Free For All

What makes your big head so hard?

Just for a little closure: The "leaf guys" came today and cleaned up the yard and roof gutters. TOTALLY worth the $$. They also hauled away some other yard waste that I've been tripping over for awhile. God bless 'em.

True, the falling leaves (of red and gold) there would just serve as camouflage for the alleged rampant illegal border-crossing miscreants.

Paul, my dear friend, this is not the time to call me lazy! I'm bustin' my ass going to the gym 5 times a week as part of a personal commitment to health and weight loss, so being "lazy" is not part of my current repertoire. I just don't want to spend my weekends raking repeatedly. EDIT: Also, don't misunderstand, the appeasement of Mrs. FFA is definitely a part of this scenario. And she (for once) is on my side on this issue. Believe me when I say she'd be the first one to call me on any maintenance infraction resulting from laziness. My supervision is enacted with "vigilance with extreme prejudice". As well it should be.

Here's hoping Vince doesn't decide to be....

Who's in your group Greg?

I love both of these recordings and snapped 'em up the moment they became available. But I'm also a major fan of both Joe and Wynton (and the trio). I think these are interesting because they represent an intersection of two factions that (in 1968) are generally going in different directions musically, but share the concept of swing as a bottom line. There's not much interaction per se, just the rhythm section providing swinging support and generally just staying out of Joe's way. The piano solos are pure swinging Wynton, of course! It's interesting to hear Joe just calling tunes and playing on standards- he sounds relaxed and seems to be having a really good time. Anytime some student rags about playing Autumn Leaves or some other well-worn standard I direct them to these sides so they can hear someone breathing new life into these often-played tunes. Think of those great recordings of Clifford or Bird playing with "house" rhythm sections- and this is no slouch "house" rhythm section by any means! Good choice Glenn! Great stuff. Five stars.

OK, not a critical issue or anything but nonetheless something I've been pondering... In the fall, do you remove leaves from your yard frequently or do you wait until they've all fallen? We have neighbors who obsessively remove the leaves from their yard. This tends to make Mrs. FFA feel guilty and start to wonder if we should follow suit. Personally, I prefer to wait until the leaves have pretty much finished coming off the trees and then deal with them "en mass", which is to hire the "guys" to mulch the leaves as well as clean the eaves (and yes, they do use a blower to clean the eaves). The aforementioned neighbors have dropped hints that we should remove a particular tree that seems to dump on their lawn (as well as ours)excessively in the fall. This is a beautiful tree that provides our deck with shade in the summer and has been around a long time. No f*cking way am I going to cut it down! My feeling is that if you are fortunate enough to live in a neighborhood with big beautiful trees you're going to get leaves in your yard from trees other than your own (like we even have a right to call any tree "our own"!!). If you can't tolerate "foreign" leaves in your yard, perhaps it's time to contemplate moving to a yardwork-free condo. We get dumped on by a neighbor's tree and it doesn't bother me a bit. My feeling is that if you like to rake leaves, go for it. I happen to like the leaves on the ground which to me is a natural part of the fall season. I swear this is not about being lazy, it's just that we are busy enough that we seldom have time to deal with raking and I don't feel obligated to clear the yard constantly. I also think it is a natural process- ever walk in the woods in the fall? LOTS of leaves! I love the sounds and smells of leaves on the ground. Oh yeah, I should also add that I think the solution of using the leaf-blowers to just push the leaves into the street (which many around here do, and usually do it early on Saturday AM) is VERY lame. I'm not necessarily against leaf-blowers per se, I just think they're as much part of the problem as part of the solution. What say you? BTW, we had a BEAUTIFUL fall this year. Outstanding colors!

Nova? Take a number, there are many worse.

OK, who let Wally Cleaver join this forum? ← FWIW, there's a great version of "Jeepers Creepers" on Stitt's I Remember Bird (w/Rosolino). "Ward, don't you think you were a little hard on the Beaver..........?"

...and don't forget the distributor....

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I listened, weak and weary, To many a quaint and curious volume of Milesean lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. " 'Tis UPS!," I muttered, "bringing me my Cellar Door!"; Alas, it was only Vincent, quoth he "Nevermore!"

I love this side! I'll be back to comment a little more in depth.

H a P p Y b I r T h D a Y yOu ! ! ! Dear ________ (your name here), Just wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday! Wow, you're ____ (your age here)! I didn't realize you were so __________ (old/young/immature for your age)! I always ___________ (enjoy/ignore) your posts here. Your knowledge and insight is truly______________ (inspiring/laughable). Hey, how about that post by ________ (Chuck/Jazz Kat/JSangry/Aric/other)? That guy is really an amazing __________ (expert/artist/asshole)! Well, Happy Birthday again, hope you have a great day! ( / / ) (babe with beer image here) ___________ (All the best!/Drop Dead!) Free For All Oh yeah, I'm likin' this!

Love is a hurtin' thing.

Well, I just finished the second Lou Rawls show and I'm very happy to report that Mr. Rawls looked and sounded MUCH better than he did on Thursday. I guess he'd had a flu shot and didn't eat dinner and the combination of those two things led to him feeling pretty weak. He still looks quite frail, but the "impending doom" feeling I had on Thursday was apparently unnecessary, at least for now. Tonight he kicked ass! Lou ain't done just yet. BTW, someone asked about his guitar player (who played his ass off): it was the legendary David T. Walker. Anyone have any recommendations for recordings to check out? I know he hasn't had a particularly successful career as a leader but his sideman credentials are pretty impressive.

Alex Trebek Will Farrell Joe Farrell

Grant Green Blue Mitchell Red Holloway

Joanne Woodward Stix Hooper Cliff Branch

Can you imagine if his name had been Beauregard Graham Bell? We'd be listening to a tritone dial tone. ← The Devil's dial tones. ← Area code 666.

(sung to the Indiana Jones theme) It's the box set we wait for. We're still waiting for the Cellar Door! First a month late, then some more! Oh Vin-cent! Oh Vin-cent! Hey Vin-cent! Don't be such a bore! He's your Uncle, that is true. Did you think that he can't fire you? Mr. Wilburn, don't be blue! Oh Vin-cent! Oh Vin-cent! Hey Vin-cent! We pre-ordered, too! etc.,etc. maybe more to come, or not......