patricia

Absolutely. But, lucky for you, "Flip, Flop and Fly" is not a showcase for a great singing voice. Even Johnny Ray, who had a pretty decent voice, didn't have much of a challenge. I figure though that whatever the cat requested, anyone would have said "you betcha" for $100 a pop.

That gave me a smile, having an almost Biblical tone, much like the sections in the Bible which talk about leprosy.

Battle of the Bands - Woody Herman and his Herd vs. Harry James and his Music Makers. <> Pickwick Label Woody Herman and the Herd - Blowin' Up A Storm <>Sunset Label Jimmy Diamond and the Notorious Nob Hill Gang <>Nob Hill Gang Records. Great sepia-toned photograph of the band on the cover, sitting in a 1922 seven passenger, double-cowled Packard Phaeton, in front of the Fairmont Hotel.

Free For All, Unless the tree's roots are interfering with your below the ground pipes, leave it alone. There was a fork-trunked oak tree in my front yard from the time that I was a little kid. I used to sit in that tree and read in the summer. It was summer shade in the summertime, though it looked a little naked in the winter. One of the saddest things I remember is being away from home, going to school and coming home to discover that my father had had it cut down, about two feet from the fork in the trunk, due to pressure from the neighbours about the leaves. It looked so sad and MY tree's being pretty well gone broke my heart at the time. Even the house looked sad. Don't do it unless you have to.

Lon! I had no idea that you were round with a hole in the middle! ← OK. Maybe a peach, but not with that nasty butt-crack thing goin' on. But, try using the system. You won't be sorry. The same thing as when you wash your windows. If you don't clean the outside, they're still not as sparkling as they should be. This is similar, but the reverse.

Thanks Jazzbo. How did you know that I have been searching for years for just such a solution to the electron buildup, causing fuzziness on my screen? This works so well that I will be recommending it to all my friends who are desparately in need of some way to combat that nasty fog. You're a lifesaver!!

I know you weren't being picky. I was wrong. I wasn't thinking. The record is pristine, except for that one skip, which filled me with joy. The cover on the other hand is a mess. It really did need the makeshift paper sleeve that was added later, to preserve the record and keep what was left of the original cover in one piece, more or less. And no, Greg, I never did get the key to Dad's record cabinet. For all I know there could have been a pit bull in there too. I still remember the displeasure Dad expressed when he realized we kids were foolin' with his records. He never got mad, but was he hot!! The very next weekend he bought and installed a lock on his treasures. No wonder. We kids were a curious gang and that was the only way. Oh, and as to why I didn't just buy the Jazz Immortals CD, well gosh, I don't know. I could cut my own CD, so I did. Oh, another 10" treasure is Sidney Bechet Jazz Festival Concert Paris 1952. - Blue Note 7024. The cover is perfect. The record is perfect. It's interesting to listen to the MC speaking French, the crowd noises and of course, the music. Bit of trivia. Usually if a record is a little dusty I run it under the hot water tapto clean it, then blot it gently dry before I play it. This is the first record that I washed this way on which the colours ran. I can still read it, but that was weird.

Final word, Jim. TEN INCH. Sorry for the confusion. The picture is the record I have. Reading off the cover, "Clifford Brown Ensemble Featuring Zoot Sims A Vogue production LDE 158. " ← Ah, okay. Looks like post #5 needs more editing! ← Picky, picky, but OK. DONE. I didn't realize I had erred so often in post#5. But, speaking of 10" LPs, it always puzzled me when I was a little kid and these came out that they were the same size as '78s, but magically had several songs on them and had to be played on a different speed. That was the reason, originally, that my father put his jazz LPs in a locked cabinet, because my brothers and I thought it was amusing to play them on '78 so that they were unnaturally and hilariously, we thought, cartoon-like.

Final word, Jim. TEN INCH. Sorry for the confusion. The picture is the record I have. Reading off the cover, "Clifford Brown Ensemble Featuring Zoot Sims A Vogue production LDE 158. "

Jim, this is the record I have in my hands right now. It's the Pacific Jazz session but the record was pressed in London on the Vogue label. The 12/10" descrepency was a typo that I edited this morning. Along the edge of the label is the warning: "Unauthorized Public Performance Broadcasting and Copying Of This Record Prohibited". I hope I don't get flung into an airless dungeon for cutting a CD of it.

