patricia

I will and I am, thanks to all of you. Best ever, so far.

Couw, thank you for three more cat in the hat/birthday whistle guys. One can't have too much music in the house. Thank you Jazzbo. The Time cover reminds me that I foolishly gave away a Monk album, "Misterioso" years ago and have never been able to find another. Thank you Al. Is that the original Mickey Mouse film clip? Thank you Bright Moments. I still remember your sending me a PM a while ago and my terse reply. I hope you weren't wounded at the time. BeBop, thank you. Yes. Calgary. Almost a jazz wasteland, but not my permanent home, if there's a God. John S, Thank you. I plan a full day, mostly on the floor at my vinyl haven, looking for treasures. Thank you Clunky. I agree that one cannot leave an emporium of vinyl empty handed. It's illegal, I think. I am familiar with that passage from Merchant of Visa, to my chagrin. Thank you Marcoliv. Ghost of Miles, you will never be left out. Thank you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Oliver. Another Capricorn. People think we're practical, dull and humourless. You and I know that's not true. I told a joke just the other day and after a very few minutes, they got it and chuckled politely. The best to you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY + 1 to 7/4!!! You look even better than you did last year. Champagne, or your favourite libation is appropriate, I think. The best for the coming year.

It's just after midnight here now. So, officially, another year is history for me. Funny. I don't feel any different than I did when I was sixteen. I just know a lot more. And NO Sidewinder, I am not A HUNDRED. Thank you 7/4. I have made a lot of friends here on Organissimo who seem to tolerate me, in spite of my occasional flights into insanity. Hardbopjazz, thank you. LOVE your avatar, disturbing as it is. Thank you Jon. I've always meant to ask you if your avatar is you. Is it? Yes, catesta, the birthdays seem to be every week now, instead of only once a year. Thank you. JSangry, Thank you and YES, INDEED!!! Richard Pryor in his prime. No more need be said. Thank you Harold. Never did catch up with The Sopranos". We're a season behind here, I think. Thank you Kalo. Brownie and Sidewinder, THREE cats in hats with birthday whistles. That says BIG PARTY to me. Thank you AfricaBrass. I have taken today off in honour of this particular natal day and will be going downtown to my favourite vinyl source. I have a list from my dearest friend on the East Coast, of the records he has been searching for. I feel sure that I will find at least one of them. If not, I will surely not come home empty-handed. You all are the best!!

I have only recently admitted to being middle-aged. Which brings me to a totally tactless remark made by my daughter. She said, when I mentioned being middle-aged, that I must be planning to live to be way over a hundred. I feel eighteen and look forward, much more that I look backward. I know enough about what I do for a living to mentor, which is great and keeps me from stagnating. I recommend it.

Hey Jeff! HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Time moves on and you just get more and more handsome. Many more years await you and it just gets better.

Thank you Brownian Motion. That's, I think, the bigger story, which I hope won't be lost in the shuffle. Although we all hope that the lone survivor recovers, the safety of the mine, to which all the workers intend to return, gets it's shit together and addresses the problems, long standing, before this happens again, and again....... Although it's true that China's mines are worse, that's not the standard which should be applied, IMO. Injuries and deaths should not be the cost of doing business. It seems to me that I heard President Bush touting the virtues of coal as an alternative to the country's dependence on foreign oil not that long ago. If the use of coal is to become more widespread, as an alternative energy source, it becomes doubley important that the safety issues be addressed, as well as the pollution concerns.

Quincy Jones - The Dude- on A&M - recorded in 1981 - kind of a disco feel. Good in small doses. I play this every once in a while, along with a similar Isaac Hayes album of the same period. Chorus in the background. This puts me in mind of all the soundtracks from the Blaxploitation films of the time. Heavy drums behind Jones' big band. Before that, Dave Brubeck's Greatest Hits. [Columbia label] I have all the tracks on this collection on other albums, but it's nice to have them all on one. Brubeck was the start of my love affair with jazz with "Take Five".

But, sadly, just as Katrina is fading into the past, so will the unsafe working conditions for miners fade into the past. The focus of the news reports has lingered on the reporting that all the miners except one were alive, which turned out not to be true, rather than the more important safety issues, long-standing. Most seem content to shake their heads, murmering "Ain't it awful?" and go on with their lives, until the next horrible occurrance, which they will deal with in the same sympathetic, but impotent way.

I would imagine that most of those warning labels were considered necessary because there are always some litigation-happy yahoos who will sue. Their defense would be that they "didn't know" that coffee is hot, that candles are not for any alternative use, that heat guns are really hot etc. Lawsuits have been won, because the litigant has convinced a jury that because they are stupid, the manufacturers have to factor that into the use of their product. I can't help thinking of the Darwin Awards.

