Cheap college text-books ... ubersweet!

I found a site which was selling cheap international editions of many popular text-books and good stuff in general. I ordered from some of them and my experience was pretty good. The websites I am talking about are (no, these are not referral links):
http://www.bsbazaar.com/
http://www.firstandsecond.com/

From these, my experience with firstandsecond.com has been better - I bought a new copy of 'Vibrations and Waves' by A.P French for less than $3.00 from this store.
For the record, I bought a new copy of 'Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems' by Thornton & Marion for ~ $9.00 from bsbazaar.com/

Gist of my email exchanges with bsbazaar.com:

				Jun 29, 2007 6:32 PM

Hello,
I received my order # blah by courier today.
However, The book has a damaged spine and is separated into two
'parts' due to improper binding. I would like to receive a
replacement.
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Jun. 30:
I would like to inform you that we pickup the damaged and torn book and place an replacement for the same .
Please accept my sincere apology for the inconvenience caused.
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Jul. 1:
Great! Please let me know the courier details (tracking # and company)

when you dispatch the replacement.

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Jul. 2:
Our pickup partner will pickup the book form you first, then the replacement book will be shipped to you.
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Jul 2:
Giving the book first is unacceptable to me as that would disturb my study schedule which is not an option. Moreover, your website clearly says that 'When we ship
out the replacement item to you, we will also have the defective / damaged item picked up from you at our cost.' Please send me the replacement book first and I will return the damaged book to the courier person who delivers the replacement.
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Jul 3:
We have initiated for pickup and as per your request we will also check on this matter and ship the book to you at the earliest.
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Jul. 3:
Thank you for your prompt reply, but I am not sure I
understand what you mean... As I said, I need to have a copy of the
book with me at all times. Thus, I need you to
send me a new copy of the book and then and then only can I return the
old copy. I am ready to return the torn copy to the delivery man who
delivers the new copy.

The pickup cannot happen before the delivery of the replacement book.
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Jul. 4:
On the receipt of the replacement book you can intimate us, so that we will pick up the damaged book from you.
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Jul. 4:
Please let me know the tracking number and courier company
details when you send the replacement book.

And yes, I must thank you for agreeing to my request. Your
understanding in this matter is greatly appreciated. I am sorry for
the inconvenience I may have caused.

Music - Chopin's Etudes

After reading xx's blog entry, I decided to listen to Chopin today... it's been a while since I have heard someone play his Etudes. I used to like the ones that were being played very fast by the artistes, but today I felt that I like the ones that are played fast, but not so fast that they seem mechanical. I kinda now feel that the tempo should not take away the life of the composition.

That makes the Valentina (Igoshina & Lisitsa) my favorites - she seems to have mastered the fine art of achieving a good tempo that's neither too slow nor too fast. And yes, for the record, Sviatoslav Richter is also one of my favorites, but he's kind of a legend now which means most people like him.

Okay, so I asked google if Chopin has prescribed the tempo for any of his etudes, but it seems he hasn't. BTW, have a look at these 3 videos that came up in the search results and see if you agree with me... kinda amazing...






Bonus:
(Her Boesendorfer seems to be the same model as the one in the Media Lab.)