Shawn

Well, I'm not going to focus on those things he said, it was unfortunate but that's not what he should be remembered for. He was one of the best football players to ever hit the field. He was a loving/caring person and a tribute to how professional athletes should behave. We need more Reggie Whites in the era of loud mouthed jerks like Terrell Owens. When asked why he went to Green Bay he responded. "I came to sack sin & quarterbacks".

Well...I do...and the Seahawks won the game...they have grabbed a playoff berth...and if the Rams lose tonight they will win their division. Do they have a chance in hell of getting past round 1? Probably not...but at least they got there...

Sonny Rollins & Wayne Shorter. Took me a while to warm up to these guys. I never dis-liked them, but in the early days of my listening, both of them came off as being rather cold. It took ALOT of listening, but finally, inch by inch, I began to "get" what they were doing and now I find it hard to believe that I ever had difficulty with them. I also have to give a big THANKS to Jim Sangrey for helping my understanding along...through our conversations I was able to find the fresh ears that I needed to start grasping what I was hearing. I could sit around and listen to Jim talk about Sonny Rollins all night....and I have on numerous occasions!

I think the game was a good "reality-check" for the Patriots. After all, the Chargers, Colts & Steelers are no slouches right now....they better tighten it up... Miami's offense looked pretty shaky...but the defense was ON.

Even after all these years, still one of the most interesting and satisfying rock bands around. A "no frills" live 2 CD set, all soundboard recordings from various tours, no overdubs, mistakes left in place..and it's all the better for it. Probably the most successful "supergroup" band of recent years. No egos, no self indulgent noodling, just real good songs with nice hooks & melodies, played to perfection by top notch musicians. With just a sprinkling of "prog rock" on the top. Ty Tabor - Guitars, Vocals (King's X), John Myung - Bass (Dream Theater), Rod Morgenstern - Drums (Dixie Dregs) After taking a 10 year break to shed the scales off the "corporate rock monster" they had evolved into...Heart returns to their roots and hits one out of the park. The Wilson sisters prove they still have the magic that went into their early albums. By drinking heavily from the Zeppelin fountain again, they rediscovered their passion. Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) spent 4 years putting this beast together. A loving hhomage to the underground Metal scene of the 80's. He plays most of the instruments and put together an "all star" collection of vocalists to bring this nasty little gem to life. Vocalists: Cronos (Venom), Max Cavalera (Sepultura, Soulfly), Lemmy (Motorhead), Mike Dean (C.O.C.), Kurt Brecht (D.R.I.), Lee Dorian (Napalm Death), Wino (The Obsessed), Tom G. Warrior (Celtic Frost), Snake (Voi Vod), Eric Wagner (Trouble) & King Diamond (Mercyful Fate). The opening track Centuries Of Sin with Cronos could be the best metal song recorded in the last 15 years..... A wonderfully wacky side project courtesy of Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age). So goofily garage band rock that you smile through the whole thing. Includes the wonderfully groovy cover version: Stuck In The "Metal" With You.

King Diamond

Yes.

Happy Blues...that's a good 'un.

testing...

Is it okay to yell MOVIE in a crowded firehouse?

...and I thought Jim posted this out of sadness for me moving away.

Sad news. I first met Dimebag back in 1991 when Pantera was doing a co-headlining gig with Baltimore based heavy metal band Wrathchild. Fun guy, real down to earth. I saw Pantera two other times in Seattle, including the opening gig for Black Sabbath on their reunion tour. I saw him just last year with his brother, in the crowd at a King's X show in Dallas...they were just hanging out and enjoying the music. I was not a big fan of his guitar playing and was never really a big Pantera fan....but he was a "real" guy and deserved better than to go out like this.

Okay, this is getting pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. I got home this evening and had missed the first half hour of MNF. When I turn the TV on I'm pleased to see Seattle winning the game 14-3. Since then, Dallas has come back and taken the lead. How? Seattle are showing that they are still the enigma of this season. Red hot one minute and then the sloppiest mess you've ever seen the next. They've been mentally out of it since the Rams came back on them in Week 5. This is a team playing with a broken back. First: Seattle is on a great offensive drive, steadily moving the ball down the field. Then...a stripped ball is scooped up by Dallas which they eventually turn into a touchdown. Second: Seattle decided to go for it on 4th down...then Hasselback fumbles the snap, Dallas takes over at midfield...and then easily cruise down the field for another touchdown. As the Seahawks are walking into the locker room at halftime....the boos from their fans send them on their way. Their other personality better come back in the second half.

