Shawn

Well, I should have probably phrased that better... What I meant is that I don't get any paid holidays...so tomorrow is 8 hours with no pay. If I want my full 40 hours this week then I have to work 10 hour shifts Tuesday - Friday. If I was an actual employee of the company I am working for then I would get paid for tomorrow. But I'm an hourly contractor so I'm ineligble for the first year.

Well, the last company I worked for I got 29 days a year combination vacation/sick time. Of course I was a moron and quit that job...now I'm working as a contractor and don't qualify for any days off with pay...until I've worked for a year with the company. So...any vacation (including the holiday tomorrow)...come out of my pocket.

Thanks for the mention of Michel Portal...and KILLER player! Have to agree with Lon on his choice....chitlins con CARNEY!

Great news!

Personally I've become a fan of Jackie's Prestige era albums and even though I don't play them very often, I always enjoy them when I do. I especially like anything with him and Mal Waldron together, I really like that combination. I couldn't really pick a favorite disc, but I have a warm place in my heart for Jackie's Pal and I also agree wholeheartedly with the rec for the live disc with George Wallington...and asskicker! Like many I do agree with the opinion that Jackie really "became" himself once he left for Blue Note (I feel the same way about Donald Byrd)...but I think to really get a true picture of an artist you have to study the evolution, and all eras of an artist of McLean's talent are worth investigating.

Well a "Thumbs Up" from the Sangrinator is enough for me!!! I'll be checking this one out!

What??? You don't own an album by The Who??? You must go out and buy Who's Next and W-O-R-S-H-I-P it! Poor man's Yes? Don't even put these two bands in anywhere near the same category. Rush started out as Zeppelin clones until developing a definite voice of their own. Love them or hate them...they are true originals.

Yes, but the difference between Peart having a huge drum set and say someone like...Alex Van Halen...is that Peart actually knows how to play the damn thing and he uses the entire kit quite effectively. Yes, I'm a Rush fan...have been for years. There have been long stretches in my life where I didn't listen to them, but I always end up getting in a "Rush mood" and then playing them constantly. I think their new Rush In Rio is the best thing they've ever done...marvelous to hear a bunch of "old geezers" playing with that much fire and finesse. Of course some of the lyrics are ridiculous and some of the experimentation falls flat but as a whole they've had a very respectable career and I don't think they come anywhere close to "Spinal Tap" territory. Maybe if we were talking about Ronnie James Dio or Nazareth that would apply...

Congratulations to the whole Sangrey clan!!!!!!

Being an audio engineer myself, it's people like Davies who were my real heroes of the ART of restoration. This guy was a Picasso of mastering engineers....

Thanks for the correction, post edited. I did mention that I quit school, right??

I like LOTS of other stuff. I voted pop/rock but that's cutting it a little narrow. Love everything from Mahalia Jackson to Slayer...Buffalo Springfield to Debussy...Curtis Mayfield to Patsy Cline...etc, etc, etc.

Okay, I'm guessing the majority of us on the board left our teens behind a while back...and have most likely changed a great deal in the process. But what were you like? What "clique" did you fit into...or were you the rebel that refused to be associated with "cliques" (aside from being a rebel of course..ahem)? What music did you listen to? Were you stylin'? I'll start the embarrasement... I was a teenager in the 80's. I fit the aforementioned "rebel" category. Hated High School, quit as soon as I turned 16. Drinking, illicit sex and other substances were FAR more interesting than algebra, let me tell you! I was also a Metalhead. Yes, you've seen lots of people like me. Blue jean jacket (with Iron Maiden & Motorhead patches), torn jeans, leather biker jacket, long hair, pierced left ear with upside down cross or pentagram earring, wallet on a chain, combat boots...and lots of drawings of skulls and stuff all over my room...and I shouldn't forget the black candles either. Music? You guessed it. Metal. The Heavier the better. My circle of friends hated all the poseur shit (Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Def Leppard, etc)...we thought they sucked even more than the pop stuff on the radio. We liked the "bash your skull in" kind of Metal. We lived by Motorhead, Slayer, Venom, Celtic Frost, Trouble, Voi Vod, Savatage, Metallica (before they sold out), Megadeth (ditto), Anthrax (ditto ditto), Sepultura and of course...BLACK SABBATH!!!! The funny thing is that all my friends from that era that I'm still in touch with (or are still alive, there were a couple casualties along the way) are all basically the same people inside...it's just the external trappings that have changed. Older, fatter, more grey hair, different musical tastes. But when a few of us got together and partied awhile back...it could have been 1985 again. All the old vibes from our teenage years were still there, and before the night was over we were listening to Ozzy & Judas Priest records (all very scratched I might add)! Next.....

