GA Russell

Let's see how many more contract extensions we can do in the next few minutes. http://3downnation.com/2017/01/11/national-running-backreceiver-re-ups-toronto/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/16/noel-thorpe-contract-alouettes-2017/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/17/fans-dont-like-re-signing-cassius-vaughn-makes-sense-ticats/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/18/bombers-make-matt-nichols-extension-official/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/19/matt-nichols-signs-3-year-extension-bombers-means/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/20/stamps-sign-head-coach-dave-dickenson-extension-2020/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/20/willie-jefferson-key-re-signing-riders/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/21/stamps-look-long-term-stability-dickenson-deal/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/25/alouettes-defensive-end-john-bowman-extends-and-restructures-contract/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/31/van-zeyl-re-signs-argos-report/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/31/star-adarius-bowman-signs-contract-extension-esks/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/31/big-man-big-get-floundering-argos/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/06/adarius-bowmans-new-deal-makes-him-highest-paid-receiver-in-cfl/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/06/b-c-lions-re-sign-turner-moore-will-let-westerman-go-free-agency/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/07/ticats-agree-terms-offensive-lineman-xavier-fulton/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/10/receiver-greg-ellingson-re-signs/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/10/receiver-terrence-toliver-re-signs-ticats/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/13/all-star-defensive-tackle-micah-johnson-agrees-to-extension-with-stampeders/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/13/video-2/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/13/stamps-leading-receiver-marquay-mcdaniel-agree-extension/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/13/ticats-agree-terms-canadian-receiver-giovanni-aprile/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/13/redblacks-re-sign-defensive-back-jerrell-gavins/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/13/ticats-add-terrence-toliver-core-group/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/13/defensive-tackle-michael-brooks-re-signs-b-c-lions/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/13/canadian-ol-nolan-macmillan-agrees-to-extension-with-redblacks/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/14/bombers-extend-offensive-lineman-sukh-chungh/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/14/receiver-kenny-shaw-agrees-to-terms-with-redblacks/#comments

Today was the first day of free agency. For the first time that I can remember, none of the first-day guys who switched teams were "stars." Some of the linemen may be very good, and will help their teams win, but I wouldn't call them stars. This Dan Ralph article is the best I've found summarizing the day. I might find more tomorrow. http://3downnation.com/2017/02/14/riders-redblacks-make-big-splash-day-one-cfl-free-agency/#comments ***** I hope to list more articles about the guys who extended their contracts before the weekend. ***** Darrel K. Smith died Monday of cancer at 55. Even though he was treated like a star, I always thought that he deserved more. He was a great one. 3downnation.com/2017/02/14/former-argonauts-receiver-darrell-k-smith-dies-age-55/#comments ***** Rick Klassen died of cancer at 57 in December. http://3downnation.com/2016/12/11/former-b-c-lions-standout-klassen-dies-57/#comments

oldies.com has added 261 Arbors titles to its catalogue, nearly all priced at $7.82 each. http://www.oldies.com/collection/home.cfm?collection=Arbors-Records&c=ON1871&utm_source=OLDIES.com+Emails&utm_campaign=c366968ad2-send_1871&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f79786119b-c366968ad2-187732661&goal=0_f79786119b-c366968ad2-187732661&mc_cid=c366968ad2&mc_eid=6703a4b92e

Thursday February 23rd Friday February 24th Saturday February 25th Sunday February 26th © 2017 ECM | ECM Records USA | 1755 Broadway, 3rd floor | New York NY 10011

Anybody plan to go?

ECM Julia Hülsmann Trio Sooner And Later release date: March 17th Julia Hülsmann: piano / Marc Muellbauer: double bass Heinrich Köbberling: drums Berlin-based pianist Julia Hülsmann returns to the trio format for Sooner And Later, an album which distils the experience of journeys to distant destinations. In the last couple of years Hülsmann, bassist Marc Muellbauer and drummer Heinrich Köbberling have taken their music around the world, from Europe to the US, Canada, Peru, Central Asia and China, "where something special developed. It helped to open up new sonic territory for us". ECM If you are in or near NYC - save the date: Dominic Miller in concert March 13, 2017 NUBLU Dominic Miller - Silent Light releasing April 7th Dominic Miller: guitar, electric bass Miles Bould: percussion, drums Born in Argentina to an American father and Irish mother, guitarist Dominic Miller was raised in the U.S. from age 10 and then educated there and in England. Now he lives in France, though he has toured the globe for the past three decades. Aptly, Silent Light - Miller's ECM debut, featuring him solo and with percussion accompaniment - has a very international feel, with the Latin influence strong in such pieces as "Baden" (dedicated to Brazilian guitarist-composer Baden Powell). "Le Pont" has an early 20th-century Parisian air, while "Valium" evokes Celtic tunes in the vein of Bert Jansch and "Fields of Gold" is a hushed instrumental take on one of Sting's best-known ballads. Miller has long been known as Sting's right-hand man on guitar - and co-writer of the worldwide hit "Shape of My Heart," among others. Miller has also worked with the likes of Paul Simon, The Chieftains and Placido Domingo. The guitarist's playing has prompted praise from Simon, who points out, in a liner note to the album, that Miller "has a beautiful touch, with a fragrance of jazz and English folk."

