Dan Gould

Yeah, those are oh so easy to come by.

I would have no problem doing it but would really like to participate in the exchange as I have many exciting gift ideas . I guess as the organizer, everyone involved could send a little something my way! B-) If its all the same, Mark, since I brought the whole idea up for discussion, I'd be willing to do the organizing-with no need for participants to send anything my way ... I'll catch a secret gift next year. ********* Final housekeeping issues: I think that I should send out names/addresses a bit earlier-maybe December 1 or certainly by December 7. Everyone's got things to do, and if a certain amount of "research" is needed to get ideas for gifts, things should get started sooner. Plus, there's also delivery time to consider. I think a "Thanks, Secret Santa" thread would be good, so people can tell us what they got and publicly thank their Santa. ************** Unless Mark or someone else strongly expresses their desire to run this, I'll start the Secret Santa Signup Thread in the next day or so.

My answer, Paul, would be that its up to every individual Santa to pick whatever they wish ... gift certificates ... books ... whatever. In other words, no rules, other than a general guideline of $20 or less.

Yes, but how well do you know everyone? Don't we all have trouble with a few people on our lists every year? Why add someone who is as likely as not you'll know less about than your average office mate, when you take jazz away? And if we're shooting for a $15 or $20 maximum, books won't exactly be easy to fit into that budget, unless its a paperback or found at a used book store.

you say that like its a bad thing! Aw, hell no. They're MILFs all right! OK, I give up. I keep thinking the more I see "MILF" mentioned, the sooner it will come to me just what the hell that acronym is supposed to stand for. Please tell me, in a private mail if need be. Mothers I'd Like to (I think you can figure out the last word) I think it reached the popular culture through the movie American Pie ... now its a huge category of internet p*rn (so I've been told) ... and I read somewhere that Britney Spears was seen in a t-shirt which said, "MILF In-Training"

Or, as an old boss used to say, buyers are liars!

I also like JRVGs though no reversal of polarity is necessary for them to sound very nice to my ears. I know, you're thinking what? I'll leave it to others to clue you in. B-)

C'mon, Jim, you don't need no stinking samples, you need the disc! BTW, are there other LeDonne organ albums I'm not aware of, or have you heard him live, or are you basing your judgement of his playing on the Scott Hamilton disc?

The Rusty Bryant I mentioned above sounds very good.

Celestial Seasonings is a huge, probably the largest specialty tea company in America. You can order any flavor they stock direct on their Website

Sounds good to me, Mark. As far as the organizer of this goes, have we considered the fact that either he/she shouldn't be participating or else will know who his Santa is? Anyone willing to step forward?

Most people know LeDonne as a talented hard bop pianist, but those who dig the Patterson/Patton/Earland school of organ jazz should not miss this album. I'd heard LeDonne on organ on Scott Hamilton's Organic Duke and he was fine there, but I think maybe his organ-playing heart is more in the hard bop-soul jazz groove of this album. Excellent solos by Eric Alexander and Peter Bernstein, and some surprising (and surprisingly good) covers of tunes including two Carpenters tunes, "Superstar" and "They Long to Be Close To You" as well as more obvious tune choices like "Pisces Soul". Very strongly recommended, unless you're one of the people on the other side of the fence when it comes to the ubiqitous Eric Alexander.

Indeed!

Well that just opens an even bigger risk of not giving something that's desired! So .... as long as people send receipts ... maybe. I agree. Maybe the "Santa" could subtly ask the receipiant if he/she has a particular disk. Or the person could always send it back if they already have said disc. The only problem is, its supposed to be a secret santa!

Well that just opens an even bigger risk of not giving something that's desired! So .... as long as people send receipts ... maybe.

That's true, Maren. Someone else could certainly do it instead of Jim. ********************* As far as gifts/dollar guidelines, I think $15 or $20 is the max. If you get someone's name and get an idea of their tastes from their posts, great. But I don't think necessarily that passing around gift certificates is so bad, when you consider the number of hard core collectors there are here, it may not be at all easy to find something the person doesn't have or hasn't heard. So, yeah, it may be passing around $15 ... but isn't it the thought that counts?

Don't you find it more effective to listen when you have a chance to write notes down? for the Mrs. though. I'm the king of the misses, myself.

They really played Ben Webster on network television?

If you like singing female organists, you can always hunt down a copy of Gloria Coleman's Sings and Swings on Mainstream. B-)

We talked last year, rather late in the season, about trying to do a "Secret Santa" gift exchange last year but it never came together. So, since its a week into November, maybe its time to put it back out there and see what we can do. Here's the way I would set this up: 1. People sign up on a Secret Santa thread. 2. Jim Alfredson (B3-er) gets to be the organizer. When you sign up, send Jim a PM with your particulars-mailing address and regular email. 3. At some point, maybe no later than December 15, Jim matches up the people who have signed up so that A is Santa to B who is Santa to C, etc. and sends out the personal info he has received. I imagine the most popular gifts will be gift certificates at Amazon or the Bastards or somewhere like that, though its possible you'll actually want to buy something for someone and ship it. Normally I hate dealing with the holiday season this early, but with Thanksgiving not much more than two weeks away, I guess its time ... What do y'all think? BTW, 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox t-shirts can be ordered in XL.

Well, I'll bet I am one of the worst offenders when it comes to cruising through the big "O" while officially "on the clock." I'd say I do it a dozen or more times a day. If I'm feeling particularly enthusiastic and motivated about work, I will accomplish a task before going back to check the "new posts" page. Of course, sometimes that one task is checking email and writing a two sentence response. What I miss is the alignment of my previous office. I was against the wall so any visitors would be seen long before they'd see what was on my monitor. Now, unfortunately, I am in a high traffic area with the desk against the wall, and the boss is in the office on the other side of the wall. At one point she saw me cruising through CNN or checking hotmail and made a comment about proper use of company time ... I cut back a bit but it didn't last long. What's funny is how often she sticks her head around the door to say something to me, and like an epileptic fit, my mouse shoots toward the upper right corner of the mousepad to close the window or at least minimize it. Seems so obvious to me but she hasn't said anything in a while. Not having sufficient cash flow for full salaries might have something to do with her reticence though.

The only brand of Tea I care for is Leoni:

Happy B-Day, Paul!

Three or four years ago, much more TV than now. At one time I watched a number of sitcoms regularly but slowly let shows like Friends and Frasier slip away. Lately, I've spent more time on the PC while my wife is watching a movie or Sci-Fi or something like that. Now that I think about it, that coincides with my marriage, when suddenly I had a PC in the house when my wife moved in. So, I started doing things on the PC and got away from TV. Currently, my regular watching can be summed up as: Newshour Seinfeld Occasional College or Pro Football Who's Line is it Anyway?

As a point of information: Marty Jazz came here about a year ago with the express purpose of selling stuff. Then he discovered he liked the place and has become a fine contributing member.