Well I remember one time I scared myself into thinking there was a bomb scare! I was working at a used CD store in the Broadway neighborhood of Seattle and we had our fair share of weirdos that would come in from time to time. One night this rather suspicious looking guy came in with this big suitcase, he walked around the store a couple times, glancing all around...then he set the suitcase down in the middle of the store and left!!!! My first instinct was to yell after him to take the suitcase, my second impulse was to pick it up and throw it in the dumpster...but as I reached down to pick it up all the espionage movies I had ever seen came to mind...and I decided to call the cops instead. About 30 minutes went by, this one VERY bored beat cop walked in, looked at the suitcase..and then KICKED IT!!!!! I almost dropped dead, anyway, he realized that it was empty. He opened it and the only thing inside was 1 dirty sock..... I felt pretty damn stupid...but now it just strikes me as funny.

I searched the world over and thought I found true love...you met another and..ptthhhh you were gone! Gloom, despair and agony on me....

Gene Ammons - Live In Chicago (Prestige)

Happy Birthday Chuck!!!! I'm still thinking about all the great music you shared at Sangrey's little get-together in Dallas...what a great night. Have a wonderful day. -Shawn

I had a deer hit ME once... I was driving my 1973 Volkswagen Bug, about 1/8 mile from my house...when a whole pack of deer ran out in front of me. I managed to come to a complete stop before hitting any...but then one came running out of the woods at full steam and smashed headfirst into the passenger door! Scared the hell out of me, buckled the door in like it had been hit by a train...of course the deer just got up and walked away. In the process the door was trashed and the front fender was damaged. Luckily for me I was able to buy a used door for my car for $15 (!)...the only problem was that it was a different color...so for a few months I was driving around in a yellow bug that had an orange passenger door with a black pin stripe!!!!! HA!

Tony Williams, Billy Higgins and now Elvin. The Lamp Is Low indeed.... R.I.P. and thank you for all the joyous music you left the world.

Great...just when I THOUGHT I was going to be able to sleep tonight....just the image I needed..

I'm kind of "out of the loop" when it comes to Washington D.C./Baltimore clubs...been years since I went out to shows in this area. Can anybody recommend some clubs? Any festivals or anything coming up? Thanks.

It's between 1.89 to 2.09 where I live, which is particularly hard for those of us who commute long distances to work everyday. My Uncle told me he spends about $120 a week for gas to fill his welding truck up with. CRIKEY! I don't see it coming down anytime in the near future. I remember just a couple years ago when it shot up into the 1.40 range I was appalled...wasn't prepared for this....

Soul Song - That's the one! Slammin' record!

Charmed. Simple premise: steal idea from the movie The Craft, hire unbelievably beautiful young actresses, grab as many horror story cliches as possible, insert trendy soundtracks...cheesy digital effects and a serious splash of humor. What do you get? Well, what on the surface (and underneath) is actually a pretty dumb show...but guess what...it works! Somehow amongst it's many faults, through the talent of the actresses, this show has managed to develop a little "magic" of it's own and become a wonderful guilty pleasure. I KNOW I should have more taste than this...I know it's bottom of the barrell entertainment...BUT WHO CARES ANYWAY? It's got a great sense of humor, you can tell everyone is having a blast and the girls ain't too hard to look at either! I liked it a little better before Rose McGowan came on board, but even she has gotten better (although she still suffers from the eternal cutes). Anyway, have any of you guys found yourself somehow glued to the channel when these witches catch your eye?

If you love the Turrentine/Shirley Scott tandem as much as I do (Queen Of The Organ is AMAZING) then let me suggest a few more titles... Stanley Turrentine - Never Let Me Go (Impulse) Shirley Scott - Soul Shoutin' (Prestige 2fer CD, both w/ Stan) Shirley Scott - Legends Of Acid Jazz (another 2fer with Stan) There's an Atlantic album also...slipping my mind at the moment...think Dusty Groove carries it on reissued vinyl and I know it was a Japanese CD at some point...hmmm..what's that damn title...???