Dave James

Don't sell Nagy too short. I saw him play here for the Portland Beavers, the Padre's AAA affiliate. He ain't bad. I think Cameron is overrated. He's had a couple of good years and he's a better than average center fielder, but not as good as some crack him up to be. With regard to the discussion of the ESPN Insider, I agree with Johnny...under no circumstances should this be joined. It only encourages these people to continue scamming the public by charging you to read the good stuff. My word, don't they make enough money as it is? Dan, I agree with you on Damon. A failed attempt on my part to tweak your Red Sox sensibilities. Up over and out.

Great clip. I've already confessed an affinity for the Champagne Man on the Welk/Hodges thread, but a video is even better. The truly scary part is that I know the names of most of the musicians. On the remote chance anyone is interested, Johnny Klein is on drums, Neil LaBang on banjo, Buddy Merrill on guitar and Bob Ralston on piano. God help me...turn off the bubble machine... Up over and out.

Now that this set is in the mail, I think those who were smart enough to order it when it was first made available should be forced to communicate about it's merits via some sort of PM network. This would relieve the idiots among us who waited too long to pull the trigger from being reminded over and over of our collective stupidity. It's the least you can do. Up over and out.

Here's another haircut related question. How much do you tip? My haircuts cost $20, and I give the gal another $5. She's an acquaintance of many years who normally charges $30, so I'm still getting a bargain even with a 25% tip. With regard to what separates a barber from a stylist, I always thought that once the cost of a cut moved into double digits, the perp was a stylist. Given the cost of everything these days, though, that probably doesn't work very well any more as rules of thumb (rule of thumbs?) go. Up over and out.

Flowbee. There's really no other way to go. Up over and out.

Robert Cray, or "Young Bob" as he used to be called in these parts, is a Pacific Northwest native. He started gigging around here many years ago and began his recording career for a small label out of Tacoma, Tomato Records. They were infamous for the low grade vinyl they used that would flake off around the edges leaving a white residue. I've seen Cray a couple of times and he is, indeed, better live than he is on his recordings. And some of his recordings, especially the the early stuff, ain't half bad. As I'm sure many of you know, Cray was part of Otis Day and the Nights in the movie "Animal House". Interestingly enough, he's the bass player. The drummer in the band is a local Portland cat by the name of Ron Steen. Up over and out.

Me too. A day late and a dollar short. Congrats on your marriage. If you've chosen wisely, and I'm sure you have, you now have a best friend for life. Please be sure to let us know in a year or so if Lora remains as supportive of your music habit. If not, I'd be glad to send you an autographed copy of my book, "How To Sneak CD's Past Your Wife." Up over and out.

They did a profile of Silverman in The New Yorker a few weeks ago. I didn't find any of her material to be amusing in the least, so I guess she's what I'd refer to as an acquired taste that I won't be taking the time to acquire. I think it may be a generational thing. As to the "babe" factor, I've seen a whole lot worse....especially when it comes to female comedians. Up over and out.

Johnny Damon to the Yanks. Up over and out.

Dan, Yup. I thought Ortiz would get this. I've never seen anyone get more clutch hits than that guy. I'll tell you one thing, it's a good thing for both of them (especially A-Rod) that they hold this voting before the playoffs. Up over and out.

Hot off the ESPN presses. A-Rod nudges David Ortiz for the AL MVP. Along with the departure of Beantown wonderkind Theo Epstein and the pending Johnny Damon free agency, this should cause Dan some sleepless nights. Up over and out.

Thanks guys, the feedback if appreciated. I've pretty much decided to pass on the Band box. Strikes me as overkill considering I'm quite the neophyte when it comes to their music. Up over and out.

We have a rather massive oak tree in our front yard. If I waited until all the leaves had fallen before I started raking, I'm not sure what would happen, but I would fear for my life. One year, when the city didn't come around to do pick up I filled 38 extra large plastic lawn bags from just that tree alone. I hate leaves. Up over and out.

What with the acquisition of the Fantasy catalog by Concord, I tried to run some numbers to determine the probability of a release of the entire Massey Hall book, but my calculator didn't have enough zeroes to put behind the decimal point. Up over and out.

I have nothing from The Band in my collection. I do have Scorcese's film of "The Last Waltz", which is pretty good. If one is bereft of The Band, would this set be a good investment? I've seen it at Borders and I have a 25% off coupon. That would put this in the $70 range. Up over and out.

