GA Russell

Because Merv dared to have a nighttime show on CBS opposite the Tonight Show, Johnny Carson often insulted Merv, making snide comments about Merv's theme shows, even long after Merv had retreated to the daytime. That all stopped on a dime the day that Griffin sold Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune to King World for $400 million. All the world then realized that Merv Griffin, the butt of the sneers, was a lot wealthier than Johnny Carson was.

Ever had a job where you had to use a Cole's Directory? This is that guy! Here's his LA Times obit: Jack Cole, 87; pioneered computer use in compiling address directories By Valerie J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer August 13, 2007 Jack Cole, who used early computer technology to recast the phone book as a marketing and investigative tool by creating directories that were organized by address instead of alphabetically by name, has died. He was 87. Cole died July 29 at his home in Spearfish Canyon, S.D., after a brief battle with cancer, said his daughter, Susan Wright. Sixty years ago, Cole was a salesman at IBM when he thought to use the company's punch-card technology to turn the traditional phone book upside down. In 1947, by relying on machine sorting of data, he published the first Cole Directory, which listed information for Dallas in order of address. Door-to-door salespeople could then know who would answer their knock, and detectives or reporters could easily track down the next-door neighbors of someone suddenly in the news. The idea for such a directory wasn't new, but using technology to re-sort existing information was. Earlier attempts at publishing this type of directory relied on neighborhood canvassing to collect data. Cole's book sold strongly from the start, and he soon expanded the concept to Houston and beyond. He also made the directories more useful by incorporating information from census data, tax rolls and birth records. The directories are still published -- with the Cole name on them -- in print and digital form by MetroGroup, which owns Cole Information Services. While his son, Dana Cole, has called him "the father of data management," others might consider the senior Cole "the father of junk mail" for being among the first to apply punch-card technology to mailing lists. "Jack was the first to sell the lists just for marketing. He became the largest independent publisher of that data," James McQuaid, president of MetroGroup, told the Black Hills Pioneer newspaper in Spearfish last month. Major clients who wanted to target consumers soon came calling, including Time magazine, Reader's Digest, Colgate-Palmolive Co. and General Motors Corp. In the 1950s, Cole moved company headquarters from Dallas to Lincoln, Neb., and sold the business in the early 1970s. He invested in a Canadian-based network of remote hunting and fishing lodges aimed at the wealthy but sold the venture after about a decade, his daughter said. He retired to a cabin in Spearfish Canyon that had been in his family since the late 1800s and dedicated himself to local conservation causes. The cabin's walls were "covered in history," papered with photographs of famous people who had touched his life, his daughter said. Cole -- often decked out in a white shirt, tie and cowboy boots -- liked to give tours of the home he called "the museum" to show visitors that he had done something with his life. "It was great for conversation and gave him credibility when he was talking about water-quality and mining issues," his daughter said. Jack Ridnour Cole was born Feb. 12, 1920, in Lincoln, Neb., the eldest of two children of Dana and Vera Cole. His father was an accountant. At the University of Nebraska, Cole studied business and met his future wife, Lois Keller. After graduating in the early 1940s, he joined IBM and briefly served in the Navy during World War II before returning to the company. "He had a real creative mind," his daughter said. "A woman who came to his funeral had a neat way of putting it. She said, 'Jack didn't think outside the box, Jack thought outside the stadium.' " In addition to his daughter Susan, of Prescott, Ariz., Cole is survived by two sons, Dana Cole of Lincoln, Neb., and Jeff Cole of La Quinta, Calif.; a sister, Patricia Sinkey; eight grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. His wife died in 1997.

