Happy New Year to one and all! May 2014 be a peaceful and prosperous year for everyone...and hopefully full of Led. Blessings from the Goddess.

Was your dad with you while you were taking the test, Kiwi? If so, give him the boot the next time you take the exam. Nothing worse than a backseat driver. There should only be two of you in the car when trying to get your driver's license: you and the examiner. All of the above advice given by everyone is good, too...use it all. Feel confident, visualize yourself passing the test before taking it, and leave pops at home. My friend's cat had a stroke yesterday. She's devastated. The Schumacher story is sad, too. All those years risking his life racing cars and then to have it possibly all end due to a skiing accident? How bizarre and tragic.

I choked, haha. Congratulations to jb126! You'll get your prize when I see you. Thanks Paul for the score-keeping you did and posting the weekly schedule. Good work. Too bad your Dolphins choked like I did.

^^^ I told you Peyton was going for 60. No way Denver was gonna take it easy and lay down for the Raiders. Pedal to the metal.

You totally missed the joke. I know you changed your pick in time and wasn't questioning that at all.

I just caught sight of the Miami-Jets score. Oy vey! Where to begin, Paul? So the question is: What did Rick know and when did he know it? Hehe.

If I remember correctly, Jimmy used a Leslie speaker to get that effect on the solo of Good Times Bad Times. I think he also used a Leslie on "Down by the Seaside".

^^^ Next Christmas, stz. It passed by quicker than Part One of "The Hobbit"...but the book is still better. The movies suffer (among many things) from video-game disease.

First of all, if I haven't already, welcome back to the forum Walter. You might have been in the mix too if life hadn't gotten in the way. This is the second year in a row jb126 has been in the top two going into the final week...she has proven to be a formidable picker. She's doing better than the guy in my local paper...as is pottedplant. Week 17 picks: CAROLINA...Ok, raise your hand if you really thought Carolina would pass New Orleans and claim the #2 seed a month ago? CINCINNATI...not even Marvin Lewis can screw this up, right? Naw, the Bungles will wait until the playoffs before reverting to form. TENNESSEE...How would you like to live where they're forced to air this game? This would be a good time to clean the storm drain or wash the car. Or take the missus shopping. INDIANAPOLIS...The Colts have some shocking losses...and wins...on their résumé. The Jackoffs would have been a much more interesting team going for 0-16. Instead, they won just enough to mess up their draft position. MIAMI...Ok Paul, losing at Buffalo is one thing but if you lose to these J-E-T-S clowns, it'll be time. Is this Rex Ryan's last game as Jets coach? DETROIT...Speaking of coaches on the hot seat, Detroit should have a coaching vacancy soon for Rex Ryan to flee to. There's no excuse for the Lions being under .500 and missing the playoffs. NY GIANTS...Maybe these two teams can swap quarterbacks and coaches in the offseason? Two teams that are painful to watch and whose coaches may be gone. PITTSBURGH...Somehow, Pittsburgh is still mathematically alive for the playoffs. Cleveland is just alive...allegedly. Cleveland is one of those teams that always screw your card up, no matter if you pick 'em to win or lose. CHICAGO...My first instinct was to go with the Packers. But how effective is Rogers going to be after the long layoff? And Green Bay still has injury issues...like at running back...that could hamper them. DENVER...Watch Peyton Manning go for 60 TDs to try and set the record out of reach against my pathetic Raiders. NEW ENGLAND...NE still has something to play for. Buffalo doesn't. That's bad news for you, Rick. At least your team won more than the Faiders. NEW ORLEANS...Still rubbing my eyes over the Saints collapse over the past month...falling from a #2 to #6 seeding in the blink of an eye. They should get right against the likes of Tampa...Tampa Bay being another boring team that would have been more interesting to ponder if they had gone 0-16. ARIZONA...Who can figure any of these teams out? Arizona's win in Seattle last week has to rank among the upsets of the year. I think the Cardinals can do it again this week. SAN DIEGO...As a Raider fan, I hate both these teams. This should be one of those tough AFC West division tussles and I still don't trust KC against teams with a quarterback with a pulse. SEATTLE...Losing to the Cardinals might be a blessing to the Seahawks. Nothing like an ugly loss to refocus the team...and just in time for the playoffs. Did anybody predict Seattle being even better than last season and getting the #1 seed? PHILADELPHIA...In a perfect world, both teams would lose, haha. It's been quite comical and entertaining watching the ditherings of Dallas lately. It's also been quite amusing listening to the angst of my Cowboy-loving brothers. Even with Romo, this would have been a difficult game for the Cowboys. Thanks to Monte Kiffin's antiquated defense, there is no such thing as being too far behind against the Cowboys. Where is Sean Lee again? Oh right...hurt and out of the game, as usual. My brother expects the Iggles to decimate Dallas 45-3 or something like that. I'm not so pessimistic and think the game will be competitive. Who knows...Kyle Orton could have the game of his life?

