Aggie87

Thanks, John - that makes me feel a little better. As much as I've purchased from them in the past, this is my first online order...

Not even a shipping notification yet.... I sent an email yesterday inquiring about the order status, and the reply was that 2001 is in the process of moving their 'storage' to another city, and that is causing the delay in my order. ***nervously tapping desktop***

Owners break off talks No agreement on contract, mass player dump ahead? NEW YORK (AP) -- NFL owners voted unanimously Thursday to break off talks with the players' union on a contract extension, leaving the current salary cap in place with the start of free agency looming -- and possibly forcing the mass dumping of veterans. "The situation is about as dire as dire can be," commissioner Paul Tagliabue said. The owners, who met for 57 minutes Thursday morning, endorsed a recommendation by their management council executive committee to reject the union's latest proposal. The breakdown of talks left intact, for now, a salary cap of $94.5 million. The two sides had hoped to add $10 million to $15 million to the 2006 salary cap. Without the additional room, some teams could be forced into wholesale cuts to get beneath the cap by midnight. Free agency starts Friday. Without an agreement, 2006 will be the last season with a salary cap -- under the current contract, 2007 is scheduled to be an uncapped year. Owners did not seem inclined to cut into the difference of 4 percentage points between the sides. New England owner Robert Kraft had suggested that Thursday morning's meeting might be short, just enough time to rubber stamp the executive committee's decision. That's exactly what the owners did. "The players are totally out of bounds," said Dallas owner Jerry Jones. Most of the other owners declined comment, unusual in a league where many are eager to express their opinion. Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players Association, said he expected the move by the owners. He said it was unlikely that talks would resume soon, although some league officials suggested anything could happen. But the two sides remain far apart -- according to Upshaw, the union wants a little over 60 percent of the league's total revenue, the owners are offering 56.2 percent. "I won't come down," Upshaw said Thursday. "The players know that. Only the owners can make a proposal." That is unlikely to happen. "They have to make a fundamental change in their proposal in how they are defining their expectations for the players," Tagliabue said. Beyond the numbers is an issue that has divided the owners for two years -- revenue sharing among the teams. Under the current system, some teams make far more than others in ancillary income, ranging from local radio rights to stadium naming rights and advertising. The lower-revenue teams say that forces them to commit as much as 70 percent of that money to the players while teams with more outside money contribute far less, giving the high-revenue teams more available cash for upfront bonuses to free agents. An uncapped year in 2007 means new rules that will force teams and agents to change their plans this year and could keep a lot of teams out of the free-agent market entirely. More will have to cut players to meet the cap because they negotiated long-term deals anticipating an extension of the union contract. A few teams do have room, notably Arizona, Cleveland and Minnesota, all relatively low spenders in the past. Washington, which has thrown money at free agents since Daniel Snyder bought the team in 1999, may be in the deepest cap trouble. "It might mean that no rookies get signed because no one is sure of the long-term ramifications," said Tom Condon, the agent for a number of the game's top players. The ramifications of a lower than anticipated cap were evident Wednesday, when some high-priced veterans were cut. Among them were defensive end Trevor Pryce and running back Mike Anderson of Denver, the team's leading rusher last season. Denver also cut tight end Jeb Putzier. Buffalo, meanwhile, released defensive tackle Sam Adams and Carolina released three veterans: running back Stephen Davis, defensive tackle Brentson Buckner and kicker returner Rod Smart, "He Hate Me" of old XFL days. Miami cut left tackle Damion McIntosh, saving $3.8 million against the cap, and former Pro Bowl cornerback Sam Madison. The Dolphins are a prime example of a team that needs a new labor agreement: They are estimated to be about $9 million over a $95 million cap.

The box set and the DVD I think are the big things here - mainly the box set in my case, as I listen to music more than I am able to watch dvds. A remix disc....hmmmm, not sure what to make of that. Though I do think the previous Bill Laswell remix cd is interesting. And another Miles best-of compilation? **yawn**. And yep Paul, that was quite a game tonight. I caught the second half. Quite a physical, defensive game. Came down to two huge plays at the end: Texas' PJ Tucker unforgiveably letting the shot clock expire w/o taking a shot with 5 seconds left, and then the Aggie's Acie Law making that huge 3 pointer to win it. May help their chances of getting into the NCAA tournament for the first time in about 20 yrs.

