December 2003 Archives

I'm all Eminem up in this piece today. Before I hit the road to Burlington for tonight's festivities, I thought I would do the 'rents a solid and start cleaning out the closet in my room here at home since most of it is the crap I didn't have time to throw away before I moved home from college.
Specifically, I'm going through the 4 large boxes of CD's that are the leftover remnants of my days as Music Director of East Carolina's own 91.3 WZMB fm. Being an MD was fun (lots and lots of free CD's and concert tickets), but when I think about all the shitty, unimportant bands people yelled at me about because I didn't put them in the station's Top 40 chart (nevermind if I actually played the CD on the air or not), it kinda makes me angry. Then I remember all the free CD's and concert tickets I got and it's not that big of a deal. Here is some of the stuff I found:

CD I HAD NO IDEA I HAD AND SHOULD FETCH SOME $$ ON EBAY
Robert Pollard - Not In My Airforce

NUMBER OF STEREOLAB EP'S I FOUND - 3
Laminations
Wow and Flutter
Noises (contains the track "Les Yper Yper Sound")

NUMBER OF THOSE STEREOLAB EP'S THAT WILL APPEAR ON EBAY - None, I love Stereolab!

ALBUMS I FOUND THAT I FORGOT I HAD
Urge Overkill - Exit The Dragon & Supersonic Storybook
Ghostface Killah - Ironman
Brendan Benson - One Mississippi
The Cranberries - The one with "Linger" on it
Placebo - self titled first album
Bell Biv Devoe - Poision

That BBD album brings up good and bad memories from high school.
In honor of that landmark release, I hereby proclaim information leafblower MENTALLY BRIT POP, SMOOTHED OUT ON THE SPORTS TIP, WITH A HIP HOP FEEL APPEAL TO IT. Who's with me?

Two days until I return to NYC. It's funny but I still really haven't decompressed yet. I'm still in NYC mode around here. Everytime I walk into a store or something, the people that work there are all "Hi there! How're ya doin' today?" and I grunt and shoot a glance back to them that says "What's it to you cuntybollocks?"

Extra cool points to anyone that can tell me where that last phrase came from.

You know the motto / Stay fluid even in staccato
Full blooded, full throttle / Breathe deep inside the trunk hollow
There’s the hum, young man where you from / Brooklyn number one
Native son / Speaking in the native tongue

Happy New Year everyone. Stay safe tonight and drink lots of Champagna!

Checka checka check it out. Sorry I’ve been away for so long. Big things are in the works. More on that later.

Still in the sunny and warm North Cackalack. It’s unseasonably warm down here right now. Before it warmed up I did get a chance to go up to Boone and get a day of snowboarding in. I can’t even describe how great it was to get back out on the slopes, even if it was on a crappy rental board. I think the people like me with their own board and gear forget what a nightmare it used to be standing in line for rentals at the mountain. What a nightmare. Anyways, once I got out on the mountain, I took it easy the first few trips down the hill but the more I stayed out there, the better I felt. My knee really did well. My only problem was getting on the lift. I had problems in the lift line with coming to a stop before getting on the lift. My knee isn’t really strong enough to do that very well. I fell one time when I was trying to get on the lift, twisted the hell out of my surgically repaired knee and had to crawl out of the way before I was decapitated by the chair. It was really humbling and embarrassing. More than anything, I was scared I hurt my knee all over again because it hurt like hell but it was OK by the time I got to the top of the mountain (Yes, I got right back on the lift and kept on snowboarding). It started to get crowded towards the end of the day and since Sugar Mountain is where everyone in NC comes to learn how to ski (jeans and all) I shut it down early rather than be killed by some novice. Still, all in all, a good day.

How was everyone’s Chrismukkah and/or Boxing Day? Mine was a bit uneventful but good. I got exactly what I wanted, money for a new iBook. Hopefully I’ll be able to get that sometime in January. New Years is next up. I’ll be heading to rural Burlington, NC to spend it with some friends from college. Should be low key but fun. Any time I have an excuse to drink massive amounts of champagne, I try and take advantage of it.

Last night I went down to the crappy local sports bar to catch the Celtics / Lakers game. Does anyone else remember when you were young and you would arrange everything on your calendar so you could watch those two teams square off twice a year in the regular season before they met again in the NBA Finals? Good times. Out of the 35 or so people at the bar last night, I was the only one watching that game. Everyone else was watching the Steelers / Ravens game. The Celtics lost, but I’m not too bummed about it because they played well at times and I have to be honest and say the Lakers are simply a better team right now. The C’s are taking small steps in the right direction. I like where the team is heading and Ricky Davis appears to be trying hard to fit in and play his part. However, Peter May is the eternal pessimist. Also, at the game, they showed Lance Armstrong and Sheryl Crow sitting together with big smiles on their faces, so I guess those rumours about the two of them being an item are true.

Troubled ex-Seton Hall star Eddie Griffin has announced that he has agreed to play for the Nets. What does it say about the job market when I can’t find a job and someone can get a new contract worth $400,000 after he has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after a woman accused him of hitting her three times in the face and shooting at her as she drove away from his home before dawn on Oct. 25 of this year. He also has an upcoming court date involving marijuana possession. I guess this is more an indictment of sports in general and how desperate the Nets are for some help from their bench than the job market. If nothing else, Jason Kidd can give Griffin some advice on how to beat women and get away with it. But I’m not bitter.

I’m still on a light publishing schedule this week. I’d like to do more but I’m on my parents Compaq and its’ dial up connection so big posts aren’t easy. I took 9 minutes to load and view Uncle Grambo’s pictures from Damore’s holiday party. Sheesh.

Also, it appears I am starting to get bombarded by spammers in the comments section. Anyone know of a way to combat these vermin other than banning their IP address? Is their a lower form of life on this planet than spammers? I don’t think so. It’s bad enough they clog up your inbox but to come here and clog up the comments section is just really frustrating. I think if the government spent less time trying to put people who download music in jail and more time trying to eliminate spam and the shitheads that proliferate it, the world would be a better place.

The room is on fire / as she's fixing her hair
You sound so angry / just calm down, you found me

My Dad, upon exiting the theatre after watching The Return Of The King, "I don't get it, I thought Sam was a fag." Priceless.

North Carolina is treating me well so far. It's been particularly cold down here which is good as I might head up to the mountains tomorrow for an afternoon of snowboarding. The "mountains" are puny compared to what I'm used to in Vermont, so this will be a good test/warm up to see what my knee can handle.

Two tidbits I found while floating around cyberspace today:

The Knicks FINALLY fired their useless GM Scott Layden. The man who is replacing him? The equally useless Isiah Thomas. Lord help them. At least the C's won't have to worry about the Knicks for the next 5 years with Thomas running things. Ouch.

Apple is selling a new iPod every ten minutes. Dayum. Also, for all those wondering about why I don't just shut up about being unemployed and simply go get a job at an Apple retail store, it's because they have "17,000 applicants for 1,000 retail positions. It's harder to get a job at an Apple store than it is to get admitted to Stanford University." Again, dayum.

The Top Eleven Albums To Listen To While Traveling by Airplane

Archers of Loaf - All The Nations Airports
Unbelieveable Truth - Almost Here
Spiritualized - Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Luna - Pup Tent
Mazzy Star - Among My Swan
Radiohead - OK Computer
Morphine - Cure For Pain
Travis - The Man Who
Pulp - This Is Hardcore
Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head

Keep these albums in mind if you still have to hop a plane to go home.

