Dave James

Fieri will make tons of money from this new restaurant regardless of the quality of the menu. It's not about the food, it's about buddying up to the faux celebrity of guys like...well...Guy. And while you're there, be sure to pick up a T-shirt you can wear back home so all your runnin' buds will know that you've rubbed shoulders and kinda, sorta hung with the owner.

Maybe they're trying to free up cash to sign Alex Rodriguez.

I'm sure others have run into this problem. I'm having trouble with the high E string slipping off the fretboard on my Gibson Les Paul. It's 2001 model and the beveling of the frets seems to be what's causing the problem. I've thought about changing out the nut, but I really don't think that will help. I also tried some 12's just to see if the heavier gauge string might make a difference. It doesn't. Any thoughts or ideas?

Has anyone ever talked to Mosaic about a Don Byas set? There's more than enough material around to warrant a good-sized box, although getting the rights from all the different labels for which he recorded might be both an expansive and an expensive task.

Mariano Rivera's decision to return in 2013 puts the Yankees in a real quandary. I love Mo, but I wish he'd have taken one for the team and hung up his spikes.

I think a number of people who commented early on on this thread are likely to find a lump of coal in their Christmas stocking.

I did a deep dive on Google. They make a high end kibble called Sr 90. Sr, of course, is the chemical symbol for Strontium.

If your dog begins to glow, it's probably time to call the vet.

I disagree. For those who wished to cross it, the Songbook provided a bridge of familiarity that allowed people for whom music was already a primary source of entertainment to make an informed transition to newer and more challenging interpretations of that same music

If new source material as verdant as the Great American Songbook were a tree and it fell in the forest and no one was there, would it make a sound? Point being, I buy into what Mr. Schwartz is saying in terms of the audience for the music...that in another 20 years, who will be knowledgeable enough to appreciate it or take the time to learn how to do so. What will kick jazz to the curb is more the lack of an informed audience than it is the lack of useable material or musicians who play it. Everything today is designed for the short haul. What used to be the flavor of the month is now the flavor or the week and I have little doubt that the flavor of the day is just around the corner. Music requiring actual thought, understanding and consideration is on life support because it requires actual thought, understanding and consideration.

Only plantains should be used on vinyl.

Arson or just good fortune?

Accented English or not, I just love Ann Burton.

Breaking Bad is terrific. While I'd be surprised if any of the current crop of cable based dramas eventually rise to the level of The Sopranos or Mad Men, shows like this give them a solid run for their money. Right now, I'm six episodes into the first season of Homeland which I'm liking a lot. A riveting "is he or isn't he" story line backed by solid acting all across-the-board. Plus, there's some passable eye candy on board with Claire Danes and Morena Baccarin, the gal from the short lived ABC series V. I've talked people who have watched this from the beginning and they say it only gets better. I say, bring it on.

I'm not much of a fan of any kind of bass solo, but I particularly dislike bowed bass solos, especially those orchestrated by Paul Chambers. He always sounds to me like he's trying to saw his instrument in two.

The one guy the Yankees could not afford to lose is lost.

I have NEVER seen anything quite like this. Thank God for ex-Mariners.

Berigan, You make a good point. The Yankees lineup isn't an accident waiting to happen, it's and accident that's already happened. This team has made a habit of not hitting in the clutch all season. Now that the playoffs are here, and they're only seeing the best teams with the best pitching, it's just magnifies an ongoing problem. Look, when you get this far, you go with the guys who give you the best chance to win. Needless to say, you can't bench 2/3'rds of your starting line-up, so you make your point by benching the guy who's least likely at this point to snap out of it. That's A-Rod and for more reasons that just his performance. Fact is, the fans are getting ugly and that just makes it worse. I'd keep him out of the lineup tomorrow and put him back when they go to Detroit. If he gets better, he plays. If he doesn't, he sits. The only question is this. Does Girardi have the figs to make it happen? I'll tell you one thing. If I was running that club, I'd be talking a buy-out with whoever is representing A-Rod. The idea of him taking up space and moping around for five more years is too horrible to contemplate.

Could someone explain to me why Joe Girardi still has A-Rod in the line-up? He's as close as there is to a guaranteed out as I've seen in all my years of wathing baseball. Hopeless, worthless and useless don't even begin to describe him at this point in his career. Five more years of this? Holy jumpin' up and down, Martha!

For those who own a Kindle, this is good news. Dear Kindle Customer, We have good news. You are entitled to a credit for some of your past e-book purchases as a result of legal settlements between several major e-book publishers and the Attorneys General of most U.S. states and territories, including yours. You do not need to do anything to receive this credit. We will contact you when the credit is applied to your Amazon.com account if the Court approves the settlements in February 2013. Hachette, Harper Collins, and Simon & Schuster have settled an antitrust lawsuit about e-book prices. Under the proposed settlements, the publishers will provide funds for a credit that will be applied directly to your Amazon.com account. If the Court approves the settlements, the account credit will appear automatically and can be used to purchase Kindle books or print books. While we will not know the amount of your credit until the Court approves the settlements, the Attorneys General estimate that it will range from $0.30 to $1.32 for every eligible Kindle book that you purchased between April 2010 and May 2012. Alternatively, you may request a check in the amount of your credit by following the instructions included in the formal notice of the settlements, set forth below. You can learn more about the settlements here: www.amazon.com/help/agencyebooksettlements In addition to the account credit, the settlements impose limitations on the publishers’ ability to set e-book prices. We think these settlements are a big win for customers and look forward to lowering prices on more Kindle books in the future. Thank you for being a Kindle customer. The Amazon Kindle Team

Not sure to what extent the market can absorb another Chet Baker biography, but a new one by Matthew Ruddick is now available. http://www.funnyvalentine.org/funnyvalentine.org/Funny_Valentine.html

I'm confused. Is this an allegation criminal activity? Does it mean that Armstrong could actually end up paying a price for flaunting the rules or is it just piling on? I still maintain that in the court of public opinion, no one really cares. The only interesting thing will be to see if Nike continues to stand behind him in the wake of these latest developments.

We've got cows!

I found Avatar to be interesting from a technological standpoint. Never having seen a 3D movie before, it was a lot of fun. As far as the story and its execution, completely lame and utterly forgettable.