“A feast of distinguished playing at the classical end of the pianist’s repertory – from Bach, Haydn and Mozart through Beethoven to Schubert - and the CD is available as a ‘bonus’ in the new box collecting together his ECM (Beethoven) sonata cycle or as a freestanding single disc. If you think of encores as lightweight, think again.” - Gramophone Editor’s Choice, February 2017 All-Schubert Recital Tour March 3 Montreal, PQ (Maison symphonique de Montreal) March 5 Toronto, ON (Koerner Hall) March 7 North Bethesda, MD (Strathmore) March 9 New York, NY (Isaac Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall) March 11 Kalamazoo, MI (Chenery Auditorium, Gilmore Keyboard Music Fest.) March 13 San Francisco, CA (Davies Symphony Hall) © 2017 ECM | ECM Records USA | 1755 Broadway, 3rd floor | New York NY 10011

Bill, I dare say that not many here recognize the name Mike Hugg!

I think that the foremost problem with pace-of-play issues in sports is the time given to commercial breaks. I suspect that MLB's #2 problem is that almost all games are night games. If the typical game started shortly after (say) 5:30, there would be fewer worries about games ending so late.

Happy Birthday 2017 Michael!

RIP. Buddy Greco was my guilty pleasure, especially The Lady is a Tramp. I saw him perform in Las Vegas at a convention party, maybe 1986. He was great!

ECM François Couturier Tarkovsky Quartet Nuit blanche Release date: February 17th François Couturier: piano / Anja Lechner: violoncello Jean-Marc Larché: soprano saxophone / Jean-Louis Matinier; accordion Anja Lechner & François Couturier duo tour: February 18 New York, NY Greenwich House February 20 Portland, OR The Old Church February 21 Seattle, WA Seattle Art Museum February 24 San Francisco, CA SFJAZZ (ECM @SF Jazz II) François Couturier piano | Anja Lechner violoncello Jean-Marc Larché soprano saxophone | Jean-Louis Matinier accordion Ingmar Bergman once said of Andrey Tarkovsky, “He moves with such naturalness in the room of dreams,” and the French-German quartet named after the great Russian filmmaker has developed an associative dream-language of its own. For leader and pianist François Couturier the “silence and slowness of Tarkovsky” are closely related to an “ECM aesthetic” further developed on the group’s third album Nuit blanche, produced by Manfred Eicher in Lugano in April 2016. Whether playing improvised chamber music, modern composition or baroque music, the creative originality of the Tarkovsky Quartet shines through. François Couturier/ Anja Lechner On Tour February 18 New York, NY (Greenwich House) February 20 Portland, OR (Old Church) February 21 Seattle, WA (Seattle Art Museum) February 24 - San Francisco, CA (SFJAZZ, Miner Auditorium) © 2017 ECM | ECM Records USA | 1755 Broadway, 3rd floor | New York NY 1001

