Matthew

Happy Birthday!

Even so, I think we're seeing the last days of Kobe in Lakerland. What's become obvious is that he is a great player, but can't raise the game of the players around him, so for Kobe to get that championship, he has to go to a team that's already good -- Dallas would be the ideal fit for him. Given all his talents, there is something not "there" about his game and his approach to teammates. There is the insistent need to have the ball, giving Kobe the rock is like throwing it into a Black Hole, it never comes back out. His teammates seem to have a disdain for him that isn't there for other superstars; plus, he needs to be the center of attention at all times. The Lakers would be better off without Kobe, get some good players, and start over again trying to build a championship team. Did you see the way Kobe played with Team USA? He knows how to share the ball. I agree he'll be out of Los Angeles soon. Yeah, he was good with Team USA, but that was because he was with players whose game he respected. From what I've seen of Kobe, if he doesn't respect your game, he going to freeze you out. On the Lakers, other than Lamar Odom & Derek Fisher, I don't see anyone who Kobe respects, and Odom is iffy. Chicago or Dallas seem to be the teams going after Kobe, and I think Cuban could get the most out of Kobe, plus it would take the pressure off Dirk Nowitzki -- though whether those two could coexist on the same floor/team is a whole other issue.

Despite appearances, I still think this is going back to Boston.

The Wonderful World of Gilbert Arenas from The Secret Weapon: Good friend and neighbor Jimmy Johnson was an Eagle Scout. Which is to say that he’s always prepared — even for preseason NBA games. Jimmy is the king of the online hookup. So, when he saw the Wizards would play an exhibition game against Dallas at George Mason, Jimmy worked his magic to obtain seats, one of which was courtside. And Jimmy was in post-season form for a pre-season game. Gilbert Arenas played in the first half, but was sitting in the second half, keeping busy by untying teammates’ shoes and other assorted pranks. During a stoppage in play, Arenas was casually scanning the crowd when Jimmy caught his eye. By flashing the box to the Halo 3 game. When Gilbert saw what it was, he lit up in a huge grin. He flashed three fingers at Jimmy — asking if it was Halo 3. Jimmy gave him “thumbs up” from across the court. Then he pointed at Gilbert, took out a Sharpie and pretended to sign the box. Gil nodded in response and mouthed something that seemed like “after the game.” Then Gil called over the towel boy. And during the next time out, the towel boy came over to Jimmy, cast a furtive glance over his shoulder to make sure none of the coaches were watching, and asked Jimmy to put the game in the towel. Which Jimmy did. Jimmy also slipped in a little something extra. “What is that?” the towel boy asked. “Something for Gilbert,” Jimmy replied. The towel boy shrugged. He was just the smuggler, what did he care? He delivered the contraband to Arenas and whispered something to Gil. Arenas opened the towel, held up the Halo box surreptitiously, and looked over at Jimmy. “For me?” he mouthed. Jimmy shook his head “no” and signaled for Gil to sign it. So, like a kid trying to avoid getting caught with a Sports Illustrated during physics class, Gil turned his body to shield the Halo box from assistant coach Randy Ayers (who was sitting next to Arenas), and signed the box. Then Arenas pulled out the surprise gift — a massive pair of granny panties, size 10x. Upon which Jimmy had written, “My grandma loves Gilbert Arenas.” Except he drew a heart instead of writing “loves.” Jimmy even took the time to color the heart bright red. Arenas was puzzled. As play continued on the court, he forgot about assistant coach Randy Ayers sitting right next to him. He frowned at Jimmy. Jimmy gestured that the panties were for Arenas. About this time, the rest of the Wizards players sitting on the bench noticed Gilbert holding up ginormous granny panties. Which Gilbert happily passed around to the rest of the team – let no one say the man is selfish. While play carried on, they laughed uproariously. Somehow, the coaches seemed not to notice. After a few minutes, the panties came back to Arenas. He tucked them (and the Halo box) into the towel, and passed it down the bench to the towel boy. But, perhaps there was a translation problem, because Oleksiy Pecherov opened the towel, saw the Halo box and the Sharpie, and tried to sign it. The towel boy was alert, and swooped in for the evening’s best block. A few minutes later, the towel boy came back across the baseline, avoided the scanning gazes of the coaching staff, and delivered the package to Jimmy. Who opened the towel and removed…the Halo box. And only the Halo box. Arenas had kept the granny panties. This is why I love the NBA.

