the OTHER Slam-Dunk Contest from last weekend…
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009On Friday night of All-Star weekend, while the likes of Dwight Howard and Nate Robinson were (presumably) deciding on their dunk repertoire for Saturday night’s Dunk competition, the best of the NBA’s D-League were putting on a show to rival that of their marquee-name counterparts. From NADSYDE comes a link to videos of their best dunks. It certainly equals the talent on display the following night and if, like DIRT, you longed for a more “old school” showdown of technical prowess and physical force, you might find these dunks superior…
My favorite, from Keith Clark in his first DUNK contest:
See all of Clark’s dunks as he battles James White by clicking HERE (thanks to NadSyde for the heads up!)
Your 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend GUIDE
Saturday, February 14th, 2009L O S T : season FIVE, “THIS PLACE Is DEATH” (episode 5)
Friday, February 13th, 2009
Now we’re cooking with gas, or at least with a smoke monster! The season’s fifth episode, “THIS PLACE IS DEATH,” started off with the resolution of last week’s soap opera cliffhanger… Sun’s going to shoot Ben! Wait! Jin’s not dead! What? It’s true! (cue dramatic music cues!) Sayid and Kate copped telenovela attitudes and stormed off, wanting nothing to due with Ben’s plan. Well, then! To hell with y’all’s destinies!
Back on the island, things got a LOT more entertaining as the writers seem to be starting to have the kind of fun I’d hoped they would with the time travel device: Jin helped lead Rousseau’s party to their own distress signal! No time to finish that thought as “Ol’ Smokey”showed up to ravage a Frenchman; those guys had some serious cajones to follow their certainly dead friend into the long-hinted but never seen “Cerbus Vent.” Descriptions of it as a “security system” protecting a temple and evidence of the “sickness” Rousseau described years later are encouraging signs that some of the many loose ends and unexplained phenomena on The Island will finally get addressed.
Locke’s decent into ‘the well’ (sweeeeeeet shot of the light beaming from its bottom as Locke descended!) and the mishap during the time shift tells us that perhaps things CHANGE during the time shifts. The unexpected reappearance of the ‘Frozen Donkey Wheel’ was a cool twist…does this mean no more schizophrenic time-tripping for the rest of the season?
Fortunately, my earlier concerns about the season seem to be misguided. We won’t watch Ben and Jack drag ass all season for ’70 hours.’ Desmond’s arrival at Ms. Hawking’s church seemed a little too coincidental, but did what about Ben’s reaction to his question about “Faraday’s mother”?
Was Ben unaware of this familial connection or just surprised that someone else knew?
Did Ben kill Locke in L.A. and take Jin’s wedding ring off him?
Will Locke stay dead?
Why is Eloise Hawking suddenly not concerned that Ben hasn’t rounded up the whole Oceanic 6 posse?
Is Charlotte finally dead?
Was her only purpose as a character to provide a nice time ripple for Faraday’s actions?
Is “The Temple” a physical location or something else? If it’s a physical location, does it/can it move like The Orchid/The Well?
Will every episode this season have as many cool plot elements?
I certainly hope so…
Is being serious “BIZZARRE”? Mass media says YES!
Friday, February 13th, 2009Web headlines of “Joaquin Phoenix’s BIZZARRE Behavior on David Letterman” were all over my laptop screen yesterday, so of course I tracked it down on YouTube. I recently read a piece by director James Gray (who had worked with Phoenix in The Yards, We Own The Night, and the new Two Lovers) that was an insightful love letter to an actor he clearly admired. Gray wrote that he understood Phoenix’s recent announcement to leave acting. (more…)
Move over, Vista; get ready for Windows…7 ???
Thursday, February 12th, 2009For those that have been avoiding Windows Vista like the plague (love that XP!), it will soon be replaced by a newer version. Working title? Windows 7. There will, like Vista, be SIX DIFFERENT VERSIONS. Confused?
Let the excellent site ArsTechnica sort it all out for you HERE.
TOO cute? Marnie Stern on the streets of NYC
Wednesday, February 11th, 2009Recently, I read an interview on Pitchforkmedia.Com with an artist whose music I had not even heard (something I NEVER do). That artist was Marnie Stern, the new indie rocker girl who’s got indie rock dudes a-flutter from Silverlake to Williamsburg. (more…)
H-O-R-S-E makes debut at NBA All-Star Game
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009In what should be a fun addition to the Skills Challenge, 3-pt ShootOut, and the Dunk Competition, an all-star game of H-O-R-S-E will be played in Phoenix at the 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend. Kevin Durant (last year’s rookie-of-the-year), O.J. Mayo, and Joe Johnson will battle it out in the first year of what I hope will be a new tradition.
ESPN.Com has the scoop HERE.
Check out the lowdown on the 2009 All-Star Game HERE.
Ticketmaster merges with Live Nation to form WORST MONOPOLY EVER
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009Mere days after being called on the carpet by The Boss for scalping its own tickets, TICKETMASTER has thrown down an a$$hole trump card and merged with live music artist/management/venue conglomerate LIVE NATION. Clearly oblivious to the meaning of anti-trust, monopoly, or evil, our beloved Congress will probably let this past. Despite charging THREE SEPARATE FEES that amount to AN EXTRA 50% OF THE TICKET VALUE, Ticketmaster apparently needs to save money. Live Nation, the company that signed 9-figure deals with the likes of Madonna and Jay-Z over the last couple of years, will now combine its monopoly on venues in many areas with Ticketmaster’s monopoly on ticket sales in most areas. Neither years of complaints about the fees, nor recent complaints that Ticketmaster “sells out” of tickets then sends you to its sister site, TICKETS NOW where they are sold for FIVE TIMES THE FACE PRICE (!!!) have been adequately addressed. Soon a $25 ticket will cost you a mere $5,000 (plus $1,000 in charges).
TOP TEN reasons Lil’ Wayne is psyched ’bout tha Grammys
Friday, February 6th, 2009LIL’ WAYNE dropped the Top Ten List for Letterman (last night?)…
thanks to NadSyde for the heads up…
M.I.A. to drop baby, Grammy performance on SAME DAY???
Friday, February 6th, 2009
PITCHFORKmedia.com reports that M.I.A. will perform for the Grammys ON HER DUE DATE, February 8th! I’ve always thought of her as the ulitmate badass since seeing her from the very back of a sardine-can-packed gig at The ECHO, but still…
D A M N!
Her recent interview on The TAVIS SMILEY show charmed me so much that I was able to get over the fact that it’s not my baby… I can always give M.I.A. her second-born…
Lady is THA B O M B
Pitchfork.TV has an interview with M.I.A. (FLASH video), if you’re so inclined… (more…)
FLEET FOXES : “Mykonos” music video
Thursday, February 5th, 2009This song is from their Sun Giant EP and was also recently performed on Saturday Night Live: (more…)