Dan Gould

On both Long Island and in Connecticut, we were more than 30 miles outside of NYC, and we called it THE CITY, too.

BTW, while my job at the Five and Dime wasn't actually during the Pleistocene period, we did have the old fashioned cash registers, had to consult the plastic chart we got from the bank to figure out sales tax, and for those rare credit card transactions, we had to compare the card number to the latest booklet of stolen credit cards to make sure it was OK. Its kind of interesting to have worked in such a throwback store, just before the time Woolworth's really fell on hard times-the tiny store that still had just about everything the big box retailers have now, just a lot fewer selections. But we had a toy department, pet department, houseplants, clothing, hardware, sewing and knitting stuff, the whole shebang. And the lunch counter was a definite throwback to a time rapidly disappearing. Wasn't your Walmart snack counter, but took an entire wall of the store and had a full breakfast and lunch menu. Great burgers and fries, that's for sure ...

First job was at a Woolworth's. They paid in cash, so the $100-$150 a week I made seemed like quite a lot of money! Two minor memories that come to mind: This was around the time that the Rubik's Cube was popular, and believe it or not, through trial and error, and not through those "Solve Rubik's Cube" books or by rearranging the stickers, I learned to solve that thing. In fact, I was rather proud of myself because it wasn't a matter of mindlessly following someone's directions, I had a system and knew that if I kept doing what I was doing, eventually the corner pieces would align and then it was a fairly simple thing to get the rest in place. Anywhoo ... one Friday night (the only night we were open late) I was working the cash register and had a Rubik's Cube and the manager got pissed at me for playing with it, and eventually we made a bet-if I could solve it by 7 pm, he'd do my job: clean up the lunch counter, including dumping the grease traps from the grill, and sweep the store. And of course, I won. And to his credit, he made good on the bet. The other stockboy in this little store was the son of a high level Woolworth's exec, and he acted like he owned the store-did what he wanted to do, and the manager could hardly do anything. Real spoiled a-hole. Well, he started going out with the girl who worked the lunch counter (she was in my high school, he went to school in the next town over). And, well you know how young love can be. One day, the two of them disappeared together, and the regional manager was in the store, so the two managers came to me and asked if I knew where he was. I said I thought he was in the stock room. We went back there, there's no one in the stock room, but there's a light on in the stock room for the lunch counter. We walk in, and uh, how shall I put this? She was "on her knees". As an innoncent sixteen year old, I'd never before witnessed such a thing.

I'm less concerned about Pedro tonite than whether Schilling can pitch again or be effective. If he can't, or isn't, we're done. He's the whole f-ing reason we're favored. The other key is Damon doing his thing. The statistics are simple enough that even "idiots" can understand them: Damon scores once, the winning percentage is like .600+. Damon scores more than once, the winning percentage has got to be over .700.

I just posed that question to my wife (as die hard a fan as I am). She said she wants them to win it all, but we agreed that beating the Yanks and ruining Steinbrenner's winter would be at least somewhat satisfying. The problem is, with all the turnover this team is likely to see, this is our best shot imaginable, in all likelihood. With Varitek, Pedro and Lowe as free agents, and a big whole to fill at shortstop, I'm not sure how soon we come together so well as a team again. You can bet they'll spend big bucks, but who is in and who is out is too up in the air. We gotta do it now.

In the sense that you have your view and I have mine Sorry to disappoint you about not offering a rebuttal. OK, let me add this: As you indicate, the time is somewhat indeterminate. Modern enough not to seem remote, but not right up to date. So it can be taken as relevant to today, but not topical. I think this was by design. It allows one to disregard prison life as we now know it, for a slightly hazy past where questions about prisoners tend not to intrude. But maybe prison life was nicer a generation or two ago. From what I know, it wasn't, but I'm not an expert. I doubt it was quite as collegial as it appears in the movie. Bruce H in his post nails it, I think. OK, a rebuttal wasn't entirely necessary, but I did hope you'd respond in some way. Now that you have, I must say that the time is most assuredly not "indeterminate". If there are no specific dates given, the passage of time is seen throughout the film, specifically in the progression of pinups Andy has on his wall. I would argue strongly that gang warfare (when did the Crips and Bloods start battling in prisons across the US? Not the '40s, '50s or '60s) and racial warfare were not the same as they are now. Drug use, I'm not so sure about, but certainly the drugs going into prison during the time period covered was largely pot and heroin, not crack or PCP.

