GA Russell

Remember Sgt. Rock and Easy Company, with Ice Cream Soldier and all the rest? Their creator Joe Kubert has died. I used to read Sgt. Rock comics once every three weeks in the barber shop. http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-joe-kubert-20120815,0,7834486.story

I've pieced together a couple of concepts the past two days. When I did my research last year, it all appeared to be somewhat sub-rosa. But when I googled "region free dvd" the other day, I saw an ad for Amazon. I clicked on it, and sure enough Amazon is carrying them.. The least expensive is this Sony for $41.06. http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Ultra-Compact-Multi-region-Supports-Included/dp/B0080H77PQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345010785&sr=8-1&keywords=region-free+dvd You will note that for $41.90 with free shipping Amazon is fulfilling the item. The comments for that Sony indicate that it comes with a Spanish language User's Manual, and that Sony will promptly send you one in English upon request. The US and Canada are Region 1. The UK and Europe are Region 2. Mexico and all of Latin America are Region 4. Here's my guess: The demand for region free players is not coming from Americans who wish to purchase British discs. It's coming from Mexicans in the US who wish to watch their Region 4 Spanish language discs. By the way, the link in post #2 says that the region concept was devised so that the wealthy nations could not purchase discs whose prices are lower in poorer countries. That may well be true, but that's not what I've read in the past. What I've read is that movies do not open worldwide at the same time; and the studios do not want the dvd to be available in a market before its theatre run has run its course.

Vol.2 is not showing up on Amazon yet. If the release date were a month away, I would think that it would.

Obby Khan retired four months ago at age 31 when the Bombers told him they wanted to go with youth on the line. Today he has come out of retirement, and signed with the Stampeders. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=403072

When the Perry Mason sets were first issued, their prices were exorbitant. Now the prices of the early ones are much more affordable. Season One, Vol. 1 - $10.09 http://www.amazon.com/Perry-Mason-Season-One-Vol/dp/B000F48D0U?SubscriptionId=AKIAJ7T5BOVUVRD2EFYQ&tag=camels-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B000F48D0U Season One, Vol. 2 - $11.00 http://www.amazon.com/Perry-Mason-Season-One-Vol/dp/B000IHYXJO/ref=pd_bxgy_mov_text_b Season Two, Vol. 1 - $10.00 http://www.amazon.com/Perry-Mason-Season-Two-Vol/dp/B000O59A52/ref=pd_bxgy_mov_text_c Season Two, Vol. 2 - $11.00 http://www.amazon.com/Perry-Mason-Season-Two-Vol/dp/B000UAE7VS/ref=pd_bxgy_mov_text_b Season Three, Vol. 2 - $10.40 http://www.amazon.com/Perry-Mason-Season-Three-Vol/dp/B001E6HUWK/ref=pd_cp_mov_2 Season Four, Vol. 1 - $11.23 http://www.amazon.com/Perry-Mason-Season-Four-Vol/dp/B001V7UX4O/ref=pd_bxgy_mov_text_c

Thanks Bill and David!

David, I was thinking of that, or basically that a posted price of 5 GBP less VAT = about $5. Right?

Johnny Pesky has died at age 92. RIP. The photo with his obit is of Ted Williams, Mel Parnell and him. http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-johnny-pesky-20120814,0,5337293.story

Thanks ejp. That's what I wanted to know.

I have never ordered from Amazon UK before, but I am thinking about placing an order now. Most items I purchase from Amazon US have Free Supersaver Shipping. I consider that when I compare Amazon's prices to those of their Marketplace Sellers. For example, I will expect a Marketplace Seller to have a CD price $3.00 lower than the Amazon price because with the Marketplace Seller i will have to spend an additional $2.98 on shipping. Now Amazon UK has its own Free Supersaver Shipping, but that is apparently only for shipments made to the UK. So I am wondering...Is the shipping fee for Amazon UK products comparable to that of their Marketplace Sellers? If so, there would be no need from my point of view for the Marketplace Seller to beat Amazon on price; nor would there be any need for me to load my Amazon shopping cart up until I reached a threshold number. Do I have that right? Would I save any money by having one large Amazon UK order rather than a number of small Marketplace Seller orders?

