JSngry

Truthfully, the first thing that sprnag to my mind was that Bobby dropped the gun, with prints, and that they track him down, lean hard on him & his family once the extradition things get worked out, and eventually get him to flip. That would bring all the lingering family/psychological issues back, what w/Janice & all, and seeing how that all plays out could make for a nifty final run. But it probably won't be that interesting.

Was he wearing gloves? I didn't notice. You might well be right. I thought that might be significant as a "rookie mistake", since the whole thing seemed to be based on Tony reassserting his dominance by taking away Bobby's "cherry". I could see that leading to all kinds of places... But then again, I don't trust these writers anymore. Not to set up a keen stiory line and follow it through.

Whose "strength" and what "strength"? Not being snarky, just don't get what you're saying here. I'm talking about how the Rutgers women expressed feelings of hurt over Imus' comments, as if the man actually had power over their lives. Look at the dynamic here - a group of obviously talented women with seemingly unlimited bright futures ahead of them versus a snarky, shadowy wretch of a radio "personality". Who's got more going for them in their respective lives at this point in time in terms of what the future holds? The women, obviously. That is power, the power to be strong, stay strong, and to swat away the various gnats that try to pester you as you go through life. It's the power to look Imus in the eye and say, "hey - Right now I'm a mf-in' champion and you're just Don Imus, a snarky, shadowy wretch of a radio "personality". In 5, 10, 15 years, I'm going to be (fill in the blank), and you're still going to be Don Imus, a snarky, shadowy wretch of a radio "personality". So if you see any nappy headed hos in this room, why don't you get down on your knees and kiss all their asses, because it's gonna be a long time before you ever get this lucky again." Or something like that. But do we get that? No. What we get is expressions of hurt, of feeling cheapened, degraded. Well, ok, words can hurt, and these type words in this type context have a history, to put it mildly. But the recognition that these women are anything but nappy headed hos and that Imus is anything but a figure of real power should be made in a way that stresses where the real power in this group of people lies - with the bright & talented women. 100% with the bright & talented women. Any "power" that Imus has is conceded to him by both his supporters and his detractors. His supporters' motivation is their own, but why the hell would anybody on the receiving end of his various barbs want to concede their power to him? The man is a gnat, and an aging one at that. He should be swatted away without too much effort. Instead, we get a procession of people who should know better (but apparently don't) willfully surrendering their power by empowering the gnat with a potency that he otherwise simply would not have. Ok, some will say that this outrage has brought Imus down. Professionally, it has, at least for now. But even that is a surrender of personal power to that of "the system". It's a concession that "the system" is what defines you, and the implication from that is inevitably that any/every individual, including young women with skills far above the average person has to be dependent on "the system" for validation at any level, including, it seems, personal. It implies that the system is your source, your definer, and your avenger. If you got it bad, take it to the system. If you want it good, take it to the system. The system is the Alpha & the Omega of who you are, who you can be, and who you should be. Bullshit. Bullshit. Bullshit. 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Volunteered Slavery Sucks.

Me too. Not because Imus' comments "weren't that big of a deal" or any bullshit like that, just because it's a goddamned willful surrender of strength.

That's one of the dumbest things anybody (including myself) has ever said on this board. Salut!

Bobby dropped the gun.

I think we're partially there tonight. I just hope that with this incident behind us, that's not the end of it and that other transgressors are not let to business as usual. Good luck on that one... Like the man said above, this one was easy. Real easy.

I see that Jason Whitlock & I are at least partially on the same page.

