Dan Gould

Not sure if I get your drift ... is heaven segregated? Did Frank end up in H-E-Double Hockey Sticks? Or are you saying there's no heaven or hell?

I'd heard that SI was reporting that they were close to a 1 year deal with a club option for a second year. Its obvious to me they got what they wanted - make an offer, force Joe to say "forget it" and now there's less blame for making the change. And can anyone blame him, after 12 years of making the playoffs, for refusing such a short contract? It would have only meant that another slow start would result in an in-season firing. Well this is great news because this makes Posada and Mo more likely to leave, and while I've said before that Torre isn't a great in-game manager, few are better at managing personalities and the pressure of the media market, etc. No one should want to replace Joe Torre, just as no one should want to replace Bobby Bowden.

Lucky me, I happened to click on a linked blog at a blues site I occasionally check out, and what do I find out? Blue Note Records Has Moved Out of North Miami Beach to Broward County! And they are concentrating on the vinyl side now. Glad I caught this article before I started jonesing for another trip down there ... I'd have been mighty pissed off if I'd driven all the way down and found that they were gone. Actually, its a bit of a stretch to say they've moved so far away from their long-time spot and closer to the owner, Bob Perry's home. Its only six exits further north, about 7 or 8 miles, max. Should I go Friday or wait til the weekend?

Maybe I shouldn't feel quite so pessimistic today. From the Boston Globe's Baseball Blog:

This reminds me of a truly "dirty" record that was included in a Hustler magazine. Your standard moans and groans, not at all unlike that Yoko Ono track on John Lennon's last album. Not that I was going to keep it, but Mom found that one anyway ... There was also an insert that was included in, I think, Omni magazine but it wasn't really a record. It was like a black and white circular maze and you put it on your turntable and if you stared at it for thirty seconds or so, you'd get a sort of "Altered States" effect when you turned away. Or this effect:

:party:

Me too. Beckett is lights out. Unfortunately for Red Sox Nation he can't pitch game 6 or 7. Can I get some of whatever shit you're smoking? You heard it here first: Beckett will last five innings and give up 7 runs, most of them coming on two crushing home runs. Sabathia will throw eight innings of 1 run ball. The Red Sox will have a nice quiet plane ride home. You have no idea - but you'll find out after this abomination is over. Oh sure, go ahead and call me gracious. I guess I'll have to rethink my post-ALCS comments.

Yes, when all is said and done, this is what I will choose to remember about that day and what will ultimately help me heal. Duh....I had no idea you were that Rachel!!! Color me stupid... Which leads me to wonder - did you two already know each other or did you "meet" through the forum? If its the latter, then I imagine that was an Organissimo board "first".

What Jim said, and an unrelated comment that reading the post made me realize that I am getting closer and closer to the time when, should someone say "that was fifty years ago," I will realize I was also alive back then too. And that depresses the hell out of me.

It completely boggles my mind that any of this stuff can be of interest to anyone.

Well, is Manny Delcarmen the chief goat of this pathetic bunch of losers? If he does his job in game 2, Timlin, Okajima and Papelbon were lined up to keep a 1 run lead, but he pissed that away, and now he turned a 3 run deficit into a seven run deficit today. Dollars to donuts that Lester will give back the three runs they just scored. Watch it happen .... edit to say that I expect my team to win, but I have no faith whatsoever. You philosophers can try to figure that out.

Up for more comments - FFA especially.

Nope.

I picked this one up for Father's Day a couple of years ago: The Three Sheeters Entertainers Club RIB and ROAST RON SANTO Among the participants were Don Kessinger, Glen Beckert, Randy Hundley and a few professional comedians I'd never heard. Since Dad doesn't have a turntable or functioning CD player, I transferred it to cassette and kept the LP - and ironically enough, I don't think he ever sat down to listen to it.

I've never been the victim of a robbery though our neighborhood has had quite the problem with break-ins since the summer. Fortunately it seemed to be neighborhood kids who'd steal kids stuff like video games and CDs. Still annoying and we were glad that the local cops made an effort, got some intelligence on who it was, and made a couple of arrests. I'll tell you what was infuriating though: in the middle of the rash of burglaries, a parent came home to find stolen property in the kid's room. He decided to beat some sense into his ass, and then got arrested for child abuse, while the cops did nothing about the stolen property! What a messed up world. So, I've been more aware of the possibility of a break-in but working at home nowadays I am rarely out of the house very long. Plus we've got the two dogs and I do believe that Coltrane would put a world of hurt on anyone who got into the house uninvited. As for the idea of wiring windows and doors, the previous owners had installed such a system but had let their contract for monitoring lapse, and we weren't impressed with the prices we were quoted either. What remains isn't any sort of loud alarm but a recording that will say "FAULT! Check Garage Door" or "FAULT! Check Front Door." Its not much but its something, we figure.

Paul Byrd, the Matt Morris of 2007, who would've thunk it? Actually that was Jake FUCKING Westbrook, and equally untalented piece of shit. But we're making them look like Cy FUCKING Young, and deserve to have our ass handed to us. Its really just as well, I find the asshole bandwagon fans both insufferable and extremely boorish, and there would only be more of them if they reach or win the World Series.

