jazzypaul

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?

I already explained that - it was a list of faults that one can find with past champions. It was for illustrative purposes, not necessarily that I believe all of those were cases of poor champs. I also pointed out that with an unbalanced regular season schedule win-loss records don't mean as much. I've also pointed out the obvious - that injuries also explain the poor regular season record of the Cards. If you're going to parse the season records of the Royals & Pirates then why not recognize that the healthy April Cards were on pace to win 110. They played the same percentage ball in October. I find it strange that one can accept wild-card champs but get outraged about low win total champs. Such a system will give you some of both. I wouldn't mind going back to the olden days, but as noted there's too much money to made with the current system. Wasn't Boston the Wild Card in 2004?

Dan, I've been trying to stay out of this, but lets face it, if it's not the Cubs or the Red Sox, you're going to bitch. You complained that the White Sox won last year, even though they had the best record in the American League. Now you're complaining that a team didn't win enough during the regular season to be worthy of the championship. The Cardinals won. Big deal. They made the playoffs, and even if they made the playoffs because they were the best team in a shitty division, they still made the playoffs. And once you've made it into October, you have just as much of a chance as anyone else. They went on a tear (much like last year's White Sox) and took out some teams that might have been better teams. Bottom line: the Cardinals wanted it more than the Tigers. End of story. Personally, I'm glad that for two years in a row, that it wasn't teams with $200 million payrolls that won it all. I'm glad that teamwork and effort and heart won out over all-star teams (not that Detroit fit that mold at all, but you get my point...). First the White Sox and now The Cardinals. Now both of my favorite teams have won back to back. Yippee!

I think the Chicago Cubs and White Sox also play 2 3-game series each year. It seems to be quite the attraction. I guess there's something to be said for this kind of interleague rivalry, but in a lot of cases it doesn't make too much sense. It may not make sense, but it's a HUGE money maker not only for the Sox and Cubs, but in ways, also for the surrounding communities. Not to mention, it gives a meaningless rivalry some, well, meaning. And while it's not very nice to beat up on those who are smaller, weaker, and not nearly as talented, it's a blast to see the Sox beat the living snot out of the Cubs two weekends a year. A lot better than the "my minor league team is better than your minor league team" charity games that they used to do.