papsrus

I recall someone, somewhere around here saying that steroids have no effect on a hitter's physical abilities. And I recall someone slamming prosecutors at just about every turn leading up to the trial. And, correct me if I'm mistaken, but an essential part of Bonds' defense is to discredit the witnesses testifying against him (naturally). I'm just glad they disallowed testimony from his former mistress about the size of his shrinking balls.

Still in denial? http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6266163 No, no. This is a lost leader. You see, first it's "he didn't take roids/hgh," followed by "even if someone did slip him something while he wasn't looking, they don't do anything anyways," followed eventually by "the witnesses aren't credible" and then, finally, culminating in "the entire justice system is a joke. I'm moving to France." Bonds took roids/hgh. That's pretty obvious. He admits it, doesn't he? Only question is, did he knowingly take them. We'll find out what the judgment of a jury is on that. But I doubt the outcome, should it go against him, will convince his defender(s).

Glad you caught in early. You'll be fine.

Thanks for posting that. Loved it.

That gets to the heart of it. Could be a technically flawless performance of a brilliant arrangement, could be a ragged, whiskey-soaked blues. Wouldn't change a note, is the key.

That sounds grim all right. Is that midnight Eastern time?

Thanks. I just grabbed the numbers from a quick google search. Semi-random, and meant only to illustrate that some owners spend more, some less. As best I can understand, every team is "required" to spend a certain amount (against the cap). I'm guessing that in 2010 KC was somewhere around the minimum threshold while the NY Giants were in the upper end of that range. I'd also guess that the ownership in KC basically pocketed the difference. Nothing wrong with that, but it's hard to cry poor if you do. I recall that back in the day Bucs' owner Hugh Culverhouse made handsome profits year after year owning a losing team. Just kept the profits and didn't invest in the product. Generated a nice return.

It seems like they are more than 'pass-through agents' here. The top payroll in the league in 2009-10 was the NY Giants at $138 million. The bottom payroll was the KC Chiefs at $81 million. What accounts for the disparity?

Well, the percentage decreases aren't the same, but this scenario sounds awfully familiar. Difference is, many folks who took pay cuts, and took on some of the added work of their laid-off former colleagues, are in struggling industries. The NFL is by and large thriving. Maybe not making as much $$$ at the stadiums as they could, but fat TV revenue is locked in. In fact, the owners were able to accumulate a considerable 'war chest,' which they are presently legally barred from tapping. I can't muster much sympathy for either side in this one. If the league (which, btw, isn't exactly overflowing with quality teams these days) stayed shuttered for the entire season, that'd suite me fine.

Full article here. Part of the problem for me is getting a handle on some of the terms being thrown around. And part of that is due to the sketchy reporting, frankly. What exactly is a partial meltdown? For that matter, what do people mean when they say "meltdown?" From what I can decipher, the situations at these nuclear plants mainly concern failing cooling systems rather than runaway reactors melting down. The reactors themselves are shut down, I think, and the problem is cooling off the damaged innards without releasing too much radiation. The WashPost has a fairly clear article on it all here.

Yes. Perfection is an imperfect term. Subjective. I guess I was thinking of a piece of music conceived and executed flawlessly. For me, there's lots of Ellington that would epitomize this ideal: I suppose I was thinking a little bit of both: a piece of music that is both executed with precision and is conceptually complete. Nothing more could be added; anything less would leave it incomplete. When "Idle Moments" draws to a close and the final note is played, the listener (at least this listener) knows there is not a single note left to be played that could possibly add to the piece. And throughout the piece (to paraphrase that scene in "Amadeus") every note played fits into the 'whole' exactly perfectly. Not too many notes. Not too few. Just the perfect amount. I suppose in the end it's kind of a dumb question, cause a lot of this is subjective. But some songs, like "Idle Moments" for me, seem to rise above the rest.

CNN is reporting that the Japanese government is saying the explosions destroyed the buildings surrounding the reactors but not the reactors themselves or the structures they are contained in. Talking heads are saying 12 - 18 months just for immediate recovery, which I assume means, basically, cleanup. Dislocation of local populations in areas most affected will cause all kinds of problems. Think New Orleans times X. Some areas will likely have to be abandoned altogether. Glad to hear Tokyo and areas to the south are largely OK, but the reports and footage from the areas affected most are unbelievable. Side note: My ex-wife, who was raised in Tokyo, has contacted her family there and they are all OK. Her brother has now lived through 9/11, where he was talking on the phone from his midtown office to a colleague in one of the twin towers when a plane hit, and the phone went dead. And now this. He walked for four hours yesterday from his workplace to his home.

From the first time I listened to it, I have always regarded the title track from Grant Green's "Idle Moments" to be a study in perfection, from the way the song is arranged/played, its tempo, the soloing, the production -- literally everything about it from beginning to end. A pristine piece of music. "So What" on KOB is another piece that approaches perfection, for me, although I've never been too fond of Evans' solo. It is what it is but I've always somehow wanted more from him on that song. Of course, jazz or improvised music is often (if not mostly) about happy accidents and the imperfections that go hand in hand with improvisation. And I love that, too. But I'm interested in learning what other pieces of music -- jazz or not -- members have listened to and thought, "That's perfect."

Scary stuff. Thoughts are with those affected and glad to know the board's residents of Japan are OK.

Heat beat Lakers to snap skid. Never bet on a sure thing.

Have had the Young Tuxedo BB on pretty steady rotation in the car lately and it has kind of got me back in the mood. Very nearly picked up the Baby Dodds disc Kenny described above as sounding a bit like those horns at the World Cup. He's right. Maybe another time. Just snagged this one over at amazon.

Sounds good Allen. May 9th. Tempting.

I'm guessing if you have the debit card as your default form of payment, there's legalese in there that gives them the right to tap it. They should make it right though and credit the debit card from your gift certificate balance. No reason not to.

Yes, very sad.

Nice!

Very nice. Congratulations Allen. Looking forward to all of this.

Gaming. It is a much bigger slice of the entertainment pie today than it was even 10 years ago. And it has probably replaced music as the primary form of entertainment for youth.

Was watching CNBC the other day cause I was curious about what the financial hucksters had to say about unrest in the Middle East and its effect on oil. The general takeaway was that the United States gets relatively little -- about 10% -- of its oil from Saudi Arabia, and virtually none from Libya. Europe is another question. I think they are much more dependent on the Middle East. But most oil imported into the United States is from Canada, followed by South America and Russia, apparently. No uprisings reported in Canada. But the real stunner (to me) was that with some huge oil find up in Montana and improvements in the technology needed to extract it (oil shale, or oil sands, or something), these financial gurus were saying that this country could be a net exporter of oil. (Let that thought roll around in the old noggin' for a minute). That we're basically awash in oil now, and that we are not dependent on Middle East supplies anywhere close to what we were in the '70s. Take the whole thing with a grain of salt, but much of the price increases is probably due to hedging and speculation, I'd guess. Glad I have my Prius, though.

Lots of information if you follow Dmitry's link. Here's another interesting chart:

What that chart tells me is that even with digital sales factored in, overall sales are falling off a cliff. Superimposing a chart of overall consumer spending might be useful.