Dave Garrett

Peach pits contain a chemical that is converted to cyanide when it's digested. A single one probably isn't enough to poison you, but I'm not sure I'd press my luck much further than that. I can't think about peach pits without remembering the old saying "shaking like a dog shitting peach pits".

Looks like the Wayback Machine has snapshots up until May 12, but the most recent one that doesn't automatically redirect to an "Account Suspended" page is from January 15: https://web.archive.org/web/20230115182640/https://efi.group.shef.ac.uk/

At least one baseball pundit has picked the Rangers to win the AL West, with the Astros slotting into a wild card berth. Despite the Astros' characteristically slow start to the season (and the equally-predictable sky-is-falling rhetoric from the online fan boards), I think they'll be right there in the mix for the division title. It's a miracle they've done as well as they have so far considering the staggering raft of injuries they've had to deal with, which have left them without 3/5 of a starting rotation that was already expected to have to compensate for the departure of Verlander.

TCM Underground aired FLESHPOT ON 42ND STREET a couple of times, which contains several very explicit scenes that go way further than boobs and f-bombs (as in full hardcore sex). Despite the late-night timeslot, I was pretty surprised they aired it uncut and was imagining some of their core classic-film audience having heart attacks if they happened to be tuning in - there was never any shortage of online griping about TCM Underground from that contingent. It's possibly a moot point now as the programmer in charge of TCMU was recently laid off and it's not clear what, if any, future that series will have.

Ads for various collections of his music used to be near-ubiquitous on the UHF TV channels in my neck of the woods. Same for Slim Whitman. I can't say I knew anyone who actually owned any of his music, but I think most people certainly had at least a vague awareness of him, thanks to those ads.

FWIW, I paid $45 for a used copy back in 2005, and I remember thinking at the time that I'd gotten a pretty good deal. I was on the lookout for a copy for some time before I finally got one at a price I was willing to pay. Copies certainly haven't gotten any more plentiful (or cheaper) in the used market since then.

Not sure about HBO, but TCM still airs intermissions (and the associated music) for the big-budget roadshow epics that had them back in the day - Lawrence of Arabia, Ben-Hur, 2001, etc.

ImportCDs had it for $43.04, but it's backordered: https://www.importcds.com/wakawazoo/602448169594 Might want to keep an eye on that, however, as it's also sold out at the official Zappa store, but there's a note there indicating that it ships on January 12, which suggests that additional stock should become available at other retailers as well.

Depending on the specific component, USB ports can also be used to connect to external storage devices (portable hard drives or flash drives). I have 2TB and 1TB portable drives that I have connected to my Blu-ray player via the USB port. I mainly use them to stream locally-stored video files to the player, but have also used them to stream music files as well.

I meant to post about this before, and forgot until this thread got bumped again. I wound up getting three of the Uniqlo shirts - Judgment, Out to Lunch, and Cornbread - and was really happy with both the great deal price and the high quality of the shirts. Anyway, a month or two ago my wife and I headed out for our weekly trip to the grocery store, which we usually do on Thursday or Friday night (less crowded, and less hassle in general). I happened to be wearing the Out to Lunch shirt. As we were making our way through the store, we crossed paths with a guy who I soon realized was looking at my shirt. He stopped and said he was surprised to see someone wearing a Dolphy shirt, as they weren't exactly common. I told him about the Uniqlo sale but I think they had already sold out of almost all of the shirts by then. As we parted, he mentioned that he'd recently been listening to "Springtime" from the Last Recordings album, and that it was probably his favorite Dolphy. A couple of weeks later, we were at the store again, and when we were walking in I saw the same guy. He smiled, waved, and yelled "Springtime!" Haven't seen him there again since then.

Another one to add to the "not the most practical" list: the Jelly Roll Morton complete Library of Congress recordings, with the box that looks like a piano. The "keyboard" is pretty flimsy cardboard, and is certainly not designed for longevity. My copy has held up well but I've been careful when handling it. I bought it in-store at a Borders so I was able to verify it wasn't damaged, but I can only imagine how some of these fared when mail-ordered if they weren't packaged securely.

Yeah, neither do I. Wasn't aware that it existed until I saw it mentioned in this piece. I don't have the two DVDs mentioned either.

