Aggie87

Very good all around game by the Pistons tonight! Hats off to them for their performance. Spurs never got in a real groove. Ginobili didn't get involved in the game at all tonight, after his knee injury in the first minute or whenever it was. Gonna be an interesting series after all, it looks like!

My current offer is Buy 1, get unlimited $1.99 cds. However, code JDS26 will get you unlimited $5.99 CDs, with FREE shipping & handling if you buy 5 or more discs (which includes boxes). Also - another heads up - I'm getting an offer of a free Stefon Harris "Blackout" CD with any purchase right now. Already have it, but I'll take a free disc any day!!

This sort of thing irked me last year when discussing the Pistons, and still irks me today. In my opinion, the Pistons and Spurs are both loaded with superstar basketball players. The Pistons have the Wallaces, Rip, Chauncey, Antonio McDyess, and Tayshaun Prince--all stars, imo. The Spurs have Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, former slam dunk champ Brent Barry, perennial clutch shooter Robert Horry, and Glen "Big Dog" Robinson. No stars, my foot. "Just one of the guys." ← You can roll your eyes all you want, I still say Duncan acts like one of the guys, like I said in my original statement. He doesn't have a prima donna attitude. The whole team is like that. Yes, they are good players, and I'll maybe even give you "stars", but hell half the NBA is "stars" nowadays, given the big $$ contracts these guys get. If you tried to take Ginobili and put him on a team with a bunch of no-names, he wouldn't be able to carry them. Neither would Parker, nor Barry, nor Horry, nor Robinson. Not a one. They're good because they play together well.

Spurs aren't flashy (neither are the Pistons though), but damn they play team ball well. On both ends of the court. You can call it boring, but to watch it is really a thing of beauty I think. No single superstar with a supporting cast, or maybe two plus a bunch of others (Lebron, Shaq n Flash). Duncan may be the best big man in hoops today, but he sure acts like he's just one of the guys. The Spurs do everything right, IMO, and deserve recognition for being a true team, in this day of hog-the-spotlight, ego-driven stars. I also think the Pistons play this brand of basketball, and my hat's off to them as well. Not sure what will happen for the next three games in Detroit, but I'd like to see S.A. get one of the three, then come home and close it out in front of the home crowd. And why does the schedule go 2-3-2 in the Finals, but 2-2-1-1-1 in the previous round? Seems like they should be consistent. PS - that was a BEAUTIFUL slam by Wallace early in the game!

Pink Floyd reuniting for Live 8 LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Four members of seminal British rock band Pink Floyd will play together for the first time in 24 years at London's Live 8 charity concert for Africa on July 2, publicists for the event said on Sunday. Guitarist David Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason and keyboard player Richard Wright will be on stage with bassist Roger Waters for their first public performance since they played at London's Earls Court in 1981. The rock legends will join a star-studded line-up including Coldplay, Elton John and Paul McCartney at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, organized by activist rocker Bob Geldof to pressure rich nations to ease African poverty. "Like most people I want to do everything I can to persuade the G8 leaders to make huge commitments to the relief of poverty and increased aid to the third world," said Gilmour. "Any squabbles Roger and the band have had in the past are so petty in this context, and if reforming for this concert will help focus attention then it's got to be worthwhile." The band released their first album "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" in 1967 and broke records with 1973's "The Dark Side Of The Moon", which remained in the American album charts for more than a decade. In the 1980s relations between Waters and the rest of the group soured, with Waters suing over the rights to the Pink Floyd name. Gilmore, Mason and Wright continued to record and tour as Pink Floyd, releasing their last studio album "The Division Bell" in 1994.

I clicked on your link, and this is the JPG that I see right there: It's right above the "buy" button you're clicking, at least for me.

Happy Birthday from south Texas!

I'm still pulling JPG images of album covers from allmusic for the "what are you listening to" thread, so they're still there. Things definitely aren't as easy to get to though. And I miss the feature where you could see all the "sideman" appearances of an artist. Maybe that's still there if you register with their site, but I haven't done that yet, and don't really care to. Weren't they at one point going to change their site to a fee-for-use type thing? Maybe they reduced the amount of content they were intending to let people surf for free, and the bulk of it was going to be on the pay side, which AFAIK didn't end up happening.

Methinks the Mobley is the better of the two Complete sets you ordered. However, both sets are highly recommended by me. Uhhh... you still need the Horace Parlan and the Stanley Turrentine boxes. ← I'm looking forward to both the B/A and the Mobley sets. I already had the "Byrd in Hand" RVG, but nothing else from this box. For the Mobley, I already have three of the individual titles (Allstars, Poppin', and Peckin' Time), so that was a bit tougher decision. But I figured it will help ease my way into buying from Mosaic... I don't have any of the Turrentine stuff on his set. Is the sound quality an issue so for this one? I've read mixed responses here on the board. And I already have 4 of the 8 (7 1/2?) Parlan releases that comprise his box, so I'll REALLY have to think on that one.

That's Old School Q!!

I just placed one, too (my first order @ Mosaic). Also nabbed the Mobley, and three Selects. Jeez, another painful day, thanks to this board...

