change in ability to memorize. Anyone know more about this?

One part of the oral tradition I hate: guys who sing obscure songs at group gatherings until other people start to memorize them, then stop singing that song.

As for Careless Love, anything but Carl Sandburgy's version, complete with the constantly changing tempo, sounds lame to me. I'm not bothered by its inclusion in RUS. They're like two songs with the same title, that's all :-)

Steve