Brad

Both are at the top of my list. Hendrix opening for the Monkees is definitely odd!

Listened to Rubber Soul again the other day. I would have to say that is my favorite; it's an album that I never tire of listening. When I was a kid I used to hate "Michelle." Now, I think I really like it. Guess I'm old

Are these through the web also or just on tv?

That't not exactly true, assuming he's listening to Channel 70. However, they do tend to repeat things here and there. I actually find that to be more of a problem on their Classic Vinyl station (60s rock).

That's a real shame. Should be a stop light to all men.

I don't know if he wrote that but no matter, he was very forthright. Doesn't excuse what he did but at least he owned up, not like Clemens or Bar-roid.

Have a very good one!

Article in today's Times about what it takes to be a Hall of Famer: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/sports/baseball/11hall.html?ref=baseball

Or baked, to use common parlance

You heard it here: the championship game will be at the Meadowlands with the Jets hosting the Ravens

I think it's around 20 F today but later in the week it's supposed to hit 40. 35 is very cold for Florida. Must have devastated the citrus crop. What a shame.

I'm not sure it's an apt comparison because in certain pursuits we expect things to be unchanged such as sports. In music, we don't necessarily expect that and music has shown that there's always inventions and new developements taking place. Some would prefer to stop time on its head or turn hardbop into something like classical music where what a past master has done must be slavishly copied. Well, I can't hear how Bach originally did it since there wasn't recording technology at the time but I can hear how Hank or Blakey did it and I would prefer to hear them. As Don Byas said to Bird, and it applies here, "you ain't showing me anything new on that horn."

I have some of Alexander's records and I have seen him in concert and I enjoyed them and him but there's a certain sameness and it just doesn't grab me. I love hardbop but why not listen to some of its trailblazers rather than its followers?

Seems a little on the chilly side here in northwestern NJ. Of course, light is just emerging and no sun.

Probably as a self justification.

Actually, the guideline for HOF voters is to compare those who are eligible with their contemporaries. The game changed so much from era to era, that it's not thought fair to do evaluations on any other basis. Consider the so-called dead ball era, or the importance or relief pitching and the closer, or changes in equipment. Just to give you an example of how much things change, did you know that outfielders routinely left their gloves on the field at the end of an inning until 1954? Yes, I knew that from way back when. Okay, if Jim Rice, Tony Perez, Orlando Cepeda, Ralph Kiner, Herb Pennock, Don Drysdale, (love him but) Catfish Hunter, Bruce Sutter, Bill Mazerowski, Pee Wee Reese (I could go on) are HOFers, The Hawk sure as hell is too. I have no problem with people who want tougher standards, but given the above criteria you gave I think his selection isn't worse than most of the above. Some talk about what cap he'll wear as he was an Expo for 11 years and a Cub for 10, but I'd think (& hope) it's the Expo hat. The steals came from those years, and that's what made him such a badass (along with the arm.) I hope Raines gets in someday as I think he was in some ways even better (though their roles were different.) Being the 2nd greatest lead off man should count for something. I agree his selection isn't worse than those but of the above group I would only include Kiner, Drysdale and Sutter. The rest are good to very good players, just not HOF in my view. There are some guys who shouldn't be in good and probably should be removed like Rabbit Maranville and the Scooter.

Still not convinced. You can make number do anything and I don't think the test is to compare him to his contemporaries but to other HOF-ers. Also, choosing a person for the HOF reminds me of the Potter Stewart comment about obscenity: "I can't define it but I know it when I see it." For a person to belong in the Hall, you shouldn't have to think twice about it. Someone like Gibson or Mays, you don't even give it a second thought. If I have to do that with someone like Dawson, sorry not a HOF'er. That's for special people.

Undeserving in my opinion. Not HOF caliber.

Some of those idiots deserve what they get, like the guy who let someone run over a skateboard lying on his face. You have to wonder what they were thinking. Apparently, very little.

Just started Nik Cohn's Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock, kind of like a stream of consciousness history.

Delmark just put out this CD: Any thoughts about it?

Agreed. It was a weird article. Slow day I guess.

My son is a metalhead and so, of course, we listen to a lot of metal in the car. I don't care for a lot of the music but these guy, in my unprofessional opionion, are very highly skilled musicians (say what you want about what they play).

The attributes he sees in jazz and metal musicians might apply to many musicians of all genres.