That's great...then he can share in the workload and allow me more free time away from the forum. He'll have to tighten up his mechanics, though. How does 'nirvana' become 'nirvasna' in the simple act of quoting a post?

2014 will be the 45th anniversary of Led Zeppelin's debut album. 4 + 5 = 9. Led Zeppelin released 9 albums in John Bonham's time with the band. Just saying...

Merci beaucoup for the Christmas present, Sam and Mr. J. K. Another transmission from the gods.

Okay, let's think this through. First of all, I think we can all agree that the bootleg market is not what it used to be, right? Whereas in the 1970s, bootlegs like Dylan's "Great White Wonder", Zeppelin's "Blueberry Hill", and the Stones' "Liver Than You'll Ever Be" sold in the thousands, today a release is lucky to reach in the hundreds, if that. A major reason for this, of course, is that ever increasing numbers of people don't bother getting a physical copy of the release...they just download it from a file put up by someone else. Those of us who still collect bootlegs are not only shrinking in number, but we're getting older and closer to death, which will shrink the pool of bootleg consumers even further. So, say you are a person who is hoarding a tape. What exactly are you waiting for? For the only ones who willingly still pay for bootlegs to die off? The longer a hoarder waits to sell their tape to some Japanese company, the less chance they have of getting a big payday, as the market dwindles more and more and pretty soon bootleg releases will sell only in the dozens. The idea of waiting to release the best shows last is suicide because at the rate they are going, by the time they get around to releasing, say, the missing early 1977 shows or the unreleased soundboards, there will be nobody left alive to care.

You could also go across the bay to the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, site of the last American concerts by Led Zeppelin on July 23 and 24, 1977.

Three underrated Christmas movies are: A Midnight Clear The Ref The Bishop's Wife

Well, it definitely is the closest to the studio arrangement and sound from the "Houses of the Holy" album. So if you prefer that version, then the P & P one is the one for you.

Christmas Hollywood-style, with not one but two Bad Santas.

Going to bed alone and then waking up this morning with a dog and my nephew cuddled up beside me.

Great concerts, but they were at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, home of the Raiders and A's, not at Candlestick. Most NFL players will be glad to see the Stick go...it was not a place players loved to play. Cold and windy.

Aw shucks! Give the big guy a belated birthday wish from me! Also, Gigi had her birthday on Christmas Eve, so Happy Belated Birthday wishes to Gigi, too!

Can't remember if I got anything Zep-worthy last Christmas but this year, I did get some additions to my collection. A nice t-shirt. Vienna 1973 vinyl bootleg. James Patrick Page "Session Man" 1979 double vinyl from Led Zeppelin Fan Club, Manchester, England. I've had the cd version for years, but I like having the original vinyl...especially with Jimmy's "She Just Satisfies"/"Keep Moving" single on it. Anybody else get Zeppelin presents?

^^^ At last! A new player! Welcome aboard apantherfrommd...better late than never, hehe. Stick around for the playoff rounds. You too, pottedplant!

Merry Christmas from Hollywood! Whether you are with friends or family or co-workers or a melange of everything, I wish everyone here a Happy, Holly, Jolly, Merry, adjective of your choice, Christmas and a Happy New Year! And remember, as Ella Fitzgerald once beautifully sang..."it's not the things you do at Christmas, but the Christmas things you do all year thru." Joyeux Noël! Feliz Navidad! Fröhliche Weihnachten! Buon Natale! Merry Christmas!