papsrus

OK ... I watched my first Olympic event (excluding the obligatory Phelps races) -- Women's team handball, Norway vs. Korea (which I guess means South Korea? Or are they doing the "combined team" thing again this year?) ... Pretty dang exciting, although I could only get the vaguest notion of what the rules might be, and the announcers sure weren't helping too much in that regard. I found it pretty astonishing, really, that there actually were announcers who both, spoke English, and knew something about this game. The contest itself looks like something you might do in 7th grade gym class ... once ... when the teacher doesn't show up ... on a Friday ... after someone inadvertently locked the equipment room leaving you with only a volleyball and two odd-sized nets ... and you probably got detention if somebody walked in on you and caught you misbehaving like this. ... It was GREAT!!! ... ... (I missed the ending though, as there's only so much of any single sporting event not-called-baseball that I can endure in one stretch, and the announcers weren't offering any clues as to how long this thing might go on ... so I have no idea who won, but those Norwegian gals looked magnificent! ...

Their away record early on may have been one sign of what was to come. Injuries have really ... hurt (ouch!) I guess. It's odd to think of the Braves without a well-stocked minor league system of guys they can plug in. ... It was a good run though A Worst-team Series would have to be between the Mariners, who will be the first eliminated from the playoffs, and the Padres, who are the worst team in the worst division in baseball. (Although the Nationals technically have the worst record in baseball, the NL West factor gives the nod to the Pads).

I've only done that once, and it was just a few months ago. I spent one of Aggie's $2.79 BMG codes on the new remastered Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street. When I entered it into my database, I learned that seven years ago I bought a Japanese copy of that album I found at Borders for $4.99, which I hadn't opened yet. Well, can't complain about the money! Any guesses as to whether the new US remaster sounds better than the old Japanese? I did it earlier tonight. ... twice! I picked up Lee Morgan's "The Sidewinder" at Borders after having ordered a copy from Dan's Stupendous CD Sale and forgetting about it. I made a stupendous substitute with Dan after I got home and realized my blunder, and so I'm feeling downright giddy about the whole thing at this point. But, for good measure, I picked up a copy of Vol. 1 of Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings at Borders as well, then came home and after listening to it ordered the entire box tonight online. ... So I'm essentially 2-for-2 in this category today, although I was able to rectify the first mistake and can rationalize the second as "sampling before making the big purchase," ... although sampling "the most important recordings in the history of jazz" (as the sticker on my CD says) before buying the whole enchilada is kinda .... ... dumb.

When is that released? Sooner every day! I think it's out. It is out- Iordered it yesterday along with the hooves disc. Yup yup yup. On order here, too. Looking forward to it mightily. Here's a mention in the Braxton thread.

Awright, enough with Olympic bods. These people are freaks. Phelps has a huge torso and his legs are disproportionately small for his height (or so they say). He wouldn't have won eight gold medals if he wasn't a freak. And I just got through reading about how female gymnasts (and softball players, apparently) have abnormal physiologies. Basketball players? ... please. Sprinters? .... Uh-huh. Freak, freak, freak, freak. They are (for the most part) wonderfully gifted freaks. But they're freaks nonetheless. ... Now, that fat slob chewing on a batch of twizzlers in your lunch room at work? ... he's the normal guy.

These are a reward for surviving the test your computer put you through recently. ... Karma, it can be a good thing.

Oh my Gawd! ... What an awful thought.

OK. One more. That's it. Trio Viriditas -- "Live at Vision Festival VI" Alfred Harth-reeds, pocket trumpet, voice Wilber Morris-bass Kevin Norton-drums, vibraphone This review got me interested (and the sound samples).

Got it @ Borders today. Haven't listened yet. Man. Your Boarders is a lot better stocked than mine! ... I went ahead and ordered from squidco. Looking forward to it. Be interested to hear your thoughts if you get a chance to spin it over the next couple of days.

Well, lemme ask ... what's the advantage to having an underage gymnast? Wouldn't a 16-year-old who has trained longer and is more developed muscularly have an advantage over a young child? ... I'm not quite making the connection here with younger (than 16) = an advantage. On the one hand, they've trained longer. On the other hand, most of the routines favour ultra-light frames. In fact, even in the US, it is rumored that the gymnasts routinely starve themselves -- and maybe take hormones -- to stave off puberty. Once puberty hits, the center of gravity drops, you have to relearn all your routines. Of course, some gymnasts keep going, but it is ultra rare for any females to be any good at the sport after 23 or so. Another issue, perhaps a little overblown, is that younger competitors are too young to know the difficulty of what they are attempting, so they actually have better nerves than older competitors. (I've seen this a little with helping out on a high school athletic team.) One SI columnist said that the Chinese gymnasts had Kool-aid in their veins. Probably 14 is an acceptable age limit, but it is quite clear that the Chinese did cheat this year, but they will get away with it. If they're cheating, somebody ought to call them on it. ... Saw the highlights of the U.S. - China bean-ball game, btw. Not too pretty. Apparently the Chinese catcher didn't realize he was fair game for a baserunner bearing in on home plate from third. The Chinese lost 9-1 and got their lone run on a solo home run, presumably long after the outcome had been decided. The bozo who hit it was showboating around the bases the whole way and stomped on home plate in a unmistakable gesture of bad sportsmanship. If this was a minor league game, the guy would have been taken out his next at bat. Seriously poor sportsmanship on the part of the "hosts." ... IMO. They obviously have no clue how to play the game.

