Big Al

Couldn't resist!

Ref. Matthew 7:21-23

For da boss... Heck, I may even petition MY church to post this on our sign!

Same here. I graduated in '88, and went through a very similar experience.... except that my mom & dad are 27- and 30-years older than me, respectively.

B-)

I'm still missing that one. As far as I recall, and without checking right now, aren't there different version (Japanese) with the +1 or +3 added? Are there more alternate takes? Or what? Stupid question? What's the definitive edition to get? Cheers! The version I have has only one extra track: Pres Returns. I would venture to guess that this is the definitive version; certainly worth the extra dollars over the US Verve (which is in SERIOUS need of an upgrade).

You are CORRECT, sir!!!! B-)

It really isn't so difficult, as long as you freeze it first. The fish, that is.....

JSngry's in da house!!!! OH YEAAAHHH!!!!!

Easterly Winds – Jack Wilson. I’d been hoping this would eventually get released, and fidelity issues aside (man, I wish they could’ve found the master for this one), the playing is just so sweet! Action/Right Now – Jackie McLean. I bought a lot of Jackie Mac this year, and found it difficult to narrow it down to one album. Couldn’t, in fact. They’ve all been getting regular airplay, but these two are hands-down my favorites. Pres & Teddy – Lester Young & Teddy Wilson. Well, since I couldn’t put the Teddy Wilson Mosaic on the list, I’ll settle for the next best thing. And this is hardly settling, lemme tellya! I got an added bonus by picking up the Japanese VICJ pressing of this, which is OH SO SWEET! Buddy Rich/Sweets Edison LPR. Still not sure what to think of Buddy’s over-powering playing, but Sweets and Barney Kessel and Jimmy Rowles keep things nicely swinging! Especially on “Barney’s Bugle!” Piano in the Foreground/Piano in the Background – Ellington. Okay, it’s two albums, but it’s one concept, so that’s why it counts! I knew I’d like Foreground; in fact, I like it more than the more-famous Money Jungle. But I had NO idea that Background would be one barn-stormin’ flag-waver from start to finish! WOW!!!

And James Moody, too. Don't foget that! B-)

Nah, just waiting to hear back from him. The US discs are going out this weekend!

PM sent!

Was wondering if any of you, your parents bought the music that was popular when you were growing up (or “your music” for lack of a better term); or, have any of you bought music that is popular among your kids? Give you a couple of examples: When I was a teenager in the 80’s, imagine my surprise to find that my dad had bought a Billy Idol tape. Now, I like Billy Idol, but never had the urge to buy any of his album. But here’s my dad, who taught me everything I know about good music (Chuck Berry, Art Blakey, the Stones, etc) listening to post-punk! He said Idol reminded him of early Elvis. Still don’t see THAT connection, but hey, he likes it. Cool with me. Fast-forward about twenty years, and me, still pissed off about Rummy’s flippant comment to the troops who are gonna get their asses shot off in the battlefield….but I digress. I procured a copy of Green Day’s AMERICAN IDIOT. I like the title song (and was feeling in a “fuck the American Idiots” mentality anyway), and had heard good things about it, so I thought, “Adulthood be damned!” and got me a copy. What can I say? It’s like Quadrophenia meets the Clash’s Give ‘em Enough Rope. It is political, but the rest of the album isn’t totally political as the title track, although that track definitely sets the mood. I like it a lot: it’s loud, fast, and tight. My kind of rock & roll. So I’m driving my daughter to school and she asks what I’m listening to. I told her what it was, and she just said, “Hmmm.” Not sure if she thought anything of it, but it reminded me of my dad. Have any of you had a similar experience?

FAQ says it's a firewall issue. Imagine the theological implications of THAT!

Yeah, ovrshadowed by Bill's, perhaps, but Bill's was (and is) downright CREEPY. Don't get me started... “Creepy” doesn’t even BEGIN to describe the place. How about “overpriced scratchy records and other memorabilia?” As far as our friends go, their son is eleven days younger than our son, but he dwarfs our kid by a few inches. He’s big! But they’ve been best friends since they were crawling! They used to live here in Arlington until the dad bought a printing franchise there in Plano. The funny thing is, he told me as they were looking for a place to live up in that area (he was commuting daily from Arlington to Plano before they moved up there): it was cheaper to build a new house than it was to move into an existing one. So we’ve kept in touch with them in the years since they’ve moved, and the boys still miss each other, even though they’ve made new friends in their respective neighborhoods & schools.

So Newman sings but doesn't play on this? That seems kind of odd ... “Fathead” on vocals? Nah, it’s a typo on the part of the reviewer! He plays alto on “If I Had You.”

Daaaaaaaaaamn straight!!!! (Except for our friends in McKinney, whose son is my son's best friend!)

Yup Yup Yup Yup Yup Yup Yup Uh huh uh huh uh huh uh huh I listened to it all day at work, and it just gets better with every listening. The groove gets good & funky on "Hello Stranger." Oh YES it is that good!

Dimebag's brother, Vinnie. God help their parents (if they're still around) and any other of their family. This is sad.

Bar none, for me, Album of the Year. Yes, better than the latest Sonic Youth blast of fury. Yes, better than Brian Wilson’s much-deserved classic. Yes, IT IS THAT GOOD. And the beauty of this album lies deeper than just a wonderfully multi-talented young lady showing off more of her talents. No, this album reveals a true honest-to-God SINGER. And WHAT a singer!!! If her version of “Lush Life” doesn’t move you to tears, then may you be spared a smackdown from the ghost of Billy himself. And you KNOW something’s goin’ good when she dusts off the oldie “California Dramin’” and makes you FEEL the loneliness in that song. Then there’s “The Same Love That Made Me Laugh” which proves she could do an entire album of Al Green songs and make it WORK! But the kicker, the centerpiece, THE VERY REASON TO SHELL OUT THE GELT TO GET THIS ALBUM NOW DAMMIT is the way she wraps/raps her R&B-honed chops around “Moody’s Mood for Love.” Complete with luscious alto solo from Papa Moody hisself! Then there’s that cover. DAMN sho’ is FINE!!!!

But then I say that having not being any further north than McKinney. Beyond the suburban wasteland, it still may be pretty open. Maybe around Sherman, that area. I think it all started when that whole area started trying to be another Silicon Valley. Then the web-based businesses that a lot of those "fortunes" were based on went belly-up. Guarantee you it'll be a ghost-town in about ten years or so, as more & more homes are either foreclosed or sold for much-less-than market value. It'll be a "modern" ghost-town, but a ghost-town nonetheless. Sorta like Dallas.....

I used to get into the biggest silliest arguments with a secretary I worked with years ago. She pronounced it CUE-pon. I told her it was a MOOT point!

Frisco, McKinney, Richardson..... all becoming super-suburbanized. Land's being scooped up and developed faster than Rummy can put together non-answers for the troops.