Big Al

I did! CUBS WIN!!! CUBS WIN!!! HOLY COW!!!!

Try it again. I just now placed my order and still got the 15% off. Maybe you just need to re-fill your cart. Hope it still works. I just snagged the Rich and the Turrentine with shipping for $181.00.

I don't know how difficult it is to find, but I picked up Urbie Green's Blues & Other Shades of Green at the Borders on State & Randolph yesterday. Anything with Freddie Green is alright with me!

PM sent on the following: Coltrane, John & Harden, Wilbur Countdown Savoy Jazz 2-lp $5 larger sticker on back Gibbs, Terry Latin Connection Contemporary Gonsalves, Paul Ellingtonia Moods & Blues RCA (France) Gonsalves, Paul & Hines, Earl It Don't Mean a Thing Black Lion sticker Hodges, Johnny The Smooth One Verve 2-lp $5 Hodges, Johnny The Johnny Hodges All-Stars Prestige 2-lp $5

Pudge to the Yankees for Farnsworth. Unbelievable. My respect for Pudge has hit rock-bottom. I hope Farnsworth continues his winning ways and leads the Tigers past the Yankees (or at the very least, keeps the Yankees out of the playoffs).

seems like Texeria is more trouble then he is worth. They were going to run away with the division regardless. However its a good trade since the Angels time is now. It seems that in the playoffs you need two long ball clutch hitters, two elite starters and a great bullpen. Depth in starting rotation, speed (of course being able to create runs certainly helps since your facing elite pitching), defense less so like the regular season. Angels seem to be the favorites right now for a WS title. Tex wouldn't know clutch hitting if it bit him on his pompous ass. His avg is good and his OBP is okay, but a lot of times the game is out of reach or meaningless when he gets his HR or whatever. When the game is on the line, when his team really needs him, he buckles. Without fail.

Online only, though... Thanks. I should have specified. Then ago, who walks into a Borders these days and expects to find any (jazz) CDs? Well, FWIW, the Borders at State & Randolph in downtown Chicago had a decent jazz selection, decent when compared to the decimated selection in the DFW metroplex. I mean, I bought Urbie Green's Blues and Other Shades of Green import CD, and saw a lot of other discs that have long since been unavailable at any Borders here in Texas. Regular discs like RVGs (Blue Note AND Prestige) and Keepnews discs were readily available at the State Street store that I haven't seen in DFW for a loooong time.

Give 'em time. It's still July. They still have two months to fuck the whole thing up. Damn, you sound like a Rangers fan.

Online only, though...

As for Teixeira, it feels like that move the Sox made with Gagne last year - best team in the league making a trade that seemingly makes them potentially unbeatable. Of course, it turned out they were, with no help from Gagne. You'll see some major bidding war break out for Teix in the fall. I would love nothing more than for the Halos to suffer a severe collapse. Not that I think that anyone else in the division could catch them anyway, but bad enough so that if th Rangers continue winning they might make it interesting. In a perfect world, the Rangers would catch fire the rest of the season as the Angels collapse. Yeah, like that'll happen! Still, I'd settle for Tex going into such a horrific slump that his trade value plummets at year-end. Just like former Ranger Gagne.

Do I know my team or what? Blalock was scratched with an upset stomach before the game! Oh no! We've built our entire franchise around this guy and he keeps having these tragedies!!! What will we do? What WILL we DO???? Feldman gives up three HR's to Seattle tonight... yet another fine performance by our Keystone Kollection of starters. Just another post-All-Star swoon from the "Texas" team. God, I'm glad in Chicago this week. Like I said before, I only wish the Cubbies and the Brew-crew were here this week instead of Milwaukee. Oh well. Here or there, CUBS WIN CUBS WIN CUBS WIN still sounds the same!!!

I am a rock. I am an island. A rock feels no pain, and an island never cries.

Wait a second..... you mean to tell me that I've been in Chicago since JG's death on Friday and I'm only finding out about it NOW when I get a chance to log on for the first time since being up here???? Hell, I was in the Jazz Record Mart on Sunday and not ONE mention anywhere of Griff's passing! His hometown, fer Christ's sake!!!! Shit. RIP Johnny. You deserved better than this. Gonna throw on A BLOWIN' SESSION when I get back to Texas.

Oh yeah, this is a nice one!

Oh yeah, and Jimmy Smith Groovin' at Smalls RVG for $5.99.

I swear, OCD is gonna bankrupt me. This week's U2 remasters made me wanna hear their output from Achtung Baby thru Atomic Bomb (via Rhapsody), and so after work I picked up the following: Achtung Baby and Zooropa (used) War remaster for 19.99 from Best Buy, plus a rain check to pick up Boy and October for the same price when they get more in At some point, I know I'll pick up damn near everything else (except Rattle and Hum, have no use for that one) And this is after all the TOCJs & JRVGs I bought a couple weeks ago, helping Dan clear out his CDs.... I swear, this is a SICKNESS.

Probably the funniest take on this I ever saw was this video, which I just happened to watch the other night when I was explaining to my son what the whole "Pine Tar Incident" was all about. Still just as funny!!!

That'll be HUGE! DAMN!!! I'm gonna be in Chicago next week! How cool would that've been if the series was being played there instead of Brew-town? Maybe take a day trip up north.....

A++++'s all around from me as well, as all four of my discs arrived quickly!

Because he would've been able to hold on to the panties?

My copy of Jazz Giants '58 came in the digipak.

Our catcher/pitcher ratio is 10/1! I think they've been worrying so much about Hank Blalock's return (breaking news: Blalock sneezed! He's back on the 15-day DL again!) that they forgot about the other players.

True 'nuff. ... I know that frustration of watching your team being unable to generate any offense consistently (a problem Big Al doesn't have to worry about). Consistent offense??? Hell, they scored a total of three runs against the Twins in their three-game series against them before heading to Chicago! But..... the way things are going, I'm willing to write off that series as a fluke, especially if they can continue to get the timely hitting like they did against the White Sox. As for the A's, I know the Rangers can identify with their predicament: for the longest time, it was always about next year. I can't help but think that Nolan Ryan came in and said "Enough of that shit. It's all about THIS year!" Wow..... 2nd place.... it's been a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time, and I'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts!

I can just picture the scene in the Rangers front-office: Tom Hicks is salivating, Nolan Ryan and Jon Daniels are playing keep away with Hicks' cel phone... Also, as much as I hate seeing the Red Sox and/or Yankees on national TV, fact is Dan's right: they're a draw, they bring in the advertising dollars. End of story. When the Sox or the Yankees are here, Rangers attendance is through the roof. In fact, package deals or free tickets always come with the stipulation that they CANNOT be used for games when the Yankees or Red Sox are in town. That ain't no coincidence.

"Funky Mama" from Lou Donaldson's The Natural Soul. Not the biggest LD fan, and I bought this because of Green-Patton-Dixon. LD & Tommy T shine and the Mighty Greaze Trio live up to their name as the groove on this is SO infectious!