Swinging Swede

So then we get Whom should have that guy sold Fantasy to which still doesn't sound quite right...

The Alvis-Taylor band !?

I have no idea how the match will go, although I fear the worst. Sweden has played well, I think, but has been unable to score goals. England has perhaps not played so well, but has scored goals at least, which is what the game is about. What's clear after the match earlier today however is that both teams will want to win the group, to avoid meeting Germany - and Argentina in the quarterfinal. Sweden can not only think about winning though. If they lose and Trinidad & Tobago beats Paraguay, T&T could actually qualify instead of Sweden!

The referee missed France's 2-0 goal in the first half!

The Gormally incident seems to be true, at least it has been widely reported that way. And Aronian is terribly gifted, he can probably learn a lot of things well! **************************** The Times June 10, 2006 Love me for my moves on the board, says chess queen By Raymond Keene and Rajeev Syal BEFORE this week Arianne Caoili was a beautiful but little-known competitor on the international chess circuit. That all changed when The Times broke the story of how a British grandmaster attacked the Armenian World No 3 when he was dancing with her in an Italian nightclub during a tournament. Now, in her first interview since the incident on the dancefloor of Hiroshima Mon Amour in Turin, Ms Caoili, 19, is keen to address a few misconceptions. Despite being described around the world as the “Kournikova of Chess”, she said: “I want to be known as the Sharapova of chess, rather than the Kournikova — known for both my brains and beauty.” She loves the game because it is “fighting for the mere pleasure of fighting”, adding: “There is nothing like arguing for the mere pleasure of arguing. It is my weakness to sometimes start a random friction between myself and another to test reactions, psyche, get amused, or simply to relax.” Ms Caoili started playing aged 5 and took up chess seriously when she went to live in the Philippines, her father’s home. At 14, when she stopped playing to concentrate on schoolwork, she was an international master who had competed in Europe, Canada and the United States. She recently took up the game again and now hopes to study law and international relations at Oxford University or in Germany. But her desire to be taken seriously has not stopped her throwing herself into modelling and taking up singing. “I am currently recording songs for my first album,” she said. “And I am looking for a recording company.” Ms Caoili’s website lists her personal interests as, among other things, “philosophy”, “getting up to no good” and “fine food (and fine boys)”. It was apparently a fondness for Latin dancing that started the trouble during the Chess Olympiad in Turin last week. Ms Caoili claims that she told Danny Gormally, the England No 10, that she wanted to be “just friends”. Later that evening, she began doing the salsa with Levon Aronian, Armenia’s star player, when there was a commotion. “Suddenly there was a scrum and Lev was on the floor,” she said. “Fortunately Lev was not badly hurt. Danny might have punched the wrong chessplayer, since I was supposed to be with the young German grandmaster Naiditsch that evening. He was my official escort,” she added. She believes that Mr Gormally, 30, whom she has known for years, may have been drinking.The next morning the England team captain apologised to the leader of the Armenian delegation, who is also the country’s Defence Minister. Mr Aronian enjoys star status at home, where chess is a national obsession, similar to David Beckham in England. He also accepted the apology. However, when Mr Gormally went out for coffee, he was apparently attacked by Armenian chess players bent on revenge. He returned home before the tournament’s end. Friends of Mr Gormally said that he had developed an e-mail relationship with Ms Caoili. On her website is a message from a Daniel Gormally quoting the Stevie Wonder song My Cherie Amour. It says: “mycherieamour, lovely as a summers day, mycherie amour, distant as the milky way . . . oh sh** where was i? lol. for my good friend ari may the sun always guide her to her destination.” Ms Caoili declined to say whether she was in a relationship with Mr Aronian. However, her mother, Annette Caoili, told an Australian newspaper that they were romantically involved. Mr Gormally declined to return calls or requests for an interview.