ECM Benedikt Jahnel Trio The Invariant Benedikt Jahnel: piano Antonio Miguel: double bass Owen Howard: drums U.S. Release date: February 17, 2016 ECM 2523 B0026214-02 UPC: 6025 571 2837 6 The trio with Spanish bassist Antonio Miguel and Canadian drummer Owen Howard has been an “invariant” in the life of Berlin-based pianist Benedikt Jahnel, “a constant in a transformational period” as he puts it, and new album The Invariant is issued as the players reach their tenth anniversary as a working unit. “I like very much interacting with the same group and digging deeper each time into the musical conversation,” Jahnel says. “You have this energetic input and this intense time working together, and then I believe the music develops even when we’re apart. When we come back together I can hear the progression that has taken place in the pieces.” If natural evolution contributes to the music’s growth so do interventions by the pianist-composer, for whom constant revision is part of the creative process: “The version of any given piece that a listener hears on the new album might be the fifth or tenth version. We take the music on the road and then I’ll adjust it, maybe quite dramatically. Even in the studio I will often still adapt pieces, and of course in that process I’m constantly integrating ideas generated from the bass and the drums.” Jahnel is a prolific writer and The Invariant pools the best of the many pieces he has composed in the last five years, incorporating the dynamic responses of his trio partners into the fabric of the material. For the most part this is music carefully shaped for these players; this is its strength and the source of its detail. The Invariant was recorded in Oslo’s Rainbow Studio in April 2016, and produced by Manfred Eicher. Its opening track, “Further Consequences”, picks up where the trio’s critically-lauded album Equilibrium left off, extending ideas about pianistic patterning and textural playing. Like many of Jahnel’s tunes an odd-metred piece, it also contains elements of swing, as the pianist reacts to the implications of Owen Howard’s drumming. “For me this is a departure. I’m more of a straight eighths player. Owen is more strongly rooted in the whole tradition of jazz and the way he approached the tune pulled me, in the solo section, toward the world of swing phrasing…” The feeling of swing permeates also “The Circuit”. Designed by Jahnel to be an easily-breathing tune amid more heavily arranged pieces, it is still modestly unorthodox in its form, with a solo preceding the head of the tune, and a beguiling feature for Antonio Miguel’s bass over gently pulsing piano and brushed drums at the end. “Mirrors”, at nine and a half-minutes the album’s longest tune, is one of several pieces written, as Jahnel says, “from a very pianistic perspective: it has a choral introduction and lives from that choral, harmonic, trichord movement”. A rubato section gives way to stressed rhythm. “There are many parts, it’s quite heavily arranged, and even the ‘free’ section incorporates structures.” In the ballad “Monolake” “moving inner voices in the piano define the piece. I tried to design it in such a way that the harmonic anchors are slightly away from where you expect them to be. “ “Part of the Game” has “an odd little melody. The tune is really all about the rhythm, with fantastic drumming from Owen.” Unexpectedly cast into the middle of the program, “For the Encore” was “designed as a textural statement, to even things out.” “Interpolation 1”, one of a series of fragmentary ideas, “opens up a new window, offering another perspective of the trio with more advanced harmony.” Finally, “En Passant”, a soulful ballad with a touching bass solo, brings the album to a peaceful conclusion. In addition to his work with the trio, Benedikt Jahnel plays with – and contributes compositions to – the band Cyminology and is featured on the group’s ECM recordings As Ney, Saburi and Phoenix. A mathematician as well as a musician, Jahnel is a researcher at the Weierstrass-Institut Berlin, with interacting particle systems in the context of probability theory amongst his main interests. While sceptical about parallels between maths and music, he allows that “what mathematics can do really well if you have a practical problem is to make it abstract: get rid of the flesh and try and understand the mechanics of the bones. A detour via abstraction is a powerful tool, and in writing music it can sometimes also be helpful in developing things, especially if the starting point is emotional and intuitive, as it usually is with my pieces.” Benedikt Jahnel studied music at the University of Arts in Berlin – where he first met Owen Howard, who was there as visiting professor – and at City College, New York. In New York Jahnel and Howard reconnected and also met up with Antonio Miguel. In the course of his career, Antonio – born in Zaragoza in Northern Spain – has played with musicians including Paquito D’Rivera, Jerry González, Claudio Roditi, Ben Sidran, Rosario Giuliani, Rick Margitza, Jorge Pardo, Perico Sambeat, Ximo Tébar and Pedro Iturralde in the jazz scene, as well as flamenco artists José Luis Montón, Josemi Carmona, Rocio Marquez and El Negri, and artists like Buika, Paloma Berganza, Carmen Paris, Miguel Rios and Ara Malikian. Owen Howard, born in Edmonton, Canada, but Brooklyn based for many years, is a bandleader in his own right. He has also played with Joe Lovano, Kenny Wheeler, John Abercrombie, Dave Liebman, Kenny Werner, George Garzone, Dave Holland, Sheila Jordan and Tom Harrell, amongst many others. The Benedikt Jahnel Trio begins its tour with dates in Germany in January and February 2017, followed by shows in France in Spain. Concerts in Canada and the US are currently being set up: details soon at www.benejahnel.de and www.ecmrecords.com ECM François Couturier Tarkovsky Quartet Nuit blanche François Couturier: piano Anja Lechner: violoncello Jean-Marc Larché: soprano saxophone Jean-Louis Matinier; accordion U.S. Release date: February 17, 2016 ECM 2524 B0026215-02 UPC: 6025 572 9067 7 Ingmar Bergman once said of Andrey Tarkovsky, “He moves with such naturalness in the room of dreams,” and the French-German quartet named after the great Russian filmmaker has developed an associative dream-language of its own. For leader and pianist François Couturier the “silence and slowness of Tarkovsky” are closely related to an “ECM aesthetic” further developed on the group’s third album Nuit blanche, produced by Manfred Eicher in Lugano in April 2016. Here pieces variously composed by François Couturier, or created in the moment by Couturier, cellist Anja Lecher, saxophonist Jean-Marc Larché and accordionist Jean-Louis Matinier, explore the texture of dreams and memory and continue to make oblique reference to Tarkovsky. Couturier’s Dakus, for instance, acknowledges a debt to Toru Takemitsu’s 1987 composition Nostalghia, written in memory of the director. The quartet also incorporates a crepuscular interpretation of Vivaldi’s “Cum dederit delectis suis somnum” from the Nisi Dominus, alluding to a composer Tarkovsky was listening to at the time of Stalker. Whether playing improvised chamber music, modern composition or baroque music, the creative originality of the Tarkovsky Quartet shines through.

