Big Wheel

Thats what I heard, thanks. Think I will just get the shirt. The only American made Belgian I ever liked was the Hennpin and the Ommegang Abbey. Fat Tire is everywhere here in SF which I think is terrible. Have you tried these? These aren't Belgian style, but tehy are really good: The Reverend is Belgian style - It's an Abt/Quadrupel. I have one sitting on a high shelf aging for a while on the advice of my local beer guru.

Thats what I heard, thanks. Think I will just get the shirt. The only American made Belgian I ever liked was the Hennpin and the Ommegang Abbey. Fat Tire is everywhere here in SF which I think is terrible. (pre-emptive apology for derailing thread) Have you tried the Brother David's Double from Anderson Valley? The version I tried in the bottle was only OK but I once had one on tap (they used to have it at the Elbo Room in SF) that was delicious.

It's okay. Unless you really want the label artwork I'd say save your money and buy a real Belgian. I love North Coast's Old Stock Ale & their Old Rasputin Stouts (they have an Imperial as well), but their Belgian just isn't in the same class as those 2. Yeah, I was underwhelmed as well and not particularly enamored either with North Coast's other dubbel, Cru d'Or (basically an organic version of Brother Thelonious). If you want a good value domestic beer in this style, I would try the Ommegang Abbey Ale - you can often get a bomber for around $6-7.

I didn't know it's legal to ship beer to Florida. If not, you'll likely be able to find the stuff at Whole Foods.

Seems like most of them are available as MP3s available for download from Amazon.

No, I didn't notice that it was Wynton doing the intro, but back in 1981-2, he either had no particular reaction or a very guarded one when I played that Shavers track for him -- again, probably, because he thought the blindfold test aspect of it meant that I was trying to trick him in some way. I just thought he might dig the music and recognize a somewhat kindred soul in Shavers, and I didn't want to put Shavers' name out there before I played the track in case that might shape Wynton's response. In any case, the days of Wynton's impishness have been pretty much gone since the mid-1980s IMO; royal role models don't behave/can't afford to behave that way. To answer your original question: If I heard that music coming out of Lester Bowie's horn, I'd be astonished and dismayed and wonder what was the matter. Back in 1982 Wynton may not have even been 21. There are a lot of precocious 21-year-old players who are completely unfamiliar with Shavers and Wynton may have been no exception. On top of this I think it's not unlikely that Wynton at the time was doing the vast majority of his trumpet listening to: Miles, Booker Little, Freddie Hubbard, and Dizzy - the pre-bebop thing didn't come until later. So I'm not too surprised that he was weirded out by the Shavers thing.

Wait a minute. There are only about 150 titles on the first two lists combined. Are you saying there will be another 150 or so in early 2009?

Funny, just picked that one up from Amazon (on sale $8.97) and am listening to it right now. It's made up of two sessions: 1) Donald Byrd, Herbie Hancock, Butch Warren, Tony Williams and 2) Kenny Dorham, Sonny Clark, Butch Warren, Billy Higgins. My preference is for the session with Dorham and Clark (the earlier of the two sessions) but both are enjoyable. This was the last of the bebop material before One Step Beyond. To me this is a good mix of the before and the beyond. Probably not the best statement from McLean, but certainly worth nine bucks. I prefer the other session. I love Sonny Clark and the tunes are solid but this session doesn't catch my attention. The first session, on the other hand, burns. Tony Williams swings his ass off, "Cheers" is an underrated composition, and everyone grooves on "Yams."

prizes seem to go up and down... but these discs are around for 10 $ these days, yes. Actually, $7.50 each if you get two. I just ordered a bunch of them plus some of the deleted titles.

I figure that many pairs of eyes are better than one, so here's a place to list any CD steals that you might have found leading up to the holidays. I've been watching Amazon pretty closely and listed the box set deals there on a thread in the Mosaic/Other Box Sets forum. What's cheap out there?

Also probably the only guy in the band not intimidated in the least by Buddy mid-tantrum.

I think you should do Misty Mountain Hop. Though repetitive, the hook seems made for bells.

