Edward

Thanks! I was doing great in my office pool (7-1) until the afternoon games (1-4). It looks as though my Packers are done for the season considering their very difficult non-division schedule (at Bengals, Steelers, at Falcons, at Eagles, at Ravens, Seahawks).

I'm cool with counting it. We don't bet spreads here though. It's the winner of the games. ← Thanks! My point in revealing the spread (aside from disclosing the truth, namely that the terms of my office pool differ from the terms of this contest) was to show that by choosing K.C. to cover the 1.5 spread favoring Miami, I must have believed that: 1) K.C. was going to beat Miami, OR 2) K.C. was going to tie Miami, OR 3) K.C. was going to lose to Miami by exactly 1 point I assure you that I believed K.C. was going to beat Miami, but if anyone in the pool does not want to accept my admittedly late submission for this game, I will not complain.

My Week 7 picks are: Detroit Green Bay Indianapolis Pittsburgh San Diego Washington Seattle Chicago Buffalo N.Y. Giants Tennessee St. Louis Atlanta (45 total points) FWIW, I did pick Kansas City to cover the spread against Miami (Miami was favored by 1.5 points - I truly thought that K.C. would win this game, not merely cover the spread) in my office pool. I can provide evidence of this; but I cannot complain if you do not want to accept it.

It's hard to top Bach or Bill Evans. However, I do find something innately peaceful and soothing in the voice (and works) of Mississippi John Hurt.

Happy Birthday, Chris! I hope that you had a great day, and I wish you all the best in the coming year.

My picks for week 6 are: Atlanta Carolina Cincinnati Baltimore Pittsburgh Tampa Bay Minnesota Dallas Kansas City Denver Buffalo Oakland Seattle Indianapolis (MNF 56 points)

I guess that I still have not figured out the teams this season. (I sure put the kiss of death on Philadelphia by switching from Dallas.)

All right, this IS a tough week; but hopefully this will be the week that I turn things around both here and in my office pool. My picks: DETROIT CHICAGO MIAMI ATLANTA ST. LOUIS TAMPA BAY TENNESSEE INDIANAPOLIS CAROLINA PHILADELPHIA DENVER CINCINNATI GREEN BAY SAN DIEGO (45 points total MNF) (I edited this pick ca 8:40 a.m. PST on game-day to reflect the fact that I meant to pick Philadelphia, not Dallas.)

I hope that you had a great birthday, Brad.

Happy Belated Birthday! I hope that you had a great one.

Great!!! Thanks for posting this! I have been so busy lately that I think that I might have missed this otherwise.

Wow, man, you really put the kiss of death on the 49'ers. Here's hoping that you've done the same thing to the Panthers.

I hope that you had a great birthday, and I wish you all the best in the coming year.

hehe, late comeback for me over Noj... ← All good, I won my office pool for almost $2000!!! ← Outstanding, Jon. Hopefully you'll win a couple of more weeks before the season is through. My week 4 picks are: Jacksonville Tampa Bay Cincinnati Indianapolis Kansas City San Diego Seattle St. Louis Baltimore Oakland Atlanta San Francisco New Orleans Green Bay (45 points total MNF)

Thanks guys! After a pretty tough year, I am looking forward to being a 36 year old. As for Mosaics, once I have set up my new turntable, I plan to sit back and enjoy several of the LP sets that I have picked up over the past several months. As for birthday vows, I will try my darndest to make a better effort to contributing to birthday threads like this one. (I also hope that Hans, Couw, my father, and I are all able to finally see a Dutch team reign supreme in the World Cup next year, but we will just have to wait and see. My mother, of course, will be rooting for England.)

Happy Birthday! I tried to think of something clever to say considering that we share the same birthdate, but I drew a blank. I hope that you are having a great day.

Other prices include: Johnson/Hines/Bunn sealed 1LP - $133.50 Hall/Johnson/de Paris/Dickenson - $167.49 The Hall et al Mosaic may seem merely a little overpriced, but the other day Artie Shaw's personal copy went unsold with a starting price of $99.99.

