Dave James

Someone alert the folks who put together the Darwin Awards. I think we may have a winner. Up over and out.

Again for those who are interested, here are some suggestions for a hockey makeover. I've broken these down into a not so radical group and a radical group. Not so radical: * Increase the size of the skating surfaces to international dimensions. * Enforce the rules designed to deal with excessive clutching and grabbing. * Move the goal line 12 to 18" furher away from the boards. * Cut down the size of the goalie's pads. * Put in rules to address the left wing lock or neutral zone traps. * Reduce ticket prices Radical: * Get rid of the red line. * Curve the blue lines so offsides is not called so frequently. * Use a soccer-style shoot out to settle ties. * Make the goals six inches wider and two inches higher. The problem with any of these ideas, no matter how much they'd improve the game is that you've got to get them OK'ed by the old mossbacks who run the league. For that reason alone, none of this will probably ever happen. Up over and out.

Can I kill this thread? Up over and out.

Yes and in spades. It's my favorite sport. I played the game for 15 years and I've watched it and followed it for many more than that. My brother and I grew up playing in the basement with a roll of electrical tape and a couple of hand me down sticks. If anyone's interested, the real problem stems from the league overextending itself and trying to become a "national" sport instead of solidifying its position in the upper Mid-West, the Northeast and, of course, in Canada. When you take an already shaky financial situation and turn it from 21 to 30 teams, put it into areas of the U.S. that don't know a hockey stick from a pogo stick and expect something good to happen, well, it won't and it didn't. Add to this the players own stupidity in demanding a bigger piece of the pie and the owners matching that stupidity by giving it to them and you have what you have now. To parapharase an old addage: "hockey has met the enemy and the enemy is hockey." What am I gonna do without the Red Wings? Up over and out.

In this day and age when there's spam of every sort and variety from bank accounts to lottery winnings to e-bay to paypal to Nigerian fund transfers...so much that at times it's borderline overwhelming, it's best to recall that tried and true old homily, "things that appear too good to be true generally are." Or, as my principal at Jesuit High used to put it many moons ago, "A word to the wise should be sufficient." Up over and out.

I'm guessing at least one good tune for every year of his life. What a talent! Up over and out.

In every sense, it's a drug. It makes you feel good, you always want more and you'd like to cut back but you can't. But, I suppose you were really after something a little deeper. OK. For me, its a destination. The culmination of a life spent listening to everything I could get my ears on and finally realizing that this is where I belong. Up over and out.

Must still be in pre pre pre production. I think DiCaprio would be a good choice to play Baker. He kind of has that look. I'd also heard (and I'm serious) that Jim Carrey was under consideration for this role at one point. Guess you just have to wonder where the audience is for something like this. Very few people even know who Baker is. Besides, if they haven't done anything about a Miles Davis biopic, how does one on Chet Baker get made? Up over and out.

I graduated from Lewis & Clark. We hate the Wildcats. Up over and out.

I liked this one a lot. Howard Hughes has always fascinated me. Like others, DiCaprio has underwhelmed me in the past, but I think you might guardedly refer to this as his coming out party. I walked into the movie with a healthy level of skepticism in tems of his ability to pull this off, but he did. By the time the credits rolled, I felt more like I was watching Howard Hughes than watching Leonardo play Howard Hughes. Only time will tell if he's the real deal, but this was certainly a step in the right direction. I also saw the Charlie Rose interview and was impressed with way Leo presented himself. He seems to have a pretty good handle on the business, it's history and the importance of filmakers like Scorcese. He actually appeard humble. Whether that was an act, who knows, but he came across as pretty genuine. Of course, like most actors these days, he could use an adverb coach (if you counted the number of times he said "truly" or "absolutely", it might number in three figures) but that's just Hollywood. Memorable scenes from the movie for me include the Senate hearings, taking Hepburn flying over Los Angeles and the flight of the Spruce Goose. The Goose is now ensconced in the town of McMinnville, Oregon at the Evergreen Museum of Flight. McMinnville is just West of Portland. I've been down to see it a couple of times, and it is truly (there's that word again) awesome. Kudos also to Cate Blanchett. Didn't mind Kate Bekinsale too much as Ava Gardner either. Good old fashioned movie making IMO. Some special effects for sure, but mostly a good story. Don't see that nearly enough these days. Up over and out.

Just a quick clarification. Late is absolutlely correct in his interpretation of my "second chair" comment. This in no way denigrates the musical ability or musical contributions of Mssrs. Byas and/or Mobley. It was merely meant to convey the fact that they are underrecognized and underappreciated given the significance of their contributions to jazz. Up over and out.