Shuffling through all the nations airports
Invalids collide with terrorist scum.
Scandals interlock, linking all the patrons.
And tourists intertwine in effortless lumps.

information leafblower is flying back to the North Cackalack today to attend a Christmas party with some old college friends that I haven't seen in a long time. Should be fun.
I've spent the the day watching Duke rout Texas and packing during commercials. Chris Duhon had a breakout game for the Devils. They are looking tough early in the season. Can't wait for conference play to start.
I will most likely be updating the site every so often while I am at home so if you get bored during the Xmas lull, fell free to come on by. Until then, check the links on the right.
Happy Holidays and here's to '04.
Cheers all.

Gearing up for the trip home.
Right, I think I'm all packed. Did I forget anything?

In a fitting end to one of the better basketball games I've seen this year, Antoine Walker bricked a three pointer at the end of the game to give the Celtics a major home win over their departed captain and the rest of the Dallas Mavs. Toine didn't do much damage in the game, but Jiri Welsch sure did. Let's look at the Tale O' The Tape:

Toine 36 minutes, 7 points (3-14 shooting), 7 boards, 8 assists
Jiri 32 minutes, 21 points (8-12 shooting), 3 boards, 2 steals, 1 block

Ricky Davis scored 8 points in 20 minutes, including one amazing alley oop from PP where the pass from Pierce was tipped and Davis hung in the air a second longer so he could get the ball and throw it down. It was noice. It was a gutsy win for the C's. We'll take it.
Also, the Herald is reporting the Mavs are quietly shopping Toine to see what they can get in return. Is the honeymoon over?

The honeymoon for the Nets is definitely over, Jason Kidd is finally showing his true colors. He was extremely nice and courteous until he got his contract extension and now that he's getting paid, his scales are showing. It's no secret he doesn't like Byron Scott but the team can't make any personnel moves right now as it is up for sale. This series of events follows the pattern Kidd set in stops in Dallas and Phoenix. Somehow it's always the coach's fault. In other news, Kidd is shooting 38% from the field this year.

Texas and Boston have agreed to terms on the ARod for Manny deal but the MLB Players Union won't allow the deal to go through. Part of the dea is that ARod will take less money in order to become a free agent earlier than originally planned per his $25 million A YEAR contract, but the Players Union won't allow ARod to take less money. I understand that the Union has to protect the rights of the other players, but if ARod wants to go to Boston, shouldn't they let him? ARod is playing the good soldier saying that he doesn't want to disrupt union policy.
Another shocker: The hapless Mets will have fatboy Mo Vaughn on the payroll until 2011. Read that sentence again.

Luol Deng isn't the best college freshman in the land. Kris Humphries is. Humphries asked out of his letter of intent to play in Durham citing concerns over playing time. This guy is a monster. Look at the picture on that link. WOW. Cheers to Coach K for taking the high road and letting Humphries walk, something he was not required to do.

I can't say the recent crime spree in Prospect Park has me feeling to good about the local hood. The cops recently decreased patrols in the park and as soon as they did, crime shot up. Brilliant move guys. It's like your the MTA or something.

Is Apple working on a new retail store on 5th Ave?

More End O' The Year listmania from The Guardian and the latest installment from Pitchfork.

If anyone is dying to get me an Xmas present, I have updated my Amazon wishlist. Just go to the About Me page and click the link there.
:)

Why ????
You let yourself down / and you don't know why
But you've taken it / just don't stop
I'm the original / I'm the original
When it comes to the suburbs / I'm the original

I installed the Jaguar version of OSX on Jan 12th of this year so this iTunes play count is pretty much representative of what I was listening to all year. Click on the image to view a less blurry version.

OK...last little bit about the Celtics/Cavs trade. Jim O'Brien likes the trade now. Also he knew about the deal on Saturday night. Coach OB also OK'ed the Antoine Walker deal. I was surprised about that. But not as surprised as I was when I found out Antoine Walker was out gambling when Danny Ainge called him to tell him that he had been traded.
"[Danny] was like, 'You've got good news and bad news," said Walker. "The good news is you're getting traded to the Dallas Mavericks. You're going to be on a great team. He started trying to feed me a bunch of [expletive]. At first, I was like, `I'll call you right back.' I couldn't believe he told me I got traded. I didn't want to talk while I was gambling.
Not surprisingly, Peter May still hates the trade. Eternal naysayer Josh Ozersky likes it.
I'm still waiting for The Sports Guy to get off his lazy ass and weigh in.
For the record, Danny Ainge has traded away 53 percent of their points, 60 percent of their rebounds, 51 percent of their assists, 52 percent of their steals and 57 percent of their blocks from last year.
The C's were unable to practice with their new players yesterday because Eric Williams couldn't get to Cleveland in time to go through his mandatory trade physical, so the team will have an extended walkthrough today before facing the Mavericks at home tonight.
OK. Now that topic is dead. For the time being.
NOTES OF INTEREST FROMTHE INTERWEB:
- Joe Horn is a douchebag and got off easy if you ask me.
- Saddam photoshop funnies.
- Actor David Hemmings, the man who graced the single cover for the reissue of How Soon Is Now has died.
- Pitchfork contributes to the Year End listmania.
- The Super Furries' Phantom Power took home Abum Of The Year honors in the Japan Times. [konichewa Coolfer]
- Make your own Jackson Pollack. Super coolness.
- Uncle Grambo is at the top of his game today. Respect.
- The Dullest Blog In The World is back!
- Who are you pulling for in the Miss World Contest? I'm split between Miss Belgium (yummy) or Miss Iceland (how you doin?).
- Women of Wal-Mart. Definitely not safe for work. Also, I'll go out on a limb and say the last chica is a ringer and doesn't get her paychecks from Wal-Mart. Call me crazy.

Last night I pulled out some old Oasis singles and listened to some of the B-Sides on there and was really liking some of the demo's, so i went and gathered up all the demo's I had in my CD collection from some official type releases like b-sides, compilations, downloads, things like that. Here's what i came up with.

DEMOCRAZY

Do you have any I should add?

