Dave James

Noj, It looks like you stored your Organissimo CD in a bag of potato chips. I ask you, is that any way to treat righteous B-3 music? I'm thinkin' there may be an ulterior motive for your request to consider a redesigned special collector's edition Up over and out.

I didn't try it out. Because I spend so much time in the Political forum, I just assumed it was a pre-programmed response to any message from Weizy. You know, you just hit a button and the following message is automatically sent. Something like, "You're dumber than a bag of hammers, you #%&*@!. Up over and out.

I am pleased to report that da bastids have ceased their formerly ceaseless assault on my finances. It's been over three months since I last felt their hands in my wallet. I'm so proud of my newly found resistance to their siren song, I could just about burst. Out damn spot...Dusty be gone!! Up over and out.

The roads leading out of Yankee Stadium are littered with the remains of those who were not worthy. Up over and out.

So Tiger plays the whole Open and hits driver once. If I was him, I'd be messing around with that concept in some upcoming non-major PGA events. I just wonder what would happen if he went after a 7,200 yard course with just a fairway metal. Sure he can bomb with the best of them, but just like with most players, the driver gets you in more trouble than it keeps you out of. Just ask Phil if he wishes he'd been carrying a 3 wood last month at Winged Foot. Up over and out.

I have two of the three Shepp CD's that have been mentioned, "Blue Ballads" and "True Ballads". Indeed, he does sing on some of the tunes on both of them and neither is the better for it. Like James Moody, he doesn't have an unpleasant voice, but it's really unecessary. I distinctly recall listening to these for the first time and when I realized he sang, whenever a new tune would start, I would say to myself, geez, I hope he leaves this one alone. FWIW, my favorite of the Shepp ballad efforts is "Ballads for Trane". Here, he tends to his knitting, i.e. no vocals. Up over and out.

Oh, here's a good one that was in the New York Post this morning: "'It doesn't make any difference,' Rodriguez said of the rumor that had the Yankees third baseman going to the Phillies as part of a blockbuster trade for Bobby Abreu, Pat Burrell, Tom Gordon and David Bell, with the Yankees supposedly also sending Melky Cabrera and a player to be named. 'I would veto it.'" Up over and out.

Happy birthday to you. Hope ya'll have a good one. The gal in the pic is Rita Casino, a.k.a. Rita Hayworth. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but she is no longer available for birthdays or for that matter, anything else. Up over and out.

A B-list guy for sure, but this guy can really play. Too bad he hasn't been more widely recognized or appreciated. Some extremely talented people like Mr. Johnson just seem destined to spend their life in the shadows. Who's to say why. Up over and out

Greg, Awful is a relative term. Wickman has 15 saves, so if you're the Braves, he walks on water. Not sure what the Indians are thinking. He is, after all, their closer. Not a Papelbon for sure and he does have fairly expansive ERA, but that's not a role you fill by the simple act of of promoting the the guy in your organization who brings the highest heat. Good deal I think for Atlanta. Probably at least 2-3 years before we'll know how the Indians made out. On a totally unrelated front, I heard this afternoon that the Padres are making a major play for Adrian Beltre. If I'm Seattle, I do that deal in a heartbeat. Dump some salary, get some prospects and offload a major disappointment all at the same time. What doesn't work about that? Up over and out.

For those among our number who count themselves as fans of the hapless Injuns, I think your team may have just thrown in the towel. They've traded Bob Wickman to the Braves for the 20th best prospect in the Atlanta organization, a 21 year old catcher by the name of Max Ramirez. Max ain't exactly makin' wax though, batting a cool .285 at the Braves Class A Rome affiliate. On the upside, he's dialed "9" nine times in 267 AB's, so he's got a bit 'o power. Up over and out.

I wonder if Chewy-Aric is copy protected. Up over and out.

Kevin, Wow, I'm sincerely sorry to hear this. It has to be doubly difficult to deal with when it happens so enexpectedly. Sounds like you had a wonderful relationship with your Dad. That should help sustain you through an extraordinarily trying time. Up over and out.

