Matthew

Yeah, I'm not convinced that Seattle has it either, as much as I'd like them to win it. The Baseball Analyst site collected the various projection "function machines" (for those of you raised on early '70s math textbooks) and Texas looks pretty decent according to a few of them. But as you say, it won't take much to win the division, so who knows. Kinsler starts the season on the DL which hurts Texas from the get go. All the divisional race projections are included in the link btw, not just the all important AL West. I'm not on the Mariners bandwagon yet either. Cliff Lee has to be a concern, those abdominal muscles can take, heaven knows how long, to really get well. Plus, the dufus gets suspended because of stuff in a spring training game. The offense is a major concern, with Milton Bradley(?????) batting fourth. I would be surprised if Bradley doesn't have a major meltdown by the end of May, and he is just a bad clubhouse presence. Back end of the rotation is shaky. On the plus side, Felix looks set for the Cy Young this year, good defense again, and the West looks like a division where 90 wins will take it. Will the Mariners win it? Well, as Yogi says:"In baseball, you don't know nothing."

It would be nice to have a good sounding Black, Brown, and Beige, the current one has a muffled and dull sound.

Hmm, hadn't seen this one. Where is it set? Pretty much a 'Battle of the Bulge' centric tale.. .....or some other locations like Hurtgen Forest? Colmar Pocket? Aachen? etc? Fussell writes about various topics in the book, some of which are, Bluge, Cobra episode, Falasie, Hurtgen Forest, Medics, Skorzeny Affair, Infantry Morale, the Peiper Affair, among others. They are not in-depth chapters by any means, most eight to ten short pages, but interesting. More like, if the reader finds the chapters interesting, he/she will have to do some further reading to get a better understanding of what Fussell is talking about.

I'm a sucker for 1980s mindlessly fun music. http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

I had a double bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate milk shake.

Well, Allen, ever since this thread, I have been thinking about what you said here. Just taking the San Francisco scence, and trying to figure out who influences who is a chore. I have this bootleg comp that features Dark Magic by Moby Grape from the Avalon Ballroom in December 31, 1966, and Peter Lewis, Jerry Miller, and Skip Spence, are doing all kinds of batstuff crazy things during their solos. So, it just seems to me that in the hot-house atmosphere of the SF scene, who knows who was the leader. Jefferson Airplane's Jorma Kaukonen was also doing some pretty amazing stuff. It's an interesting era, and I probably dismissed Gurley way too quickly. Allen, get that book published!

I haven't seen a lot of Kentucky this year, but man, they couldn't hit anything. And it looked like their bad shooting percentage (don't know the number, but I'm guessing it's pretty horrible) all stemmed from them having no - zero - none - nada - offensive schemes whatsoever. They seemed intent on tossing the ball around the perimeter trying to -- I guess -- create some gaps in the West Va. zone but it never worked, and they never really did adjust. Couple of flailing drives inside that looked more like people running into a brick wall, but that was about it, looked like to me. And when they did manage to set up a post play, they had trouble sinking two-footers. Nice win for W. Va., but Kentucky ... man they laid an egg. (not even mentioning the 2-for-a zillion three-point shooting effort). I still cannot figure out how that The 2007–08 Memphis Tigers team lost to Kansas in the final.

Mine was after a San Diego Padre game in the early 70s, Wishbone Ash (of all bands) was the headliner. Shows how much time has changed, they set up the stage on the outfield grass, and let us come down on the field to watch.

I was able to watch this yesterday, and I loved every second. The sound is mono, but very good, with the picture quality also being outstanding. Of course, it is the performances that make this something special to watch. Most surprising: Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. I always had the notion that Robinson was a "passive" presence, but here, he really was a top-notch entertainer, who could move mountains if he wanted. I could not figure out why Lesley Gore gets so much time, but she was okay. Jan & Dan had a very goofy vibe to them. Of course, James Brown puts on an amazing show... WOW! I had never seen it before yesterday, even on Youtube. The Stones had it tough following that act, but Mick and the boys did a good job, and performed with a lot of energy. Well worth the money you spend to get this. Now, if only The TNT Show and Pop Gear would get released.

It's also official that John Calipari cannot coach a team to the title, no matter how good it is.

The T.A.M.I. Show dvd. Wow! Great stuff, it's a must have dvd.

Duke Ellington: Morning Glory. Rex astounds me every time...

Scrubs is only the tip of the iceberg when comes to my bad taste in things, exhibit A: The Partridge Family. A donation instead of flowers is preferred...

The Yankee outfield will be a problem all year if they don't trade for someone . They will probably give it a try the first month or two of the season, then pick up someone from one of their farm teams, ie., Royals, Padres, Pirates, teams like that.

Well, the suspense is over: Scrubs has finally been canceled -- for good this time. By the rating numbers, I must have been the only person that watched all the episodes from season nine, it wasn't too bad, but it became Scrubs Light, very much a safe sitcom, which was too bad. What I did not like was the season and series ended on the lame episode that was aired last week, the series deserved better. Still *sigh* I loved Scrubs.

Bradley got kick out of two in a row this weekend. How dumb can a player be? Last thing any team is a headcase like Bradley on a team -- get rid of him.

Oh, frick on a stick! Mariners, just get rid of Milton Bradley,I'm already tired of his act.

I would not be surprised to see the bootleg series begin with Davis/Coltrane's last European tour. Probably would be a nice selling product, with the most people being interested in that. I'm sure the producers want to see the series off to a good start. The 1967 Quintet would be cool, and a lot of the fusion stuff -- until Miles' five year hiatus is needed (at least I need all I can get!).

Moby Grape's 16 minute version of Dark Magic, recorded at the Avalon Ballroom, December 31, 1966. Awesome psychedelic madness.

Hatfield and the North. Probably channeling Bev's youth with this clip, but it's still very groovy. And yes, that is Dave Stewart on the keyboards. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGjRhhggSFo&feature=related

The Boys' Crusade: The American Infantry In Northwestern Europe, 1944 - 1945 by Paul Fussell. Interesting take by Fussell, trying to convey the reality of the infantryman's life in Europe. Not too many pages, just 165, but an interesting read. I might try his memoirs next.

Miles Davis & Gil Evans. Does anyone know where this tape comes from? Is it commercially available?

Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis by Jack Chambers. I've always liked this one, lots of information. I now have numerous books, more than I dare count, at various stages of completion, about Miles cluttering my desk and tables in my home.