connoisseur series500

I'm not a big college football fan, though I love the NFL. I will, however, watch the Rose Bowl. Rootin' for Michigan of course.

Stay strong Catesta. You can beat it!! Don't listen to all the old wives tales about chicken soup and Vitamin C and all that. Best is Alcohol! Booze will beat the bug!!

Great idea, Underground. The fear here is that names will be left out. Rooster ranks high on my list. He's been a huge help both in terms of trades and advice. Jacknife's my favorite trading partner. He boomerangs the nonsense back the way I like it too! Thanks Knife! You da Man!!! Jim Sangry has helped with advice on the board with his comments. The guy's an encyclopedia. Couw sent me some great stuff. Thanks JOhn!! Thanks to Dan for starting the blindfold concept and thanks to those who sent me the discs. Catesta, thanks for the laughs; Weizy, thanks for keeping Johnny in check...oh, this was about music wasn't it? Jim (B-3er) has been a big help in terms of organ-jazz recommendations. Ditto Soul Stream. Thanks to Grey for his bargain offerings. I actually won the pm race for a couple of cds over the course of the year. Lon has been a big help in this area as well. Abution has been terrific. Made a bunch of trades with him over the year, and I've benefitted from his suggestions. Tjazz: thanks for your help also. You've been extremely helpful. Thanks also to DoubleM for some good trades. Same goes for Saint Vitus. Underground has also helped me out with soul-jazz ideas. We may not share the same tastes, but there are some cds that we both like!! I'm sure, I still left people out...

This sounds like a viable option for me. I can certainly spare that kind of coin. Sure beats "Operation: Dumpster," which had evilly entered my brain. Of course, if that hungry snake down in Indonesia has necrophilic tastes buds...

Hey, how about Joe G's backyard?? What about it, Joe?

You didn't spend hours making up all those slogans did you, Catesta?

Nice pics, Jim.

Just sent you a PM, Hank. I'm interested in the Lee Morgan, "Indeed"

This may be a dumb question but no insensitivity is intended here: What do you guys do with the kitty corpses? I guess I'm looking ahead to when my own puss runs out his clock.

Happy New Year to All, drinkers and teetotalers alike. I lift my big mug of tea up as a toast...

Wow, we hear it's going around. Hasn't hit us yet. Are there any bright spots to any of this? Should we hide out like hermit crabs till it passes?

Sorry to hear the news, SS, but they both lived long kitty lives. 15 years on a cat is like 150,000 on a car. That's pretty good.

I have revised my opinion on this somewhat.

None. I received all the important stuff that I should have been buying over the course of the year instead of jazz cds, such as clothes and such. I don't encourange my family to participate in my spending habits. I buy enough music on my own.

Will look for you when you return, Jazz. AIT...AIT....AIT... Androgynous Intellectual Teleconference? Atmospheric Interference Telepathy? Armstrong, Isaacs, & Thompson Inc? Albanian International Terrorism? Alfred & Theresa's Tryst? guess I can't figure it out... B)

Ah, a foot fetish man. I need a new pair of sneakers and I aint paying any extra for NBA star endorsements. That means I'll wind up with something that will generate laughs at the grocery store. I'm okay on the dress shoes for now. Oh, were you talking to me??

WTF!!!??? Mnytime has a bigger pet snake than that. Beat me to that comment, Catesta. Now we know how Mnytime fed his snakes: he sic'ed them on his neighbor's dogs. Notice the article says that the reticulated pythons eats 3-4 dogs a day. No doubt the Indonesians just feed them stray dogs. I have never been a dog owner, but I would imagine that this might upset some of our posters who are dog lovers.

Doubt it would make any difference, Johnny. People like you are already actively opposed to Bush and the Republicans. You're votes and actions are already tabulated in the "against" side of the ledger. So, really, your actions don't amount to a hill of beans. Why waste a New Year's resolution on that? Still, I don't mean to criticize the resolutions of others, so, good luck!

Smoke dollar bills. It probably wouldn't cost much more than regular cigarettes and might be better for your health.

