Dan Gould

I can see that. His playing did evolve in an OP-direction.

The former GHF is curious as to this. Is that the general Concord vibe, the general predictability of the proceedings? Any particular releases that fall to the extremes of your mixed bag, or did you just think they were interchangeable?

I never would have guessed you'd have slept on this one. After hearing Blue Hour, as soon as I learned Gene and Stanley had recorded again, live, I grabbed this one and it became an equally critical "desert island" disc for me. When people call Blue Hour a "snoozer" I always recommend this disc as an example of how Gene and Stanley could wail on the blues, too.

Hope you got a nice bagel with a shmear, Chris!

I'm with you, Bruce.

Lazaro's post about the Miles Davis interview led me to explore Euclid Record's blog: http://euclidrecords.blogspot.com/ which is quite cool. They've got a series of photos of jazz guys in performance in St. Louis - including Hank with KD in 1958, Miles and Coltrane and many more. Plus a scan of the earliest Gerry Wiggins album, which was on Johnny Otis' Dig label. They went for the pun on his nickname, and the band is photographed in barrister's wigs! If you don't know this blog - I had no idea it existed - you owe it to yourself to check it out!

Thanks for this, Lazaro. The interview is interesting, plus I had no idea Euclid Records had a blog. Best of all, there's a link to the website of NYC's PBS affiliate, and they are in the process of posting streaming video of the famous "Soul!" program. Here's a link to the Episode guide, among the episodes to be uploaded soon is a "Blue Note Show" with Horace Silver, Lee Morgan and Bobbi Humphrey and they've already uploaded a show featuring RRK.

Up to you Ray if you actually want to switch. If you prefer to spend more time fine-tuning, I'll start a sign up thread over the weekend.

Hey Ray, are you on target for your March BFT? I was wondering since I am up in April and after this weekend I'd be able to step up if that's needed. And apologies in advance to Big Al for jumping in on his turf.

Here's the story.

Interesting story broken by the Daily News. Anyone remember when Juan Gone and his trainer were linked to a bag full of steroids that had been stopped at the Canadian border? They decided to send it on to see who would pick it up, which turned out to be Gonzales' trainer, a guy named Angel Presinal. After no charges were filed, MLB banned Presinal from all private areas of every MLB park. Guess who A-Rod has been hanging with for many years, according to no fewer than four sources? Same dude. One source said he was with him all through 2007, but never in public. He traveled and stayed in the same hotel room with ... the Miami cousin drug mule. And what did A-Rod say about his post-Texas, supposedly "clean" seasons? He was so proud of 2007 because it was his "best" year. How is that for coincidence? This guy is probably the dirtiest trainer known in terms of messing up and being identified, and he worked with the ultimate poster child for "steroids may help you but they can shorten your career, too", Juan Gonzales. And he spent 2007 standing in the shadows with A-Rod while he hit 54 homers or something. How much would you bet A-Rod was on a new designer steroid, plus masking agents, in that "great" season?

Paypal's attitude is indeed ridiculous. The facts are clear: Its not a CD, it is a burned copy of an original LP. The seller has admitted the former, the case should be closed with all money refunded to you.

:party:

He says in Seattle that he took something called Ripped Fuel from GNC that contained the amphetamine that killed that overweight Baltimore pitcher a few years back. He hasn't said anything yet about actual, definite juicing in Seattle, but I think Serena Roberts will have something on that.

Just realized another especially lame part about this - did you notice how A-Rod dropped the GNC angle? Even more obvious how lame his first story was and how now he is simply discarding it, and remarkably, the story is even more lame now. And the problem with the "no follow-up questions" policy was encapsulated by his response to the only Selena Roberts question: Do ya think that whoever asked that question wanted to follow up by saying, "You made four specific allegations about Roberts including insinuating that your daughters were somehow at risk when she attempted to "break in" and you blame it on a police report rather than a citation? You claimed to have the "paper right here" when you spoke to Peter Gammons. The police report you mention simply records that there was a question raised about whether the island you live on is public or private property. How was that confused with a citation and why did you claim that she attempted to break into your house?"

So what's the reaction to that 38 second pause trying to summon tears that would never come? Master Thespian or Bad Acting? I'd love to see a split screen of A-Rod's "emotional" moment vs Andy Pettitte from a year ago. Pretty sure that Andy actually got choked up, that his emotions were portrayed in his face much more honestly than A-Rod who looked like he was thinking to himself "Puppies getting run over by a car" over and over again but it just wouldn't trigger anything.

