jazzypaul

Damn. So, Wednesday before last, my grandmother passed away at the age of 95. She had one helluva great run, doing everything from teaching ballet to fighting germans in Algeria. When she came here, she busted her tail to help provide for her four kids, her ten grandkids and six great-grandkids. She was also a fantastic painter and a lover and supporter of the arts. Everything I know about warbling French bistro singers, I know because of her, and while my trio's in the studio, we're cutting a version of Edith Piaf's La Vie En Rose in her honor. On Thursday before last, the turbo on my car decided to stop working. Now my car that could do 140 is struggling to do 80 downhill. Uggh. Then on Saturday, my dad broke his ankle in two different places. They put him in a cast, and after looking at it, the doctor decided to operate. So they operated on Monday, and he freaked out coming out of anesthesia. So they decided to keep him an extra day. While they were keeping him, his blood sugar skyrocketed to 550 (he's a type I diabetic, btw), so they had to keep him an extra day. Wednesday morning, all of the sugar and all of the stress to the body causes a heart attack. Once they get that handled, on Thursday, his kidneys "fell asleep." All of the chemicals that they had to pump into his body in order to see everything on the cat scans had shut down his kidneys. Just as they were about to put him on dialysis, they finally started working, although just enough to not worry about dialysis yet. Then on Saturday, he stopped breathing momentarily. So, on came the oxygen mask and some gargantuan air pump which forces you to breathe (but it's not the same as a respirator), and finally yesterday, he FINALLY had a good day. It looks like they're keeping him for another week to keep an eye on him and make sure that nothing else bizarre happens. But, amongst all of this, there is a bit of good news...my beautiful wife is expecting. We go in for our first doctor's appointment later in the day. All in all, an interesting couple of weeks to be sure...

Thanks everyone!

Simply playing devil's advocate here, but... [rant]If you think about it, the tailgater and the shooter are engaging in roughly the same activity. Bad driving is almost as deadly as people shooting at bad drivers. Think about how many of us have stories about how we're still lucky to be alive after some idiot was trying too hard to drive too fast for the situation. And think about how many people have died because of those same drivers. While I don't condone going around and shooting at bad drivers, I sure wish sometimes that someone would go around pouring sugar in the gas tanks of those who can't fathom following the traffic laws that are in place for our safety.[/rant]

I've heard about this, but don't know the whole story. What's the 411 on the Elvin vs. Ginger thing?

Actually, I think Wahlberg's part in the movie was too small to be worth an Oscar. Overall, I thought it was a great movie, but not an oscar-worthy one. Nor one which I would want to buy so I could watch something so depressing over and over and over again.

From what I've heard, he had a heart attack in his sleep and never woke up. More details as they become available. I just finished writing the obituary. I'll try to post later. Anyway, he was a monster, and he was a lot more of a player than you'd realize listening to those Ramsey Lewis records. He's gonna be missed.

I have no idea what the actual temperature is at the moment, but I can say that it was so cold that all of the gauges in my car froze. According to my speedometer, I was passing people on the Ike on the way into work doing all of 15 mph.

up for a second round...

The shortnin' bread/caravan thing had been bouncing around in my head for years. I just finally got a chance to use it with this group. I'm glad you dig it!

Mike, I'm playing LP Matadors. Yeah, I agree that they should've been cranked a little higher, but in playback I went, "hmmm, that sounds pretty cool!" as for the Lucky Southern arrangement, we all had heard the original, but we always try to put our stamp on the tunes we play, and that was the stamp we put on Lucky Southern. I hope it works in spite of itself. And thanks for the kind words. We try to have fun.

so, we're currently going through the recording process, and we've got two unmixed versions of tunes up on our myspace page. If you feel like checking out some tunes (no originals yet, I'm afraid), we've got our versions of Caravan and Lucky Southern up. http://www.myspace.com/paulabellatrio]The Paul Abella Trio I'd honestly love to hear what some real jazz fans think of the sound. So please, give a listen and let me know! Thanks, Paul

Hillary Clinton Bill Clinton George Clinton

While not on the same scale, the same thing is happening in Chicago. Teardowns in okay neighborhoods are running for $400K. An empty plot of land in my old neighborhood (the not at all posh Paseo Boricua on the west side) was going for $170K. Even semi-affordable condos become outlandish once you figure in the $500/month assessments. And this in one of the, ahem, more affordable big cities in the country. Big city living is not what it's cracked up to be. That said, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

Blah. Christmas is overly-commercialized and under-appreciated at this point.

the pied-noir dish is much the same, with the biggest difference being no raisins or dates in the stew. The first time I walked into an Algerian Restaurant and saw that I did a double take. The Moroccan version that Brownie showed is different as well, because the lamb is dry and you just dip it right into the cous cous. Mmmm, MMMMM, MMMMMM.

Well, I'm allergic to poultry, so turkey's never been part of my holiday traditions. My dad's side of the family does pied-noir cuisine (lamb stew over cous cous, rabbit and other things that I can't spell). That's fun because not only do we get the best Christmas meal in the state, but we also get the most unique one. My mom's side of the family is far more traditional, but luckily for me (I guess), nobody likes turkey, so ham is the order of the day. Jim, as for the lamb recipie you've got there, it looks damn good.

"I'll take the rapists for $400 Alex"

I've seen this list 1,000 times, and I never get tired of this one. Cracks me up every time I see it.

I am getting tired of Kenny Williams thinking that it's a good idea to not spend money. The AL Central might not be as bad ass as the east, but damn, between the Twins and the Indians, it'd be nice if the White Sox would actually spend some money. It's not like they don't have it at this point. Shit, I couldn't get tickets to a game against THE FREAKING ROYALS last season! (snarky comment about the Cubs outspending the White Sox--and everyone else in the league--deleted.)

My wife D&M Muffler & Brake, Aurora, IL Orbit Sweet Mint flavor gum Steak 'n' Egger, 5960 W. Roosevelt, Cicero, IL Seven Treasures Restaurant, 24th & Wentworth, Chicago, IL Any Stevie Wonder album from the 70's Any Grateful Dead album or show with Keith Godchaux Dave Douglas: The Infinite, Tiny Bell Trio, Strange Liberation

Chicago's been hit pretty hard, as I'm sure you've heard. Took me just under two hours to go 18 miles to get to work. I'm one of 25 people that have to be here today out of a work force of over a thousand.

I'm sorry I missed you guys at Andy's. We were planning on going out, but instead got into a really lengthy discussion on the merits of buying dinky condos in Berwyn at an all you can eat noodle bar. And y'all have seen me. You can probably assume that I got my money's worth. Or, given the turn that this thread has taken...my monkey's worth... Anyway, I'll be there the next time you're here.

Following the logic of the owners of Planet Fitness, I am going to open the following businesses: a dance club where people who dance anything more complicated than the twist or the cabbage patch will be banned. A bookstore with a strict no-reading of anything heavy policy. (I guess sales of Bill O'Reilly books will spike) After all, we don't ever want anyone anywhere at any time to ever feel inadequate, right? C'mon everybody! Group hug!

I've listened, and it's great. You get a big from me!

What were you wearing when you found this out? How hard was it... to find this out? Were your buttocks clenched in disapointment?