If I may jump in here ... one of the gals above is Australian No. 3, WIM Arianne Caoili, 2169 who has caught a lot of attention lately. Worth fighting for apparently. To the right in the picture above is English grandmaster Danny Gormally, who, during the Chess Olympiad in Turin recently, knocked down Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian (No. 3 in the world) to the left, when he saw the latter dancing salsa with Ms. Caoili. Some say that it's the best thing to have happened to chess in a long time!

Game show

News bloopers!

This stuff is hilarious! George Bush at His Best George Bush on Iraq George Bush on sovereignty

Found this piece on an eBay listing: IMPORTANT NOTE: The mini-lp market is being infiltrated by counterfeit mini-lp CDs made in Russia. These fakes, especially when still sealed, are almost impossible to tell unless one knows what the genuine Japan original looks like or has one for comparison. Buyers at Disk Union have been fooled! The list of musical artists that have been counterfeited includes: King Crimson (21st Century UICE), Rainbow (POCP), Led Zeppelin (AMCY), Eric Clapton (UICY), Genesis (VJCP 1st edition w/ Virgin logo on Obi), King Crimson (IECP), Jethro Tull (TOCP), Deep Purple (WPCR-1563-1577), Black Sabbath (Victor), Creedence Clearwater Revival (VICP), Jimi Hendrix (UICY). So, BUYERS BEWARE! Purchase items only from dealers who can be trusted to sell only genuine Japan mini-lp CDs. Purchasing “Japan” mini-LP CDs from Russia, Finland, Byelorus, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Hong Kong, and China is risky. There are also dealers in the USA, UK, and Canada that are selling fakes. If the price of a mini-lp seems too good to be true, then it may well be a counterfeit.

Hmm, amazon.de lists these as "Kopiergeschützt", but the back covers do indeed not have any CP info. Well, if EMI Europe is starting to release CDs again after a three-year hiatus, it means they once again will offer products that I am interested in buying. Good for them.

The Blanton-Webster Band! Duke Ellington - Cottontail (1941) Watch those dancers...

Artie Shaw - Everything Is Jumpin' (1940) Artie Shaw - Concerto For Clarinet (1940) The two tracks above were with his new 1940 orchestra with strings. Now back to the 1939 band. Behold a young Buddy Rich who is prominently featured on this track: Artie Shaw - Shoot the Likker to Me, John Boy (1939)

Louis Armstrong - A Rhapsody In Black And Blue (1932) This was new to me!

More from The King of Swing: Benny Goodman - Medley: I've Got A Heartful of Music/Avalon/House Hop (1937) More from the Krupa/James band, plus the quartet with Lionel Hampton and Teddy Wilson mixed in too! Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Mel Powell - Stealin' Apples (1947) This is from a funny Danny Kaye film I've seen on TV a couple of times. Benny Goodman plays a classical musician who gets accustomed to jazz improvisation quickly to say the least. In the clip you can also see Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey and Charlie Barnet, but they aren't playing!

Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra

Harry James & Jimmy Durante - Inka Dinka Do (1943)

Artie Shaw and His Orchestra (1938) Another movie short with Shaw's great late 30s orchestra. But this was recorded one month before both Georgie Auld and Buddy Rich joined (it's Cliff Leeman on drums). They perform Nightmare, Begin the Beguine, Let's Stop The Clock, Non-Stop Flight and Prosschai.

Benny Goodman & Peggy Lee - Why Don't You Do Right? (1942)

Woody Herman - Your Father's Mustache (1960)

Dinah Washington - All Of Me The Queen of the Blues live at Newport!

Cab Calloway - Blues In The Night (late 1941 or 1942) Cozy Cole can be spotted on drums!

Artie Shaw - Symphony of Swing (1939) Artie's great 1939 band with Georgie Auld and Buddy Rich doing four numbers: Alone Together, Jeepers Creepers, Deep Purple and a smoking Lady Be Good.

Stan Kenton - Southern Scandal (1945)

Glenn Miller - In The Mood (1941) Wasn't Al Klink discussed briefly the other day? He and Tex Beneke can be seen (and heard) here on tenors.