PHILLYQ

I went to NO for a vacation about 6 weeks before Katrina hit. One thing that's very hard to find is a lousy meal-people are SERIOUS about their food and can also source great food in the area. I can second Jeffcrom on Rebirth at the Maple Leaf. I insisted that it had to be a part of the vacation and I'm glad I did. Totally packed house with wall-to-wall people, and somehow everyone was dancing and groovin' without any problems. Very intense band that also puts a giant smile on your face.

They could have acknowledged the tunes they stole(Wille Dixon, et al)

I thought 'Argo' was excellent, likewise 'The Master', different flicks but both delivered in a big way for me. 'The Avengers' was a blast, just get that bucket of popcorn and let it unfold.

He was very popular in NYC, and he seemed to have a flair for the dramatic. IIRC, his first at bat he hit a grand slam! Matsui seemed to have no nerves, in a pressure situation he seemed to be the coolest person in the stadium. In 2009 he killed in the World Series and got a deserved MVP. I had to watch that one about 5 times before I figured out what the catcher did- amazing!!!

I was a bit surprised about Avery Johnson getting fired. Granted, the Nets had a bad December, but I thunk there's maybe 2-3 players from last year, and it takes time to gel.

Henry Threadgill a couple days after Thanksgiving at Roulette Buddy Guy at the World Financial Center in July Spectrum Road at B.B. King's in June Dr. John with a list of Louisiana music all-stars at BAM Opera House(Brooklyn) in April There's probably a few others, but those were standouts. The prices- Threadgill, $25, Spectrum Road $40, Buddy Guy $0, Dr. John $40

Beck & Page have been friends for about 50+ years. When Beck was inducted into the Rock 'n' RollHall of Fame, the guy who introduced him(and played with him) was Page. It made more sense to me to have Beck honor Buddy Guy, as Buddy Guy was a huge influence on Beck(and Clapton and....). As for Beck & Page, they probably influenced each other, as they've been friends since Beck was about 13-14 years old. Hard to imagine them NOT hanging out together and sharing riffs, techniques, etc. I saw the tune Beck & Beth Hart did together, and they both sounded fine to me. I love the little riffs and punctuations Beck does behind a singer. I saw Beck at a gig where she did about 5 tunes with him, and it was excellent. The finale with Raitt was nice, but Beck seemed to be in the background there, whether by choice or chance.

She looks a bit like Ellen Page('Juno') but she doesn't do stuff like that as far as I know.

He's got a shaved head now. I saw him this summer and he was on fire and his energy level would have put most 20 year olds to shame.

I don't think the Yanks will be as good as last year because they've not really added anyone of note, lost a few players who were positive contributors last year, and they've gotten older. Can you reasonably expect Kuroda to have a career year again at his age, will Petite still be good, will Jeter have another good year at his advanced age, will Ichiro play well all year? It's way past time for Cleveland and Atlanta to rename their baseball teams. Would we go for the NY n-words, the San Diego S---, the Houston honkies, etc? To further push the insult, let's have a grinnin' savages, eh, massa?!

She's a Brooklyn product, like Kaminsky & Koningsberg(Mel Brooks & Woody Allen).

They'll have Ryan Dumpster, an NL pitcher who got shelled as a Ranger rental, Shane Victorino @$39mil for 3years, and they just traded for a relief pitcher from Pittsburgh. The Bosox should send the Dodgers a thank you card for absorbing the huge contracts in the Crawford/Gonzalez/ etc. trade, it gave Boston a fairly clean slate to retool/rebuild.

Good one!!!

He was in 'Tootsie' which had an all-star cast. When I was in High School my class went to see 'That Championship Season' on Broadway(Durning was in the cast)- it was written by Jason Miller, who used to teach at my high school. One of my classmates, a real wiseass, decides to throw a piece of candy onto the stage. Durning, without missing a line or appearing the least bit ruffled, picked up the piece of candy and put it in a bowl on the stage.

And not that he was that old, but Swisher is now an Indian. While I admire Ibanez I'm not sure he'll last much longer than Griffey did in his return. Head-scratching signing to me, they won't be competitive for awhile and they spent a lot of $$ to get Swisher.

You could make a good case for Peterson, but I think Peyton Manning has meant a lot to Denver and he's raised the level of play all across the team. My Giants are dead as doornails, but they did win the big one last year. This year? Which Giant team will show up, the world beaters or the easy to beats?

But can you do it using another search engine than Google? Could one say that one has googled something on Bing or Yahoo? I think Googling has become the generic term for using a search engine. I've never heard anyone say that they 'Binged' something.

From the Mets to Mariners. It's not going to be a happy season for either "M" team but it's so depressing on this end that the one "big pickup" is a 34 year old outfielder that the Mets didn't want anymore. Ugh. I thought the Kendrys Morales trade for the Mariners was a good one, not earth shaking, but Morales seems to still have gas left in the tank. If he hits a game-winning homer, just handshakes and a pat on the back, that's it.

Congrats, you're well on your way to old bag-dom! To me, that's one of those milestones that signifies old bag. In my own life, now I hafta watch what I eat, when and how much due to gallstones, my left knee alerts me to upcoming weather events and reading the fine print requires my son sometimes! Congrats to you and your son, may he be happy and have a rewarding life as a married man

Colinmice, I have 'Eleven Ghosts' and I'm willing to part with it. I'll send you a PM with my Paypal details. If you get me the funds by Friday night I can mail it out on Saturday(it's the only day I can go to the Post Office- none near my job).

I can't see why anyone would want Sanchez in a trade, even if the Jets kick in major moolah. The team getting Sanchez would use up a nice chunk of cap space for a probable backup. The Jets also paid a lot for Tebow, and WHY???? I think some way or another he's gone after the season. The GM should be gone, between the awful contracts and the poor drafting. With a good GM, the Jets would have more talent and not be in such a bad state with the salary cap. The owner said he wanted Romney to win more than he wanted the Jets to win the Super Bowl- he got neither!!!

I just wasted time Christmas shopping! Good one, Bebop!!!

A lot if IFs there. I doubt that the Mets will have one of the best rotations in baseball in a year or even two. We shall see. Given the Mets' track record over the past four seasons, one has to be doubtful. I capitalized the 'if' for that very reason. The young pitchers may or may not become something, but it at least looks like there may be a plan, even if it takes a couple years. They now have a young catcher, pretty young infield, young starting pitching, no bullpen and no outfield. After the stain of Bay(his salary) departs and Santana goes, the Mets may have some real $$ to spend on a few good players and we COULD see something good develop. I'm a Yank fan, but a NYer through and through and I'd love to see the Mets get respectable again.

I thought the Mets came out well in the trade- they're not gonna contend until Dickey's in his 40s. They get a catcher who is supposed to be a sure thing, a 20 year old pitcher who throws 95+, they get rid of Thole, too. With an eye to the future, they did well. In a year or two, the Mets may have one of the best rotations in baseball. Niese, Matt Harvey, Dillon Gee, Zach Wheeler, IF they all develop OK they could have a great rotation.

The cognitive dissonance of McCartney & Ayler is too much for me to handle. It's like Liberace and Cecil Taylor working together.