GA Russell

Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?

I had to look Mitch Hedberg up.

Rice is great when you're hungry and want 2,000 of something.

If you want to know how old a woman is, just ask her sister-in-law.

Ability is what will get you to the top, if the boss doesn't have a daughter.

Free Agent rankings OL https://3downnation.com/2022/02/03/2022-cfl-free-agent-rankings-offensive-line/ ***** Matt O'Donnell has retired. https://www.cfl.ca/2022/02/03/elks-ol-matt-odonnell-announces-retirement/ https://3downnation.com/2022/02/03/big-man-bigger-career-elks-ol-matt-odonnell-retires-after-nine-seasons-in-green-gold/ https://www.tsn.ca/edmonton-elks-matt-o-donnell-retires-1.1754466 ***** Brendan Taman is joining the Redblacks' front office. https://3downnation.com/2022/01/01/ottawa-redblacks-hiring-former-riders-gm-brendan-taman-report/ https://3downnation.com/2022/01/03/redblacks-finalize-football-operations-staff-including-brendan-taman-chad-hudson/ https://3downnation.com/2022/01/08/redblacks-brendan-taman-you-dont-have-a-chance-without-good-canadians-and-qb/ ***** The Simpsons featured the Bombers' bus Jan. 2. I think the gag was that an entire NFL team had decided they would rather play in the Canadian league. https://3downnation.com/2022/01/03/winnipeg-blue-bombers-team-bus-appears-in-the-simpsons/ ***** David Foucault has signed with the Elks. https://3downnation.com/2022/01/03/edmonton-elks-sign-veteran-canadian-ol-david-foucault-two-others/ ***** Matthew Cauz lists his top free agent moves of the past 13 years. https://www.cfl.ca/2022/02/03/cauz-top-free-agent-moves-past-13-years/ ***** Dominique Davis has signed with the Alouettes. https://www.tsn.ca/montreal-alouettes-dominque-davis-1.1754694

An old friend will help you move. A good friend will help you move a dead body.

My parents didn't want to move to Florida; but they turned sixty, and that's the law.

John Bowman will be the Lions' d-line coach this year. https://3downnation.com/2022/01/17/bowmans-back-b-c-lions-hire-john-bowman-as-defensive-line-coach/ https://3downnation.com/2022/01/17/john-bowman-happy-to-start-coaching-career-with-lions-the-alouettes-dont-owe-me-anything/ ***** The Argos have named their coaching staff. https://3downnation.com/2022/01/19/argos-head-coach-ryan-dinwiddie-fills-out-coaching-staff-for-2022-season/ https://www.tsn.ca/toronto-argonauts-2022-coaching-staff-1.1747672 https://www.tsn.ca/corey-mace-new-toronto-argonauts-defensive-co-ordinator-1.1742671 ***** The East-West Shrine Bowl is tonight. Marcus Brady will be the West's head coach. https://3downnation.com/2022/01/19/argos-head-coach-ryan-dinwiddie-fills-out-coaching-staff-for-2022-season/ Kerry Joseph will be the East's QB coach. https://3downnation.com/2022/01/21/former-cfl-mop-grey-cup-champ-kerry-joseph-named-east-team-quarterbacks-coach-for-2022-shrine-bowl/ ***** Jim Barker has agreed to join the Argos' front office. https://3downnation.com/2022/01/21/former-gm-jim-barker-to-join-toronto-argonauts-front-office/ ***** The Redblacks have named their coaching staff. https://3downnation.com/2022/01/13/head-coach-paul-lapolice-unveils-ottawa-redblacks-2022-coaching-staff/ ***** The Elks have named their coaching staff. https://3downnation.com/2022/01/13/chris-jones-adds-pieces-to-2022-edmonton-elks-coaching-staff/ ***** The league has released the Scouting Bureau's Winter rankings. https://3downnation.com/2022/01/13/penn-state-lb-jesse-luketa-rises-to-top-of-winter-2022-cfl-scouting-bureau-rankings/ https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/jalen-philpot-cfl-scouting-bureau-rankings-1.6314474 ***** The Redblacks have let go Dominique Davis and Kenny Stafford. https://3downnation.com/2022/01/13/ottawa-redblacks-sign-seven-release-twelve-including-dominique-davis/ ***** There has been a trade, which doesn't happen very often. The Elks traded DL Mike Moore to the Alouettes for OL Tony Washington and KR Martese Jackson. https://3downnation.com/2022/01/14/elks-trade-defensive-lineman-mike-moore-to-als-for-offensive-lineman-tony-washington/ ***** Gossip! https://3downnation.com/2022/02/02/insider-talk-cfl-free-agency-hamiltons-ratio-legal-tampering-window/ ***** Free Agent rankings Receivers https://3downnation.com/2022/02/02/2022-cfl-free-agent-rankings-receivers/ ***** David Letterman was seen yesterday wearing a Bombers Grey Cup Champions toque. https://3downnation.com/2022/02/02/legendary-talkshow-host-david-letterman-sports-winnipeg-blue-bombers-toque/ ***** Here is Dan Ralph's obituary of Don Sutherin. https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/cfl-don-sutherin-grey-cup-champ-hall-of-famer-passes-away-1.6311400 ***** Jeff Reinebold and Anthonly Calvillo have agreed to join the Alouettes as their special teams co-ordinator and QB coach, respectively. https://www.tsn.ca/special-teams-co-ordinator-reinebold-leaving-ticats-after-seven-seasons-with-club-1.1740610 https://www.tsn.ca/jeff-reinebold-montreal-alouettes-1.1742576 https://www.tsn.ca/anthony-calvillo-montreal-alouettes-qb-coach-1.1742381

