Aggie87

Is that guy crying?

I have alot of the JP/Bireli Lagrene material that came out on Jazzpoint. Jaco was surely in a "rock" frame of mind - they're covering Hendrix, Marley & Deep Purple etc. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he had as much rock in him as R&B.

One of them WILL knock out the other in the 2nd round, so you're half way there. I'm still amazed at how much a gimpy Baron Davis was so much more valuable to his team than a healthy Dirk. Props to the Warriors!

I don't get why Dice K was worth $100M and bidding wars, prior to ever pitching a single pitch in this league. I don't have a problem with picking up talent from other countries, but heck, there's no way I'd ever pay an unknown entity that kinda cash. Seems like he was set up for failure - at least it was going to be difficult to ever live up to anyone's expectations after the money that was thrown at him. But then I don't think Roger Clemens is worth $20M a season (or half a season) either.

It appears he's been involved in the preparation of the material. In the review of "Industrial Zen" on AAJ, it's mentioned that he had completed the mix for the Trio of Doom material. Abstractlogix.com also stated last year that McLaughlin was mixing the Trio of Doom record.

I ended up ordering: Minus 5 - Down with Wilco (2LP) Robyn Hitchcock & Venus 3 - Ole! Tarantula (LP)...the Venus 3 = Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey and Bill Rieflin. Robyn Hitchcock - Spooked (LP) ...with Gillian Welch and Davis Rawlings Total for order was $18.97 shipped. Plus it includes free MP3's of each album, and free "bonus" MP3's of the RH/Venus 3 EP "Sex, Food, Death and Tarantulas". I'm going to go back and look more closely at some of the other stuff I'm not as familiar with - Paul Weller, Bob Mould, Go-Betweens, and Ian Moore.

I noticed a thread over on the SH forums, that Yep Roc Records is having a sale on some of their vinyl - $4.99 apiece! They have Minus 5, Robyn Hitchcock, Los Straitjackets, and others. Per-order shipping is only $4. Plus each album you order automatically gets you a FREE download of each of those albums, DRM free, or whatever it's called. Yep Roc Vinyl Sale

Finley - 8 of 9 shooting 3-pointers!!

I agree those are solid numbers for Kobe. And I agree he doesn't have much of a team around him. I still think he's got phenomenal shooting skills and moves in general, but don't think he makes his teammates better. I wouldn't build a team around him, but would pick him in a game of one-on-one any day.

FWIW, Phil deserves some of the blame as well. Guy Maybe the recent failure of the Lakers is the result of the decision to build a "team" around Kobe Bryant as your focal point. I don't think he makes the players around him better. He is a skilled hot dog, and that's it. It seems like the only times they win are when he goes off and attempts to score 50/60 points. And then he's the hot dog, not the team guy. And even then that's no guarantee of a win. It's like the Iverson era in Philly. I think the problem is philosophical decisions that have been made, as much as any coaching and the players on the team itself. Just a thought, anyway.

Sony Legacy will finally be issuing "Trio of Doom - Live" on June 26th! Should be interesting, to say the least. A little discussion of the material is in this McLaughlin thread. Legacy will also be putting out an Essential McLaughlin and an Essential Pastorius on the same date. edit - the Trio release appears to include both the live recordings from Havana, as well as the follow on studio efforts in NYC.

You mean in addition to an autographed CD, like my other two, right?

up.... A&M is releasing a remastered version of "I Advance Masked", Fripp's work with Andy Summers, on June 5th. I've never heard this one - is it worth picking up? CD Universe Link

I had my eye on this auction for Liebman's "What It Is" for a couple of days. It's gone way to high for my budget though. Is "What It Is" comparable to the other two Liebman/Scofield collaborations ("Doin It Again" and "If Only They Knew")? Wish it was easier to find. Being a Columbia release, maybe it will be reiussed someday.

"Expert" is a name you object to...really? And you haven't backed up anything you said [beyond some media inspired photo op and unsubstantiated percentages] while I have refuted it all...you just don't agree with me. So what? It don't mean squat, Aggie. It's a friggin' game, fer crissakes. OK? You didn't call anyone an expert. Saying "...people puff themselves up to be some sort of expert on something they know absolutely nothing about" is a bit different than calling someone an expert. Does that really cause you confusion? Look back at what you write, bro - "single-minded blowhards must, in fact, blow hard" I still don't see that you've refuted any of the discussion about steroids, muscle mass, and artificially increased power hitting. All you've done is try to deflect the muscle mass discussion by pointing the finger at ALL athletes since 1960, and you've tried to kill the messenger (the media). That's the sum total of your argument, apparently.

Here's someone's review I picked up off of a PT board, that's kind of interesting. It brings up a point that might be relevant for me - the title track, which kicks things off, may be the weakest track on the album. I think that might have something to do with the album's initial underwhelming feel, for me. One thing I do like is the last 5-6 minutes of Anesthetize, and then following that up with Sentimental. Right now that may be one of the strongest points of the album. And the last track does have a bit of an modern "Kashmir" feel to it in places, kind of following on Uncle Skid's Led Zep comment earlier.

One thing to remember is that this material (unlike anything that PT did before) was essentially created on the road last fall, where they fine tuned it while touring, then jumped into a studio to record it. Maybe this will end up being a one-time experiment they don't end up repeating. And maybe a little break wouldn't be a bad idea, and would allow Wilson to more slowly develop the next PT material.

I'd love to see this material live, I think it would help with my appreciation of it a bit more. I'm not sure if I'm ready to give a re-evaluation of Fear yet. The album is solid to me, but doesn't seem to have some of the hooks that the last few albums have had in spades. And I agree with you Matthew, in that it doesn't seem to tread much new ground. Though a "holding pattern" album from PT isn't necessarily a bad thing compared to alot of what passes for rock n roll these days.

You haven't even attempted to refute anything I've said about steroid-built muscle mass allowing Bonds to artificially pump up his HR numbers. I see no point in engaging you with your name calling.

I don't doubt that number. Maybe 97% or something, but it's up there. Take off your black-and-orange colored glasses. And I don't think the fans in other ballparks are errupting with applause or even ambivalent: He was a HR hitter to start with. Sure. No dispute there. Dude could hit the ball. But he also used steroids. The steroids caused some of his hits that were only warning-track hits to become home runs, and artificially increased his numbers. Irrelevant to the discussion on hand. That's more of the "bait and switch" thing you're doing.

Having good vision certainly contributes to being able to effectively hit a ball, whether it's a home run or a line drive or a bunt. Having good eye-hand coordination helps too. Bonds certainly has good vision and coordination. Those things aren't in question, and I don't understand why you keep harping on his vision. Muscle mass increases power. That's where the steroid use is an issue. 99% of America believes Bonds' use of steroids contributed to him hitting some of those homeruns. How many will never be known, so it's impossible to "dock him" any certain number of substance-assisted HR's. Since that can't be done, the easier solution is to give him a *.

I'm still baffled that you don't see how steroids increase muscle mass, which increases power, which can cause a hit ball that would normally just travel to the warning track to be able to go over the fence. Barry might get into the HOF because he's a good ball player, but he's a cheater. There's no way to tell how many of his home runs wouldn't have been home runs if he hand't been taking steroids, but certainly a number of them would fall in this category. He deserves an asterisk (hell, two asterisks) by any record with his name next to it.

Have an impossibly good Birthday!!

I think your sarcasm will fly over his head.

I don't think anyone has ever said he wasn't good. That's not the argument anyone is putting forth.