Is it time to doubt? / Is it time to wait?
Will you be left alone at the starting gate?
I'm not blind and I don't mind
Cause I got time
Now I'm alive

Beantown is unsurprisingly split down the middle on the recent Celtics trade with the Cavs that I reported yesterday.
ESPN liked it. The Globe hated it.
Messageboards were the same way. Personally I like it but then again, I am trying to get Danny Ainge to add me to the payroll. Some further thoughts/info that I did not have yesterday:
- Paul Pierce and Ricky Davis are apparently good friends. Both live in LA during the summer and work out together regularly. Last month, Davis dumped Arn TellemDan Fegan as his agent and defected to Paul Pierce's agent Jeff Schwartz, which undoubtably played a role in this trade. This is good news.
Another little known fact, Davis' first agent in the NBA was none other than Master P. Make 'em say ugh.
- Coach Jim O'Brien and the rest of the coaching staff were against the trade but that surprises no one that follows the C's closely. OB was practically gay for Eric Williams. He hustled, played D, took good shots and filled the locker room leader role left void by Fatoine Walker's exit. OB was not happy to see EWill go.
- Yesterday I got Micheal "Yogi" Stewart and Michael Curry mixed up, which is easy to do as both of them rarely see action on the court. Curry is the President of the NBAPA, not Yogi. However, in news that will amuse only me, I did find out that it was Toronto that won and fierce bidding war to sign Yogi Stewart to a six year deal that would pay him over $4 million a year(of which he has two years remaining). The team Toronto was bidding against? The Boston Celtics. The Coach/GM at the time in Beantown? Rick Pitino. Yesterday I called Yogi Stewart's contract "Pitino-like". Even when I'm bad I'm good. Woo Hoo!
- This isn't the first deal involving the C's and the Cavs. The sordid history began in the 1988 season when douchebag Pitino decided he wanted big man/thug Vitaly Potapenko from the Cavs and traded them a first round pick for him as he determined that we couldn't get anyone as good as Potapenko in the upcoming draft. The Cavs selected Andre Miller with that pick and he went on the lead the league in assists during his stay in Cleveland. Other players we could have taken with that pick include Shawn Marion, Jason Terry and Corey Maggette.
Honestly I think this deal will be great for the C's. They will definitely miss Eric Williams,his sparkplug play off the bench and more importantly, his locker room leadership. Battie has played hard during his stay in Boston but we were all waiting for his leg to fall off one night when he was trying to get back on D. Trading Kedrick Brown officially closes the book on the draft of 2001, which effectively set the franchise back for years and is one of the worst failures in team history. The C's took three players with their first round picks that played. the. same. position. Joe Johnson was drafted 10th, Kedrick Brown 11th and Joe Forte 21st. The C's could have walked away with Troy Murphy, Zach Randolph and Tony Parker with those three picks and now be challenging for the NBA title but instead we are mired in mediocrity. Johnson was traded along with a #1 pick (which turned into Casey Jacobson) for Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers, neither of whom are still with the team. Forte was included in the trade that brought in Vin Baker but he has since been released from Seattle and is now out of the league. I wonder if his Mom still works at his agent's office?
Bottom Line: We definitely got the better end of this deal talent-wise. Davis is a player in the lague. 20 point scorer's don't grow on trees. If he and Pierce are close, I see no reason why they can't play in harmony. Mihm will provide us some toughness down low and a strong rebounding presence and Yogi Stewart will provide us with someone we can place on the IR and let one of our other rookies take a place on the active roster. Next year he will have an expiring contract and we can move him for someone else. We now have the talent to compete in the East and hopefully we will do so. The main drawback for the C's is they just traded away the heart of their team's defense. D has always been a priority under the watch of Jim O'Brien. Davis is known as the Cavs best one on one defender but only plays D when he feels like it. That will have to change.
Can't wait for the game tomorrow night against Walker and the Mavs. Should be fun.
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB:
- This must be Injured Blue Devil Point Guard News Week. First Bobby Hurley is back in the game and now comes word that Jay Williams is up and about and walking without crutches. He is planning on attending the Cavs(there's that team again)/Bulls game in Chi-town this weekend. It will mark the first time that he will have seen his teammates since his accident this summer.
- ARod is coming. I can feel it.
- More reasons to hate the NFL.
- Year End Best Of's from The Guardian, Coolfer and 1115.org. Nice one all.
- Here is the Spider-Man 2 trailer. I'm holding out for the Quicktime version. Yes I am an Apple snob. Thankyouverymuch.
- Microsoft wants to crush Apple's online music store much like it did Apple's OS back in the day. You know what I'm talking about. Take a great thing, muck it up royally and make it available to the masses. Microsoft=The Borg.
- Did The Beatles try and reunite in 1970? Is there a tape of five songs from said reunion?
- My ex-girlfriend from a former life, Heidi Klum, is pregnant.

Today I had my second psuedo-job interview since last Thursday. It was at a hiring agency that companies use to help them fill vacant positions. I hate going to these things. I've been to so many I hardly take them seriously any more. It's like applying to jobs over the internet. After a while, you're just clcking and sending emails with little thought to the whole process. Everytime I go to one of these things, the people say "Well, I'm submitting you for this job. I should hear back from them in a few days. I'll contact you when I hear back from them", and then I never hear back from them. And they won't return my phone calls. But I'm not bitter. I'm trying to be positive about the situation and look at it in the frame of mind that I've had 2 more "interviews" than I've had in the last 2 months so maybe that means companies are going to be looking to hire people in the New Year. I was hoping to have a gig lined up before I went home for the Holidaze, but that is looking unlikely now.

*thinking positive*

Dacw hi, a'i gwyneb mewn poen
(There she is, her face screwed up in pain)
Mae hi newydd gael ei phigo gan byr ar ei chroen
(She's just been stung by a bee on her skin)
Mae'n gafael mewn papur cyfagos a'i daro ar y wal
(She picks up a rolled newspaper then hits the wall)
Mae'n gadael gwennynen ar ôl sydd yn sicr wedi ei dal
(Revealing a squashed up old wasp that has definitely been caught)

Celtic Director of Basketball Operations Danny "Not Afraid To Make A Move" Ainge has completed a deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers in which Boston sends Eric Williams, Tony Battie and Kedrick Brown to Cleveland for Ricky Davis, Chris Mihm, and Michael "Yogi" Stewart.
Today was the first day that players that were either drafted this summer or signed a new contract this summer were able to be traded. This deal likely opens up the floodgates for more deals around the league.
My first thoughts regarding this deal:
- I don't doubt anything Danny Ainge does but the C's are on a 5 game winning streak and playing the best basketball of the year so the timing of the deal is a little suspect. They host Minnesota tonight and will retire Cedric Maxwell's number at halftime. The new players won't be in uniform yet so we will have a depleted bench tonight. Also, their first game in Green would be Wednesday when Fatoine Walker, Texas Ranger comes to town. Yikes.
- The Celtics are giving up a player with one eye (Eric Williams is legally blind in one eye), one player with bad knees (Tony Battie hasn't been able to practice with the club in the last two years due to his knees) and Kedrick Brown who is possibly the most athletic player in the league but has done nothing of note on the court since being drafted out of junior college with the 11th pick in the 2001 draft.
The Cavs trade away their version of Fatoine Walker in Ricky Davis. Davis is capable of giving you 20, 5 and 5 every night but also libel to pout if he doesn't get his touches. Mihm is a big body that has been a bust since coming out of Texas in 2000 and being drafted 7th overall. However, he is playing well this year and rounding into form. Yogi Stewart is widely considered the worst player in the league but is a certifiable veteran locker room presence and if I'm not mistaken he is the President of th NBA Players Union. Don't ask me why I know that.
- The deal breaks down thusly, The Cavs go for addition by subraction trading Davis away while packaging Stewart's contract and being forced to throw in Mihm to sweeten the pot. SG Dajuan Wagner is coming back from injury soon so this free's up some PT for him. Also they get three above average defenders that can help their lackadaisical effort on that end of the court. For all of Kedrick's failure on the offensive end of the court, he is a lockdown defender.
For the C's, they gain a load of offense in headcase Davis. However, Davis is signed to a reasonable contract through 2008 so if he can live with being 2nd fiddle to Alphadog Paul Pierce, the C's will have a potent offense. Much like the Walker deal and Jiri Welsch, Chris Mihm may be initially overlooked in this move but don't sleep. He is a younger version of Battie that can really help the Celtics out on the boards, where they have been killed this year. He's avergaing 6 boards in just 18 minutes a game, good enough for 2nd on the C's. Mihm may step in as starting center very soon. Stewart will take his customary place on the bench while earning over $4 million for the next 2 years. His contract is Pitino-like.