The most disheartening thing about all this was hearing one of the Rutgers players (the team captain?) talk about how their accomplishments had been (and I have to paraphrase here) taken away by Imus' comments. My Dear Lady - That is so much bullshit. You & your crew are champions on the court, in the classroom, and, quite possibly, in the life beyond either. Imus is a mere shock jock who misread the cultural climate. If he's able to take anything away from you, it's only if you let him. And why the hell would you let him? If nobody's counselling you as to your true worth and encouraging you to not let it be snapped away from you by any and everybody who thinks that it's theirs to have, then you are being terribly ill-served. Your dignity is yours. Your value is yours. Your accomoplishments are yours. Your power is yours. Life is a constant battle with those who think otherwise. As long as you realize this and believe it to be the truth that it is, the battle will be with mental and emotional shrimp. But as soon as you start thinking that others can take these things from you, these things that they did not give you in the first place, then you're only setting yourself up to lose. Again - why would you do that, and why would anybody counselling you let you do that? Imus & Sharpton are both creeps of the highest order. Neither are your friend, and neither have your best interests at heart, no matter what they might say (and even believe). Screw them both, get on with being the badasses that you know (or should know) you are, and don't look back, except to laugh at them.

She's on the cover of the latest Wax Poetics:

Don't know how much detail the box annotation gives, but I read a seemingly well-researched article (lots of firsthand accounts) that gave background on why Riot sounded like it did. Among the reasons: Everybody was as loaded as they sounded. The album was recorded on the run. Sly had been getting heat, some of it pretty blunt, from various political groups, and paranoia, both legit and imagined, had set in. The whole band, but especially Sly, had become somewhat of a "moving target". As a "favor" to various groupies, drug connections, political "messengers", etc., the tapes were used to put down innumerable "guest vocals". By the time it came to lay the real vocal tracks, the tape had been recorded overr literally hundreds (some estimated thousands) of times. The tape degradtion was real, not an effect. So, There's A Riot Goin' On wasn't just a political title. It was also a direct personal commentary.

Don't know about Holzman, but Belden's back for the OTC box project. Seems that him & Vince came to an "understanding". This is good news. When it comes to the jazz industry, Belden may very well end up being the last man standing.

Her Capitol work as a whole has alwyas left me a bit ambivalent (as much or more Capitol's fault as anybody's), but she did an early-70s side for Groove Merchant (w/arrangements by Manny Albam) that was just dandy, and that kicked ass in a way that probably would have made Capitol quite uncomfortable. Always cause for pause when the warriors pass on, but we all do sooner or later. Leaving your mark is nothing to sneeze at. R.I.P.

Dolly Madison Little Debbie Little Miss Sunbeam

I think they nailed it better, all things considered.

Looks like Bird & Prez had similar tastes in furniture...

Dusty Groove carries it. Temporarily out of stock on CD, in stock on LP.

There's a part of me that feels the same way. But there's another part that wonders if there's not a new kind of "depth" that's developing (or maybe has already developed) that is more about "moving on" than it is staying at the same level of...whatever. The fact that this album didn't grab me by the cojones right off the bat but eventually did certainly fuels those thoughts both ways. Being a "soul person" in the 21st century is as much a different proposition as being one in the 20th century as it is an eternal proposition. So.... I don't know. What I do think is that the best is yet to come from Amp Fiddler. At least I hope it is. We'll see. But Waltz Of A Ghetto Fly is by no means "slight". What it really is, time will tell, and on all counts.

Alfred Lion Alfred the Airsick Eagle Colonel Bogey

Claudine Longet Claudja Barry Barry Goldberg

Elliott Gould Elliott E.T.

Finally got around to hearing Waltz Of A Ghetto Fly. Took about a week before it fully sunk in, but it finally did. This guy's got skills, soul, and deep groove. He's also highly understated in how he puts it all across, which is why I think it didn't hit all at once. I kept listening and thinking, "I'm not hearing this the way I feel like I should. Gotta keep listening..." Anyhow, some nastymellow grooves, some deeply soulful vocals out of the Riot-era Sly-meets-Al Green school, and knowledgeable musicianship (little details here and there that only the wise would bother with) out the wazoo. Not yet a "fully formed" talent, at least not here, but more than far enough along to be merely "promising". Recommended, & I intend on follwing through at some point with the new one, Afro Strut.

Best Buy routinely sells music at a loss. It's what they do. They could have offered a forthright explanation, and/or they could have offered the option of $9.99 store/order credit. they could have done any number of other things than what they did how they did it. Of such matters is character defined.

Text of email sent via the link in the order cancellation: No doubt pissing in the wind, and no doubt soon to be anwered by a bot. But they can't say that nobody noticed.