GA Russell

Happy Birthday again!

Here's an explanation of the finanances involved with the Bills playing their games in Toronto: http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home Bills to be paid $78-million for Toronto games Associated Press April 29, 2008 at 6:39 PM EDT BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills will receive $78 million — more than double their calculated 2006 operating income — to play eight games in Toronto over the next five years. The payment to the Bills was disclosed for the first time in Rogers Communications' 2008 first quarter report released Tuesday. Rogers is part of a consortium that negotiated a deal with the Bills to have them play five regular-season and three pre-season games starting this year at the Rogers Centre. In becoming the NFL's first team to play annual games outside the United States, the Bills are scheduled to host Pittsburgh in a pre-season game at Toronto on Aug. 14, followed by a regular-season game against Miami on Dec. 7. Rogers spokeswoman Jan Innes would not comment beyond the one-paragraph statement included in the company report, except to say that the $78-million figure was in Canadian currency. The Canadian dollar hovered around par to the U.S. greenback during the first quarter this year. Innes declined to say whether any portion of the payment has been made to the Bills. Bills spokesman Scott Berchtold also declined comment, citing a policy that the team does not discuss financial details of its business relationships. The deal, announced in February, was reached with a group headed by Rogers CEO and founder, Ted Rogers, and Larry Tanenbaum, chairman of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors. Rogers also owns the Blue Jays as well as the Rogers Centre. As part of the agreement, the Toronto group is effectively leasing the home games from the Bills. Buffalo will provide the team, the NFL provides an opponent, while the Toronto organizers will be responsible for selling tickets, concessions and promoting the event. The Toronto group is using use the eight-game series to show the city can support its own NFL franchise. The Bills sought out the agreement as a way to generate additional revenues by expanding their market to Canada's largest city and financial capital, located a 90-minute drive from Buffalo. The $78-million payment eclipses what Forbes calculated the Bills made in 2006, in the magazine's latest annual financial breakdown of NFL franchises. Forbes calculated the Bills had an operating income of US$31.2 million after bringing in $176 million in revenues that year. Broken down, the Bills will make nearly $9.75 million per game in Toronto, something they'd be unable to make at Orchard Park, where the small-market team has perennially had the lowest ticket prices in the NFL. The Bills' average ticket price for this season is about $51 at Ralph Wilson Stadium, which has a 72,000 seating capacity. Ticket prices for the games in Toronto have not yet been released, but are expected to average more than $100 at a facility with a 54,000 seating capacity for football. Demand is already high after more than 100,000 single-ticket reservations were made for the eight-game series through a website established by the Toronto group. Tickets will be distributed via a lottery starting next month.

The Argos have signed former Arizona Cardinal Pro Bowl receiver David Boston. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=235384&amp...os=topStory_cfl ***** Moncton is building a $27 million dollar stadium that may one day be available for a CFL team. http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/new...e3-d084721cb8bf ***** Calgary was awarded the 2009 Grey Cup game. Won't this be the 100th anniversary of the first one? A couple of years were missed during World War II, so Toronto is sheduled to get the 100th game (I think in 2012). But as I recall the first game was in 1909. Go Varsity! http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Cal...373776-sun.html ***** Here's a report on the Ticats' off-season so far: http://www.thespec.com/Sports/article/359045 ***** Here's a pre-draft summary: http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/duane_forde/?id=235765 ***** Here are summaries of the defensive and offensive prospects in the draft: http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/feature/?fid=11457&a...=topRelated_cfl http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/feature/?fid=11452&a...=topRelated_cfl

Happy Birthday Niko!

Happy Birthday Joe!

His Gypsy 66 seemed to be very popular when it was new. I only have one album, Spellbinder, which I enjoy fairly often, mostly because it doesn't sound like any other album I own. Szabo co-owned Skye Records with Gary McFarland and Cal Tjader as I recall.

I didn't listen to the radio much in the 70s, and I don't remember I Go Crazy, but I remember very well '65 Love Affair and Cool Night. Here's his LA Times obituary: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-...1,4667138.story <h2 style="">Paul Davis</h2>Songwriter hit top 10 with 'I Go Crazy' Paul Davis, 60, a singer and songwriter whose soft-rock hit "I Go Crazy" stayed at the top of the charts for weeks after its release in 1977, died of a heart attack Tuesday at Rush Foundation Hospital in his native Meridian, Miss., cousin James Edwards said. Davis' other hits included " '65 Love Affair," "Cool Night," "Ride 'Em Cowboy" and country duets with Marie Osmond, including "You're Still New To Me." His 1977 album "Singer of Songs -- Teller of Tales" featured the ballad "I Go Crazy." The song slowly climbed the charts, peaking at No. 7 eight months after its release, according to Billboard's website. The song stayed in the top 100 for 40 more weeks, according to Billboard. The son of a Methodist minister, Davis was born April 21, 1948, and raised in rural Mississippi. He started his music career in Jackson, Miss., then worked in New York, Atlanta and Nashville before returning to Meridian to retire.