Let Darth Vader read your mind Sithsense

"NBA's Most Mysterious Superstar" - by Chris Ballard, SI.com Imagine a parallel universe in which Tim Duncan was the most popular player in the NBA. The streets would be dotted with black No. 21 Spurs jerseys, sportscasters would refer to him, shorthand, as "T-Dunc" or "Tim-peccable"; a sports drink would pump the jingle, "I Want to Get to the Rim like Tim!" and, across the gyms and blacktops of America, teenagers would catch the ball on the left block, mechanically turn, fire up a bank shot and then yell, "I just went TD on your ass!" He would have his own best-selling highlight video (Come Jump Hook With Me), nappy half-beards would be the rage and, instead of sticking out their tongues, youngsters would mimic the Duncan Blank Stare after made baskets. But, of course, that is not the case. Rather, Duncan is referred to as a 'superstar' primarily by the few companies that he does represent, a not-so-klieg-light coalition of the ad community that includes H-E-B stores (Don't know what that means? You're not alone -- it's a grocery store chain in Texas and Mexico.), a video game called "Backyard Basketball" and forever-destined-to-be-a-soccer-company-or-a-dirty-acronym Adidas. Some commentators, especially those named "Skip Bayless," argue that Duncan is not a superstar because he is not exciting to watch. This very Web site, back in 2003, wrote a story called "Sports' Most Boring Superstars," in which the author listed the 'most yawn-inducing superstars' and put Duncan at the top, writing that his "Claim to Lame," is that "we'd rather have Shaq over for dinner." (Duncan, who has a dry sense of humor when he shows it, once said of his famously bland quotes, ""Wasn't I on SI.com's all-boring team? I'm at the top of my game, baby!") Regardless, there is no disputing that Duncan is less visible, and less popular, than most NBA stars. Despite being a two-time league MVP, owner of two championship rings, and an all-the-time, All-NBA selection, he was eclipsed in popularity in the span of one season by Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James when the duo entered the league, and he will never be as recognizable a star as Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan or Allen Iverson. Why is this? Let's start with the obvious. He's not American, or at least not mainland American (he was born in the Virgin Islands); he plays in a small market; he plays the least-flashy position in the NBA (calling him what he really is, a center); he shows no emotion on the court or with the press -- "a paragon of anticharisma," as S.L. Price called him in a laudatory SI Sportsman of the Year feature in '03 -- and he doesn't make highlight-worthy plays, at least as judged by the arbiters of such worthiness, those tape-winders at sports networks. Of course, this is exactly why many basketball aficionados love Duncan. He functions as a filter of sorts; if you are a true fan, you will appreciate the soundness of his game and find the beauty in his bank shot, his drop step, the way he rarely leaves his feet on defense. He is the anti-Vinsanity. New Jersey's Vince Carter is a player whose attributes are so wildly obvious, and acrobatic, that his myriad deficiencies are harder to spot to the novice fan. More than that, a player such as Vince -- a perennial vote-leader in the All-Star balloting -- is good at the things that are easiest for a casual fan to spot: dunking, making crazy shots and, well, jumping really high. If Carter is the wine cooler of the league, all sweetness and bubbles, palatable to even a 16-year-old, then Duncan is the aged Cabernet. You may not appreciate him at first, but, once your taste is refined, you understand what you were missing. Still, there is another, simpler reason why Duncan is not more popular: He doesn't want to be. That's why he offers up meaningless quotes in a monotone voice, why he turns down offers to be on magazine covers flexing his bicep, why he is perfectly happy with the fact that you may know nothing, or next to nothing, about his family and his personal life. Think about it: He's one of the best, if not the best, player in the NBA, he's winning championships, he's getting paid like a Sultan and he's playing for the best organization in the league. What is another $10 million in endorsements going to do for his life? How are more screaming fans going to make him happier? Why in the world would he want to be a superstar, if what we really mean by that -- and by 'we' I mean the media and the fans -- is a marketable superstar? It may seem unlikely in celebrity-saturated America, but Duncan is opting out of the culture of idolatry. And, in spite of his superior skills, that may be the most remarkable thing about him.

Funny enough, someone spammed All About Jazz today, with essentially the same message about this same album, and it was their first post there too. But I'm sure it's not you, since it was someone with a different handle. Since you've found your way to this jazz board, tell us about some of your favorite jazz artists, and albums.

Joe Lovano - Joyous Encounter

I just recently picked up a used disc ("Slow Breath, Silent Mind") by the JFJO on a whim. Their name kept catching my eye more than anything else. When I noticed this particular release on Kufala, I decided to give it a try, based on my previous experience with Club d'Elf on the same label. This disc is alot of fun - these guys are creative and experimental, and yet probably could (or do?) fit into the jam band scene pretty well too. Anybody else listen to these guys, or have any further recommendations?

Hey Jim - Not a new feature, but can you figure out a way to make the software automatically save sent PMS in our sent folder? I didn't realize mine weren't being saved until I'd already sent a few of them over the past day or two. edit - same question as posed previously, I just didn't see if any solution was available on this one.

Hey, that's not new cover art I see down in the corner, is it?? If so, can we see a larger image? Or is it a teaser? edit: homepage looks great, by the way!

Chalupa, you can attach a JPG or other type of image file from your hard drive via the "attach" feature right down below the "Add Reply" button when you are making a post. Not sure what the size constraints are (100K per file I think?).

Winning bid on this one ended up at $942.00.....

a few more: Keith Jarrett - both La Scala & Vienna Concert Martial Solal - Bluesine Ran Blake - Unmarked Van Jason Moran - Modernistic

The word "essential" kind of throws me, so I'm not sure whether these qualify, but I enjoy both of Brad Mehldau's solo recordings - "Elegiac Cycle" and "Live in Tokyo". He may not be the swinginest player around, but he's certainly creative and thoughtful.

Wags the Dog Dorothy the Dinosaur Henry the Octopus P.S. - If you don't recognize these names, count your blessings!

I've been wondering about this album since I first heard of it. Here's a quote from the writeup I mentioned above: Makes it seem like the "Big Cheese" pushed for this more than it being an organic, self-initiated effort. I'm going to wait until the release comes out, but I've already mentally prepared myself for an R&B tribute album that happens to include Sco, than a real Sco album. I get the impression John Mayer was pushed by the label to be involved in this project as well (and perhaps Herbie Hancock's next record as well?):