Heard about half of an interesting program on German radio yesterday, about how American jazz and blues, brought by GIs, made a profound impact on their culture. At one point, they spliced interviews from all the musicians and cultural types about who had the biggest impact on them. Doc wasn’t among the names – his career came along much later – but there is no question he knows how to handle a horn. I’m surprised he’s still playing at 87 – trumpet places no small physical demand on the musician, especially when it comes to the pressure needed to make it into the higher register. Kudos to him for still having it, and still sharing it.
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Speaking of old guys still having it, I caught some of the Tony Bennett-Lady Gaga duets. Worth a listen. She’s a great talent – still has some corners and edges that need some work, but hers are the kind of things that get worked through by years of experience. Bennett, just perfect.

Not sure if this little non-issue at practice on Friday will be a distraction to the ‘Boys, or if they will use the game as a distraction from the Frisco City Hoosgow dustup . . .
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My favorite part:

While Randle was being booked at the Frisco City Jail [earlier in the month], the Cowboys running back can be heard asking a jail employee if he will be suspended by the Cowboys because of his arrest.

Randle then mentions the prior arrests of Cowboys teammates Bryant and Josh Brent.

“Dez didn’t miss no games for smacking his mom,” Randle said.

“Josh Brent, he’s still up in the locker room,” Randle added. “He’s coming back. … He was driving drunk. That’s stupid.”

Does Randle regret the comments he made in the video?

“I regret saying everything,” Randle responded Friday before declining further comment.

Randle was arrested on a misdemeanor charge for allegedly shoplifting a package of underwear and a tester bottle of cologne from a Frisco Dillard’s department store on Oct. 14.
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Yeah, no sense of entitlement in THAT locker room.

More on Tom Menino from Jack Beatty, co-author of his Memoir. The Bruins honored him last night, maybe the Pats today

Fucking Republicans on Tuesday…. as Charlie Pierce says, “God save the Commonwealth”
Summer jobs for kids is the best.
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“Tom Menino cared nothing for fame, yet I can’t help thinking of how proud his parents would be at how high he rose and all he achieved without a shadow of dishonor falling on his name. In a time of toxic cynicism about politics and government, his example helps restore faith in both.

In a city still reeling from busing and the racial hatred it ignited, he said the one thing he would not tolerate is, ‘people being discriminated against,’ and saw to it that his government was as good as his word.

He practiced the politics of healing when politicians from Bill Weld to the Bill Clinton of “welfare reform” were exploiting the politics of resentment. In a city still reeling from busing and the racial hatred it ignited, he said the one thing he would not tolerate is “people being discriminated against,” and saw to it that his government was as good as his word.

Assuming responsibility for a failing school system, he first raised the expectations of students, parents and teachers that change was possible, then — “incrementally,” with time and money and unflagging attention to the metrics of progress — he made it happen.

He made it happen for the 200,000 kids he placed in summer jobs, kids like the girl who turned her internship at Dana-Farber into a career in medicine. “These summer jobs are amazing,” she told the Globe’s Shirley Leung. “It…shows that someone cares.”

Go 9ers, just not sure were.

F-1 just doesn’t sound the same but will catch part of the race any way.

How about them Giants?

Yep, HB Jim and thanks for all of the wonderful writing.

I’ve had the very odd experience of watching the Chefs game while making hospital visits on various parishioners. See one parishioner who had the game on, chat a bit and watch some of the game, then pray and move to the next parishioner’s room and repeat the routine. Everyone was watching the game, and was happy to bring me up to speed about what I’d missed while in the elevator or moving between hospitals.
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The craziest part, though, happened while I was moving between rooms. The hallway was quiet, as hospitals usually are. Suddenly, just as I was walking past the nurses’ station, there was a scream from inside a patient’s room. The nurse glanced at the monitor sitting on her desk, then looked at me and smiled, without leaping up to see what was wrong with the poor guy. She noticed the look on my face that probably asked “aren’t you going to help him?” and her smile got wider. “He’s fine. It’s just that he’s a Jets fan and he’s watching the game. The first three times he screamed, we went in to check on him, but then we told him that unless he codes, we’re going to ignore his screams until the game is over. He said that was probably a good idea.”
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I imagine that they’re probably upping his pain meds right about now, as the Chefs close out a 24-10 win.

All Brady

The results should silence Manning’s advocates.
Denver’s “Fourth and Six”

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“With the Patriots leading 20-7 with only a few seconds remaining before the first half’s two-minute warning, the Broncos decided to go for it on fourth down and six to go at the Patriots’ 43-yard line. It was a decision that head coach John Fox had hoped would extend a drive and lead to a Denver score, which would cut New England’s lead to six heading into the half.

Instead, Patriots newcomer linebacker Akeem Ayers broke the Denver line and sacked quarterback Peyton Manning for a loss of nine yards”