Some of my favorites that have not been mentioned: One guy in a neighborhood of very close families builds a bomb shelter. All his friends ridicule and mock him until there's a serious Civil Defense alert and everyone thinks they're about to be nuked. Then they all try to talk their way into his shelter with some very unpleasant consequences. Another cold war creepy episode. Three National Guard soldiers in a tank crew are on maneuvers in South Dakota close to the Little Big Horn. They somehow are transported back in time and see the battle begin to take shape. They have to decide if they want to join the fray. You really don't find out what happens, but at the end, some people are reading the names of the soldiers who lost their lives at the LBH and the three National Guard guy's name appear on the list. An civilian airliner hits a jet stream that tremendously accelerates their air speed and eventually takes them through a time portal. They wind up flying over Manhattan Island looking for a place to land when they spot dinosaurs on the ground. They get back to altitude, accelerate once again and then find themselves over the New York World's Fair in 1939, but they don't know how or if they will ever be able to calibrate things in a way that will ever get them back to the present. Serling's end game summation, "if some night you look up in the sky and you hear an airplane that sounds like it's trying to get home, that will be Flight XXX." I just saw this one the other day on the SciFi Channel's TZ marathon. There's something really creepy about that one that continues to resonate with me. One last one. The Earth has somehow spun off it's axis and is getting closer and closer to the Sun with all the expected consequences. As it turns out, that part is just a dream, but in truth, the planet is heading away from the Sun and everyone is about to check out, not from the heat but from the cold. Many, many others. Serling was a genius. As Dan pointed out on the orignal series of posts, he wrote "Requiem For A Heavyweight". The movie they made of this is excellent. It stars Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney and, as the "Heavyweight", Anthony Quinn. A tremendously depressing, but rewarding film. Up over and out.

Fearless Leader? Up over and out.

It would be interesting to find out how many Coltrane boxes sold in the last couple of years. I believe the straight retail price on this one was/is something like $220. Even in the best of times, that's a self-limiting proposition in that only real die-hards tend to buy it. Not only that, but the afroementioned die-hards probably purchased their copies long ago and those who didn't get theirs on eBay. So, if original product is no longer moving, why keep it around? You can double down on that possibility as a result of new ownership. I don't know this for a fact, but Concord has to be exponentially more bottom line oriented than the previous owners. Basic principle of retail...excess inventory kills. Another thought. The more Coltrane gets recycled by any label, and Lord knows, we've been "compilationed" to death when it comes to Trane, the more it would seem the market for comprehensive retrospecitves like a 16 CD box would shrink. Too much of a good thing is still too much of a good thing. Up over and out.

Agreed. As long as there isn't any room for cross pollenization, i.e. Lee Morgan doesn't have to split the rent with Norah Jones, everything will be fine. Up over and out.

Slide, I'll have to take exception to that. My ex wins hands down. Not only did she confiscate all my CD's when we first split up, which, as you know, is an offense punishable by death, but she also threw all my clothes in the driveway and drove over them coming and going for over a week. In Oregon, in the middle of the winter, that's not recommended for clothing. Up over and out.

Dan, I have it on good authority from a close friend that if Posada had been called out, Damon would have shortened up his stroke and settled for a single. The Yanks still would have won, just in a slightly different way. In the long run, then, that call at first base really didn't make any difference. Up over and out.

I still gotta go with the late Lisa "One Eye" Lopes. When Andre Waters, her pro football playing boyfriend, messed with her, she burned his house down. Campbell's petulance pales in comparison. Up over and out.

How big a blockbuster would it be if the Yanks moved A-Rod? They were talking a little bit about this on Mike and Mike In The Morning on ESPN today. There is a growing body of evidence, added to by last night's total fielding and hitting meltdown, that Rodriguez may be going the way of Kenny Rogers, Jose Contreras, Javier Vasquez, dare I say it, Randy Johnson and a number of others in terms of his ability to survive in the crucible that is Yankee Stadium. To be honest, the discussion was more along the lines of how A-Rod's legacy would be affected by a move out of New York, but the idea of a trade did come up. Frankly, I can't see this, but it's still fun to speculate about something this big actually happening. Up over and out.

Dan, Ouch! Hey, if one Sid won't work, how about another? What if Sidd Finch was available? I haven't heard much about him since...geez...it's gotta be at least 20 years. Up over and out.

Bertrand, A-friggin'-men to that. The Three Amigos was barely watchable. An Ishtar-like waste of talent. Up over and out.

Dan, The reason I pitched (so to speak) guys like Lieber or Hernandez is I think they're affordable. I know neither one might be what the doctor ordered, but you've got to think being thrown into the middle of a hotly contested pennant race might give them a little more performance incentive. On the non-arm side, the Nat's won't even take Cashman's calls unless Phillip Hughes is on the table, and Abreu apparently wants an extension through 2011 in order to waive his no trade clause. There's some talk about Shawn Green as well. Or Jose Guillen. Based on what the Yanks are clearly capable of doing offensively, though, I just think they have to focus on pitching. That's a place where you can never be too deep. Hey, here's a thought. What if Fat Sid turns out to be this year's Aaron Small? Guess we'll get our first look at the chances of lightning striking twice when he goes against the M's tomorrow night. Up over and out.

I just received a shipping confirmation from Concord on the Bill Evan's Riverside Box. Order #5744. Up over and out.