Chalupa

Jean Guillou - Visions Cosmiques (Phillips prospective 21° siècle, green label, silver cover) Moondog - S/T (Columbia, gray label two eye)

Some local guys... Jack Rose & The Black Twig Pickers - S/T (Klang) Kurt Vile - Childish Prodigy (Matador)

Wow. What a life. Loved his guitar playing. RIP.

Question: does anyone know if the Johnny Dyani Quartet's,"Lonely Flower In The Village: Flower Of Peace / Duncan Village" has ever appeared on vinyl? I know it's available as a bonus track on the CD version of "Song for Biko" but I'm wondering if there is an analog issue. I can't find a complete discography for him.

http://slatest.slate.com/id/2239106/entry/11/ and http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/Details-of-Elin-Woods-newly-rewritten-prenup-em?urn=golf,206529

That was an incredible catch. Another perfect throw like last year's game winning toss to Santonio Holmes. The Steelers wouldn't have needed it if they hadn't booted the the on-sides kick they tried when they had the lead w/ 2 minutes to go. WTF was Tomlin thinking there?

She was a pretty good comedic actress and did a nice job in Eminem's movie 8 Mile. One of my best memories of her however was from an appearance on Letterman. Not long after she broke up w/ Ashton Kutcher, Letterman had her on and asked her what she thought about Ashton's relationship w/ Demi Moore..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O_nxivQJf8

23.2 inches in Philly. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/news_breaking/Its_official_Snowfall_set_a_record.html

I shoveled off the sidewalk in front of our house at 5pm. At that time I'd say there was at least a foot of snow on the ground. I was watching the news at 8pm and the mayor said that the official snow fall was 16 inches for Philly. Well at 10pm I shoveled the sidewalk again. I'd say another 7 or 8 inches had fallen since the 5pm shoveling. And it's still snowing. I'm thinking at least 20 inches before it's over. Oh and Winter officially begins at 12:47pm tomorrow.

My son is totally insane for all trains. Last Christmas my mother got him a Lionel Pennsylvania Flyer set. The engine is all metal w/ smoke, horn, and headlight. It must weigh 10 pounds. This year she is buying him an expansion pack(4 freight cars & more track) and a crossover piece which will allow us to make a figure 8 layout. He's going to FREAK on Christmas Day.

V/A - Electronic Music Vol.5 (Turnabout) Music from the Dartmouth International Electronic Music Competitions 1969 and 1970. V/A - Electronic Music from the University of Illinois (Heliodor) Released in 1967.

Getting hit pretty bad here in Philly too. Up to 18" to 24" total expected. Didn't you guys get hit in February of '96?? We got 3 feet in that one. I remember growing up in DC there was a snow in Feb. of '79 - I think it snowed 2 feet. We kids were bummed because it snowed on a Friday night into Saturday. So we figured we would have school on Monday. Not a chance. They gave us the whole week off.

It is near the Christmas break of the school year. The students have turned in all their work and there is really nothing more to do. All the children are restless and the teacher decides to have an early dismissal. Teacher: "Whoever answers the questions I ask, first and correctly can leave early today." Little Johnny says to himself "Good, I want to get outta here. I'm smart and will answer the question." Teacher: "Who said 'Four Score and Seven Years Ago'?" Before Johnny can open his mouth, Susie says, "Abraham Lincoln." Teacher: "That's right Susie, you can go home." Johnny is mad that Susie answered the question first. Teacher: "Who said 'I Have a Dream'?" Before Johnny can open his mouth, Mary says, "Martin Luther King." Teacher: "That's right Mary, you can go." Johnny is even madder than before. Teacher: "Who said 'Ask not, what your country can do for you'?" Before Johnny can open his mouth, Nancy says, "John F. Kennedy." Teacher: "That's right Nancy, you may also leave." Johnny is boiling mad that he has not been able to answer to any of the questions. When the teacher turns her back Johnny says, "I wish these bitches would keep their mouths shut!" The teacher turns around: "NOW WHO SAID THAT?" Johnny: "TIGER WOODS. CAN I GO NOW?"

