Dan Gould

I heard the new one, and What Love Will Do, which I actually preferred. But you're right, I need to approach them again without preconceptions. Like I said, I'd still like to see her in concert if she gets booked somewhere between Palm Beach county and Miami-Dade. You should tell her management about the new B.B. King Blues Club that opened in West Palm.

I very much hope to see Janiva get booked somewhere in south Florida because I still want to see her (and Jim) but I have to say that I got a chance to sample two of her albums and I really wasn't blown away. Great voice, no doubt - but I found the tunes wanting. I think I was really looking for a pure blues recording a la Reba Russell (who I think deserves the kind of success Ms Magness has found) and there were elements I didn't care much for. Not to say all the tunes were like that but there were just a few "gems" and a lotta "mehs". I'd still go out to see her if she makes it down here though.

Oh, but A-Rod doesn't deserve any chin music for doing something that Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Jim Kaat and Tim McCarver have all said is an absolute violation of a legitimate "unwritten rule"? What a crock of shit. I hope the A's treat A-Rod like the Devil Rays used to go after Brian Daubach.

In the Jim Mora "Playoffs? Playoffs?" tradition, the Indian TV announcer rants for five minutes about the team: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t9-DIKDGGA&feature=player_embedded#at=163

What's even nuttier is the assertion that you can extract an exact copy of the disc, burn it (copy it exactly, basically) to a new CDR, and magically create an exact duplicate of the original master, which was supposedly corrupted by the burning process at the manufacturing plant.

More than a month after Opening Day, the Red Sox finally are again 1 game over .500. I have no idea if they have any chance of catching the Rays or Yankees (let's see where the standings are after either of those teams hit a bump in the road or lose two OF for a month to injury) but even considering that its only May and it won't take much to win the AL West, this sweep (and eight game losing streak) demonstrates to me that the Halos will not sniff October this year: the bullpen that was such an advantage sucks; there is no ace on the pitching staff; the offense isn't what it was. They're done. As to the Sox, the best I can say is that there are good trends in place right now: the starters are pitching much better than they were (Lackey has had a quality start in every game but one, Lester has completely turned it around, and earlier than he has in the past, Buchholz is pitching very well, and Beckett put up the exact same numbers last year as he has so far this year and he turned out OK) key arms in the bullpen are getting their acts together, despite some hiccups (Delcarmen has pitched well pretty much from the start, Bard has screwed up a time or two but his stats are also good, Papelbon has gotten the job done for the most part too) the offense is coming along: they are third in doubles, home runs and OPS but ninth in runs scored - that should change as poor situational hitting stats even out over time. Say what you want about Big Papi but his four home runs is about six weeks ahead of last year's pace and also happens to equal the home runs of Mr. Leigh Teixeira and A-Roid combined. They'll still need help to make it to October.

Funny, I'd forgotten the '87 Cy Young. Maybe he's a more solid candidate pre-Toronto and pre-McNamee. The reality though is that he wasn't all that impressive the last four years in Boston, even ignoring W-L record. One season with 200 innings. Two of his three highest seasons for WHIP. One season with an ERA+ that stood with the best seasons of his career. Put it this way: Was Duquette out of line in referring to his entering "the twilight of his career"? Or was that supported by both his age and his recent stats? Yeah he was good enough to get some votes for the Hall, if he had hung on for a few years - but would it be that much different from Morris or Blyleven's claims on the Hall? (Well maybe Morris, Blyleven from the beginning was a slam-dunk IMHO).

I don't understand contracts too much, but I believe that the reason Strassburg will not be up before June is in order to secure sole rights to his contract for a longer period of time. If the Nationals brought him up any sooner, then he would become a free agent sooner. It's discussed that way on Nationals Journal, the Washington Post's online discussion group. Its six seasons to free agency, so cutting short his first year allows them to push their control over more like six and a half years. First two seasons a team has total control in setting a player's salary (aside from the major league minimum set for the in the player's agreement). After that its four years of negotiating salary year by year or having it set by arbitration. There's also something called "Super 2s" but I'm not really clear on it. I think it allows players who perform at a certain level to be eligible for arbitration early - and it certainly looks like Strasburg could qualify. But if he is that good and the Nats are smart, they'll at least try to get cost-certainty by signing him to a contract that buys out his arbitration years. But if the Devil's Spawn is his agent, he'll be like Jacoby Ellsbury and go year-by-year until he gets to free agency.