Now if you will excuse me, I will be spending the rest of the evening on Celtic messageboards of all shapes and sizes.

Also, Paul Pierce was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week today.

Lastly, god help us all but Peabs has a blog.

PS - to the guy at the gym that felt the need to take a large shit and stink up the entire locker room...two word buddy. COURTESY FLUSH.
Look into it.

I don't really have much exciting to say today. It's windy as hell outside, luckily I have my new Burton ASL Ronin jacket to keep the cold and wind at bay. This thing is sweet and the best thing about it is I got it for absolutely free. One day I'll have enough for the iPod jacket, but not now. Still, I'd rather be snowboarding.
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB:
- Check out the line for the opening of the Tokyo Apple Store.
- Rolling Stone interviews Steve Jobs.
- Canada taxes iPod purchases (as well as other MP3 player purchases) so the bands that you "steal" music from can eat the RIAA can afford more lawsuits.
- The Worst Sports Moves of 2003. Guess what's #1?
My fave is #6 - Nets sign Alonzo Mourning for $1.88 million a game. It's funny because it's true.
- Bobby Hurley's back in the house. Sweet.
- Will the NBA do away with the luxury tax after next season? Does anyone reading this site care?
- This is why I hate the NFL more and more each week.
- Depending on who you talk to and what you read, The ARod for Manny trade is picking up steam.
- Boston Celtics = Team Of The Week on ESPN.com. PP averaged 31 points per contest and Jiri added 13 per game.
- Duke crushed an overmatched Portland U team last night. My college basketball thoughts of the day:
1) I really hate the ACC's TV contract with Fox Sports that makes the kids play on Sunday nights. College basketball games are supposed to be played on Saturday afternoon. That way I can get out of whatever the girlfriend has planned for us to do that day. Sunday night is no good for me (or the students for that matter). I'm not in sports mode Sunday night.
2) With more and more kids leaving school early, will the old Dean Smith tradition of scheduling a game in your senior's hometown area go the way of Will Avery's pro career? This season Duke played home games for supposed seniors Carlos Boozer (Great Alaksa Shootout) and Mike Dunleavy Jr. (Portland) and neither was around to appreciate it.
- Yo, don't fuck with pinky the cat. Funny shit. [link ganked from Ultragrrrl]
- Sarumon will be on the ROTK DVD.
- Google gets more omnipotent every damn day.
- Emily sent along pictures from that night that Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce's band played that I talked about a while ago, complete with pictures of me with the legendary rythym section (last 3 pics). In case you can't figure it out, I'm the extremely unphotogenic one with the shaved head. Ugh. I just thank God that I actually came out looking normal when I had my chance to get my picture taken with Oasis. I'll have to scan that in and post it someday.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll be in a better mood.

When we talked to the mountain goats
I could tell that they understood
That the universe is flat
And trees are made of wood

For Dubya: They captured Saddam. I figured they already had him and were waiting for the most opportune PR time to announce it, but hey, what do I know. I'll leave the biting political commentary to the pros. Here's how it went down. World leaders react to the news.

For Me: Peter May backs me up on my thoughts on Antoine Walker in his weekly column, albeit in a more rational and more well thought out manner.

This wasn't the greatest talent-difference trade in NBA history, not by a long shot. That was a patently idiotic statement. And if Walker seriously believes that Ainge was trying to set back his career by shipping him to Dallas, then 'Toine is delusional or just plain stupid.
Wilt Chamberlain once got traded for Paul Neumann, Connie Dierking, Lee Shaffer, and cash.

Sure, Walker was talking in the heat of the moment and, at least now, the deal is benefiting Dallas more than Boston. But, Jiri Welsch's play notwithstanding, this was a down-the-road deal for the Celtics and a win-now deal for Dallas. The true worth of this deal from the Celtics' standpoint won't be known until Raef LaFrentz is healthy and until the draft pick is made and the free agent is signed.

Righteous.

As I am flat broke, I stayed in last night and watched the Cavs / C's tilt on NBA TV. LeBron tried to be the man, and he was well on his was with a career high 37, but PP played the part of the teacher and schooled the youngster and the Cavs for a season high 41. PP also sealed the win as he picked LeBron's pocket with 15 seconds left and the Cavs down three. Proper! The two went at it all night and it was a joy to watch. PP is a lock for Eastern Conference Player Of The Week este semana.
Also, let there be no doubt that LeBron is the real deal. He's gone on record stating his goal is to average a triple double in his 5th pro season. I'd like to say there is no way he could do that but I'd be lying.
On Monday, the C's will retire Cedric Maxwell's #31. Max's number will be the 22nd number retired by the Celtics. No other team has more than 9.
Peter Vescey is reporting that Danny Ainge has designs on the C's head coaching job. This theory has been floating around Celtic messageboards for a few weeks now. I'd rather have Danny stay up in the front office as I think the coach should coach the guys that the front office gets for him. Let us not forget that the last time one person shared those duties, it set the franchise back quite a few years. That would be you I am looking at Rick Pitino.
In other Boston sports news, the Sox signed A's closer Keith Foulke.
Last night was made even better by Memphis beating the Nets by 47. Yes, you are reading that right. A four followed by a seven. Booyah!
As for your Arts and Entertainment news, did you know that Willy, of Free Willy fame, has died?
Here is Macca waxing poetic about being in the USSR as well as the NY Times on Dizzee Rascal.
Thanks to Grambo for pointing out this little nugget about howAndre 3000 is a fan of The Smiths.
This girl named Hannah in Atlanta turned me on to them. 'Cause I was telling her that I loved the Hives and the Buzzcocks and she said, "Hey, you need to check these guys out." [On the song] it's this dude and he says, "Last night I dreamt that somebody loved me/ No hope, no harm, just another false alarm." So it's like he had a relationship and then he woke up and he was like, "Damn, it was just a dream."
And lastly, Punk'd, R.I.P.

It's snowing like mad right now so I expect a lot more of this going on today:

i'm hurting no one. hurting no one...
i want to give you everything.
i want to give you energy. i want to give a good thing.
i want to give you everything. everything...
everything. everything...everything. everything...

Hooooooooooboy. Not sure to start with this flaming pile of BS. Fatoine Walker can't let go. Today he disses Celtic Director of Basketball Operations and resident genius Danny Ainge. Guess whose side I am on? I'll let Fatoine start:

"Danny wanted to get rid of me," said Walker. "If you look at the trade, I think he really felt like I wouldn't mesh with these guys in Dallas. Me, personally, I think he was really trying to set my career back a little bit. If you really look at what I got traded for, it's got to be the biggest difference [in talent] in history. Usually, an All-Star gets traded for an All-Star. And you gave away Tony Delk, a proven scorer in this league."

