Dan Gould

I didn't think I would ever do a fourth BFT but I think I can squeeze in the time for track selection, so if you'll put me up there for late spring or early summer, Jeff, I'd appreciate it.

My immediate thought is of Kenny Drew on Bluesnik, and I think to myself, what the fuck is he talking about?

Looking at the glass as half-full, the foot fetishist a-hole coach isn't going to the Super Bowl, so things could be much, much worse. But I'm still f-ing pissed that I let the Bears give me hope that they could pull that game out. That was it - if the Bears ever have a shot at the Super Bowl again, its nearly a certainty that my father won't have a clue about it. And that sucks.

What I think needs to be remembered is that Smith was famous for his photography, and that the jazz connection simply gave another hook, or a second audience, for what is meant mostly as a book of photography. I totally agree with Larry about the lack of serious attention paid to the music on the tapes, which is why after I received this book two Christmases ago, I sold it here. Seeing the photos was nice, but there was nothing in the text that made me want to keep it and of course no accompanying CD.

Not sure if its official yet but apparently the Rays are adding both Damon and Manny. Not sure Damon really has all that much left to offer but it seems to me that Manny protecting Longoria makes the Rays offense pretty dangerous, and if Damon gets on base with some consistency, the offense ought to be good enough. Forget about rebuilding, the Rays are going for it this year. (Although I still have my doubts about the bullpen, I'd have to say that the Rays are positioned to make the Yankees sweat the wild card.)

Had to go for this, not only do I not have enough Gene in the collection, but it sounds terrific and its also nice to do something that will help his widow. And I ended up adding a couple of items - if the stock info was correct, it looks like I snagged the last copy of the Backstage DVD? If so maybe I can get the guys to sign it?

I don't think they are meant to imply "decades of fine listening" (I think I've heard that commercially made CDs aren't supposed to last that long anyway). I've had no complaints with the CDRs I've received from Amazon, but they are just that - CDRs like the ones you may have burned for friends or had burned for yourself. They may very well not last as long as commercial-grade burns. In my opinion, the best thing to do with them is to extract wav files and save them on an external hard drive. Second best thing to do is to burn a copy or three as backup. Even given the vagaries of CDR quality, what's the likelihood of having the original plus a backup disentegrate or become unplayable? Bottom line, I haven't hesitated to buy Amazon CDR-s, particularly for things like Venus CDs that are OOP or cost twice as much otherwise.

Were the Dodgers worse off when the Red Sox took JD Drew off their hands? They bitched at the time because they thought Drew was going to stay, but in the end were they better or worse off to have whatever his salary was going to be freed up?

But Boras' genius is that its a player option that comes after each season. So, here are the bad outcomes the Yankees could have: Soriano's injury history flares up and he misses significant time. Closer salary for a guy who isn't even playing. Mariano gets hurt, or his bionic parts break down, and Soriano becomes the closer. Soriano leaves because he gets a better offer elsewhere, leaving the Yankees with a final season of Mariano when suddenly there are worries about whether or not he can perform. But in the end, its quite possible that Soriano stays for all three years, because the Yankees paid so much extra for a set-up man, who are the teams that will exceed Soriano's salary to snag him away? Honestly, I think the greater risks to the Yankees aren't that Soriano leaves them in the lurch but that they have to pay him the full amount of his salary, and either he gets hurt, or doesn't maintain his dominance due to his fly-ball rate and his home park.

Paul has hit the nail on the head.

It is a primary piece of info when no one else has ever bothered to talk to his relatives and friends in his hometown, or at least none of them ever volunteered their suspicion/fear. And yes, it is a sort of short-hand for how society treated a certain segment of society then. I think its also affecting, for fans like ourselves to consider that not only did Sonny piss away his life and music on dope but that in the end, its possible or even likely that he's not buried in the grave for which Nica graciously paid.

While I agree with your take on the Jazz Loft book, I don't remotely understand where you find a creepy, vampire-like tone in the article. You may be right that this author doesn't have the jazz knowledge to do a Sonny Clark bio justice (at least as rabid fans like us think it should be done) but then again there's no one else out there even conceiving of one, is there? I think we should just be hopeful that his research sees some sort of release and we learn more about Sonny Clark.