My week 3 picks: BUFFALO CAROLINA CINCINNATI INDIANAPOLIS JACKSONVILLE PHILADELPHIA GREEN BAY ST. LOUIS SEATTLE SAN FRANCISCO PITTSBURGH SAN DIEGO MINNESOTA KANSAS CITY (45 POINTS TOTAL)

I sent you a PM.

My picks for week 2: BALTIMORE TAMPA BAY DETROIT INDIANAPOLIS MINNESOTA NEW ENGLAND PITTSBURGH PHILADELPHIA SEATTLE ST. LOUIS GREEN BAY MIAMI SAN DIEGO KANSAS CITY NEW ORLEANS DALLAS (35 points)

I have the following CD's available for purchase - all are in excellent shape. Price includes USPS First Class shipping within the United States. I accept payment by PayPal, Money Order, or Cashier's Check (or check IF I have dealt with you before). Please send a PM if interested. Count Basie, 1950-1951, Chronological Classics - $10 SOLD Count Basie, April In Paris, Verve Master Edition - $6 Count Basie w Joe Williams, The Greatest!!, Verve - $6 Fats Domino, They Call Me The Fat Man, The Legendary Imperial Recordings, 4-CD boxed set with booklet - this is a cutout, so two small holes have been drilled through the barcode on the box - $30 SOLD Bill Evans, Conversations with Myself, Verve Master Edition - $6 Al Grey, Snap Your Fingers, factory sealed Verve - $7 SOLD

Indeed!

← My point, Ray, is that the United States' infrastructure would definitely have been in better shape after four-plus years of Gore as President or four years of Gore followed by McCain. Bush has failed to allot the New Orleans district of the Army Corps of Engineers anything close to what it has requested since 2002. Budget Cuts Do you think that Gore, who would have arguably been the greatest environmentalist to serve as President (sorry all of you misguided Nader supporters), might have spent some money to help restore the Louisiana wetlands? Do you think that the United States might have had the money for wetland restoration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' projects if it had not been saddled by a President intent on fighting a costly war in Iraq and granting tax cuts to the rich?

Total hackery. Just because New Orleans was always poor and high-crime doesn't mean that the feds were not responsible for maintaining order post-disaster. The whole point of a federal response is that local authorities are not equipped to handle natural disasters, regardless of how professional or competent they are to start with. ← Hardly "total hackery." There's more than enough blame to go around on the federal, state, local, and even (in some cases) individual levels. Lots of people and organizations they trusted fucked up on this one. ← Of course there's plenty of blame to go around. That, however, is not what this shitbag is saying. He's arguing that: 1) The NO local police is first and foremost to blame, and that those who disagree are just "Bush-bashing"; 2) That Howard Dean is charging racism--without so much as providing a quote, instead choosing to put Jesse Jackson's words in Dean's mouth; 3) That Ray Nagin, who was a REPUBLICAN until running for mayor, is representative of the Democratic party as a whole; and 4) That it's something extraordinary that the poorest city in America can't magically come up with a better police force. It's a cynical attempt at a whitewash of the Bush administration's actions in New Orleans, laced with spin from top to bottom. Feebly attempting to excuse the inexcusable? That's my definition of hackery. ← Big Wheel, IF Kerry was president, and a Republican Gov and Mayor left hundreds upon hundreds of buses unused(except to take some people to the Superdome) you don't think you would be bitching much more about the locals, than what the Feds did or did not do? You and others would be screaming bloody murder, wondering why the fuck they didn't bus everyone out of town. I know, everything would have gone perfectly if only Kerry had been the president, and it wouldn't have been an issue. http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/09/07/D8CFNMPG0.html ← If Kerry had been elected President, someone far more competent than Michael Brown would be heading FEMA. If Kerry had been elected President, the budget for the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers would not have been so drastically cut. New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers If the rights of U.S. citizens had been respected in 2000, we would not be in Iraq now; and either Gore or McCain would be President, so this whole mess would probably have been avoided. Are you EVER going to stop apologizing for Bush and admit that this semblance of a man has accomplished next to nothing positive during his 4-plus years as President???