Dan Gould

Wasn't there a toy marketed a few years back, a dashboard mounted toy gun to "shoot" dangerous drivers and relieve the stress that they cause? This woman just took the next logical step.

It prevents the following: A] you slow down, they hit you from behind because while they think they're the greatest drivers in the world, they really aren't. B] You slow down, they go around you, and then jump back into your lane and slam on the brakes, just "to do the same thing to you". I nearly died on the Cross-Bronx Expressway once when that happened to me. And what the hell does taking their license number do? If a cop doesn't witness the moving violation, nothing happens to the asshole driver. What I am saying is that I identify with the urge that woman felt. No, road rage terminating in shooting at an occupied vehicle isn't a good idea. But I sure as hell have wished I'd had a front mounted .80 calibre machine gun most of the time I drive on the highway in south Florida.

Looks like a cool store. Did he charge "collector's" prices or was there a more reasonable approach to pricing?

First of all, congratulations, Paul. I'm glad to hear you got your 'dream gig' in the wake of all of those marital/personal difficulties. August will make ten years since I left Tallahassee. I spent about 4 years there at the start of my voice-over/radio career, and '83 to '87 earning my degree at FSU. So things have changed, no doubt, since then, but I can give a number of general comments about Tallahassee: Traffic was a nightmare and can only be worse. So you may want to consider finding an apartment or house to rent that is at least somewhat close to campus. The alternative would be the Killearn neighborhood in NE Tallahassee. This is the more affluent side of town. Don't look for a lot of cultural events, particularly anything not associated with FSU or Florida A&M. Tallahassee is a stop on national Broadway tours, but then again the Civic Center also used to be a major stop for WCW Wrestling. Tallahassee is basically a two industry town: The two major universities and the state legislature, which is not in session year round. Its your fairly typical college town with all of your expected national chains present and accounted for. There are a few independently owned restaurants for a break from the Applebee's and Roadhouses. Marie Livingston's is an excellent place for steaks. I have no idea if it is still in business, but in my radio days I wrote and produced a spot for Smokin' Joe's barbecue, which is actually in the town directly west of Tallahassee (I had the brilliant idea that Smokin' Joe's taste will "knock you out" and I used (without permission of course) the overture from Rocky II. Everybody loved it. Weather can be described as a minimum of 9 months of brutal summer, with regular showers between 4 & 7 pm. The other three months are gorgeous, with fairly regular cold fronts that keep things nicely chilly but nothing like what you've been dealing with. I'm talking at worst, lows in the 20s and highs in the 40s for a handful of days, and then the temperature will warm in to the sixties and seventies. Also much drier during that time of year. You'll come to cherish it. There is only one music store of note: Vinyl Fever. There was an annual blues fest in the summer at a state park about two hours east of town. Tallahassee is definitely part of the Deep South/Bible Belt more than it is a part of Florida. Be prepared for casual racism outside of campus. On the other hand the friendliness of the locals and the southern hospitality has its charms. Also be prepared for a very strong emphasis on football of the high school and Seminole variety. FSU sports provide a great deal of extra-curricular entertainment. If I can think of anything more, I'll let you know.

Quite true, and when all of the performances are ID'd, it will be interesting to go back and see how the same "critics" who fawned over Hatto treated the source recordings originally.

David is spot on in his comments except he is missing one other aggrieved party: the original musician is owed royalties or a session fee or something since their work was ripped off. Not to mention the recording labels.

SS, with all due respect, one could use that exact phrase to criticize separating music into different genres. I think its ridiculous to get criticized for expecting a record store to organize stock by genre. Do you really want to go through every musician or group whose name begins with M to find Hank Mobley CDs Its a simple method of time-saving. And yes, Jim, part of selling "product" is making it easier to find for the customer. Oh, come on! You don't have to go through "every musician or group." That's what those little cards with the artist's name are for. You scan the cards in the "M" section to find "Mobley." It wouldn't add that much time to the process. Number one, who says there are name cards? I think the point of this mishmash is to have alphabet cards and nothing more. I do that every day in the jazz department. You think I like seeing Spyro Gyra in such close proximity to Sonny Stitt? How about Tangerine Dream by The Three Sounds? That's bad enough to make me without seeing Slayer or Britney.

SS, with all due respect, one could use that exact phrase to criticize separating music into different genres. I think its ridiculous to get criticized for expecting a record store to organize stock by genre. Do you really want to go through every musician or group whose name begins with M to find Hank Mobley CDs Its a simple method of time-saving. And yes, Jim, part of selling "product" is making it easier to find for the customer. I agree with MG about record labels, but the facts are facts: After the re-launch of BN, their corporate masters did a lot to make Blue Note synonymous with the era it came to (some) prominence in. They are free to put whoever they want on the label but does anyone doubt that Norah diminishes the image of a "jazz label"?

