papsrus

Good thing the gov't is around to protect us. Wouldn't want a handful of beer drinkers to get corrupted by a bottle cap or anything.

Apparently, they are actually up something like 20 percent so far this year, so I guess it's not so terrible. And there have been good some crowds of 20,000 - 30,000, but not consistently. It may have been the Memorial Day weekend that sapped the crowds away to other "outdoor" activities. We'll see. An outdoor stadium on the bayfront would help. But as bad as the dome is, they've dressed it up pretty nice inside. And you can't argue with air conditioning when it's like an oven outside. I think the general economic blues may also have something to do with why the crowds are sporadic. People are just watching their dollars more closely lately, waiting for the damn economy to turn. At the same time, I think you can get in the dome for as little as $12. And there's plenty of room to upgrade your location as the game moves along.

We ran a nice story in the paper today about how he turned his life around by going to what is basically a Christian baseball boot camp in Clearwater. Cleaned toilets, slept on an inflatable mattress, couldn't practice until all his obligations were taken care of, and was free to leave at any time. He stayed. There was a great photo of him sort of tipping his cap to the Rays dugout prior to their first game here Monday. I think he's being paid about $300,000 this season. I hope he tears it up for years to come. I just have to say I'm disgusted with the attendance that the Rays are getting right now. My God, if I lived up there I'd be at the stadium at least once a week. As it is, living more than an hour away, I make it to half a dozen games a year or so. May go up for the White Sox this week. ... If they can't draw regularly now, I wouldn't blame them for trying to leave for greener pastures. In fact, I'd be all for it. They deserve better than 13,000. Shitty. Really shitty.

Fun with numbers: D-Backs and Rays share the best record in baseball at 30-20. Both are also 19-8 at home and 11-12 on the road. Both franchises were born in 1998.

How's Coltrane doing Dan? Recovery on schedule?

Rays 11, O's 4 ... Now that's more like it! Longoria homers in first and second inning, Upton goes 4-for-4, and the top of the order finally produces in a big way. Detroit up on the Vikings ... er, Twins, 19-3 late in the fourth quarter ... I mean 9th inning.

44% Yankee. Some of the distinctions on that test struck me as being rural vs. urban, as opposed to Southern vs. Yankee.

Yep. June's loaded up with the Red Sox, Angels, Astros, Cubs, Marlins ... yikes! They do go to Pittsburgh for a three-game set. Still, a little worrisome. And Baltimore and Texas in this current home stand seemed like two series they could count on winning. Not now. It'll be interesting to see how Josh Hamilton does here next week.

Is there any talk in Seattle about offering up Ichiro for a fist full of prospects at this point? He would fit nicely in right field at the Trop. I'm sure the Rays don't want to mess with the chemistry (or their salary structure, or their prospects) by bringing in a superstar. But they have to find their bats soon. I love the 2-0 and 2-1 wins, but man, it would be nice to throw up some insurance runs every once in a while. I haven't checked, but I would be shocked if this isn't the weakest-hitting club with a .500 or better record in all of baseball. If they want to get serious about staying in the AL East race, they need to find some thunder.

Indeed. This WSJ article linked from the main page above is worth a glance: Classical Musicians Learn to Improvise ... in my limited knowledge of classical music, I wasn't aware that improvisation was once a featured component of the music. Interesting.

Brutal. It's amazing it doesn't happen more often.

Wife cheated. Got a divorce. Same tell-tale signs as Jazzbo saw. What I learned was that if you suspect something, then it's probably happening. The signs are obvious in hindsight. At the time, I just rationalize them away. New friends, new sexy underwear (a big clue), new cellphone, etc., etc. I remember I grabbed her cellphone instead of mine one day by mistake as I headed to work. She freaked. Told me to turn it off and put it away somewhere. ... Much of a clue there? I blew it off as her being possessive of her phone or something. Crystal clear now why she freaked.

The Sox should win this division with relative comfort. I'm just hoping the Rays can push them a bit and if everything falls right, battle for a wild card spot. That would be huge. ... The Yankees are a mess right now. There's nobody in that starting rotation that I would count on. Pettitte and Mussina look solid one start, get rocked the next. And I agree on Chamberlain. Whether or not he can make it through a lineup three or four times is very much an open question. If they continue to struggle, I'll be curious to see how long they wait to blow that team up. Rays finished their road trip to St. Louis and Oakland 3-3. Not bad. Nice home stretch now -- Baltimore, Texas and the ChiSox. Their bats are becoming a real concern though. Aside from Navarro, of all players, nobody is hitting close to .300. And Percival is starting to show some inconsistency closing games out. It's a little nerve-wracking watching him grove one over the corner of the plate on one pitch and then fart around with high fastballs that almost sail over the catcher's head. He's got pinpoint control. He's got no control. Whoops, Thomas cranks one over the fence and it's a one-run game! Yikes.

