RainyDay

I am sorry to hear about your friend. I was on the freeway some months ago and someone in a Hummer was right on the tail of the car in front of it, I mean right on top if it. If the car had stopped suddenly, it would have been a fatal accident for sure.

I do, but you'd have to come "you know where" for an explanation... It was $2.22 yesterday when we filled up, but I use my bike, and the wife doesn't have that far to drive to get to work. Those "Sunday afternoon drives" of my youth are nothing but a fond memory, but it doesn't hurt that much. Now if you want to talk about housing costs here in the SF Bay area... $2.28 where I fill up, and no, I DON'T want to talk about housing costs in the goddamn Bay Area, thank you. Who are you telling? My neighbor and I were talking about the fact that only in California can a house in the ghetto go for darn near half a million dollars. It doesn't make any sense. I filled up my tank yesterday and gas in Alameda was $2.29/gallon. I only needed 5+ gallons but still. When and if I buy another car, it will be a hybrid, but not that dinky Prius.

Glad to hear that. I don't how different things are across Europe. In California, emission controls are tighter than in other parts of the country and we still have serious air quality problems and asthma is a growing problem with kids. In the California Central Valley, growers finally lost their exemption from emission controls on farm equipment.

Wow, diesel. Just think of what it is doing to the air quality. Do kids have rising rates of asthma in your neck of the woods? Do you use very low sulphur diesel? Does your vehicle have an emission control device or NOx filter on it? Diesel is really bad stuff if you are using regular diesel wihout any emissions controls.

I watched the movie "28 Days Later" last night and managed to miss the last three minutes of the movie. It was okay but a bit too gruesome for my taste. Anybody know how it ended? I also watched the beginning of the "Fabulous Baker Boys," which is a favorite. I love the music (but not Michelle Pfeiffer's singing). I bought the soundtrack which has some good stuff on it.

I wonder why that is.

I was fortunate to see this group at Yoshi's earlier this year and it was amazing. When the first few notes of "Over and Over Again" were played, there was a collective sigh in the house. McCoy is not noted for chatting on stage but he took a moment to comment how much he apprecitated the opportunity to play with Ravi and Sanders and made very touching comments about Coltrane Sr. It was one of those times that made you glad to be alive and in love with jazz. It was a magical event not just because of the band line up but because the music was so tight. I can't believe I left this off my jaw dropping list because it should have been there. Sanders plays Yoshi's once a year and he tends to pace himself and let the other band members do a lot of soloing. But with McCoy, Sanders played much more than he normally does with his own band and he seemed to be tireless. He is such a strong player with incredible control. McCoy played with more energy than I'd seen in a while. Moffett was the stuff. I can't wait to see him again. I'm glad this group is doing other gigs. I hope there is a recording in the offing.

Just checked the San Jose Jazz Festival website. The festival this year is August 5-8. I went a couple of summers ago and had a great time. AND IT'S FREE!! For details: http://www.sanjosejazz.org/ The line-up so far is: RAY BARRETTO TERENCE BLANCHARD JANE BUNNETT DENA DEROSE DAVE ELLIS PETE ESCOVEDO INSIGHT MARK LEVINE PASCAL AND REMY LE BOEUF VIRGINIA MAYHEW JAMES MOODY OAKLAND INTERFAITH CHOIR BOBBY SANABRIA JOHN SANTOS SAN JOSE JAZZ SOCIETY BIG BAND FEATURING STEVE TURRE LIZZ WRIGHT ...AND MANY MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED JUNE 9,2004

I was thinking about seeing him next month. You all recommend that? I saw him with someone else a couple years ago, can't remember with who (McCoy?). I did enjoy his playing. He's mostly electronic? Ear plugs recommended?

I predict Ms. DeGarmo will win. She's the same age as the target audience, and she's cute as a bug's ear (not that Latoya and Fantasia are not) in a sweet teen kind of way. That she has improved is admirable. That she still has a ways to go is not surprising. Have you ever heard Madonna sing live? There's a reason she always lip synchs on "live" TV. That's what people today like, the package, not the goods. Poor Jasmine is having the Peter Principle imposed on her.

Sal: I wouldn't call them flops even though he received a lot of flack for some of his recordings. I've heard him called a sellout. My impression is that he was just trying new things. I enjoy the R&B flavors in his music. I find his playing on records to be exciting but seeing him play live is extraordinary. He hasn't been at Yoshi's for a year now and I missed him last year due to illness (mine).

What a beautiful baby girl!

Oh how I love First Light. I would kill to have seen him play it live. Think I will play it now.

