JSngry

OWs-lee

The Mavs finally show some character. But how deep is it? Have they finally confronted & conquered those deep-rooted demons? I'm still not convinced that this was anything but a one-time desperation show, and won't be until it's proven that they've turned that corner. And it's a corner that shouldn't even have to be turned at this point. Game 6 is gonna be a hellluva lot tougher for them than this one was, unless the ice water in the Warriors phsyce-veins has begun to melt, which I saw signs of being the case. How cold is Nellie's deep-freeze?

It's a trip. Check it out.

All the best, belatedly.

Try and get ahold of this one:

Are you familiar with much of Blythe's work? Him & Stewart go back quite a way, and there've been some good times.

No need for crow. Just begin to realize that optimism needs to be rooted in reality in order for it to be a productive life force.

That, my friend, would be delightful! We in the DFW area have been subjected to a freakin' barrage of Dirk Is God propaganda at every turn, including some quarters who sould definitely have known better (One "reputable" radio host said that if he had to choose between Dirk & Larry Bird w/the season on the line that he'd go with Dirk, no question about it). A few of us who still retained our sanity and sense of basketball perspective have been saying BULLSHIT to that from the git-go, but it's been a risky proposition. So hell yeah, let The Big German win that MVP and let the squirming begin!

Titter Pipes

People thought I was off the hook after the finals last year when I went on and on (and on) about the fundamentally flawed character of this team. "Oh, it was their first time, they'll learn from it and come back stronger" "Oh, Miami was a better team than you give them credit for" "Oh, nobody could stop D-Wade the way he was playing" "Oh, it's a young team with a brilliant future" Oh, my ass. This bunch is a hot-house orchid. The meltdown in last year's final was anything but a fluke.

Barbeque in Denton - Metzger's, hands down. It's in a gas station (Fina, iirc) @ 35 & 380, NW corner. I leave early for road gigs that go up that way just to make a stop. Try the links and be ready. Opinions vary widely on this, but for me the Denton Rudy's is just so-so. The one in Waco, otoh, rocks. Tex-Mex in Dallas - avoid the chains & big names unless there's no choice. Matt's is a good choice. Breakfast in Denton - Jim's Diner if it's still around.

Where is here? Where is there? Is a single activity the same single activity as it used to be? If the fundamentals still apply (and I believe they do), does it follow that the way they get acted out will? Can a cumulative little ultimately used to play out what was once the result an isolated lot? Not in method, but in result? "Listening to music" is, by itself, a pretty empty activity. What are you doing other than passively receiving somebody else's input? Illusions of "quality time" are pretty much that unless there's some sort of other activity involved. The "listening" is/should be merely a facilitator for this other activity. And yeah, I'm talking at a level "deeper" than mere "social functionality". If you're "listening digital" and "living analog", then yeah, there's likely to be a problem at some point. But otherwise, who knows? The jury's still out on that one, I think. Lots of rope being made available. Time will tell.

Too bad there wasn't time for the panel discussion - "Polio Bill" Cullen, Betsy Palmer, Henry Morgan, & Bess Meyerson would surely have had some trenchant & penetrating commentary. Especially Henry Morgan.

Is #13 Odell Brown?

Alvin Batiste has never really done that much for me. Harold Battiste, otoh, on the AJQ side, is another story...

There's a change in Trane's tone once the acid experimentation (allegedly) began, and it's one that is apparent to anybody who's ever "been there, done that", I think. And none of this should be used to fuel a Crouchian "dismissal" of late Trane. It is what it is, it's all part of the puzzle, and it all comes together once and for all on Interstellar Space, so any bumps in the road along the way are just that, and nothing more.

Do you remember the ranting I did after the finals last year about how the Mavs have a fundamental mental/character flaw? I'm still standing by that. Actually, I would take a perverse pleasure, after hearing this "Dirk for MVP/Dirk's one of the all time geats/I'd take Dirk over Larry Bird" bullshit that's been in the local media-ai all season, if the Mavs would get eliminated in the fiorst round and then Dirk does get the MVP. The guy's a great plater, sure. But if youy're looking for him to be any sort of a "spiritual leader" or anything like that, you're going to be screwed. That's not who he is, that's not what he wants to be, and that's not something that he has the intenrnal character to be. Anybody who's paid attention for the last 5 years or so should have figured that out by now. And yet, here we are, replaying the finals in the opening round. Although to be fair, GS is a heckuva lot tougher matchup than the heat were last year. But that's no excuse. This is a team that was supposed to me on a "mission", remember? A team that was going to atone for the world-class choke job of last year. They're not. They're still a team that doesn't have a clue what a dagger is, much less how to use one, even less how to do it with a sense of cool nonchalance. Everything I said last year, I'm waiting to be proven wrong about.

Word from those who do know something is that Trane was using acid at least semi-regularly from late-65 on as part of his quest to find god. You gotta remember the timeframe. Lsd still had more of a "mystical" reputaton then than it did a more materialistically "trippy" one.

That was the point of the whole Sylvester Stewart/"Sly Stone" dichotomy - Sylvester Stewart (who got all the writing credits at least up to Fresh, after that, I don't remember) was the idealist, Sly Stone was his "in the life" alter-ego.. Eventually, Sly "killed" Sylvester & then went about the business of almost literally killing Sly. If the liners for the box/reissues don't at least touch on this, they're not doing their job.

Eddie Harris is who's being referred to, because of the album Eddie Harris Sings The Blues, where he sang through the horn, but without getting the simultaneous horn sound. Unfair/incomplete comparison afaic.

Chester Thompson's best Tower of Power work is considered classic, perhaps even iconic, in certain circles.

But the Chester Thompson who played with Tower of Power (whose "classic" drummer was Dave Garibaldi) is an organist, and is the same one who make "Powerhouse". He's also played w/Santana. To confuse matters further, Chester Thompson the drummer had a stint with Weather Report, but it's Chester thompson the organist who plays on the recently released Santana/Shorter album on which at least one tune ("Elegant People") that Chester Thompson the drummer had orignally played on.

Why? The Mavs need no help to choke...