GA Russell

Here's a list of free agents available to be signed (if they haven't in reality retired like Steve Christie). http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/feature/?fid=143

Thanks Aggie. Maybe I should just go to Wikipedia before I ever post anything!

Wasn't the swastika an American Indian design?

In a statement accompanying the figures, Sheila C. Bair, the chairwoman of the F.D.I.C., offered an unusually blunt assessment of the state of the industry. “This is a worrisome trend,” Ms. Bair said. “It’s the kind of thing that gives regulators heartburn.” http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/business...amp;oref=slogin

Chris, I always enjoy the artwork you create for the birthday threads!

Training camps opened today. In the past, I have started a new thread for the season itself (as opposed to the off-season hot stove league). However, at this point this thread has 3,285 views. I suspect that many of those views are from CFL fans who are not jazz fans or members of the board. Maybe they have bookmarked the thread. So to keep these folks coming to the board (and maybe viewing our jazz-related threads as well), I have decided to rename the thread rather than start a new one.

Happy Birthday, and keep swinging!

The Ticats have released Jason Armstead. I have always felt that he was overrated, but the move was made because he refused to sign a a contract extension that called for a paycut. The Riders traded Armstead to the Ticats for Corey Holmes. Now both of them have been cut for money reasons. http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/new...9a-60bbf1fce5d8 ***** Here's the Spectator's pre-season analysis of the Lions: http://www.thespec.com/Sports/article/375592 ***** Here's the Spectator's analysis of the Ticats: http://www.thespec.com/Sports/Local%20Sports/article/376080 ***** Now that they have Noel Prefontaine, the Eskimos have released Duncan O'Mahony, whom they obtained just the other day. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Edm...5734681-cp.html

News! On the eve of the teams opening their camps tomorrow, the Argos have signed Mike Vanderjagt, and traded Noel Prefontaine to the Eskimos. http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

Happy Birthday Bill!

Jazz1, my stereo system is strictly pedestrian, so my opinion is worth nothing to the audiophiles in the group. However, I will say that the fidelity never sounds bad to me.

Go ahead and laugh, Conrad. You're the one who's paying money to watch television!

Here's what the oddsmakers see to be the final won-lost records for the regular season. The Argos and the Lions are picked to win the most games, and the Als are picked to win the fewest. http://www.cappersmall.com/press/articles/...-Wins-5847.html

I received my copy of The Croydon Concert today, and right away put on Disc 1. It's terrific! I have a few things with bassist Bob Magnussen, but this one stands out. He is interesting on every song. Maybe fifteen years ago I picked up a CD called Laurie's Choice which contained four tracks recorded live. I can't put my hands on it at the moment, and I can't remember if pianist Milcho Leviev is on it or not. If not, this is my first album of his. He does a great job here. The three releases on the Widow's Taste label each feature a different pianist, and it may be that my order of preference is based upon my opinion of the pianist. At this point, I would rank Roger Kellaway first (The Last Concert), Milcho Leviev second (The Croyden Concert) and George Cables third (The Abashiri Concert). I enjoy all three releases, but I have wondered why Laurie released The Abashiri Concert first, because I haven't thought that it is as good as The Last Concert. But the press release included a New York Times article which stated that Laurie released Abashiri because she was interviewed about that concert, and she said during the interview that she would release it so that it would receive some publicity from the article! Anyway, I'm going to play Disc 1 for a few days before I move on to Disc 2. Usually I wait a while to get to the second disc of a set, but this Disc 1 has got me yearning for more!

I remember when Korman won the Emmy for best comedian, and Conway closely followed him up onstage and wordlessly stood inches away from the podium, with a world-class hound dog face, completely stealing the show from Korman who was trying to give his acceptance speech.

George Shearing, disc 3

Herbie Nichols, disc 2

I have the Warner Bros.

RIP. I had the piano sheet music of Harlem Nocturne when I was in high school. I was motivated to learn the song because I liked The Ventures' recording of it. A few years later in college, I got Hagen's I Spy soundtrack album. I'll have to pull it out and give it a listen.

Kirk Penton grades each team's off-season, not considering the draft: http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/200...663721-sun.html ***** Damon Allen is expected to announce his retirement tomorrow. http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Tor...5682831-ca.html ***** Milt Stegall had knee surgery, and will miss training camp. The Bombers released Juran Bolden. http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home ***** The Als have signed former Cincinnati Bengal (and Florida State star) Peter Warrick. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Mon...5685156-cp.html ***** The Stampeders traded Duncan O'Mahony to the Eskimos, who then released Rob Pikula. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Edm...5674101-cp.html

Funny you should say that, Chuck. I was talking Friday with someone about looking for another job.

