PHILLYQ

It is very sharp looking.

I'm up to my third disc in the set,and I'm lovin' it(It's also much better for you than McDonald's!). The sharp contrast of the different versions of 'Seven Steps' is astonishing- the studio version is very good, but it has Frank Butler on drums and Victor Feldman on piano. When I listened to the version with Herbie Hancock & Tony Williams, the floodgates were opened and they were playing it for all it was worth. Hearing the French MC announce 'erbie 'ancock was a good laugh. I get to listen to more later on-can't wait.

My box arrived today- OH JOY! Now I'm going to clear out the discs in my bag and play Miles on the subway starting tomorrow morning.

Both Boston and the Yanks are in the playoffs, so who wins the AL East is not that big a deal. Keep in mind that Baltimore has given the Bosox fits this year- they may help the Yanks win the division. El Duque's injury does concern me- I was thinking of a playoff rotation of him, Mussina & Lieber, as Brown seems to be out of gas(& brains-PUNCH A WALL, YOU IDIOT?) & Vasquez is just lost. If El Duque can't make the playoffs as the effective pitcher he has been, it may be a long winter in NYC.

Sisler also did it with much fewer at bats, and he hit around .420! However, Sisler did it when there were only white players, you rarely faced more than one pitcher in a game, and travel was rather limited. Interesting that this record hasn't been seriously challenged up until now. That said, Ichiro hardly walks at all, and his OBP is lower than Jorge Posada's. Posada walks 90-100 times a year and his BA is around .265 now, but with the walks his OBP is about .400. So while Ichiro gets tons of hits, Posada helps his team win more games by getting on base more often.

MILES IN BERLIN-SONY/COLUMBIA CD62976($10) With Wayne, Herbie, etc. Includes Milestones,Autumn Leaves,So What,Walkin', Theme GREAT JAZZ TRIO-LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD(UNIVERSAL UCCU5099)($12) Hank Jones, Ron Carter, Tony Williams. Includes Moose the Mooche, Naima,Favors,12+12. Japanese import, still sealed with obi strip. Shipping included in the continental USA. Paypal only. PM if interested Up with price reductions.TAKE BOTH FOR $20 Great Jazz Trio is gone, anyone for the Miles disc? NOW $9

Was Brubeck wearing lederhosen?

Leo Mazzone also deserves some credit- the Braves seem to turn a lot of pitchers around into consistent winners.

As someone who is intimately familiar with long stretches of bum luck(much of it self-inflicted), DON'T WORRY OR DRIVE YOURSELF CRAZY ABOUT IT! It happens, but it is worthwhile to take stock of your situation and see if there are some things that maybe if done differently might yield a different result. I don't know your age, but as you get older(I'm 48), you realize that life ebbs and flows, sometimes everything goes wrong, sometimes everything goes right, and most o fthe time it's a mix of the two. Worrying about it doesn't improve it, but a clear look might. Hang in there, it will get better.

Leeway, Maybe UA was a bit slow mailing the disc(s). But he gave you a refund and you're still complaining- he made good, move on. If the discs show up at your door, please be sure to come backe here and loudly announce that.

May you live a long life

At least one critic has noted that aspect of it. Go to see it if you can- I highly recommend it.

Great post, B-3r, I'm still laughing- here's a section I really liked: "That album proved what record executives have known for years: It's actually very difficult to record a rock record that has no rock in it at all. But with this new release, Matchbox Twenty has really delivered on its signature non-sound." A rock record with no rock!

Berigan, You're giving me flashbacks to 1964- I was an eight year old who thought Mickey Mantle was the coolest thing on Earth(hadn't heard Miles yet), and I was so excited that they were in the World Series. I got to watch some of the games(most were played in daylight hours, not like now, when you have to stay up 'til 12:30A.M. on the East Coast to see the end of the game), and I suffered much heartbreak as the Cardinals beat the Yanks in 7. Little did I know then that the Yanks would not make the postseason until 1976. The Cards do have a great team, and I think you're right about resting Pujols & Edmonds.

I saw it a couple of weeks ago with my 12 year old son, and we both enjoyed it immensely. I was blown away by the scenery & cinematography, how visually the movie draws you into this other world of different colors depending on who's telling the tale. The story itself was very good, the differing perspectives on the same event clashing was quite interesting. The martial arts scenes were dazzling(My son's favorite parts, although he did say it had a good story- nice going, son!).

When people first started downloading music, the response of the industry was to hire lawyers, stick their fingers in their ears and shout loudly to anyone who would listen(government, media,etc.). They COULD have decided to investigate the technology and offer that same service and try to make a buck from it. So what they got instead of an end to downloading was a ton of unpopular lawsuits and a downloading problem that's much,much worse than the suits could have ever imagined. If I own any of these companies heads would roll for being so myopic and missinga great opportunity, but of course the boobs who hired the lawyers are still employed.