"I'm sure he probably regrets [making the deal]. He'll probably never admit he regrets it. I know he knows what situation he put me in. So, [the Mavericks] winning is not surprising him. But if I'm able to succeed individually and have a good season. Then, obviously, if Boston doesn't do well, he's going to regret it. You go to the Eastern Conference finals and then the second round of the playoffs. You only have a little window of opportunity. Now, if you take a step back and don't make the playoffs, and if every year, you're fighting to be around .500, he's going to regret it. That means he came in and set the organization back instead of moving it forward. He won't regret it so much as the owners will regret it. Really, really, really, regret it. I think to win a championship you've got to have two superstars.

Ainge, classy as ever, responded.

Every player that gets traded is emotionally hurt and their pride is hurt and I understand it. I've been a player and I've been traded twice. I understand his perspective. I obviously don't agree. And I can't think of a better situation that Antoine Walker went to than Dallas, individually and everything.

Now, let me retort on a point by point basis,
1) I would nominate Rick Robey and Joe Barry Carroll for Robert Parish and Kevin McHale as the most lopsided trade in terms of talent exchanged in NBA history.
2) Other than score 50 points in one game when he played in Phoenix with Jason Kidd, Tony "Injured All The Time" Delk hasn't done jack shit in the NBA. Gimme Jiri Welsch any day.
3) The players involved in the deal are more than Antoine and Tony for Raef Lafrentz, Jiri, Chris Mills and a #1 pick. Mills and current Celtic Eric Williams will be dealt sometime between Dec 15 and the mid February trading deadline for another player or two. After that, we will have two picks in the upcoming draft. Say we trade EWill and Mills and get Clippers Quentin Richardson (a rumoured Ainge target) and Melvin Ely in return and then trade up in the draft and nab (for the sake of arguement) Duke superfrosh Luol Deng. All of a sudden that deal looks a whole lot better, no? The true value of this deal won't be known for at least another year or two.
4) I guarentee you, that after comments like this, Danny Ainge is sure he did the right thing.
5) No matter what Fatoine thinks, even if he did play in Boston this year, the Celtics weren't winning the championship any time soon. Yes, winning the East might be an admirable thing, but this is the Boston Celtics my friend. The single greatest professional basketball franchise in the world. Period. 16 World Chamionships. Anything less than #17 is a failure. Ask the Nets how they like those 2 Eastern Conference championships compared to what the Lakers and Spurs walked away with.
And lastly, dude, you got traded to a title contender! And the owner in Dallas has fat pockets and is not afraid to overpay players. If anything, Ainge did you a favor. I just hope your big fucking head fits into the Fleet Center on Dec. 17th so we can beat your ass on national TV. ESPN, 8 PM. Party at my place. But I digress...
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB
- Wooooohooooooo!! Super Furry tour dates for February 2004. Webster Hall stizz in NYC. Unortunately, the Detrizzle show is on a Tuesday so I won't be able to fly up there and make a weekend of it. Or will I?
- Will there be a new Blur EP next year?
- Pitchfork is making a book.
- Posh Spice blames the Brtish media on her rep as a "miserable bitch".
- The Sports Guy handicaps the NFL Playoff picture. Nothing that excerpt-worthy.
- In today's Big Suprise department, a Pentagon probe has estimated that VP Dick Cheney's former company (from which he still draws a salary that is more than his pay as VP) Halliburton overcharged as much as $61 Million for gasoline in Iraq.
The Pentagon officials said they were concerned about the problems with [Haliburton subsidiary]KBR's contracts, which were awarded without competitive bidding for up to $15.6 billion.
That's Billion with a B folks.

Freakin' and peakin'
Loosin' touch
Can't tell the wrong from right

Ugh. Running around the city when it's raining sideways is never a fun thing.

We could go for a walk where it's quit and dry and talk about precious things.
But the rain that flattens my hair! Ohhhhhh, these are the things that kill me

Smiths resets. So best.
A quick aside. One time when miss Emily was in town, we went to see Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke's new crappy band that was doing two shows in NYC for some random reason. During the Tiswas show at Don Hill's, Joyce played the drum break from the beginning of The Queen is Dead as a big tease to everyone. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON SURE SHOTS
- To: Nomar Garciaparra
From: Bryan Adams
Subject: Shut-uppa-you-mouth
cc: Arn Tellem, Evil Sports Agent
Beyond Hott. Yes, with two t's. [link ganked from OOAT]
- Muuuuaaaaahahahahahaha. Andy Petite signs with the Astros for almost $8 million less than what the Yankees offered. The Evil Empire must be in full freak out mode as they then traded for injury prone Kevin Brown hours later.
C'mon ARod. Let's do this! Red Sizzles baby!
- Jiri Welsch is officially my second favorite Celtic. Since being given some PT as point guard in the last 4 games, the C's have yet to score under 100 points and are averaging 109 per. Last night the C's creamed the Sonics in Boston as Jiri dropped 17 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals in 25 minutes. Revenge against the Raptors comes on Friday. Euro dudes! Get some on your team!
- Here is this week's TMQB
- Whitney must have lost those receipts from her drug dealer.
- Yo, this is f'real. Lyor Cohen may have to pay TVT damages out of his own pocket. To the tune of $53 mil. Ouch. All this shit for crappy Ja Rule.
- Craigslist says 50 Shekel, "The Jewish Hip Hop Artist", is looking for a manager. He's paying $500+. Too bad I'm out of the music game.
- The Least Essential Albums of 2003.
- NME says the Super Furries will be back in the US in February. Hmmmmmm. Maybe employment can wait until after they come over.
- The Pixies are NOT opening for the Chili Peppers in France. There's always Coachella.
- Rick Rubin reset from Rolling Stone. [ link ganked from Catchdubs]
- Series of Sneaks era interview with Spoooooooooooon. [link ganked from Chromewaves]

The rain falls hard on a humdrum town
This town has dragged you down

I go by the Tootsie theory: that if you concoct a convincing on-line meta-personality on the Net, then that personality really IS you. With so few things around nowadays to loan a person identity, the palette of identities you create for yourself in the vacuum of the Net - your menu of alternative "you's" - actually IS you. Or an isotope of you. Or a photocopy of you.
Kinko's again - photocopy yourself!
Karla noted that when photocopy machines first started to come out, people photocopied their bums. "Now, with computers, we photocopy our very being."

- Exceprted from Douglas Coupland's 1994 book Microserfs, the work from which this blog takes it's name. Bug, one of the computer geeks in the book, lists his occupation as information leafblower.

Does anyone else out there think it's absolutely ridiculous that Rosa Parks is moving forward with her lawsuit against Outkast for their song of the same name?
Anyone else think this lawsuit might have gone away if Outkast hadn't become so popular with their last few records?
First Amendment anyone?
At least it's good for comedic value. Check out the translation of the hook from the lyrics to legalese:

OUTKAST
Ah ha, hush that fuss
Everybody move to the back of the bus
Do you wanna bump and slump with us
We the type of people make the club get crunk

LEGALESE
Be quiet and stop the commotion.
OutKast is coming back out [with new music] so all other MCs [mic checkers, rappers, Master of Ceremonies] step aside.
Do you want to ride and hang out with us?
OutKast is the type of group to make the clubs get hyped-up/excited.