I was about to start a similar thread. My resolutions over the last couple years were all diet related, but this year I require more reform and I've got a longer list. 1. Get another job. This one is important as I'm not doing very well and certainly not enjoying what I'm doing right now. 2. Stop sweating stuff beyond my control. This one always has to be relearned. 3. Be more flexible regarding change. This is difficult enough to do, and it becomes more so as we age. Time for me to work on this aspect of my personality. 4. Stop buying cds. I'm serious about this one. I'll pick up some of the new RVGs/Conns when they are issued but that's it. I shall now acquire by exchange rather than through purchase. I need to save the $200/month I spend on this stuff. 5. Get more reading done. Last year's resolutions (as far as I can remember) were: 1. Don't go above 170 lbs. FAILED I'm 173 lbs. 2. Break USCF 2000 chess rating. Accomplished. 3. Do better at my job. FAILED Can't remember the others. Regarding New Year's Resolutions in general: They definitely become more important as I get older. Why? There's more of me which requires reform! When I was younger, I was still developing, but in later years when one's identity is quite solid, all these bad habits strengthen. Good luck everyone on your resolutions.

Eagles sure seem to have more than their share of supporters on this board. Well why not? They play good team ball, and McNabb is a classy leader. They look like the NFC version of the Pats in that they play good team ball. Still think it's New England's year. If they win then Belichek's got two trophies in three years. An observation: The Super Bowl winner always influences all the other teams next year. When Baltimore won the big one, everyone went shopping for big defensive tackles primarily and defensive ends and linebackers. New England picked up Richard Seymour as the sixth pick of the draft, but he was already only the third highest rated DT coming out of college and two others went ahead of him. There was a big run on defensive tackles again in the 2003 draft after Warren Sapp's Buccaneers won the Super Bowl. The Jets even traded their two first rounders in order to snag Robertson. NE badly needed a DT after being unable to stop the run in 2002. They picked up Ty Warren who gets some playing time as a substitute. Before the season began, they picked up Ted Washington in free agency from the Bears. When the Rams won the Super Bowl, everyone went looking for speedy receivers and hidden quarterback gems like Kurt Warner was. When New England won based on team play and Belichek and Scott Pioli (personnel director) building up the team on cheap free agents and mid round draft picks, no one copied them at all! People still went after the big expensive free agents. Now New England is one of the favorites to win the whole thing and again the team was built upon midround draft picks and unknown free agents. (Rodney Harrison is the exception) When will the rest of the league get the message? What will it take? Belichek's model is the way to win in today's NFL with salary cap issues and big egos. The offensive line has played extremely well this season. Two of the starters are rookies: Dan Koppen and Tom Ashworth. Neither went higher than the fourth round. Key substitute Dan Klecko was a fourth or fifth round pick. Starting free safety, Eugene Wilson was second round, I believe and Bethea Johnson was either second or third round. Belichek's got a fistful of midround picks lined up for 2004 draft. Why didn't other teams get into a bidding war over cornerback Tyrone Poole? He leads the Pats with 7 interceptions and has numerous passes defended. He has completely shut down the left side of the field enabling Ty Law to focus completely on his side of the field. DE Hugh Douglas gets the huge salary while gems like Tyrone Poole are ignored. The Pats put out big $$$ for LB Roosevelt Colvin and he went on injured reserve after the first game of the season. Actually, I hope that the rest of the league never catches on to Belichek's and Pioli's approach. Then there will be fewer bargains out there. Let the Pats continue as they do and they will always win. Eventually, other teams will get the message.

I use powder. Put some on the sticky area then rub it off with your thumb. May have to do this several times. The powder soaks up the sticky part. Works for me.

Agree Wheel. What a crappy way to miss the playoffs. Gotta blame the defense of course, and all results are justified by their outcomes, if that makes any sense. With a defence that would allow such a collapse, they did not deserve to make it to the playoffs. How about St. Louis looking so lame aganst the Lions? I think it's important to go into the playoffs at the top of your game. Denver was comprehensively outplayed by Green Bay. They won't go far in the playoffs either. In the meantime, Green Bay is looking like the danger team on the NFC side. I don't really see any team in the AFC who can beat New England. They should make it to the Super Bowl.

Same here...the last few hours at work before the holiday and Xmas eve with relatives were all I need. I share some of these feelings as well. Oh what a grump!! Wait till I'm really old.

I always eagerly anticipate the holidays and the time off, then find myself a bit bored and tired of everything. I guess I just can't take too much of anything. As for Xmas shopping...wait till I get my credit card statement.