Somewhat inspired by Chris A.'s "On The Street Where You Lived" thread, let's hear some growing up war stories ... you know, not the minor nicks and scrapes but the accidents that scared the crap out of your folks and had them racing to the hospital/Doctor. I was rather accident prone as a child. Among them: Tumbled down the concrete steps in the apartment building where we lived in Chicago. Mom was doing the laundry and found me in a heep at the bottom of the stairs. That would be the first concussion. Carelessly walked behind the swings at the park, got clobbered in the side of my head. That would be the second concussion. Came flying down the walkway in front of our house on Long Island, turned the corner toward the front door when my feet went out beneath me, and I went headlong into the corner of the brick steps. Put a huge gash in my forehead, 12 stitches to close, you can still barely see the scar. At my older brother's little league game, I was chasing some kid around a wire fence-the kind that aren't prison-type barbed wire, but the metal comes to a twist at the top. I climbed part way up the fence to see where the kid was on the other side, slipped, and the metal tore into my throat. It didn't hurt that badly, but the look on the adult's faces said otherwise. Turned out it just missed my carotid artery. That's another still barely there scar. So how did you scare the hell out of your parents?

How exactly have we dealt with the prison life issue when I have pointed out that you are applying gang/race/drug issues from the present day to a time up to 50 years ago, and you offer no rebuttal or response? FWIW, I agree with you that the ending is too pat and sentimental. One aspect no one's mentioned: Morgan Freeman has an awesome voice and does a tremendous job with the narration.

I think Houston matches up better with the Cards than the Braves would have. They've got the bats to stick with the Cards, and two very good starting pitchers who can shut down a lineup. And I'd be very afraid when Matt Morris pitches against Houston's homer-happy lineup. That will get ugly in a heartbeat if he doesn't somehow keep them in the park.

In 1995, he appeared as a sideman for David Brooks (older brother of Tina Brooks) Claves Jazz release: The only current info in the liners is that at the time of the recording he was working freelance in New York. BTW, he doesn't have a tremendous amount of solo space on the CD.

Allright!!!! Who should I look for and where in the stadium? I'm a bit confused about Rivera's status: earlier today ESPN's website was reporting that he was expected back in time for Game 1. Now ESPN News has a headline that says he's unlikely to play in game 1. So which is it? Now, there's no question that Flash can close. The problem is, Torre wants to use Flash and Rivera for as many of the last 9 outs as he possibly can, if they have the lead or its close. Without Rivera to cover the last 4, 5 or 6 outs, the Yanks have to go to Quantrill or Heredia and that has the potential to get ugly in a hurry.

I hate today's Yankees as much as anybody, but not THAT much! Hey, I'm only talking about this year, not the next four! *************** A minor factor that might turn out to be a major factor: Situational lefties in the bullpen. The Red Sox have Ortiz and Nixon and Damon from the left side, and Bellhorn and Meuller are tougher from the left than the right. But the Yanks only have Heredia, who has stunk at least 90% of the season and ranks only slightly ahead of Loaiza in the "God help us, I've got to use this guy" category. On the other hand, the Yanks have Matsui in the cleanup spot, Sierra as DH and Lofton off the bench, plus Bernie and Posada are much more dangerous batting lefty. The Red Sox have Mike Myers, who is very tough on lefties and showed it against Anaheim, for specific lefty matchups, plus Embree, who is tough on lefties but tends to pitch either way. A definite Red Sox advantage. If the Twins had Myers to go against Sierra, chances are very good the Yanks would have played Game Five last night. **************** My only disappointment heading into the Series is the fact that they are keeping Wakefield as the number four starter, and with their insistence that they won't use a starter on three day's rest, that means the Yankee killer only gets one start (though he will be available in the bullpen for games 6 and 7.) Obviously, no one read my memo on pitching Wakefield in Game 2 and Pedro in Game 3! Then again, I don't particularly expect it to go 7 games anyway.

Wow. Not an advantage I'd want to have. I much prefer your "Yanks don't win World Series with a Republican in the White House" curse!

