Dan Gould

I would say it is a matter of money because copyright protects economic interests. It also protects against plagiarism but most cut and paste jobs don't leave any doubt that it is someone else's words, and no one is paraphrasing or stealing without attribution. The thing is, if copyrighted articles were published in Flash, there would be no "cut and paste". Problem solved. If it is one

Spotted a live Atlantic recording with Joe Newman and King Curtis among others. But I've never heard the lady sing so I hesitated. Then I noticed in AMG a reference to a "nasal" quality in her voice which makes me think I did right but I'm interested to hear other's opinions. Anyone? Thanks!

Say what? I think he's referring to Charlie Brown as Peppermint Patty does.

Yeah! Especially drummer Greg Hutchinsons rap on top of a funky beat in the closing track is a treat! Sorry, that was one I wasn't counting as a good 'un!

The Uptown Christmas CD is very fine and everyone should grab one from Chuck. Another one with a high proportion of nice tracks is Ray Brown's Christmas CD on Telearc.

Hardbop is in his 40s, judging from his descriptions of growing up as a Red Sox fan. Soul Station, I believe is also in his 40s. And what SS is doing in your list of so-called "morons" is totally beyond me.

I didn't realize the Columbia set was coming out so soon. Its really feast or famine right now ... I always ask for a Mosaic set at Christmastime and there's always been something I wanted but this year, not so much, so I tried to pick something to expand the horizons a bit (went with the HRS sessions). But next Christmas, man oh man, lots to ask for, and I'll have to choose only one or two! And that's not even considering what may come out in the second half of the year!!

First, I'm going to ssssllllloooowwwwlllllyyyy pull the paper tab. As your luscious chocolate body comes into view, I gently pull you toward my lips .... Or was that not what you were looking for? I've never eaten these things, but like any phone sex operator, I can easily act as if I have.

I had a feeling that wouldn't just slide by ... The company not only advertised in Hustler, etc., but also in magazines like Rolling Stone, because what they offered was "phone dates". You see, we claimed to have "local" girls registered to which we "matched" incoming callers to. Charges could be made to your phone bill or your credit card. Hourly rate of about $7.00 plus bonuses based on how many people you matched up who actually went through and charged a call. $1.00 for every credit card call and .50 for every call charged to the phone bill. Pretty good money, and it allowed me to work full time from 4 to 11 pm. But that wasn't my only duty. They also advertised to women in Playgirl and gay men, too. And since (as you've heard) I've got the great deep voice, whenever they had a gay guy or a girl on the line, they'd ask me to go into the other room and take the call. One time, believe it or not, I was "Bob" to some guy who, ten minutes earlier, I had matched up to "Bob". I recognized the details and realized this was the same guy I had talked to a few minutes before so I didn't want to take the call, but he didn't recognize my voice as the same as the operator's voice when he called earlier. If you're wondering, I did have one line I refused to cross: Talking dirty to men. I could handle the dirty talk to ladies, but there was just no way I could do that for guys. So, with the men, I was a local guy who was looking for a friend/companionship and I just kept things loose. Of course, since its a per-minute charge, you just want to keep them on the phone as long as possible, and that was easy just by getting them to talk about themselves. The hardest part was with the poor saps (male and female) who thought they were talking to someone "local". They told you where the person was calling from, and each cubicle had a book of maps you could consult. These people were never in major metropolitan areas, always small towns, so you wanted to pick a nearby town that wasn't too close. And heaven help you if he started asking questions about where you worked, etc. Definitely could be nerve-racking. Which reminds me of an amusing call I took. The girl was somewhere outside Boston, and I assumed she was looking for a local guy. So I looked at the map and picked a town, and she started giving me a hard time, told me there was no way I lived there, and where do you live, blah blah blah. Then she set me up and asked about some local landmark. I tried the "just moved here" excuse but she wouldn't hear it. So I finally asked her why she had called and she said, "Because I'm horny!" and I said, "Oh" and I launched into my by then well-practiced spiel. Oh, and did I mention how dirty the company was? To keep bleeding the suckers dry, they used what, in the financial industry is called "churning": They had another, small bank of phones where people worked, calling customers back to tell them that "Candy" or "Bob" wants to talk to you again, would you like to talk to them? What they never told them was that they were being charged again for the call! And they didn't care if the first call didn't go too well, they'd still call them back and ask if they wanted to talk to the person again. So I'd get called back into the other room, to take a call that I "initiated" when I had nothing to say. Hated when they did that to me. And they never listened when I told them not to call the guy back again and again. I have to say that while the job was sometimes a lot of fun, and certainly memorable, I still wanted to shower as soon as I got home. On the positive side, within a month of my quitting, the Feds actually raided the place and shut them down. Didn't arrest any of the peons manning the phones, but they did arrest the upper management and the owners. Guess I didn't have to write a dissertation to answer your question, but ...

What used to rule for me were those fudge-covered apple lollipops. Anyone know those? In fact, I think my rising weight can be traced back to the moment when a friend at the phone sex office brought them in to work.