Is this the same session that was released on Pacific Jazz, recorded in California? That is a very nice date, with some excellent arrangements! I have the Pacific Jazz release. ← Sounds like it. That Clifford Brown Pacific Jazz session certainly came out on a UK Vogue 12" LP. Lots of Pacific Jazz sessions were UK issued under the Vogue label. ← The session was recorded in Hollywood in 1954. The record is on the London label, L.D.E. 158. The cover notes are a litany of high praise for Clifford Brown's astounding talent and written by Alun Morgan. The track list is: Side 1 Tiny Capers Bones For Jones Daahoud Side 2 Gone With The Wind Joy Spring Finders Keepers Blueberry Hill I was merrily playing the record, marvelling at it's excellent condition and the terrific sound quality, considering that the cover is a mess, when I was dismayed to discover that the single "skip" is on my favourite track, Blueberry Hill. The album cover is almost disintegrating, to the point where whoever had it before me had fashioned a paper inner cover and slid the record inside that. That they went to the trouble to protect the record speaks volumes for the love they had for this record.

I agree. The rarity of a particular record is more often what determines the price sought. 10" LPs featuring rarely assembled one-time performances on since defunct labels of artists who went on to become legends are highly valued because there are so few that exist to be acquired. Quite often, they stay in jazz lovers' collections until they die and the heirs put their collections on the market, or even in garage sales. My heart actually races when I from time to time discover one of these treasures. For example, I recently found 2 10" LPs: The first one is a Clifford Brown with Zoot Sims, Stu Williamson, Bob Gordon, Russ Freeman, Joe Mondragon and with Shelly Manne on drums, on the Vogue label. The other is another 10"P by Rafael Mendez, recorded in 1952 when he was new on the scene. Mendez was already being called "the world's greatest trumpet virtuoso" and I believe that he retained that distinction for his entire career. An amazing musician, composer and arranger. His performances, IMO, stand alone in their excellence. Both records are in very good condition, but were recorded when 10" LPs were the standard, before 12" records were being pressed. Their rarity more than the sound being somehow better is what makes them collectable. The bonus is that these were often the very early performances of the artists. Of course, '78s are much older and more rare, but unlike LPs, they are quite often so ratched that they are not so desireable as a collectable. 10" LPs were about three times the price of '78s and were a new idea and produced for a quite short time. I don't think that many people who collected records bought the LPs lightly and so they looked after these more expensive ones more carefully. They are quite often still in amazingly good shape, which always amazes me.

Big T and Mighty Max - Jack Teagarden and his Swingin' Gates - Max Kaminsky and his Jazz Band. - Commodore label. Walter Gates and his Orchestra - My Man - Swan label

Miles Davis - Porgy and Bess - under the direction of Gil Evans on Columbia. I like this almost as much as the Louis Armstrong/Ella Fitzgerald performing this beautiful musical. Miles' take has a marvelous list of personnel, including Philly Joe Jones on drums. I have these two, plus a really interesting version featuring Ray Charles and Cleo Laine.

I'm watching the footage now and they're talking about 200 MPH winds. Holy Man!! NOW they're saying only 120 MPH. Either way, the situation is pretty grave.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAREN!! I assume that there will be a great bottle of wine and a totally sinful cake involved here. May the next years be ten times as fabulous as your best year, so far.

I agree about the first season of MASH. Although there were a few macabrely humourous scenes in the film and the first season, I wouldn't describe the original premise of MASH as a comedy. It was, indeed, about the horror and the utter futility of war. In fact, it made, brilliantly, the point that I struggle to make about how we keep on waging war, despite the fact that war itself is an affront to everything we should believe about how human beings should deal with each other. But, forgive me, I always thought that the series' downhill slide after the first season was because it was a huge success and the writers began to realize that they had created major stars of the actors in it. After that, and this is only my opinion, the episodes were built around the individual characters and their sudden popularity and not around the core story. Lots of people love this series, but I mourned the original darkness' passing. It became the Hogan's Heroes of it's era, IMO. And Alexander is right about the Odd Couple series vs. the original film, which was brilliantly funny and sad at the same time. The series missed that. In fact, the idea that these two men were doomed to live together forever was scary.