I've often wondered why Byas is so underrecognized. Maybe he just got lost among the Redwoods; the Hawks, the Websters, the Youngs etc. I'm not sure how much his early European egress actually contributed to this. There have been others who did the same thing but without taking the hit Byas took if, indeed, this was a contributing factor to the recognition problem. I know Byas accommodated the bop idiom perhaps better than many of his contemporaries. I suppose that this kind of "fit" problem may also have, albeit in a small way, affected the perception of his place in the jazz pantheon. I've always likened Byas to Hank Mobley, who has been so famously and appropriately characterized as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone." No one can argue the talent of either or what they brought to the table, but there seem to be people who toil in the trenches just like their more famous brethern, but who never seem to rise above that level. I suppose this could be attributable to their own personalities...certainly neither had the kind of magnetism, flamboyance and larger than life personnae of a Hawkins or a Webster or, in Mobley's case, of a Rollins or a Coltrane. Some people, and I don't say this derogatorily, are just destined to make their music from the second chair. Up over and out.

Maybe it's just my excessive paranoia, but I believe I've slain a string or two in my time on the BNBB and Organissimo. Isn't there some way of determining who rules the roost? I can't tell you how many times I've thought about this. Thanks to Al for bringing it up. Of course, there's a whole different level of futility here which hasn't even been broached. The first cousin of thread killing...the king of the unresponded to posts. The person who has dropped the most lines in the water with the fewest nibbles. I'm not going to sell myself short. I happen to think I'm pretty good at that too. Up over and out.

That's an easy one. Herman Leonard's photo of a young Dexter Gordon. The one with the cigarette smoke curling all around him. Up over and out.

I almost hate to admit this, but I've always been a sucker for "For the Good Times", especially the original Ray Price version. Eddie Arnold's "Make the World Go Away" has also made some inroads. Please don't think poorly of me. Up over and out.

I got a kick out of the pre-game concert when the identical crowd of pogo-stick lemmings in front of the stage went from cowboy cool to '70's soul to hip hop motif without missing a beat. I think they all had "Live Strong" bracelets on as well. Talk about covering all the bases. Does someone out there really believe that the audience will think this is spontaneous? Up over and out.

Just a quick note to thank everyone who made recommendations on the "Before OJC's Go Away" thread. I've tied into at least a dozen excellent CD's that I would never even have considered if it wasn't for this thread. Up over and out.

Jack Shelton shows up with some regularity on the second iteration of Dragnet, the one with Harry Morgan playing Friday's partner. It's always strange to see him in that context when you know what he does in his other life. Of course, Jack Webb was a big jazz fan, albeit of the traditional variety, so maybe there's more of a connection than you'd think. Shelton would make for an interesting bio, first because he's still around and second, cuz he has such a multi-faceted, ebullient, larger than life personality. Speaking of larger than life personalities, how about something on Frank Rosolino? Boy would that be a wild and, ultimately, depressing ride. Up over and out.

The first Star Wars movie (Episode IV) about knocked my socks off. The second was maybe even a little better, although it didn't pack the "socks" wallop of the first outing simply because IV broke so much new ground. After that, a total waste of time. Only the hardest of the hard cores could find any redeeming value in Episodes I & II. Bad stories, bad casting and bad acting is a tough triumverate to overcome. Nonetheless, the die hards are still out there. There was a story on the news the other night about some moron who is already standing in line for Episode III. That, my friend, will be a long and lonely vigil. Up over and out.

Terri? Up over and out.

Wonder if they're going to test him for steriods. Might as well get that ball rolling now. He's certainly among the most eggregious and obvious abusers. The Oriole deal is just a way to get him out of town. He's clearly worn out his welcome in the Windy City. Who's fault that is at this point is academic. Chicago is going to have to pay a big chunk of Sosa's salary AND he's a free agent after next year. This has all the ear marks of season long rental. I'd be shocked if he's back in black and orange in 2006. The other plus for the O's is that it tends to cool off the naysayers who have been very vocal in their criticism of the Orioles for doing nothing in the off season. Up over and out.

I just had an XM Satellite system installed in my Explorer. They have a whole channel that's devoted to old time radio. I've always had a soft spot for Burns & Allen. Some of the writing and the way they set up Gracie's particular brand of looney toon WTF humor is really well done. Up over and out.

Charlie Ventura. Also believe Braxton has canoodled with one now and again. Someone should repost those pictures from the odd instruments thread that was up about a year ago. The bass sax is one hefty mutha. Up over and out.

Larry, Spot on. More BotC that CJB, but the Mulligan connection remains. Up over and out.

If you take the midpoint of each numerical category and then assume that those in the 5000+ category have exactly 5,000, that's a total of 201,300 CD's. When I did he math, 83 people had replied which is an average of 2,425 CD's per respondant. If you assume an average cost per CD of $12.00 (which is probably low) the total investment is in the neighborhood of $2.4 million. That means the average person's investment is right around $29,000. My Lordy me!! Up over and out.