Aggie87

It's also available in longbox format for less than $6 per cd from yourmusic.com. I like the looks of the metal spine versions, and have all of them. But if I were just starting out on these, I'm sure at yourmusic's price I'd go with the longboxes instead. I also agree about that Herbie Hancock clear cube thing. What were they thinking??

After 3 preseason games, I can say I am really liking Dallas' defense. And that D is still without Jason Ferguson and 1st rd pick Marcus Spears. I think they'll only get better. Terence Newman seems to be back, Roy Williams is HITTING people again too. Alot of the rookies on defense will make significant contributions this year i think - esp. Demarcus Ware, but also Burnett & Canty. However, the offense is going to be a concern again this year. I don't think the offense line will give Bledsoe enough time to get his passes off. Bledsoe's not mobile at all at this point, if he ever really was. And it doesn't look like he's established much of a rapport with Keyshawn, or any other receiver not named Terry Glenn for that matter. They might almost be better off with Tony Romo back there...at least he can run around a bit. And he seems to be settling down and playing pretty well, too. Drew Henson hasn't shown anything to the coaches to show that he's ready to be a player yet.

Appears you've got some competition in New Zealand as well:

How about going for the animal lover contingency for a website splash page?

Mosaic is a pimp, and we're addicted to it's wares. Mosaic Records' pimp name is "Fadeproof Mosaic Ice".

Here are a couple that I just noticed: Dave Brubeck - London Sharp, London Flat Drew Gress - 7 Black Butterflies (w/Berne & Alessi) ...man, seems like the yourmusic.com well has been pretty dry as of late.

Ricky Talks About Marijuana, Mighty Mouse DAVIE, Fla. (AP) -- Marijuana's out, and so is military service, although President Bush is nice. Football is hard work but could become fun and leads to freedom. Shaving is vain, money's not a problem and that Mighty Mouse tattoo on the left arm stirs memories of walking Venice Beach with a girl at age 16. Ricky Williams may have set an NFL record Wednesday for most topics tackled in a 15-minute interview. He smiled frequently during his weekly media session, an indication that all is well in Williams' universe, which makes the Miami Dolphins happy. "I was sitting at home last night and thinking if there was anywhere in the world I'd rather be or anything I'd rather be doing," he said. "And the answer was there was nothing. "I've gotten to a point where I realize that happiness doesn't come from the outside. So whether I was back in California or had $10 million or whatever I was doing, it wouldn't make me any happier than I am now." Motivated at least partly by the need for a paycheck, the 2002 NFL rushing champion ended his one-year retirement and rejoined the Dolphins on July 25. Williams has rushed for only 56 yards in three exhibition games, and because he must sit out the first four regular-season games for violating the NFL substance abuse policy, it'll be nearly eight weeks before he plays when it counts. Maybe that's why few of the questions at his interview session involved football. Another factor in the wide range of subjects was the presence of a 60 Minutes camera crew and Mike Wallace, who did a story on Williams late last year. This time Williams declined a one-on-one interview with CBS, so Wallace took part in a group session with a roomful of reporters and cameramen. Wallace had to ask Williams how to pronounce Dolphins coach Nick Saban's name, but did inspire expansive comments from the mercurial running back, such as on the subject of Bush. "When I was in school, at the time he was the governor of Texas," said Williams, who won the 1998 Heisman Trophy at the University of Texas. "Sometimes he would work out in our weight room. I had a chance to talk to him a couple of times. I was lifting, he was just riding a bike. I think he's a nice person." The interview had the flow of a Dolphins offensive series, meaning it proceeded fitfully, but Williams moved gamely from topic to topic: • He said he doesn't miss marijuana. "I can't do that anymore. I get tested twice a week." • He owes the Dolphins $8.6 million for breaching his contract by retiring last year, but said he doesn't know his financial situation. "I have no idea. The way I live my life, if I have a place to stay and I have food on the table, I'm not broke." • He said he doesn't think about the war in Iraq and won't join the military. "There's a war outside, but I think there's also a war inside all of us. When you talk about world peace and people doing all these things for peace, and they want peace and want to be treated fairly, I think it really starts with yourself and looking for the peace inside yourself. When each of us can do that, then the peace spreads outward." • He said he's not having fun since returning to football, but doesn't mind. "You look across from fun and you see work. The fun is the result of hard work. If you work hard you get to the fun. ... The process of coming to work every day gives me more and more freedom." • Teammates tease him about his scruffy beard, saying he looks homeless, but he sees no reason to shave. "Some people have a job, some people's wives don't like it, some people are uncomfortable with it. But I don't have a reason to shave." • His first tattoo was Mighty Mouse in green and gold, his San Diego high school's colors. "I was at Venice Beach with my girlfriend at the time, and I said it would be cool to get a tattoo. The way I look at them, they're somewhat of a map. You see a tattoo, and you think back to a time in your life." Mike Ditka and Dave Wannstedt invested heavily in Williams, and both are now out of the NFL, earning him a reputation as a coach killer. But he has hit it off with Saban, who said Williams' work ethic ranks with the best on the team. Saban also said he respects Williams' enigmatic views. "With differences in people and personalities, I don't think we're in a business where one size fits all," Saban said. "In this day and age, your ability to get different kinds of people to play well together and develop chemistry and enjoy what they're doing is probably a key to being successful."

