Dave James

Any Yankee fan has to be pleased with what the team has been able to accomplish in their injury-riddled condition. You have to wonder how well the White Sox would be holding up without Konerko and Dye or the Red Sox without Manny and Papi. Think about the boost you get when both Matsui and Sheffield return. It's like trading for two all-stars without having to give up a thing. You gotta like that. Still, it's all about the pitching. For sure, Fat Sidney P. isn't the answer...but if the Yanks could land someone like a Jon Lieber or a Livan Hernandez before the deadline, I'd feel a whole lot better about their chances. I just hope they focus on arms and not bats. The offense is fine. Up over and out.

I paid $74 for an OOP Marty Balin CD called "Balinese". $50 each for the two James Newton Blue Notes, "African Flower" and "Romance and Revolution." I also put down a pretty penny for "West Coast Hot" featuring the the John Carter and Bobby Bradford Quartet and the Horace Tapscott Qunitet. Up over and out.

Cosby's "The Chicken Heart". I think it was on his LP, "Wonderfulness". I loved the way it was funny but it also brough back all those scary memories from when you were a kid. Great stuff. Up over and out.

I'm just as anxious as the next guy to see Barry gets his just desserts, but I remain concerned that his conviction will somehow convince the thimble brains who run baseball that once the poster boy for the problem is gone, the problem is gone with him. That would be a big mistake. Up over and out.

My Dad was born in 1915. He's been gone for 19 years. He grew up wanting to be a professional singer, but his father insisted that that was not a respectable way for anyone to make a living. He sang in local opera productions here in Portland and had a really good voice. I guess he had what people call perfect pitch. He could figure out how to play instruments kind of by feel. As a matter of fact, he traded in his pedal steel guitar for our very first television. With all that as background, you'd think maybe he'd have had interesting musical tastes. That would be incorrect. He liked Jackie Gleason, Mitch Miller, some sweet big bands, generally really lightweight stuff. He too watched Lawrence Welk religiously. I can, however, pretty safely ascribe my addition to music to him. He used to come home on Friday nights, with two or three LP's tucked under his arm that he'd bought on his way home from work at a place called 6th Avenue Records. My Mom used to blacklist him for that just like my significant other does now. He really hated the stuff my brother and listened to. If I had a dime for everytime he said "Turn that crap down, it's just noise" I'd be a rich man. And I'm talking about bands like the Beatles and the Beach Boys. Here's an interesting question. I have an identical twin brother. While we both really like music, his taste and mine as adults could not be more different. Wonder how the gene pool stacked up in a way that made that happen. Up over and out.

I went into this with fairly low expectations, but I wound up being pleasantly surprised. Far from anything of any lasting value, but enjoyable in its own way. Yards better than the dreck that's been foisted on an unsuspecting public of late by the likes of Vince Vaughn, the Wilson brothers, Ben Stiller or, heaven help us, Will Ferrell. Up over and out.

If the order numbers are sequential, Concord is going to be moving a fair amount of product. I just ordered the Bill Evans Riverside box for all of $54.98 after fighting off the almost overhwhelming urge to really load up. Order number: 5744. Up over and out.

Did I miss something? Was there as message here? That Blondie rationalization is timeless. If I had a nickel for every time my S.O. told me she'd saved money by buying things on sale (most likely things she would not have bought otherwise) I could have retired five years ago. Up over and out.

I'm really enjoying the Andrew Hill Select. Some of the comments from boardmember's had made me a little wary of this one, but I've been plesantly surprised. Up over and out.

I have heard that Leroy Vinnegar also played on some of The Doors sessions. Speaking of The Doors, I just read the other day that they took their name from Aldous Huxley's "Doors of Perception". I did not know that. Not to hi-jack "True Love Ways" saxophone discussion, but in terms of versions, I much prefer Rick Nelson's. His voice fits this very pretty tune like a glove. Up over and out.

ESPN is reporting that Bruce Arenas is out as the coach of the U.S. soccer team. They say the world is their stage in terms of filling the vacancy, but speculation centers on the German coach Jurgen Klinsmann in spite of what others have already said, i.e that this isn't going to happen. Up over and out.

I've been trying to catch up on my New Yorker reading of late. Last night I came across an article from the July 8th issue about American soccer that I thought was pretty well done. It's actually tucked in and threaded through the author's recollections of his time in Germany during the first week or so of the World Cup, so it's not by any means only about the American squad. If you have access to the magazine and haven't yet read it, it's worth looking into. Up over and out.

I've always liked Smokey Robinson. He has one of the great voices. "Quiet Storm" remains one of my very favorite LP's from the '70's. Nonetheless, and keeping in mind that I have not yet heard anything from this new album, I'm distressed that yet another fading star has elected to traverse the slippery slope of standards. To a person, this growing group expresses their love and admiration for bedrock American music, rationalizing their decision to take the plunge by talking about how much these tunes meant to them when they were children, inevitably siting their parents playing of the music etc. etc... like this somehow legitimizes their efforts. I suppose if anyone can pull this off, it would be Smokey, but I guess I'm just tired of the process. Without a single doubt, these folks have seen how this has reenergized Rod Stewart's career and the kind of money he's made doing exactly what they now find appropriate to do themselves. So the real question is, in the cold light of day, are these decisions artistic or financial? Up over and out.