But isn't the history of the Grammy's (particularly in categories like jazz and blues) filled with the best known winning? Surely Francis' notes met a certain standard - I'd expect no less - but sight unseen, had I looked at the nominees before the award was given out, I'd have listed Davis as the favorite based on how famous the original recording is.

The reviews are in, and the experts aren't exactly impressed with A-Rod's explanation. And how about that bullshit decision by the Yankees to say "no follow up questions"? Talk about controlling the press conference! He gives one doubtful answer but the next guy has his own question in mind and none of them want to go back to what he said to another guy earlier. Its like an interview with a roomful of Gammons. And I think its quite telling that according to that article I linked, "Boli" might account for the Primobolan positive test, but it don't explain the positive for Testosterone. And if he was adding testosterone, as you would if you were "stacking", then it wasn't "amateur hour".

Much as I hate to admit it, CM is probably right that name recognition of the most famous recording in jazz had more to do with the result of the voting than actually reading and comparing Davis' writing to whoever else was nominated.

The "young" part is doubtful. I mean, 23-25? What about starting when he was 18? And I didn't hear anything about the pressure of his contract this time around (though I've yet to hear the whole thing straight through). But the truth will come out - this stuff he says he used. People will investigate and find out what that colloquial name he used actually refers to, and then we're going to find out whether it is possible to test positive for Testosterone and that other steroid when using this stuff. Because that other steroid is pretty unique in some ways - water-based, and staying in the system for a much shorter time frame than oil-based steroids like Decca. So let's let the press do its job and investigate his statements. My guess is that the next story to come out will be that what Alex took could not result in the reported positive test.

Thanks Chuck, I got nice feedback from the producer He just wants a new, slightly faster take.

A horrifying story, and the obvious lesson is that this is what you risk by keeping a wild animal as a "pet". At the same time, I found it rather sad that after being shot by the cop, the animal ultimately crawled back to his home to die.

I periodically get a recorded call on my cell phone, of all things, telling me the factory warranty on my '93 Miata (which I bought used many moons ago) is about to expire. ... I often wonder if this is just a shotgun operation designed to troll among the elderly. Not entirely sure if that's the point but it may be the result. In the brief time I was being "trained" you could tell that more elderly people will get a pre-recorded message and its almost as if they feel obligated to press 1 and wait for a live person. Most of the younger voices were the ones willing to wait on hold to say some variation of "screw you" (which I can't comprehend - I get a robo-call, I hang up FAST). But the guy who was training me explained that their motto is "Hang Up - Next" meaning, if they say anything other than the make and model of a vehicle, hang up and take the next call. The company pays no attention to Do Not Call, and they don't give anyone the opportunity to get their name removed because they are hanging up on anyone who doesn't give them the make and model of their car. Even people who responded to the question with "which vehicle?" got hung up on. I have to admit though the one time I laughed out loud was when the guy responded "don't hang up on me" just as the telemarketer was doing just that. But the scummyness of the company came through in the first part of the pitch - "We are the administrators of all warranties for (fill in the make)." Plus calling themselves by the generic "Warranty Service Center" and telling people that's the name of the company is flat out lying. There's no real selling involved - the top performers simply put in enough hours to find enough "lay-downs" to get the sales. And worst of all, you're told that once you get an affirmative answer to the question "which down payment - $450, $550 or $650 - do you think would be most comfortable for you today?" you put them on hold and a supervisor takes over to explain to them what their monthly payments would be. The problem is, that ain't a true close question, and none of your sales are sold unless the supervisor gets through his spiel without losing them. And that's before they take payment information and hope their credit card can hold the charge. So I saw three deals get to the supervisor, and none of them closed.

Well, the auto warranty job lasted a little less than three hours. Honestly, it was so sleazy I couldn't stomach it, shook the bosses hand and left. If any of you get a call from the "Warranty Service Center", hang up quick! And that goes double for my UK friends - these people are hiring Brits in south Florida because they are about to start selling in the UK! Beware!!! It was relatively easy to walk out on these people because I had a good day on the Loan Mods. No deals yet, but the boss made a policy change that should make it easier to close people, and realizing that he will be available anytime to take over my call and get me a deal gives me every reason to believe that its only a matter of time before I start writing business, and plenty of it.

Ha - py Birth - Day! (clap clap clapclapclap) Let's go Red Sox! (clap clap clapclapclap)