My most significant prediction right now is that Dice-K mania will sweep the nation. All-Star appearance, 18 or more wins, very strong Cy Young candidacy. He's the real deal, folks. Six pitches he can throw for strikes, and a killer change-up that will make a lot of hitters look silly, a la Santana. There won't be any "second or third time through the league, the hitters will adjust and he'll get pounded" - he has too many weapons. He'll get pounded when he doesn't have a feel for his pitches and makes mistakes, and of course there is a chance that he will have trouble adjusting to the 5 man rotation. (He averaged 138 pitches per start last season - Schilling was in the top five in the AL at something like 105!) Unfortunately I can't be so optimistic about the rest of my team's chances; too many question marks regarding the closer situation, how Beckett adjusts to the AL, Papelbon adjusts to starting, how much time Drew spends on the field, whether Crisp has a bounce back year. I'm optimistic about Crisp and Papelbon, moderately optimistic on Beckett, somewhat optimistic about closer, and pessimistic on Drew, but we'll see.

Thanks, Ray for writing these comments up. Personally I always want to find out why a particular track got included and any personal comments the compiler has. It almost makes up for your Gene Harris selection.

Mission accomplished. I know full well - this tune falls in the "today" category of the title - the "tomorrow" category tracks are straight out

Edit: I once spent a summer in Houston. I have felt your pain. I've spent 42 summers in Houston, and I'll take the blast-furnace heat and humidity here over Northern winters any day. I haven't even had a functioning air conditioner in my car for the past two years, but I may break down and get it fixed before this summer. Hasn't been a real big issue, as my daily "commute", if you can call it that, is only ten minutes. When? Midnight? When I moved to Florida in '93, my car had no AC, and it was absolutely brutal. I can't imagine happily living with no AC if all it needed was a repair.

You gotta look more closely, and you won't be astonished as much. There's a large, active baseball thread. Of course that is correct. By tradition, this thread should start April 1. I'll refrain from any gratuitous comments about being a Giants fan. That's shameful enough.

When I started buying jazz in 1988, cassettes were a fairly significant part of my purchases, at least prior to the acquisition of a CD player. I'd say I was around 70-30 used vinyl vs cassettes, then eventually CDs probably went to 80%, cassettes to zero, and most got pitched when I re-bought them on CD. Come to think of it, I'd have to say that was the first of many times I've re-purchased an item in a new format.

Are they really that bad compared to say, NYC? Guy Even with New York being a "heat island", the five hundred miles lattitude makes a huge difference. and while you may enjoy a more mild winter, be prepared when it does snow or you get snow showers or even slightly slippery conditions. Southerners don't have a freaking clue how to drive in it. Including the transplants.

Up for Ray's comments! C'mon Ray, you picked 'em, tell us why you like 'em so! Or are you now all ...

You forgot Ric Flair.

Well, it was the first time that I've seen this one, and it definitely got my attention (initially) way more than any other of those types of messages. I think my first instinct was "there is no link in a Paypal Confirmation to dispute a charge" but that was nearly overwhelmed by the instinct which said "WTF? I made no such charge!" If Firefox hadn't popped up with the warning message, I might have actually got caught in that phishing net, and I usually think of myself as fairly web savvy when it comes to this shit.

I just received what looked like a normal Paypal message confirming a payment. Of course, I haven't used my Paypal account in about two weeks ... but only because Firefox popped up a message that I might be going to a dangerous site did I pause, think about it, and log on to Paypal from a new browser window. Here's the thing: the message had this at the bottom: If you have not authorized this charge, click the link below to cancel the payment and get a full refund. I'm pretty sure that's not something that Paypal includes in its confirmation messages. <whew>

Now is the time I especially lament Chris A.'s absence from the board. I'm sure he'd tell us that the series should have been named "Some of the Better Sessions I Held the Stopwatch At".

Schilling will not be offered an extention, plans to be a free agent after season Since Schill stated that he doesn't expect a raise over the 13 mil he's getting, and only wants one year, I thought that Theo would get it done before the season starts. Turns out that he wants to be sure that Schilling still has it, and doesn't get hurt, before they commit. Probably a smart move, although unless Zambrano doesn't re-sign with the Cubs, I don't see a lot of marque free agent pitchers next year. Its possible that Theo sees Lester as being ready to step in to the rotation and excel by 2008, on the other hand, the top prospect pitchers aren't going to be ready in 2008, or if they are, they'll follow the Papelbon-Lester model of getting their feet wet at some point, and be shooting for 2009. All things considered, I like this approach. Schilling pitching for a contract can only have a positive impact on his performance, and if he truly excels, I still think he'd accept a decent offer to stay after the season (not only has he sold his other houses and moved to Boston full time, he's founded a PC gaming company in Boston. He definitely plans to live there year round). I also like not commiting to a guy who could break down or decline.

If the LP is shipped in the sleeve, and tightly sealed, you may not have a seam split, but you can get ringwear. If the LP is shipped in the sleeve, and not tightly packed, the vinyl can slip and create a seam split. Either way, its bad news.

I'd go to that expense too if I had your collection of Boots Randolph sides.