Otis Redding - Soul Manifesto (12 CDs) - $52.74 prime https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Manifesto-1964-1970-12CD-Redding/dp/B0143JNSNY/ $44.99 + $8.99 shipping at oldies.com

My Laurie (Yamagata, 1978) - 15:56, free https://artpepper.bandcamp.com/album/feb-freebie-track-4-yamagata-1978

Both Adarius Bowman and Manny Arcenaux have signed with the Elks. https://3downnation.com/2022/01/26/blast-from-the-past-elks-sign-adarius-bowman-manny-arceneaux/ https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/elks-sign-all-star-receivers-bowman-arceneaux-1.6329065 ***** The Elks have let go Hugh O'Neil, among others. https://3downnation.com/2022/01/27/elks-release-punter-hugh-oneil-nine-others/ ***** Lemar Durant has signed with the Ticats. https://3downnation.com/2022/01/31/national-acquired-hamilton-tiger-cats-sign-receiver-lemar-durant/ ***** Free Agent rankings Quarterbacks https://3downnation.com/2022/01/31/2022-cfl-free-agent-rankings-quarterbacks/ Running Backs https://3downnation.com/2022/02/01/2022-cfl-free-agent-rankings-running-backs/

What is it about people who repair shoes that makes them so good at cutting keys?

Gossip! https://3downnation.com/2021/12/15/insider-talk-four-downs-murphy-fired-osheas-future/ https://3downnation.com/2021/12/22/insider-talk-nfl-workouts-gm-interviews-edmontons-oc/ https://3downnation.com/2022/01/05/insider-talk-edmontons-offensive-line-the-ratio-2022-cfl-draft/ https://3downnation.com/2022/01/12/insider-talk-jefferson-re-signs-dinwiddies-offence-ambrosie-in-b-c/ https://3downnation.com/2022/01/19/insider-talk-rourke-is-ready-boatengs-future-calgary-gets-poached/ https://3downnation.com/2022/01/26/insider-talk-collaros-bonus-cfl-qb-landing-spots-calgarys-absolute-stud/

Oh, you hate your job. Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar.