... I see the Grinch's heart grow three sizes. (And if I get a little verklempt when the Grinch finds the strength of ten grinches, plus two, well that will just be our little secret. )

Brad, I remember when Eric first got some attention, there was a lot of talk of his being inspired by Dex, so its not surprising to me that you would say that. Of course, the fact that Dex played Shadow of Your Smile so often might have something to do with it, too. My wife and I saw Eric with Norman Simmons and local bass/drums and I seem to recall that Norman did all the stage announcements. Glad you enjoyed it. I'll tell you, the best way to solidify your friend's as jazz fans might be something that would remind them of the show, and even though its a different tenor, any of Houston Person's many offerings on Highnote Records. Lots of familiar standards on there, great music. A friend who's been a cabaret singer absolutely loves the Person albums I've exposed her to. There's something to be said for familiar melodies. Just a thought.

....and mine was a nice, signed b&w jazz print; matted and suitable for framing. I guess I'lll hang it in my office..... You wanna swap anyway? ....sure, we may as well have a merry christmas! PM me your address! Mark Great, now Marcus is left out in the cold.

Hey, let's concentrate on the important stuff: Is your commute shorter and will you be able to hang out here more often? (Just got an image of the Seinfeld "Kenny Rogers Roaster" episode where Jerry urges his college buddy to blow off a meeting and he ends up getting fired.)

No, Maren, that was OK. You were right at the time, and that was even before Allison's curious health symptoms popped up! I was just hoping this would all come together and a lot of people would have some fun. But just as people put too much pressure on their family ties this time of year, I guess I hoped for too much. Maybe next year ....

Yours was just the first delivery. I signed you up for the Lump of Coal of the Month club.

Click here (rule eight) Thanks. So, did you guys win the coin flip, or was the last tie in the States?

Dan: remember that Rafael Nadal (yeah, the guy who isn´t Moya) was chosen to play singles instead of Juan Carlos Ferrero, who HAS WON a lot of pro events. And as it was revealed, Spanish team coaches had their reasons. Well, I have certainly heard of Ferrero, but I don't know what your reference is to the "reasons" he was chosen. And that doesn't change my assertion, that on any other surface, Nadal doesn't stand a chance. You have to admit, allowing the visiting team to pick the surface would be an interesting way of countering the home court advantage with your countrymen screaming their lungs out. Weren't those thunderstix I saw in the crowd? As I understand it, in a baseball stadium those things are loud. In a tennis stadium, they must be ridiculous. Which reminds me, does anyone know how home court advantage is determined?

Good for you, Paul.

When I was young and Harold Solomon and Bjorn Borg were my tennis idols, I was the two-fisted baseliner who loved playing on clay or har-true. Then I grew up and filled out and discovered that balls whizzing at you up close aren't so scary and you can get a lot of easy points at the net. Now my game is all chip and charge and if I get stuck in baseline rallies, I have to let 'em rip cause I know I'll make an error soon enough anyway. Not that that has anything to do with Davis Cup, just thought I'd share ...

Sorry Dan. A lump of coal for me then. Your idea had merit and I liked it initially. Unfortunately, the more I thought about it, the less I liked the idea of cd swapping. Then you have to add that I am going through a job change. I don't have the time to get involved in this sort of thing right now. BTW, don't be opposed to other suggestions. When we take an "our way or the highway" approach, we will find that many do decide to "take the highway." Cheer up! Paul, Look at the first post in this thread. There was no "my way or the highway" rules in place!! NONE whatsoever. There was no consensus-so there was no effort to control what people could or couldn't do. It could be CD swapping or it could be anything else. It could be personal choices or internet gift certificates. Some people wanted the rule to be "no jazz". NONE of these had strong support. NONE of them were adopted. The only requirement was the very reasonable price guideline of $20 or so. Now, I understand that people's economic circumstances change and that may preclude participation. And, I certainly understood Late's problem (I think that was him) that he's always traveling and can't know where he'll be. BUT there were a lot of people who seemed interested at the idea. In fact, I offered to be organizer because someone, I think it was Maren, thought that this would be "too much work" for someone like Jim to have to deal with. Yeah, too much work ... when push came to shove, three people signed up. So, yeah, maybe I should lighten up. But the fact that a seemingly popular idea crashed and burned doesn't exactly put me in the Christmas spirit.

The Secret Santa Gift Exchange is officially CANCELLED. Nevertheless, coal will be delivered to the stockings of everyone who was free with their opinions on how it should be organized and what the gifts should be but couldn't be bothered to actually participate.

... and I thought this was a call to end SACD reissues.

You may take this as sour grapes, but its always seemed ridiculous to me that the team with home court advantage also picks the surface. You already have the raucous crowd (which is always tougher to play in front of outside the States-US crowds flat out don't care the way non-US crowds do), then you pick a surface that allows the other guy-you know, the one who isn't Moya-a great chance to beat a top five player. Any other surface-he dosn't have a chance in hell. Has the other Spaniard ever won a pro event? If he has I bet its a minor French Open tune-up on dirt. Believe me, I'd say the same thing if this were the US rolling to a win at home on carpet. The road team should pick the surface or Cup finals should be at a neutral site.

Thanks for joining up, but for future reference, this is the signup thread: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=5509