GA Russell

I prefer Jack Benny's radio shows to the tv shows because the sound effects of the car and going to down the money vault are more funny than seeing the picture.

I suppose I should add the link. http://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Christmas-Dan-Hicks-Licks/dp/B003ZMDWOQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1323463751&sr=1-1

Dan Hicks released a Christmas album last year called Crazy for Christmas, and I picked it up this year. No surprises if you have already made up your mind about Dan Hicks. I like him a lot. It's great to hear Christmas given the Hicksville spin.

Since it was recorded in 1959, more than 50 years ago, I think it is all PD.

Happy Birthday 2011 Ghost!

LOL! That's the spirit!

Not meaning to start a fight, but I definitely disagree with your terms, Jim. A bootleg is not grey market - it's black market. I understand grey market to be legal elsewhere but not in the US, such as a PD.

Dave Naylor coaching carousel wrapup http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=382173

aloc, December Bride was a favorite of my dad's.

Harry Morgan of December Bride, Pete & Gladys, Dragnet and MASH fame has passed away at 96. http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/12/07/mash-star-harry-morgan-dies-at-age-6/?test=faces

The perfect Christmas gift for the football fan in Wisconsin! http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2011/12/green-bay-packers-stock-aaron-rodgers.html

ECM has a new album now of the music of Offenbach. It doesn't sound like it would be jazz to me, but some here might be interested. ECM Gianluigi Trovesi/Gianni Coscia Frère Jacques: Round about Offenbach Gianluigi Trovesi: piccolo and alto clarinets Gianni Coscia: accordion U.S. Release: December 6, 2011 ECM CD: B0016268-02 UPC: 6025 278 1135 2 “Our two friends have their roots in jazz and one’s curiosity is aroused by the challenge they take up with the mode of the can-can before, without our noticing it (or maybe without noticing it themselves) slipping into swing and rhythm ‘n’ blues - certainly not in the search for Offenbach, maybe in search of themselves, or out of the conviction that basically the story of music goes its own way, through evocation and anticipation, as if they were convinced that every composer wrote to anticipate an infinity of music to come: theirs in particular, obviously.” So writes Umberto Eco in his third consecutive liner note for the duo of Gianluigi Trovesi and Gianni Coscia, following on from In Cerca di cibo and Round About Weil, discs which honored respectively Milanese composer Fiorenzo Carpi and Kurt Weil with affectionate, free and witty reinterpretations. They now travel, by the scenic route, Round about Offenbach. Their composed and improvised responses to Offenbach revolve around their arrangements of his works including selections from “La Belle Hélène”, “La Périchole”, “La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein”, and “Les Contes d’Hoffmann”. Offenbach, French composer of German origin (born in Cologne in 1819) wrote some of the 19th century’s most effervescent music, with a sly disregard for highbrow tastes, largely unconcerned whether his work was regarded as high art, certainly unafraid of frivolity. He gleefully parodied Wagner and other cultural icons in ingenious music that could be beautiful and highly satirical by turns, frequently playing with levels and degrees of “seriousness” and “sincerity”. But craftsmanship was a given: his pieces were always meticulously made, as even opponents were forced to allow. Debussy, through gritted teeth, called Offenbach “a gifted musician who hated music.” As a popular composer who remained an outsider, rarely fêted by the critics, he holds a particular appeal for Trovesi and Coscia, who have a long history of siding with cultural anti-heroes, in particular happily waving banners for exponents of art forms alleged to be “minor” - in this case, the operetta. For Gianluigi and Gianni, Offenbach’s a comrade, a soul brother, “Frère Jacques.” Release of Frere Jacques: Round about Offenbach follows on the heels of the DVD release of Sounds and Silence, the documentary about producer Manfred Eicher and the musicians of ECM which includes sequences with Gianluigi Trovesi and Gianni Coscia as well as footage of Gianluigi’s All'Opera project with the Filarmonica Mousiké Orchestra and also with his trio with Umberto Petrin and Fulvio Maras. The old friends from Nembro and Alessandria are enjoying a higher profile lately but it can’t be said that wider recognition is coming too early to them. Gianni Coscia celebrated his 80th birthday this year. On Frère Jacques his accordion is as spry as ever, always ready to challenge Trovesi, and to create, on the fly, shifting associative soundscapes that can cast the clarinet in new light, transforming settings from jazz club to cabaret to concert hall. Gianluigi Trovesi, a mere 67, is increasingly acknowledged as one of the great contemporary clarinet soloists in jazz and related music, and his melodic inventiveness is much in evidence on the present disc, virtuosity imbued with an almost nonchalant charm. A simple pleasure in music making shines through layers of irony in the compositions of Trovesi/Coscia and their dedicatee. As Ivan Hewitt, reviewing the duo in the Daily Telegraph wrote: “There’s an innocence about Trovesi which, despite the vast gulf of time and place reminds one of jazz’s innocent beginnings a century ago.” CD booklet includes liner notes by Umberto Eco in Italian, with English and German translations