I can't tell from the pics posted in here, but does anyone know if this thing has a metal spine, or is it like the Silent Way box?

Even if they do get it, it won't be that much cheaper than CD Universe ($35.95 @ yourmusic.com, versus $38.49 at cduniverse). Plus it will be a little while before yourmusic gets it, if it follows the normal BMG/yourmusic "new release" schedule. I'm willing to spend the extra $2.55 to preorder it and get it on the release date, instead of waiting an extra few months.

Obviously I need to get out more. Has she done anything that the public knows her for other than American Pie?

up - Marc Johnson has a new ECM release on 13 September, titled "Shades of Jade". Personnel: Marc Johnson (double bass); John Scofield (guitar); Eliane Elias (piano); Alain Mallet (organ); Joey Baron (drums) Looking forward to this, as I've enjoyed Johnson's "Bass Desires" and "Second Sight" quite a bit (as well as "Sound of Summer Rising, tho Sco wasn't on that one).

That's key I think as well. Also, do you include things such as US3 and Norah Jones for Blue Note? I thought I'd read here somewhere that these both had surpassed Blue Train in terms of units sold. I'd also take a stab that Diana Krall would be up there for Verve.

Oops, sorry: Tower Garage Sale The link is to the general garage sale page. You'll have to browse by genre, artist, etc. at that point.

FYI - Towerrecords.com is having a Garage Sale at the present, with a number of titles @ 50% off. I just ordered Cecil Taylor's "Tzotzil/Mummers/Tzotzil", Gateway 2 on ECM, and Marc Ribot's "Works of Frantz Casseus". Oh, and also the Grateful Dead's "Dick's Picks Vol 14" (which is 4 discs, for $12.99). Free shipping on orders over $20...

Not quite the mid/late 60's timeframe you prefer, but don't forget the live recordings with Miles - At Carnegie Hall & the Blackhawk dates.

Found some vinyl in a place I don't normally look: Mose Allison - Lessons in Living Larry Coryell - Comin' Home Keith Jarrett - Solo Concerts Bremens/Lausanne Deodato - Prelude Chet Baker/Jim Hall/Hubert Laws - Studio Trieste Charles Lloyd - Moon Man Charles Lloyd - Geeta Larry Coryell/Philip Catherine - Twin House Dexter Gordon - Jive Fernando Alan White - Ramshackled $10 for 10 LPs. That fits my budget!

I've got a rare vinyl of Pat Metheny & Kenny G together, I'd be willing to CDR for anyone, if I can get on Mike's list. It's OOP (obviously - waiting for the 20th anniversary reissue with previously unreleased tracks):

What?

I agree with Lon - it's a place to augment your other purchasing methods, not necessarily an amazon.com or anything, with a super inventory. They do tend to get a bit of the new releases & reissues, albeit a couple months after they're released. But if it's stuff you don't have to have the first day, it can be worth the wait at $5.99.

I'm sure Chuck will pipe in with this thoughts, but I'd just go for the Mosaic and get it all in one fell swoop...

yourmusic.com. $5.99. Live In Copenhagen & Domino Can't go wrong!

I don't really buy from BMG anymore, but am still a member. I find searching their online catalog to be easier than searching through yourmusic's. That said, I don't have to be a member to do that, I suppose! But I don't get the automatic shipments, or have to send in the reply cards, so there's really no harm in remaining a member. Actually, every once in a while BMG offers a sale that ends up being better than yourmusic's, usually when it's the free shipping offer and you're buying a discounted box set...

