Noj

My brother's wife is Lebanese, and works in a restaurant which serves excellent Mediterranean cuisine. If you guys are ever in LA stop by Carnival in Sherman Oaks, just off the 101 North on Woodman. It is frequented by many Jewish and Arab immigrants for its authenticity.

Where bread is concerned, better=fresher. The key is to be in close proximity to the oven in which it is cooked.

I used to know this crazy kid from Glendale who would spend his summer vacations working on Alaskan fishing boats. He was super skinny and sort of gnarly looking, and his friends nicknamed him "Crack."

Damn, send some of that moisture out West. The whole region is kindling and it's triple digits every day in the Valleys.

Another Booby which I enjoy is the live album In The Vanguard, which 32 Jazz reissued. It has a nice version of "Witchcraft."

The big thing that Walton brings to the table is passing ability. The offense hit the skids last year the moment Luke went down with an injury. That said, he isn't the greatest defender and given his bloodline durability is a concern. Luke is renowned for his character and integrity which will hopefully rub off on Kobe. He's a winner.

Are most stars are emitting light of colors our eyes can't see, JLarsen?

UCLA's Aaron Afflalo was drafted by the Pistons, good for him. He can shoot the ball, and Detroit's offense suits his style. I hope he does well.

The Lakers draft wasn't so thrilling. The Chinese PG they drafted is 6'9", that's intriguing. I'm interested to see if Grant Hill will sign with Phoenix. It would be great if they could win a title with him in the mix, he's almost as deserving as Michael Finley was.

"Another biomarker might be a planet's colour. Chlorophyll, the chemical that controls photosynthesis, is green for a reason. It is tuned to the spectrum of the sun in order to absorb sunlight in the most efficient way possible. The reflected green is the light it rejects. That calculation could be made for any star, and the best colour for a chlorophyll equivalent worked out. Perhaps if the exoplanet under investigation were orbiting a dwarf star, the little green men—or, at least the vegetation they eat—might turn out to be orange." That would be a sight, a planet with a completely different set of colors from what we're used to here. Cool.

SS1 and his lady friend take a swim with their newest pets.

Worth it for Inner Glow alone.

Happy Birthday Robert!

The withdrawals were awful! Thanks for the fix, I was starvin' for it Jim!

So fun to watch, just awesome. Thanks for posting it, Jim.

That was some serious dancing, and Don was one smooth talking dude.

PM Sent about Horace Silver, 2 Jackie McLeans, 2 Andrew Hills...

Youngest of three here.

My uncle and oldest brother played heavy metal constantly. I was fed a steady diet of AC/DC, Van Halen, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Scorpions, and many other purveyors of the screaming guitar solo and long hair. My other older brother listened to alternative rock, so I heard The Smiths, Echo & The Bunnymen, New Order, REM, Social Distortion, and others. This was in the late '80s when I was around 12-13yo. In my quest for my own identity I began to listen to skateboard punk bands such as Firehose and The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and since rap started to gain its momentum I began listening to Public Enemy, De La Soul, and NWA's Ice Cube. At the same time a friend who lived across the street introduced me to Jimi Hendrix. Jimi changed everything for me. To my ears, his guitar solos ran circles around the pyrotechnics of heavy metal. Jimi's solos had substance, and seemed to be more suited to the overall theme of the song. So, I started delving into Classic Rock, getting into Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, and many others. Jimi Hendrix, for a time, was the pinnacle of all music to me. More and more I enjoyed hearing instruments and focused less on singing. At the same time I was still listening to heavy metal, alternative rock, and rap. Some of my friends knew club DJs and I learned about how rappers were sampling old jazz songs for their music. I began to want to hear those old jazz songs, so I learned a few names and bought a few cds. I dug through Mom's old records and she had a Wes Montgomery plate. A friend was given his father's record collection and introduced me to John Coltrane's Africa/Brass and then played me a song which really shifted everything for me: it was "Song For My Father" by Horace Silver. I then bought "Song For My Father" on a Blue Note Records compilation, which, along with the Blue Note Rare Groove series, inevitably led me to the Blue Note Bulletin Board, where I discovered there are the coolest bunch of music addicts in the universe! People with massive collections were quick to offer me advice on what to buy and names to look for. In about 6 years, I have acquired hundreds of albums with a seemingly flawless success rate due to knowledge gained here. My family and friends comment on my "huge" collection and I laugh knowing it is miniscule in comparison to others. I look at my collection, and mostly see the holes.

I found Blade Runner a fairly disturbing movie. The replicants were clearly human despite a government ruling that they be exterminated. The hero of the story is hunting the replicants and murdering them, even if they're ladies in ballet skirts. Who do you root for? I ended up sympathizing more with the villains.

I like them quite a bit, and will probably check this one out. Elephant is still my favorite so far, though I've enjoyed at least a few tunes off all of their albums. I wish Meg would sing more often, I like when she and Jack trade lyrics. I'm a sucker for blues rock.

I snuck into a bathroom window.

Isn't that the Thompson Twins?

Happy Birthday!

Rap.