Dave James

I wasn't aware of the Yank's upcoming schedule, but facing off against the White Sox and Blue Jays sandwiched around a home set with the sort-of-resurgent Mariners can't be what the doctor ordered. In theory, Matsui will be back in mid-August and Sheffield in early September, but by then, it could be too late. Guess I can only hope the Johnson's past tendency to perform better in the second than in the first half of the season holds true to form and that Mussina can pitch as well as he has so far. They are getting solid outings from Wang, but it's the Unit-sized question mark surrounding Johnson, the lack of an even marginally reliable fourth starter and shaky set-up guys who are punching too many holes in the bottom of the boat. I'm not convinced about the White Sox either. Buehrle hasn't been very good and I still think Contreras will get shakier as the games get more important. Offensively, Thome has been more than anyone could have expected, but outside of him and Jermaine Dye, this is pretty much a bunch of banjo hitters. I'm not sold on Bobby Jenks as a closer either. His ERA is just under 3.00. Not what you want to see in a "stopper". With regard to the Red Sox, their 3-6 go-to guys (Papi, Manny, Nixon and Varitek) had better be better than the 2 for 32 they clocked yesterday against Chicago. That's operating at just over half the Mendoza line. Why don't they do that when they play the Yanks? Up over and out.

Wow! I'm consumed by one of the seven deadly sins, that being envy. Good luck on your project and by all means, let us know how it went. Up over and out.

Dan, Dude, what's happened to us? It's like each of us is trying to out "woe is me" the other. Remember last year when absloutely nothing could knock either of us off our collective bandwagons? Now all we're doing is rationalizing and reconciling ourselves to what might befall us between now and October. I'll admit, I liked it a lot better when we both had complete, if sometimes ill-founded faith in our teams. I could get back there if I saw even a hint of light at the end of the tunnel. Given the Yank's pitching woes, though, that's not something that's easy to come by. Up over and out.

My tiny pinstriped brain is starting to come to grips with the fact that the Yanks may not make the playoffs. Chicago and Detroit are seven and six games up in the loss column and Boston, in spite of dropping two in a row the the D-Rays, are a full four games ahead. It almost seems like a solid that the wild card is going to come out of the Central. That means if the Yanks don't win in the East, they go home. I would not want to be Torre or Cashman or anyone else associated with the ball club if that happens. George will go nuts. Up over and out.

I wouldn't wish this fate on anyone, but if it had to happen to someone associated with Enron, why not Jeff Skilling? Of the two, he's far more despicable. Maybe, as Brownian has suggested, it's easy to be taken in by Lay's more benign outward appearance, but Skilling...now there's a genuine, card carrying dick head. The term "arrogant" doesn't begin to do him justice. Considering all the lives they collectively ruined, though, maybe that's parsing things a bit too finely. Up over and out.

Hey...hold on here. We are talking about the most famous alumnus of my alma mater, Lewis & Clark College. You need to give her all the respect she deserves. Oh, hold it. I see you already have. Never mind. Up over and out.

Inbreeding? Up over and out.

Hey Chuck, that's pretty neat. Not too many couples stay together four years these days, much less 43. I doubt there's too many women out there who would put up with a "record guy" for that long. Hope the two of you enjoy your trip and, as to your anniversary, many happy returns. Up over and out.

Hey please guys, this is in no way a defense of Norah Jones. She couldn't (and probably wouldn't) carry Lee's jockstrap. Jones and Morgan are only analagous in terms of the money they both brought to the table. Allan - Geez, did you have to be so touchy feely? I'm only opining as to what my understanding of the situation was/is. Think of it this way. Would Blue Note have bit the dust without it? 25,000 units of any jazz recording is monstrous. Isn't it theoretically possible that "The Sidewinder" allowed Lion and Wolff to keep same from their door? If that's the case, then I would stand by my "many things" original statement. Not in the context of its founders but in the context of the label itself. Up over and out.

Hey Stefan Wood who is 36. Many happy returns. Up over and out.

The only thing good I have to say about Sidewinder (the tune not the album) is that its success allowed Blue Note to do many things they would not have been able to do otherwise. In a more contemporary sense, think Norah Jones. Up over and out.

You'll have to ask his new best friend , Bubba. Up over and out.

I'll go one step further. What's the point of the sticky tape in the first place? The CD is already shrink wrapped. Is this supposed to provide tangible assurance that the product is new? If they have to use this kind of thing to prove their virginity, use the Prestige dog bone. At least if that little guy left a residue, it didn't cover the whole friggin' case. What's even worse than CD's are DVD's. Of course, the simplest solution is to use an adhesive that peels off easily, but not being end users, this has probably never occured to the record companies. Here's something really stupid. I had it stuck in my mind for awhile when I was buying CD's on spec, that if I had a hard time getting the tape off, the CD was going to be crummy. BTW, FWIW, I agree with Uncle Skid. Slitting the top and peeling enough of the tape back to gain a purchase seems to work fairly well. Up over and out.

