Dave James

The signing of a John Thompson, while at the same time saying good-bye to Greg Maddox, Javy Lopez and Gary Sheffield only serves to remind one of the prickly path one walks when one merges one giant company with another. Anyone who thinks this isn't fallout from the marriage of Time Warner and AOL needs to start paying more attention. IMO, there's a very strong possibility that the Braves string of divisional championships will not be extended this year. Wait...hold on...I need a 20 second time out to wring the tears from my hanky over that one before can I continue. OK, I'm fine now. For sure, I don't think it would be much fun to be a Braves fan right now. Up over and out.

Definition of an optimist. A trombone player with a pager. Seriously though, I've always been very partial to Frank Rosolino. A top of the line technician but, as Jim R mentioned, always upbeat and a bit off center. I guess he had a terrific sense of humor. I enjoy his vocal work as well. If you've seen any of the Jazz Scene USA videos, there's one segment that features his band. Really good stuff. I always wonder how someone who seemed to be so happy could have wound up so sad. Up over and out.

I'm trying to think if there's anything that's quite as sweet as someone opening up a can of whupass on the Cowboys. And then to have it be my Eagles. It doesn't get any better than that! Up over and out.

If Boston does figure out a way to sign A-Rod (and apparently they have until the 19th of December to do so) I'm not sure what The Boss might do. Not sure there's much left out there player-wise that makes any sense, but he's been what you might call fairly reactionary of late, and this would require a reaction of Brodbinagian proportion. Maybe sign Vlad Guerrero just for spite? I'll tell you one thing, MLB used to consist of about 25% "haves" and 75% "have-nots". It's pretty clear now that we're down to just two "haves". Up over and out.

Berigan, Without a doubt, one of the most difficult decisions you'll ever face. I've had to confront this a number of times with both cats and dogs and it just tears you up. Just keep thinking about quality of life. I know that doesn't make it any easier, but it has helped me rationalize the choice. Also, if you're in a position to get another pet soon, that can be very theraputic. For what it's worth. Hang in there. Up over and out.

Just shared this game with one of my co-workers. Her porn name is Buffy Shaver. I'm not sure there can be too many that are better than that. Up over and out.

I'm likin' my chances. Pinky Coronado. Up over and out.

I twisted my ankle last night and I'm having trouble walking. Up over and out.

Hang onto your hat, Danno, the Yankees are starting to fire back. ESPN has just reported a trade involving the Expos that will bring Javier Vasquez to New York. Going West are the following young men: Nick Johnson, Juan Rivera, Randy Choate and the infamous player to be named later. The Yanks are also said to be pursuing Kevin Brown from the Dodgers in a trade involving Jeff Weaver and others. So, within the last 7-10 days, the Yanks have acquired Gary Sheffield, Tom Gordon, Paul Quantrill and the aformentioned Mr. Vasquez. Not bad. I have this vision of Theo Epstein and George Steinbrenner playing a game of high stakes Battleship trying to the extent their collective pocketbooks will allow, to blow the other guy clean out of the water. This is insane...and fun. Don't know about you guys, but I can't wait until the Spring. Up over and out.

In my time, I've pitched a ball game or two. I could even throw some reasonably good junk, but a screwball goes way beyond anything I'd ever even want to think about. It's like throwing a curveball where you pull you hand down as you twist your wrist clockwise. Not a physically challenging proposition for most anyone. To a right handed hitter, the ball breaks down and to the left and away. A screwball is thrown in just the opposite manner. A right handed pitcher would start with the same pull down motion but rotate the wrist counterclockwise. To a right handed hitter, the ball breaks from left to right and down and in. Just try doing that without a ball. Then try doing it with a ball. Sorry...no workee. It's no wonder Hubbell wound up the way he did. Up over and out.

Up until about two years ago, I was listening to jazz exclusively. That had been the case for at least the 10 years prior to that. Around that time, I was on my way to a reunion of some college buddies, and I thought it might be fun to bring along some of the music we listened to when we were in school. So, I stopped by a local indie store here in Portland and picked up some Zeppelin, Doors, Allman Brothers, Paul Butterfield, Santana, Creedence and King Crimson. Of course, that meant I had to listen these along with everyone else, and when I did, I was pleasantly surprised by 1) how much I missed this old music and 2) by how good it was. That kind of launched me on a musical bender of sorts that included getting into the Grateful Dead for the first time in my life and revisiting some of the Philadelphia soul music I was so partial to in the late '60's and early '70's. Now, while I still listen to jazz probably 90% of the time, I'm pretty much all over the board when it comes to other kinds of music. I even spend a fair amount of time with Dean Martin. If anyone had told me two years ago that that would be the case, I would have thought they'd taken leave of their senses. BTW, great topic. Why can't I ever think of these? Up over and out.