Yeah, the Mariners' didn't give up anything of high value to get Lee. Just a strange move by the Phillies, but it's also a strange move for the Mariners because I don't think they can sign Lee, so it looks like one year and out for him. Not a good way to build up a team, but we'll wait and see. Plus, Lee seemed to be more effective in the NL than the AL. It's a great deal if Lee pans out, but at this point, I have a lot of questions. Today at the Halladay press conf. Phils GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said that.... "We could have kept both of them (Lee and Halladay), but it was a baseball decision for me and our organization and the people in the organization. We could not leave the cupboard bare. If we had just acquired Roy and not moved Lee, we would have been in position to have lost seven of the best 10 prospects in our organization. That is not the way you do business in baseball ... There are a variety of reasons to make this move, but more than anything else this is a baseball decision." He could have kept both but he chose not to because he wanted to restock his farm system?? What kind of ass backward thinking is that?? Memo to Ruben, henceforth who shall be known as "The Rube": The object is to make your MAJOR league team better not your MINOR league teams. Prospects are just that - prospects. A bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush or in this case Cliff Lee for 1 season (plus 2 1st round draft picks if he leaves next year) is better than the 3 pieces of wood you just got from Seattle. Brad did you read my previous posts? Amaro said that they could have kept both. The payroll budget wasn't the reason for this trade - that's if you believe Ruben. I don't. I mean Amaro is either a liar or incredibly dumb. If the Mets could afford both Lee and Halladay even if it were for just one season wouldn't you want them to hold on to them both? I also think Lee's agent is lying. I think he over-estimated his barging position and thought that he could bluff the Philles into paying more by playing a little hardball. Unfortunately for Lee and the Phillies' fans, Amaro panicked. I'm just amazed that Amaro thinks that the prospects from Seattle are going to be better than the two picks he would have got if Lee had left after next season. If they were so great why not spin them to Toronto for Halladay? Even if the Seattle prospects do pan out they are at least 3 to 4 years away from contributing to the Phils. That doesn't help us now. Drabek and Taylor are ready to go now and the Phillies core players JRoll, Utley, & Howard are in their early 30's. The window is closing. The future is now. Yes, we are glad as hell to get Halladay but it's not that much of an upgrade to justify losing Lee, Drabek, and Taylor. The big winners in the Lee trade are the Mariners, Yankees, Red Sox, and the entire NL except for the team from Philly. The Mets would have had no chance against Halladay, Lee, Hamels, and Happ. I would give Amaro an "A" for the Halladay deal and a "F" for the Lee trade which averages out to a "C".

I totally agree...but I think he's gonna be pleasantly surprised in Seattle and enjoy kicking the Phillies ass in the 2010 World Series. Dude, as much as losing the WS two years in a row would pain me I would love to see that. I'm a big Cliff Lee fan and I'm so pissed that they traded him.

Cliff Lee: "Shock and disbelief" http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillies_zone/Lee.html Currently on a conference call introducing Cliff Lee as a Seattle Mariner. He does not sound thrilled. Here is a sampling. "My initial reaction was shock and disbelief...Initially, I was disappointed because making it to the World Series was a lot of fun, and I was looking forward to making a third run at it." "At first I didn't believe it, because I thought that we were working out an extension with the Phillies and I thought that I was going to spend the rest of my career there...This goes to show this is a business, and you never know what's going to happen until you have a full no-trade clause." Why do you think it an extension didn't work out? "There was not enough dialogue. (Also) They had an opportuity to get the best pitcher in baseball, and I can't blame them for choosing Roy Halladay over me...I was under the impression they would keep me for a long time." "I'm going to be as positive as I can, and go over there and try to make it to the World Series with those guys...it's a new chapter. I've got to go to the Mariners and make the best of it. I'm going to go in with an open mind and do everything I can." Excited at all about returning to A.L.? "Uh, yeah. I've got to." What did you like about the Phillies? "Those guys are the real deal. It was a true team and I can't say enough about them." *** UPDATE, 8:25pm Was able to reach Ruben Amaro for a response. "I am not really going to comment on the negotiations, other than what I said yesterday," he said. "There was nothing contentious about our talks, but it may not have led to something we were comfortable with. I would have loved to have kept both guys on the club. It was a matter of, we felt more comfortable with the deal we could do with Roy than the one we could do with Cliff. "I hope Cliff Lee pitches tremendously well. We would have loved to have kept him, but it didn't look like we were going to move toward that goal." --------------------------------------------------------------------- From those comments it sounds to me that Cliff needs a new agent. This is what I think happened. Lee wanted to work out an extension and his agent decided to play hardball thinking that the Phillies would come back w/ a sweet offer. Unfortunately, instead of coming back w/ an offer they panicked figuring,"shit, his agent said he's just gonna walk unless he gets Sabathia money and a 6 year extension. We gotta try plan B." Plan B was Drabek & Taylor for Halladay. A part of me also wonders if Ruben may have also been sending a message to the rest of his potential FAs who want a mega dollar, long term extension,"Don't ask for the sky or I'll ship your ass to Seattle. If you like the rain, fine - you've got nothing to worry about. But if you don't like the rain...."

