Dan Gould

I don't think the Red Sox were in on Lee or Soriano but I suspect you are right about Drew and that is going to be a disaster on more levels than I can count.

Didn't I read how Carlos Lee, at 270 lbs and climbing, is headed towards being a DH, if not ending up like Mo Vaughn? So I take it that's why Houston gave him Soriano money (6 years/100 mil)? I know he's been a decent power/RBI guy, but that's all he's got, and if he doesn't get his weight under control, he's going to break down before this contract is up. That's some messed up shit, if you ask me. Guess the Red Sox can cross off another team from Manny's list.

Ise sorry not to ask first, boss, before opening my mouf. I'll just jes shuffle on down the road now and let y'all enjoy your talk about race without meddlin' from the ignorant colored folk. Typical bullshit reply when someone has simply noted that over and over again you only come out when "racism" is at issue. You've got nothing else to say here, ever. Why, yessuh. Ise just trying to keep yoursef from gettin' embarrassed 'cos you didn't answer what I said, jes got mad 'cos I showed up. I got nuffni' to say you want to hear, that's all. How many music things do I have to talk about 'fore I can say something about this here? Oh, now am I "oppressing" you? I'm the racist white man holding you down? That's as tiresome as your usual commentary on racism, perceived and otherwise.

Ise sorry not to ask first, boss, before opening my mouf. I'll just jes shuffle on down the road now and let y'all enjoy your talk about race without meddlin' from the ignorant colored folk. Typical bullshit reply when someone has simply noted that over and over again you only come out when "racism" is at issue. You've got nothing else to say here, ever. I'll ask again, why does it matter? Where is it written that one must be actively posting in all the forums? Because she's a johnny one note who only shows up when the discussion is racism. She's here about once a year to talk about music, otherwise its like she has a sixth sense about when race becomes an issue, and she's all over it. That's not tiresome, boring and predictable?

Ise sorry not to ask first, boss, before opening my mouf. I'll just jes shuffle on down the road now and let y'all enjoy your talk about race without meddlin' from the ignorant colored folk. Typical bullshit reply when someone has simply noted that over and over again you only come out when "racism" is at issue. You've got nothing else to say here, ever.

I've heard this suggested before, and I have to say that it never applied to me. I had certainly heard Bird's disciples, including those once removed, but when I first heard Bird himself, I immediately understood why all of those liner notes referred to him as the fountainhead, and I especially heard and appreciated what Jim S. has been saying, even as a non-musician. The personality, the power in his playing is so overwhelming, I couldn't help but recognize his significance, even without the musical training to appreciate it on an even deeper level.

Shock of all shocks, Rainy Day comes back to talk about racism. Ever talk about music here, RD? Don't get me wrong, your welcome to talk about whatever you want. It just seems so predictable that you'd chime in on this thread when you haven't been seen in ages. You've made four posts in a year, and one of them was about racism and another is about Crouch.

Conrad, I was definitely thinking of the "new" Houston park, what I didn't think is that the roof opens and closes, so I was assuming it has turf. The roof opens and closes, right? As for Andruw, he's a definite potential target and probably the only "available" player who could come close to protecting Papi like Manny does (he and Vernon Wells, and I don't think the Jays will trade him within the division, and won't let him go anytime soon anyway). And Gary Jr. had a .249 career average heading into last season! There's a reason he's been such an underachiever. I have to wonder whether the Angels are setting themselves up for a repeat of the Mariners experience with that over-paid third baseman. Plus I was wrong about his age, he's 32 already. Good for him to finally perform and cash in, but ...

Minute Mud is natural grass. Manny hitting in that park should be illegal! He'll destroy the Crawford boxes with his hits. Why did I think it was turf? Oh well ... yeah, don't they have a choo-choo train that goes around on home runs? He'd probably break up the tracks with a line drive.

Well, interesting news from the Halos - they get the second best everyday player available, Gary Matthews Jr for five years/50 million dollars. Not sure if its a great deal - he's never lived up to his potential until this year, and he did at the somewhat advanced age of 31 (advanced for a free agent, that is). What's critical though is that this is likely the "big splash" that the Angel's owner said he'd make, and that means they are likely out of the Manny business (which seemed likely even before, when their manager said he wants an OF who does more than just hit but can field and run, too). That leaves Texas and Philadelphia as the only likely places left (the Mets aren't likely with their signing of Alou) and who knows if Manny would approve them anyway. I could deal with Texas if it netted us Michael Young or Teixera, but the Phillies have got bubkus, or in the case of Burrell, much less than bupkus. Would the Astros step up now with Lidge and some other pieces? They desperately need offense, and Manny could do some real damage in that stadium. But Manny's knee couldn't handle the turf at this point, I don't think. I was really hoping we'd keep Manny unless it would net us a bunch of arms from the Angels, so I guess I should be glad that the Angels signed someone else.

But Jeter had a better year at the plate. So of course he deserved the Gold Glove. Thanks for clearing that up.

What is there to say; I love it. Sent from the Home of the Minnesota Twins. Indeed, WTF is up when the man who led the league in homers and RBIs doesn't get a single first place vote, and even gets placed as low as 7th on one ballot? Ridiculous. I've got no problem with Morneau winning, he had an outstanding year for a team that came back from nowhere to win the division. Plus his name isn't Derek Jeter. As far as I am concerned, this makes up for Jeter receiving the Gold Glove instead of Alex Gonzales. That was a crime.