All of the Walmarts in this area are sold out, and they don't know when they will get the next shipment in. I went to Best Buy Monday evening and checked out their converter box. It comes with a remote control. You change channels with it. I think you turn the TV on and off with it too. I saw that most of the stations in this area broadcast digitally two or three stations, all of which the box picks up. I don't think that all of these stations are available on cable TV.

Vignettes went on sale today in the US. It's just Crispell on solo piano. It is very laid back, with her improvising on an hour's worth of songs that sound like classical music. I suspect that the album would sound more like jazz if there were bass and drums accompanying her. I enjoy it. It's good for late at night, or else to have something playing in the house while you are doing something else besides listening to music. I'm sorry that I won't have the opportunity to see her on tour. That would be something that would be a treat. All in all, a very classy record.

The Way I Play went on sale today. It's a very solid album, but I don't think that it is as good as his last two, Song and Dance and The Deep Blue Organ Trio's Folk Music (which has become one of my favorite albums of the past year). The first seven cuts on the CD are standards, and the last song is a 12 minute original. Because the standards are such great tunes, I expect the album will get a lot of airplay. As luck would have it, the CD's first song is one that I have never liked, Strike Up the Band. We've been through this drill before, so I quickly decided to skip over it when I play the CD. All of the songs are laid back - no flag wavers, as Art Pepper used to say. That is why I would rank this album below Song and Dance. I would have expected more variety in the performances for a live date. The playing of Broom and his colleagues Dennis Carroll on bass and Kobie Watkins on drums is excellent throughout. That is why I expect a number of the tunes to be selected for airplay. But as much as I like this, I would recommend that you pick up the other two mentioned above first.

As someone whose grandmother's maiden name was Parziale, this made my day! http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGQky-YndTk

I took the plunge tonight. I used a brush and hard shaving soap for years until I moved to North Carolina. The water here is so hard that I could not get a good lather. (As it turns out, I didn't know what a good lather was. I have found a video on YouTube about stirring up a good lather. I will post the link later.) As the News & Observer said, people who take shaving seriously use a double edge blade. So tonight I went that direction. I went to razorandbrush.com and ordered: Weishi polished chrome razor ARKO regular shave cream and these blades: Derby Extra Dorco Platinum Crystal Platinum Personna Platinum Red (known as Israeli Personna) The N&O article said that the best shaving cream is Proraso green, which I picked up last week at my local Bath & Body Works under their private label C.O. Bigelow. So when the package arrives, maybe by the weekend, I'll be ready to go with a DE blade! Most people say that the Dorco is best for beginners, as is the Weishi. One thing that I learned in my investigations is how cheap the blades are. Although I ordered packs of 5 or 10, they are typically sold on the internet in boxes of 100 for $15-25. That's a quarter each. Think about that the next time you spend $2.50 for a Gillette Fusion cartridge.

I've been doing a fair amount of studying this month regarding razors, blades and creams. Dorco is a South Korean company whose double edge blade is highly regarded for beginners of "wetshaving". Here's something I haven't seen before, a Dorco cartridge with six blades! http://www.pace6.com/

RIP I saw The Beach Boys in 1971, and Bruce Love played the theramin (I think) during Good Vibrations.

Happy Birthday Mark! In your honor, I'll play The Deep Blue Organ Trio's Folk Music today.

What's up with that? You have to have an ID with you at all times in New York? That sounds like the Nazis demanding to see your papers.

The Argos cut Rocky Butler. http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Football/article/413816 ***** Tom Higgins has been named the league's new Director of Officiating. I think he'll do a good job, but I expect him to get back into coaching before too long. http://www.cfl.ca/index.php?module=newser&...y&nid=23488 ***** Adriano Belli is trying out for Canadian Idol! http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Football/article/414478 ***** The coroner ruled that Jamacia Jackson died from an enlarged heart with an irregular heartbeat. http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Football/article/414945 ***** Damon Allen is preparing to play another season. I can't see how the Argos would have room for him, with both Kerry Joseph and Michael Bishop ahead of him. Maybe somebody else will pick him up. http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Football/article/415747 ***** Dan Ralphs says that the Als were more than $100k over the salary cap, and will therefore lost their first draft pick (number 4 overall). http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Mon...5326491-cp.html ***** The Roughriders released their annual report today, and said that they enjoyed a record profit of $1,737,377. Here is a detailed article about their figures: http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Sas...5333736-cp.html

Congratulations Jim! If it were a boy, would you have named him Alfred?

Glad it hits the spot, Bruce! That's what's great about the AotW forum, isn't it?