Came across this sale. I already have the Nichols and Morgan Lighthouse boxes but this is a pretty exceptional deal for each! $24 for the Nichols box is the lowest price I think I've seen for this. The old Monk BN box is also part of the sale for only about $25. http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=U...51&plpage=2

Hmm, I guess the expectations gap runs both ways then. Personally I see this band as more a logical extension of the Birth of the Cool band and less a "big band."

What about all the related industries, though? Should we also be helping out the workers of the parts companies that depend on the Big 3, and will likely go kaput with them? The Big 3 are clearly dinosaurs that have a hot date with the K-T boundary, but is it possible for us to support the 1.5 million (conservative estimate) potential extra people who'd be thrown out of work?

You're talking about the Fillmore 1971 record with the Turtles? What's wrong with that one? (I've only heard samples but they seemed ok to me...)

Bumping this up, as I saw the group last night in SF. It is truly a joy to watch this band when it is firing on all cylinders - it is more than the sum of its parts. Prieto is just sick playing these grooves (African polyrhythmic stuff all over the place, often in meters like 7/8. I think I counted one or two tunes that had sections in 11/8 or 13/8.). Abdoulaye Diabate is a treasure. Personnel: Apfelbaum: piano, tenor, harmonium, percussion, flute Prieto: drums Patrice Blanchard: electric bass David Phelps: guitar Jessica Jones, Tony Jones: tenor Peck Allmond: flute, saxes, trumpet (!) Josh Roseman: trombone Charles Burnham: violin Diabate: vocals Josh Jones (guest on encore): conga Natalie Cressman (guest on encore): trombone

They also like to land the planes side-by-side on them. I've seen it many times from the freeway.

Hershey's has started making big Halloween bags that contain EXACTLY the bars that I like in them and nothing else: Heath bar, Almond Joy, Reese's PB Cup, and Kit Kat. It took an enormous amount of willpower to not plunk down $8 for a gigantic bag of the things.

I actually have the same problem right now and am eating a bowl of cereal - Honey Bunches of Oats with Chocolate Clusters (the stuff is terrible and I'm never buying it again, but it's the only sugary thing in the house right now) Here's my story of why I'm stuck at home with no sugar: I had dinner in the Castro tonight and felt like stopping for dessert at this creperie/cafe I know that's smack in the middle of that neighborhood before heading home. I passed this place on my way home last night and glanced in their window to see how busy they were late on a Saturday night, as they've started staying open later on weekends and appear to be rebranding themselves as more of a wine bar. I'm looking through the window, and there's this guy sitting in one of their cushy chairs...and he appears to be wearing nothing at all. "Heh, just another Saturday night in The Castro," I think... So I walk in the place tonight and the same dude is in there again, standing at the bar buck-ass naked. There's almost nobody else in the entire place. I turn around defeated and jump on the bus to go home.

I love my Sennheiser MX500 earphones but I put a lot of wear and tear on them. The earpads (those little foam things that keep the earphone firmly in your ear) keep falling off and I finally lost one today, so I need to buy more. The Sennheiser USA website says that they have replacement earpads/cushions in stock and the prices are reasonable (~$1 for two new ones, or you can buy a 10-pack for $3) but the shipping cost is really high ($8). I'd rather not pay $9 for a $1 piece of foam, and I don't know if I really want 10 of the things (might switch brands eventually). Buying an entirely new pair of MX500s would be about $20. Any ideas on what I should do? I'm not sure who (either online or locally) even carries these things besides Sennheiser's site.

Any coupons lately? I'm starting to get an itchy trigger finger.

I didn't think it was as good as Lebowski but it was way better than Intolerable Cruelty. I find Zeta-Jones's acting painful and Clooney's overacting in that movie crossed the line into being annoying. This was the first Coen Brothers film I've seen that didn't feel all that distinctively Coen Brothers. Most of the shots seemed like any director could have composed them.

Well duh Jim, you aren't black! Didn't you read GARussell's post?

.....and if you want to read someone who 1) is a pragmatist, not a zealot and 2) actually knows what he is talking about, try Bob Kuttner.