Chrome

Actually, you got me on all three ... but when I was growing up, we were all into Bruce Springsteen as the patron saint of disaffected suburban teens ... "Tramps like us, baby we were born to run!"

Speaking of being in the minority, I have to say I just don't get the big deal with the Beach Boys as far anything beyond the "ear candy" angle.

Re the NBA connection ... I'm way more of a baseball fan than an NBA fan, but isn't Mike Bibby related to the pitcher Jim Bibby? Is that who it was who pitched the no-hitter?

You the man! Come to SF sometime and see a game in Pacbell Park (or whatever they're calling it now.) The new ballpark downtown. It's right by the water; you'd love it! I wish ... that place looks incredible. Unfortunately for now, my $$$ situation is going to keep me in the midwest.

A couple of guesses: I believe it was Jack Morris who pitched an opening day no-hitter ... and maybe Mike Witt who did it on the last day of the season.

From E! online: The Passion of Andy Kaufman by Jennifer Godwin May 14, 2004, 5:50 PM PT It's only May, and it's already been a big year for resurrection in American pop culture: First Jim Caviezel as Jesus Christ, and now Andy Kaufman…as himself? Having promised to return from the grave on the 20th anniversary of his death, Kaufman is due back on the mortal coil on Sunday--and at 7:30 that evening his friends are throwing him a welcome-back party in Hollywood. Bob Zmuda, screenwriter, comedian and Friend of Andy tells the LA Weekly that Kaufman first broached the idea of faking his own death back in 1980. "Andy said, 'You know if some celebrity really did this, do you know big it would be? How legendary it would be?' " Zmuda's charity organization Comic Relief rolls out the red carpet at the House of Blues for Andy Kaufman: Dead or Alive?, which can only be described as a happening--sort of an event, sort of an performance and almost certainly a conga-thumping hootenanny. But there's no help-the-homeless angle here--the $250 VIP tickets are strictly for those who simply must be there when Kaufman rolls back into town. Best known as Latka Gravas, the foreign man from no place in particular on TV's Taxi, Kaufman was one of the most eccentric comedic performance artists of the '70s and '80s. He impersonated Elvis and Mighty Mouse, created the character of venomous lounge singer Tony Clifton, wrestled women and took Carnegie Hall out for milk and cookies. Toward the end, while appearing to die from lung cancer at age 35, he mused aloud about the best gag of all--staging his own death and reappearing 20 years after the fact. Zmuda, Lynne Marguiles (Andy's girlfriend) and George Shapiro (Andy's manager) are taking Kaufman at his word and throwing him a homecoming party. Should Kaufman choose to once again grace the Sunset Strip with his presence he'll be greeted by his friends and compatriots, his old band--Tony Clifton and the Cliftones and His Steamy Cliftonettes--and famous funny people galore, including Rodney Dangerfield, Caroline Rhea, Bob Odenkirk, Andy Dick, Paul Rudd and wrestling mogul Jerry Lawler. "We're taking out hundreds of personal ads in newspapers across the country and abroad, reminding Andy of the date, and what he said," Zmuda tells the LA Weekly. "So, hopefully he'll see one of them." Plans for the shindig include roasting Kaufman until he emerges from seclusion to defend his comedic honor (or not), a performance by the Cliftones and the world premiere of a never-before-seen Kaufman film, which is presumably not 1999's Milos Forman-directed Man on the Moon, which starred Jim Carrey as Kaufman, Paul Giamatti as Zmuda, Courtney Love as Marguiles and Danny DeVito as Shapiro. There was no word as of press time about what miracles Kaufman might perform upon his return, or if he would be joined by post-life pals Elvis Presley and John Belushi A limited number of tickets are available through the House of Blues Website (www.hob.com) and Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com); general seating is available for $99.95, standing room can be had for $50 a pop. And, as R.E.M. once sang about a certain man on the moon, "See you in heaven if you make the list."

Officials issue appeal to ID abandoned girl 'I want my mommy' Wednesday, May 19, 2004 Posted: 11:17 AM EDT (1517 GMT) Editor's Note: Officials asked anyone with information about Courtney or her family to call the Department of Social Services at (410) 361-2235. The child, pictured here on Monday, told authorities that her name is Courtney and she is from Brooklyn. [see photo below] BALTIMORE, Maryland (AP) -- Authorities appealed to the public to identify an abandoned 3-year-old girl who says her name is Courtney, she's from Brooklyn and she wants her mommy. The little girl was found May 5 when the father dropped her off with a stranger at an unknown location in Baltimore, Sue Fitzsimmons, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Social Services, said Monday. He said he was leaving to cash a money order, but he never returned and the stranger called police. The child told authorities she is from Brooklyn, New York. She said she and her father had been living in a Baltimore warehouse. The girl has been in foster care since she was found. Fitzsimmons said Monday that if Courtney's relatives do not come forward to claim her, she will be permanently placed with a family in Baltimore. "We want to do everything we can to find out who she is," Fitzsimmons said. "We hope someone is looking for her." In New York, police Sgt. Kevin Hays said Wednesday that the NYPD had no leads at this time on the girl's identity. He said Baltimore authorities continued to investigate. At Monday's news conference, Courtney played with toys and posed for pictures wearing a black-and-white summer outfit, her hair in neat cornrows. When a reporter asked her a question, she wept and said: "I want my mommy." With that, Fitzsimmons picked her up, and the news conference ended. The girl was also featured Wednesday on NBC's "Today."

