T.D.

Not that we should feel compelled to geographically justify our rooting preferences, but I'll note that Conn's avatar was born in Somerville, MA...

I pretty much draw the line at $20. I think I've bid over $20 a couple of times on eBay, but only on discs I expected to trade quite a bit higher (they did, so I didn't win). $25 would be the absolute "line in the sand."

Wow. I just looked up the details on Romo's contract, because I've always been inclined to view (non-guaranteed) football contracts as funny money compared with other sports. But Romo's deal is 6 years, $67 MM, with $30 MM guaranteed money. That seems pretty darn good for Romo. I didn't know football contracts had been including so much in guarantees. However, I also saw some comps: Marc Bulger, Rams, 6 years, $65 MM, $27 MM guaranteed; Matt Schaub, Texans, 6 years, $48 MM, guarantee not disclosed. That looks like a decent deal for the Cowboys, since Schaub had barely played before this season and Romo arguably has a brighter future (much brighter IMO) than Bulger.

The Angels, with an aggressive owner, always seem to come up as a possible destination for A-Rod. I wouldn't completely rule out the Mets, as they'd love to seize back-page tabloid headlines from the Yankees, but the price tag is likely too high. Ron Guidry's contract as pitching coach expired along with Torre's, and he appears unlikely to return, so jettisoning Mattingly would toss two NYY legends on the scrap heap. But I'm not sure that Mattingly's ready to manage yet. I'd be surprised if Torre manages next year. 67 years old, with a price tag of $5 million a year or more. Who are the big free-agent pitchers? Yankees will have to spend big bucks here, with Mussina looking washed-up, Clemens gone, Pettitte a question mark. Will the Cubs make any big moves? It's hard to believe that they spent so much money last off-season, given that the parent (Tribune) company is up for sale, but they could spend more after getting to the playoffs this year.

I got some Amazon gift certificates for recent birthday, and picked up some finance books. Finished the first, have skimmed parts of the others. Nassim N. Taleb, Fooled by Randomness; Taleb, The Black Swan; Richard Bookstaber, A Demon of Our Own Design; Benoit Mandelbrot and Richard Hudson, The (Mis)Behavior of Markets.

Al Haig Trio, Invitation Also, put in a low-ball bid on eBay, and got Dameronia Live at the Theatre Boulogne at a very low price. Awesome! I'm a huge Dameron fan...

Rrose Sélavy Marcel Cerdan Champ Bailey

I've read a lot of Ross's writing on modern classical music. Generally find it uninteresting, often dislike it, but there are occasional good articles. I'd only purchase his book at a very low price; might peruse it via library. I look at his blog occasionally, and am rarely impressed. I agree that Ross's reputation is inflated by the "exalted" institutions in which is writing appears. OTOH, I don't know of any recommendable general books on modern classical.

So what do you think abou it? Now, I haven't heard the Bakery album, but I know that Lundgren can play, if given the right setting. It seems that he is rather conventional when he's calling the shots himself, but can be forced into a more adventurous mode if the setting asks for it. Well, it's pretty good, but perhaps I would have been better off going for a more adventurous setting. Lundgren can certainly play, but his approach on this album seems a little conventional and polite. Granted, it must be tough to record an album full of such well-known bop standards. So, I'm a little disappointed, but the set isn't going onto the sell pile.

Ray Kroc Jack Ham Warren Burger

Agreed!

Uh, does she receive any money from those CD sales? (Serious question) Granted, the sales could have ancillary benefits... I've been down on Naxos for a long time, and almost never buy their CDs. When the discs were much cheaper, I'd use them to experiment on new repertory, but anything I really liked, I eventually repurchased on other labels due to performance and sound quality (orchestral recordings used to be particularly problematic). I also have some issues with the label's non-payment of artists and other financial issues, but then nobody's forcing artists to sign with the label... My opinion of Naxos has gone up over the past couple of years, as they've reissued a lot of American classical repertory that was originally on other labels. Still, I usually say "no thanks", although that attitude has caught some flak on various forums.

I haven't heard it, but as far as lower-priced sources go, it's been at yourmusic.com for a while. Come to think of it, I ought to put it on my queue there...

I fear, based on experience with chess sites, that an urge to look at chess hotties correlates strongly with a need to get out more... But I do recall a certain World Chess Beauty Contest

Great job, congratulations! For the chess fans on the forum, you might think about posting the game (doesn't have to be annotated), so we could play it over...

Thank you! Very kind, much appreciated. As far as what was said/deleted before, what I don't know won't hurt me...

So what do you think abou it? Now, I haven't heard the Bakery album, but I know that Lundgren can play, if given the right setting. It seems that he is rather conventional when he's calling the shots himself, but can be forced into a more adventurous mode if the setting asks for it. I just ordered it, will post some impressions when it arrives. This session may fall on the conventional side, but it's repertory I really enjoy (bop standards, incl. tunes by Dameron, Gryce, Bird, Silver, Bud et al.), so I'll surely have an opinion.

Interesting article. I had already read it, because the link had been posted on various chess sites. I like chess a lot. Played as a kid/teen, then picked it up again just before age of 40. But it's a tough game in the sense that mastery requires a great deal of obsession, and many chess players are rather, er, unbalanced...I haven't been playing as much, or keeping up with "theory" (studying openings is really boring), the past couple of years.

I haven't bet on football (aside from Super Bowl pool squares) for quite a few years, and my former betting was never successful. But I pay attention to point spreads and over-unders (nothing more exotic). For instance, the football pools on this forum only require picking outright winners, so taking the biggest favorites (as measured by point spread) is almost a no-brainer. I won the playoff pool last year by going almost totally by point spread. Granted, there were very few participants, and my picks only differed from Conn's by one game...

Jan Lundgren Trio, Cooking at the Jazz Bakery. This is somewhat of a gamble, as I've never heard anything by Lundgren, but I recently read some good writeups on Doug Ramsay's blog and elsewhere.

Enter my vote in the "Who f***ing cares?" category...

-Yawn- This s**t happens every year that NYY don't win it all. Steinbrenner lets Torre and Cashman twist in the wind. Granted, firings become more likely each year that NYY don't win it all, but by this time the Boss's antics are just tiresome. There's some media dynamic of trying to get more attention than the Mets, and to distract attention from the teams still playing, but IMO Steinbrenner can go shove it...

Juan Antonio Flecha Lew Archer Scotty Bowman

several months ago, several writers, considering the state of the illini facilities, couldnt imagine how they managed to get such an awesome recruiting class. .......scandal just over the horizon? http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/stor...&id=3051881 You never know, but Coach Ron Zook has always been known as an exceptional recruiter; he brought a whole bunch of talent to Florida, but got fired due to win-loss record (his coaching has been regarded as less exceptional ). [Added: The past couple of years, it's become apparent that Big Ten football is rather over-rated. Perhaps Zook doesn't have to resort to recruiting chicanery to win in that league. ] If the Illini keep winning, he'll get plenty of money for better facilities...

I still think this argues for some flaws in organization for such a mega-event. For instance, the NYC Marathon gets massive support from the NY police and fire departments. If there was any hint of water running out, fire hydrants would have been cracked open to make up for shortage. OTOH, the NYC event brings so much money into city coffers (thousands and thousands of European entrants stay in hotels and eat in restaurants for the better part of a week) that the city can justify support expenses. This may not be the case in Chicago. [Disclaimer: I'm by no means biased toward the NYC Marathon; the race was not at all to my taste, and I preferred to run in much smaller marathons...]