In the past few years I have listened to almost all of the games, but this year I have had the opportunity to catch only a few. But this week I heard some of these three: Saskatchewan Roughriders 24....Toronto Argonauts 13 http://sports.canada.com/default.asp?c=can.../AJN4096153.htm I tuned in to this one with a minute to go in the second quarter. Unfortunately for me, most of the scoring was in the first half. I listened to the Argos broadcast. Rocky Butler had a solid game, perhaps his best as a pro. But the Riders were the better team throughout. Winnipeg Blue Bombers 22....British Columbia Lions 21 http://sports.canada.com/default.asp?c=can.../AJN4096197.htm I tried to listen to the Lions broadcast, but again this year I have troubles getting it on my computer. Some webcasts are better than others, and for me the Riders' is the best. I have dial-up, and I think that's what makes the difference. So I listened to the Bombers broadcast with Bob Irving, whom I met at the '96 Grey Cup game in a hotel lobby. Paul McCallum missed a makeable FG with about five minutes to go in the game which it turned out would have given the Lions the win. The Lions clobbered the Bombers in the first quarter, but Winnipeg came back in the second quarter to make a game of it. Apparently the Bombers have played poorly in the first quarter throughout the year thus far. Milt Stegall didn't make a catch, yet the Bombers won. Everyone was thinking that that had never happened before. This makes two straight home losses for the Lions. The Riders are now in first place tied with the Lions. After the game Irving interviewed Kevin Glenn, and I was struck by how much Glenn sounded like Wynton Marsalis! Glenn was born in Detroit and played at Illinois State, so no apparent New Orleans connection. Edmonton Eskimos 19....Hamilton Tiger-Cats 17 http://sports.canada.com/default.asp?c=can.../AJN4096331.htm Two evenly matched teams on the scoreboard, although Edmonton at home seemed generally to be the better team. Going into the game, the Edmonton defense was ranked last in the league in 12 categories. The win puts the Eskimos in third place ahead of the Stamps for the time being. But they didn't look like a team headed for the playoffs against the lowly Ticats. Of course the Ticats are getting better, but they are now only 1-6. ***** This coming week will be the first of two with only two games. This week's games will be among the four Western teams. Next week's will be among the four Eastern teams. ***** The Argos put Damon Allen on the nine-week injured list for his toe injury.

Donald Fagen - The New Frontier Joe Jackson - Stepping Out Michael Franks - Your Secret's Safe With Me In 1983 or '84 MTV often showed a video by a proto-neo-swing band called Roman Holliday. It spurred me to buy the album Cooking on the Roof. The album was great, but I don't remember which track was the one shown on MTV. Speaking of the 80s, remember I'm on a Mexican Radio by Wall of Voodoo? Two weeks ago their singer Stan Ridgeway was in town performing.

John Gardner died on the 3rd. I suppose that he is best known for his James Bond books; but for me he will always be the creator of Boysie Oakes, The Liquidator. As I recall he wrote three Boysie Oakes books, The Liquidator, Amber Nine and another one. A Movie of The Liquidator with Rod Taylor and Jill St. John came out in '66 or '67. I saw it six times(!) and twenty years later bought the soundtrack album. Here's his Washington Post obit: British novelist John Gardner dies at 80 The ex-Royal Marine, magician and clergyman revived the James Bond character. By Martin Weil, Washington Post August 13, 2007 John Gardner, a British novelist who had been a magician, a clergyman and a Royal Marine before giving new literary life to one of fiction's most famous secret agents, the legendary James Bond, has died. He was 80. The Daily Mail reported that he collapsed near his home and died Aug. 3 at a hospital in Basingstoke, England. A report on his website said he had been in ill health and had suffered a mild stroke last year. Bond, celebrated as Agent 007, was created by Ian Fleming, who died in 1964. Sixteen years later, Gardner accepted the assignment of resurrecting the man, who, on the printed page and on the movie screen, had become a worldwide symbol of spying, sophistication and derring-do. Gardner's efforts began with "Licence Renewed" (1981) and resulted in 14 titles, which exceeded Fleming's output and appeared to be among the most successful examples of one writer devising additional exploits for another's character. Regarded as serious and thoughtful, Gardner was said to lack sympathy for Bond's obsession with high-end brand names and luxury products or for Bond's restrictive view of the role of women. But Gardner said he viewed writing the new Bond series as a challenge, and "once I got the bit between my teeth, I wasn't going to let go." He said he had hoped to add depth and dimension to the character, to make him grow and to bring him out of the world of fantasy into reality. Gardner's approach was reflected in matters such as giving Bond a concern for gas mileage and putting him behind the wheel of a sturdy and sensible Saab. If not sacrilege, it was close, Gardner said, and "the die-hard fans wouldn't have any of it." Recognizing himself as an entertainer above all else, Gardner bowed to marketplace demands. Although critics sometimes looked askance, a number of his Bond books made bestseller lists. John Edmund Gardner was born Nov. 20, 1926, in Seaton Delaval, Northumberland, England. His father was a priest in the Church of England, and Gardner was ordained in 1953. He soon recognized his error, telling an interviewer that during a sermon one Sunday, "I didn't believe a word I was saying." He was released from clerical obligations in 1958 and said later that he had recovered his faith. From boyhood, Gardner was interested in magic and became an adept performer, working with a Red Cross unit as a teenager in 1944. Later that year, he entered the Royal Navy and subsequently became an officer in the Royal Marines. "I had been a small-arms expert and also knew a lot about explosives," he said, but he was "the worst commando in the world." His educational credentials, which were acquired, he once said, "without my cooperation," included a degree from Cambridge University. He spent several years covering the arts for a British newspaper before embarking on fiction. Cancer of the esophagus was diagnosed while Gardner was living in Charlottesville, Va., in the 1990s. His treatment and the death in 1997 of his wife, the former Margaret Mercer, kept him from working for several years. Upon returning to England and in financial straits, he resumed writing. "What else would I do?" he said. In his 70s, he published a series of crime novels set in Britain during World War II about a female police detective.