Another great pianist is the Japanese Junko Onishi. The late Joe Henderson helped her to promote her career. At the early 90's she began recording for Blue Note and she recorded 5 CDs for the label. To the best of my knowledge she is back in Japan and she's recording for a local label.

Thanks, guys ...

That album kicks some serious ass ... I'll often pick one CD to listen to for the entire day at work ... with the phone calls/interruptions, I don't get bored with it, and I find that I can get a deeper appreciation of some of the music than I would with just a single listen.

I can remember when this was in the news ... changed my whole opinion of Tony.

Anyone familiar with the organist Ronnie Foster or know what he's up to? I'm spinning my disc of "Two-headed Freep" and was curious...

I never heard of this either ... I appreciate the tip!

I was spinning Neil Young's "Live Rust" yesterday ... I wonder what a jazz version of something like "Cortez the Killer" would sound like?

From Slate: This is worth reading just for Kerry Wood's last quote ... Why Do Athletes Pee on Their Hands? Does urine really toughen the skin? By Dan Kois Posted Monday, May 17, 2004, at 2:03 PM PT In a recent interview with ESPN's Gary Miller, Chicago Cubs outfielder Moises Alou revealed that during baseball season he urinates on his hands to toughen them up. Alou, one of the few major leaguers who doesn't wear gloves while batting, is backed up by Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, who says, "You don't want to shake my hand during spring training." Even Cubs hurler Kerry Wood mentioned on a local radio show that he's tried the technique to remedy blisters on his pitching hand (though he wryly added that there's also a well-known clubhouse cure for headaches: "crapping in your hat"). Does urine really toughen the skin? Quite the opposite. Proponents of urine therapy—and there are enough of these to have populated three World Conferences on the subject—believe consuming one's own urine boosts the immune system, and they also recommend using it as a skin treatment. But most say urine softens the skin, rather than hardening it. Plenty of traditional doctors and professional skeptics will tell you that urine therapy is a crock, but when it comes to skin care, urine-therapy devotees may be correct. Urea, a major component of urine, is a compound also used in many commercial moisturizing creams as a skin softener. It's an active ingredient, for example, in Carmol 10 and 20 and in Dermal Therapy Lotion. (The makers of these lotions are not distilling urine, by the way; their urea is manufactured in a lab.) But that doesn't necessarily mean you can save money on moisturizer by drinking a ton of water. As a delivery device for urea, lotion is much more effective than pee; in order for the urea in urine to have an effect, you'd need to soak your hands long enough for the urea to be absorbed by your skin, at least five minutes. While there's no hygiene-related reason not to do so—"Urine is sterile, if a bit gross," writes Stanford dermatology professor Dr. Alexa Boer Kimball in an e-mail—those with eczema or dermatitis may see their conditions exacerbated by contact with urine. So, why do baseball players do it? Athletes, especially baseball players, are superstitious creatures. If Moises Alou thinks peeing on his hands has helped him hit .301 in his 14-year major league career, who are we to tell him otherwise? Wood noted in his ESPN radio interview that he experimented with urine only when he had blisters that wouldn't go away, and he was desperate enough to try anything. "Someone tells you something works," Wood said, and you give it a try, because saving your career is worth any sacrifice—even peeing on your own hands."

I finished "The Element of Crime" last night and WOW ... not only is the look of the movie fantastic, but the plot was great, too. I don't want to be a spoiler, so I'll just say I love that kind of added twist in the story line. Re "The Kingdom": I've been waiting for that to pop up on Netflix ever since the Stephen King version came out, and so far no luck. Has that been released in the states yet? As far as "rough stuff": my wife and I also saw "Bowling for Columbine" this weekend and she literally could not sit through that. I barely could. The video from inside the high school was unbelievably horrible ... my heart was in my throat during the whole scene. And Heston at the Denver NRA rally was just disgusting. This should be "must" viewing for everyone in this country.

I saw that when it was on CNN, too ... there's got to be other forms of life out there, and just in case there are, you might want to check this out:Don't get probed!

I don't know, Claypone ... I think you might have an over-inflated opinion of Pam.

That's pretty good, but I thought his novel "Blindness" was even better ... way better, I'd say. The plot of "All the Names" seemed a little too much like he was borrowing from Kafka.

I'm always worried it's going to implant subliminal messages in my brain ... "Buy Kenny G discs ... buy Kenny G discs..."

I can think of at least two reasons why this is "big" news ... Pam Anderson U.S. citizen LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Former "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson became a U.S. citizen Wednesday, her lawyer said. Anderson, 36, who was born in British Columbia, underwent an interview and passed a 10-question citizenship test. She was then sworn in at a private ceremony, her attorney Barbara Federman said. "She did fabulous," Federman said. Anderson moved to California in 1989. Federman would not say why she sought U.S. citizenship. Immigration officials said the actress also retained her Canadian citizenship. Anderson is currently a columnist for Canadian Elle magazine. She starred on "Baywatch" and has since worked in various films and TV shows, including the animated television series "Stripperella." She has two sons with her former husband Tommy Lee, a member of the band Motley Crue.

Pete La Roca/Simms is definitely one of those guys I wish recorded more as a leader ... I've got his "Swingtime" and "Turkish Women at the Bath," and they're both excellent. Does any know the story behind him changing his name? I understand it was to capitalize on the Latin jazz thing, but why him? I mean, I don't know of anyone else in jazz who did this ... of course, my not knowing something about jazz is often par for the course.

Last night I started watching Lars von Trier's "The Element of Crime" and I'm about halfway through it ... has anyone else seen this? It's pretty far out stuff.