Aaron got bounced, and somewhere Justin Beiber smiled since his ludicrous career will continue without challenge. This is the kind of week that is never a good one for whoever is left as none of them ever have a clue how to sing these kinds of songs, and its even worse with such a weak group of contestants. Thank god that awful Siobahn chick got bounced a week earlier, letting loose her piercing scream on a Sinatra tune would have been all all-time worst Idol Moment, and without the humor quotient of a William Hung, either. Ms Bowersox is the only one close to being a marketable, professional singer but I can't imagine why anyone would listen to a record by her over a Janis Joplin record. Can anyone say ...

Too late for chewy. Any evidence whether Barry's dementia pre-dated exposure to the Hoffman forum?

His prices on 78s are pretty amazing but Carole King, Tapestry for $3000 is the kicker. Worth about a penny to a dealer, if he'd even take it, and available in the 50 cent bin for all those mad collectors who didn't keep their copy from 1971.

I'm gonna call 100% bullshit and I don't give a shit who this Barry person is. You cannot "correct" "errors" by extracting an exact copy of a disc and then re-burning. We've truly reached Nirvana, or something. We've gone from "if you don't use EAC when you burn a copy, you may get errors!" to "extract a copy, burn it, and you'll fix the "errors" and get a true master identical to the one the engineer produced!" Give me a fucking break.

Steve, These are my only sales that I have ever used the "as is" and "no refunds" terms and if I offer LPs in the future I'll generally allow refunds anyway. And I don't know what my options are going forward - I got someone on the phone at Paypal and they pretty much said that the decision is made, there are no appeals, it is what it is.

But I can label feedback as "neutral" and tell it like it is, to wit: Now, I haven't checked what the character limits are so I may have to adjust but I think that says it all, "neutral" feedback or not.

The box was not sealed; my sister-in-law did not have the receipt so I couldn't provide documentation of the purchase. I referred them to the pictures included in the listing which showed that everything was in its place in the interior packaging and in pristine condition. Her claim amounted to a manufacturing defect which would not be apparent until installation was attempted. For whatever outrageous reason (like, if at all possible, rule in favor of the buyer) they did not accept my argument that the buyer incurs risks when purchasing something new via a third party that was originally purchased from a store that is out of business for the simple fact that new does not guarantee usability and that everyone has purchased something new from a store which does not work and must be replaced. She knew replacement would be difficult if not impossible. They also ignored the terms of the sale - "as is" and "no refunds". The worst thing is that ebay/paypal will allow these terms to be used but won't enforce them. She knew the terms of the sale going in to it. And let's keep in mind that my true loss is actually about $80 - her offer was $60, shipping was $11 and she's getting all of it back. I only cleared $50 out of the original $60 due to ebay and paypal fees. So I'm losing $71 on a forced refund when I had already lost $10 of that to fees.

Excerpt from Ernie Harwell's HoF induction speech: More here.

From the department of Stupid is as Stupid Does: I'll let you decide if the role of "Stupid" is played by the idiot fan, the cop using his Taser or both. First a Philly fan intentionally vomits on a fan, now this. What the fuck is wrong with the citizens of the "city of brotherly love"? More here.

That's what I suspect and find totally outrageous. I am more concerned that they sucked the money out of his bank account (it was his bank account, right?) because I did find this in the User Agreement: So I figured that I wouldn't have to change my bank account number but I would be subject to collection efforts. This is really infuriating but my best option may ultimately be to try to raise another $60 out of my LP listings. And I can't even place negative feedback on this bitch's profile!

