Dave James

I see Ryan Franklin from the hapless M's was busted for steriods today. 90 days in the hole, big fella. Apparently the tests that have ensnared Palmiero and Franklin took place quite some time ago. Why the delay in the results being made public, I don't know, unless the CBA mandates some kind of "appeal" time before a player can be outed. I was listening to an interview with a senior writer from USA Today on the way home yesterday and he said that the word is there will be another big name player busted for juice within the next couple of weeks. Please don't let it be Giambi. Up over and out.

SS, I'd give just about anything to see and actual HOF ceremony, but that most likely is not in the cards. Boy do I remember that pine tar deal. I don't think I've ever seen anyone angrier than Brett in all the years I've been watching sports. He looked like he could've killed someone. Those were the days. The rivalry between the Yanks and Royals only lasted a few years but it had all the intensity of the current iteration with the Red Sox. That three year run of playoff series between '76 and and '78 made for great baseball. I think there's still a dent from my head hitting the ceiling of my folk's house after Chambliss hit that one out in '76. Crazy stuff. Up over and out.

Thought this might be of interest to the Dead Heads among us. Cost is $79.95. Link is GDStore.com. Fillmore West 1969 - The Complete Recordings is now available for pre-order! This limited edition 10 CD package represents the critical part of the raw materials that were used to create Live/Dead, the first live 16-track album ever made, unquestionably one of the two or three greatest live rock albums ever made, and arguably the Dead's greatest album; certainly it is the defining document of the first great era of Dead performance. The box set includes every note the band played from February 27th to March 2nd, 1969. For the first time, you can hear this material in context; listen as Garcia puts down his acoustic after "Mountains of the Moon" while Lesh and Weir start up the "Dark Star" you probably heard first. This is an incredible documentation of a special moment in the history of this band and the most significant audio release yet to emerge from the Grateful Dead's vault. Mixed from the master 16-track analog tapes by the Grateful Dead's studio ace Jeffrey Norman and mastered in glorious HDCD, the box set features 51 tracks, about 10 hours of peak-era Grateful Dead on 10 CDs. Additionally, the box set includes a 76-page book featuring almost 100 photos by Herbie Greene, Rosie McGee, Baron Wolman, Amalie R. Rothschild, Peter Simon, Michael Merritt, and others, as well as an extensive new essay by Dennis McNally. Virtually everything possible has been done to give the music and the packaging the due that this four-night run of shows - widely considered the greatest such run in Dead history - deserves. Nothing less would do. This special release is a LIMITED EDITION BOX SET of 10,000 units. Each box set will be individually numbered out of 10,000, and there will be no second pressings or reprints. Once they're gone, they're gone for good! Everyone who pre-orders Fillmore West 1969 - The Complete Recordings before November 15, 2005, will receive an exclusive bonus CD containing previously unreleased Grateful Dead performances recorded at the Carousel Ballroom and Fillmore West between 1968-1970. Up over and out.

Marty, I assume your question about which player you'd rather have is rhetorical. Up over and out.

I live all the way across the country, but the service is still pretty good. Infinitely better than it was when I first started ordering these sets years ago. Back then, it could take as long as two weeks to receive a shipment. I'd guess on average now, it takes about 3-5 days to make it from Stamford to Portland. Of course, you're paying a fairly hefty freight for the privilege of faster service. Up over and out.

I'd guess the primary motivation for The Jazz Crusaders change in musical direction was, in no particular order, financial, financial and financial. There's a little George Benson in all of us. I mean you gotta figure anyone who tries to get a toehold in this business is being true to their muse in the beginning. But, once you realize there's not much of a living to be eeked out in pursuit of same and something else comes along that can really change your life, even if it does require an artistic compromise or two and, presto, what do you get? The Crusaders. Up over and out.

I'll leave it up to Lon's legal team to make the call, but I think we may be looking at some copyright infringement here. Up over and out.

I live in Portland, Oregon. If I understand correctly, one of the more difficult places in the country to predict the weather. The most accurate and reliable forecast I'm aware of in this area comes in the form of a "beacon" that sits atop a building downtown called The Standard Plaza. If it's white, it will be cooler. If it's green, no change. If it's red, warmer. If any of the colors flash, you can expect some precipitation. Another technique I practice - hang onto your hat - is to go outside in the morning and look up at the sky. Unbelievably accurate. Of course I listen to the weather forecast, but you really don't have much choice if you're the kind of news junkie I am. I just don't pay much attention. For a group of people who are right maybe half the time, they take themselves way, way too seriously. With regard to ecomomics and accuracy I suppose there may be some validity in the comparison although I rarely get caught in the rain without an umbrella if someone says the GNP is slipping. Point being, a weather forecast is immediate and has immediate impact. Economics exists on a wholly different level. If my comments were offensive, that was not my intent, although that characterization strikes me as a bit overreactive given the marginal seriousness my original statement. I guess what really bothers me about weathermen or anyone else for that matter is someone who acts like they know what's going on when they really don't. Come to think of it, George Bush would make a helluva weatherman. Up over and out.

Hideo Nomo? You've got to be kidding me. If this doesn't give new meaning to the term desperation, I'm not sure what does. Up over and out.

Any weather forecast anywhere by anyone is not meant to be taken seriously. If there is a profession (and I use this term in its loosest possible context) that is more wrong more often than this one, enlighten me as to what it might be. One of the biggest ruses ever perpetrated on the American public is the so-called 10 day forecast. These people don't know what it's going to do tomorrow much less 10 days from now. If you sat outside in a shed with your big toe in a bell jar, you could peg the weather as well or better than the thimble brains who do this for a living. Up overcast and out.

