JSngry

I like it because you really don't have to worry about which of the four to put on!

The presence of Bartolo Colon anywhere pretty much means you're starting the discussion with a defying of all known logics.

In some ways, it's a blessing, to have heard all the post-___ musics and then going back and filling in the blanks, I mean, there's much less of a controversy as to whether or not it "makes sense", of course it does, you'd not be listening to "B" if not for "A" having made sense, or at least enough sense for "B" to continue on. OTOH, less of a blessing having that shock of "initial-ness" be taken for granted more than personally experienced in real time. I had it with the Beatles, I had it with Hendrix, I even had it with the early wave of post-Miles fusion, all of those things really seemed to jump out of a place that hadn't yet existed, there was no reason for them not to have existed, and now, they did, had to be that way. Kinda had it with AACM & BAG in terms of records, but those things were already firmly in place before I heard to the records. Not by a whole lot, but enough to matter. I didn't have access to Nessa or Delamrk until, like, 1976 or so. READ about them a whole helluva lot, but the records weren't here, not that I knew about, anyway, and believe me, I looked. What I did have ready/happy access to was the things that followed. But still, the shockwaves were personal, not real-time societal. First copy of DB I ever had had Beefheart on the cover, and HIM I already new about, 1970, right, if you were "serious" about music, you checked out Zappa and all around it, right? Beefheart and Lee Konitz on that cover, and Lee I had just gotten to courtesy of a band director, but Lee of 1951, so at some point seeing a photo of Lee with a Varitone was very WTF?-ish. That was a Don Ellis thing (Eddie WHO?) It gets figured out eventually, but it's all retroactive up until the point when it's not, and even then, some of it always is. The later you get born, the more of that part there is. The last really "real time" jazz shockwave I can think of experiencing was, thinking offhand, Dancing In Your Head and its aftermaths (including Ornette's own). Interstellar Space too, thanks to its release date. The Max/Braxton, Max/Cecil things were all hard slaps, but not to me like they surely were to somebody who was actually buying Max records in 1957. I get that. Plenty of thrills and chills since then, but nothing that appeared without warning and fucked me up good, as the kids used to like to say, where you have to re-evaluate what and where "is" really is, ya' know? However, this last thing of Roscoe's that Chuck's released, that feels like that all over again, but it's not like I heard Roscoe (and Lester...and all them) in 1966. To have a time machine...or to have been born earlier...but, that does not happen, does it. Anyway, point just being that the only truly relevant and ongoing personal relevancy that I have to Martin Williams overall is through the Smithsonian stuff, and that is a pretty massive relevancy, but again, what used to be hard to find then and what is hard to find now...and believe me, if I had waited for Martin Williams to point me to Gene Ammons, I would still be waiting, right? So, thanks, but good bye.

My personal feelings are that Gleason kinda deteriorated once he went the Rolling Stone route, but then again, time/place, that was perhaps unavoidable and perhaps even necessary. Celebrating the Duke... was a fine read, although there's a tendency towards "frankness" that just seems a little weird. Jazz Casual, though, yes, although, much like wearing a tie everywhere you go, how do you sit like that all the time and not develop some kind of condition? Hentoff.., I think, went more or less on autopilot as far as jazz writing goes once he became more focused on political writing. Before that, though, he was prolific! And oh my, what a revelation it was to hear him MC-ing the 1952 Brubeck Storyville broadcasts..he was quite the precious one! But it seems he was also playing Brubeck records for Cecil Taylor there in Boston, so...always an active spirit, no doubt. I never aspired to be a jazz critic, so all I "owe" Martin Williams is a thank you for naming names at a time when I was looking for some, and for starting some balls rolling, most all of which ran out of momentum, as rolling balls tend to do. I can certainly see how he meant more to many at a certain juncture, but that juncture is not mine. Larry, yours and John Litweiler's writings appeared to me the same time Williams' did and remain infinitely more relevant. For that matter, Joe Goldberg's Jazz Masters Of the 1950s speak to that me about that particular music far more than does anything by Williams, or Hentoff, or Gleason, for that matter. So...I meant no disrespect to his influence and importance, but...appreciation is not need, and that which is not needed is generally jettisoned without, eventually, too much difficulty. This looks like another one of those "generational" things too...I never (consciously) knew pre-free jazz (or for that matter, pre-rock music, of any kind) or the world(s) around it as present-day realities. Tried to reach back as far as possible as much as possible, but you can only pretend so much for so long, at least until the neo-con thing proved otherwise. But that has consequences...

Howard Brubeck Howard Sprague Emmett Clark

I'm guessing that you wanted to, but never actually told Martin Williams how full of shit he was about some things, probably out of the personal respect and admiration that a younger(?) person has for an older(?) role model of such stature. Well, if it makes you feel any better, I have, although, not in person, having only seen him once live, on some panel discussion at some book store in NYC where Fred Hirsch was playing, discussing the merits (or from his POV, the lack of merit) in Scott Hamilton. This was, like, 1979(?), and at the time, I had no quarrel, and found him amusing in a vaguely John Cleese-like manner. I've read a whole buttload of Martin Williams, books, collections of older essays, when I was checking out Saturday Review for the local library, it seems to me that he had a regularish column in there, late 60s? and you know, it's an impressive legacy, and a worthy one, all things considered. I don't see where he ever slipped to the level of pimpbitch that Leonard Feather did, nor did he get all touchyfeelymushy like Gleason, nor as fill in the blanks-y generic as Hentoff. But he was wrong about some things, in technical things, very much so (fact, not opinion), and in matters of taste, at times alarmingly so (imo, of course). And the more I experienced the music first-hand, the less I really needed or really gave a shit about Martin Williams. No antagonism, its just that he became irrelevant. So the next time he pops up in your dreams, tell him, hey man, love you, owe you much, but you are SO full of shit about this. And then let him sputter you off into another dream, or if that doesn't work, wake up, have a bowl of cereal or something, chew a stick of gum, whatever, watch a little tv, and then fuck it, go back to sleep. Odds are that you'll wake up again, right? Definitely your advantage in this one, not his.