I was shocked that none of our resident Yankee fans came by after the Soriano signing. Potentially a big weapon in the bullpen but the contract is pretty nutty - so much money for a setup man, and an opt-out clause after each year, too. And its been reported that the Steinbrenners forced Cashman's hand on this one, as he had said not a week before that he would give up his first-round pick for Cliff Lee, but not for anyone else. Now he's given it up, and given it to the Rays, too. I don't think it spells the end of Joba's career quite yet - I think it gives Cashman a reason to go back on yet another 2010 offseason commitment and put Joba back in the rotation. I mean, can they really go with Sabathia, Hughes, Burnett, Nova and Mitre? I am thinking more and more that Pettitte is looking at a Clemens-style landing, try to save the season for huge dollars. If its true that he hasn't been doing his usual workout routine, isn't a little too late to get ready for the season now and be available April 3? Especially for an older guy coming off an injury. Plus how much of Clemens' legal troubles are effecting him? If the case goes to trial as scheduled, Andy would have to spend some time testifying in open court, right in the middle of the season. So, I am inclined to believe he is at best considering a half-season's work this year. And the last thing about Soriano - his numbers were great, but there are warning signs all over the place. First one is the way his K rate went down. Second is that he pitched to something like a .219 BABIP. The average is .300, and the Yankee defense won't help him like the Rays did. He's likely to regress rather than continue that level of domination. And last but possibly most importantly, he has a fly-ball rate of like 64%. And he's a righty. And the Red Sox lineup has some dangerous lefty bats. And the Yankees play in a little bandbox designed for lefty power hitters. Soriano could be really good. He could also give up some crushing homers, particularly at the Stadium. Oh, and I meant to say that Andruw Jones is so much better than Thames as a righty bat off the bench. Not least because Thames is a danger to his team and himself in the outfield, and Jones can still help there. I think its a good signing for the Yankees.

The former Gene Harris Fanatic heartily endorses your comments.

Wish I could read the rest of the text. Damn eyes.

Seems to me would make a nice compliment to framed LP cover art. Must be a lot of those types of pictures, rarely if ever seen.

Its too bad Tom didn't post the rest of the lyrics: 1 Asian-Pacific Islander is a recognized racial category. Obviously that word might be just as offensive as the one under discussion. 2 In 1983, Howard Cosell was denounced as a racist for saying of a black receiver on Monday Night Football "That little monkey gets loose, doesn't he?" He left MNF after that season, his reputation tarnished even though he had been a supporter of Civil Rights and a defender of Muhammad Ali. Is there much difference between "chimpanzee" and "monkey" Clearly humans shouldn't be compared to primates. And God help us if the primates ever get organized. Really, to be safe, the whole appalling song should have been banned 25 years ago, but since its taken this long, its clearly time to update that radio-edit Tom prefers.

:party:

I'm almost certain the Jazztet show floats around in trader circles, and in very good sound, too. But then again, compressed radio might not sound as good as the soundboard. I don't think I've seen the Cannonball show pop up, however. Might have to spring for that FLAC download.

Wishing you success from the other side of the pond!

If you understand the LOC to "own" this music, you should re-read the article.

I don't know, if the baseball gods really smiled on me and produced a Cubs-Red Sox World Series, I couldn't lose. Fact is I'll be rooting for the guy now throughout the season - well except for three games in May when the Cubs come to Fenway.

And yet, the Globe beat writer fell over himself in praising his approach to the game and his play in Boston. All about a salary drive? We'll see. In the meantime, the Red Sox path to the post-season keeps getting better or easier or something. Garza sent to the Cubs for a batch of prospects. I'm not sure what makes me happier: the fact that the Sox won't be turning him into Cy Young every time they face him or that I won't have to watch that asshat spit his disgusting phlegm off his tongue all the f-ing time.

I can't take the time to share right now but I am visiting the parental units and found on my old bookcase something published in 1982 - The Omni Future Almanac. (Omni magazine was a Science magazine published by porn entrepreneur Bob Guccione.) Some very amusing predictions found therein, I am going to bring the book home and will post some of the better ones later. Here's a taste though: In 2010, the "average skill level" baseball player will make $330,000. In reality, the minimum Major League salary in 2010 would be $406,000, and the average would be over 3 million.

I understand your hatred of Beltre on the basis that he was overpaid/underperformed in Seattle. But jeez it borders on the irrational. Texas isn't all that different from Fenway (in fact, it plays smaller to right-center which is Beltre's power zone) and I expect Beltre to flat out rake for the Rangers - at least for the first few years of his deal. He probably will be overpaid, possibly drastically overpaid, by the end of this contract but after 2011, you won't be able to say he's only had a couple of good years, and only in walk-years.