GA Russell

To be released May 26.... The Saint - The Complete Series (Roger Moore) - $149.99 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S4YGVZM/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=RVSBV717YT9&coliid=I224RCLL65DC57 A bargain? Well, these have always been pretty expensive, so I'll let you decide if it's a bargain. It was my opinion at the time that the black & white shows were much better than the color shows of the later seasons. Two years ago, I purchased the complete set of the black & white episodes (Region 2) from Amazon UK. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saint-Complete-Monochrome-DVD/dp/B000GUK3SS/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1427077705&sr=1-1&keywords=the+saint As you can see, today that box is going for 39.91 GBP.

I love this one. Too bad it's not on Spotify for you to listen to. As you can expect from the lineup, the sound is something like the George Shearing Quintet's, with vibes, electric guitar and piano. But not too much, because guitarist Yotam Silberstein reminds me of Wes Montgomery, and pianist Christian Sands sometimes reminds me of Wynton Kelly. All of the melodies are hummable (if you have more singing talent than I have!). I'm very confident that this one will be one of my most favorites of 2015.

I get the impression that all the star Japanese pitchers wind up needing Tommy John surgery. Is that right? I remember reading when Dice-K signed with the Red Sox that in Japan they have the pitchers warm up by throwing long distances first.

Cassettes, hell, LPs! WHOLE LPs, both sides with music, not the bargain jobs like they'd import from god knows where that only had half-grooves on one side, or all the grooves on the other. No sir, REAL records! I think it was between 1984-86 when the big ECM LP dump hit the stores here, definitely before our son was born, but after we had moved back to Dallas. I know I had the free time to drive around all day looking in the cutout bins at all 492.091 record stores in the greater DFW area armed only with a tank of gas and about $30 cash, and it usually being enough.That would have been in that window. Hell, even the sorryass "Record Town" mall stores in the mall, you know, the ones that were about as wide as an Italian alley and had ALL (i.e. JUST) the hits, they'd have a dinky little half-din cutout rack full of ECM LPs. It was one of those rare unambiguous Carpe-Diem moments in record buying history. I was buying shit I didn't even want to hear just because it was so cheap, you know, well, I MIGHT like it after all... I remember finding the cassettes in a small record store in a mall in Harrisburg, PA. I lived in that area from Feb., 1982, through Feb., 1985. Jim, you put your time frame at 1984-1986. So it looks to me like both you and I stumbled across our ECM cutouts some time in 1984!

Chuck Bednarik has died at 89. RIP The first NFL championship Game I watched was in 1960. I had Bednarik's bubble gum card that year. In the game, Norm van Brocklin and the Eagles beat Green Bay. Bednarik played both ways, as the center and as a linebacker. I believe that that game was the last example of a 60-minute man in the NFL. http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/hall-of-famer-chuck-bednarik-dead-at-89/ar-BBiwYC0?ocid=ansusasports11 http://espn.go.com/blog/philadelphia-eagles/post/_/id/11107/chuck-bednarik-greatest-eagle-dies-at-89 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/22/sports/football/chuck-bednarik-famed-football-tough-guy-dies-at-89.html

CJ, I think that Warner's relationship with ECM ended ca. 1982. It was about then that ECM cassettes were being dumped, sold for a dollar each.

Following up on the transcript of Jim Barker's reddit AMA (post #2050), Dan Ralph's column today deals with the fact that Barker's, Milanovich's and Ray's contracts all expire at the end of this year. The 2016 Argos might be unrecognizable! http://cjme.com/content/barker-and-others-enter-final-contract-year PS - I see that Owens' contract is in its last year too! ***** CBS has posted about the increase in interest in Canadians by the NFL teams. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25115675 ***** Here is this week's Checking Down column, with comments about each team. http://www.cfl.ca/article/checking-down-draft-chat-free-agency-and-more

I read Double Indemnity forty years go when I was on a James M. Cain kick, but I've never seen the movie. This has been on my wishlist for over a year! http://www.amazon.com/Screen-Couples-Spotlight-Collection-Anniversary/dp/B006TTC5PE/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1426896592&sr=1-2&keywords=double+indemnity+dvd

Sam Rivers - Sizzle (impulse!), which to my knowledge hasn't been released on CD. Am I wrong?

As I recall, I have one or maybe two Mulgrew Miller albums on RCA from that period.

