GA Russell

Where is the "my profile" link to view one's own as Chuck did? I don't see it.

Thanks, Dave and aloc. I had thought it was the way aloc described it, and maybe that was the way it was commonly pronounced. But it's good to see that reference to his correcting people to pronounce it la-Zwah.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b55a0d64-f523-11...0077b07658.html Apple mulls unlimited music bundle By Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson in London Published: March 18 2008 22:01 | Last updated: March 18 2008 22:01 Apple is in discussions with the big music companies about a radical new business model that would give customers free access to its entire iTunes music library in exchange for paying a premium for its iPod and iPhone devices. The "all you can eat" model, a replica of Nokia's "comes with music" deal with Universal Music last December, could provide the struggling recorded music industry with a much-needed fillip, and drive demand for a new generation of Apple's hardware. Apple would not comment on the plan, but executives familiar with the negotiations said they hinged on a dispute over the price the computer maker would be willing to pay for access to the labels' libraries. Nokia is understood to be offering almost $80 per handset to music industry partners, to be divided according to their share of the market. However, Apple has so far offered only about $20 per device, two executives said. "It's who blinks first, and whether or not anyone does blink," one executive said. Detailed market research has shown strong appetite among consumers for deals bundling music in with the cost of the device, or in exchange for a monthly subscription, executives said. One executive said the research had shown that consumers would pay a premium of up to $100 for unlimited access to music for the lifetime of the device, or a monthly fee of $7-$8 for a subscription model. Apple, which is thought to make relatively little money from the iTunes store compared with its hardware sales, is also understood to be examining a subscription model. Subscriptions would work only for its iPhone devices, where it has a monthly billing relationship with customers through the mobile phone operators offering the device, while the "comes with music" model would work with iPhones and with iPods. The subscription models under discussion in the music industry include the provision for customers to keep up to 40 or 50 tracks a year, which they would retain even if they changed their device or their subscription lapses. Other music groups are understood to be in talks with Nokia, which is keen to sign up as many of the major labels as possible before launching its first "comes with music" devices in the second half of this year. edit to fix copying problem

I thought for sure that I had told this story, but I haven't found it, so I'll tell it now. When I spoke with Bob Purkey, I mentioned to him that I remembered an article I read in Baseball Digest when I was a boy that went as follows: There was at that time a rule in MLB which prohibited a position player from pitching. (The rule could be excused ahead of time for promotional purposes, when it would be advertised that a player would play all nine positions that game. I remember one of the Twins did that in the late 60s. I don't remember if the time Jose Canseco blew his arm out pitching was an example of that or not. Perhaps today the rule has been completed rescinded.) Anyway, as the story went, the rule was established because the Giants manager Bill Rigney was tired of Willie Mays getting thrown at. He told the press one day that the next time the Giants face Bob Purkey, he was going to bring Mays in from center field to pitch to him. Purkey acted a little insulted or indignant, and said that he had never deliberately thrown at anybody, and he did not acknowledge ever hearing that story! Bob Purkey was one of my favorite National Leaguers when I was a boy, so it was a very pleasant surprise for me to speak with him. I had his bubble gum card in 1959 and 1960 when he was with the Reds. The obit says that his best year was 1962, but as I recall he also had a great year in '61 when he led the Reds to the pennant. Purkey died Sunday. Here's his AP obituary from USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/20...rkey-obit_N.htm Bob Purkey, pitcher for Reds, Pirates, dies at 78 document.write(niceDate('3/19/2008 1:28 Bob Purkey, pitcher for Reds, Pirates, dies at 78 BETHEL PARK, Pa. (AP) — Bob Purkey, a Major League pitcher who played in three All Star games and one World Series with the Cincinnati Reds, has died. He was 78. Purkey, of Bethel Park, died Sunday, according to the Paul L. Henney Funeral Home in Bethel Park. Purkey pitched for 13 seasons, from 1954-1966, for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, and St. Louis Cardinals. He compiled a 129-115 career record with a 3.79 ERA. He spent four seasons with the Pirates before moving onto the Reds, for whom he appeared in three All-Star Games (1958, 1961, 1962) and the 1961 World Series. In the '61 series, Purkey pitched a complete Game 3, which the Yankees won, 3-2. He was used in relief later in the series and had an ERA of 1.64 over 11 innings. The Yankees won the series three games to one. Purkey's best season was in 1962, when he was 23-5 with a 2.81 ERA and 18 complete games. Purkey was 103-76 in 217 starts over seven seasons with the Cincinnati (1958-64) and was inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 1974. The Reds planned to honor Purkey with a moment of silence before Tuesday's game against the Pirates at the Reds spring training facility in Sarasota, Fla. After baseball, Purkey started an insurance agency, which he owned for more than 30 years until he retired. He also raised money for charities and was involved with the Pittsburgh Pirates Alumni Association. Purkey is survived by his daughter, Candy Holland, and was preceded in death by his wife, Joan, and their son, Bobby Jr. edit to fix copying problems

Thanks, BeBop. I would have preferred to see brands rather than corporations. Interesting that Cadbury Schweppes beat out Coke and Pepsi.

