Scott Dolan

Yeah, probably not the happiest of birthdays for him...

Rita, considering the relative feminist that you are, it strikes me as absurdly hypocritical that you would participate in such objectification/shaming. I agree with what Jim posted above. What the First lady wears is of no consequence. Never is. Our previous First Lady also suffered a lot of unjustified criticism. That doesn't make it right. The policies and actions of the President are all that matters. Incredibly, he's now on a one in a row hot streak for proceeding correctly. We should probably just appreciate that for what it is, especially since odds are that it won't last.

Also, don't be opposed to donating to any religious-based charities just because you aren't. They tend to do some of the very best work in situations like this. We're actually donating to one.

Based on what I saw after Andrew ('92) and Charley ('04), the most heartening stuff has yet to begin. Once the storm has finally passed, and the cleanup/rebuilding begins, THAT'S when you'll see the really good stuff that people are made of. Quick story: after Charley I loaded up our SUV with water/batteries/food/whathaveyou, and headed home. After checking around the Port Charlotte/Punta Gorda area on friends and family, I hunkered down in my old neighborhood to help with cleanup. A pair of brothers I knew from down the street showed up one afternoon with a stranger by the name of Jesse in tow. Super nice cat that I struck up a conversation with. Come to find out he had no relatives or friends in the area. But he'd lost his home in a tornado a few years before (in Pennsylvania, IIRC) and when he saw the destruction Charley had wrought, he threw his chainsaw in the trunk of his car, and headed straight into ground zero. Randomly ended up in our neighborhood, and was taken in by the brothers, and their equally awesome mother. Had been there a couple of days before me, and was there when I left a few days later. Still no power, still no running water. Saw a lot of things there, good and bad. But Jesse, wherever he may currently roam, restored a little bit of my faith in humanity. I have faith you'll meet a Jesse there, too.

Ugh... Fire Ants are spawned from the depths of hell. Probably the second most thing I do NOT miss about living in Florida...

Considering the level of destruction, get used to seeing the Guard. They'll be around for awhile. When Charley flattened my old home town, they were there for several weeks.

Goddamn...

Just heard from Dr. Spencer Greene at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. He said they are evacuating Ben Taub Hospital. Rod, I once tracked a storm in the Atlantic that looped TWICE! There have also been storms that made landfall, went back out over water, reformed, and looped back around and made landfall again. Hurricanes do some incredibly unpredictable stuff!

Interesting. Is that information protected in any way? There's no HIPAA equivilent in the banking industry, is there? Sounds higly unethical, but not necessarily illegal. I'm interested to see how this plays out. Good luck, brother.

I can't recall ever seeing a Hurricane make landfall and then...stop. Surely it's happened before, but I tracked them for a couple of decades and never saw one do that.

I do NOT miss living in Hurricane Alley. Stay safe and dry, folks.

A Quietness of Water - Peter Evans/Agusti Fernandez/Mats Gustafsson Under The Jasmin Tree - Modern Jazz Quartet Space - Modern Jazz Quartet Seven - Evan Parker ElectroAcoustic Septet The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert - Benny Goodman

Great to know. I kinda had a feeling.

Nothing more to add to this. Just wanted to note that this is the exact same thing several of us have pointed out, but it didn't mean we were rooting for them to fail/go out of business.

Rest in peace, fair lady. You and I never got along famously, but did find common ground at times. And I'm grateful that we did. You will be missed.

Sorry, brother. It is absolutely true, and I know this for a fact from first-hand experience. Neither of us are saying it's that way with 100% of Hospice patients. But I'd easily put it at 95%, and still feel like that's lower than it should be.

The most important aspect being they are usually in their homes, and not a hospital or nursing home. So surrounded by family and friends rather than nurses and beeping machines. It's hard. I delivered DME (durable medical equipment) all over Missouri for Hospice patients. So many good people, so many grievous losses...

Unfortunately, Hospice is pretty much the end of the line... Only the rarest cases make it more than a few days once they are placed on Hospice care.

No doubt! And I've been listening to a lot of big band lately. Might need to strike while the iron's hot.

No surprise, really. The shit pro wrestlers put in their bodies would have left most of us dead long ago.

Pretty sure. I know I've heard Louie Prima's version, as well as a version Erich Kunzel conducted with the Cinncinati Pops. I may have heard the original and not known it...

Very sad admission: I'm not sure I've ever heard any actual/original Goodman. I've heard covers, but not the real deal, as far as I know...

Been listening to a lot of Peter Evans tonight! First came across his playing on Scenes From The House Of Music with Parker/Guy/Lytton. What an immensely talented and exciting player! I've since listened to a couple of Only Other People Do The Killing albums, his quintet album Ghosts, and am currently "spinning" Carnival Skin, which is a different quintet. I haven't been this enamored with a player since, oddly enough, I first discovered Nate Wooley.

Hmmm... Well, I have the Complete Prestige box, so if you give me a week or so, I'll be happy to put together a list for you.

Seriously?! I was honestly going to order it this evening...