GA Russell

Thanks to comments by Mark Stryker, Doug Ramsey has Margaret Whiting, Jo Stafford and Frank Sinatra doing Moonlight in Vermont on his Rifftides blog. Great comparison! http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/

skeith, I think you are referring to this: http://www.amazon.com/Bitches-Brew-LIVE-Miles-Davis/dp/B004ENAC4I/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3GQZ416MAP2H0&colid=RVSBV717YT9

Yes, I once had a shipment from BMG take forever. But in this case, it only took nine days. Remember, the USPS claims that it was delivered on the 20th. So was it misdelivered to someone who kept it, or did the mailman fail to do his job?

When I spoke to the USPS Customer Service rep yesterday, she mentioned in passing that the package was sent Media Mail. That hadn't occurred to me. I wonder if Media Mail items are more likely to be tossed aside and forgotten.

This brings up the issue of Otis Redding. He was the #1 r&b singer in the South when I was in high school, bigger than James Brown. Yet I have often thought that I never hear his hits on the radio except Dock of the Bay which was released posthumously. I can't remember the last time I heard Respect or Try a Little Tenderness or Call Me Mr. Pitiful on the radio. So I guess that I'm not surprised that the younger generation would not know that Respect was Otis's song. PS - Another cover that I suspect the younger crowd doesn't know about is Always Something There to Remind Me. I think it was Lou Johnson who did it first, but I grew up with Sandie Shaw's cover. You never hear them on the radio either. PPS - Another example is Johnny Rivers' By the Time I Get to Phoenix. Glen Campbell had such a big hit with it that the radio stations seem to have completely forgotten that Rivers had a hit with it first. PPPS - This morning on Sirius I heard Herman's Hermits' cover of I'm into Something Good. In New Orleans that was not played much because shortly before we had the original hit by the woman who I think was named Earl Jean. I haven't heard that on the radio since then, 46 years ago.

David Nelson has died of colon cancer at 74. I always enjoyed Ozzie & Harriet, and I never understood why it took a beating in the press in the late 60s. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/david-nelson-last-surviving-member-70626

Bob Young and Bob Bratina announced today at a joint press conference that they have agreed to have the Ticats remain in Hamilton for the next twenty years. Ivor Wynne will be renovated to the tune of $115 million, which will result in a 25,000 seat stadium. The City Council still has to approve the deal. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/tiger-cats-to-renovate-ivor-wynne/article1865362/ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/stephen-brunt/tiger-cats-staying-put-in-hamilton/article1866300/ http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=348918

I hear her fairly often on Sirius on the 40s channel. I like her. RIP

After some sleuthing, I have determined that the Mail Recovery Center (aka the dead letter office) for packages sent from Massachusetts is in Atlanta. Their phone number is actually an area code 202 number (Washington, DC?). That lady transferred me to Atlanta, which gave me a voice mail message (and would not allow me to leave a message) to call Customer Affairs at 800-275-8777. That lady told me that she is "in the Western United States", and she gave me a case number, which is more than my local post office has done in my calls to them since New Year's Eve. However, when I asked, she refused to say that they would contact the Atlanta MRC to determine if my package is there. By the way, my local post office refused to give me a phone number for the MRC or help in any way in that regard. I do not feel that I am any closer to finding the package than I was December 31, except now I know that someone else besides my local post office is doing something (although probably not more than contacting my local post office!).

The record companies agreed to pay 90% of the demand. That appears to me to be a great victory for the artists.

I don't get cable tv, so I listened on the radio. Before the game I favored Oregon because the Pac 10 hadn't won a national championship in my memory. But the announcer Tirico was so obviously enamored with Oregon, I found myself pulling for Auburn. It was as if Oregon was the only undefeated team in the country and therefore deserved to win.

Happy Birthday 2011 Andy! Where have you been for two months?

Rub it in, Morganized!

I requested a refund this evening. It has been a month today since I placed my order.

Cookie Gilchrist has died. He was a great one, but I hope now he has found peace. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/former-cfl-and-afl-star-chester-cookie-gilchrist-dies-at-75/article1864501/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cookie_Gilchrist

Happy Birthday 2011 Patricia!

Happy Birthday 2011 7/4!

The little girl who was killed by the Tucson gunman yesterday was Dallas Green's granddaughter. http://www.foxnews.c...ing-politician/ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/baseball/former-phillies-managers-grandchild-killed-in-arizona-attack/article1863082/

TBW, I am confident that Amazon will arrange for a refund if I demand it. But I don't want a refund, I want the music. martini, my problem is that the USPS claims that it was delivered Dec 20. So it is my word against theirs. ***** Here's one I don't think has been mentioned yet: The Debut Records Story (4 CDs) - $9.50 http://www.amazon.com/Debut-Records-Story-Various-Artists/dp/B000000XB7/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3030IPF70YHI8&colid=RVSBV717YT9

I think that all of the leagues make a mistake by having small divisions. It makes meaningless the concept of being in first place. In the NFL, I would have only two tables, one for each conference. I would eliminate the home and home scheduling and interconference games, and maximize the number of teams each team plays each year. Then, I would just take the top teams for the playoffs, with the better teams hosting each game. When the Redskins played the Rams this year, they said that it was only something like the seventh time the two teams had played since 1950. Considering that they are both in the same conference, I think they should play every year.

medjuck, I was planning to read the Fletch books in the order that they were written. According to Fantastic Fiction, the second was Confess, Fletch. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/gregory-mcdonald/ I have had the pleasure of meeting two of the authors mentioned at book signings. James Lee Burke was a real nice guy. James Ellroy was polite and cheerful. Ellroy signed a cassette of his White Jazz which I gave to my brother-in-law for his birthday. I enjoyed Ellroy's Hollywood Confidential, and I'm planning to read another of his this year. James Lee Burke is another who has the reputation of getting into high gear a few books into the series. He is very highly thought of now.

Elmore Leonard's The Switch features criminals who listen to Groove Holmes! Peter's recommendation of Robert Crais reminds me that he is someone who I gather is very good. I plan to read one of his this year too.

Paul, you mentioned Ross MacDonald, but you didn't mention Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. I revisited them in 2010, and read Hammett's Red Harvest and Chandler's The Long Goodbye and a collection of short stories called The Simple Art of Murder. All terrific. Years ago I enjoyed Fletch by Gregory Mcdonald, and I plan to read the second in the series in 2011. I found each of Robert B. Parker's Spencer books to be a little bit inferior to the one before. I read them in order, and quit after about ten. As I recall, the first four were excellent, so start with the first, The Godwulf Manuscript. I did not think that Michael Connelly's third Harry Bosch story The Concrete Blond was very good, but he is very popular, and apparently his fans feel he got better after that. A few months ago I read the second Adam Hall Quiller spy novel called The Ninth Directive, which I enjoyed very, very much. I plan to read the third in the series sometime this year. Finally, the 87th Precinct stories by Ed McBain were a favorite of my dad's. I've never read one, but I plan to read the first, which I think is called Cop Hater, sometime this year as well. PS - I read a short story by Russell Atwood last year called East Village Noir which I enjoyed. He has written two novels, and I hope to read Losers Live Longer soon.

Happy Birthday 2011 Clifford!