Dan, I'll bet you wouldn't be whistlin' that Red Sox tune if you'd known the Yanks had signed Sidney Ponson. I'm feeling a lot better about our chances now that we've taken on another used up arm. This smacks of desperation and just about no place left to turn. If I was Brian Cashman, I think I'd be spiffin' up my resume. Up over and out.

Weizy, Can't help you in your quest, but I've always been rather cool towards this pairing. On the surface you'd think, how can it get any better than this, but I think the animosity these two shared somehow infused the music they made together. Good luck in your search. Up over and out.

B-Motion, For sure. I don't buy the argument that he was put down for a minute. It's just something that's interesting to consider. Especially if you're a conspiracy nut like me. Up over and out.

I'll be the first to admit that while I enjoy listening to Air America, their politics are, shall we say, slightly left of center. One needs to take a fair amount of what they say with the perverbial grain of salt. Yesterday, though, I heard their morning guy speculating about the possibility that Ken Lay was capped. His rationale had to do with the fact that Lay might have been in the early stages of cutting a deal with prosecutors to mitigate the length of his sentence based on "insider" information he could supply about the Bush whitehouse. Of course, Kenny Boy was a well known buddy of W's and he was involved in those behind closed door, Supreme Court protected energy policy discussions that took place under the auspices of Dick Cheney early on in this administration. Maybe someone just didn't want that kind of stuff getting out. Hmmmmm. I can't say this is completely without the realm of the possible. And besides that, no one loves even the whiff of conspiracy more than I. Up over and out.

I'm afraid this is going to be a pretty long year for my Eagles. Everyone else in the Division has made significant strides, except Philadelphia. How far and how fast the formerly mighty have fallen is actually quite remarkable. Oh well...it was a nice run while it lasted and in today's NFL, five years on top is a long time. I hate Terrell Owens. He's a home wrecker. I just hope he hauled that that voo doo that he do so well with him when he signed with the Cowboys Up over and out. Up over and out.

Brad, I think you're being a little hard on people. No one is trying to trash soccer here, we're just making some suggestions as to how it might be improved. I know I've intended my comments to be constructive. For example, the purpose of my observation vis a vis Zidane yesterday, which seemed to be roundly misinterpreted, was not to indict the sport itself, but only to point out that the old adage "sticks and stone can break my bones but names can never hurt me" never applied more than it did in a situation where he really did let names hurt him and, more importantly, his team. To automatically assume that anyone who says anything negative about a sport you clearly love is clueless, isn't exactly the way to encourage meaningful discourse. Seems to me, at least in this country, getting anyone involved in any serious discussion about soccer can only be a good thing. Sure, many of us don't know the game like you do, but why should that matter? I guess I'm surprised you don't see it that way. C'est la vie. Up over and out.

I agree. Instead of going to penalty kicks they should switch to overtime 'sudden death' like they do in hockey. Soccer played at the highest level is a great sport, but it's not without some serious, systemic problems. Inconsistent to downright shoddy refereeing, penalty kicks, shootouts, diving etc. Hockey realized that they had some of the same kind of problems before last season and with the impetus provided by one of their own, ex- Red Wing, now Ranger Brendon Shanahan, went to the mattresses and reinvented itself. Is soccer so tied to tradition that it considers itself above some serious, introspective self-evaluation? One would hope not. Up over and out.

I hate the shootout. Games should be decided on the field...especially at the World Cup level. I'm not sure how often the shooter scores, but it has to be at least 90% of the time. The goalie doesn't have a prayer. At least in ice hockey, it's a fair fight. If they insist on using penalty kicks to decide matches, why not move the shooting line back a ways and give the goalie a chance to actually react instead of just guessing. France was clearly the better team on Sunday, especially during the 10-15 minutes prior to the Zidane red card, but Italy wins on penalty kicks. Not good. Up over and out.

I got this one on CD from da bastids awhile back. I would agree with Dan's assessment. It's pleasant enough but there's really nothing special going on here. Only thing I ever wondered is if Ms. Reys sings phonetically. For me, that's the only thing mysterious about this one. Up over and out.

He called me a terrorist. Well, whaaaah. None of these clowns would last a second in today's NBA. Maybe they're all just ultra-sensitive. That would help explain why diving and faking injuries is a way of life in professional soccer. With regard to the sport's inability to make much headway in the U.S., Pat Buchanan related a clever aside on the McLaughlin Group last Friday night. He said soccer was like the metric system in short pants. Up over and out.

Garth, I have all the Dragon Gullins. Vol. 8, 1953-1955, Danny's Dream (DRCD 396) is currently available from www.swedishmusicshop.com. Up over and out.

Hate to hear this. GS-H was an important transitional figure for me when I was making the move into more serious music. His song "Lady Day and John Coltrane" latched on to me and wouldn't let go. I've wished for years that someone would put together a nice, remastered box of his material. In a heartbeat I buy that. Up over and out.