Dan Gould

I'm wondering how, if you're having trouble getting into the forums, you get into the forums to post about the problems you're having getting into the forums.

So the Winter Meetings are over and I can't decide what to really think about the Red Sox moves. Napoli: I've admired his swing and wondered how it would play at Fenway full-time (we know he rakes Red Sox pitching in Boston but what does that prove?) ... I guess I like this the same way I liked Jack Clark in the 80s - he'll provide some needed pop from the right side. And he could slot in as DH if Papi is finished in two years. Gomes: This is what I can't fucking understand. He's Cody Ross without any of the defensive skills and if anything he is worse against righties. So why???? And on top of that the manager says he'll get plenty of opportunity for at-bats? There's only one way to use Johnny Gomes and that's as part of a strict lefty/right platoon. Victorino: If he bounces back offensively, this isn't a terrible signing. He's insurance for Ellsbury, for one, who is sure to be gone a year from now if not sooner, whether it happens sooner due to injury or because they try to sell him next July. And he doesn't block their star centerfield prospect whose name escapes me for the moment, since he's at least a year and a half away. Koji Uehara: Given his stats as a set-up man, this clearly strengthens the bullpen - which also happened to be the strongest part of the roster already. So this leaves me thinking that a significant trade remains to be completed, with a bullpen piece, one of the excess catchers and at least one prospect going for what I hope will be a decent pitcher.

Are you fucking kidding me? And limited to 6000 copies. I wonder if shit like this gets "Mosaic-level" pricing when it goes OOP. Or if the Andorrans will be all over this.

Al, great minds think alike - I was considering recycling all my old BFTs into a new one, while preserving the sequencing. BFT1 Track 1 BFT2 Track 2 BFT3 Track 3 BFT4 Track 4 Lather, rinse, repeat. And I was going to give the "theme" away up front: "What's Old Is New". If anyone figured it out, they'd come off as a BFT savant.

OK, I didn't follow the discussion but now that I see the reveal, I'm curious about how a lot of these tracks were received ...

:party:

The Ray Brown Trio on Telearc - with guests including Krall, Kevin Mahogany and others An Uptown Christmas (Uptown) Big Al's Christmas comp (Big Al Records)

I agree with both Kevin and Jim. What Miller did to restore a basic aspect of freedom to athletes was incredibly important. But in addition to the things Kevin mentions, he's a man who ripped his successors in the player's union for every inch they've ever given up on steroid and HGH testing. That's a bridge too far as far as I am concerned. There's labor militancy, and then there's Marvin Miller.

I like it. Feldman will be better in the NL, and they've added Scott Baker as another low-risk with some upside. I don't think the Cubbies have much pitching at the moment so mid-range free agents isn't a bad way to build the rotation in the interim. They won't compete but maybe they won't suck while Theo works his magic.

Obit in the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/arts/music/earl-carroll-lead-singer-of-the-cadillacs-dies-at-75.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&hpw=&adxnnlx=1354028770-28AuOvQSL1VNhqyR6HdBKA

I don't have to hover over it to see it (using the latest Firefox, BTW), and when I click the widget is there. Must be a board setting for certain users?

Yes. On this page too.

Amen.

So are the ones not seeing compromised in some way? I'm especially concerned now because I am at work and I can see the widget. And Sangrey, I think he works from home so he won't have access unless we get this fixed.

I did see that, Claude, thanks. In fact it reminded me to post about Jim's excellent blog and the ill-fated 70s LP series.

I spent some time this weekend going through Jim's remarkable work on the Calliope label Sessions, Live releases. Really terrific I hope a lot of people are taking the time to check it out. My interest was piqued by the Buddy DeFranco post and now I am wondering if anyone can report on the music contained in the grooves. I'm thinking about tracking down the Count Basie/Jazz Messengers release, and I notice that Teddy Edwards was in the band for one of the Leroy Vinnegar releases, not to mention James Clay in the Red Mitchell episode. Anyone familiar with these Sessions, Live releases?

I don't know, I kinda liked the idea that J.R. was not only a brilliant businessman, bedded a lot of hot chicks and was such a schmuck, but also was an actor portraying Larry Hagman.

I got the same front page, widget-free.

Only that the source tapes (five audio reels of unknown length) were recorded by Frank Sousan, who was also responsible for Wes Montgomery Recorded Live at Jorgie's Jazz Club (VGM 001). No indication how much unreleased music there is on the five reels - apparently a lot of it is poetry recitations.

For what its worth, I've started a thread for reviews:

We've discussed this formerly 'upcoming' release but now its time for the reviews, and not only do they deserve a separate thread, I am sure there are some who never checked out the "upcoming Uptown records releases" thread and had no idea ... Anywhooo .... I give this a very strong even as I realize that its not quite up to the standards of some of the more "historic" Uptown releases like the Bird/Diz Townhall or the recent Mobley. Just a solid 70 minutes of music-making at a not just long-forgotten coffee house in St. Louis, but a blink-and-you-never-saw-it place which the authorities had in their sights from the moment they opened, due to the integrated bandstand and tables. Blumenthal does a nice job going over the history (less so on the music) and as usual the pictures in the booklet are great. For me, Bob Graf is a completely new revelation and I now plan to seek out his Delmark CD. He strikes me as having a slightly more muscular tone than Mobley but otherwise rather similar, and his solos are the most engaging on the record. Grant is Grant, of course, and I've enjoyed Sam Lazar's Argo releases for a long time. So big kudos to Bob @ Uptown, rescuing a forgotten band from a forgotten night long ago when some great musicians made some great music. And dig the crazy "poetry" at the end of "Blue Train". You probably won't listen to it more than once, but its a hoot. What does everyone else think?

Got my shipping confirmation just now from Amazon, with delivery scheduled for Wednesday. Anyone else??

Or he might have juiced in Kansas City before he went to San Francisco, and he's still cashed in pretty nicely. Not bad for someone who was widely regarded as at absolute best, a useful fourth outfielder in New York: (Career OPS+, with NY and ATL: 85 OPS+ with KC and San Fran: 140 (quick lesson for Tim: 100 is league average in this metric, which is based on On Base Percentage and Slugging, and normalized for park and season effects)

Is there any documentation of alternates used for Curtis Amy, Carmell Jones, Clifford Scott or Charles Kynard 45s?

Modern country seems to do this quite a bit, I think. Or at least the modern country I listened to when I worked in country radio. Here's a favorite from Joe Diffie, "Third Rock from the Sun":