The home I just purchased has four very old and beautiful oaks trees on it. The branches of one almost fully cover the roof of the house. I'll get some pictures up in the next day or two. The shade is wonderful.

Lets get the lawn chairs out and make some lemonade for the show ...

OK. After a long hiatus, I tapped into my wish list today and placed a few orders. Firstly, Allen Lowe's "That Devilin Tune" is set to arrive this week. Can't wait! Here's the rest: Matana Roberts Quartet -- "The Calling" Jeff Chan -- "In Chicago" "Bill Dixon With Exploding Star Orchestra" Empty Cage Quartet -- "Stratostrophic" Jason Ajemian -- "The Art of Dying" "Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet" Pee Wee Russell Quadromania set TaDa! ...

I like that. My wish list has been ballooning over the past couple of months, but I'll be returning to this thread to cherry pick titles when I can. Thanks.

The Rays managed to pull one out in extra innings last night vs. Oakland after giving up the lead (again) late. Longoria 2-run home run did the trick. Hard to believe there was any thought that this guy wasn't quite ready for the big leagues. Even though he didn't have his best stuff last night, Maddon left Shields in rather than go to the pen when he got into trouble in the 7th. I hope that's not a sign he's starting to lose confidence in his relievers (after they blew two games in St. Louis). ... And Percival barely avoided giving up a game-tying home run in the bottom of the 13th. ... I guess it's a growing process, learning how to win games late.

Well done! Happy birthday.

Sorry for your loss. Perfectly normal, I'd guess, to not be able to find pleasure in all sorts of things during such a period. I would follow the advice already given of forgetting about music for now and focusing on yourself. If a reawakening is to happen eventually, here's hoping it is a joyous one.

Yes. Very nice. Didn't get to see anything but the end of the game. Quite a moment.

Great lists MG and clifford thornton! ... I'm not a fraction of the free jazz fan I figured myself to be. I don't believe I have a single title on that list. Now, if each of you fellas could point to which 10 from your lists you would focus on for starters, if that's even possible, I'd be much obliged. (Just for curiosity sake, you understand). (string of many smiley things here)

I'd still like to know what prompted the outburst.

Got all moved in to my new digs and my brand new 37-inch flat panel unwrapped. The satellite (Direct TV) guy comes by Sunday (bonus points) to hook me up and ... I find out I need a whole new dish (the house came with a Direct TV dish) and receiver to get high definition! ... Bummer. I was really looking forward to the Rays in high def. yesterday. ... My disappointment at that and the shitty way we lost the last two games of the series in St. Louis (last at-bat wins for the Cards) was somewhat ameliorated by the Yankees getting their hats handed to them Sunday night. ... BTW, I'm not in favor of replay reviews in baseball, but Joe Morgan's reasoning for not using it was inane. "It wouldn't work because I don't like it," basically. Well, it would work, as far as correcting bad calls. But it would interrupt the flow of the game and change the character of the game, which I like just fine the way it is, bad calls and all. The Rays pen is looking a little shaky lately. Some youthful errors are starting to cost them as well. Zobrist playing short yesterday should have helped out Longoria at third on a pop fly he lost in the sun. He was nowhere near him. Hopefully they can bounce back in Oakland. ... After two crappy losses, still just a game out of first.

Check out Ashville, N.C. I've never been, but have toodled around the mountains near there and it's gorgeous. Ashville itself has a reputation as a pretty progressive arts town, I believe. As far as location, you're easy driving distance from Atlanta, the Atlantic coast, even Washington D.C. is not an unreasonable drive for a long weekend. I believe housing prices should be still fairly reasonable. Natural surroundings, relatively liberal attitude and location would put Ashville near the top of my list. Negatives: You're coming from Maine, so summers might be a lot hotter than you're comfortable with; I'm sure it has a bit of a slow, Southern pace, which I personally prefer; and the city itself is not that large. But it does have something of a reputation as an arts community.