Noj

They're on third and fourth string point guards plus Pau Gasol is out, and the roster isn't deep enough to overcome that many guys out. Plus idiot stick Jimmy Buss hired D'Antoni instead of Phil Jackson aka the best coach in NBA history. Personally, as much as I like Gasol, I think they should move him, Artest, and any players not named Bryant, Howard, Nash, or Jordan Hill for shooters/youth and a better backup point guard. That, and Jimmy should hand the reigns back to Jeannie.

My friend was Ravi's assistant in San Diego for a while, and her son plays drums for Anoushka. I'm told the whole family is very nice. RIP.

Hey Jim, can I jump in for a late download too? Please PM me a link!

Ask, and you shall receive, brother!

Totally agree, SS1. That's one of many reasons why I avoid TV news like the plague.

Odd. I like some Brecker, but comparing him to Trane is...well, no contest. I'll never understand why some seem to only appreciate music if it's played by those with whom they share their cultural/racial heritage. That doesn't have shit to do with how I hear and feel music. I just listen, and I like it when it sounds good. I don't interject my whiteness into my listening or need my whiteness reflected by the ones making the sounds.

The only problem I have is with the damn search not searching my iPod. That, and Cover Flow was cool.

The Raiders...aren't good. They stink.

Whoops, I forgot to make my picks too. I'll go with Denver as well.

I worked the Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards a few times because my friend heads the special effects crew that shoots off all the slime. While I was working running all of the hoses from these giant pumps, I walked through a tunnel in the arena and came face to face with legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk and his family. As I was working, I didn't say anything. With the same friend I had the strange experience of watching a rather old Ozzy Ozbourne perform from backstage. That was odd. Poor Ozzy can't remember his own lyrics, so he's got a teleprompter which dictates the whole show. And that was probably ten years ago. Another friend took me to Fox NFL Sunday, and I got to chat with Terry Bradshaw (who is a really friendly, funny guy). And I took a leak next to Marcus Allen.

Hot Ptah - My ears betrayed me. The sampled song is a bit similar, but not the same. Here's a skateboarding commercial with the song I thought of:

I found that drop down and it still didn't work for me. The search function still doesn't access my iPod, it only searches my iTunes library. Maybe it's because my machine is back on Snow Leopard, and not the current OS. I had high hopes that changing that search setting would alleviate my problem, but it didn't. Still bitter over here.

I really appreciate your well-thought out responses to my reactions, Hot Ptah. I'll A/B track 4 against the Minotaur Shock song and get back to you.

Because they're not good right now. Starting and backup point guards are hurt. Their older players are having a tough time playing defense. There's not enough shooters to spread the floor so they're all struggling on offense. D'Antoni was the wrong choice for coach because he's never had post players. Etc. etc.

Jim R, there's some discussion and links here. It looks like too much of a headache for me. I have two computers and one still has the old iTunes. mjzee, I noticed that one too. Ugh.

Another cute new development: any purchased Apple AAC file is now stored on Cloud and its information is not editable. This is the new model the powers-that-be want. No one will control their own music collection. It will be on the Cloud, and the people will have nothing. Thank heavens I've only bought a few songs from Apple.

They're fading all right. This team needs an overhaul on both lines like nobody's business. Let's face it, every team has gifted skill players. The teams that win have great lines on both sides of the ball. Until the Raiders have the hogs up front, they'll stink. It would also help to hire a proven winner for a coach, and give him enough time to establish himself.

I watched the tutorial, and most of the changes don't bother me at all. However, the inability to search my iPod is pure poop. I didn't see anything in the tutorial that indicated how to switch it from "Search Library" to a plain old "Search." I farted around and went through all the preferences and all the drop down boxes and right clicked all over the place to find some way to change it. It's like some wall has gone up on what is on the iPod and it only searches iTunes.

Suddenly, a wild Free For All appears.

BFT #104 Compiled by Hot Ptah First off, thanks to Hot Ptah for putting together this most enjoyable compilation. There was lots for me to like, little to dislike, and I could scarcely venture a guess on any of them. This jazz seems “bossy” to me, like they’re pushing the music around and bullying it to obey. It’s a mean feel, and get that from Mingus a lot even though I don’t think I’d guess Mingus here. Nice bounce. Tough sax. Sounds like the sort of thing that informed 50s rock and roll. Swinging good. Jump, jive, wail. More toe-tapping fun. I’ll throw an Ellington guess out there as I thought I heard something in the piano, but it’s just desperate grasping in the dark. I take it we’ve jumped ahead a few decades here. That intro may have been sampled by a group called Minotaur Shock. Fusion rocking out here. The theme isn’t entirely appealing to me so 5:33 of it is sort of meh. It does sound like music to get stuff done by, I’ll give it that. I love this from the jump, so 10:13 of it is A-OK by me. Weird contrast here with a damn near rockabilly rhythm and those mellow horns. Sounds a bit like the song “Who Do You Love.” Nice moody start. I might have this. That’s going to drive me nuts. Reflective. I like the sparse percussive elements. Beautiful. Swingin’ again. I feel like I should recognize the soloist, like an old friend. Bah! No guess. Got me from the first tickles of the keys. No guess again. Journeying to the middle east! I dig the changes of pace. Abdullah Ibrahim? A two minute and fifteen second romp. Made me smile. Pretty. Loving the bowed strings. I did not expect it to leap into the more uptempo thing. Really enjoyed this. Now we’re getting bluesy. I’m not opposed, although this is treading dangerously close to SNL band territory, vibes notwithstanding. Somewhat generic, not really all that thrilled with this. How far we going back? Way back! Swingin’ like mad. I’m a wee, lost little neophyte. Sigh. Another one I feel I should recognize. The pianist keeps repeating that little lick and it’s like some kind of signature. It’s a standard I ought to know too. I’ve got to admit that while I “hear” this, the discordant nature of it is just sort of goofy to me. I guess if one listens to enough music or plays enough music then melodic and tuneful gets boring. But if the alternative is to be sort of…I don’t know, nerdy, then…Maybe it will grow on me. I’m a nerd. Baden Powell or Paulinho Nogueira or something? Thanks again Hot Ptah! Apologies for taking so long to get my responses together! Now, off to read everyone else's thoughts and then the reveal thread.

MG, one of the settings you want to be sure to have on your iPod is to click the "manually manage music and videos" box on the iPod's main page, above Music. This means you don't have to sync it with your iTunes library, and you'll be able to delete songs off your iPod/add songs to it without necessarily having those songs in iTunes. This works well for people with large collections, since you don't necessarily want tens of thousands of songs stored on your computer and slowing its performance.

It used to at least search the iPod, MG. So if I was making a playlist on it, I would use the search function to find songs to include. Now, it doesn't search the iPod at all and only pulls results from iTunes. You need a separate program such as iPod Access to get past the annoying block Apple has on pulling tracks off the iPod.