This year's free agency period begins Feb. 8. The players may negotiate with other teams starting today, through Feb. 6. https://www.cfl.ca/2022/01/25/free-agency-negotiation-window-opens-jan-30/ ***** Here is the league's list of potential free agents. https://www.cfl.ca/fa22/ http://17degreesports.com/index.php/2022/01/21/2022-cfl-free-agency/ ***** Here are writers' lists of the free agents most likely to be in demand. Canadians https://www.cfl.ca/2022/01/25/top-20-canadian-pending-free-agents/ Everybody https://www.cfl.ca/2022/01/19/cfl-cas-top-30-pending-free-agents-5/ https://www.cfl.ca/2022/01/27/cfl-ca-writers-choose-top-pending-free-agent/ https://3downnation.com/2022/01/30/3downnations-top-30-pending-free-agents/ ***** The Ticats and Speedy Banks have been unable to come to an agreement, so Banks has decided to play somewhere else this year. https://www.cfl.ca/2022/01/27/ticats-brandon-banks-mutually-agree-part-ways/ https://3downnation.com/2022/01/27/speedy-bye-ticats-mutually-part-ways-with-former-most-outstanding-player-brandon-banks/ ***** SirVincent Rogers signed a one-day contract, and has retired as a Redblack. https://www.cfl.ca/2022/01/28/sirvincent-rogers-retires-redblack/ https://3downnation.com/2022/01/28/a-knights-farewell-former-most-outstanding-lineman-sirvincent-rogers-retires-as-a-redblack/ ***** The Redblacks have released DeVonte Dedmond at his request, so that he can sign with Miami. https://www.cfl.ca/2022/01/27/redblacks-release-devonte-dedmon-pursue-nfl-opportunity/ https://3downnation.com/2022/01/26/redblacks-release-most-outstanding-special-teams-player-devonte-dedmon-to-pursue-nfl-opportunities/

You moon the wrong person at an office party, and suddenly you're not professional anymore.

The Ticats' ownership has been restructured. Stelco, Canada's premier steel company, has purchased a 40% interest for C$20 million! That gives the Ticats a valuation of C$50 million, which is a new league record. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/hamilton-tiger-cats-forge-1.6302473 https://3downnation.com/2022/01/04/stelco-acquiring-40-percent-of-hamilton-sports-group-which-owns-the-tiger-cats/ https://www.tsn.ca/talent/it-s-a-tale-of-two-cities-for-the-cfl-in-southern-ontario-1.1751255 ***** Chuck Ealey has been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/chuck-ealey-college-football-hall-of-fame-1.6310274 https://3downnation.com/2022/01/10/legendary-cfl-quarterback-chuck-ealey-selected-for-college-football-hall-of-fame/ ***** The Ticats have re-signed Dane Evans. That means that Jeremiah Masoli will be playing somewhere else next year. https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/cfl-tiger-cats-re-sign-quarterback-dane-evans-1.6313180 https://3downnation.com/2022/01/13/assessing-the-suitors-for-poised-and-proven-quarterback-jeremiah-masoli/

Since ghosts can walk through walls, how come they don't fall thru floors?

You will notice the guy on the hill in the upper left of the photo. That was a running gag of theirs.

The league has released this year's schedule. The Grey Cup Final will be played Nov. 20, a week earlier than usual. https://3downnation.com/2021/12/16/cfl-releases-full-2022-schedule-including-nov-20-grey-cup/ https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/cfl-releases-2022-schedule-1.6288531 https://www.cfl.ca/schedule/2022/ ***** The Elks have hired Chris Jones to be both their general manager and head coach. https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/edmonton-elks-hire-chris-jones-head-coach-general-manager-1.6294064 https://www.cfl.ca/2021/12/21/elks-name-chris-jones-general-manager-head-coach/ https://3downnation.com/2021/12/21/whats-old-is-new-again-in-edmonton-elks-hire-chris-jones-as-general-manager-head-coach/

Stanford University has developed a drug to cure compulsive shoppers. No matter what you buy, it makes your rear end look big.

Holy Toledo! Congratulations, Allen!

I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this.

