GA Russell

Joey Votto made history tonight, sort of: (I)t was the first time in major league history that a player hit a game-ending grand slam for his third home run, according to research by the Elias Sports Bureau. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/baseball/joey-vottos-game-ending-grand-slam-makes-mlb-history/article2431511/

Here's the AP obit. http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/05/13/2061495/bass-player-donald-duck-dunn-dies.html

Canada has an all-star game for next year's seniors called the East West Bowl. The game gives the scouts an early look of who to pay attention to during the coming year. This year's game was played yesterday. The East won 24-16. http://www.londoncommunitynews.com/2012/05/east-takes-24-16-win-in-cis-showcase-at-western/ http://cfl.ca/video/index/id/74239/autostart/true

The Eskimos have released Taylor Inglis. http://www.canada.com/sports/football/cfl/null/6605261/story.html ***** The Als have released Ramon Guzman. http://www.canada.com/sports/football/cfl/null/6605270/story.html

My first thought was Roy Orbison - The Sun Years. Orbison's reputation is based almost entirely upon his Monument recordings. These Sun recordings, his earliest, don't sound like them. I suspect that Orbison would be held in awe if he had died after making these but before making his Monuments. http://www.amazon.com/Sun-Years-Roy-Orbison/dp/B0000032QW/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1336846063&sr=1-1

Wolfgang's Vault now has available for streaming a 1996 concert of Dan Hicks and the Acoustic Warriors. http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/dan-hicks-and-the-acoustic-warriors/concerts/black-oak-ranch-august-31-1996.html?utm_source=NL&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=120511

Here's the LA Times obit: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-carroll-shelby-20120512,0,6452484.story

Thanks thirdtry! Great news!

The Riders have released Mo Lloyd, and have signed the Pac 12's all-time leader in TD receptions, USC's Dwayne Jarrett. http://tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=395700

Here's a video of surfer Garrett McNamara and the 78 foot wave he rode off the Portugese coast in November, accompanied by surf guitar music! The Guinness Book of World Records has recognized it as the biggest wave ever recorded. http://www.theglobea...article2429736/

I just saw this too. RIP. He was one of a kind. http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/05/11/shelby-cobra-designer-legendary-race-car-driver-carroll-shelby-dies-at-8/?intcmp=features

LOL! Just when I say that Lobendahn is probably through, the Stampeders are signing him! http://tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=395508 ***** The Riders think that the $14 million to be spent to renovate Mosaic Stadium will be good for four years. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/roughriders-outline-mosaic-renovations-ahead-of-new-stadium/article2428905/ ***** Jim Popp would like two additional rounds to be added to the draft so that more CIS players would be invited to camp. (How that follows I don't see. Why don't they just invite the players to camp anyway?) And he also thinks that NCAA players who do not declare themselves eligible for the NFL draft should not be eligible for the CFL draft. He thinks there is too much risk in drafting futures. Popp also pointed out that only 22 of the 45 players drafted last week participated in the league's evaluation camp in March. http://tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=395500 ***** A concrete ceiling of a steam room at Commonwealth Stadium collapsed, injuring a contractor. I thought these things are supposed to happen only in Quebec. http://tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=395510

