T.D.

I learn a lot of funny British words by doing British-style cryptic crosswords (Guardian, Times, Private Eye). One can pick up the idiom pretty quickly. Some good ones are the aforementioned yob (and variants like yobbo), bumf, bonkbuster , ladette and saddo. Just recalled frottage, a recent discovery and apparent favorite of Private Eye magazine, which is near the top of my charts...

Not in my formative neck of the woods (Upper Midwest) - the old farmers' term in that area is "colder than a witch's tit in a brass bra" or "colder than the nipple on a witch's tit"* *Memorable (to my warped mind) quotation from Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow: Colder than the nipple on a witch's tit! Colder than a bucket of penguin shit! Colder than the hair on a polar bear's ass! Colder than the frost on a Champagne glass!

I find feckless hilarious for some reason...having an Irish scatological sense of humor, I often associate that word with feculent. Though American, I enjoy certain British words like shambolic, gormless...(Also really dig the Brit term gone pear-shaped, despite the meaning being rather unclear!)

Excellent Kramnik-Aronian game today. Started out as a Four Knights, of all things. Aronian sac'd his Queen for a bunch of very active pieces, but Kramnik survived the complications and won (1-0, 42). Some commentary at http://www.chessvibes.com/live-commentary/kramnik-levels-score-against-aronian

Thanks! I had meekly assumed the price change wasn't negotiable. I phoned the 800 # in my e-mail message (different from above) and was able to renew the order at the original price. FWIW, the dude on the phone was very helpful and competent.

I may live to regret this (the first 200 pp. have been good enough, but have scarcely made a dent in the total): recently started a one-volume (not just a brick, more like a cinder-block) edition of Paul Scott's The Raj Quartet.

Thanks. FWIW, J&R currently has free shipping on $25+ and a bunch of RVGs @ $5.99. I broke down and ordered the Waldron set fron J&R. The order got cancelled without any explanation. Too good to be true, I suppose. I ordered three "free shipping" boxes from J & R over an 8-day period ending Sunday 4/15. [Edited] Received the Waldron, first one ordered. The second one has shipped. The third one wound up getting cancelled - initial e-mail was a little weird, but after further investigation it appears to be a simple case of "out of stock". I do notice, however, that the "new price" for "forward delivery" (4/30 or later) is some $6 higher than the price of my cancelled order...

I was so thinking about it, but I already bought the ELO set this week, and I couldn't justify to myself buying so soon afterwards. Besides, I have TPF DVDs! Come on, everybody get happy! The Partridge Family set is one I didn't consider, though I'm known to have bad taste. Today, PopMarket is hyping a Firesign Theater box that looks very interesting, but I've splurged on too many CDs of late...

Tough one! I only found via Google, so won't give spoiler. Not a familiar name to me. The facemask thing is debatable - I've seen others mentioned, and technically some punters/kickers may have held out longest.

The two sessions with Ricky Ford & Sonny Fortune are intense. Or, to be drama with it, INTENSE!!! Either way, but with confidence. Thanks. Got the Waldron box and am very happy! This Soul Note/Black Saint reissue program is going to cost me some serious money, but I won't complain if they're all this good. I just splurged and ordered the Threadgill Complete Remastered box (yeah, I searched the archives and found some well-argued preference for the Mosaic, but price was a factor...).

Just ordered the Threadgill Soul Note box Funny thing: I listen to a lot of "modern/contemporary classical", including some quite weird stuff, but my jazz tastes have somehow been really conservative and I never connected with a lot of "out"-type music. But I've been dipping my toes into avant-garde recently with pretty good results, and was highly impressed by the Threadgill clips I heard.

Thanks. FWIW, J&R currently has free shipping on $25+ and a bunch of RVGs @ $5.99.

Good point, I noticed those when listening to clips. But I'm one of those dinosaurs who doesn't yet do the mp3 thing, for various reasons. Another interesting box, though it's not my cup of tea (I'd like some of the constituent discs, but the whole package is too much): Same proviso re. mp3...

Dunno whether this qualifies as a bargain (4 CDs / $31.82 / FS @ Amazon, lower base price at Jazz Loft), but looks pretty good to me:

Had been on the fence a long time re. this classical box, finally ordered:

Check this out: The Pin-Up Chess Calendar!

The Charles Tolliver Select

I bought the set (fully agreed on its merits) and was given a coupon code SAVE10NOW for 10% off my next order. Passing this along - maybe it'll work for others. I'm currently on the fence re. using it to order the Paul Desmond / RCA "complete albums" set...

No sympathy for Payton or any of the penalized Aints staff. Interesting story re. uber-Christian Tebow being dealt to the Sodom of America...But it's a typical Jets move: go for the biggest possible press/PR impact.

Jack's right, as usual. I heard a radio story about Kathy Ireland becoming a megabucks business mogul, was kinda surprised, and looked for pics. I wouldn't have recognized her.

Fernando Rey LeRoi Jones Lester Koenig

Come to think of it, I vaguely recall Cathy appearing with her father on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson... This one is likely too easy, but interesting anyway:

Edward de Vere Christopher Marlowe Francis Bacon

Too generous with the hints, Jim! (I'd otherwise have had no clue ) Buddy Rich's daughter Cathy.