You're right, but Canadian and American dollars were pretty well even back in the fifties. The exchange rate, as I recall, was negliable. I remember spending 99 cents for '45s and anywhere from $1.98 to $5.98. I belonged to Columbia Record Club during that period, though I don't remember if the records were cheaper. I do remember that the main attraction was the initial sign-up when I received I think four or six records for 99 cents. Then the records after that were I think the going rate. Then, when I tried to quit, after the agreed to six records were ordered, they kept on sending the monthly selection, until I sent a double-registered letter.

I know that many jazz purists look down their aristocratic noses at the compilations, issued in boxed sets by such organizations as Readers' Digest and Time and the like. Most of us would choose the original releases if we could. However, they were surprisingly well done and I have been listening to one of them for the last couple of days, issued by Time, called "In The Groove With The Kings Of Swing". This collection has everybody contributing to it from the Dukes of Dixieland, to Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Gene Krupa, Jonah Jones, Tommy Dorsey, Bud Freeman, Earl Hines, Charlie Barnet, Artie Shaw, Muggsy Spanier, Duke Ellington, Ziggy Elman, Fats Waller, Pete Kelly, Red Nichols and many more. The production is very very good and it gives a really nice overview of what was being listened to at the time. So, although I have plenty of original releases, these kinds of collections are well worth snapping up, IMO, when the opportunity to do so arises. AND they're usually cheap like borcht.

Have the happiest birthday ever, Chris.

If I never hear Whitney Houston sing "I Will Always Love You" again, in my life, it will be too soon. For a solid two years at almost every wedding I attended there it was. Good Lord, I kept thinking. Make it stop !!! Melisma, shmelisma. It went on, and on, and on.....................and on. I don't care if she can do all that with her voice. Spread it out. Not all at once. You'll get another chance to impress us.

I'll never get used to the lightening fast climate changes. I moved here from CA and the biggest problem is not knowing how to dress in the morning, as you say. I was amazed when major panic ensued when some rats were discovered last summer and the government swooped in and got rid of them immediately. Earlier, I asked about the belief that if you have mice you won't have rats. That was based on, well nothing but somebody having said it. I was watching a reno program on television the other day that shattered that myth. The renovators hired a rodent killer person who took dozens of mice and almost as many rats [that were as big as a cat], both dead and alive out of the cupboards, under the appliances and out of the walls and had them stacked in a noxious pile. Ughhh. So, they apparently can co-exist.

What I find interesting is the adjusting of hierarchy in a household in which there are both cats and dogs. Our original pet was Morris, a stray, who was an adult when we got him. He was a superb mouser and a dignified gentleman cat. It was a few years later that we acquired Bubbles, a Bichon Frise. It was not surprising that she took the second place in the pecking order. Morris could get her to move from a favoured spot, just by looking at her and moving toward the location. Fluffy, a young lady cat, also a stray came after Bubbles and within a few days took the second place, pushing the dog to third place. Fluffy was a terrible mouser. She once chased a mouse for at least half an hour, all through the house, batting at it, but letting it go. At one point she had the mouse cornered and was still playing with it, making noise that disturbed Morris who was trying to sleep. Finally, Morris strolled over, killed the mouse, ate it and went back to the mat in front of the door and went back to sleep, after giving Fluffy a disgusted look. It was amazing to watch.

Alberta's climate varies, depending on where you live. I live in Calgary, which is in the southern part of the province. Although the temperature can drop to -30 C in the winter, it can rise to +90 C in the summer. Due to the chinook winds though the temps can vary as much as 40 or so degrees in a single day, no matter what the season. But, for example, Edmonton, which is in the centre of the province has much more severe winters and no effects of the chinook winds. But, getting back to the rat thing. I have only lived here a couple of years and was unaware of the efforts of William Lobay. However, last summer some rats were spotted here and the city went into emergency mode and vanquished them. That was when I found out that Alberta has no rats, due to the efforts of William Lobay. Question. Is it true that rats and mice never exist in the same rodent infestation? I have heard people say that if you have rats, you won't have mice and vice versa. Seemed strange to me.

Six Hours Past Sunset - Henry Mancini his piano, orchestra and chorus. Soloists: Ray Brown on string bass Ethmer Roten on flute Vincent DeRosa on french horn Richard Nash on valve trombone This is one that I hadn't heard before and it is very nice. and A Beautiful Thing - Cleo Laine