Hey, Harold, I got it: "Moose and Leiber And the rest pitch like Weaver" Dan I like your optimism. Personally I'm very nervous. Head to head I feel like the Sox can take them. But the Yankees pull out dramatic wins that not even a Hollywood script could come up with. It's sickening to see over and over. And it worries me that they will have the last at bat for potentially four games. I'm still not over last year's ALCS. I felt like I was in mourning for days after that defeat. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and the Maalox right near me for the next week and 1/2. Oh, believe me, there's a part of me that's very nervous, too. But I look it at it like this: We have the arms to get them out. They don't have the arms to keep us down. I mean, if a starter has trouble, we bring in Lowe, who won more games than almost anyone from 2002 to 2003, and pitched quite well for over a month once the defense tightened up. If the Yanks starter gets in trouble, they bring in Loaiza, who is a disaster waiting to happen. Granted, both, qualify as "pitchers not as successful this season as previously," but anyone can tell that if Loaiza comes in, Steinbrenner is reaching for the Maalox. Not so much with Lowe. As long as Schilling does the job we got him for, I am firm in my belief that everything will be OK.

Well, you are right about the inmates being inoffensive fellows. But unless you're going to tell me you were visiting prisons from the late '40s through the late '60s, or whatever the time period of the movie exactly is, you are applying your experience with the current inmate population to that of an earlier time. Specifically, I would suggest that gang warfare, race warfare, and the level and type of drug use during the timeframe of the film was quite different than it is now. Or to put it another way, if HBO existed in the '50s, would anyone have written and produced Oz? I think the answer is no, because the prison population was not the same.

This doesn't sound good for the Yankees. From the NYT: Hey, Harold, I got it: "Moose and Leiber And the rest pitch like Weaver"

Wouldn't have it any other way. Let's see: Last year it went seven games. What's changed since then? Red Sox: Now have an October-tested ace who's whipped the Yankees before and is all set for the first game; better bullpen than last year, better defense, deeper bench, and no appreciable change in the offense. Yankees: Bigger offense than last year, but three staff aces replaced by Irving, Moe and Shemp. Bullpen now consists of two aces and a lot of prayers.

39 last month.

I'd venture to say that as solid as Santana might have been last year, he is light year's better now. The Yanks will really have their work cut out to avoid Game 5. Which is to say, to avoid pitching Mussina and not have him available at the start of LCS. Which is to say, this is a win-win for the Sox, so long as the Twins force Game 5.

Brutal rape scenes, sadistic guards ... "hopelessly idealized picture of prison life"??

Arroyo is going to be much more than a number five starter next season. He just needs to get consistent with his fastball to set up that devastating curveball. Like Varitek says, when its on, its unhittable, and there's no doubt that's true. I could see Sheffield twisting his bum shoulder into next month hacking at that curveball. Amazing that today's heroes were Arroyo (released by Pittsburg) and Ortiz (released by the Twins). Those two are studs-and we got 'em.

Thanks, Nick. And keep posting!

Unbelievable. To let the Angels off the floor like that-if they'd have come all the way back, everyone would say, "same old Red Sox." But these aren't the same old Red Sox. I defy anyone to claim that this isn't the best team in the league. In about ten days, we'll have proved it.

Thanks for the tip, Brownie!

Jimmy Gourley: The Left Bank of New York Rein de Graaff: Now is the Time Darrell Grant: The New Bop Bennie Green: the Time Records reissue Swings the Blues Blow Your Horn (with Paul Quinichette) Soul Stirrin' Hornful of Soul Walking Down Glidin' Along Walkin' and Talkin' Back on the Scene The Swingin'est 45 Sessions Benny Green: These are Soulful Days Naturally Blue Notes That's Right! Testifyin' Greens Bunky Green: Sextet Playin' For Keeps Testifyin' Time Freddie Green: Mr. Rhythm Grant Green: I Gigante Del Jazz (that Italian grey market LP series of live recordings) Grantstand Talkin' Bout Am I Blue Goin' West Grant's First Stand First Session Green Street Standards Idle Moment Solid The Latin Bit Sunday Mornin' I Want to Hold Your Hand Street of Dreams Blues for Lou A Tribute to Grant Green Dodo Greene: My Hour of Need Jimmy Greene: Introducing