GA Russell

It occurs to me that Lala, Spotify's US competition, only carries US releases. Since Spotify is European, I wonder if they will allow US listeners to hear what we consider to be "import cd's".

I see that lala.com has the new Carla Bley Christmas album Carla's Christmas Carols. http://www.lala.com/#album/432627041169191...hristmas_Carols It's way too early for me to get into the Christmas spirit. I suppose that most people start the day after Thanksgiving, but I wait three more days and start the day after the Grey Cup game.

"Late this year or early next." http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyN...E5A10YD20091102

Lala has a number of new releases called From the Archives. Monk, Dizzy, Hamp, Basie, Bix and others. Does anyone know anything about this series, like what the original labels were? The issuing label is Essential Media Group. http://www.lala.com/#newreleases/genre/Jazz/more/thisWeek

Lala: Vince Guaraldi - The Definitive..., discs 1 and 2

That's neat, Dave! Ronald Williams won a Grey Cup with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. A few years later he attended my Grey Cup party, and let me try his ring on!

I've stumbled on this just now at lala. You can listen to it here. http://www.lala.com/#album/432627039275743..._Vince_Guaraldi

Greg, I've been enthusiastic about lala ever since I discovered it. I wish I had a nickel for everyone I've told about it. At lala, you don't listen to just samples. You listen to the entire album! I'm unaware of any other US site that lets you do that. Now that I think of it, I think that it would be a service to all of us if we all got into the habit of linking to lala (or spotify for the European members) whenever we talk about an album we like or are interested in.

Aggie, I certainly agree that a team that enters the playoffs on a losing streak is a poor choice to bet on. But a couple of years ago both the Steelers and the Giants played all of their playoff games on the road on their way to winning the Super Bowl (I'm pretty sure).

Here's a good article analyzing the playoff possibilities. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/foot...article1347367/ This is truly extraordinary. With only one week to go, only one team has its playoff spot settled (the Als), and only two other teams (the Stamps and the Riders) have qualified for the playoffs.

That's another one I haven't heard yet. I found it at lala.com: http://www.lala.com/#album/432627039264010...ne_In_The_Water Since you recommend it, I'll plan to listen to it this week.

Guy, by coincidence I've had this one on for the past half hour! I too like it more than I did when I first heard it. Let's see...Yes, here it is at lala.com. You can listen to it here: http://www.lala.com/#album/432627039263988...n/New_York_Days

Ten days ago I heard two sports commentators talking on Sirius about the Broncos. They felt that nine wins would get you into the playoffs. I would make it ten, but in this case the point is moot. Their point was that the Broncos still have to play the Raiders twice and the Chiefs twice. They considered these games sure victories. I assume that they still need to play those four games. They have already won six. So by the commentators' thinking, the Broncos are already in the playoffs even if they go into a slump for the rest of the year, so long as they don't become so pitiful as to lose to the Chiefs and the Raiders. So no big deal that they lost today.

Montreal Alouettes 48....Winnipeg Blue Bombers 13 http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=s...aspx?id=4263663 Another boring Als game. The Bombers play the Ticats next week. The Bombers knew going into today's game that no matter what happened today, the winner of next week's game clinches second place.

Calgary Stampeders 28....British Columbia Lions 26 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/foot...article1347135/ Terrific game. Six lead changes. Casey Printers is back! Nik Lewis caught his first TD pass of the year, his first since October of last year. It looked like he would be the first in league history to go over 1,000 yards receiving in a season without scoring a touchdown. The ending was unique to say the least. With no time left on the clock, Sandro DeAngelis kicked a 22 yard FG to win the game. But there was a 5-yard procedure penalty (no end) because the Stamps' O-line had bowed too much. So again with no time on the clock he kicked a 27 yard FG to win the game! With the win, the Stamps clinched at least second place. Had BC won, the Lions would have clinched third place.

Tonight I listened to the new Abercrombie and the new Surman, both for the first time in over a month probably, and really enjoyed them. So I wondered if they are available on lala.com, and I found the Surman: http://www.lala.com/#album/432627041169179...ter%27s_Rooster

Edmonton Eskimos 36....Toronto Argonauts 10 http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=s...aspx?id=4263232 Not much to say about this one. The Argos didn't show up when Kerry Joseph was in the game. Their only touchdown came when they were quarterbacked by someone named Stephen Reaves. The Argos had 21 penalties for 150 yards! The Eskimos' victory put the pressure on the Ticats and the Bombers to keep pace. ***** Hamilton Tiger-Cats 24....Saskatchewan Roughriders 6 http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=s...aspx?id=4263371 I was unable to listen to this game until the last 15 seconds. This comes as a big surprise to me - I thought the Riders would win.

I didn't get as much sleep as usual this week, so I will appreciate it. I find that I appreciate the extra hour's sleep on Monday morning more than I do on Sunday.

When I reached the bottom of page 2 of this thread, I decided that I would post: I'm surprised that Al hasn't chimed in yet mentioning Cal Tjader's Several Shades of Jade! Bill, count me in as another who likes 5xMonkx5. It was my second Monk album, and perhaps I like it for sentimental reasons, but I like it. As I have stated before, I think all of Monk's Columbia albums are worse than those on the other labels. So I guess that fits the original post of this thread. If there is a Columbia album which anyone thinks is better than a specific non-Columbia album, I'd like someone to suggest them both. I hold Groove Holmes' first three albums for Prestige in the highest regard, but he made one for Prestige that I think is terrible called Spicy.

Happy Birthday Greg!

Interesting juxtaposition of these quotes! Mandel was an early supporter of Krall. In fact, in the late 90s my nephew went to see Krall in Los Angeles, and Mandel sat down next to him and introduced himself! My nephew called me later, and asked, "Have you ever heard of Johnny Mandel?" When he told me the story, I said, "I would rather meet Johnny Mandel than Diana Krall!"

Happy Birthday Patrick!

David Naylor Week 18 preview http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/week...article1343020/

My best wishes, TTK. May I assume that you named her after Bardot?

Happy Birthday catesta!