JLH, I feel for you! That happened to me once with Purolator.

BC has signed Swayze Waters. http://3downnation.com/2017/02/07/b-c-lions-sign-formers-argo-kicker-swayze-waters/#comments http://www.cfl.ca/2017/02/07/lions-add-kicker-punter-swayze-waters/ http://www.tsn.ca/lions-sign-former-argos-kicker-waters-1.666473 ***** The league released its 2017 schedule today. Opening Day will be June 22, when Darian Durant and the Als host the Riders. Dominion Day will see the Riders open their new park, hosting the Bombers. BC gets the bye on Labor Day weekend. Ottawa gets two byes the last month of the season. If they get the bye for the playoffs, they might be VERY rusty for the Eastern Final. http://www.cfl.ca/schedule/ http://www.tsn.ca/bring-it-riders-face-durant-in-week-1-open-new-mosaic-against-bombers-1.666316 http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/cfl-darian-durant-schedule-1.3971056 http://www.cfl.ca/2017/02/07/gate-no-shortage-storylines-week-1/ http://3downnation.com/2017/02/07/2017-cfl-schedule/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/07/2017-cfl-schedule/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/07/six-quick-thoughts-ticats-schedule/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/07/riders-get-lucky-fairly-balanced-schedule/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/07/ticats-schedule-good-fans-horrendous-team/#comments

I'm putting this in this forum because it involves business. Mods are welcome to move it or delete it. The UPS Store has a club for American small business owners. Each week they ask you for your opinion of their marketing ideas or they ask you to tell of your experiences as a businessman. For your trouble, they pay $10-15 a month in Amazon (or others, your choice) gift cards. Here's the link if you would like to sign up. http://www.smallbizbuzz.me/recruitment/survey/3010?ID=60255&recruitmentCode=HWdFrdn956ab77O7QoDK

Happy Birthday 2017 MJ!

Happy Birthday 2017 Big Wheel!

The Alouettes released Rakeem Cato today. http://3downnation.com/2017/02/06/report-alouettes-release-qb-rakeem-cato/#comments http://www.cfl.ca/2017/02/06/alouettes-cut-ties-cato/ http://www.tsn.ca/alouettes-release-qb-cato-1.665863 http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/alouettes-release-quarterback-rakeem-cato/

Happy Birthday 2017 tk!