Rounding out my plundering over at Squidco for the week: William Parker -- "Double Sunrise over Neptune" Braxton / Graves / Parker -- "Beyond Quantum"

Careful how you phrase that. That is GOOD, paps.. ..... :eye:

Careful how you phrase that.

No, but given the excitement around here , I'm seriously considering it once I amass a sizable enough collection.

Well, lemme ask ... what's the advantage to having an underage gymnast? Wouldn't a 16-year-old who has trained longer and is more developed muscularly have an advantage over a young child? ... I'm not quite making the connection here with younger (than 16) = an advantage.

Whether you agree or not, the age limit for women's gymnastics is 16, so under 16 y.o. girls are ineligible. It's very clear that many (most?) of the Chinese gymnasts are 14 and 15. Huh. I didn't know that. I believe that 15 is within the rules, as long as they turn 16 by the end of 2008. Same deal in parts of West Virginia ... or so I've been told.

Whether you agree or not, the age limit for women's gymnastics is 16, so under 16 y.o. girls are ineligible. It's very clear that many (most?) of the Chinese gymnasts are 14 and 15. Huh. I didn't know that.

On the other extreme, I watched more women's gymnastics last night. Some of those Chinese kids? Sixteen my ass! What's the deal with the ages? Does it matter? Is there some kind of age restriction? And I read about a bean-ball game between the Chinese and American baseball teams. The U.S. was blowing them out and one of our guys plowed over their catcher at the plate and ... it was ON! ... Chinese pitchers started head-hunting. Sent one American to the hospital. This was all according to HuffPost, mind you. Didn't see a thing on CBS Sportsline about it, so the whole story could be bullshit. But if true, there's the old Olympic spirit for ya! Lets just hope we see those bastards in the medal round! (kidding ................ a little)

They are available very inexpensively on Amazon. Also, I believe that at least the Chambers was reprinted around the turn of the millenium in that "Collector's Choice" series of reissues or whatever it was called where they reprinted some of the early CD titles which had fallen out of print. Well I never did check Amazon to see if titles are listed and at what prices. That's a pretty good reason. Guess I can plan on keeping those. Or bundle them for one low-low-low price! Prices so low, they're insaaaaaaaane

OK, sending a PM on the following (discounted price in parenthesis) Art Blakey, Moanin' (LRC) $6 .... ($4) Art Blakey, A Night at Birdland Volume 1 (Blue Note RVG) $6 .... ($4) Art Blakey, A Night at Birdland Volume 2 (Blue Note RVG) $6 .... ($4) Miles Davis, Cookin' (OJC) $6 .... ($4) Miles Davis, Workin' (OJC) $6 .... ($4) Charlie Parker, Bird at the High-Hat (BN) $6 .... ($4) Charlie Parker, Yardbird Suite - The Ultimate Charlie Parker Collection (Rhino) two discs, $14 .... ($13) Kenny Dorham, Quiet Kenny (Prestige) $6 .... ($4) Kenny Dorham, Round About Midnight at the Cafe Bohemia Volume 1 (BN - 1987) $5 ($3) Dexter Gordon, Our Man in Paris (BN) $7 .... ($5) Lee Morgan, The Sidewinder (BN) $6 .... ($4) Lee Morgan, Cornbread (BN) $6 ($4) Coleman Hawkins, Blue Wail - Coleman Hawkins Plays The Blues (Prestige) $6 ($4) Ben Webster, Meets Oscap Peterson (Verve) $7 ($5) Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster (Verve) $7 ($5)

Well, that explains the glassy-eyed grin ...

He's saving their bullpen. ... What did he throw, 130 pitches or something?

I would guess people generally have a certain number of discs they feel comfortable purchasing each month (notice I didn't say $ amount) and once they've got their allotted number, they need time to digest what they've purchased before acquiring more discs. .... maybe .... maybe not .... But I'm sure there must be a marketing term for this phenomenon, if it exists. In any case I'm chewin' on a list. I do like the "buy 10, knock $2 off each (except for double-disc sets)" deal. I'll be PM-ing you shortly.

11 p.m. update (Aug. 18)