aloc, it's common for the teams that don't make the playoffs to change coaches. This year, Wally Buono (who has won more games than any other coach in league history) has decided to retire on top, a week after he won the Grey Cup. In recent years it has been common for head coaches to leave to become an assistant coach at US universities, because the money is so much better in US college ball. Don Matthews (whose winning record Wally broke) used to have it in his contract that he could leave after winning the Grey Cup because that would be when he was in the most demand. He wound up coaching five teams!

The Riders have released Barrin Simpson, and signed Maurice Lloyd. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=382114

Noj, a "screen" superimposed upon the regular screen, covering about 90% of the monitor screen, came up and said that I was eligible. At the bottom were two buttons, to accept and to reject. It just appeared - I didn't do anything for it to come up. My total bill was $185, so I am assuming that it came up because of the size of my order. But it didn't give me any explanation.

Scott Milanovich named his coordinators today. Not only was Chris Jones named defensive coordinator, he was also named Asst. General Manager. That's odd. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/argos-bolster-coaching-staff/article2260180/

Anthony Calvillo announced today that he is going to come back for one more season. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=382028 ***** Wally Buono announced today that he is retiring as the coach of the Lions, but will remain as the GM and VP of Football Operations. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=382047

Correct, Paul!

Perhaps those of you who are big spenders already know about this. When Amazon released its Kindle Fire tablet a few weeks ago (for $199), it announced that with the purchase one would get a free one-month trial of Amazon Prime. I don't know a great deal about Amazon Prime, so I will let those who already have it discuss its benefits. Anyway, today I ordered a space heater for $168, and qualified for the free one-month trial. Apparently it is the size of the purchase rather than the item itself that determines whether you qualify. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I signed up. I've already written a note in my calendar to cancel before they charge me for the year.

We've done so many, I've forgotten who's already been done. I don't think we've done this person or photo yet.

Alex Walling wrote a nice obit for Cookie Gilchrist a few months ago, and now he has written one for Hal Patterson as well. http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/alex_walling/?id=381677

Does Hillary like Mosaics too?

He looks to me like a ringer for Dom Um Romao.

The Man from UNCLE: The Complete Series - $92.98 http://www.amazon.co...9890_pe_epc_dt5 Secret Agent aka Danger Man: The Complete Collection - $33.99 http://www.amazon.co...bxgy_mov_text_c The Wild Wild West: The Complete Series - $53.89 http://www.amazon.co...ref=pd_cp_mov_3 Hogan's Heroes: The Komplete Series, Kommandant's Kollection - $59.89 http://www.amazon.co...ref=pd_cp_mov_1 Hogan's Heroes - The Complete First Season - $11.24 http://www.amazon.co...ref=pd_cp_mov_2 Hogan's Heroes - The Complete Second Season - $10.39 http://www.amazon.co...ref=pd_cp_mov_2

Miles - At Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East - $14.42 http://www.amazon.com/At-Fillmore-Live-East/dp/B000002AH4/ref=pd_ys_qtk_general_recs_56