PHILLYQ

I made my October gig on Saturday at the Abron Arts center in NYC. It was an Incus Records festival and had a bunch of AG people playing there. Susie Ibarra, Fred Frith, Zorn, Milford Graves, George Lewis, Richard Teitelbaum, Cyro Baptista and Min Xiao Fen in various groupings and a big finale with all at the end. For me it's very difficult to explain the music in words, but it was quite powerful and enjoyable. Fred Frith had a bunch of different objects he applied to the guitar, like rolls of tape, a bow, and other stuff I didn't quite recognize. Milford Graves is one hell of a drummer, I'd heard some fine things he did on recordings but live he really burns(His dancing bit gets a bit showbizzy though). George Lewis was amazing!!! I'm going to start looking for a November gig to catch as I need only that and a December gig and I'll have met the 'gig a month' for 2009!!!

I paid for my order on Thursday morning last week and the discs arrived on saturday in Brooklyn NY!!! Kudos to Chuck( and the PO) for Hiroshi Tanno-like service.

Yeah, I heard Sterling and her once while out one night...just once...and I am still scarred from it! he didn't seem so bad when he did Braves games, but back then the braves sucked..... I'm a Yankee fan and Sterling &Suzyn Waldman are HORRIBLE!!!! One local writer here calls them 'Ma & Pa Pinstripe'.

First was 'Shaun of the Dead'?

Get yer frozen Pedros here!

The play-caling thing reminds me of a game a long time ago witht he Vikings and Tommy Kramer was the QB. They showed him in the huddle(remember when you used to see that on TV?!) drawing up a play in the dirt!

hello Chuck, I think I sent a PM to you but I'm not sure it went OK. I'd like the Bradford & the Leo Smith, just PM me with the total and where to paypal the $$. Thanks much.

QB ratings are largely meaningless? Please. It's simple, really: See! But really, whatever one might make of the formula , it basically measures passing efficiency. We know completions and TDs result in a higher number; incompletions and interceptions, a lower number. Anyways, here's some more stats, fwiw: Bulger -- 85.2 rating, 40-47 with a 62.3 completion % Unitas -- 78.2 rating, 118-64-4 with a 54.6 completion % Brett Favre -- 85.7 rating, 169-100 with a 61.7 completion % I'd say W-L record should maybe be the prime consideration. Can a QB lead his team to victory despite adversity (or a crappy day at the office)? Both Bulger and (with at least one famous exception) Namath seem to come up short in that category. Is completion percentage really important? Would you rather 7-10 for 55 yards or 5-10 for 110 yards? Thanks for digging up how QB rating is calculated- that's a hoot!

I have my October gig lined up- I ordered a ticket to the Incus festival for 10/17 that's supposed to include Susie Ibarra, Fred Frith, etc.

Staubach maybe. Read something a while ago that Namath is actually one of the most overrated QBs. He had a couple of good years but pretty average career stats. He had a losing record as a starter (62-63-4), a 50.1% completion rate and a 65.5 career QB rating. Compare that to a guy like Staubach (not the top tier, but in the discussion) who had an 85-29 record as a starter, a 57% completion rate and an 83.4 career QB rating. Or a top-tier guy like Montana, who had a 117-42 record as a starter, a 63.2% completion rate and a 92.3 career QB rating. A guy like Trent Dilfer has numbers more in line with Namath's: 58-55 record as a starter, a 55.5% completion rate and a 70.2 career QB rating. (Better than I expected, really). If Namath's in the discussion, Dilfer should be, too. Which of course probably means Namath shouldn't be. Keep in mind that QB ratings are largly meaningless- does anybody really know what they measure? I saw somewhere recently that Marc Bulgur rates higher than Johnny Unitas!

12th inning in game 163, WOW!!!

I'm willing to keep my ears open, Jim. Just got the Don Cherry Blue Notes and have been listening to those. What Sextet album would you recommend? 'You Know the Number' has some wickedly swinging blues on it, well worth a listen IMHO.

I'm a Yankee fan with a Met fan sister and Met fan friends and I extend my sympathy to you guys. I don't think I've ever seen a rash of injuries to so many key players in one year. To top it off, Reyes hurt himself again recently and needs surgery with next year already looking a bit shaky.

Greg, Check out 'Little Pocket Size Demons' from 'Too Much Sugar for a Dime'- it swings like crazy!!!

Right. It was the WHOLE bullpen. That bullpen cost Santana a bunch of wins in 2008.

Great news- wait 'till next year...

Great news that you are back MG - I hope your computer problems are a thing of the past.

you just felt like high jacking someone's thread then ? Life must be enormously exciting for you : ) More of a thread enhancement... Saturday night at 8:30, this is the best thing you have to do ? Wowsa : ) Have you tried Best Buy? I was in one last week and they had the stereo box. J&R may be worth a shot also.

I owned a Hyundai a while back(bought new) and a a friend of mine bought an Elantra a few years ago. We both had the same experience- for the first year or two it ran well and then it fix,fix,fix after that. Not major stuff, but enough to annoy the crap out of you and put a slow drain on the wallet. Tha's the experience of two people in Brooklyn, so YMMV.

Browns aren't doing too well, either-Go Cavs?

Salvador Dali Louis Armstrong Carol Channing

Ferris also recorded with Billy Cobham on 'Shabazz'.

Robert Duvall Harrison Ford Lawrence Fishburne

The gig a month rolls on, as I got my September gig in on Sunday with a rock geezer, Robin Trower. The gig was the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville NJ, a fairly large bar that calls itself a ballroom. Other than the foot pain from standing for hours the show was pretty good. Trower had a singer who was barely heard in the mix and didn't seem to carry much vocal punch when he was heard, but the drummer was OK and the bass palyer was good. Trower himself played very well, nothing new or different but he plays the blues/rock thing quite well and is a compelling soloist.

If anyone has the chance to go see them, please do without any hesitation. I saw them last year at the Village Vanguard and it was stunning. I could only take one set- the music was overwhelming and after one set I felt drained because it was so intense. Oxley & Taylor seem sometimes like one mind with two bodies.