OK! Thanks for your input, guys! I've ordered Casino Royale for $2.17. http://www.amazon.com/Casino-Royale-Two-Disc-Widescreen-Daniel/dp/B000MNP2KI/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1344881623&sr=1-1&keywords=casino+royale+dvd

It has taken only a few hours for Cory Boyd to come to terms with the Eskimos. http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4521131

I've been listening to Disc One of Sleeper, planing to save Disc Two for a bit. I like it. It's much louder than any of the other Jarrett albums I have. Most of it swings. It's unique in my collection. I lived in Pittsburgh in 1979, and the jazz situation there was grim at that time. It was rare to find jazz in the record stores. I'm having difficulty remembering what I was listening to when this was recorded.

I'm in the mood to see a James Bond picture. I haven't seen one since the first Pierce Brosnan film called Goldeneye, which I thought was pretty stupid. I loved the previous two with Timothy Dalton, The Living Daylights and License to Kill. Which post-Goldeneye do you recommend that I pick up? By the way, is there a consensus regarding Tomorrow Never Dies?

mjzee, I probably have said before that it has been my experience going back to the 60s that a much higher percentage of my list price albums have been duds than my $1.99 cutouts! Nowadays, I find that a box set on sale is like a cut out. It helps that so many of us here like decades-old music, which many of these box sets are. For my tastes, the box set pickings have been slim since the first of the year, but I'm hoping that things will pick up at Christmastime.

I believe that I saw Adams as a member of Roy Haynes' group ca. 1969. Do you think that that is correct? As I recall, Marvin Hannibal Peterson was on trumpet, and I'm sure that Carl Schroeder was on piano.

SHOCKER! The Argos have released Cory Boyd, their second biggest star (next to Ricky Ray) and the league's current rushing leader. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=402953 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/toronto-argonauts-release-cfls-leading-rusher-cory-boyd/article4477411/

Marty, I read last year that what sonnymax says is true. Apparently it doesn't work for all DVD players. I gather that when you buy a region free player, it just means that the retailer has taken a regular player and done the work himself.

The US price of the Mingus Columbia/RCA box continues to sink. It is now going for $31.00. http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Albums-Collection-Charles-Mingus/dp/B007Y2W49W?SubscriptionId=AKIAJ7T5BOVUVRD2EFYQ&tag=camels-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B007Y2W49W

Marty, I wondered about this a year ago. I suggest that you google "region free dvd" and peruse to your heart's content. You may want to start with this Buyers' Guide here: http://buyersguide.bargainoffers.com/region_free_dvd_guide.shtml Last year I found a number of Toshibas that fit the bill.

Every year the bye weeks are the last two weeks of August, at the mid-point of the season, to give the players the chance to rest their bodies for the second half of the year. I have wondered why the bye weeks are early this year, and it has dawned on me that the league decided to schedule them during the Olympics when fans' thoughts might be occupied elsewhere.

Happy Birthday 2012 kinuta!

The Bombers are the only team not in the thick of things, so they have decided to start Joey Elliott at QB this week against the Ticats. They have scored a league-low 127 points so far. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=402891

Edmonton Eskimos 28....Saskatchewan Roughriders 20 http://www.sportsnet...aspx?id=4520731 http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=402868 I was able to listen to the game on the Riders' station. The Eskimos' station is another Corus property, and they were not streaming tonight. Great see-saw game between the league's two best defenses. Down by eight points, the Riders were moving the ball downfield as time expired. Jyles seems to be getting better with each game. ***** All CFL games will be streamed live on ESPN3.com (to the US only) for the rest of the season. http://www.cfl.ca/page/game_broadcast

Good news! I heard from the Ticats' station CHML today, and they said that the issue is Olympics related, and that after the Games are over everything will be back to normal. Most of the CFL teams' broadcast partners (including both Hamilton and Calgary) are members of the Corus chain, so I expect that this is a chain-wide situation.