If you want to hear some primo Dizz, check out his OJC release, "Asia Minor". How can you lose when you hook him up with the likes of Joe Farrell, Cecil Payne, Hank Jones, Ron Carter and Charlie Persip? Answer: you can't. At the risk of having my Blue Note credentials revoked, this is my favorite Dizzy Reece on record. Up over and out.

In my back room - what we call the computer room - I have an old (and I do mean old) Marantz 2270 integrated amp, two of the Bose cubes w/ a subwoofer and, can you guess, a Thorens TD 160 turntable. I've had the amp and turntable for at least 30 years. I don't listen to a lot of vinyl although I do own the Hodges 51-56 and the Maynard Ferguson Mosaics on LP. Not to mention maybe 1,200 LP's out in the garage. The Thorens is running a very old ADC XLM Mark II cartridge / stylus. I had the stylus looked at about a year ago and the guy said it was fine, but I'm not convinced. I'd like to replace the catridge and stylus, but frankly with the amount of vinyl listening I do, I really don't want to spend $500 for a new setup unless I absolutely have no choice. I've taken note of the equipment others are using with their Thorens tables, but what would you recommend I do if I replace the ADC? Also, where would on go online to get the best deal? By the way, my mom is sitting on a complete Macintosh set-up...amp, pre-amp and tuner... that she's had since the late '50's. Two JBL 14" speakers also from the late '50's round out the system. At some point, but hopefully not too soon, these will be mine. Whoa doctor! Thanks in advance for the assistance. Up over and out.

Dan, I agree with everything you're saying. I think until the Sox actually beat the Yanks, they'll do just about anything. There can be no doubt that adding A-Rod and giving up Manny (a guy they already ran through waivers) is a giant step in the right direction. Bringing in perhaps the best all-around player in baseball and a good citizen to boot and giving up a clubhouse lawyer who just happens to hit well can only make things immensely better both on and off the field in Beantown. They do need to move quickly though, cuz when 2005 rolls around and all these guys contracts are up, something has to give. Theo has to know he's on a short leash. This has to happen quickly, or it won't happen at all. Still, I'd peg the chances of Alex winding up in Boston at no more than 20%. Up over and out.

I have a hard time believing that organized crime didn't have some involvement in the assassination. Without the likes of Sam Giancanna and Johnny Roselli, Kennedy would not have been elected. They and theirs certainly had every reason to believe that this kind of assistance would be appreciated and, as a result, reciprocated. The last thing they ever expected was that Bobby would develop a major Jones for all things mafiosi and that he would, with Jack's acquiescence, begin steering the Justice Department precisely in the direction they didn't want to go. These aren't the kind of guys you mess with without the risk of some serious retribution. Up over and out.

A couple of comments. The Twinkies made the Pierzynski deal because they think their #1 pick from a couple of years ago is ready for The Show. His name escapes me right now, but he's supposed to be the second coming of Johnny Bench. Not only does this move save them some money, but they don't think they're giving up anything behind the plate. Hopefully, for Twins fans everywhere, that won't turn out to be a pipedream. I had not heard the Alex for Manny rumors, but from the Sox standpoint, that can only mean no more Nomar in Beantown. Still, I can't imagine them taking on what's left of Rodriguez' contract with all the other financial issues that are facing that team. Add to this the possiblity of trading for Curt Shilling and you're talking about spending at Steinbrennerian levels. How they can do this given the revenue limitations inherent in only being able to put 33,000 butts in the seats for 82 games is beyond me. I know their desparation to beat the Yanks is borderline psychotic, but this is beyond the pale. Then again, maybe as a Yankee fan, I'm just pooh- poohing the possiblity cuz I don't want any of this to happen. Up over and out.

"Spahn and Sain and pray for rain." One of the great baseball sayings ever. Spahn won at least 20 games in 13 different seasons. It doesn't get much better than that. He also hit 35 home runs during his career. That remains a record for National League hurlers. Being a life long Yankee fan, I rooted like crazy against him in '57 and '58 when the Braves played my boys in the Series, but the reason you got so wound up about the guy was because he was so darn good and the Braves were such a good team. Burdette, Adcock, Aaron, Matthews, Covington, Crandall...wow, what a collection of talent. Up over and out.

