jazzypaul

three minutes later, and I still can't stop laughing...thanks!!!

Jim, my thoughts and prayers are with you. I hope everything turns out for the best.

I don't have a scanner, so I can't upload it, but I can throw down this quote from the back of an air freshener that I bought... "This scent is designed for cool young dudes who aspire to RULE, to date famous actresses and supermodels and to hang out with celebrities." Best $1 I ever spent...

by the way, Ghost, thanks for the fascinating article. I'm a huge fan of boxing, and Jack was one of its greatest characters...thanks again...

ummm...ummm...gimme a second...I'll get it...right on the tip of my tongue...sheesh...who is it? He's got a box set or two out these days...damn...

Indeed, happy birthday, hombre!!

Yeah, but if you put her in boiling water, she'll just scream...

Wow! Awesome...a tea discussion. I am trying to ween myself from my soda drinking, and am hoping to find some STRONG caffeinated tea. I hear that Morning Thunder is no longer being made, and every time I go to the local health food stores I get weird looks for wanting caffeinating tea. So, any suggestions?

ditto what ejp said, except I was in a church (I'm actually shocked that they didn't just use the lobby at the local high school, which is a gargantuan monstrosity of a building). the judges thing was completely annoying, as were the votes for water commission board. Even as a political junkie, I had no clue about these people. I'm not about to vote in elections where I know nothing about the candidates, so I left them blank and then caught shit for undervoting. Two things I was in shock by: 1) agreeing with ejp, that there were any republican judges to be found, especially in Humboldt Park. 2) the support for Alan Keyes in my neighborhood. This morning, I walked over there, and saw five or six Keyes for Senate signs in spanish on the walk. I never cease to be amazed.

John, serious question here... you like DW's for playing jazz? I can't get a good tone out of 'em to save my life. What is it that you like about DW in particular? I'm a yamaha man myself, although, I gotta say, I would kill for a set of acryllic fibes in jazz sizes. I played a set like that once, and loved the tones I got out of them. Unfortunately, the fibes guys got smart and just about doubled their prices a couple of years ago. Oh well...

Happy B-Day, Chris...even if we don't agree on politics, I am sure that we can agree that you've done much for jazz, and I appreciate you for that.

Man, I'm glad everyone is okay...sorry to hear about all of this Al. My prayers are with you, dude.

In the past, when I was about 14, I got into vintage record collecting. But, then, not too long after, I got into the business of selling vintage vinyl. Made more money on the weekends at record shows than all of my friends at shitty fast food jobs and didn't have to actually work until I was 18. Strangely, as a Christian, I collect miniature chinese buddhas. I have a ton of them.

I was going to say that I was surprised that Joel Frahm hasn't gotten a mention, but, then again, he's not my favorite up and comer either. He is damn close, however. His last couple of records are really great musical statements (the duet album with Mehldau really stands out, IMHO). For the current guys though, I have to agree with the Mark Turner camp. Fly is awesome, the Turner/Rosenwinkel sides are phenomenal, and the first Mark Turner album on WB (just called Mark Turner) is a nice treat to be sure. Strangely, I first got turned onto Mark on a Christmas compilation called WB Jazz Christmas Party, where he plays the shit out of Pure Imagination. On a side note, why do some consider Pure Imagination a Christmas song? I've yet to get a good answer on this one...

Serious question for the NYC posters...what, in your mind, makes the NYC experience different and unique from living anywhere else? I've been there twice, and don't think I ever got a real taste for the city either time. Although, being in the neighborhood over by Nassau Colliseum for a week's worth of Dead shows, I got my introduction to jamaican food. I ask, because NYC'ers have this joy about their town that I don't see people have about anywhere else (even Chicago ). So, really, what made it great growing up there?

To quote Harry Bellafonte...That's right, the women are smarter, that's right the women are smarter, that's right the women are smarter, smarter in every way...

For me, it's all about the hot dog stands. Little mom and pop joints where you get a couple of hot dogs, fries and a soda for $3. The one right by my place has the best deal in the universe if you've gotta eat out and you're light on $$. Pizza Puff, fries and a bottle of soda for $2.75. You won't eat again all day. Then again, you won't want to...

