connoisseur series500

Sorry to see this, Chris, and thanks for sharing it. It's important that we all see the kind of character we're dealing with here.

Isn't it amazing? Championship boxers playing chess. Lennox has been a chess fan for many years. The Klitschkos seem to have chess pals in high places! It's funny, I sometimes play young people in chess tournaments and they all see so well trained. They all write down their moves on the scoresheets before they actually make their move. Back in my day, we were all inspired by the solo efforts of Bobby Fischer and we took a solo approach to chess improvement and the like. Obviously, today's ways are better.

I'm pretty sure that I've vaulted past Moose on that list.

Wow!

Actually, all stories and novels can be reduced to sexual interpretations if you approach it from that viewpoint. Lit. Crit people are useless drones. I know, I have a M.A. in Literature. Nothing but a waste of time.

Then explain why people bother to list their favorites or even have favorites if they didn't think one musician is better than another? We all do it. I would also like to point I didn't say Mobley was a bad musician. I made it very clear I thought he wasn excellent musician. Please explain why Jazz musicians have/had cutting contests? I am still waiting for an actual response? Why Sonny Rollins felt the need to have to try to cut Bean? It's the same competitive nature or desire that is in athletes and every other person that actually gets anywhere in life. I most certainly do list my favorites. These are MY favorites. Certain poets are MY favorites; certain musicians, certain artists. That doesn't mean they are better than any other. It means that they COMMUNICATE to me; that their art finds an analog to my own personal experiences. My polls on this board are for fun. You can't really rank musicians or artists. As for cutting sessions, that's another topic. I listen to Johnny Griffin's "Blowing Session," which apparently was a cutting session and it's an awful cd in my opinion. Cutting sessions don't prove anything.

Moose kinda beat me to it, but I've got a problem comparing the race car analogy to Coltrane and Mobley. To me, sports and competition is one thing and art is another. Both Coltrane and Mobley are great artists; one cannot necessarily say that one is greater than the other. Their music represents the spectrum from which they express their lives. Who's better, Van Gogh or Gaugin? It's a silly question.

Hard to put it better than this. Here's your answer. No doubt about it.

It's so funny. I sold much of my chess library right before making my "comeback." I figured I had given up chess forever, then I decided to get my 10 year old son involved in the game. In the end, I got hooked and he shows no extraordinary interest in the game. Wouldn't mind buying back my library, but I would have to pay 3-4 times the amount. Not worth it. Don't give up the library! I wish I still had those books.

Thanks, Joe!

Great article, Beri. Thanks for posting it.

Just came back from Cleveland last night and I'm bushed. I won first prize in the U2000 section with a 5-0 score. The last game was full of adventures as bad mistakes were made on both sides. We were fatigued. According to the USCF ratings calculator, I should have picked up around 55 points; so I should now be 1980. Looks like my U2000 days are numbered. It was my goal to reach 2000 points by the end of the year. Looks like I'll achieve that. Have to then shoot for 2100 in another year. And then maybe 2200. Don't know if it is really feasible. At 43, I'm getting "old" by chess standards. I'm improving to some extent, but the rating jump is really due to the fact that my rating never reflected my playing strength. First place was $300. The hotel for two nights was $150 and the entry fee was $60. Can't make money at these events! Anyway, I feel good right now.

Anyone interested in working out a trade? I've got Sonny Criss Imperial Sessions Conn Series (2 cds) available. email me: pdmagin@accesstoledo.com

Right on, brother!

I don't know many of the poll selections so I didn't vote. They can't be that much over-praised when I haven't heard of these guys. My selection would be Josh Redman. He's a good tenor player, but nowhere near as good as the critics rave. The only cd I have of his which I feel qualifies as a "keeper" would be "Mood Swing," and that's mostly because of the piano work of Brian Meldau. He is certainly a good tenor player; I don't claim he isn't, but I just don't think he's the greatest thing since Coltrane as the critics like to state.

Kenyon Martin was awful. He needs some growing up to do. Jason Kidd will no longer be with NJ. No more Nets.

BTW, in an effort to show you guys that competitive chess has changed a lot over the years and it's not a game for stodgy old people. Here's a link from the European Championships currently being held in Turkey. Check out these chess babes: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=1000 also: http://www.chessbase.come/newdetail.asp?newsid=994 Of course, they don't all look like models, but these are brilliant ladies. Many of them are geniuses. And for you female readers, here are some pictures of the male players: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=992 Again, many of these guys are geniuses, particularly Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexander Grischuk.

I will be leaving for Cleveland in a few hours and I will return late on Sunday, July 15. First round begins this evening; there will be two games on Saturday and two on Sunday. Each game is scheduled to last 5 hours. Wish me luck! I'm gonna go get em!

Great thread! I've been getting acquainted with the Three Sounds. Still listening. Haven't formed any solid opinion yet. They kick butt on some songs, while others come across as a bit slow. Still listening...

I can't single one out offhand, but I do remember liking his solos on Art Blakey, "Caravan."

I used to watch it as an adult and thought it was terrific. Unfortunately, I don't remember any specifics besides the green goo.

Go get em, Mnytime! Not to pick on hospital people necessarily, but the whole process of staying in a hospital leaves one feeling humiliated and abused. Sometimes I wonder if I should just go off in a corner and shrivel away when I'm sick. Hell, I've got enough life insurance on me to ameliorate whatever the loss might be to others. Better that than have the doctors practice their jungle medicines on me. My wife was prescribed an antibiotic this week for an infection and she became violently ill as a result. I phoned up the doctor's office to switch meds, and now she's fine. The doctor is probably prescribing some drug that the pharmaceutical sales people are encouraging her to prescribe. The Doc's drawer is probably full of free pens and free dinner coupons as a result. Can anyone justify for me the existence of pharmaceutical sales people? Seems to me that they can describe their new products at seminars and such. No need to visit doctor's offices. Seems a conflict of interest to me, if the doc benefits financially from prescribing these meds. One thing's for sure, more of this dirty shit will come out as the baby boomers continue to age and require medical treatment.

I can't play music so it is difficult for me to describe why I like or dislike a certain musician. I have always liked Hank Mobley, and I've got most of his stuff. He is not a dazzling soloist, but his music and compositions are always of high quality to me. He seems to work very well with his sidemen. To me, Hank Mobley is Hardbop as much as Lee Morgan or Horace Silver or Art Blakey is. I love his stuff.

Like every period in life, it would rate both a and a . Those were my college years, so for the most part it was fun. I went to college for six years including grad. school then I took off for Asia at the age of 24. Came back 11 years later. 24 and 25 were definitely I'm 43 years old now and as I look back on life, I feel I've experienced a stage of almost complete bliss around three different times of my life. This feeling of bliss never lasted longer than say, a two-year period. I feel I went through these "happy 2-year periods" around three times in my life. Here goes; age 8-10 growing up in Abaco, Bahamas. One word: FUCKING AWESOME!! (well that's two words) age 20-22 finishing up college and starting grad school. Great time. age 25-27 spent in Thailand having a blast. It's all been basically downhill from there. But at least I listen to some great shit now!

Shame on me, I didn't see the game till the end. I still don't know who won. Hope the Nets pulled it out. Anyone can win this series. When I ran that poll, just about everyone including myself thought the Spurs would take it. I now believe that the Nets could win if they want it badly enough. Again, anyone can win. It is an interesting series. On the one hand, I'd like to see nice-guy David Robinson bow out as a champion. Actually, the Spurs are a team of nice guys, but the Nets are underdogs and...you just can't help rooting for an underdog.