Mall shopping on the day after Thanksgiving is strictly forbidden, as it normally is year round. I may do some shopping online, otherwise its mostly enjoying the start of a big college football weekend. I'm thinking that around 1 pm on Saturday, I'll be so disgusted by Florida State that I'll suggest to my wife that we head to the Delray Art Festival downtown a day early.

You have Flac Frontend? Then A. Open it. B. Click Add Files C. Choose all of the files from a concert (you can click on one Flac file at the top, hold the shift key and click on the bottom file and you will select all of them) D. click "Decode" When Flac Frontend is finished, you will have wav files in addition to Flac files. Any CD burning program will recognize wav files. Be sure to burn "Disc at Once" so that the applause doesn't have two second gaps in between tracks. If you have a concert that are "shn" files (you'll know this if Flac Frontend doesn't recognize the files): Open Winamp Click File ----> Add Media to Library Choose all of the concert files Make sure they end up in the correct track order (you can click and drag to move them) Put a blank CD in your drive and click "burn". Thanks Dan, I'll copy this and on Friday see if I can make magic happen. I have some Dylan & Bill Evans/Lee Kontiz to burn... Good luck, and sorry for the heavy handedness of my initial response. I guess you really don't know what you're doing.

You have Flac Frontend? Then A. Open it. B. Click Add Files C. Choose all of the files from a concert (you can click on one Flac file at the top, hold the shift key and click on the bottom file and you will select all of them) D. click "Decode" When Flac Frontend is finished, you will have wav files in addition to Flac files. Any CD burning program will recognize wav files. Be sure to burn "Disc at Once" so that the applause doesn't have two second gaps in between tracks. If you have a concert that are "shn" files (you'll know this if Flac Frontend doesn't recognize the files): Open Winamp Click File ----> Add Media to Library Choose all of the concert files Make sure they end up in the correct track order (you can click and drag to move them) Put a blank CD in your drive and click "burn".

to complete Larry's thought, the fight on Fridays was not "staged". Kaufman decided to have fun and break character. Richards went to the cue card man and showed Kaufman his line. It degenerated from there into real fisticufs. Edit: I posted this when Larry accidentally hit enter in the middle of a sentence, so I thought I'd be helpful to the elderly (you know how forgetful they are). Well, I learned my lesson. Don't try to help, and if you do, use the Quote function or else you'll look like the mentally addled instead.

Matthew, I responded to this earlier. If you're going to ask for help, you ought to take a look to see if its been offered.

Totally agree that Pierre is a terrible signing at hugely inflated dollars. Yes, he got his batting average up last season. Yes he stole 50+ bases. But his OBP is still terrible, especially for a lead-off hitter, and he also got caught 20 times, so for all his speed, he isn't a sure thing on the basepath. Nomar - I have to admit that I was a bit surprised, I thought they had someone waiting in the wings? But he did win comeback player, and played more games than he had since 2003. I saw some commentator predicting that Nomar would improve physically as he adjusts to 1B, as if a less demanding position will help him avoid injuries, even as he gets older. Sounded highly doubtful to me ...

As far as the feedback question goes, if I get a mis-graded LP, if the dealer acknowledges it and agrees to a refund, I will post, at worst, neutral feedback to let people know that grading is spotty. But I've even given positive feedback after such an experience, provided that the dealer comes across as legitimately apologetic and wants to make things right. People make mistakes, but if they're committed to correcting them, I think that should be encouraged.

Saunders King, The First King of the Blues (Ace reissue) San Francisco Blues Festival (Roy Brown on one side, Lowell Fulson on the other ) Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson & Roomful of Blues (Muse) Bay Area Blues Blasters (Ace compilation) The Fifties - Juke Joint Blues (Ace compilation) Oakland Blues (Arhoolie) All arrived from eBay in the last seven days. And yes, I've got a major case of the blues right now, which is approaching 95% of my listening, and will probably comprise 100% of my Christmas music list outside of my traditional Mosaic request.

Whether it will be the case in 2008, I don't know, but Alou helps what was a rather lefthanded lineup, Brad, so I think its a good move at least for now.

Here, here. Whatever your issues are with your father (and Ken Burns), Chuck, they've got nothing to do with this radio program. Unless you believe that no mention of drug addiction in relation to jazz musicians should ever be made.

Look for the official Nomar announcement later today. 2 years, not sure about the money. I'm just glad it keeps him out of the Bronx. Let the Yanks go for Hillenbrand. You want a bad apple clubhouse presence? Shea will do you just fine.

Shocking, in that the Tribune Company is for sale - or in bad financial straits, I'm not sure - so I didn't think they'd be spending like this. Makes the Red Sox bid look like chump change. Makes Manny Ramirez more likely to be dealt, particularly to the Angels, who once again miss out on that big bat they need. If Soriano is worth that much, what's two years and 37 million for Manny, who may not have as many tools as Soriano but is in a completely different universe when it comes to pure hitting skills? A-Ram, D-Lee and Soriano is a scary middle of the lineup for the Cubbies. Yet they've still done nothing to address their pitching problems aside from re-signing Kerry Wood.

I don't think striving for the "Blue Note sound" or "another Prestige blowing session" qualifies as a "salesman's idea" unless the salesman is happy selling the "same old same old" and doesn't care what gets ordered as long as he leaves with an order. I don't think Blue Note or Prestige ever indulged in this sort of slightly contrived session. That Jazz Masquerade Party or the Morris Gant plays Junk (or whatever that title was), those were "salesman's ideas".