David Beard Dr. Fu Manchu Claude Goaty

Wait a sec...are you saying that probably not being able to survive a weak outing by one of their starters is an advantage for the Mets, or are you guaranteeing than none of their starters will have an off day?

Lord Greyhound Jerry Buss David Fiuczynski

I don't get enough sleep. Sounds like you get too much!

Duncan Hines (add ingredients) Sir Mix-A-Lot (but not too much) Lot's Wife (and with just a pinch of salt)

Smack Turner Henderson Show Horses Jesher Hipe

Oh, I'm not "picking" the Royals as a given, far from it. I firmly believe in the maxim of good pitching beating good hitting, but better ____beats good _____. The question is, where does the see-saw of better finally come to a rest? Just saying that IF the Royals hitters are good enough to work a count/extend an AB, then its going to be a series. Also, the size and shape of the strike zone is gonna be crucial (and this is where it's useful to have all those various umpire's strike zones plotted and available for study). IF the strike zone is large, AND if the Royals hitters can force the issue, then they'll stand a better chance than did the Cubs, who as a young team still learning their disciplines, just could not bring themselves to adjust in any kind of meaningful way. Fact of life - IF you can extend an AB, you up the chances of a mistake pitch. But that's a big if predicated on another big if with a big and in the mix as well, and maybe even with one more if? DH also flavors (sic) offensive rhythm, no let down for that #9 hole, again more good pitches needed, also increases the possibility of a mistake being made. One more thing - pitchers can have the proverbial "bad day" and in a 7 game series, one or two of those bad days can fuck up all expectations. To that end, hey Johnny Cueto, which one of you is showing up for game 1? None of this is even close to being a given, of course, they're just considerations before the games actually get played. Also to be considered is that Daniel Murphy has been the baseball equivalent of 1967 James Brown. So, does he come back as 1968 James Brown, or 1977 James Brown? You can't predict this stuff with absolute certainty, any of it. That's why I don't wager on sports, and only play poker with friends.

Mister Magic Earvin Johnson Earving Blythe

Pete Rose peeking into the camera shot is the hottest new memehttp://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2015/10/24/9606512/pete-rose-trending-topic-rain-delay-kansas-city-royals-toronto-blue-jays Pete Rose himself, kinda sad, maybe even tragic. Pete Rose as Fox analyst, definitely not amusing, except inadvertantly. But Pete Rose as Social Media Play-Doh..at that I laugh, with vigor!

I've thinking the key will be how well Royals hitters can work the counts/extend the ABs, and the size of the strike zone, not necessarily in that order. And KC has home field/DH advantage, correct? Who would the Mets' DH be? I'm thinking, Rusty Staub, maybe? Mets, otherwise, based on all that pitching are belong to them.

I saw him once or twice, he was ok, but still, A-Rod, maybe if I didn't know...but I do. Still having images of him and Carmen Diaz having herpes and a threeway, maybe or maybe not at the same time, and say what you will about Jeter and his lavish next-day flowerings and ball-shaving, Jeter never let his name get scandalized the way A-Rod has. (and I'm not making any of this up, this is all well-documented baseball gossip, maybe real, maybe not, but out there for consumption for a loooong time). Pete Rose has them all beat, though, they're all straight men to Pete Rose, who, obnoxious clueless fuck that he tires to be, usually with amazing precision, still gets off a good one on occasion like, "I don't know, they use this pitcher for one batter and then another pitcher for one batter, and then they wonder why they run out of pitchers, I don't know.." Not at all rooted in hardly any real life scenario, but still funny in a Pa Kettle type way. Really, Fox and sports in general, baseball especially, is getting really tired for me, all of it, pregame, in-game, narratives (as the game goes, so goes who they gush over, everybody's got a "story", ya' know), cliche camera work (if I see one more "nervous fan" close up...BARF) , all of it. It was fresh once, but...time for a change. That's a big reason why I've started listening to radio games on AtBat, just to get something fresh, and NO nervous fan shots, god bless radio for that.

Part 2 had cowbell, that great Dick Hyman AM-friendly organ sound, got right to the drum solo, and had that whole HALLELUJAH vibe. Part I kinda rambled a little bit and had no hit appeal.

Same.

Maybe the color of the cover reproduction is just a tad lighter than the original? Maybe?

Also, fwiw, maybe it's just a sales pitch, but we still very much talk about "pennant race", first in terms of the divisional, and then league championship. You raise a pennant for winning the division, and I assure you, this year, we did.

I think what is being said is that the loser of the WS still raises their league championship pennant on opening day.

Who did he end up developing?

Cannonball Dizzy Tommy

DG order arrived today, must be an Amazon thing. Two left at CD Japan: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/SICJ-16 Amazon sellers offering it, no idea how fragile that may or may not be: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B010EB1GHK/ref=tmm_acd_new_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=new&qid=1445743356&sr=8-1