This question/topic occurred to me yesterday when I discovered that there was a new Eric Alexander release on High Note. Now, once upon a time, I'd have probably snapped that one up pretty fast, or moved it near the top of my wish list, and in fact as I listened to the samples, I thought they sounded perfectly fine ... but then again I've got a number of perfectly fine EA discs, this one is unlikely to be any different or "better" than the rest. I thought to myself "well there won't be any surprises on this one." Which got me to thinking about the famous Whitney Balliett line that jazz is "the sound of surprise" and it got me to thinking things like: How often are you really "surprised" when listening to this music? How important is it to be "surprised"? When I see active threads seeking recommendations of Milt Jackson and Blue Mitchell recordings - after a certain point, where is the "surprise" in hearing these "new" recordings? A lot of folks who love Duke and Count Basie - how much surprise do you hear in their typical recording? It occurs to me that the true moments of "surprise" are few (though this is not an exhaustive list): Klook or Max Roach transforming the sound/contribution of drums Parker or Gillespie Ornette, when he first got attention I know that the sound of surprise is meant to invoke something smaller - the perfect chorus, or the near instantaneous, ESP-level interaction between players. But does everyone listen closely enough to catch those moments? Relatively few people here have the musical training to truly follow an improvisation and catch those true moments of "surprise". So, where does "surprise" fit into your appreciation of jazz? And if "surprise" isn't a big part, what keeps you listening? For me, I don't think that "surprise" is what got me into jazz or kept my interest. I think its the "dark blue center", the swing pulse, the sound of trumpet/sax/piano/guitar etc. Well I've run off at the mouth - I hope this gets an interesting discussion started.

If you can't beat FUCKING Paul Byrd then you don't deserve to move on.

I'd like to suggest that we don't need a list of "pledges" for Allen Lowe to hound each month. Jim says he hates asking for money, and that's understandable. The simple answer is for someone - hint hint, Allen - to post a new thread each month soliciting donations, with the paypal info/mailing address. You may not get the same people but I would bet that you'd get a steady stream of donations that would come close to covering the monthly expense. I think what we should really do is help the band retire the debt from the last CD. I'd suggest Jim put together a CD worth of tracks -maybe some live ones - available for download with a minimum donation of $15, but that might hinder the band's next project.

Are their separate rankings for Men and Women in competitive chess? Why on Earth would that be? Tennis, Golf, you know things that depend on physical strength to one degree or another ... but Chess? Or are the rankings subdivided by gender? And again, why would that be? Anyway, congrats, Paul! Ever think about becoming a chess hustler? There was an article in the Times a week or two ago about guys making pretty good money at it.

:party:

I thought only A-Rod gets reamed for "thinking too much" - and he definitely is the only one getting reamed for taking called strike three with runners on. Honestly, I know where you're coming from but it just seems to me to be as logical and obvious as a situation where, 3rd and 6, QB in the shotgun, and he constantly hands off to the RB - you don't blitz the outside linebackers, you look for the run! If they start beating you with that play, then make adjustments, but don't make it easier by beating yourself first.

If you don't have a problem with Oscar Peterson, you might look for some dates on Telearc by "The Very Tall Band". I haven't actually heard them but I would expect they are in the vein that you prefer. Edit to say that I don't think the group is necessarily found under that name, they might be listed as OP records. I'd check Allmusic for any Telearc label releases under Milt, Oscar's or even Ray Brown's name.

But that's the beauty of the pitch. When you're at the plate it looks like it's going to be in your wheelhouse. The break comes at the very end, and boy does it break! And the thing is, if you decide to take the pitch you run the high risk of looking just as stupid if instead the pitcher throws a regular ole fastball for a strike. Steve Carlton won 300+ games by throwing a slider that was just outside of the strike zone. It wasn't until he lost fastball velocity that batters finally laid off it. It's a much easier game from the couch than in the batter's box. Yes, I understand that it looks like a fastball in your wheelhouse. But the fact is that it breaks out of the strike zone, and he throws the pitch probably 80% of the time when there are two strikes. My point, and the reasoning behind it, remains the same: take pitches until he proves he can throw it for strikes. Yes, occasionally he throws the four seamer and it doesn't break and you look stupid. Fine. A few called strikeouts doesn't end the game. In fact, its better than grounding into a double play, whether a K is swinging or looking. But if you've watched the video, you have to know that he's throwing this pitch out of the strike zone. That means you have to be willing to lay off it, whatever it "looks" like. Its not rocket science, and intelligent hitters adjust their strategy based on the pitcher they are facing and their knowledge of his patterns. Oh and two, OK, its tougher to lay off the pitch. But that's not how he got his strikeouts or his rally killing ground outs. He was on the edge of being knocked around because of his wildness and an overeagerness to swing got him off the hook, and the vast majority came with three balls. Three ball counts require extra patience, IMO, because of his over-reliance on that pitch. Watch and see - I will bet that the Sox will be even more willing to take pitches the next game he starts. If he's throwing all his pitches for strikes, fine - we'll be up shit's creek sans paddle.