Our computer network. Our whole technology thing is a mess. The network sometimes takes 'ludes and takes for freaking ever to open programs, documents, or e-mails. Our e-mail system is totally farked up. I have to keep a Yahoo account so I don't miss e-mails. This was on the advice of our info systems personnel. I have deadline driven work so this is a bit of a problem for me. The printer went out and wasn't fixed for well over a month. One day the printer decided it wanted "rough paper" from tray 1 and we couldn't print from trays that accommodate reams of paper and quickly prints out documents. Now there are traffic jams in the printer/copy room. We ran out of copy/printer paper and had to scrounge up colored paper to print out documents. One of my counterparts at another agency asked me when we were attending a regional meeting why my boss and I had pink agendas. I felt like the poor kid with holes in my shoes. One day my boss used the electric pencil sharpener and the electric stapler next to it started spitting staples at him. So you'd hear the "whrrrr" of the sharpener than "bang, bang, bang!" When I went into the copy room after him, there staples all over the floor. A common shout around here is "Is your e-mail working?" Another department in this megopolis I work for was without e-mail for about a year. Today is the blood drive. On top of frozen salaries, more employee contributions to benefits, nothing electronic that is working properly, they now want my blood. But I have a job so it's cool.

Mine are all live moments: The first time I saw Kenny Garrett. It was at Stanford U. about three summers ago and I couldn't close my mouth for a week. It was like watching a train that was coming at you and just kept on coming at you. Amazing. He has incredible stamina and he just draws you in to what he's doing. He likes to interact with his audience and make like a revival or something. And Chris Dave on drums is a monster. Ron Carter playing a solo "Willow Weep for Me" at Yoshi's last year. At the end, the last note hung in the air and there wasn't a sound in the whole place. Then applause and people leaping to their feet. It was the middle of the set, too. He was appearing with McCoy. Michael Brecker playing a solo of "Naima" with Hancock, et. al. on the Coltrane/Davis tribute tour at Zellerback at UC Berkeley. I was not very familiar with his work and tended to associate him with "lighter" jazz. He was incredible. Just blew everyone away. Wayne Shorter a year and half ago at the Masonic in SF. He let little Branford Marsalis open for him ( ) then Shorter came out and showed the youngster how to get the job done. Man, it was really something. Sun Ra at UC Berkeley Jazz Festival a zillion years ago. I don't remember anything about the performance except the feeling. He was amazing and unique. I'd never seen anything like him before or since.

This was a good episode but I was taken at some point by how unlikable these guys are. There was that idyllic comraderie that existed bwteen Tony B and Chris up in the country then Tony S shows up and it all changes. Chris' eternal pouting, and the relentless insults from both Tonys. Tony jabbing at Janice until she flips out. What dysfunctional families the blood relatives and business associates are. I think Tony had a hard time seeing Janice clean up her act and he wanted to bring her down. Like he got on Chris for his sobriety and being such a wet blanket. Tony S sows seeds of discontent everywhre he goes and he delights in it. And I loved that Carmela told the school counselor she was going back to Tony. I expect him to move to the North Pole.

I've seen this band twice also at the Masonic in SF. The first time I saw him with this band was the first time I'd seen him in many years and it was good but not knock your socks off great. The second time I saw them they smoked. Branford Marsalis played first on a double bill and when Shorter came out, he mopped the floor with everybody within reach. I will never forget that show. It was unreal. I am going to see Shorter, Hancock, Patitucci, Holland, and Blade play together next month at a SF Jazz Festival concert. Happy Birthday to me!

Busted. B)

Well, Dennis Gonzalez tells a great story (or series of stories) about the recording of Desert Wind, which makes me want to have it very much.

Colonial doughnuts on Lakeshore in Oakland. Am I the only person who doesn't care for Krispy Kremes? Too light or something. I like my doughnuts to have some substance.

You're absolutely right, and I'm sorry I posted the thread about Elvin's unconfirmed passing. I have deleted it. I usually wait until news like that is confirmed, but I thought the source mentioned in the first post of this thread was reliable. My mistake, and I apologize. JAW: Thank you for deleting the thread.

The Wednesday farmer's market at work has great tamales. Pork, thank you. There's a guy who makes at least one trip a day down my street selling tamales. For the longest, I couldn't figure what he was saying, I'd just hear this shouting coming and going and I thought it was just another crazy. Then I saw him with the shopping cart and realized he was speaking Spanish. Haven't tried them yet. When I first moved here. a young couple used to sell them every Saturday afternoon door to door. Six for $5. Delicious. Boy, do I miss them. What about the papusa? I had a homemade papusa and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. A big thick corn tortilla stuffed with cheese and grilled. By the way, Happy Cinco De Mayo!

I wasn't aware there were any "white chicks" left in the contest. One young lady is Asian/Filipina, yes? I thought the band was just okay and most of arrangements not terribly memorable. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...BAG6U6FUJS1.DTL

I saw that show also. He also played guitar while sitting on a stool and just riffed on some old R&B classics. Did you catch him opening the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? He smoked. Maceo was with him that night too.

I have Prince tickets for the Oakland Arena in September and I am stoked (can an "old" lady say that?). I'm taking the teen age rock and roll goddaughter and we are going to party like it's 2004. I've never seen him before so I am really looking forward to this.