Why did they invade in the first place? Does Tibet have natural resources which China can exploit? I've never seen any advantage for China's being there. Maybe Tibet has good military locations from China's perspective.

The Stampeders have cut Brian Clark. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Cal...947871-sun.html ***** The Bombers have signed Ryan Dinwiddie to a new contract. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Win...5041731-cp.html

Happy Birthday, o knotted one!

My great-grandmother was an Irish immigrant named Dacey. She married an Italian immigrant named Parziale. Not sure precisely of the years they came over. About 1870, I think.

Chris, I see that the website says that it is not an Apple product, but a "generic". Is that legal? Sounds lke a counterfeit to me, but what do I know?

Walmart has a flyer in this morning's paper that advertises the iPod Shuffle for $48 with a free $15 iTunes card. So that brings the net price down to $33. At that price point, it competes with the SanDisk item (which I believe also has an FM radio). At this point, I still don't have use for an iPod, but with a price like that maybe one day I will.

My favorite song of his from the Blue Note years is "I'm not downhearted, but I'm getting there."

Because they're not at church like they ought to be. That's why all the Sunday morning talk shows in the US are liberal. The liberals are home watching television, while the conservatives are at church.

Have a good time BM!

I want to give you a heads up that the AotW for the first two weeks of April will be Hank Mobley's Soul Station. Of course, this is an album that has been mentioned many times here, but I was a little surprised to see that it has been the subject of only one thread that I found, a thread from a year ago. That thread contained a number of comments along the lines of which song was the poster's favorite, but there wasn't much on why someone who hadn't heard it should go out and buy it, other than the enthusiasm of the posters. So I thought the album might be a good candidate for AotW. http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...l+Station\ If you haven't already bought it, it is available from BMG/Your Music, and from J&R for $6.99. http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=3916495

Happy Birthday Conrad! That was no tornado. That was just you blowing out the many candles on your cake!

Does anyone have an opinion of his Mosaic box? BMG/Your Music carries six releases of his, including his A&M Walking in Space, which as I recall sold a goodly amount (not that that proves anything). I've been thinking of ordering one of them. Does anyone have an opinion of Walking in Space?

Didn't XM and Sirius agree to never merge when they received permission to use satellites originally? I don't know, did they agree never to merge? Why would anyone really give a fuck if they did? What would you be worried about? catesta, as a customer of Sirius, what I would be worried about (since you asked) is that the price would go up and the quality of the service would go down. Here is an example of the price going up without competition: http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/lack-of...-prices-upward/ Lack of competition sends Blu-ray player prices upward Posted Mar 12th 2008 9:43PM Late last month, we actually posed the question of buying a Blu-ray player now (being that the format war is over and all), or waiting things out until prices sink and Profile 2.0 players flood the market. Aside from the PlayStation 3 -- which is actually priced fairly reasonably if you were in the hunt for a new console anyway -- it seems as though HD DVD's exit has actually caused Blu-ray player prices to creep back upwards. Granted, this is about as far from surprising as it gets -- after all, it's nothing short of supply and demand working its magic. Still, it wasn't too long ago that we saw Toshiba actively putting pressure on the Blu camp to reduce prices in order to stay competitive, and now that said pressure has vanished, stickers on the whole have headed north. Ah well, it's not like the consumer didn't ask for this, um, right?

My pick for this month is Hot Club of Detroit. A couple of years ago I got a Mack Avenue Christmas sampler called Jazz Yule Love II which included two songs by the band. They are young guys who are picking up on the style of Django Reinhardt and his friends. The two tracks I have are interesting and different, so I thought I would take a flyer on the album.