This looks like it might be interesting. Any of you New Yorkers familiar with the musicians? Cover + CD for $15 sounds like a great deal. AVI GRANITE PRESENTS HIS LATEST RELEASE AS A LEADER SNOW UMBRELLAS BY AVI GRANITEʼS VERSE featuring Avi Granite Ralph Alessi Jerry DeVore Owen Howard AVAILABLE NOW ON ITUNES AND CD BABY RECORD RELEASE SHOW MAY 17, 2012; 8 PM at 5C, New York City New York, May 10, 2012 - Canadian-born Avi Granite is a young guitarist, composer, improviser and educator who has already performed extensively across North America and Europe. He was a grant recipient from the Canada Council for the Arts and awarded with a composition residency at Banff Centre for the Arts. Granite was invited to be part of the Rising Stars series at the Montreal International Jazz Festival and has written various compositions for feature films. He possesses a prestigious New York University master's degree in music performance, and held an adjunct position on the faculty. Granite has released two CDs to critical acclaim. The multi-talented Brooklyn resident continues to explore new horizons. Avi Granite, who counts among his influences John Scofield and Joe Lovano, established Avi Granite's Verse. It's a New York quartet performing new compositions, and features Ralph Alessi on trumpet, Jerry DeVore on bass and Owen Howard on drums. Its debut CD, and Granite's third as a leader, is Snow Umbrellas. Snow Umbrellas is a modern audio-film referencing many scenes from Granite's life over the past few years. He describes his music as a conscious effort to communicate with the audience, while engaging his musicians in a challenging way. "To me it's the continuation of the evolving quality of the jazz tradition," says Granite. "We are improvising on written material, sometimes in more traditional ways, sometimes in very modern ways. The variety and spur of the moment element in the project is what allows the audience in. They can hear us communicating and reacting to each other. I believe the audience has a pallet for this music - as free as some of it may be, if you listen, you'll get it." Snow Umbrellas evidences Granite's substantial growth as an artist and his ongoing determination to fine-tune his artistic ideas. He also runs a record label called Pet Mantis Records. www.avigranite.com TRACK TITLES 1. O Blues 2. Y Not 3. Mortetia 4. Like John 5. Charlie's Shorts 6. Wayne Winks at the Radio 7. Four for 4 8. Trycicle Dreams 9. Barnacles HOW TO GET THERE Take the F or V to 2nd Ave / Lower East Side, exit at 1st Ave / Houston Street, walk east to Ave C and up 5 blocks to 5th Street and Avenue C. http://5cculturalcenter.org/index.html

I didn't know that! I guess that's another reason to trust only Soundscan.

I drink a lot of coffee, both regular and decaf. No calories in black coffee, right? (I'm just guessing.) Wouldn't that be the same as drinking water?

The Als have signed their second Canadian QB of the week, Acadia's Kyle Graves. http://tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=395453

Hamilton's 18 bases is a new American League record. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/baseball/josh-hamilton-fires-four-homers-to-sink-orioles/article2427133/

Rod, that's an interesting article! It certainly appears that in its modern form it was said first by Martin Mull.

Highly recommended for the many who like Now He Sings, Now He Sobs. It's a relaxing piano trio album. It's my favorite ECM in a very long time.

The attribution to Monk is incorrect. No definitive answer, but there's a fair amount of citations for Martin Mull, but it could be as early as Clara Schumann. I didn't know that there was any controversy about this! I thought that it was Charles Mingus who said, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture."

The Als have signed Kyries Hebert. No link yet. ***** The Ticats are planning a special year-long celebration in honor of the final year of playing at Ivor Wynne Stadium. http://tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=395386

Happy Birthday e007!

Bobby, I'm flattered that you are interested in my opinion! Thank you! Here on this board, we refer to an old fashioned funk organ trio as greazy. I don't find your playing to be like that. I find the chords that you choose and the brittleness of your sound to be a terrific balance to what others are doing. My favorite example of that is Sonny Rollins' Vienne DVD. You were the perfect yin to the yang of the rest of that band. On Upper West Side Story there's no yang. There's no Clifford Anderson or Chris Foreman to provide the contrast that highlights your work and makes it so interesting. Your past records have had the appeal of sweet and sour pork, but that's not the case this time. In regard to dryness, one great that I have not heard enough of is Lennie Tristano. Perhaps you are aware of a song Chet Baker recorded with Richard Twardzik called The Girl from Greenland. I love that dry sound, and I love what you're doing too, but I think that one has to be in the proper mood for it when it's all by itself. Best wishes, and congratulations on your success thus far, Russell Moon

The Als are signing McMaster QB Kyle Quinlan. Last year the only Canadian QB to survive the cuts was Calgary's Brad Sinopoli. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/mcmaster-qb-quinlan-agrees-to-cfl-contract-report/article2425630/

The Jets are thinking about using Tim Tebow on special teams. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/jets-plan-to-use-tim-tebow-on-special-teams/article2424802/