Outkast have gone on record saying the song is not about her. Quoth Andre 3000 "We (OutKast) never intended for the song to be about Rosa Parks or the civil rights movement. It was just symbolic, meaning that we comin' back out, so all you other MCs move to the back of the bus." Parks claims the group is using her name to sell records but I seriously doubt many people (if anyone at all) bought the album because of the name of that song.
As some peeps on The Velvet Rope pointed out, Parks wasn't the first person to refuse to give up her bus seat, just the one civil rights leaders wanted to use as an icon.
Ms. Parks case, repped by Johnnie Cochran of all people, was thrown out of court once but has since been reinstated on appeal. Here's the full legal brief.

Just back from the laundromat and I have wet clothes to not wrinkle so check out this shizzle:
- Jiri Welsch, take a bow. A career high 19 points Sunday night in a Celtics win at Denver and even more solid play last night as the C's went to Utah and crushed the Jazz. Still, all is not well with the most storied franchise in pro basketball history, Vin Baker is sick, Marcus Banks was benched due to mouthing off to Coach O'Brien and Raef Lafrentz's right knee is causing him some problems. So much so that the C's are thinking long and hard about shutting him down for the year. So Durst! One good thing to come of this would be more playing time for Jumaine Jones and a roster spot for one of the two rookies that Boston has parked on the IL right now. Seattle travels to Boston tomorrow nizz.
- Morrissey turns down guest spot on the Simpsons, presumably because HE IS HARD AT WORK ON A NEW ALBUM. Still, how best would that have been?
- The 9th Rule of Fight Club is that there will be a video game of Fight Club.
- Catchdubs made me laugh out loud today. Nice one.
- What to do if you are caught in a 5 hour, snow induced traffic jam.
- My favorite movie reviewer, Neill Cumpston, returns with his ass kicking review of HOBBIT MAN: THE KING RETURNS. This is literally the funniest thing I have read in ages. To wit:

Even this summer, with MATRIX: SUDDENLY GAY and TERMINATOR: I LOVE COCK, the Rule of the Suck-y Third Movie got re-proven.

Someone told me that all of the spider stuff actually happens in the second book in the series, and that they had to tweak some of the stuff that happens in the books to make the movies work. You know what? Good. Books suck. They used to be good back when people didn’t have movies and TV and dressed like Davey Crockett. People also used to ride horses and drink tea, but now we have cars and Sprite. Move the fuck on.

It goes on from there and has some MAJOR SPOILERS so if you want to be surprised, wait and read it after you've seen the movie.

Cheers all.
I've never been too good with names but I remember faces.

It's that time again. List makers rejoice! Below is my liststravaganza for the year 2003. Loyal readers know this year hasn't exactly been my finest hour, what with losing my job and getting knee surgery. But one good thing that happened to me was starting this blog (which people actually read! So Best!) and getting myself in the habit of writing every day, something I had been trying to do for a very long time.
So join me in counting down the seconds until 2004 by reading my recap of the year that was in music. One note before we begin...I really didn't listen to much new music this year. I think this was a reaction of me losing my job in the music industry and not trying to feed the machine. I spent much of the year going back and listening to some of the older CD's in my collection, trying to recapture my love for music and the reasons that drove me toward this god forsaken hell hole of an industry in the first place. Basically, my Top 10 probably isn't going to surprise anyone. You have been warned.

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR (in alphabetical order by artist)

Blur / Think Tank – Hated this record for most of the year. Crazy Beat is possibly the most annoying non-Creed song ever written. Just horrible. However, there are some great moments on this record that balance it out. A total grower. Lately I can’t stop listening to it. I read a comment somewhere that this was like a collection of B Sides that would make for a friend and that seems spot on. I still think Damon is a ponce though. Blur is not Blur without Graham. Period. End Of Story. I think of this as Blur’s All Shook Down. It’s a Blur record in name only. It’s more of a Damon solo effort.
Favorite Lyric - So I stayed in the club / Just rewarding myself / Happiness, it turned into something else / And I just wanna be, darling, with you / The music’s made that way / My eyes are blue there’s nothing I can do

Coldplay / A Rush Of Blood To The Head – I know this record came out last year but none of the good singles from the album came out until this year and it didn’t crack my Top 10 of 2002 so it’s eligible under Grammy (or is that Grahammy) rules. I still think they are a bunch of twats and are definitely in the running for most boring live band on the planet but it’s hard to deny that this is simply a great record. As much as I want to hate them, and it, I just can’t. The perfect example of background music. Even my Mom likes this record.
Favorite Lyric - A warning sign / I missed the good part then I realized / I started looking and the bubble burst / I started looking for excuses / Come on in / I've got to tell you what a state I'm in

Dandy Warhols / Welcome To The Monkeyhouse – Another typical Dandy’s release. 4 or 5 amazing songs with a bunch of throw away tracks in between. Still, the great songs really blew me away. I loved the whole 80’s vibe this record throws out. Remember that Grand Theft Auto, Vice City commercial that had the Flock of Seaguls tune in it? I thought that The Dope would have worked much better for the vibe they were trying to get. It’s a total couples skate at the roller rink booty jam.
Favorite Lyric - I was the first to have spoken / And I said just about / All of the things you shouldn't say / So maybe you loved me but now / Maybe you don’t / And maybe you'll call me / Maybe you wont

elastica / The Radio One Sessions – It says a lot on my Top 10 of the year that a compilation of live studio performances can merit this honor but this record really grabbed my attention when I sat down and listened to it. When they were a band, I never really paid much attention to Justine and Co., I kinda considered them the british Hole, but this group of performances is super tight and definitely on point. The seeds of the Strokes were sewn here folks. Oh, who am I kidding. I just miss 1996 like a motherfucker.
Favorite Lyric - I'd work very hard but I'm lazy / I can't take the pressure and it's starting to show / In my heart you know that it pains me / A life of leisure is no life you know / Waking up and getting up has never been easy / Oh-a oh-a, I think you should know-ah.

Massive Attack / 100th Window – A February release date seems to mean that everyone is sleeping on this release in their Best Of lists, and it’s a damn shame as I listened to this record over and over. Its sultry, laid back grooves are easy to get lost in. It’s 3 AM incarnate. The guest vocal performances by Sinead O’Connor remind everyone why she was such a big deal in the first place.
Favorite Lyric - Jah forgive us for forgetting / Jah help us, we need more loving / You see the teachers are representing you / So badly that not many can see you / Let not another child be slain / Let not another search be made in vain

The Music / The Music – Moments of stadium rock brilliance were sprinkled throughout this uneven effort. Reminds me of the Verve’s first record in the fact that even though the kids are young and still learning to write proper tunes, you know they will be the goods once they get it all together. Ashcroft and Co. are an obvious influence and that is by no means a bad thing. Extra points for touring the US more than once even though I never got to see them. However, worst band name ever. Obvs.
Favorite Lyric - The the the the the / truth truth truth truth truth / is is is / no wooooooooooooooords

Outkast / Speakerboxxx/The Love Below – Not to toot my own horn, but I’ve been down with the ‘Kast since Ain’t No Thang But A Chicken Wing. It's been a real treat to watch them grow. The Parliament of our generation or the Radiohead of hip hop? Both? Not their best work (that would be Aquemini) but not many people in hip hop are willing to take chances (see: DMX, Ja Rule, etc.) or NOT use the Neptunes. I’m in the minority but I think Speakerboxxx is the tighter group of tracks.
Favorite Lyric - If what they say is "Nothing is forever" / Then what makes, then what makes, then what makes / then what makes, then what makes Love the exception?