Working on my first spin here. This is GOOD GOOD GOOD!!! Congratulations guys, you have something to be very proud of here. And that Robert guy my copy is autographed to appreciates it too (edit - that IS my first name, and is probably what my paypal says, so it's my fault, not yours LOL)

Interesting comments from Peter King at SI.com regarding Terrell Owens: ******************** Last week I went to Eagles camp in Bethlehem, Pa., and offensive coordinator Brad Childress asked: "Remember what you said to me last year about Terrell?" I remembered, of course. Paraphrasing, but not by much, I told Childress, and Eagles coach Andy Reid last year during Owens' first training camp with Philadelphia: "Terrell Owens will be on his best behavior this year. It's his honeymoon year. He'll be the perfect player, the perfect teammate. He's got a lot to prove. Next year's the year it could blow up." I am about to violate my own 10-day-old rant about the sports media being too T.O.-minded. Here's why: Ten days ago, Owens was not materially damaging the Eagles' chances to win the NFC title in 2005. Now he is, so he's fair game again. I hope this is the last time I need to bash him in this space, but with this lame-brained nut job such as T.O., you never know. The last straw, which lit my fuse like nothing I've heard in 25 years of covering sports, came last Thursday when Owens said on ESPN that he went off the previous day because Reid told him to shut up. Owens told his coach no one but the people who raised him could talk to him that way. And I thought: What society of enablers allowed this child -- and that is what he is, a child -- to think that in the NFL it is improper for a coach to tell a player to shut up? I just spent three weeks watching NFL teams practice and talked extensively to players and coaches, and I've heard some of the most vein-popping name-calling you'd hear in any workplace. I saw Miami coach Nick Saban browbeat a rookie for forgetting his shoulder pads at practice. I heard Atlanta assistant Alex Gibbs verbally and crudely bash several offensive linemen after a missed assignment. I heard Baltimore offensive coordinator Jim Fassel ream out his offensive line for sluggish play. I saw Green Bay defensive coordinator Jim Bates get in the face of a defensive lineman because he got blocked, questioning the guy's manhood in front of every player in camp. And Owens is offended because he was told to shut up. Here are two significant things about the relationship between Owens and Reid. 1. Last year, before the Eagles traded for Owens, Reid didn't trust T.O. as far as he could throw him. Reid and Steve Mariucci had coached on the same Green Bay staff in the '90s and Reid knew if you had trouble playing for Mariucci, which Owens did in San Francisco, you'd have trouble playing for anyone. But Owens passionately pleaded that he was misunderstood, he was a gamer and a great teammate and if the Eagles took him there weren't going to be any problems. And so Reid screwed up. He trusted that Owens was a quality guy. 2. At the end of last season, after the Eagles' Super Bowl loss in which Owens played heroically, he told Reid: "This was the greatest year of my life." Nothing about his contract. Nothing about being underpaid. So let's go over the basic points of the war between Owens and the Eagles. I maintain that Owens is dead wrong in every aspect, not just one or two. The Contract: When Owens signed his seven-year, $49 million deal last year, he said nothing about the injustice of it. And why would he? The Eagles rescued him from a bad situation. His original agent, David Joseph, failed to file the requisite papers declaring Owens a free agent after a clause in his 49ers' contract allowed him to become one, and it took a legal fight for Owens to get away from the team he hated. In the end, after openly appealing to play for the Eagles, and spurning the Ravens' interest (when Baltimore offered San Francisco a better deal), Owens won the right to play for the Eagles. In exchange, the Eagles did not make him play under his existing contract, which they had every right to do. They tore up the contract and agreed to pay Owens $21 million in bonus money and salary over the first three years of the deal. That made Owens, along with Marvin Harrison and Randy Moss, one of the highest-paid receivers in football -- behind the other two, but not by much. Owens' new agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said that Owens is not even among the top 10 highest-paid receivers in the game, which is nonsense. Rosenhaus is taking Owens' 2005 salary ($3.25 million) as if it exists in a vacuum, without the approximately $16 million in bonus money due Owens in the first three years of the contract. It is reprehensible to claim a deal that was just fine in year one is suddenly so onerous in year two -- not to mention how absurd it is to ask a team to tear up a contract after the first year of a seven-year