JSngry

I thought this was a joke, but no, they do indeed have "merchandise", clocks golf balls, inkpens, just all kinds of shit that scream "geek". And you know, a real geek shouldn't need merchandise to point out their geekdom, that's beyond geek into lame, like geek wannabe. Pitiful.

oh yeah, Man Of La Mancha, although, jeez, that impossible dream song, if that's not justifiable homicide, then nothing is. not even Maynard Ferguson could make it tolerable. but dude, he rocks born free, takes a lion to know a lion

It's like a lighted beer sign for your man-cave.

I so do not know what that means.

Painfully remembered, yes.

Here's how I will always remember Ed Charles. purple, gold, and green.

Yeah, this. It's a handsome package, but be told that the "booklet" is really a glossy 12x24 single sheet folded in half. It's got pictures and stuff, but really tiny fonts. And they use the same liner notes on both the original album and the alternates. Glad I have, but if I had paid the American price, I would be really pissed.

It wasn't made for a record, it was made to be heard right there on the spot and then it would be over. That any of this jazz stuff holds up on record is a miracle, really. Pop records, classical music, soundtrack music, that is all made to be heard again. Jazz...if one can accept that a lot of it is pleasurable for mostly emotional purposes, then one should also deal with how there's a good chunk of it now that still holds up no matter how long you listen to it or from what angle you look at it. Me, I'll take Trane reating (aka "worrying") a lick for two minutes over Phillip Glass jacking off for two hours..or two seconds for that matter. Glass is like...intellectual music porn or something, too contrived. Trane is doing it for the meaning from his gut, and he kept his brain involved too. He's one of those few guys who, ok if you don't "like" him, ok. But past that, you're wrong. Period. Bird's like that too, if you can't get Bird by now, you're just not hearing music as it is, you're fucking willfully ignorant, auditorilly impaired, whatever. Because the math has been done, the math is correct, and these are the guys that made the math in the form they did, it has been examined, tested, challenged, and it still works, they did it, they were right. Not their imitators, them. Argue with math all you want, but good luck with that. There's really not many people like that in the history of the world, but there are some.

what, turkeys can't fly?

Yeah, that one! I played a wedding reception there once, they had a "variety" band as well as a local band.. It was intense. Did the same thing at one some place else, back out in the behind of nowhere, some octagonal job that was just awe-inspiring, even when empty. Looks like it's run down outside, you go inside and WHOA!!!!! Again, quite apart from the music, it's something to experience for "cultural" reasons.

Music aside, some of those old rural dance halls are a marvel to see from the inside. And the "country" music you're likely to hear is not at all "modern", and not necessarily "country". They still do shit like schotiches and polkas and stuff. Regularly. Plug your ears if you must, but to see one of those old buildings, built with old school carpentry techniques and materials packed with people of all ages moving in multi-layered concentric circles in contrary motion and everybody dressed for a night out....whew! It can be dizzying just to watch. It's a dance hall. People go there to dance. I don't care what kind of music it is, watching people who come to dance (and who take it seriously) dance is a gas. I've had it in blues clubs, funk joints, country bars, you name it. It's a good time, even if, like me, all you can do is watch. Seriously, it's a culture thing. Around Austin and outward, there's the German influence. Go a little north towards Waco and it's more of a Czech thing. But either way, a Saturday night dance is a big part of the social fabric for a lot of people in those parts. It ain't no casual thing, not even.

New Braunfels, both the current city and the historical "original village", for the German stuff. See it before river-rafting tourism ruins what's left of it. And do drive out to the country and look at some of the remaining dance halls, the old ones. Maybe even go to a dance, you gotta see that shit to really appreciate it, it is indeed cultural.

Food'll make you do that.

The symmetry of the game is the field itself, the diamond, the foul lines. The creativity of the game in how players operate on the field. Remember, the bases are offensive markers, the only reason to put a player in proximity to a base is to get the out, to reduce the offense on any given play. You don't have an infielder to make sure that a runner has somebody to say hi to as they pass by, dig? If it becomes more efficient to get the out by putting players elsewhere, hey, that'll be the new math, unless and until hitters figure out how to, as Wee Willie Keeler(?) immortally stated, "hit it where they ain't". What would be weird would be if they started putting outfielders in foul territory and then pitchers started pitching to induce foul outs. Something like that, THAT would be messing with the symmetry of the game. Shifts and such, hey, that's like Western music, you got 12 notes, how you put them together is your choice, make it work for you, and if you can use some of the in-between sounds...if it works, it works.

And Montreal gave him what Houston never could - a soda pop all his own. Do you believe in magic? ORANGE magic? Hoe can you not? C'est la vie, non?

If they're bring back LPs, bring back 45s as well. But only if they got that hot 45 sounds for the jukebox. Walk tall, boom taller.

Hey, this was free. Now it's not. Invest in the past! https://www.amazon.com/One-Label-Under-Groove-Sampler/dp/B004HBAJUY But you know what? This, that's what. I liked it then, I like it now. I wish Dianne Reeves's records all hit it like this.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/29/sports/baseball/rusty-staub-statistics.html?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=9CEFAD32A4E03F7805D81B066B048078&gwt=pay

I thought this was going to be about a TOBA-era dance team.

I dunno man, you think you get Keith Jarrett w/o Paul Bley first? The longer I listen, the less I think you do...and I think that Bley swings too. Consistently! Now, is Keith Jarrett important? Not to you or me personally, but to the world beyond that? Judging my the fees he gets, at least somewhat. Paul Bley is the kind of guy it's real easy to sleep on until you get woke to him. And then...

Not at all bombastic, so..it's a start.