Must be something in the water in California these days. California man sues maker of Texas Pete hot sauce because it’s produced in North Carolina

As luck would have it, I just ran across this last night, which has lots of detailed info about the Tuned to a Natural E series (but no download links): Laugh - Tuned To A Natural E - The Birth Of Love

https://www.gq.com/story/keep-honking-alice-coltrane-bumper-sticker Not sure about "everywhere", as I have yet to see one in the wild, but with 8,000 of them out there so far, I guess it's well on its way to some sort of virality.

Cats Waller?

Yep, ABC. The F1 races held in the US are typically aired on one of the major networks instead of ESPN. TTK, if you do bittorrent, there's almost always a torrent of the UK Sky broadcast available for any given F1 race. Send me a PM if you'd like a pointer in the right direction.

Still one of my favorite Judge moments, from his rookie season.

In my previous life as an IT manager, one of my responsibilities was oversight of all company-issued desktop/laptop computer hardware and peripherals. We had large network printers, but invariably the company's senior executives would request local printers for their offices. We would recommend Brother color laser printers, but as their cost centers would get charged for the printer purchase and they wanted to pay as little as possible for a printer, they'd balk at the higher cost of the Brother models and ask for a cheaper inkjet printer instead. This would usually last until they realized how often they had to replace the ink cartridges and how much they were paying for them (I believe it was someone at HP who famously said that they were in the ink business, not the printer business), at which point we'd replace the cheap inkjet with a Brother laser and everyone would be happy. I've used an all-in-one printer/scanner/copier Epson inkjet unit at home for at least the past ten years, but I haven't had much of an incentive to switch as my wife frequently uses it for business purposes, so she is able to source ink cartridges through her employer.

I may have posted this here previously, but just in case I didn't: RIP IT UP AND START AGAIN: THE FOOTNOTES

Especially from the kinds of snakes he was bitten by - it's bad enough to be bitten by a "common" rattlesnake, but getting bitten by cobras, kraits, or mambas is another thing entirely.

This seems to be flying under the radar - I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere else. They will be livestreaming it on the Miller Theatre website as well as Youtube and Facebook. The Houston Jazz Festival Produced by The Houston Jazz Collective The Houston Jazz Collective presents The American Masters Series featuring the hardbop supergroup The Cookers, jazz artist Nellie McKay, and the artwork of acclaimed artist Jack Whitten. “Player for player there’s no better working band in jazz than The Cookers.” (Andrew Gilbert, Boston Globe.) This critically acclaimed septet starring original generation jazz icons Billy Harper, Billy Hart, David Weiss, George Cables, Eddie Henderson, Cecil McBee and Donald Harrison are “…a dream team of forward-leaning hard-bop…” (Nate Chinen, New York Times). The Cookers will perform from their new record “Look Out!”. Opening for the Cookers will be Nellie McKay, a soulful jazz musician, pianist, vocalist, composer, and arranger, was raised in Harlem and quickly became a favorite of New York City jazz royalty. McKay is also renowned as a playwright, actress, author, and philosopher. McKay will perform from her album “Sister Orchid”. Winner of the National Medal of Arts, Jack Whitten’s artwork is widely recognized as transcendent. A member of one of the most vibrant groups of artists of modern American art during the late 50’s and 60’s in New York City, Mr. Whitten frequented the jazz clubs Birdland, Minton’s and The Village Vanguard with the jazz greats of the time including Art Blakey and John Coltrane. Chronicled in his Notes from the Woodshed, Mr. Whitten took inspiration and guidance from the improvisational nature of jazz and created some of the most stunning artworks of the modern era, many honoring his musician/mentors. His artwork and writing are prominently featured on stage. This evening’s program celebrates the integral relationship that Jazz and Modern Art have shared throughout the 20th century. All performances at Miller Outdoor Theatre are FREE!

Haast was a fascinating character. I first got interested in him and the Serpentarium when I read his book as a kid. When he died, I remember being surprised to see his obituary, having assumed that he had passed on long before then. I'd like to revisit his book again but copies tend to be pricey - probably need to see if I can get it via interlibrary loan.

It happened at least twice during regular-season games. Mike Schmidt hit one of the speakers in 1974, and Jeff Bagwell hit the roof in 1997. Darryl Strawberry also hit a speaker, but that one was during the 1986 All-Star Game home run derby. June 10, 1974: Mike Schmidt hits the Astrodome speaker and Phillies trounce Houston, 12-0 Bagwell hits Astrodome ceiling The day Darryl Strawberry hit a ball off an Astrodome speaker during Home Run Derby