The Steelers game was incredible. That's what a football game is supposed to be like..two teams beating the holy crap out of each other! I was very impressed with Jacksonville...they did have a shot against the toughest team in the league. Also got to say that I'm continually impressed by the job San Diego is doing of quietly winning game after game after game... How about Chicago knocking the Vikings off? Pretty wild... Now onto Monday night. Can my poor unlucky Seahawks manage to not bungle the job completely and beat Dallas at Qwest stadium in primetime? It's pretty amazing, even with their sloppy season...they are still in first place in the NFC West...easily the worst division in the NFL. I've still got some dim hopes of them being able to not only make the playoffs but be able to get to the second round....we shall see. Hasselback...stop forcing stuff... Jackson & Robinson...CATCH THE FUCKING BALL. and let Shaun Alexander carry about 100 times...he likes it...he really does. It would also be nice if the defense actually showed up for the game.....

Holy jumpin' shit....hadn't seen this one!!!! Going to order it RIGHT NOW!!!!

This is a quote from Jim that I'll never forget.... "Say it once, say it twice...boring jazz piano with Amos Trice"

I know I'm going to get beaten up for this next remark...but I have never really been all that excited abput Bill Evans. He is a talented player, he helped push the modal thing along...but as far as I'm concerned...he's a little overrated in the grand scheme of things. I believe Red was fired primarily because of his drug habits. Didn't Miles fire the entire band at one point during this era? Only to hire most of them back again? Regardless, Bill Evans stint in the band was important for Miles' direction. But he really wasn't around that long and was already out of the band by the time of the Kind Of Blue album...he came back to do the recording per Miles' request. Plus another thing to consider, on that very album is that Miles chose Wynton Kelly (who was in the band by this point) to play on Freddie Freeloader because that song was better complimented by Kelly's style. Red had his own thing...Evans had his own thing...and Kelly had his own thing...but importantly, what Miles loved about Kelly is that he could play in the style of both of these former band members when the situation needed it.

One of my favorite albums as well. As has been mentioned by others, it took awhile for this album to really work it's magic on me. I picked this up pretty early in my hurried, jazz obsessed quest to rack up as much credit card debt as possible, buying every conceivable CD I could lay my lusty little paws on. Ahem...back to what I was saying. Anyway, this was just another CD I popped into the changer, listened to once, didn't really hit me and then I was off to the next disc. Well at some point a few months later I got a sudden impulse to buy the Mobley Mosaic set...even though I really wasn't familiar with him, I saw the various lineups on the set and decided to give it a shot. Well I truly fell in love with Hank listening to those mid-50's recordings and it wasn't too long before I went grabbing for Soul Station to give it another listen. To say that I was floored is a total understatement. I think I listened to this album about 3 times in a row that evening, studying every little detail. I'm in total agreement with Lon, that Remember is one of the most enjoyable performances ever. The amazing groove that starts from the first note is sheer perfection. Mobley at his most lyrical...he just sits himself down on the couch beside you and spins one beautiful tale. It's amazing that with a start like that the album continues to equal it track after track without a single low point. This is really an "album", a wonderfully played & sequenced date that really deserves to be placed in the upper echelon of Blue Note releases. One of the greatest joys though, is to hear Mobley & Kelly work together. I'm convinced they were one of the best combinations in jazz history. They were completely telepathic in their communication with each other, as they are on all the albums they recorded together. But this one really stands out (along with Workout) as the prime example of their partnership. Going to have to go grab this from the rack and spin it before I go to sleep.....

If we're speaking of the TV as an appliance...I watch it quite a bit, but usually it's either a DVD or something on Turner Classic Movies. I also enjoy playing the occasional video game. As for watching TV shows, I literally went years without watching any series or sitcoms. Just the occasional news show or rerun of The Twilight Zone. That was until.... ...I moved back out into the country. All of a sudden there are no video stores, jazz clubs, used book stores, record stores, coffee shops, etc. So the TV has now become my primary link to so-called civilization. Now THAT's scary! I've gotten back into watching the NFL again, I haven't really followed football since the early 90's. But for some reason I got bit my the football bug this year and I find myself really enjoying it. Even to the point of watching all the football news shows on ESPN. I still don't really watch any series...although I do enjoy the reruns of Law & Order on TNT...I never watched that show until about 6 months ago...so I've got 13 years of reruns to keep my busy. And for a guilty pleasure I watch Charmed occasionally...but of course that has NOTHING to do with the incredible babes featured.

I bought some powdered water...but didn't know what to add. I have a skylight in my apartment, I like it, it's nice...the people upstairs don't like it very much.

I finally broke down and bought this one...been wanting to for months but today just said "screw it" and picked it up. Bliss!

The Seahawks just picked up Jerry Rice....could be interesting....

Hard choice. I was stuck evenly between Whisper Not & Stablemates....finally flipped a coin and went with Whisper Not.

I think Jim pretty muchs nails it here. Serenade To A Cuckoo was the first song that Ian Anderson learned to play on the flute (remember that on the first Tull album, he mostly plays harmonica). Anderson was a big fan of jazz & blues and I have a feeling he heard Kirk and flipped over his flute playing. We all tend to sound like our influences when we first start playing our respective instruments. As Anderson became a better player over the years...the Kirk influence becomes less and less evident.