LOL! Of course! I forgot about the many '90s Verve releases I picked up via BMG!

Now that I think about it, I don't think I've purchased a record on the Verve label that was recorded after Creed Taylor left. Can anyone think of a jazz one that is any good?

Here's an interesting idea. In the hope that there might be some drama the last day of the season, all 15 games will begin at the same time - 3:00 pm eastern. http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/mlb-promoting-final-day-drama-with-simultaneous-starts/ar-BBitf6e?ocid=ansSportingNews11

Here's an article from Yahoo's CFL correspondent Andrew Bucholtz, in which he points out that the May 12 date is about ten days later than the past few years. The draft date is all about determining who will sign with the NFL for the money, so that nobody wastes a high pick on him. https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/cfl-55-yard-line/2015-cfl-draft-set-for-may-12--which-should-be-perfect-relative-to-the-nfl-draft-192819144.html ***** Edmonton's backup QB Pat White has decided to retire. http://www.tsn.ca/eskimos-qb-white-retires-1.235206 http://cfl.ca/article/esks-qb-white-calls-it-a-career ***** I've been following the league on a weekly basis since 1974, and last year was by far the least enjoyable for me. If all the games were as boring as they were last year, I wouldn't be a fan. I believe that the league added two players to the game roster, and the coaches put those two players on defense. Thus the games were boring. Now Kirk Penton of the Winnipeg Sun says that there is a great deal of talk to change some rules to put the offense back into the game. Hey guys, why not just reduce the game roster by two players? http://www.torontosun.com/2015/03/19/cfl-toying-with-rule-changes-to-increase-scoring

I had no idea that The Way It Was was a respected album!

I agree with this. I think casting Mary Astor in the part was a mistake. Notwithstanding the actors' lack of chemistry... The character in the book was an extraordinarily beautiful 24-year old, passing as a 19-year old looking for her sister. The screenwriter stuck as closely to the book as she could, including the dialogue. So I felt that it didn't make sense for Mary Astor, who I think looked older than she was, and who I never thought was all that good looking, saying what she did, and getting the reactions of both Spade and Archer, in their initial meeting.

The league has announced that the amateur draft will be held May 12. http://cfl.ca/article/2015-cfl-draft-order-broadcast-info-revealed http://www.tsn.ca/cfl-to-hold-draft-on-may-12-1.235065

This one came out Tuesday. I see that both Here's to Life and It's Always You mentioned above are on Spotify, but this one isn't yet.

The promo copy of this arrived in the mail Saturday. I opened it up right away, and have been playing it ever since. I really enjoy it.

Today I stumbled upon a reference to the Burnside rules on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnside_rules

Yes, Joe. I believe that the term "the Canadian league" started in the US in the late '40s, when the organization's title was the Canadian Rugby Union. There was probably a reluctance among some people to use that name because they weren't playing rugby!

Well, not to be argumentative, but... Duane, I felt that the book was much better because I didn't think that Bogart and Mary Astor had any chemistry. At the end they were professing their love for one another, and I was thinking, Where did that come from? Well, of course it was a great movie (one of my very favorites), but I think that we should remember that Greene based the novella on his screenplay. It was not a case of a movie based upon a respected book. I very much enjoyed the book in its own right. By the way, I read many years ago that Welles was on screen for only ten minutes of the movie.

Here's the complete transcript of today's Jim Barker reddit AMA interview. http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2zhk9v/im_jim_barker_general_manager_of_the_toronto/?sort=old ***** Chris McKenzie last played in 2012. Today he made it official and retired. http://www.cfl.ca/article/former-db-chris-mckenzie-retires-a-rider ***** The union has posted a page listing the upcoming events the players will attend. https://cflpa.com/category/community-events/ ***** The Toronto Sun's Frank Zicarelli opines that the Argos need a new owner! http://m.torontosun.com/2015/03/17/cfls-new-commissioner-must-find-a-way-to-get-david-braley-out-as-argos-owner ***** Here is the video of yesterday's press conference introducing Jeffrey Orridge as the new commissioner. http://www.cfl.ca/video/index/id/108819

Happy Birthday Rooster!

BeBop, thanks to self-publishing (and eBooks), I think that your observation is relevant to many fields. For example, in the past three months I have purchased two eBooks and six print books regarding the Canadian league.