wulfman

Paypal sent today, thanks Jim!

Try the Gibson Site for starters. It seems to be pretty detailed. While I am in the guitar corner I might as well add a picture of the Japanese Epiphone 61' SG I got last week in Tokyo at a New Year's sale which is the Japanese version of Boxing Day specials. It has a lacquer finish and the Gibson-style headstock with original style tuning pegs. The guitar is super light but with the mahogany body has great sustain.

My brother is a tenor player in Japan and has played with Jimmie more than a few times on tours and events. Apparently he is a good storyteller after a drink or two.

Roppongi is close to lots of nightclubs and bars whereas Shibuya is closer to more restaurants and shopping. If you are looking for night action, Roppongi has traditionally been the place to be.

Friday started off hot and humid with dense cover of pollution. We just had a downpour now and it is still in the 30's. I hope they can do something about the pollution before the Olympics start.

My condolences Jim, it sounds like you had a great bond with your dad. Peace and strength to everyone in the Alfredson clan.

Big congratulations Jim! It looks like, unless the baby is hiding something, I am also going to be joining the 2 daughter/0 son club in July. The first one will be one and a half then so she probably won't take it so hard. All the best, the family looks great.

There is a large list of people in dire straits with lots of money. I think this one was on the old Blue Note BB: Dear Mr. Sir, REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE-STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL I am Dr. Bakare Tunde, the cousin of Nigerian Astronaut, Air Force Major Abacha Tunde. He was the first African in space when he made a secret flight to the Salyut 6 space station in 1979. He was on a later Soviet spaceflight, Soyuz T-16Z to the secret Soviet military space station Salyut 8T in 1989. He was stranded there in 1990 when the Soviet Union was dissolved. His other Soviet crew members returned to earth on the Soyuz T-16Z, but his place was taken up by return cargo. There have been occasional Progrez supply flights to keep him going since that time. He is in good humor, but wants to come home. In the 14-years since he has been on the station, he has accumulated flight pay and interest amounting to almost $ 15,000,000 American Dollars. This is held in a trust at the Lagos National Savings and Trust Association. If we can obtain access to this money, we can place a down payment with the Russian Space Authorities for a Soyuz return flight to bring him back to Earth. I am told this will cost $ 3,000,000 American Dollars. In order to access the his trust fund we need your assistance. Consequently, my colleagues and I are willing to transfer the total amount to your account or subsequent disbursement, since we as civil servants are prohibited by the Code of Conduct Bureau (Civil Service Laws) from opening and/ or operating foreign accounts in our names. Needless to say, the trust reposed on you at this juncture is enormous. In return, we have agreed to offer you 20 percent of the transferred sum, while 10 percent shall be set aside for incidental expenses (internal and external) between the parties in the course of the transaction. You will be mandated to remit the balance 70 percent to other accounts in due course. Kindly expedite action as we are behind schedule to enable us include downpayment in this financial quarter. Please acknowledge the receipt of this message via my direct number 234 (0) 9-234-2220 only. Yours Sincerely, Dr. Bakare Tunde Astronautics Project Manager tip@nasrda.gov.ng

Jim, I just downloaded This Is The Place from iTunes Canada and am groovin' to Wealthy St. as I write this. I would love the CD but we are in Beijing now so iTunes was the most practical. I am just wondering what is better financially for Organissimo, sales of a CD or sales from iTunes? I hope a good chunk of the $9.99 finds its way to the band.

Thanks Jim for the post and thanks for making this BB what it is. I have a baby girl, almost 1-yr old and can relate to the time that you want to be able to spend with her. I am a long-time lurker, occasionally adding something where I can to the great O-board show. I just sent a donation, whether it is a down payment on the future or just clears up my overdue bar tab remains to be seen. Hope the board lives on AND you find the time you need.

I have been in Beijing for the past 2 months and have enjoyed it a lot so far. There are construction sites everywhere around town and it is amazing to see so much development happening at once. I have found some CD/DVD shops but the "officially released" section has been pretty limited for jazz. If you are a classical fan on the other hand there is a huge selection of stuff to choose from. There are a lot of things to see in Beijing including huge parks and of course the Forbidden City (I haven't been yet). The CBD is on a subwway line that goes to Tiananmen square and taxis are very cheap and clean so you should have no problem getting around, other than language. If you get someone to write down your destination in Chinese for taxi drivers you should be able to get around without any problems. Send me a private message if you have any questions.

There was a cozy litle place along the tracks by Meidaimae station where the master of the place brewed every coffee individually. Grinding the beans, heating the water and s-l-o-w-l-y pouring the water through the filter until the cup was around 3/4 full. Choosing your coffee beans and watching it made was an important part of the ritual. He also had a ton of vinyl in the shop and sitting there trying to figure out what was on the turntable at any given time was part of the experience. For me the jazz-kissa seemed to be a modern take on the Japanese tea house. Sit yourself down, forget about where you came from and where you are going. Most of the guys who own these places are single guys who grew up in the 60's/early 70's. Japanese author Haruki Murakami used to be a jazz-kissa master.

I have been twice, once in 1996 cycling from Ho Chi Minh to Hue, then by train to Hanoi. The second time was Christmas 2005. I went to Halong Bay both times. We just went to Halong for day trips each time so I can't tell you much about what to do in town or in the area. I know that you could arrange to do an overnight cruise on the bay. The toursim industry is huge now and very competitive, especaily so for Halong Bay trips. Prices are cheap but be careful - you often get what you pay for.

With our baby daughter the dust is still settling in my life. I am changing diapers more than I thought I would and surviving on less sleep that I thought was possible. Also learning a lot about patience. We are finishing up here in Manila in June and and moving to Beijing this August. I have a lot on my plate but am taking Friday off to go play a round of golf

Thanks Brownie, this thread has been very interesting. I have some photos I would like to share with those interested. I was in Ghana for a 6-week work assignement and took a ton of photos, boiled them down to around 30. I guess I was going for a National Geographic feel here. Mostly all photos of local people doing their thing. Me and the missus don't appear in any... http://www.flickr.com/photos/wulfh/sets/72157594310875620/