PHILLYQ

Pete C. following me in my teenage years? I was also at the concert that became Mingus at Carnegie Hall- I wonder, in these days of deluxe reissues, why this hasn't received that treatment. I was also at the Rollins concert in '73 with Mingus and Diz as guests.

I used to be a member of BGO, but then stopped contributing because they got so dull. Someone from BGo even called me and I told why I stopped contributing and they were speechless for a moment and then thanked me and hung up.They've become so stale and predictable that when I listen to the radio I go right to KCR(This Bachfest is killin' me!)or to a disc in the car. Tonight was Dogon A.D.

I'm amazed that the Iggles are still alive. If they beat Dallas and Washington and the Giants lose to the Jets and then beat Dallas for the finale, all three teams are 8-8 and the Iggles get the division crown on tiebreakers. I'm a disgusted Giants fan, so this scenario sound like fun to me, especially if the Iggles get hot and maybe run the table, an 8-8 team hoisting the trophy. Take that, Goodell!!!

The ball is bigger and the workload is heavier- in Japan, they pitch once a week. I wish Darvish well, except when he faces the Yanks.

They recently came to the DFW area, and I doubt that I will ever try them. Why? Because my daughter applied for a position with them. My daughter is bright, sparkly, well-groomed, and fit what they said was their vibe perfectly. Per her, the interview started out like this: THEM: Are you a Christian? HER: I have my beliefs...but...what does that have to do with hamburgers? THEM: We have a certain culture here, and you might not fit in. And it went downhill from there. I'm sure they're good, but none for me, thanks. IIRC, those type of questions are illegal to ask on an interview.

He did a ton of stuff on CTI. In the early 70s my sister's boyfriend worked in the mailroom at CTI, so I regularly received boxes of vinyl at home of every new CTI release. Ralph McDonald was on nearly every release and he always added something special. He was a very good percussionist. RIP

El Duque, when he was with the Yanks, used an Eephus pitch once in a while. The ball went about 55-60 MPH with a HUGE arc. Most of the time the hitters looked foolish taking it or swinging.

Out of the ones who have been studied post-mortem, the incidence of brain damage is extremely high. There are even some who get Alzheimers in their 40s! That has also been linked to repeated blows to the head.

A few things CAN be done to reduce the incidence of concussions. At present it's a 15 yard penalty for a helmet to helmet hit, same as pushing an out-of-bounds player. Perhaps if the NFL started ejecting players for that it might reduce the incidence of helmet to helmet hits. Another issue is that, from what I can see, there's about 5-6 helmet to helmet hits per each one flagged. If the NFL cracked down a lot more on it... The other more fundamental issue is that players need to be taught proper tackling technique. A lot of players now launch themselves headfirst as if they're missiles to make a tackle, resulting in a lot more concussions and missed tackles. But first there has to be a serious desire on the part of the owners to make the game safer.

Caught Henry Threadgill last night at Roulette in Brooklyn. The venue opened a few months ago and they did a great renovation job on the space.The only drawback at the venue is that they have no food or drink, which I didn't know beforehand and left me a bit dry, but oh well. Threadgill and his band were seriously on fire last night, a lot of very intense music and a palpable musical telepathy among the group. He had acoustic guitar, acoustic bass guitar, cello, tuba/trombone and drums making up the group. I got to the venue about 20 minutes before the show was scheduled to start and I was lucky enough to hear them working out some tunes, so I knew I was in for a great show. They played two sets of jaw-droppin' stuff with excellent solos all around. Everybody was featured at some point in the show and every musician delivered in spades. Didn't recognise any of the music and I think it's all new music for an upcoming recording.If so, it'll be a whale of a recording, but I'd love just a live one of last night's show.

I bought some discs from him on a few occasions and the service was always top-notch. I wish him well in whatever he does in the future, he did a great job of taking care of his customers.

I saw him last night at Roulette in Brooklyn- the band was amazing and the telepathy was on full display last night.