You're a love. Thanks.

Reveries - Beloved melodies played by Freddie Gardner - Saxophone Solos with Pipe Organ. 10"LP on Decca. This is a very relaxing album, recorded in the fifties, just before Gardner's death. It's unusual to hear a saxophone paired with a pipe organ. This collection includes a wonderful take on "Trees" as well as a haunting version of Tchoikovsky's "None But The Lonely Heart". Nice.

OK. Looks like my days of low-tech record cleaning are possibly over. For Christmas I was gifted with an Orbitrac 2. Haven't tried it yet, but the instructions are quite vague. I know that once I've used it, I'll feel like a fool because I didn't understand the instructions. I'm pretty sure that the shoe-shaped pads are supposed to go on the turntable and the dealie with the soft pads on it is supposed to be liberally sprayed with some liquid that is supplied. I'll let you all know how it worked, once I've figured it out.

WELL!!! I for one am now convinced that your parents never married.

"Julie Is Her Name" - Julie London - on the Liberty label - Of course it has "Cry Me A River" on it, but it also has 13 other tracks. Julie is backed by Barney Kessel's guitar and Ray Leatherwood on bass. Nice collection. "Once More With Feeling" and "I've Got The World On A String" - 2 record album - Peggy Lee - Love this.

Bill Cosby's "200 mph" one of his collection of comedy bits based on his childhood. Before that, "Tony Mottola Mr. Guitar" - 2 record set on ABC Dunhill Records label. "The Best Of '72" - Terry Baxter, His Orchestra and Chorus. 3 record set on Columbia House label. "Battle Of The Bands" - Woody Herman and his Herd vs. Harry James and his Music Makers.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Jazzmoose. Have TWO slices of your birthday cake and at least one shot of your favourite tipple to celebrate.

A Classic Jazz Calendar with black and white photographs by Chuck Stewart. An Orbitrac 2 record-cleaner. A new cordless phone Tons of soap, perfume, etc. etc. etc. Most special gift is a framed photograph of my first grandson, Matthew, in a cowboy hat on a hobby horse, from his mother, my oldest daughter. No music, because nobody knows exactly what I like and I have tons.

Cozy Cole and other All-time Jazz Stars. Cozy with Coleman Hawkins, Rex Stewart, Tyree Glenn, Claude Hopkins, Billy Bauer, Arvell Shaw, Bobby byrne, Eddie Safranski, Pee Wee Erwin, Cliff Leeman, Peanuts Hucko, Billy Maxted, Will Bradley, Trigger Alpert, Lou Stein..... Great album!!

But if the outside of the cover is really ratched, for example, separating, here's what I do. I first lightly [for aesthetic reasons, as Harold suggested] glue any actual separating of the outside layers of the album. I then reinforce the edges of the cover with clear packing tape. The reason I do both, whether I'm going to keep them or not, is that sliding the albums out from the other albums on the shelf makes any existing damage worse. So, by making the outside of the cover smooth, that doesn't happen. The edges are the other wear area and it's a good idea to seal them up with clear, heavyweight tape. Then, a fresh inner sleeve and there you go.

Can't pick just one, Harold. "Munich" and "Syriana", which I think looks the most intriguing, are now on my list. They are all showing here now, so the temptation is to back-to-back them. I'm curious to discover why "King Kong" has merited yet another re-make. How many is this now?

I like thick waffles, usually called Belgian, with fruit syrup, raspberry or apricot, made by the Summerland syrup people in the Okanagan, in B.C., Canada. It is pure fruit syrup and will make you think that you have died and that you have gone to heaven.

] Bless you Soulstation. My favourite!! The rest of the stack: A compilation - Wishing You A Merry Christmas - Leonard Bernstein, Wallter Carlos - Pablo Casals - Anna Moffo- Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Eugen Ormandy, Philidelphia Brass Ensemble, George Szell and Richard Tucker. The Ventures Christmas Album The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole To Wish You A Merry Christmas - Harry Belefonte Merry Christmas - Mills Brothers In A Christmas Mood - Glenn Miller Orchestra The Nutcracker - Glenn Miller Orchestra Mahalia Jackson's Christmas Album

I've always loved the Elmer Bernstein soundtrack from "Walk On The Wild Side", which was a totally forgettable film, starring Barbara Stanwick and Laurence Harvey. It re-introduced me to jazz and I have not only that soundtrack, but every version of the title track recorded by almost everyone before and since. Jimmy Smith's is my favourite. I even have a vocal version by Brook Benton.