I'm with Eric on this one. These Are The Vistas was a monumental moment in modern jazz history. It was explosive, it was energetic, it was vital, and it was completely new. The second album, however, was simply a re-tread of the first one. No longer as vibrant, nowhere near as explosive. Shock of the New is the first thought that comes to mind. I saw them at Martyrs in April, and was thoroughly underwhelmed. Playing your drums with walkie talkies isn't all that impressive, I would have to say. They were plenty impressed with themselves, however.

Favorite quote: Cannonball plopping Fascinatin' Rhythm right into his solo on Miles from Milestones. Actually Cannonball, I think, was the great unheralded quoter. Quotes in his solos are all over the place. I read in liner notes to one of Desmond's albums where the writer was talking about some Desmond show that he was at, and Desmond plays a lick from a Chet Baker album. In between sets, the writer comes up to him, tells him how much he liked that Baker album, and Desmond turns around and plays the entire solo during a tune in the next set, replying only with, "I figured you wanted to hear the rest of it." Classic!!

I've been near or around some of these... Land Rover Discovery -- This is the one I wanted to buy, and it's a beast. However, buyer beware as Land Rovers always end up near the top of the JD Power worst cars of the year awards. I was hoping Ford ownership would straighten this out a bit, but to no avail. Don't get one unless you can get a mother of a warranty. VW Touareg -- Man, I lay down this blanket warning on all VW's, as I've had quite a few of them: know what you're getting into. VW's are easily the best designed cars on the road. However, they're fairly unreliable, and usually at the worst times. And if you don't have a top notch mechanic, you're in for some real trouble. Finding a good mechanic has been half of my problem on my GTI. I wouldn't recommend a VW without knowing the service team first. Jeep Grand Cherokee -- I don't know if you had any tranny problems with the Wrangler your wife had, but Chrysler transmissions are notoriously unreliable after 60K. I had a Car Max dealer talk me out of one of these because of that. That said, my uncle has one, and I've borrowed it a few times when the VW was in the shop and I needed to haul drums. I LOVE driving this truck. Personally, I'm a big, big, big fan of the Explorer and the Montero Sport. I've heard bad things about the Montero, but I had one as a rental for about a month and a half, and I loved, loved, loved it. Also got to borrow a buddy's Explorer while he was on vacation and my car had just been totalled by...a guy in an Explorer... I thought it was a great ride. The buddy in question had abused this truck like nothing else I have ever witnessed, and it still started up for me with no problems, and I drove the thing across the state with nary a buzz, blink or smoke. I was sold on them after that.

The other thing to look for, if you're getting a certified car, is the warranty. Up until my most recent VW, all of the other ones had been certified used VW's, and they came with balance of factory warranty plus another 2 years/24K miles bumper to bumper. It's not a bad deal. GM offers something along those lines, but I know that GM won't really dicker on their certified used cars either. (edited to mention...although I'm on my sixth VW, and I love them, I wouldn't recommend them to anyone else...us VW fanatics are, how do you say it...masochists...) Another place to go is rental car companies. Those cars are VERY well maintained, and they've already gotten a ton of money out of them, so the prices are always excellent. I was inches shy away from picking off a Land Rover from the local Enterprise dealer as it only had 25K miles on it, and they were only asking $17K for it. Sadly, my parents were co-signing on the car to get me a better interest rate, and my mom's response was, "no way in hell do you get a Land Rover before I do!!" I was back at the VW dealer in a half hour...

Leeway, if you don't want that copy of Hot Dog when it comes, I'd love to buy it off of you. No sense in throwing out a perfectly good Lou Donaldson jam...

Well, that is quite good then. Again, I hope all is going as well as it can, and hope that things get back to normal for you, Dan and others down there as soon as possible.

This all sucks so much for FL. You all have my condolences. Dan, sorry about the fence, too. This does beg one single question, however, and I ask it of SoCal people all the time (regarding earthquakes, landslides and sightings of Eric Marienthal in big bands) as well: is it really that beautiful that it's worth putting up with this shit every year or two? again, my sincere condolences. If I had anything to offer, I would.

I think you've discovered the Neo-Con bible. difference: Machiavelli set a course with which to be a benevolant dictator. The neo-cons want to be ruled with an iron fist. Well, an iron fist that won't tax them, anyway...