I saw reference to this on another board, but thought it was worth bringing up here. According to the Miles Beyond website: I don't know how credible this website is, but maybe we'll see this box set later this year?? And it's difficult to translate - is this saying Belden is involved or not?

I don't read the "what vinyl are you spinning" thread, because it seems redundant to me. And I tend to skip the "Which Mosaic are you enjoying right now" for the same reason. Shouldn't these both be incorporated into the "What are you listening to now" thread? Since I unfortunately don't have the time for getting into the blindfold tests (much as I'd like to), I skip those as well. And finally I tend to skip the emusic threads, as I don't use that service.

Happy Birthday Al!!!!

Happy Birthday Wes!! I hope Jade takes you out for a nice b-day breakfast!

Well, the NFL Combine is going on right now, in preparation for the draft coming up April 29/30... * There's something fishy going on with Vince Young at the combine. He took the Wonderlic test, which is supposed to be an 'intelligence' test. The stories going around are that he scored a 6 on the test. A score of 20 is supposed to show "average" intelligence, with 50 being the highest possible score. The odd thing about this is that Young's agent is denying that he scored a 6....and yet Young was allowed to take the test again, and on the second go-round scored a 16. It doesn't make sense to me - if he didn't score a 6, why did he take the test again? Contrasting this score, Texas A&M's Reggie McNeal is reported (by ESPN Radio) to have scored a 41. Granted, he also didn't lead his team to the National Championship. He also ran a 4.37 40, and had a good showing in the Shrine Bowl last month. (yes, i'm rooting for him to make it in the pros!). * #1 pick trade - Rumors are that the Jets are looking to trade up from the #4 spot to get the Texan's #1 overall pick. Looks like they're interested in Matt Leinart. Will be interesting to see how this plays out. * There are also rumors that the Jets are trading John Abraham to the Redskins for Lavar Arrington & Patrick Ramsey. ......5 1/2 months until preseason!!!!

I think most dvd players in computers are capable of reading all regions/formats. Someone smarter than me would know better though... And I've heard there are ways to modify your normal dvd player to make it capable of playing back all formats as well. Some searching around online may help with this.

bumping up for the folks on Kwajalein Atoll....

Wow...Don Knotts AND Darren McGavin... R.I.P. Darren....the real Kolchak. And the perfect father figure in Christmas Story too.

Patricia - Is there another new edition of this? I bought the 2 disc version back in 2003. My copy says it runs 229 minutes.

My advice? I'd keep her until the nagging gets REALLY bad.....then cull her

R.I.P....

....I can't count that high! But seriously, if you choose to go that route, I'm sure Conn will be glad to spring for a six pack of this fine malt beverage for you:

So easy that someone drinking a fine single malt could even figure it out. If they would go out and spring for a damn single malt!

BF - yourmusic is the same company as BMG, and has almost the same inventory (a few things are missing from the yourmusic stock - like the Charlie Parker Verve metal box). As long as you buy one cd/month from them @5.99, there is no other obligation to being a member, and you can buy as much or as little as you want at the $5.99 rate, which includes their box sets.

Actually, BF ended up doing better at BMG in this case.... The Coltrane box is $47.92 (5.99 * 8 discs) at yourmusic.com, whereas he got it for $36.39. The Parker 3 disc set is only $17.97 at yourmusic.com though. Overall he came out ahead on this order, but it benefits you to compare both sites when you're looking at box sets and the no s/h offers.

Thelonious Monk Oslo '66 Keith Jarrett - Autumn Leaves Hancock/Carter/Cobham Tony Willliams/Ron Carter/McCoy Tyner/Freddie Hubbard/Dizzy Gillespie - 1981 Martino/Scofield/DeFrancesco - Sunny Dave Brubeck - Take Five '61 Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos

I think he was just jealous.... Woman Marries Dolphin

I have "Hot" too, and think it's very good. But knowing Akanalog's dislike of Sco, I wouldn't recommend it.

Only "inside" to the 250 million americans who got to hear that tagline on the SW tv commercials for a couple years....