$29 million for nothing! http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home All American Football League scraps inaugural season Associated Press March 13, 2008 at 2:13 PM EDT ATLANTA — The new All American Football League has scrapped plans for its 2008 inaugural season and will continue to search for financial backing for 2009. Kennan Davis, the AAFL's vice president of league operations, said sponsors have commitments to remain with the league in 2009. The league's decision to postpone its 2008 season was first reported by KRIV-TV in Dallas. The league's chief executive officer, Marcus Katz, said economic conditions forced the decision to scrap plans for this year. "I invested $29 million in cash to roll out the operations of the league," Katz told the station, adding he was owed "a lot more money" by a student loan company. "When I told the board I would subsidize the league, that was before the bond market collapsed," Katz said. The league announced last week it was exploring "multiple financing options," including a TV deal, to address its funding crisis. The league announced Thursday refunds will be given for tickets purchased for 2008 games. The league planned to open training camps for its six teams this week. Games were scheduled to begin April 12. The league held its inaugural draft in January for six teams: Detroit; Little Rock, Ark; Gainesville, Fla.; Birmingham, Ala.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Houston. The AAFL was formed to fill the void created when the NFL shut down NFL Europe earlier this year after 16 seasons. That league was losing a reported $30 million a season. Among the first players drafted Jan. 26 were quarterbacks Bryan Randall, by Tennessee, and Eric Crouch, by Texas. Former Troy offensive lineman Zarah Yisrael was drafted No. 1 overall by Arkansas.

Omarr Morgan has landed back with the Riders. http://riderville.com/modules.php?name=New...1&sid1=8676

I never heard of Gloria Shayne (Baker) before, but I see that she was the composer of a number of hits. Here is her New York Times obit: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/arts/11b...nyt&emc=rss Gloria Shayne Baker, Composer and Lyricist, Dies at 84 Published: March 11, 2008 Gloria Shayne Baker, who composed the hit Christmas song "Do You Hear What I Hear?," died on Thursday at her home in Stamford, Conn. She was 84. The cause was cancer, her daughter, Gabrielle Regney, said. Written in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" was intended to be a plea for peace. The song had music by Ms. Baker and lyrics by Noel Regney, to whom she was then married. (This division of labor was a switch for them: in most of their other collaborations, including "Rain, Rain, Go Away," he wrote the music and she the lyrics.) "Do You Hear What I Hear?," which tells the story of the Nativity, has sold tens of millions of records. It has been recorded most famously by Bing Crosby. Gloria Adele Shain was born in Brookline, Mass., on Sept. 4, 1923; she changed the spelling of her last name early in her career. She earned a bachelor's degree from the School of Music and afterward worked as a pianist, arranger and background vocalist for composers like Irving Berlin and Stephen Sondheim. In later years, she accompanied the tenor Jan Peerce. In 1951, she married Mr. Regney (pronounced ray-NYAY); they divorced in 1973. Her second husband, William Baker, died in 2001. In addition to her daughter, Gabrielle, Ms. Baker is survived by another child from her first marriage, Paul Regney; a brother, Myron Shain; a sister, Thelma Wisefield; a half-sister, Etta Sandler; four stepchildren, Carolyn Ohlson, William Baker Jr., Alan Baker and Steven Baker; one grandchild; and 10 step-grandchildren. Mr. Regney died in 2002. Ms. Baker's other credits include the music and lyrics for "Goodbye, Cruel World," which was recorded by James Darren. With Jerry Keller, she wrote "Almost There," recorded by Andy Williams; and with Mary Candy and Eddie Deane, she wrote "The Men in My Little Girl's Life," recorded by Mike Douglas.

I received three of these promptly, but the Cafe Jazz is listed as temporarily out of stock. Since the Savoy/Dial Parker box is no longer carried, I am wondering if BMG is no longer carrying anything of that label.

medjuck, I'm glad you said that! (I guess there's nothing wrong with us starting the discussion a couple of days early!) I was wondering if this was the first Miles album that featured songs without hummable melodies. The entire album was recorded in one overnight session December 4-5, 1957. Can anyone think of another jazz album whose music was as "impressionistic" as this which was issued before then? Miles was given composer credits for all the songs, even though one of them is only a bass solo. I use the word "impressionistic" because they recorded each song after viewing a scene of the movie, and then coming up with some music for that scene. Since they did it all in one night, I doubt that they spent much time planning the songs before they recorded them. I notice that Miles did not create motifs repeated throughout the movie like most movie soundtracks have. Each song is different. I would be interested to hear from those of you who have the release with the alternate takes. Are they very similar to the master takes?

JI Albrecht has died. I haven't found an obituary that speaks of all his controversial moves and how many fans hated him. Here's the best one I found, from the CP: http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/New...4983771-cp.html