Here's his LA Times obituary: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-...ewed-storylevel

I always find it interesting to read about the people who "invented" what is now commonplace. Here's his LA Times obituary: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-...0,5859298.story J.R. Simplot, whose lifetime fascination with the potato helped change the nation's eating habits and made him a billionaire, died Sunday. He was 99. Simplot, who in his prime drove around Idaho in a Lincoln Continental with the license plate "Mr. Spud," died at his Boise home, apparently of natural causes, according to the Ada County coroner's office. The son of a farmer, Simplot began building his fortune while barely a teenager, finding new ways to bring potatoes and other vegetables to market. His efforts to perfect the frozen French fry accelerated the growth of the fast-food industry, analysts said, and made him the world's largest supplier of frozen potatoes. Decades later, Simplot built another fortune when he took an unusual turn and became an early and major shareholder in Micron Technology, a Boise computer chip maker. But it was root vegetables that lifted Simplot out of poverty. Beginning at 14, when he left his family home, Simplot grew, harvested, sorted and eventually figured out a way to dry potatoes as well as onions and other vegetables -- products that would feed American troops in World War II and make Simplot wealthy. Then, in his most lucrative vegetable venture, a Simplot company scientist found a way to freeze potatoes without turning them to mush. This process made the already popular French fry so cheap and plentiful that, for better or worse, it became a staple on fast-food and other restaurant menus. Simplot's sale of frozen fries to McDonald's and other chains accelerated the growth of the fast-food industry and changed the nation's eating habits, according to Eric Schlosser, author of "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal" (2001). "Americans have long consumed more potatoes than any other food except dairy products and wheat flour," said Schlosser, who called Simplot "America's great potato baron." By 2006, J.R. Simplot and family ranked No. 80 on Forbes magazine's list of America's richest people, with an estimated net worth of $3.2 billion. John Richard Simplot -- known as J.R. or Jack -- was born Jan. 4, 1909, in Dubuque, Iowa. Not long after he was born, his father moved his family west, eventually settling near Declo, Idaho. He quit school, left home at 14 and showed an early skill at making money. While still a young man, he made a tidy profit in the hog business before moving on to farming and planting potatoes, beans, hay and grain. Working with another farmer, he developed an electric potato sorter and, after winning the rights to it in a coin flip, Simplot went into the potato sorting business. He traveled from farm to farm, hooking up the machine to the closest light socket, and soon began building cellars to store potatoes. By the time the Depression hit in 1929, Simplot was set up to supply people with a source of cheap nutrition. Within a decade, Simplot operated 33 potato warehouses in Idaho and Oregon. But he didn't make his first serious money until he got into the business of drying vegetables. When the United States entered World War II, America needed dried onions to feed the troops on the war front, and Simplot jumped into the business "in a big way." He built plants around the country to dry onions and, later, potatoes. By the end of the war, he had supplied tens of millions of pounds of potatoes to the armed forces. But Simplot's greatest enterprise was perfecting and distributing the frozen potato. In 1965, Simplot capitalized on his business relationship with Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's Corp. Kroc's fast-food operation had grown so big that he was struggling to supply enough French fries to go with McDonald's hamburgers. Simplot, who provided McDonald's with fresh Idaho russet potatoes except during the summer months, had assigned one of his chemists to work on a method to freeze potatoes without compromising flavor or texture. When customers couldn't tell the difference between fresh and frozen French fries, Simplot quickly boosted production of frozen fries and became the main supplier of potatoes to McDonald's. "That's what made me," the plain-spoken Simplot once said. "I got McDonald's to use my frozen French fries." Other fast-food chains, including Wendy's, Burger King and Jack in the Box, soon began buying frozen French fries from Simplot. By the late 1960s, Simplot's various enterprises had made their creator a prominent fixture in American industry. He was Idaho's biggest cattle-grower and employer. He dried and froze more potatoes than anyone. He owned processing plants, fertilizer plants, mining operations and other enterprises in 36 states, Canada and elsewhere. And he owned a lot of land. In 1980, Simplot took a surprising turn when he decided to invest in a start-up company called Micron Technology, helping it to become one of the world's biggest semiconductor companies. Occasionally, Simplot got himself into trouble. In 1978, in what Fortune magazine later called "one of the largest scandals ever to hit the commodity market," Simplot paid a $50,000 fine and was barred from trading for six years after he was accused of manipulating Maine potato futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange in 1976. And in 1977, he pleaded no contest to federal charges that he had failed to report income and had claimed false personal and family deductions; he paid two $20,000 fines. Survivors include his wife, Esther, two sons and a daughter.

I too am 6'3", and in March got stuck in the middle seat on a flight from Seattle to Raleigh (changing planes in Cincinnati). I spent the whole time waiting for the flight to be over. My job requires my driving about 150 miles a day at my expense, so the $4.00 gas is really hurting me.

Happy Birthday Sundog!