Even so, I think we're seeing the last days of Kobe in Lakerland. What's become obvious is that he is a great player, but can't raise the game of the players around him, so for Kobe to get that championship, he has to go to a team that's already good -- Dallas would be the ideal fit for him. Given all his talents, there is something not "there" about his game and his approach to teammates. There is the insistent need to have the ball, giving Kobe the rock is like throwing it into a Black Hole, it never comes back out. His teammates seem to have a disdain for him that isn't there for other superstars; plus, he needs to be the center of attention at all times. The Lakers would be better off without Kobe, get some good players, and start over again trying to build a championship team.

Disk four, the Tony Bennett session. Can't say I'm too overwhelmed by it all. Bennett seems rather pedestrian in his singing, and I don't think his voice is a good match to the barrenness of just having a piano backing. Nice to have, but it's not like I'll be playing this section a lot. Disk six this morning.

It completely boggles my mind that any of this stuff can be of interest to anyone. Maybe, but this description made me stop and listen: 07. Richard Lerman - Auschwitz [MP3 - 5 MB] Auschwitz, November 18, 1999 was recorded while offering a performance at the 1999 Audio Art Festival in Krakow. The recording, made on a cold rainy day gathered audio mostly from the fences still standing at the site. I used a Walkman recorder and piezo disks. And it definitely had a "quality" to it that is hard to deny. It is music in its own way, as it evokes an atmosphere just as effective as a Bill Evans piano trio recording. Of course, what makes it that is what I bring as a listener, what my mind is telling about the history of Auschiwitz, the sadness, and maybe, just maybe, that life goes on as the rain falls. Interesting.

Honestly Rod, what DON'T you have???

Doesn't make sense to me. Howard & Terry are nothing to write home about, and two very low first rounder? If the Lakers are offering to take that, I'm jumping on it right now if I'm Dallas.... I think Kobe wishes he took that Clipper offer now, that made so much sense for him.

Happy Birthday

How do you guys & dolls on the East Coast do it? Starting time 8:30 EST! That is crazy and stupid, I'd be in bed by the top of the second.

Disk four, the Tony Bennett session. Can't say I'm too overwhelmed by it all. Bennett seems rather pedestrian in his singing, and I don't think his voice is a good match to the barrenness of just having a piano backing. Nice to have, but it's not like I'll be playing this section a lot.

I forgot to mention one thing from last night: Great clutch hitting there in the 9th JD Drew! Yeah, I know, I know.......

Crazy baseball scheduling, Colorado could be sitting around for a week waiting for the AL series to end. Boy, the NLCS was totally under the radar, again, baseball messes things up as only they know how.

Bill Evans: The Complete Fantasy Recordings. Disk three.

Thanks for the heads-up on the blog. I would like to start going into Seattle more for live jazz, yet it's an hours drive from where I live.

Got to love that Cleveland bullpen, come in and shut Boston down. Glad now that Seattle didn't go after Matsuzaka, he didn't look that good at all... What's great, if you're a Cleveland fan , is both Byrd and Westbrook come up big in the post season. The specter of Matt Morris hovers over Cleveland, look out!

Paul Byrd, the Matt Morris of 2007, who would've thunk it?

I just hope that this is for real. I've been slowly listening to my Monk cds recently, and they're making a huge impact on me -- I want to dig deeper into his catalog.

Traded in a lot of old rock cds, plus some extra cash, and got some Evans to plug some holes in my collection, plus a couple of others: Bill Evans: --- Homecoming --- Bill Evans and Orchestra at Brandeis Jazz Festival --- Interplay --- Autumn Leaves --- Cannonball Adderley with Bill Evans: Know What I mean? (SACD) --- New Conversations --- Letter to Evan: Live at Ronnie Scott's --- Live in Ottawa --- Live in Paris, 1965 --- Live in Stockholm, 1965 --- Time Remembered --- Solo Sessions Volume. 1 Steve Lacy / Roswell Rudd: Early and Late Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser (SACD) Weather Report: Mysterious Traveller (SACD) Gary McFarland and Steve Kuhn: The October Suite

That's what I've done, and it works well -- much easier to get the cds out to play also.

Bill Evans: The Complete Verve Recordings. Disk one. Note to King Ubu: There are also tracks 7 - 12 on the first disk of this set.

Thanks! For some reason I thought the Milestones SS would be in the Fantasy box, and I became confused when they weren't there. Looks like I'll be buying those three cds.

I don't think we'll be seeing Gagne for the rest of the series -- he's in free fall mode right now. I wouldn't be surprised to see it go back to Boston with Cleveland ahead 3-2.

Bill Evans: The Last Waltz. Disk seven.