deal. The inability to get along with some of the best people in football: What do Mariucci, Jeff Garcia, Reid and Donovan McNabb have in common? They're all good guys. You can count on one finger the players who've had major problems with Mariucci and Reid. One's vivacious and loquacious, the other reserved and respected. But players love playing for them. And try to name players who've chafed under the leadership of Garcia and McNabb. Mariucci disciplined Owens for preening on the Dallas Cowboys' star at Texas Stadium; that was the end of their relationship. Garcia-to-Owens was the second-most productive NFL aerial connection between 2000 and 2003 (behind only Peyton Manning to Marvin Harrison), but Owens sniped in the press at Garcia for having a poor arm and not getting the ball to him enough. Reid supported Owens when little brushfires came up and kept his mouth shut when Owens did silly things like criticize the coach for running physical training-camp practices last year. The Eagles coach didn't even rebuke Owens when he criticized McNabb (not by name) for getting tired late in Super Bowl XXXIX. But when Reid got in Owens' grill last week for skipping a mandatory autograph session at camp and mouthing off to offensive coordinator Brad Childress, suddenly Reid was the enemy and got double-barrelled by Owens on Pardon the Interruption and at halftime of the Packers-Chargers game on ESPN that night. All McNabb did was fight with Reid and Eagle ownership to bring Owens to Philly 19 months ago. Last year, I interviewed Owens and McNabb together in the dorm suite they shared with Dhani Jones at training camp for a Sports Illustrated piece. Every time I asked Owens a tough question, McNabb piped up with something like, "Judge him on what he does this year, not what happened in the past." McNabb was an excellent shield. Which brings us to ... Being a bad teammate: Last year, McNabb lobbied the Eagles to sign Owens. He invited Owens to his home in Arizona to work out in the offseason and to bond. When Owens broke his leg, McNabb and his parents (his father is a church deacon) went to Owens' home and prayed with him that he'd recover. A couple of days after the season, Owens said he wasn't the one who got tired late in the Super Bowl, a direct shot at McNabb's controversial weariness late in Super Bowl XXXIX. We could go over the other little pissy things between the two, but why bother? McNabb battled to convince the Eagles this doofus could fit in on a straight-laced team and he combined with him to take the Eagles to a Super Bowl. Now Owens chooses to bash McNabb in the press instead of talking to him man-to-man about whatever problem he has with him. Listen to what Garcia told me last year about Owens: "T.O. didn't communicate with his teammates directly. He communicated through the press. The public way T.O. demonstrated his emotions just wasn't healthy. He created a huge sense of destruction within the team. When you talk to people who've been on his team, you never hear the words 'teammate' or 'team player.'" When someone ghost-writes McNabb's autobiography in 15 years, I guarantee you McNabb will be saying something very similar. The inability to exist under the current NFL salary structure: Some guys get mad at their contract, and they figure: Well, can't fight city hall. Gotta report and play. Owens gets incendiary. Talking to his buddy -- and semi-mediator in this dispute -- Freddie Mitchell the other day, I was left with the belief that Owens will never be truly happy until he's paid like a quarterback. Owens feels the system has chewed him up and spit him out. In effect, that's what Mitchell told me. How sad. I haven't heard Owens say much about union issues, and I don't see Owens up front with other player/leaders like Troy Vincent on the collective bargaining agreement. Do contracts in the NFL favor teams because they allow clubs to cut players at any time in the offseason without being obligated to pay them the rest of the contract? Yes. Of course they are. But it's the system, the same system that has put $40 million or so in Owens' bank account over the term of his career. And I'm being conservative with that figure. If you don't like the system, work to change it. Owens took advantage of the system one season -- to make more than $9 million with the Eagles -- and then, the next year, when it didn't fit him to his liking, he bitched. Here's my bottom line, and it's what I told Mitchell: In 2004 Owens signed a contract through 2010 with the Philadelphia Eagles, his dream team with his dream quarterback. The contract makes him the third highest-paid receiver in football over the first three years of the deal. In 2005 he can't live with the contract. Owens gets no sympathy from me. Go back to the Eagles on Wednesday, T.O., shut that massive piehole, play football and try to prove to some of us who think you're the worst kind of problem with American sports today that we're wrong. Please.