Aggie87

Dallas, 16 Dec 2023

I picked up the Songs from the Wood ($39) and Aqualung ($30) boxes from Movie Mars, and they arrived on Friday in great shape. They don't even seem to be available there anymore, and starting to disappear from other retailers. I missed the SFTW box years ago and wasn't willing to buy it at crazy prices on the secondary market, so glad I got it finally. It's probably my favorite overall Tull album.

Don't get me wrong - I'm in agreement with you. FSU should be in. Bama shouldn't. My comments were an explanation of how this stupid group gets to decide who they want in, based on effectively any criteria they want to use, which changes based on the team they're considering. For some decisions, records matter. For some decisions, who they "think" is the best team currently is what they choose. And the committee has the luxury to pick which criteria they want to use at any point in time. And not be consistent with their justifications.

It seems they can pick teams based on two different sets of criteria: 1. The top ranked teams with the best records. Under this scenario FSU deserved to be in the final four, over both Bama and Texas. 2. The current "best" teams. This is subjective, and appears to be what they used to justify not picking FSU. I believe they felt that as of Sunday, Bama was a better team at the present time than FSU. It's not really provable, other than FSU being on their 3rd string QB, and therefore not a dominant team. One thing in Bama's favor (I guess) is that their strength of schedule was ranked 5th, while FSU's was ranked 55th. The problem is that they can pick when they want to use the first criteria or the second criteria, and don't have to justify anything.

Sounds about right. Go ahead and send the cd now though, if you don't mind.

That's mighty tempting! One can never have too many Biermann cds. Even if they're duplicates of the ones you already have. I'll get back to you some year.

Tchaikovsky's not bad, but he's no Wolf Biermann.

In front of my neighbor's yard, 4 Nov 23

Oh yeah! I've got the original numbered DVD release of this, but never picked up the cd version. I'll have to remedy that. I really don't watch too many DVDs/Blu Rays anymore.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38782354/game-1-least-watched-world-series-game-recorded-history

I can't answer how long it will take to get from one place to another without knowing the locations you're asking about, lol. Things are very spread out in the whole Phoenix/Scottsdale area, so it will take some time to get from place to place. Google maps can help you determine how long it will take from one address to another, if that helps you. Phoenix (and all of it's adjacent cities like Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Glendale, etc) isn't like a European city with a proper city center and good public transport to all of the suburbs. You will need a vehicle to get around. You may be better off financially if you rent a car, instead of Ubering from A to B to C, back to A, etc. As a side note, it is still very hot in Phoenix. Today's high temperature will be 102F (about 39C). The city is in a desert climate. It may be pleasant when you visit, or it may be hot, depending on which month it is.

Phoenix and Scottsdale sort of blend together, running parallel to each other north and south. They are sort of the same city, though Scottsdale is generally more affluent than Phoenix. Phoenix has a more diverse population. Everything here is kind of spread out, so you'll travel some distance between places.. Traffic in central Phoenix and on the 101 Loop can get pretty busy during rush hours, but it's mostly pretty easy to get around. For Zia locations, they just relocated their main store to 6135 N 35th Ave (corner of Bethany Home Rd). That might be their best location, though I go to the one on Thunderbird Road more often (it's closer to me), and I think it's just as good. I like Zia because I like the mix of new and used music that they have, in all genres. It is sort of like Waterloo in Austin or Princeton Record Exchange in NJ, if you've familiar with those.

I moved to a town just north of Scottsdale earlier this year. Like less than 2 miles to the northern Scottsdale border. The boundaries for Scottsdale/Phoenix are blurry to me, so I don't know how much it matters to you whether a shop is in Phx or Scottsdale. There's a used chain here called Zia Records with 5 locations around the Valley (which includes Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler, Tempe, Scottsdale, Glendale, and other Phoenix area suburbs). They've also got branches in Tucson and Las Vegas. They're a little bit of everything - new, used, vinyl, cds, some books, dvds, etc. But I can usually find some interesting vinyl and cd purchases every time I visit one of them. https://www.ziarecords.com/ I've also visited the Vinyl Record Dude and found some interesting things there. https://vinylrecorddude.com/ And I've been to Stinkweeds, which seems to be a successful place, but I didn't find much of interest in my one visit there. https://www.stinkweeds.com/ Seems like there are other Phx area board members, maybe they'll chime in.

Bill Frisell at the Music Instrument Museum in Phoenix, 10/13/23 He finished his set with an acoustic version of "Pannonica", which was beautiful. The MIM has Baroness Pannonica's Steinway Grand piano, that Thelonious Monk selected for her. Bill was apparently fascinated getting to see the piano (and commented upon the cigarette burns still on the bench lol), and played this in response. As a side note - Monk composed 8 tunes on that piano, and Sonny Clark, Freddie Redd, and Barry Harris all composed tunes on that piano as well. Others who played it include Lionel Hampton, Bud Powell, Teddy Wilson, Max Roach, Wynton Kelly, Sir Charles Thompson, Horace Silver, Mary-Lou Williams, and Tommy Flanagan.

Rickie Lee Jones - The Other Side of Desire

I was surprised Thomson pulled Ranger Suarez as early as he did in that game. It didn't have to be a bullpen game, the way Suarez was pitching. Lucky it worked out though. Did Thomson ever explain why Suarez had such a short leash? Suarez sure didn't seem happy about being pulled when he was.

Sigur Ros - Atta

That's pretty cool, Buzz! Please report back with your impressions. Hope they make it my way, would love to see them.

Fleetwood Mac - Shrine '69

Maunsell Forts from WWII, in the mouth of the Thames River, 22 Sep 2023 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunsell_Forts

Canterbury Cathedral, 9/22/23 This is the exact spot where King Henry II had his friend Thomas Becket murdered in 1170.

Caravan - For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night

Ely's a favorite of mine, have seen him solo, with the Flatlanders, and in various combinations. And with Terry Allen, who is also an amazing Texas alt-country musician. I've never thought of any of them as "country rock", but they are great at what they do. I guess that label can work though, but Ely is more than just that to me. And Ely, Butch & Jimmy are all from Lubbock (also Buddy Holly's home town), not Amarillo.

Maybe it's because you used a cell phone instead of a film camera...