ValerieB

all good news. and we can't thank you enough! p.s. btw, just realized that the number of my posts showing is far less than what it should be. i think the board started me all over again once when it went down. doesn't really matter though.

it was a pleasure for me to make a $30 donation through PayPal and i will be happy to donate more in the future. take good care of yourself and your family, Jim! best, Valerie

i'm really sorry to hear about yet another legendary musician leaving us. so glad that i got to see Patato in person years ago. he was an original.

regardless of what happens, i want to offer my heartfelt thanks to Jim for his tireless efforts. i am also more than willing to pay for a monthly/yearly subscription if that's what happens in 2008. valerie

as Marla already knows, i have some great personal memories of evenings at Minton's. after meeting my husband-to-be at Slug's in 1965, he invited me up to Minton's the following night for his gig there. from that night on, we were together for many years, dating, engaged, married, divorced, and family/friends for the rest of his life. one of the most amusing things about the club were the characters that flocked there, including the "boosters" who would walk through the bar area almost every night selling just about anything you could imagine, but mostly clothes and jewelry, as i remember it. needless to say, i enjoyed some incredibly fabulous music there between 1965 and 1970, when we moved to L.A. teddy hill was always nervously chewing his gum a mile a minute and pacing back and forth, either inside or outside the club. i'm sure he probably had lots to contend with!! but i think his nature was also bordering on the very nervous. as has already been mentioned, the food was fabulous. we would usually go up there early in order to get some of the soul food before it sold out!! (pun intended!) it was a woman chef who really put the pots on. another memory i have is of frank foster sitting alone early in the evening in the largest back booth with all his score sheets laid out on the table. i had never before seen so many being worked on. needless to say, i'm grateful for the wonderful memories. when my ex-husband died, we had the hearse and the entire procession drive past minton's!

i was crying at work when i read this news yesterday but he had a good life and gave and received a lot of love. and given what i knew his health to be for at least the last decade or more, i guess he was fortunate to be with us for this long. i only met him on a couple of occasions but his sweetness always impressed me, as well as his huge talent. may the "powers that be" continue to bless Cecil and bless Wendy and the Foundation as well! if all goes as i hope it will, he will have tons of his friends greeting him!

per your PM to me, i forwarded your message to maxine.

was in amsterdam in july for just a short time. rashied ali was at bimhaus. i absolutely loved, loved the city. wish we could have stayed much longer but i am definitely planning to return. it is definitely one of my most favorite cities in europe (not that i've seen them all though)! for folks only visiting for a limited time, i would recommend a canal cruise. we took one that started around 9pm for two hours and only towards the end did it start getting dark. we saw so many beautiful sights. it was absolutely magical. and the wine served with cheese, sausages, fruit, crackers, etc. didn't hurt either.

doesn't look like there are more than four of them still alive. yikes! great band though.

i'm thrilled it's friday, even if i was doing nothing! but i'm going to a birthday dinner party tonight and sunday am going to santa barbara to hear herbie hancock in concert. i always have a good weekend, regardless. have to work monday though. c'est la guerre.

i'm hoping my christmas spirit will kick in when/if i receive my xmas bonus!!

call me scrooge, but this post sounds like a blatant marketing ploy. to anybody else?

for whatever it's worth, i'm posting my vote that she's clean (not "guilty"). and just maybe i'm going to be naive for the first time in my life!! LOL!! i feel for her though.

yes, thanks, Bright Moments. wish he looked like that now! his house in malibu was evacuated the other day. friends who were staying there grabbed some of joe's master tapes. i think the area is ok now.

closest fires to me are over 10 miles away. you can smell it and see it in the air. my eyes are definitely feeling it. have friends who have been close to evacuating and know of folks who have had to leave their homes. the zawinul home in malibu had to be evacuated and the friends who have been staying there took as many of joe's master tapes as possible. since then, the roads and highway are closed there. same thing happened to them in '93 when they had another house right above this one which survived.

basically i agree with berigan but there was a beautiful full-page obit on deborah kerr in the l.a. times and a full-page on joey bishop as well. ms. brewer's was maybe less than a half page but very nice.

Before starring as Uncle Jed and later Barnaby Jones, Buddy Ebstein was one of the great Jewish song and dance men. i wasn't going to touch it!!!

this really makes me sad although 89 is a pretty good run. joey was a big part of my tv childhood. and my mother was quite fond of him as well. cannot quite believe that the entire Rat Pack is gone. OY!!! RIP, joey.

i'm sorry to hear this. she was so lovely and a good actress. always such a lady even in "from here to eternity"!!

i remember ms. brewer very well from the '50s. met her and her first husband in boston. she was adorable and very sweet. had a very strong voice and sang with great ease as i remember.

i'll be there friday night but must admit that i was very much looking forward to hearing billy hart!! roy already knows i like him!

and me too! i also have the cd.

ordered the book yesterday and looking forward to the read. thanks, again.

this sounds like a "must read" to me. thanks so much for the heads-up. i've always known dern to be very talented, quirky and intelligent. think his daughter, laura, probably has followed in his footsteps, at least in some ways. wonder what her grandparents would have thought about her marrying a black man!!!

this just happens to be one of my favorites of all-time, especially "new girl in town" (or something similar) and so many other tunes!!! and mickey roker bashing away was tres exciting!