I recently took a flyer on four volumes of Jazz & Cinema that were available from Dusty Groove. These are part of the Jazz in Paris series on Universal Gitanes. I haven't really had a chance to thoroughly digest all of them, but based on what I have heard, I can unabashedly recommend Volume 2. The first four tunes on this outing feature Stan Getz, Coleman Hawkins, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown and Gus Johnson. Cuts 5-22, the Benny Golson iteration of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and the last two, a French quintet featuring George Aranitas. I'm telling you kids, this is good stuff...da bomb. As is usually the case with jazz soundtracks, many of the tracks are short, but there are a handful in the 3-4 minute range that allow for more stretching out than you might normally expect. I don't think you'll be disappointed with this one. Up over and out.

I really like Braith's BN's, so when Laughing Soul showed up on Dusty Groove, I went for it. Not a good decision. I test drove it a couple of times and consigned it to my "sell for whatever you can get" bin. Looks like I'm swimming against the prevailing current on this one, but it really didn't do anything for me. Up over and out.

The OJC series is clearly the motherlode when it comes to jazz reissues. I know they are criticized as being blowing sessions and not much more, i.e. little if any rehearsal, calling the tunes as you go kind of stuff, but strictly from the standpoint of the artists represented in their catalogue, it's mindboggling. Not to mention the fact that they somehow manage to keep all their titles in print, readiliy available and at a reasonable cost. With regard to particular artists or albums available on the various and sundry labels that make up the OJC sobriquet, I'm surprised that only one person has mentioned Gene Ammons and then just a single recording. If you're a fan of Jug, or if you want to become one, OJC is the only place to go. I'm particularly fond of the "Gentle Jug" series and the material featuring Dodo Marmarosa. That one is, at least IMO, indespensible. They didn't call it "The Big Sound' of Gene Ammons just becuase they ran out of other things to say. A couple of other recommendations if you lean towards seminal hard bop. George Wallington. You won't find him too many places other than on OJC. Same with Wardell Gray. Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (while perhaps a little heavy with alternate takes) is as good a look at Gray as you're gonna get. Up over and out.

The last few times I've been in e-Bay, I noticed an advertisement on their home page for "New Norah, Live in New York." Can it be that Norah Jones has actually crossed the mythical line that differentiates those who are known by two names from those who are known by one? That would place her in the rarified atmosphere occupied by the likes of Price, Pele, Madonna, Cher and Sting. My Lordy me...that's a long ways to travel on the basis of just one album. Up over and out.

Yankee Central here. Signing Donnie Baseball as the Yankee hitting coach can't hurt. I've heard so many personnel rumors it 's hard to keep track of them. For sure, signing Andy Petitte has to be a priority, but with the Astros dumping Billy Wagner's contract yesterday, it's going to make them more of a player. If the Yanks aren't able to resign Petitte, you can pretty much fit Bartolo Colon for a set of pinstripes. I would not be surprised at all to see Soriano take a hike. Same with Nick Johnson...perhaps as a package to the Expos for pitching help. That moves Boone (who I'm not sold on either) to 2B. No way Drew Henson will ever be an everyday third sacker, so that means another move to fill the void at the hot corner. Perhaps the second coming of Mike Lowell? I've also heard that the Yanks will be pursuing either Vladimir Guererro or Gary Sheffield to play right field. That would be followed by swapping out Bernie and Matsui. Williams going to left and Matsui to center. All you can say with absolute certainty is that this will be a fascinating off-season for Yankee lovers (and haters) everywhere. Up over and out. Up over and out.

Put me in the Krall camp. While she's far from a favorite or even someone whose recordings I turn to with any regularity, I find her to be very listenable and, IMO, an underrated pianist. I'm especially a fan of the Live in Paris DVD, as much for her as for that toppermost band she assembled for the occasion. Krall fan or not, you can't help but enjoy the combined efforts of a Jeff Hamilton, a John Clayton, an Anthony Wilson or a John Pisano. And I agree with deus62's earlier observation that those guys do seem to be enjoying themselves mightily in the presence of Ms. Krall. Another way to look at this is that anyone who makes anyone pay attention to jazz can't be all bad. Up over and out.

Brutal...but thanks for asking. My idea of a reasonable evening is NOT a dozen mixed gender 13 year olds partying in our rather smallish front room. Fortunately, the party thrower was my SO's daughter which by default made her the babysitter designate. The sum total of my responsibilities involved putting on a scary DVD and disappearing with our 190 lb. dog in the back room. Unfortunately, that didn't keep me from hearing enough to know that 13 year olds now don't talk or act anything like 13 years olds when I was one. I thought I'd fallen asleep and woken up in a rap club. Booty this and booty that... It'll probably be awhile before we host anything like this again and that's a very good thing. Up over and out.

Hey..the props should go your way, not our's. When the BNBB was unceremoniously turned into cyper-scrap, it was the first time I've ever felt homeless. Now I don't. That's your fault and I thank you for it. Up over and out.