Here's a thoughtful take on the whole brouhaha by Lisa Olson of the NY Daily News(for my money, one of the best sportswriters around): A brand-new ballgame for Bronx crowds Hopefully, action is the only thing they catch in seats Miscreant Walks Upright, Part I: Texas reliever Frankie Francisco raced to the bullpen to defend the honor of his verbally wounded Ranger teammates, picks up a plastic chair, throws it into the stands, breaks a woman's nose. Miscreant Walks Upright, Part II: Craig Bueno, husband of the injured woman, buys season tickets near the opposing team's bullpen, spends much of every game heckling visiting players, convinces himself his verbal diarrhea gives his beloved Oakland team an advantage, wonders if maybe he deserves a share of the World Series pie should the A's win it all. "It's an American tradition," Bueno said of his inalienable right to life, liberty and obnoxiousness. No doubt, millions of like-minded folks burped heartily in agreement. If Bueno were a character on "The Simpsons," his delusions of grandeur might be forgiven. But there is something really creepy about a 42-year-old father of three teenage boys gleefully admitting he gets his jollies from screaming rude insults at ballplayers he has never met. Francisco has no justifiable excuse - nada, zero, Gene Orza, please have the grace to stay quiet - for heaving furniture into the right-field box seats Monday night. It doesn't matter what Bueno or any other fan said, doesn't matter if the A's had their manhood questioned or their mamas vilified, doesn't even matter if racial epithets were dropped, Francisco ought to quietly accept the suspension MLB hands down and pray he isn't jailed or deported. It's a pity Bueno can't be tried by a court where civility still matters. When he's not acting like a total nut job at Network Associates Coliseum, Bueno also happens to be a battalion chief with the Hayward Fire Department. Fair or not, a modicum of decorum should be expected from municipal servants, especially those paid to protect the public. At least we can pity his poor wife, who not only has to get her nose fixed but has to live with a guy who apparently thinks yelling brilliant witticisms like "Rangers ---" is foreplay. There are Bueno clones everywhere, of course, and they seem to be reproducing by the inning. This weekend should be about the Yankees and the Red Sox adding frosting to a rivalry already luscious and rich. Instead, and in spite of the extra uniformed and undercover security presence, you can bet your Carlton Fisk rookie card the Stadium stands will rock, and not necessarily in a good way. The fights that clear entire rows, the vulgarities no decent parent wants their children to hear, the forceful ejections - it's all nonsense that will resume next weekend at Fenway, when the AL East convention moves to Boston. Some might argue the fans are merely taking cues from the players, who aren't exactly waltzing when they pair up. To hear some of the Red Sox and Yankees talk, Jason Varitek and Alex Rodriguez have yet to be separated. Last week in Oakland, I asked Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein if he was concerned the rivalry had become too overheated. "If I were a security officer I'd be worried about it," he said. "To me, it's on the verge of getting out of control off the field. On the field, despite the fight and despite a few examples at Game 3 (of the ALCS, when Yankee relievers pummeled a Red Sox fan who was working in the Fenway bullpen) last year, I actually think it's baseball at its best on the field. It's just two tremendous teams going at it on the highest level." Irony being a cruel witch, we were talking on the same field where last season Carl Everett was clocked by a flying cell phone, where Ichiro Suzuki has been pelted with coins, where Boston's Manny Ramirez soon would be showered with debris just inches away from the Black Hole, that infamous spot where Raiders' fans practice a particularly nasty form of savagery. Shea and Yankee Stadium and Fenway and any joint in Philly certainly spawn their share of trouble, but players from the diamond and the gridiron insist Oakland's venom has no parallel. "It was a real break from the normal trash you hear from fans," Rangers manager Buck Showalter said of the taunts from right field that set off Monday's highly charged melee. That "they were mean to my guys" argument does nothing to mitigate Jennifer Bueno's shattered schnozz, or her dizzy spells and headaches. She plans to file a civil suit, a perfectly reasonable response to Francisco's reckless behavior, but doesn't seem to understand that her lawyer sounds as dumb as her husband acts by insinuating a mass conspiracy led to her injuries. "What the Texas Rangers did is wrong," said Gary Gwilliam, the Buenos' attorney. "It's like the Abu-Ghraib prison scandal (in Iraq). It all starts at the top." It's doubtful Tom Hicks, the Rangers' owner, held secret training sessions at which players were taught to charge mouthy punks in the stands. There are reports Bueno mocked Texas pitcher Doug Brocail's weight, and shouted derogatory things about his mother, as well as wondering loudly which reliever was going to lose the game (probably the most vicious ridicule of all). Another report had Bueno yelling a racial slur at Francisco. All we know for sure is a chair flew through the air, a woman's nose was left bloodied and broken, and the miscreants are becoming more and more impossible to dodge. Originally published on September 16, 2004

Zappa to Miles through Jean-Luc Ponty via John Mclaughlin(a bit tortured, but...)

Blach Uhuru- 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'- deep deep grooves, with Sly & Robbie.

AB, Nice to hear from you- I hope everything is going well for you and you're settled into your new digs.

the anorexic one should do a mini version of 'Super Size Me', say for a wek or two- that would get her weight up to a nice level!

A slice of pizza at Frank's(Flatbush Avenue & Quentin Road, Brooklyn, NYC). Cheesy, sublime, great sauce, under $2. Frequently voted onto top ten lists of the best slice in NYC.

You're always welcome here to chat or vent or whatever you feel like. If you can, hook up with somebody that you feel comfortable talking about this stuff with-I speak from personal experience, as I found it helpful to talk with some buddies who also worked downtown that day. Hang in there, be strong.

Heaviest of all is to look at photos from a 1996 show of his at theStudio Museum in Harlem. Woah! I met someone else (can't think of his name) who had a space in one of the WTC towers. He placed contact microphones on the walls and recorded the sounds of the building moving in the wind. Later, after it all fell down, he made the recordings part of an installation at a mid-town gallery. Pretty creepy, all that moanin' and groanin'. It's odd that you mention the sound of the building. That's one thing that will stay with me for life, the sound of the second tower falling. I was walking north on Water Street in a daze, with my wet napkin over my nose and mouth, through thick dust comprised from the first tower, when I heard the groan of the second tower falling- it was the most sickening sound I ever heard.

Is that the best price out there? You do realize you are dealing with a group of obsessive bargain-hunters, right? I've only looked at a few sites, but CD Universe seems like the cheapest.