Lon, you're right! I didn't notice that your link opens the thread at page 47. It was felser's post #11 of July 12 regarding the Blowout Sale that got the ball rolling, along with Chuck's post #17 of the same day regarding $2.98 CDs that woke me up. Actually, I remember that I had gone a week without visiting the board, and I first noticed a thread by Soulstation 1 regarding spending money on this that got me looking for this thread to see what all the excitement was about.

In the late 50s I watched Play Your Hunch every morning. I didn't see his talk show very often, but I do remember once seeing it when Cal Tjader was the guest. As I recall, Tjader had just celebrated his 50th birthday, and Merv shouted at the end of the last musical performance, "Cal Tjader at Fifty!"

From the list I would choose John Pizzarelli. I have a Don Sebesky tribute to Bill Evans called I Remember Bill on which Pizzarelli sings a few times. He is very much out of place, and I can't imagine why he was invited to participate, unless RCA required it. Otherwise, it's a great album.

Mostly quiet, sparse, romantic, and whimsical in nature with a few "jagged" pieces throw in for a change of pace. Reminiscent of Miles and Bill Evans without being too derivative. I enjoy it. Thanks Sundog. I added Tati to my queue. But now Aggie says that another Rava is available. Does anyone have an opinion on The Word and the Days? I've never heard Rava, and I'll pick up one of these two soon, but not both I don't imagine. I highly recommend Bollani's Piano Solo. I don't listen to it a great deal, but I like it a lot whenever I do. I find that's often the case with my ECMs.

Lon, nope. The thread that started it all was other than the three you linked. I remember that I was traveling on business at the time, and most of you had already placed your orders by the time I got home.

Ooooooh! Aaaahhhhhh!

As I recall, it was about a year ago, give or take a few days, that the thread alerting us all to the Concord Blowout Sale was posted. I've looked for it, but I can't find it. Ah, memories! I bought 33 single CDs plus the Bill Evans Riverside box at the blowout sale. I don't think that I have bought any CDs since then except Boogaloo Sisters, my dccblowout.com purchase of five CDs and my monthly purchases from Your Music. I have yet to open many of my Blowout Sale items. I opened up Lem's Beat by Lem Winchester last Monday. It's a good blowing session on New Jazz with Oliver Nelson.

Thanks guys! It didn't occur to me to check Wikipedia.

Recently I've been seeing some internet abbreviations a lot that I can't figure out just what they mean: pwn, or pwned FTW Can one of you gurus help?

Week 7 previews: http://sports.canada.com/default.asp?c=can.../AJN4095890.htm ***** Thursday night: Montreal Alouettes 30....Calgary Stampeders 18 http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/New...4406626-cp.html

It looks like Rocky Butler will start at QB for the Argos this week. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Tor...402251-sun.html