Radiohead / Hail To The Thief – Although I got burned out on this record faster than I thought I would (probably because I downloaded the advance copy 2 months before it’s official release), it still resonates in the back of my sports addled mind on a daily basis. Sit Down, Stand Up, There There and Where I End And You Begin are among the finest tunes the band has ever created. Not the “return to the rock” that everyone was saying it would be, but there were still plenty of good riffs on this record while any and all computer doodles enhanced the songs, unlike most of their last 2 records. The MSG Show was buzztastic, even if our seats weren’t. And any record that takes a shot at Dubya with it’s title is to be recommended. Highly.
Favorite Lyric - Maybe you'll / be president / but know right from wrong / or in the flood / you'll build an Ark / and sail us to the moon

Super Furry Animals / Phantom Power – Man, what more can I say about my favorite band on the planet? Their last opus was deemed Album Of The Year by no less an authority than MOJO Magazine and this record is easily better than that one. The 5.1 mix on the DVD is choice. Genre tripping, thought provoking, booty shaking, yeti suit costume wearing. .. You name it and they do it and do it well. Their heading back stateside in April and are promising to dust off a few oldies for the tour. Don’t sleep yo!
Favorite Lyric – Keep your eye upon the ball / write your thoughts upon the wall / There's some words of advice / Save them up for a clear day / Venus and Serena understand

Ted Leo & Rx / Hearts Of Oak – Loyal readers know by now that I fucking heart Ted Leo. It’s good to see some other people coming around on him too. Saw him 4 times this year (maybe 5 as he is playing the Bowery next week) and loved every minute of it. This album wasn’t as strong as his amazing debut but that’s like saying Revolver isn’t as good as Rubber Soul. Solid and entertaining and one of the songs of the year with the title track. When that tune clicked with me, I listened to it for like 4 days straight. Seriously. Cool points for his amazing vocabulary as well.
Favorite Lyric - I was walking along some downtown avenue / I was sharing the sidewalk with my friend / we were singing this song together and it sounded so good / we said, we said "let's sing it again!" / (and it had no end)...

BEST RECORDS FROM LAST YEAR THAT I'M JUST NOW LISTENING TO
Queens Of The Stone Age / Songs For The Deaf – HOLY FUCKING SHIT. Every limpshitlips fan in the country needs to get a free copy of this so they can understand what The Rawk is all about. Have two cooler guys ever made a more kick ass rock n’ roll record and toured the shit out of it like Josh and Nick? Why the hell did I sleep on this album for so long? It’s kicked my ass all year. This should probably be in my Top 10. Best Rock record I've listened to in ages.
Velvet Teen – A friend of a friend has been singing their praises for a while now and I finally “got it”. Now all I have to do is go out and get the actual record instead of the 3 free MP3’s I found online.
Electric Soft Parade / Holes In The Wall - Brilliant Brit Indie Rock that kept me entertained all year.

RECORDS I HAVE THAT ARE REALLY GOOD BUT FOR SOME REASON I STILL HAVEN’T LISTENED TO
White Stripes / Elephant
Libertines / Up The Bracket (ducks from things Glamorama throws at me)
Ed Harcourt / From Every Sphere
The 22/20's / 05/03

BIGGEST FAILURES
Madonna / American Life – pffffffffft. Has she used up all the cool points William Orbit gave her yet?
Liz Phair / Liz Phair – Not so much a dig at la lovely Liz as a misstep on Capitol’s behalf by employing The Matrix as producers. They’ve had like 4 projects since Avril come out and all have done less than stellar. I’m very happy to say this does not bode well for the Mooney Suzuki.
Jane’s Addiction / Strays – Jane’s used to be about revolution. Now they just want to know when you will cut them the check. Sad.
Richard Ashcroft / Human Conditions – Another lackluster clunker from Captain Rock. Getting married and having a kid stole his mojo in a big bad way.

RECORDS I WANT TO HEAR BUT HAVE NO CHEDDA TO BUY
(meaning please burn me a copy if you have it)
Rufus Wainwright / Want One
Dizzee Rascal / Boy In The Corner
British Sea Power / The Decline of British Sea Power
My Morning Jacket / It Still Moves
Stellastar***** / Self titled
Athelete / Vehicles & Animals
Elbow / Cast Of Thousands
Ride / BBC Sessions
Bob Marley / Live in California
Ted Leo / Tell Balgeary Balgury Is Dead
Ryan Adams / Rock N Roll
The Streets / Original Pirate Material

BEST EP
And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead / The Secret Of Elana’s Tomb – Yo, these playa’s from Austin are on some outerspace shit for this EP. Gone is the Sonic Youth rawk, replaced by slow jams, synths and danceable anthems that make you want to shake your shit. Proves to the haters that they aren’t a one trick pony. Love it.

SONGS I HAD ON REPEAT ALL YEAR
Bandages – Hot Hot Heat
Wonderwall – Ryan Adams (Noel was right, he owns this now.)
Hearts of Oak – Ted Leo
On The Way To The Club – Blur
Where I End And You Begin – Radiohead
Intelligence - …Trail of Dead
The Undefeated - Super Furry Animals
Sleep Alone - Electric Soft Parade
The Truth Is No Words – The Music
Naked Girl – Velvet Teen
Under Control – The Strokes
She Lives In My Lap – Andre 3000
GhettoMuisck – Big Boi
Beautiful Occupation – Travis
The Hardest Button to Button – The White Stripes
The Dope – Dandy Warhols
Save Our City – Radio 4
Waking Up(live) - Elastica
Vapour Trail(live) – Mark Gardener
You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar But I Feel Like A Millionaire – QOTSA
Irish Blood, English Heart(live) – Morrissey

BEST GIGS OF THE YEAR
3/29/03 - Ted Leo @ Southpaw, Brooklyn – Fucking Ted throws down like 7 blocks from my crib! Sweet. I literally drank like 37 beers at this gig and had the time of my life. He broke into Hearts of Oak right when I walked past the stage from returning from the loo and I went apeshit in the “pit”. Ah, youth. It’s grand.
4/17/03 - Mark Gardener(acoustic) @ Knitting Factory, NYC – I never got to see shoegazer gods Ride, so this was the next best thing and it really turned out to be just that. The la la la’s at the end of Vapour Trail were to die for. Rumours are he is releasing the gig as an EP next year. Sweet.
6/7/03 – Field Day Festival @ Meadowlands, NJ – This day started off as pure crap. Car broke down before we left Brooklyn, it POURED most of the day, I was soaked throughout, the security at the venue was at Nazi like levels but I was determined to have fun as I was going under the knife for my knee surgery 2 days later. Finally got to see Underworld, they ruled!, Beck hurt himself so I didn’t have to listen to him and even though the Beasties sucked ass, Radiohead came out at the end of the night and made everything all better. Stadium rock indeed.
7/19/03 – Siren Festival @ Coney Island – One of my first public appearances after knee surgery. I went out there late in the day but still caught Ted Leo, Radio 4 and Idlewild and had as much fun as I could while being sober with a busted wheel. The best of the 3 Sirens by far.
7/24/03 – Spoon @ Castle Clinton, NYC – Free shows are always choice. The space was packed so we retreated to the rear of the venue and although we couldn’t see a thing, we had seats and access to the bar. Britt and Co. launched into a greatest hits set similar to the one I had programmed on my iPod, it was a beautiful summer evening and life was good.
10/3/03 & 10/4/03 – Super Furry Animals @ Irving Plaza, NYC – Phantom Power in the flesh audio wise. The Piccolo Snare was just dreamy and the yeti suits during The Man Don’t Give A Fuck were just off the heazy. All the drunken antics with the band that ensued post show didn’t hurt things either. Every time the Furries come to town, I lose a year off of my life. It’s worth it.
10/9/03 – Radiohead @ Madison Square Garden, NYC – They didn’t play Creep.

