Free For All

Pretty good game so far in the Meadowlands. Eli's having a good game; I really respect NY for coming out and playing tough- although if anyone gets hurt people will say they were foolish. I love to see a team playing the MF game! Bravo! Any Conn-cern at this point? Agg's probably watching his boys play Penn State...that one's tied at the moment, also a good game.

I wouldn't care if he was my best friend, I'm not sure I would be cool with, you know, him and my wife...

I hope you reconsider, I for one really enjoy your participation. I certainly don't agree with EVERYTHING that is said here, but I do like MOST of what goes on here. IMHO, it's worth tolerating some BS to get to the good stuff, and there is a lot of good stuff here. So I respect your decision, but I hope you don't feel it necessary to leave.

When I was on the road in the 80s, the cassette was the current mode of listening- the CD had just started to become popular, but it wasn't an established format yet. Consequently, one would accumulate tons of cassettes on the road, and this would make for a hassle when leaving the bus for a flight or a location gig. I was just discussing this with a friend- how much easier it would be to do a road gig now with the addition of the laptop, Ipod and cell phone. Productivity and communication would be so much easier, and the boredom factor would be greatly reduced. All with minimal clutter. Of course, there are few roads bands anymore. Which is a shame in itself....

Halex Birthdander!

I think the composer of "Israel" is Johnny Carisi. So it is - only got that CD a week or so ago and Nat writes so many of his own tunes, I jumped to that conclusion. I slouch corrected. Thanks Bengtsy. MG FWIW, Carisi did a great arrangement of the tune that was recorded by the Mullian CJB.

You mean the "RIP on OP" thread?

Got a phone call today! They didn't have another copy available, so they're going to send me a mailing label and I guess I'm going to send back the defective copy and get a refund. Hardly worth the postage on their end, but whatever. I did find a copy from another (but less trusted) vendor. So newbury gets the expected points for customer service (even though it took two emails on my end, their phone response made up for it). In the meantime I put in an Oscar Peterson order with 'em, so all is good.

I believe you meant Strayhorn....

Thank god, we were WAY overdue for a good ol' fashioned "WTF?" thread from our man Rooster. Oh, and "The Baghdad Blues" by Horace Silver.

No, but some excellent music nonetheless!

I'm predicting you'll love this one, Noj. There are some GREAT MF compositions by Thad and others.

Your hunch was correct. Both Love Call and NYIN were recorded at A&R Studios, NYC. The engineer was Dave Sanders.

Nice haul, Matthew!

I was just thinking how little time we would have had left if this had been the final decision. I'm sure grateful for the big show of support for Jim and his decision to keep things going. It would have been a real drag if this had been our final week! Because of this the New Year will be a little happier.......

I've been hearing about the health benefits of kale, which is a veggie I've never really tried nor been particularly interested in. So I tried it tonight, and I must say it's not bad at all, but I can see that it's all about how you prepare it. I sauteed a liitle garlic in olive oil, tossed in the kale with some chicken stock, cooked it briefly and added salt, pepper and a little red wine vinegar (basically a Bobby Flay recipe). Quite tasty, I must say. I'm now a fan. I've never liked the overcooked soggy greens, but by cooking them "al dente" there is still some crunchiness and probably more vitamins. Next up: time to learn how to properly cook GRITS!

I apparently owe $82.75.

How's that DVD?

I thought it was L. Freddie Hubbard.

Most annoying bastardization-of-Christmas-song-in-a-commerical award: Circuit City Most annoying reminder that yes, I'm now single again: Jared's/Zales etc.

Currently in hour 20 of 24 hour marathon of "A Christmas Story". Starting to hallucinate............

I've been hearing and seeing a lot about OP today, even on the network news right now. Glad to see the attention, although it makes me think of our other legends who have slipped away virtually unnoticed.

Nice to have that little companion, isn't it? I sure miss my dog! HB Minga!