Ed Brown died last week. I had his bubble gum card in 1959 when he was with the Bears. When I lived in Pittsburgh in the 70s I heard radio legend Myron Cope tell a story about Brown. He was the Steelers QB in '63. To my knowledge the Steelers had never had a good team till then. The team was started in the mid-30s. Going into the last week of the season the Steelers were second in the East. That was because in those days the rankings were calculated differently. Now a tie is considered to be one-half win and one-half loss. But in those days ties were disregarded when calculating the winning percentage. The Steelers had a number of ties that year. (No OT, kids!) So with few losses their winning percentage was higher than it would be considered today. There were no playoffs then. The championship game was between the two first place teams. Going into the last week of the season, if the Steelers won that game they would finish first and play in the championship game for the first time. So according to Cope Brown decided that he would go on the wagon the entire week before the game. Well in the game Brown spent the day overthrowing his receivers, and they lost. And all of the players blamed Brown for going on the wagon! Here's his LA Times obit: Ed Brown, 78; former NFL quarterback From the Associated Press August 8, 2007 Ed Brown, a former NFL quarterback and a leader of the University of San Francisco's undefeated 1951 team, has died. He was 78. Brown died Thursday in Kennewick, Wash., of prostate cancer, said his daughter, Brooke Brownie. Brown played 12 NFL seasons, including eight with the Chicago Bears and nearly four more with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was the Bears' starting quarterback from 1955 to 1959, playing in the 1956 NFL title game and earning a spot in two Pro Bowls while also serving as Chicago's punter. Brown passed for 15,600 yards and 102 touchdowns in his NFL career, including a career-best 2,982 yards and 21 TDs for the Steelers in 1963. Brown, who grew up in San Luis Obispo, led San Francisco to a 9-0 record in 1951, his senior year. He earned the nickname "All-Around Brown" while playing quarterback, kicker and punter for a team that included future Pro Football Hall of Famers Gino Marchetti, Ollie Matson and Bob St. Clair. The Dons then received praise for refusing to drop their two black players, Matson and Burl Toler, in order to receive a bowl bid, as was required by most major bowl games at the time. San Francisco shut down its football program after the season, citing the high costs. Brown served two years in the Marines before joining the Bears as a sixth-round pick. After leaving the NFL in 1965, he ran a business for 13 years. In addition to his daughter, he is survived by sister Greta Gerrie, brother Clarence Brown, son Beau Brown and grandchildren Bria and Brynn Brownie. Brown's funeral is Saturday at Reis Family Mortuary in San Luis Obispo.

Just a reminder. I'm going to spend what time I have listening to this.

Damon Allen injured his toe against Montreal the other day. Does this mean that Mike McMahon will start for the Argos whether they like it or not? http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home ***** Demetrious Maxie has come out of retirement to help the Stampeders. He played for the Stallions, so that ups to 3 the number of US team veterans still in the league (along with Calvillo and Allen). http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Cal...399419-sun.html

Thanks Lon. I'll look forward to the Maynard.

Today I went to BJ's to have my oil changed and tires rotated, and bought on an impulse Perry Mason, Season 2, Volume 1 (first 15 episodes) for $27.99.

I read his book Real Money maybe six months ago. He wants you to play the market every day - sell on every downturn, buy on every up-turn. My understanding is that amateurs never make money doing that. Maybe some of you disagree.

Calgary Stampeders 34....Edmonton Eskimos 32 http://sports.canada.com/default.asp?c=can.../AJN4095226.htm I missed the first twelve minutes, but listened to the Eskimos broadcast with Bryan Hall of the rest of the game. I had the pleasure of meeting Bryan at the 1978 Grey Cup game. He has his faults, especially running on with his observations getting in the way of his calling the game. But you can't deny his passion for the game and the league. Great game. DeAngelis kicked a field goal on the last play of the game to win it. With five minutes to go in the second quarter there was a fight, and two of Edmonton's linebackers (including AJ Gass) were ejected. None of the Stamps were thrown out. But the Eskimos held on till Calgary's final drive when they lost a third linebacker due to injury. I think Edmonton went to the prevent defense at the end, and Henry Burris had no trouble moving the team all the way down the field for the final field goal. Edm was rushing only three, and dropping nine back; and the Stamps made moving the ball look easy. Despite being in last place in the West, Ricky Ray now leads the league in TD passes with 12. I haven't had the opportunity to listen to more than one game per week until this week; but I get the impression that the number of exciting games is way up from last year. I said earlier that I thought that Burris was overrated, but he looked sharp this game.

BMG is now carrying Beatles titles, including Rubber Soul, Sgt. Pepper, The White Album and Abbey Road. http://www.bmgmusic.com/catalog/browse/art...FEY?partyId=136

Happy Birthday a few hours late Shawn!