Dave James

We have a winner! The photo was taken in 1943 when Laurel and Hardy sport the zoot suits they wore in the film 'Jitterbugs'? Welles was filming 'Jane Eyre' at the same time and wears the appropriate costume for the part! Don't think I'd have gotten that one. It's hard to remember when he wasn't just a biscuit short of three bills. Did y'all check out the guitar stand? We've come a long ways.

When I need a quick Van Halen fix, I rarely turn in any other direction than Hot For Teacher from their album 1984 . That song perfectly captures the whole naughty boy essence of the band in less than five minutes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4GZFbCqx18

Robert Taylor or Johnny Weissmuller? How do you play tenor with a cigar in your right hand? I call foul.

I'm guessing Manning goes to Miami. Makes sense since he's played his whole high school, college and pro career on a team with white helmets. With respect to Cleveland, RGIII is their's for the taking if they're willing to pay the freight. That would start, but not end, with the two first round picks they have in this year's draft.

Of the 95 people who cast a vote on Facebook, 50 preferred that this be released as a digital download. If that doesn't tell you all you need to know about the current state of affairs when it comes to sound, I don't know what would.

:tup (Not that it is "probably better off that way" that there is no Mosaic (yet) but it would be an interesting and fitting project) I did a quick internet search to see if there was any new release related developments involving the Savory Collection, but there's just nothing out there. The latest information is from a brief article written by our own Ghost of Miles from May of last year. I have a feeling that the legal issues attendant to this material are probably going to keep it bottled up for years, just like the Felsted or Keystone collections. I'll bet the folks at Mosaic would kill to get their hands on this stuff. It's a match made in heaven. It could result in multiple big boxes. They could sell a ton of these sets.

Spo-Kane, Washington. Nice.

Georgie Fame has toured a fair amount with Van Morrison, a favorite non-jazz singer of mine.

Life is full of difficult decisions. Did you do the right thing? You'll never know. What you do know is that the two of you did the best you could. No one can fault you for that. The worst thing you can do now is second guess yourself. Also keep in mind is that as the trauma of the move recedes, and your Dad acclimatizes himself to his new surroundings, things could get better.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen is reporting that the Colts will officially cut ties with Peyton Manning tomorrow. Apparently both Jim Irsay, the Colts owner, and Manning himself will be at the press conference. Now that he's officially in play, that will make the machinations leading up to the NFL draft even more interesting.

Med Flory was in the Jerry Lewis version of The Nutty Professor.

Here's Jesus in some grout:

Today's installment: Forensic Reconstruction http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-civil-war-coldcase-20120306,0,3116969.story

Clipped this from an article on Grantland. Interesting take as to one of the reasons Goodell is going to have to drop a serious shoe here. Think of all the illusions about the National Football League that the revelations of a bounty program in New Orleans shatter. Think of all the silly pretensions those revelations deflate. The preposterous prayer circles at midfield. The weepy tinpot patriotism of the flyovers and the martial music. The dime-store Americanism that's draped on anything that moves. The suffocating corporate miasma that attends everything the league does — from the groaning buffet tables at the Super Bowl to the Queegish fascination with headbands and sock lengths while teams are paying "bounties" to tee up the stars of your game so they don't get to play anymore. What we have here now is the face of organized savagery, plain and simple, and no amount of commercials showing happy kids cavorting with your dinged-up superstars can ameliorate any of that.

Wow ! Was that on ebay? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mosaic-Complete-Commodore-Jazz-Recordings-Vol-1-2-3-EX-/330693810399?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item4cfee318df#ht_500wt_948

It wasn't me although I was sorely tempted. Someone just landed Volumes 1-3 of the Complete Commodore Recordings on Mosaic for $560. 66-LP's in near mint condition. According to the tease, they'd only been played once. That's about $8.50 per record. Not a bad score as an investment in music or simply as an investment.

I have a group of seven friends who are all into popular music. We all grew up within 10 years of each other, so our taste in music, while not in lockstep, is somewhat consistent. Since we all share this same interest, we've developed a contest based on the Billboard Top 100 songs of a given five year period. Each of us puts together a group of our ten favorite songs from that period, we play them anonymously and then vote on each song using a scale of 1-5. The winner is the one who accumulates the most points. We all go camping once a year for a few days and that's when we do this. It's a good excuse to throw back some road pops, play some golf, argue about music and insult one another. Anyhow, to make a long story short, we began several years ago with 1965 and we've now worked out way up to 1980. Those of us who have reviewed the Top 100's from '80-'84 have all mentioned the extreme drop off in the overall quality of music that seems to have begun around that time. Sure, there are still some good songs, but it's nothing like what we've had to work with up until now. The question I've asked myself is to what extent this is a reflection of technology. Granted, the internet was still in its infancy as was the manipulation of sound. As the '80's wore on, however, producers and engineers began to find new ways that started moving recorded music into what I'll call a more unnatural environment. To me, that was the dividing line, when the industry stepped onto that first slippery slope that taken us to where we are today.

Jennifer Anniston? Bertrand. Indeed. I thought the dated look of the picture would throw people off. Not so.

It is kind of weird to think about how long a lot of us have "known" each other. I first tied into the BNBB in search of Japanese Blue Notes. I "met" Lon and Kevin first, and then a whole bunch of other great guys..even Dan, who at the time, was going under the pen name, Gene Harris Fanatic. Some of those guys are still here and some aren't. That has to have been at least 10-12 years ago. But, I digress. Big Al...hope y'all had a good one.

That's easy. It's the person with the world's largest head. Here's one to keep you guessing:

More recently, I believe Bud Selig used the authority vested in him to separate Frank McCount from the ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers. That was also done in the best interests of baseball.

Oh yeah? How about when Bowie Kuhn overturned Charlie FInley's trade of VIda Blue, Joe Rudi and Rollie FIngers? As I recall he cited the fact that such a trade was not in the best interests of the game. Is having your reigning MVP get away with taking steroids in the best interests of the game? In Dave James' world, that's a no. In Dan Gould's world, perhaps that's a yes. Also, just to clarify, I never said Selig was the epitome of evil. I just said he was a tool, a remark by which I will gladly stand.

Reports have surfaced that a number of MLB players are upset with developments in the Ryan Braun case. This is a guy who we now know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, took steroids and yet, because of ambiguous language in the CBA, has been fully exonerated. The question of "did he or didn't he" should not be obscured by technicalities. It's all that matters. If Bud Selig had any stones, he'd step in and do the right thing. That he doesn't and he won't makes it abundantly clear that he's nothing but a tool. I can assure you that neither Bart Giamatti or Fay Vincent would have let this stand.

Billie Holiday Anita O'Day Johnny Hartman

I'd have to guess that the Barney Wilen fans on this board alone could easily overwhelm Da Bastid's supply logistics.