I wish I had been there. I never saw the band, though I'd seen Jerry Goodman with The Flock at the tail end of the Fillmore East. Hey Philly, we're the same age and both Brooklynites. I knew I liked you for some reason or other. And you went to high school at Midwood? That's about 7-8 blocks from my boyhood home! I preordered the box only because it has the extra disc with more Central Park stuff. If it has the Mar Y Sol cut that's even better. Philly Q - is the box only available from PopEater? Is this newly remastered? As far as I know it's only available from popmarket. According to something I saw(maybe on Hoffman), the live disc is remastered IIRC. Thanks PhillyQ - I meant Popmarket. Any get their copy yet? I got my copy yesterday and I listened to about 20 minutes of the disc with extra material- it's hot stuff and sounds great to my non-audiophile ears.

I wish I had been there. I never saw the band, though I'd seen Jerry Goodman with The Flock at the tail end of the Fillmore East. Hey Philly, we're the same age and both Brooklynites. I knew I liked you for some reason or other. And you went to high school at Midwood? That's about 7-8 blocks from my boyhood home! I preordered the box only because it has the extra disc with more Central Park stuff. If it has the Mar Y Sol cut that's even better. Philly Q - is the box only available from PopEater? Is this newly remastered? As far as I know it's only available from popmarket. According to something I saw(maybe on Hoffman), the live disc is remastered IIRC.

Live murder on TV in 1963- I remember seeing that- I was 7 years old and it's so distinct, even to this day.

I was also in Catholic grammar school(2nd grade). The nuns stopped classes and we prayed. Never saw them so sad. Not only was he the first Catholic president, but my neighborhood was also largely Irish-Italian, so a president of Irish heritage was particularly special.

The big retailers are doing their best to ruin Thanksgiving too. Wal-mart and a couple of others are now opening ON Thanksgiving, even if it is at 10:00 PM

I hate to go back on my word but since you asked: If Bobby Valentine becomes the manager of the Boston franchise of the American League, I will cease to follow that team at all until such time as he is fired. And you can take that to the bank. To me that makes no sense. You root for the team through thick and thin. As players come and go, we, as fans, are still there. I may not always like (more often than not, if you have to know the truth) what the Mets do but I've been rooting for them for 50 years and I'm too old to kick the habit Agree with you on that. I became a Yankee fan in 1964. I was eight years old, the Mets were a joke, the Yanks make the WS and lose in 7 to the Cards. They don't sniff a game after #162 until 1976, by which time I was 20 and had suffered through Horace Clarke, etc. for my adolescence. I stuck with my team through thick and thin and I still do. It's much easier now to be a Yankee fan, but I remember the lean years, the Stump Merrill years, etc.

He seems to do better with a relatively young team, like when he had the Mets. I think of the collapses the Mets had when they needed to win one game and get in the palyoffs and I always thought that Valentine would have found a way to win them. He knows a LOT about baseball, but that said, he can also rub people the wrong way.

I now live about 10 blocks away from Madison. The Kent, featured in The Purple Rose of Cairo. Woody Allen grew up, IIRC, on 14th & K. The Kent is still there and badly in need of an upgrade.

That's an interesting lineup. Have you seen them? I saw them in January at the Blue Note in NYC. Excellent show, Cindy Blackman was outstanding.

I wish I had been there. I never saw the band, though I'd seen Jerry Goodman with The Flock at the tail end of the Fillmore East. Hey Philly, we're the same age and both Brooklynites. I knew I liked you for some reason or other. And you went to high school at Midwood? That's about 7-8 blocks from my boyhood home! I preordered the box only because it has the extra disc with more Central Park stuff. If it has the Mar Y Sol cut that's even better.

I'm wondering how they manage the $$ on this. It's a 37000 seat stadium, Ramirez is signed at about $11mil/year, Reyes will be at least $10mil/year, Pujols about $20-25mil/year. It doesn't seem to leave much for a pitching staff, etc.

Paterno had enormous authority at Penn State. If he had any suspicions, as well he should after hearing 'inappropriate', 'child' and 'Sandusky' in the same sentence, he SHOULD have every one looking into this creep. Instead, he would have us believe that it was perfectly OK to tell his boss and DO NOTHING ELSE. With great power comes great responsibilty, and Paterno dropped the ball bigtime here, resulting in a sick predator on the loose for years more and more victims added to his sick scoresheet.

Maybe not strictly what you're looking for, but Henry Threadgill does some interesting stuff with trombones.