Johnny E

I been listening to some of my old Todd Rundgren records of late (Runt, The Ballad of Todd Rundgren, Something/Anything?, A Wizard, a True Star and Todd) and I must admit, I love his songs. He's a great guitar player, producer, singer and all, but his tunes are just sweet, catchy, and thoroughly life affirming. He grew up in the same neiborhood as I did (Upper Darby PA just outside of Philly) albeit 15 years before me. His more ballady tunes definitely have that Philly Sound (early Hall and Oats, the O'Jays, etc.), but he infuses them with a white boy, british invasion kind of sensibility. I really dig his Utopia Prog-rock stuff too. Anyone else here a Todd Rundgren fan?

I missed this one.... I could have sworn that it was a woman.

There is a board member here with the last name of Seman...I will not reveal who. Care to step forward Mr. Seman?

I'm thinking late June early July.

Luckily my wife's father does tile for a living, and a good friend of mine is a carpenter. They say they'll be helping with the house...we'll see. Shit, I'll do the work if they'll just show me how.

Don't worry, I'll make room.

Thanks Philly, This house will need some work, but I'm itchin' to get started. I never really cared too much about keeping up the rentals I've lived in. But now that it's mine I'm really in to it. Multiple trips to Home Depot, reading home repair books, checking out home repair web sites. When I take a walk I notice other peoples houses and I say, "oh that's nice, ohhh, good idea I should do that, etc. It's weird. Glad you liked the Reptet, we go back into the studio in August. My other group Non Grata has its second disc coming out in the fall. catesta, With the earthquake threat around these parts, brick house aren't very common or sought after. But I love the look of old brick homes. What year was your house built?

Built in 1942. I have some guys refinishing the floors as we speak. Sleeping at the old rental until Friday when the floors are done.

Whew! You had me nervous for a second... Anyway, what a trip! The real estate market in Seattle is brutal. We lucked out and found a nice house in a great neighborhood within our price range. But it was a check the internet everyday for new listings, go with realtor to look at it as soon as it’s listed, get there and find 5 couples already looking at it, make an offer ASAP, put escalation clauses in the offer, try to meet with the seller to put on the charm. It was hard, REALLY HARD! Anyway, it’s all done now and we got a backyard with lots of trees and a fountain in it. B) This is our first house. I never thought I’d be in a position to own one, but here I am. Life ain't so bad.

My wife and I just bought a three bedroom house in West Seattle. Over the holiday weekend I put in a new front door, ripped up the carpet, pulled out all the tacking strip and staples, painted the inside, packed all our belongings and moved. I am exhausted, discombobulated and broke. Gotta love the American dream.

Excuse me if your age has already been mentioned, but Damn Chuck! you must be really old.

My hero, gone but NEVER ever forgotten. Thanks you Elvin.

Who the hell's that? This is the most recent picture of myself I could find

Don't sweat it. Johnny's got you beat by a mile. He 'chain-smokes' the Politics forum. You guys are lucky I even saw this thread at all.

Isn't it widely documented that Doubleday didn't do much of anything? I might be wrong, but I believe Alexander Cartwright is the guy who should get a lot of the credit. Hoboken baby, Hoboken!