Thanks for posting that link. Interesting for me because here in Philly the Barnes Foundation has just broke ground on a new building located in downtown. The argument for the move(more people will be able to access the collection at the new site providing much needed revenue)is similar to the argument all of those other municipalities used for as a justification for their building these "field of dreams" museums/performance halls. Then again Philadelphia built a new performance space(the Kimmel Center)for the Philadelphia Orchestra 8 years ago and while it did have the positive effect of spurring a lot of economic development in the immediate area they(city/state/orchestra) are now creating a $50 million endowment fund just to cover operating costs for the building. But sometimes the effectiveness of these projects can't just be measured in dollars alone. I think the idea of building the Kimmel came along at a time when this city was really going down the tubes and it helped to reverse that tide not just in the economic sense but also in the image of what people thought about Philly. Perception and image are not easily defined in terms of dollars but their contribution is extremely important to city's livelihood, as you know. The commitment to build the Kimmel changed the perception of Philadelphia's downtown for a lot of people. Now the city has something that it can market ("The Avenue of the Arts") to tourists/empty nesters/urban homesteaders/developers and while it may be a stretch to say it is solely responsible for the downtown turnaround of the past decade the Kimmel definitely played a large part.

Heavy vinyl consumer, mostly used but I've bought about 40-50 new LPs this year too. Over 300 LPs for the year. I have probably bought less than 20 CDs(new & used)total this year. No downloading. I buy vinyl for a number of reasons - some practical(cost & availability)and some not(nostalgia & impulse) but I'm not beholden to one format or another. Hmm.. on second thought I guess I probably prefer vinyl considering how much money I've spent on my TT and VPI RCM versus the money spent on my CD player. Hell my RCM cost more than our vacuum cleaner(and the RCM gets used more often too! )

Yeah, the Mariners' didn't give up anything of high value to get Lee. Just a strange move by the Phillies, but it's also a strange move for the Mariners because I don't think they can sign Lee, so it looks like one year and out for him. Not a good way to build up a team, but we'll wait and see. Plus, Lee seemed to be more effective in the NL than the AL. It's a great deal if Lee pans out, but at this point, I have a lot of questions. Today at the Halladay press conf. Phils GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said that.... "We could have kept both of them (Lee and Halladay), but it was a baseball decision for me and our organization and the people in the organization. We could not leave the cupboard bare. If we had just acquired Roy and not moved Lee, we would have been in position to have lost seven of the best 10 prospects in our organization. That is not the way you do business in baseball ... There are a variety of reasons to make this move, but more than anything else this is a baseball decision." He could have kept both but he chose not to because he wanted to restock his farm system?? What kind of ass backward thinking is that?? Memo to Ruben, henceforth who shall be known as "The Rube": The object is to make your MAJOR league team better not your MINOR league teams. Prospects are just that - prospects. A bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush or in this case Cliff Lee for 1 season (plus 2 1st round draft picks if he leaves next year) is better than the 3 pieces of wood you just got from Seattle.

Somebody should grab the OFTV & TFTV along w/ DP12. The China>Rider on DP12 is the BEST VERSION EVER*, IMHO. DP1 & DP3 are also very good and are a steal at those prices. * 6/16/74 is a close 2nd.

Seattle should change its name from the Mariners to the Thieves b/c they just STOLE Cliff Lee from the Phils.

It was a very good show. The sound was fine. I think the sound problem for the musicians was that they couldn't hear each other through the monitors. I know that Dixon complained that he couldn't hear himself but we could hear him though - pretty LOUD w/ all of the electronic processing on his trumpet. Dixon didn't play all that much and what he did play was more of a textural thing than actual soloing. I would definitely go see the Exploding Star Orchestra again. Apparently they did some tunes that have not been released - not sure if they have been recorded - that were really nice. Check this out.... the drummer wanted - and got - two tympani drums which he never played. Cost the promoter $400.

looks like it's a done deal.... http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4744730 Man, I'm really bummed they gave up Lee. Too much IMHO.

Woo-hoo!!

It's not a done deal yet, and there's a posibility that the M's may include Morrow as part of the deal. If it goes through I think it makes the Phillies better, but not by a lot. If they had kept Lee and traded for Halliday that's great 1-2 punch. Sad to see Matsui go, he can still hit and he always was a class act all the way. Philly Inky is now reporting that Happ, Blanton, prized prospect Dominic Brown took Physicals today. Lee did not take a physical nor has his agent been contacted by anyone but the press. It maybe a two team trade after all. Stay tuned..... http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20091214_ap_royhalladayinphiladelphiaforaphysical.html