REVOLUTION OF THE YEAR
iTunes Music Store – Leave it to the world’s greatest computer company to take the steps into an area the music industry was afraid to go. Quite simply, the iTMS works. Great albums and songs by great artists available to buy at a reasonable price with one click and, depending on your internet connection, download to your computer in seconds. Most importantly, the restrictions on using the music are geared towards the consumer, not the labels. Seamless integration with the iPod makes this service worth every penny and for someone like me with limited apartment space and too many CD’s, a godsend.
Now, as usual, the rest of the world is catching up by offering their own version of a downloadable music store. This idea is soooooo 1998, why did it take so long?

MOST ANTICIPATED MUSICAL EVENT OF 2004
NEW MORRISSEY RECORD! DUE IN MAY? MAKE IT HAPPEN MOZ!

Behold our NYC stizz Xmas tree!

The NBA sure is a crazy place to be this year. The defending champion San Antonio Spurs currently sit at 11 – 10 and are last place in their division. The team leading the Midwest? The Denver Nuggets at 13 – 6. Yes, the same Denver Nuggets that tied for the worst record in the league last year. Only with new players.
Traveling to Denver tonight to take on the league’s biggest surprise (with all apologies to the Utah Jazz who are at 11 – 7 and very much in the playoff hunt) are none other than the struggling Boston Celtics.
The C’s (and myself) are still trying to shake off their loss to Phoenix on Friday night after the Suns came back from being down 29 points, the biggest comeback in Suns history. The blizzard that hit the Northeast isn’t helping things either. The C’s won’t arrive in Denver until today. NBA rules state that a traveling team must be in the city of their game the night prior to the game so the C’s had to get permission from the league to arrive today as they have been snowed in since Friday night.
To say this Celtics team at 7 – 12 is struggling is very much an understatement. Frequently lost double digit leads in the 4th quarter have led the team’s captain, Paul Pierce, to label his teammates as “soft”. The Antoine Walker trade is brought up hourly on Celtic message boards as the death knell to this team and even though the trade’s other principle, Raef LaFrentz, has been playing hurt since his tour of duty in Boston began, I don’t buy it. Jiri Welsch, recently promoted as a starter at small forward, has responded with more playing time and provides the C’s with some needed ball movement and otherwise intelligent play. Vin Baker is averaging 15 points and 7 rebounds per game, something he would never do with Antoine Walker and his 20+ shots per game still on the team.
Unfortunately in their current situation, the team’s negatives greatly outweigh the positives, a fact made even more apparent after the Phoenix game. The team has played poorly in the second half, particularly the third quarter, all year. Many are blaming this on bad coaching and they may have a point as the C’s seem to cruise to first half leads only to lose them after their opposition adjusts their game plan while the C’s look lost. One of the first things GM Danny Ainge did after taking office was to give current coach Jim O’Brien a 3 year contract extension so unless things swell to an Orland Magic-like failure, he figures to ride out the season. That leaves trades as the only way for the team to improve. Some of the deals that have been bandied about for the team include:
ATLANTA HAWKS: Eric Williams, Chris Mills and Tony Battie for Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Chirs Crawford.
PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS: Eric Williams, Tony Battie, Kedrick Brown, Walter McCarty and Mike James for Bonzi Wells, Ruben Patterson and Jeff McInnis
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: Eric Williams, Chris Mills, Tony Battie and a #1 draft pick for Ricky Davis and Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Bonzi Wells was dealt to Memphis in a separate deal so that scenario is officially off the table. It’s clear from the situations above that the players from Boston that are in play are Eric Williams and Chris Mills, (both making around $6 million per year and in the last year of their contract) and Tony Battie ($14.4 million left over 3 years). Williams has been a godsend to the team but his expiring contract makes him a valuable commodity around the league to teams looking to cut payroll. Ditto Mills as he is hurt and insurance is paying 80% of his contract. Battie is a serviceable big man that is not overpaid, a rarity in the league.
Due to the Celtics being over the salary cap but under the luxury tax threshold, they must trade Williams and Mills this year to take advantage of their salary slots. This is due to salary cap gobbledygook that I won’t go into. Basically if they let those players go, they can’t use their money to sign new players, but they can keep on paying players they trade for using those players.
Of the three, the Hawks deal is the most appealing as Shareef Abdur Raheem is averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds a game this year. Unfortunately he makes over $13 million a year and his salary would put the C’s over the luxury tax next year. Also, he is a low post player so there is a question if acquiring him would hurt Vin Baker and his game.
The Cleveland deal also shows some promise but Ilgauskas has been injury prone throughout his career and who could forget Ricky Davis and his ill-advised attempt at a triple double last year. Fans are divided on Davis as he is a showboat and tends to hog the ball but his intensity and scoring could greatly benefit Boston.
So if Danny Ainge suddenly fell seriously ill and Boston owners suddenly called on information leafblower to guide the team through the rest of the season, what would I do?
Portions of all of the above.
Step 1) Trade Eric Williams to Cleveland for Ricky Davis. The Cavs get a veteran leader to in the locker room and provides scoring from the bench. Boston gets a second scoring option to take some pressure off of Pierce.
Step 2) Trade Chris Mills and Walter McCarty to Seattle for Brent Barry and Reggie Evans. Barry becomes our point guard from day one and sends Mike James to the bench where he belongs. Barry’s contract is up next year and we can either resign him or let him go. Waltah leaves town and forces Coach O’Brien to play Jumaine Jones or Kedrick Brown more (which would be a good thing). Evans would go on permanent IR to give a roster spot to one of the Celtic rookies, Brandon Hunter or Kendrick Perkins.
Step 3) Keep Battie and let him go this summer during the expansion draft. We’ll need to have him around to bang down low for the rest of the year.
Step 4) Trade the two first round picks Boston has next year to another team for a top 10 pick. Use this pick on a young power forward that can rebound and block shots.
With these moves the C’s would still have immediate problems rebounding the ball but hopefully our ball movement and scoring would improve, resulting in more wins and a shot at the crown in the wide-open Atlantic Division.
The playoffs, however, would be a whole different story.

In other news, Paris Hilton was on SNL last night but I missed it. Luckily, Gothamist didn’t.
The Sports Guy’s column on Friday, while entertaining, seemed a little off from his best work and didn’t really do a whole lot for me. Kinda like my post on Friday for everyone else.
And as if Coach K needed to earn anymore respect from me....Dude tells the Cameron Crazies to shut the hell up after they started chanting "Fire Jarvis" in the waning moments of St. John's loss in Durham yesterday.
Coach K, so much buzz.