Pittsfield uncovers earliest written reference to game Associated Press Tuesday, May 11, 2004 PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Officials and historians in this western Massachusetts city released a 213-year-old document Tuesday that they believe is the earliest written reference to baseball. The evidence comes in a 1791 bylaw that aims to protect the windows in Pittsfield's new meeting house by prohibiting anyone from playing baseball within 80 yards of the building. That bylaw would have been produced well before Abner Doubleday is said to have written the rules for the game in 1839. Historian John Thorn was doing research on the origins of baseball when he found a reference to the bylaw in an 1869 book on Pittsfield's history. He shared his find with former major leaguer and area resident Jim Bouton, who told city officials about the ordinance. A librarian found the actual document in a vault at the Berkshire Athenaeum library. Its age was authenticated by researchers at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center. "It's clear that not only was baseball played here in 1791, but it was rampant," Thorn said. "It was rampant enough to have an ordinance against it." The long-accepted story of baseball's origins centers around Cooperstown, N.Y., where Doubleday is said to have come up with the rules for the modern game. That legend long legitimized the Baseball Hall of Fame's presence in Cooperstown, although later evidence pointed to the first real game being played in Hoboken, N.J., in 1846. In 2001, a librarian at New York University came across two newspaper articles published on April 25, 1823, that show an organized form of a game called "base ball" was being played in Manhattan. The Pittsfield group hopes their find puts to rest the debate about the game's origins. "Pittsfield is baseball's Garden of Eden," Mayor James Ruberto said. But experts say it may be impossible to say exactly where and when baseball was created because it evolved from earlier games, such as cricket and rounders, another English game played with a bat and ball. "There's no way of pinpointing where the game was first played," said Jeff Idelson, a spokesman for the Hall of Fame. "Baseball wasn't really born anywhere." Still, Idelson said if the Pittsfield group's document is authentic, it would be "incredibly monumental." Pittsfield might be a sensible home for the sport. Some historians have documented "the Massachusetts game" as a precursor to modern baseball, where runners were thrown out if they were hit by a ball. Bouton, whose decade-long career as a pitcher included stints with the New York Yankees and Houston Astros, lives in nearby Egremont and is helping to restore Pittsfield's Wahconah Park, the former home of several minor league teams. He hopes the discovery helps bring attention to the project. "We thought this was a lucky stroke," said Bouton, whose 1970 book "Ball Four" offered a scandalous look behind the scenes of professional baseball. "I'm sure Pittsfield will live off this for a while." For now, the document will be kept in a vault until city officials figure out how to properly display it. A copy will be hung at Wahconah Park, one of the nation's oldest ballparks.

For those who have never seen Han Bennink perform, I cannot urge you strongly enough to go and check him out. He is a master! He doesn't even need drums...give him some sticks and watch him play the room! His technique is impeccable, his demeanor is hilarious and his sound is enormous. Him and Hamid Drake are, in my opinion, the two true FORCES of modern jazz drumming. To all my Texas friends, get your tickets NOW without delay! Don't Mess With Han Bennink!

Thanks Dan. That you would do this after our spat shows reveals alot about your character. I get a little carried away in the political forums (as some of us tend to do at times), but it is jazz that brings us all together and it is this aspect of talking politics here that makes it hard to hold grudges (at least for me anyway). So, thanks. Actually, that review is for my other group Non Grata. Reptet and Non Grata both have CD's out on our new label Monktail Records. We have three more discs slated for this year...in June FLOSS will be releasing it's first CD, then the death jazz trio Special OPS will release their debut in late summer/early fall, and then Non Grata will be releasing it's second recording at the end of the year...and I believe it is much more smokin' than the first (if I do say so myself).

Well, Lightnin Hopkins was from Texas, so I should have known that it couldn't be all bad.

Well, I drove through Texas back in 1990 and my car broke down in Amarillo. Granted, I was a long haired hippy at the time, but damn! They treated me with such little respect it pissed me off. The terrain was flat, dry and brown for as far as the eyes could see. Took me 24 hours to drive through and it looked that way the whole time. The experience left me with a bad tastle in my mouth for Texas which stayed with me until this past weekend.

No! Is there a web version I could check out? No, they don't publish on the Web. I can post the words later today if you wish. If it's not to much trouble that would be great! Oh course, if it's a horrible review, just send it to me in a PM Thanks Dan

Hey, man, your next time through, can you play a certain ranch in Crawford & set a huge bonfire there? Hopin' to play the Reptet tomorrow night on WFHB here in B-town. I'd love too, but somehow I don't think they'd book us. Thanks for the radio play Dave.

No! Is there a web version I could check out?

The show went swimmingly well. The place was packed, we had a good response and even sold a few CD's. I was a little disappointed that none of my Austin based board friends could make it, but hey - maybe next time huh? The next night we played a wedding on a ranch about an hour and a half outside Austin...Huge bonfire, lots of drinking and smoking and general partying. We played soul jazz all-night and camped on the land. The trip really blew apart my preconceived notions about Texas. It was really beautiful there and the people were friendly as can be. I hope we can play there again soon.

Thanks Chuck, I look forward to the performance....