Edward

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My favorite Mosaics are all older sets: Nat King Cole Trio, Buddy de Franco, Art Hodes, Amos Milburn, and Shorty Rogers. I do not have very many Mosaic Selects, but I really love the Carmell Jones set.

I bet you the discount will increase to 50% off this Thursday (will Tower be open on Thanksgiving now that it is being run by Great American?) or Friday. Keep your ears open (I am sure that it will be reported here on this board if it does increase), and try visiting Tower next Monday night (unless you enjoy braving the shopping crowds on Thanksgiving weekend.)

Akanalog, please do not be hasty and drop out now. Soulstation is an upstanding guy, and I assure you that he rarely makes mistakes; and when he does, it is nothing more - EVERYONE makes mistakes. Moreover, he is the reason why we have this fun little pool, and he has graciously volunteered his time to organize and run things for two years in a row.

Please note that I chose Jacksonville to win tonight's game, and I have not edited my picks since Saturday (11/18). Also, Akanalog/The Mommy is only 7-8, having incorrectly chosen Atlanta, Houston, Minnesota, Oakland, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Denver to win. (I'm sorry, Akanalog/The Mommy.)

Thanks, allblues. You're right on my tail, though.

Thanks! It was nice to finally win a week. However, my overall total is now 88-56, not 87-57. (You also forgot to add the Monday Night game into week 10's totals.)

The reason that people are beginning to see old Japanese titles and similar items at certain Tower stores is because Great American is shipping all of the stuff that is sitting in Bayside's (a distributor owned by Tower) warehouse. For instance, I picked up an old TOCJ of Dizzy Reece's "Trinity in Blue" in Laguna Hills the other day, and I saw an old TOCJ of Tina Brook's "Minor Move" in the Glendale store the other week. The Laguna Hills store also received, among other things, at least 30 copies of a Japanese pressing of the MPS album, "Mirror, Mirror". It is my understanding that some Tower stores are receiving disproportionately more from the Bayside warehouse because Great American plans to close, for various reasons, certain Tower stores before others. I will probably take another peek inside Tower Laguna just before Thanksgiving day, but I want no part of it Thanksgiving weekend when I am certain (but I could be wrong) that the discount for most CD's will reach 50% off.

Happy Birthday, Paul! I hope that you enjoy your day as well as the year to come.

Although small in comparison to either of the two Bear Family sets, this four-disc set from Columbia appears to provide a good overview of Bob Will's entire career. I picked up two copies of this box (one for me and one for a friend for Christmas) at a price of $19.97 each (50% off!) at Amazon.com. My shipment just arrived in the mail today, and I am looking forward to listening to some great country swing this weekend. The 50% markdown is odd considering that the set was only released earlier this year, but at $19.97 (with no state sales tax and free shipping if your order reaches $25.00) I am not asking many questions. Those interested may find the links below useful: http://www.amazon.com/Legends-Country-Musi...TF8&s=music http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...10:w1ae4jo78wal

I dropped by Tower Costa Mesa this morning, and all of the CD's (including boxed sets) were on sale for at least 30% off; Latin CD's were on sale for 40% off. It appears that the sales discount is increasing by about 5% or so every week, with the additional cuts being put into place every Thursday. On another thread, someone quoted a reliable source as stating that the discount would reach 50% by Thanksgiving with further increases of 10% per week taking effect thereafter.

Happy Birthday, man! Don't let your buddy buying you that great set stop you from buying yourself some music too, though!

Happy Birthday, Guy! Have a great weekend and an even greater year!

Happy Birthday, Daniel! I hope that you truly enjoy your day.

Well, Allblues and I are showing why we are leading the pack with season worst scores to date of 4-8 each . FWIW, I fared better (6-5-1) in the office pool, which utilizes the spread.

All right, I spoke with a friend (the "classical guy") at my local Tower, and he told me that a Great Western representative has indicated to Tower staff that most liquidations have taken them from 8 to 12 weeks to complete. Eight weeks takes us into December; twelve weeks takes us into January. So, I guess that my projections noted above were WAY off. It looks as though the liquidation could easily be completed by Christmas, although it is clear that not all stores will be closed on the same date. Also, I was told that sale prices on certain items (I don't know which ones) are expected to be increased to 20% to 30% off by week's end.

It is all about obtaining as much from the liquidation as possible (taking into consideration all of the expenses of running a going concern), and Great Western will probably be able to achieve greater profits because of the holidays. I think that a lot of consumers who would only be willing to purchase a particular CD at a 40% discount during the majority of the year would be willing to purchase the same CD at only a 30% discount during the holiday season. Moreover, there are a lot of shoppers who buy all or most of the CD's (usually as gifts) that they buy at Christmas time. To these people, 30% off may sound like a great deal. Most of us who frequent this board, however, realize that, with a little research, a 30% discount (or greater) may be obtained on most CD's from several online retailers at various times over the course of the year. As I stated before, Great Western may see things differently. We shall see what happens.