Ken's comment reminded me of an old one I still think is pretty funny. "The Coca Cola Company announced today that they will begin selling a soft drink containing Viagra. The new drink will be called "Mount and Do". Their marketing campaign will be centered on the catchy buzz phrase, "Pour Yourself a Stiff One." Up over and out.

Lon, Then I say, "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead." Up over and out.

Lon, Beware of booster pack creep. When you add 50 tunes, the unit cost is twice what it is for the "basic" package. I've fallen into this trap several times. On a couple of occasions I even "boosted" to the point they wouldn't let me buy any more. I can tell you from personal experience that the humiliation of being placed on booster probabtion is more horrible than you can begin to imagine. Fortunately, I've learned how to manage my tendencies better, so now I just wait for my plan to re-up about the 21st of each month and go from there. eMusic's newest pitch is an annual membership with unlimited downloads. I haven't done the math on that one, but it has to be a pretty good deal The problem, needless to say, is that it requires the outlay of a fair amount of cash at one time as opposed to paying on a month to month basis. Up over and out.

Reduction in force (RIF) is just a bureaucratic euphemism for layoffs. However, to do this to an employee with years of meritorious service as appears to be the case here, is beyond draconian. That's why I said in my earlier post that it tells you all you need to know about new ownership. Like so many other businesses that are downsizing, it's all about the bottom line. To Hell with the people who made the bottom line possible. Up over and out.

Dan, I don't think any of us know whether Ms. Hinte was laid off of fired, but if she was fired then it has to be for cause. Unless, of course, Concord wants to entertain the possibility of a a wrongful dismissal lawsuit. I have hired and fired many people in my day and where I come from, you simply do not launch someone unless there is a well documented history of performance related problems. The process entails action plans, regularly scheduled follow-up discussions, progress reports and the like. On the other hand, if Concord laid her off and did so with only three days notice, I think that tells you all you need or want to know about the new caretakers of the Fantasy jazz catalog. Up over and out.

Lon, If you go for the $19.99 per month package from eMusic, you get 90 downloads. That's about $.22 per tune, which is less than a third of the cost of a song on iTunes. One thing I will say about "i", however, is that's it's a musical playground. I'm starting to put together some discs for a college reunion and I'm having a ball just checking out all it has to offer. For jazz, though, eMusic is the only way to go. I downloaded a lot of the Xanadu material from "e" awhile back and while some of it is OK, it has an echo-y quality I don't much care for. Especially if vibes are involved. Nonetheless, it's still nice to be able to get those recordings, even if the sound isn't as good as we'd all like it to be. Hope everything is going OK for you. Up over and out.

Numero Uno Sinatra goose bump moment for me is from "Sinatra at the Sands with Count Basie and the Orchestra" on the tune "I've Got You Under My Skin". Just before the two minute mark, when the band starts to crank it up and Sinatra says "Run for cover." "Run and hide". At that point, the band absolutley cuts loose. That does it for me each and every time. Up over and out.

"One Foot" and "Two Feet" are both available from Japan on Epic Records. I have both in my hot little hands as we speak. It's the third one, "Getting Into Something" that's only available from Lonehill. BTW, FWIW, another thumb way up for Frank Haynes on "Two Feet" . Up over and out.

Actually, I think it's from the Joni Mitchell song, "Big Yellow Taxi." They paved paradise And put up a parking lot With a pink hotel, a boutique And a swinging hot spot Dont it always seem to go That you dont know what youve got Till its goneThey paved paradise And put up a parking lot Up over and out.

I got 12 Xanadu CD's for $50 from a seller on e-Bay about a year ago. Some nice stuff: Barry Harris - The Bird Of Red And Gold Dolo Coker - California Hard Joe Farrell - Skateboard Park Georgie Auld - Homage Kenny Drew - Home Is Where The Soul Is Wynton Kelly - Blues On Purpose Shorty Rogers & Art Pepper - Popo Bud Powell - Bud In Paris Jimmy Raney and Sonny Clark - Together Charlie Parker - Clifford Brown - Phil Woods - International Jam Sessions Red Garland - Keystones Dexter Gordon - True Blue I've seen the same offer on e-Bay a couple of other times. I couldn't pass this up. Up over and out.

Sun Ra: "We Travel the Spaceways / Bad and the Beautiful", "When Angels Speak of Love" and "Sun Sound Pleasure". Jessica Williams: "Live at Yoshi's" Volumes 1 & 2. Danny D'Imperio: "Blues for Philly Joe." Jimmy Guiffre, Paul Bley & Steve Swallow: "Fly Away Little Bird". Torbjorn Sunde: "Where is the Chet". Up over and out.

And I thought the size of my collection was out of hand. Up over and out.