DukeCity

Happy Birthday, Jim! Have a Great One!

I remember an appearance by Ike on the old Aresnio Hall show. Ever the probing interviewer, Arsenio asked something like: "Ike, there have been accusations that you beat Tina. Did you ever get violent with her?" Ike's response was something along the lines of: "Well, yeah I beat her. But only when she need to be beat." A lesson for us all.

So, you could proposition yourself in a Minneapolis airport restroom?

I've been wracking my brain, trying to imagine what he could have been doing. I know some guys cork up the wierd trill keys on their old Conns, but all the photos of Jaws show him playing Selmer horns. A quick Google of "Lockjaw and cork" just turned up some concerts he played in Ireland. Any ideas where to find out more about this?

Peter Lawford Joey Bishop Sammy Davis, Jr.

Having a few folks over for a Christmas party, and Mrs. DukeCity is hitting her stride: Ham w/Raspberry-Chipotle glaze Meatballs in Buffalo wing sauce Sausage-Tomato-Basil skewers Spinach/Artichoke dip Bleu Cheese/Bacon/Garlic dip Peach Fondue Berry pie I'm already anticipating the nap.

Last day of classes here, as well! (finals next week, not involving me! ) Cocktail of choice tonight: Jameson's Irish Whiskey with a couple of ice cubes. Have a good weekend, all!

Indeed! That one and one called "The Burn Brigade" with Brignola, Cecil Payne and Ronnie Cuber! There was a period of several years when I was almost exclusively playing baritone, and those were two of my favorite sides (I still like them, but I don't spin vinyl very often). Another favorite player is Bruce Johnstone. In addition to playing with Woody Herman and Maynard Ferguson's bands in the '70s, he did a couple of small-group funk records as part of a band called "New York Mary". Robinson also does some great work on the Bob Brookmeyer album, "New Works" that includes the "Celebration Suite". Brookmeyer wrote the suite to feature Mulligan (and I think it got performed by Mulligan) but Mulligan had passed by the time it was to be recorded. In no way does Robinson attempt a Mulligan impersonation. He does his own thing, and it works well with Brookmeyer's writing. But yeah, Pepper was phenominal. Doing some net surfing, I ran across a doctoral dissertation written about Pepper Adams, looking at some of his improvisational techniques. Available as a PDF file here. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, under "Publications".

Reminds me of the song that Homer Simpson sang: (to the tune of "Do-Re-Mi" from the Sound of Music) Dough- the stuff that buys my beer, Ray- the guy who sells me beer, Me- the guy who drinks my beer, Fa- the distance to my beer, So- I'll have another beer, La- ....... la, la, la, la, la, la, Tea- no thanks, I'll have a beer, And that wil bring us back to... Doh!

Thad Jones! (FreeForAll, I'm guessing that you may have thought of this one?!?)

Saw this video a couple of weeks ago. Kinda cool; kinda creepy!

This story reminds me of from the show Kids In The Hall. "Girl Drink Drunk" is a parody of those film noir stories of "one man's descent into the depths of alcoholism" but he only drinks "Girl Drinks", lots of fruit and parasols and big straws.

I've heard that map makers (is that cartographers?) do a similar thing. They'll include a small, sometimes un-named street on their maps to to be able to prove if someone just copied their work wholesale.

Several years ago I lost a cat to renal failure. I'm very sorry for your loss,

When he was still in the Cuban band Irakere, Paquito D'Rivera did a funky, gospel 12/8 version of the Adagio from Mozart's clarinet concerto.

It appears there's a copy available here. for 20 Euros (probably best if I don't know how much money that really is). Let us know if you pick it up.

Good call! We're having a few friends over for the big meal. Mrs. DukeCity is a fine, fine cook, so I have high hopes! Mostly traditional fare. We've been doing some home renovations of late (new windows, new furnace, and some new hardwood flooring), so the house will be extra cozy, and we're looking forward to doing some entertaining. It's been kinda hard getting into the holiday mode, with the weather being so warm here (still in the 70s most days), but we're supposed to be in the 40s for T-giving day, so maybe that will help. Best Wishes and Safe Gorging to everyone!

Last year the subject came up, and I did a quick wiki-search and was astonished/fascinated/repulsed to read this part in the "origins and variations" part of the article: Of course, it's Wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt and all that...

Link. I had no idea that those ads ran from '64 to '85. Good gig!

Good Work, my man! Congratulations!

... and, if memory serves, the theme songs to the TV shows "Dallas" and "The Waltons."

"Good Bait" by Tadd Dameron and Count Basie

I'm calm, I just think it's ridiculous. I grew up on a farm. We had outdoor cats and indoor cats. The indoor cats were the beloved pets of the family and were well taken care of. With the outdoor cats it was understood that, although we loved them too, they might get hit by a car, freeze to death, catch rabies and have to be put down (happened a lot), or they might get into the neighboring farmer's chicken coup and he'd kill them. That's the way it goes. Did the guy who claims to own the cat actually take care of it besides giving it some food and a couple of toys? Did it live in his home? Did he change it's litter box? Or was it basically an outdoor cat that he fed and enjoyed? To me, that's the distinction. If the cat is basically feral, then I don't see a problem with somebody killing it. If it was the guy's pet, then there is a problem. People shouldn't be allowed to kill another person's pet on a whim. As for comparing the life of a cat to that of somebody's grandmother... c'mon. Let's get real. Exactly, if we're talking about a grandma who has a loving home and a family. But hey, if it's one of those feral, homeless grandmas out there roaming the streets and digging in peoples' trash, then I say she's fair game!

Trombonist/Composer Steve Wiest recently recorded a big band CD with a piece called "A Night in Pidruid", inspired by Robert Silverberg's "Lord Valentine's Castle".

Where did you hear that?