Six weeks only gets us to Thanksgiving. I by no means doubt you, but I do doubt the veracity of your source. Autumn/early winter is an ideal time to conduct a liquidation. People's wallets are typically much looser during the holiday season, so a liquidator does not have to make drastic cuts as quickly as at other times of the year. I certainly could be wrong, but I would be surprised, then, to see anything greater than 30% off until Thanksgiving weekend. Perhaps the week before Christmas we will finally see 50% off, with deeper cuts coming thereafter. As already noted, there are costs (rent, payroll, etc.) associated with keeping the stores open and running, but I think that increased holiday profits will more than offset these burdens. Great American is in prime position to maximize the amount realized from this liquidation.

Three-way tie going into Monday, Edward also went 12-1 (missed only on GB). Aw Heck! I'm sorry Edward. I thought you missed your picks. You've got "week 04" listed above your picks. Yes, three way tie going into Monday. OOPS! - Sorry -ED

Of course, they choked big time in the second half. Re: Brett Favre "That old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be...." Do your homework. In the week prior, Brett was the offensive player of the week with a QB rating of 127.1; and in the week before that, he had a more than respectable rating of 85.4. Brett's recent problems have a lot more to do with his supporting cast (e.g., a very young offensive line, horrible cornerbacks, etc.) than any diminishment in his abilities. On Monday night, his receivers dropped a lot of balls that they should have caught, and the first of two interceptions that he threw was, again, primarily the receiver's fault. The 127.1 rating was against the Lions - currently ranked 26th overall in team defense(30th vs. the pass). You also conviently forgot to mention his rating from the first week 40.9. I watched that game too and for every pass that was dropped(and there weren't that many) he over/under threw one of his receivers. Even worse were his decisions to throw into double coverage. Also, I fail to see why his cornerbacks have anything to do w/ his performance. Last time I checked they weren't on the field when Brett was. His O line is young but they managed to keep the Eagles(leading the NFL in sacks going into the game) From getting to him all night. Look Brett is a lock for the HOF and he's overcome a lot of personal tragedies. But don't let what he's done in the past cloud your judgement about his abilities today. His best years are clearly behind him. It is obvious that Brett's best years are behind him. I just think that most of the Packers' struggles over the past 1.25 seasons are due to reasons other than who has been manning the quarterback position. Surely you appreciate that a bad defense (and I think that most would agree that the Packer's horrible cornerbacks comprise the weakest part of a rather young defense) usually puts the offense in a bad position by yielding far too many points. That puts the pressure on the offense to produce; and when your team does not have a very good offensive line or a very good running back, the burden falls disproportionately on the quarterback's shoulders. Against Chicago, Brett was playing just fine until the fourth quarter when, with the Packers in a big hole, he forced matters and threw two interceptions. Things played out similarly the other night against Philadelphia. (BTW, I have watched the Packers regularly over the years, and I saw Donald Driver drop a number of catches that night that he normally pulls in. At least one of these killed a Packers' drive that was threatening to culminate in a score.) I am not sure how much weight to put on the fact that the Packers offensive line allowed no sacks against Philadelphia. The Packer coaches were regularly starting Brett out of the shotgun formation in order to give him more time before the defense collapsed upon him. Now, I will certainly admit that Brett has a very bad habit of forcing things when the game is not going his way. However, most quarterbacks are prone to becoming more aggressive and making more mistakes when their teams are far behind and time is running out. Again, my point is that Brett's supporting cast, not Brett, is the primary reason for the Packers' poor performance since the start of last season. Brett's inconsistent performance is a symptom of the problem rather than the root. It would be interesting to see how Brett would play week after week at this stage in his career if he were placed on a quarterback-poor but otherwise talented team (such as Baltimore before it got McNair). It is not going to happen, though.

Of course, they choked big time in the second half. Re: Brett Favre "That old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be...." Do your homework. In the week prior, Brett was the offensive player of the week with a QB rating of 127.1; and in the week before that, he had a more than respectable rating of 85.4. Brett's recent problems have a lot more to do with his supporting cast (e.g., a very young offensive line, horrible cornerbacks, etc.) than any diminishment in his abilities. On Monday night, his receivers dropped a lot of balls that they should have caught, and the first of two interceptions that he threw was, again, primarily the receiver's fault.

Of course, they choked big time in the second half.

Thanks for the birthday wishes. I have taken it rather easy today as I am still recovering from jet lag from a recent trip and October promises to be a busy month at work. Happy Birthday, Daniel! I hope that you had/have had a great day!

Sure - why not?

I'll be back on Friday the 29th, so I should be covered. Thanks!