Well then I am really hoping they post these shows some day soon. But in the back of my mind is the thought that the tapes they have are the main stage, not from the club where they stuck the jazz shows. So the more I think of it, the more I suspect this will be another "if only" dream.

Speaking of Jim's solos, are you watching out for reviews of these shows in the local media? If they take note of the organist you might end up with some additional quotes to include in future press packets.

At one point, didn't Starbucks offer that History of Blue Note DVD as a point-of-purchase sale item? I think the coffee is utterly horrendous (funny that I like their coffee ice cream) and the sale methods pretentious in the extreme but I am not surprised that you heard a good deal of jazz inside.

I am going to consult the Paypal T&Cs but I wanted to bring this up and see what people advise. About a month ago I sold some plumbing fixtures on behalf of my sister-in-law. She bought them new at the going-out-of-business sale at the local Home Depot Expo. She was stupid since she didn't understand what it would cost to rip out the existing tile work to install her new tub fixtures but once she realized this, she asked me to sell them for her, keeping half of whatever I could get. So - I put them up, with pictures, listing them as new in the box, describing the sale as being "as-is" and choosing "no refund". I did not want any problems with these sales because someone thinks they don't look like they thought they would or find out that some oddball element of their set up leaves them unusable. So far, so good except for one lunatic bitch in Kentucky. She claims they aren't "new" and initially asked me if I had tried to install them, couldn't and then tried to sell them as new. So she files a "substantially different from listing" claim, and also states that there is some sort of internal damage that prevents her from installing it, and the manufacturer won't deal with her direct, but she can't take it to the store even if I had given her the receipt. Bottom line: I've just learned that she "won" the case provided she sends the box back. This despite the fact that the pictures showed the box contents were pristine and obviously new; my pointing out that anyone buying something new from a third party incurs a risk that its new but has a manufacturing defect; and that if ebay allows "no refund" sales than they should enforce those terms. It is total and complete fucking bullshit. So - what are my options? When she filed the initial complaint, they sucked out the $11 that was in my Paypal account, and left it in a $60 negative balance. They say So - I guess one option is to refuse delivery. No proof of delivery means she hasn't met their requirement of return of the item, no refund. But my real concern is what power does Paypal have over my account? I can "add funds" from my associated bank account - can they "take funds" out of the bank account to satisfy this charge? Or will they pay it and leave my account at a negative $60 unless I add money? I also see an easy option - I go to my bank and arrange for a new account number. Not a big deal since I don't have direct deposit, and I only pay three bills online from that account. So I could update records in no time at all, and now Paypal can go fuck themselves if they try to take my money. (I initially tried to "remove" the bank account but was prevented with a message that negative-balance accounts can't remove their bank information - this is why I suspect that they may try to access the bank account to satisfy the charge.) Slightly harder option would be going to the bank to try to state that Paypal does not have a valid connection to the account and they must not honor any charges. I have to wonder if I contest a charge after the fact if the bank will stand behind me, since it won't be a case of a stolen or hacked card. Any advice is appreciated.

Without objection, so ordered.

Wolfgang has celebrated James Brown's birthday by releasing his 1969 Newport Jazz Festival appearance. What I find interesting is the opening of the concert description: Here's a link to the JB show: http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/james-brown/concerts/newport-jazz-festival-july-06-1969.html Their pattern has been to post several concerts from each year's festival - once they get to them. Does this mean that we can look forward to Morgan, Blakey, etc? I sure hope so! I looked up the date in the Lee Morgan chronology that someone posted not long ago, here is the description: "Listless" or not, I'll want to hear this if Wolfgang's puts it up. While Blumenthal only mentioned Mabern and Roker, earlier gigs that summer included saxophonist Frank Mitchell, so I wonder if he was on this gig. A live performance of Search for the New Land? Oh hell yeah! And I wonder who was in the Blakey or Mingus groups. Please let it be released, Wolfgang - but I am afraid they might stick with their bread and butter and put out Led Zep, Zappa and the rest.

You've heard one track from that record already, in BFT 39. Interesting to read your comments to "In a Mellow Tone": Email incoming!