Toronto Guitarist-Composer James Brown Returns to Recording After Decade-Plus Break On "Song Within the Story," To Be Released March 18 On NGP Records Brown Leads His Working Trio With Bassist Clark Johnston & Drummer Anthony Michelli, Plus Guest Tenor Saxophonist Mike Murley, Through Eight Originals, Two Pop Covers, Documenting His Jazz-Classical Fusion & Wide Range of Other Influences January 26, 2022 Guitarist-composer James Brown returns from a 13-year recording hiatus with the fetching Song Within the Story, set for a March 18 release on NGP Records. Brown’s fourth album, and his first since 2009’s Sevendaze, finds him helming his Toronto-based working trio featuring bassist Clark Johnston and drummer Anthony Michelli. Respected tenor saxophonist Mike Murley joins the band on three of the album’s 10 tracks—eight of which are original compositions that document Brown’s ongoing intermarriage of jazz and classical music, while two covers explore Canada’s rich folk-rock legacy. Brown is deeply immersed in jazz-classical fusion; he wrote his master’s thesis on the Third Stream movement (the early 1960s effort to merge the two genres) and last year premiered The Mosley Street Suite, a concert work in that style. Song within the Story, though, offers no hint of the bombast or self-seriousness often associated with classical music. It’s a thoroughly swinging affair, packed with melody and inventive, often blistering improvisations by Brown and the band. “I’m so pleased with how the trio has developed,” the guitarist says. “We’ve been working regularly at clubs like the Rex Jazz Bar in Toronto for three or four years, and we’ve been playing a lot of the pieces on this CD.” L. to r.: Clark Johnston, b; James Brown, g; Mike Murley, ts; Anthony Michelli, d. Their hard work shows on unconventional pieces like the 7/4 groover “Alystair and I” and the harmonically daring “The Circle,” both of which they tackle with apparent ease and aplomb. They do no less, however, on the bluesy “Igor” or the (outwardly) delicate “All Rivers Lead.” The latter is one of the three showcases for guest player Murley, whose thoughtful but unyielding solo offers a glimpse of the intensity that lies beneath the tune’s surface. “Igor” is named for and inspired by the great composer Igor Stravinsky, a nod to Brown’s classical pursuits. The album’s title track contains echoes of Pat Metheny. But the influences on display throughout Song Within the Story are hardly a jazz-classical binary. “Mbira Kids,” as its title suggests, directly evokes the musical traditions of Southern Africa (specifically, that of Zimbabwe’s Shona people). Meanwhile, the trio passionately renders ballads by Neil Young (“The Needle and the Damage Done”) and Joni Mitchell (“A Case of You”), perhaps the two most revered Canadian singer-songwriters of the rock era. “I’m not afraid of going into folk or rock,” says Brown of his musical concept. “I like when there’s something a little bit more going on.” On Song Within the Story, there’s a lot more going on, and it resounds through the album’s every note. James Brown was born in 1967 in Oakville, Ontario, and was raised in the city of Burlington. His maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather were Québécois musicians, and James followed in their footsteps at age 13 when he began taking guitar lessons. These led a few years later to classical guitar studies at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music. At first, his ambitions were to become “the next Segovia or John Williams”—but while studying at the University of Toronto, he found a new role model in Ed Bickert. Often hailed as Canada’s finest jazz guitarist, Bickert was local to Toronto; Brown began frequenting his appearances at area clubs, enchanted by his tone. While he continued his classical curriculum, Brown also began attending informal jam sessions, slowly recalibrating his creative trajectory. (He eventually did the same with his studies, focusing on Gunther Schuller’s Third Stream music for his master’s degree.) By 1998, his immersion in jazz was deep enough to record his debut album, First Dance, with renowned Toronto musicians Ernie Tollar (saxophones), Andrew Downing (bass), and John Obercian (drums). Brown recorded two additional albums in 2002 (The Home Fields) and 2009 (Sevendaze), but slowed his approach in the 2010s while he and his wife Lisa—to whom “All Rivers Lead” is dedicated—raised the six children in their blended family. But a few years ago, feeling ripe for a comeback, he created a trio with Clark Johnston on bass and Anthony Michelli on drums, working regularly to shape the empathetic and tightly woven sound they evidence today. Brown has also remained committed to classical music—and the possibilities of jazz as a contributor to that tradition. His 2021 chamber piece, The Mosley Street Suite, featured among its movements several tunes that have also made their way onto Song Within the Story. The James Brown Quartet will be performing at the following venues, with additional dates to be announced: Sat. 3/26 The Jazz Room, Waterloo, ON (8:00 & 9:30 pm); Thurs. 4/21 Paradise Theatre, Toronto, ON (8:00 pm). Photos: Ansi Feng (group), Amelia Brown (James Brown)  ""Song Within the Story" EPK James Brown Web Site ‌ ‌ ‌