That was one scary moment. I guess he's going to be OK, but wow. I'm sure most of you guys aren't old enough to remember Herb Score, a young Indians' fireballer with nothing but upside. After the Yank's Gil McDougald hit him in the head with a line drive in '56, he was never the same. Hope that's not the case with Clement. Up over and out.

I know both these sets are expensive, but do not under any circumstances let either the O'Day or the Johnson get away. As I've said other times and in other places, the O'Day is my favorite vocal Mosaic and, outside the Sarah Vaughn, I think I've got them all. There's just something about the way she takes on a song that makes her one of a kind. A true jazz singer. The Johnson is among my top five instrumental Mosaics. Again, as has been mentioned elsewhere, one of the big plusses here, and one of the big surprises as well, is the tenor saxophone of Bobby Jaspar. You just don't run into him all that often and these recordings make a strong case for how good he really was. His playing is probably more well represented on this set than it is anywhere else. Up over and out.

With as much hitting talent as the Rangers have, if I was their GM, I'd be looking as hard as I could at the team's farm systems who are still in the hunt for a wild card and unload Soriano to the guy who's willing to part with some pitching. With a couple of key additions, and with the overall youth of the team, I think they could be right there in a couple of years. Of course, that doesn't make the next year or so any easier to deal with, but at least it's a start. In defense of Soriano, I don't think he or anyone else tends to play their best baseball when they know they're on the block and they're just waiting for the hammer to fall. Up over and out.

"Maiden Voyage" indeed. He's gotta be dialed into something on the side. Up over and out.

Montgomery Alexander Scott if I'm not mistaken. Up over and out.

Hold it. I thought at the very end of "The Trouble With..." episode, all these fuzzy little fellows were beamed aboard a Clingon warship right before it went into warp. As Scotty said at the time. "...where they'll be no tribble at all." This has to call into question the veracity of Weizen's Avignon report. Beam me up...over and out.

That whole ESPN Insider deal really rubs me the wrong way. I'm sure you've noticed that everytime something predictable in sports is about to happen, like the NBA or NFL draft or the MLB trading deadline, everything that you're interested in reading about winds up on the pay to play Insider. Nothing more than another shamelessly blatant attempt to separate the die hard sports fan from more of his money. I won't go down for it, but it sure as hell pisses me off. Up over and out.

The nasty part of all this is that the bombs don't have to go off and people don't have to be killed for the terrorists to be successful. Everyone now knows that what happened two weeks ago was not a one off...that London is still very much in the crosshairs. That foments exactly the same kind of fear and trepidation that would ensue if the bombs had actually worked. Mission accomplished. What scares me to death is the what happens when the first suicide bomb goes off in this country. I don't even want to think about that. Up over and out.

I had heard that Doohan was pretty sick. Alzheimer's in particular. Looks like he'll have plenty of time now to catch up on those technical journals he was always trying to get away to study. With regard to the "expendibles" after any beam down, they most often wore red shirts although an occasional blue shirt also bit the dust. I think I'll break out some Star Trek DVD's tonight and have another go with the Scotsman. RIP, Mr D. Up over and out.

I have one by Mikio Masuta called "Smokin' Night". It's a JVC release from 1987 I picked up as a freebie giveaway when I was doing jazz radio a number of years ago. I really like this one. She's a very accomplished pianist. There are two songs here that continue to float my boat even years down the road. One is "Romantic Rain" and the other, "Blue Island", both Masuta compositions. She also takes on "Come Sunday" and "Round Midnight". This is an all acoustic outing, so you needn't worry about "commercial, cheesy fusion." That it ain't. All the sidemen, however, are Japanese, so, in this regard, it does not rise to the level of one of your prerequisites. I really don't think you'd be disappointed in this, given the criteria you've laid out. Good solid hard bop. Up over and out.

I've been thinking about Griffey in pinstripes for the last week or so. Nothing solid upon which to base these musings, just some kind of intuitive sense that this was a strong possibility. Randy Winn is the other name that I've actually seen discussed, but I'd take Griffey in a heartbeat. Junior in the Big Apple. How sweet would that be? Up over and out.

I have no problem with those who dislike Buddy Rich, although I sometimes wonder if an active dislike of him as a person may compromise one's ability to objectively assess his skills as a musician. Under no circumstances, however, can his technical expertise or his ability to swing be challenged. I've never heard anyone who could rattle a set of skins like Rich. IMO, in a league all his own. Sure he could be a dickhead (can't we all?) and he had an ego as big or bigger than all outdoors, but, be that as it may, I'm sorry, this guy could fuckin' A play. Up over and out.

Well I see we don't have enough for the Grand March tonight, so the next number will be all skate in reverse. Now that's some "roller rink shit." Up over and out.

I will be so viciously slimed over this that it's possible I may never fully recover, but I've always struggled a bit with Philly Joe Jones. First of all, he's a fairly aggregious pattern repeater and secondly, I just find him to be a little too busy for my tastes. Mind you, it's not like I can't stand listening to the guy - if that was the case, I could just get rid of a goodly percentage of my Blue Notes - but he's just not my favorite. I know treason is a capitol offense and that I'm a dead man for even thinking this much less going on record, but, you asked, so I told. It's been nice knowing you guys. Up over and out.

I don't know guys. I think Saunders is a good coach, but even with KG and a pretty good supporting cast, he could never get out of the first round. I'm 99% sure that's who Detroit will hire, but it should be interesting to see how this works out. Personally, I think the Pistons just got worse. Up over and out.