Continuing on, here are guys who have signed contract extensions. Typically, they were set to become free agents on St. Valentine's Day. http://3downnation.com/2016/12/05/argonauts-sign-trick-shot-artist-contract-extension/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/05/b-c-lions-sign-chris-rainey-contract-extension/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/08/cfl-record-holding-kicker-rene-paredes-signs-extension-stampeders/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/08/stampeders-punter-rob-maver-agree-extension/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/09/oshea-walters-sign-contract-extension-bombers/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/10/cfl-mike-oshea-contract-talks-started-beers/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/13/walters-oshea-deserving-contract-extensions-growth-needed/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/14/redblacks-re-sign-antoine-pruneau/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/16/jeremiah-johnson-signs-contract-extension-b-c-lions/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/20/ticats-decision-re-sign-mike-daly-sneaky-good-move/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/21/reports-bc-lions-re-sign-cfl-mopd-lb-solomon-elimimian/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/21/19621/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/21/dl-cordarro-law-re-ups-with-calgary-stampeders/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/01/decision-day-coming-argos-drew-willy/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/02/drew-willy-argos-agree-terms-new-contract/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/09/ol-landon-rice-signs-extension-ticats/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/11/argos-extend-canadian-kicker/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/11/ticats-sign-simoni-lawrence-contract-extension/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/11/simoni-lawrence-true-ticat-legacy-sight/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/11/canadian-ol-tyler-holmes-inks-extension-argos/#comments

Continuing on with recent articles about past headlines... Joe McKnight http://3downnation.com/2016/10/15/six-things-watch-riders-face-argos/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/10/22/six-things-watch-riders-host-alouettes/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/10/27/winston-venable-fined-hit-shouldve-given-riders-chance-victory/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/10/29/six-things-watch-riders-final-game-taylor-field/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/11/03/cfls-law-order-journey-land-make-believe/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/11/05/six-things-watch-riders-season-finale-b-c/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/31/lucky-13-popular-3downnation-stories-2016/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/02/usc-honouring-joe-mcknight-rose-bowl/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/02/joe-mcknights-killer-charged-second-degree-murder/#comments

Parks and Recreation (complete) - $26.99 prime https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00SG16TIC/

Yesterday the Bombers cut Keith Shologan, and today the Als signed him. http://3downnation.com/2017/01/31/bombers-release-keith-shologan/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/02/01/day-cut-bombers-shologan-signs-montreal/#comments http://www.cfl.ca/2017/01/31/bombers-release-national-keith-shologan/ http://www.cfl.ca/2017/02/01/als-sign-shologan-two-year-deal/ http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/alouettes-sign-veteran-canadian-dl-keith-shologan/ http://www.tsn.ca/alouettes-sign-shologan-to-two-year-deal-1.662355 ***** The Als are shuffling their coaching staff. http://3downnation.com/2017/02/01/bowman-calvillo-stays-als-name-coaching-staff/#comments http://www.cfl.ca/2017/01/31/no-surprises-als-finalize-2017-coaching-staff/ http://www.cfl.ca/2017/01/31/als-vet-parker-retires-joins-coaching-staff/ http://www.tsn.ca/stewart-sweet-dropped-from-als-staff-1.661774

One of my favorite radio announcers, Scott Rintoul of Vancouver, was laid off yesterday. The parent company showed an C$800,000,000. profit, and they need to lay off their good people? http://3downnation.com/2017/01/30/b-c-lions-radio-play-play-voice-laid-off-tsn/#comments ***** For those of you who cannot read enough about certain people and topics, here are various articles from the past two months amplifying those articles which I have posted previously. free agents http://3downnation.com/2016/11/30/unofficial-list-pending-cfl-free-agents/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/01/official-list-potential-cfl-free-agents/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/10/five-players-riders-re-sign-darian-durant/#comments ***** trying out for NFL teams http://3downnation.com/2016/12/01/lucky-13-cfl-players-may-take-shot-nfl/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/07/cfl-players-insiders-say-could-get-nfl-look/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/08/redblacks-release-dl-cleyon-laing-to-pursue-nfl/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/09/bc-lions-allow-lb-adam-bighill-pursue-nfl/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/09/19493/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/12/15/slew-of-cfl-players-worked-out-for-new-york-jets/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/02/canadian-db-dondre-wright-accepts-invite-nfl-regional-combine/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/19/canadian-lb-works-baltimore-ravens/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/19/riders-dblb-otha-foster-works-baltimore-ravens/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/27/riders-release-otha-foster-pursue-nfl-opportunities/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/27/mcmaster-receiver-attending-nfl-regional-combine/#comments ***** signing with the NFL http://3downnation.com/2017/01/02/four-players-cfl-connections-sign-nfl-teams/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/30/bo-lokombo-signs-nfls-ravens/#comments http://3downnation.com/2017/01/31/mcduffie-not-cfl-star-signing-nfl/#comments