Happy Birthday Aggie! I hope you soon get a BMG code for your birthday!

I have the 1987 McMaster release with two bonus tracks. I've been listening to this one a number of times during the past week, and on some of the songs I'm picking up the same vibe I get from Miles' Walkin' album. Since some argue that that was the first hard bop album, I guess I should conclude that Clark and the rest reached for the basics of the hard bop idiom. I assume that it was Alfred Lion who decided which four of the six songs from the date would be included on the original LP. I agree with whoever did it that the two left off (Royal Flush and Lover) are not as strong as the others. It strikes me that for the leader of the date, Clark stays in the background a lot more than normal. Of course, he wrote three of the six songs, but I think that the album belongs to the two horns, Farmer and McLean.

Happy Birthday ubu!

I've highlighted what you probably remember. http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-...1,3876118.story Oliver Martin "Ollie" Johnston Jr., the last living member of the celebrated "Nine Old Men" of Disney animation whose work set the standard by which all character animation is judged and a recipient of the National Medal of Arts, has died. He was 95. Johnston died Monday afternoon of natural causes at a long-term care facility in Sequim, Wash., according to a news release from Howard E. Green, vice president of studio communications for Walt Disney Studios. Photo Gallery 'Ollie' Johnston Jr. | 1912-2008 Although Johnston made noteworthy contributions to short cartoons, including "Pluto's Judgment Day" (1935), "Mickey's Rival" (1936) and "Reason and Emotion" (1943), his fame rested on his work on the Disney features, beginning with his animation of the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio. He helped to create such celebrated characters as Bambi and Thumper in "Bambi" (1942), the Three Good Fairies in "Sleeping Beauty" (1959), Pongo and Perdita in "101 Dalmatians" (1961), and Mowgli and Baloo in "The Jungle Book" (1967). Johnston's work included such memorable moments as Pinocchio's nose growing when he lied to the Blue Fairy in the 1940 movie; Thumper reciting his lesson about eating clover greens under his mother's watchful eye in "Bambi"; the befuddled Mr. Smee trying to follow Captain Hook's orders in "Peter Pan" (1953); Baloo performing "The Bare Necessities" in "The Jungle Book"; and the penguin-waiters serving Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke in "Mary Poppins" (1964). Oscar-winning animator and historian John Canemaker said, "Ollie's death truly marks the end of the 'Golden Age' of hand-drawn Disney character animation that blossomed in the 1930s. He was a great and nuanced animator who could handle sentiment and comedy with equal aplomb, as well as a sweet and generous mentor to many." Roy E. Disney, director emeritus and consultant for the Walt Disney Co., called Johnston "one of the real pioneers of our art." "One of Ollie's strongest beliefs was that his character should think first, then act . . . and they all did," Disney, the nephew of Walt Disney, said in a statement. "He brought warmth and wit and sly humor and a wonderful gentleness to every character he animated. He brought those same qualities to his life, and to all of our lives who knew him." Born in Palo Alto on Oct. 31, 1912, Johnston was the son of the head of the Romance languages department at Stanford University. He studied art at Stanford, where he met Frank Thomas, who would become his lifelong friend and another of the Nine Old Men. Walt Disney gave the name to his key group of animators, playing off President Franklin D. Roosevelt's description of the Supreme Court. After graduating, Johnston followed Thomas to Los Angeles, where they studied at the Chouinard Art Institute. Thomas went to work at Disney's studio on Hyperion Avenue in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles in September 1934; Johnston joined the studio in January 1935. He quickly rose through the artistic ranks, working as an assistant to Fred Moore, who supervised the animation of the Seven Dwarfs in "Snow White" (1937). Disney animator Andreas Deja, whose work includes Lilo in "Lilo and Stitch" (2002), praised the subtlety of Johnston's work in "Bambi," especially the scene in which Bambi sees his father, the Great Prince of the Forest, for the first time. "On the meadow, Bambi sees the Great Prince and gives him this big smile," Deja said. "The Great Prince passes by, very serious and stern, and very slowly Bambi's expression changes: He drops his ears slightly and looks a little scared. It's a scene that's so subtle, you think it couldn't be done in animation: When you want to show a change, you have to make it graphically clear and Bambi is undergoing such a subtle mood shift. But Ollie handled it with such tact and sensitivity." "In Ollie's scenes, all the changes of emotion took place through subtle expressions of the character's eyes and the mouth and hands," said Glen Keane, who animated Beast in "Beauty and the Beast" (1991). "Ollie's drawings looked as if his pencil had just kissed the paper to coax the characters out. Ollie really felt with his characters: His animation wasn't an intellectual thing, it came from something inside of him." For one of his last assignments, Johnston animated Rufus, the kindly old cat who comforts Penny at the orphanage in "The Rescuers" (1977). Many animators believe Rufus was a partial self-caricature, as Johnston wore a similar mustache and glasses. During production on "Rescuers," Johnston helped to train a new generation of animators at the Disney Studio, including Keane. "Ollie was a great mentor: He would give me something to do that was beyond me, then make sure that I had everything I needed to do it," Keane said. "He knew that as a student, you had to have little successes along the way if you were ever going to make it. I really appreciate the patience that he showed." After retiring from the studio in 1978, Johnston and Thomas co-wrote four books: "Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life" (1981), "Too Funny for Words" (1987), "Walt Disney's Bambi: The Story and the Film" (1990) and "The Disney Villain" (1993). John Lasseter, chief creative officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios and a longtime friend of Johnston, said: "Aside from being one of the greatest animators of all time, he and Frank [Thomas] were so incredibly giving and spent so much time creating the bible of animation -- 'Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life' -- which has had such a huge impact on so many animators over the years." Johnston and Thomas' decades of work and friendship were the subject of the 1995 documentary "Frank and Ollie," produced by Thomas' son and daughter-in-law, Theodore Thomas and Kuniko Okubo. In addition to awards from numerous animation festivals and organizations, the pair were honored by the Academy of the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2003 when "Frank and Ollie: Drawn Together" was the subject of the eighth Marc Davis Lecture on Animation. Johnston was awarded the National Medal of Arts in November 2005 by President Bush. In addition to his work as an animator, Johnston was a lifelong railroad enthusiast, a passion he shared with Disney; Ward Kimball, another of the Nine Old Men; and "Toy Story" director Lasseter. In 1946, he built a 1-inch scale steam-driven train and a track that ran around his yard in Flintridge. Twenty-two years later, he bought a seven-ton 1901 H.K. Porter steam locomotive, which he lovingly restored and christened the Marie E., after his wife. The full-sized train ran on a half-mile of track at the vacation property the Johnston and Thomas families shared in the hills near Julian, Calif. Johnston's wife of 63 years, the former Marie Worthey, died in 2005; Thomas died in 2004 at 92. Johnston is survived by his two sons: Ken Johnston and his wife Carolyn; and Rick Johnston and his wife Teya. The funeral will be private. Instead of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to CalArts, the World Wildlife Fund or Natural Resources Defense Council. Walt Disney Studiosis planning a life celebration with details to be announced.