25% off one item through Novemer 19th @ www.dealcoupon.com. Enjoy. Up over and out.

Believe me, Sgt. Carter can't hold a candle to this guy: Up over and out.

Looks like this may be 20% off on your entire purchase. Go to www.dealcoupon.com and scroll down under the header "Newest Coupons" to the Border's entry. Here's a general question about coupons. If you were the marketing guy at a place like Border's, why would you put out a coupon that ends on November 14th, the day before most people get paid? Why not start it on the 15th or the 30th when your customers have the most disposable income. Up over and out.

Just for the fun of it, I did some math. Jim's posts are generally failry lengthly and well thought out, so let's assume that each of his 16,000 posts has taken an average of 3 minutes to execute. That's 48,000 minutes or 800 hours or 33 days of posting. Holy schnikey, Batman... Up over and out.

I don't know a whole lot about Martyn, but I've been a fan of "Solid Air" ever since I first heard it many moons ago. As a matter of fact, it's the only Martyn recording I'm familiar with. Picked up on him at the same time I was listening a lot to the likes of Nick Drake (Bryter Layter & Pink Moon) and Tim Buckley (Greetings from L.A.). There was something really haunting/floating/ethereal about the way he put a tune together. I haven't listened to "Solid Air" in years. It's part of my mothballed fleet of LP's. Maybe I should have another go at this. Up over and out.

Dean Martin. I have everything he ever recorded for Capitol and Reprise on four Bear Family box sets. Speaking of Rolf Harris, remember the other "hit" he had stateside? I think it was called "My Boomerang Won't Come Back." When I was a kid, I recall being transfixed by Lonnie Donnegan's "Will Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor On the Bedpost Overnite." Up over and out.

Lightsey is the pianist on Chet Baker's Prestige trilogy, "On a Misty Night", "Lonely Star" and "Stairway to the Stars". I was just listening to these three the other night and they are prime. Everyone is good, and especially Lightsey and George Coleman. Some of the better Baker I've run into. Lightsey seems to be one of those "B" level musicians who just got lost in the shuffle. Guys like Wade Legge, Hod O'Brien, John Campbell, Larry Willis, James Williams, Johnny Acea and on and on and on. I'll tell you one thing, if you haven't heard these three Baker efforts, get thee to a nunnery. They're just slightly more "experitmental" (probably not the right word) than a lot of his stuff from the early '60's. As a matter of fact, the team of Baker and Coleman reminds me a whole lot of that great Art Farmer pairing with Cliff Jordan on the Comtemporary CD's "Blame It On My Youth" and "PhD". If I'm not mistaken Baker plays the fluglehorn on these outings, just like Mr. Farmer. Highly recommended. My first and to this point, only exposure to Kirk Lightsey. Up over and out.

You know, Welk's band wasn't all schmaltz, bad singing, bad dancing and an occasional polka. When he wanted to, he could cut his guys loose on some pretty swinging big band arrangements. I heard him do a cracklin' version of "Begin the Bequine" a month or so ago on PBS. The reason he didn't do this kind of thing more often is simple. As much as anyone in show business, he knew which side of the bread his audience wanted him to butter. Up over and out.

Hockey has always been my favorite sport. When it comes to attending a game in person, it's easily the best of the four majors. It's no wonder the league plays to 90% capacity. Too bad the game translates so poorly on television. Speaking of TV, I was more than a little disappointed when I returned from vacation a week ago and found that Dish Network had cancelled the Outdoor Life channel due to exhorbitant fees now being demanded by Comcast to carry it. So much for televised NHL games. And this, when my Red Wings are off to the best start in franchise history. Up over and out.

I actually saw the "G Man" twice. Once, many, many moons ago when he was still playing with Jeff Lorber. They opened for Pat Metheny, who was the reason I was at the show in the first place. I also saw him one year at the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival. During his set, he came out and walked around in the audience while he was playing. Don't get me wrong, I've got no time for Mr. Gorelik, but that was actually kind of cool. Of course, I was pretty young and stupid at the time. I must tell my joke again. If you've already heard it...well, whatever. Q: What would you do if you were locked in a room with Hitler, Stalin and Kenny G and you had a gun with only two bullets. A: Shoot Kenny G twice. Up over and out.