I saw Masque of the Red Death many, many years ago, but I have no recollection of Hazel Court. Maybe some of you aficiandoes do. Wasn't Anne Taylor Fleming a PBS news op/ed commentator some time back? (Maybe still is. I haven't watched Jim Lehrer in years.) Here is her LA Times obituary: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-...1,2621634.story Hazel Court, 82; 'scream queen' in horror films in 1950s and '60s template_bastemplate_bas From the Associated Press April 17, 2008 Hazel Court, an English beauty who co-starred with the likes of Boris Karloff and Vincent Price in popular horror movies in the 1950s and '60s, has died. She was 82. Court died Tuesday at her home near Lake Tahoe from a heart attack, her daughter, Sally Walsh, said Wednesday. Actress click to enlarge Although she had a substantial acting career both in England and on American television, Court was perhaps best known for her work in such films as 1963's "The Raven." She co-starred with Price, Karloff and Peter Lorre in the Roger Corman take on the classic Edgar Allen Poe poem. Corman directed her in five movies. Like other "scream queens" of the era, Court's roles often relied on her cleavage and her ability to shriek in fear and die horrible deaths. "The Premature Burial," "The Masque of the Red Death," "The Curse of Frankenstein" and "Devil Girl From Mars" helped propel her to cult status and brought her fan mail even in her later years. The daughter of a professional cricket player, Court was born Feb. 10, 1926, in the English town of Sutton Coldfield. As a teenager, she was appearing in stage productions when she was spotted and signed by the J. Arthur Rank Organisation, which owned movie studios and theaters. Court got her first movie bit part by the time she was 18 and went on to become a popular actress and a pinup girl. "She was one of the great beauties of all time," Walsh said. "She was a redhead with really green eyes and almost . . . the perfect face. She was on the cover of almost every magazine." Court appeared in some of the low-budget Hammer Film Productions horror movies and co-starred with Patrick O'Neal in the 1957 British TV comedy series "Dick and the Duchess." In the late 1950s, she came to the United States to work on TV's "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." Walsh, who lives in Los Angeles, said Court is survived by another daughter, Courtney Taylor of Ojai; a son, Jonathan Taylor of Reno; and stepdaughters Anne Taylor Fleming of Los Angeles and Avery Taylor of San Francisco.

When I was in high school my parents bought a Papa Celestin LP with "Marie LeVeau" on it. I never knew why they did, as they were not particularly fond of New Orleans jazz.