All-Star Saturday Recap

Just finished watching All-Star Saturday and before I call it a night, I thought I'd pull a Dwight Howard and THROW DOWN some serious comments.

Geico H-O-R-S-E
This was kinda fun. It got a little dull at points when they couldn't hit a shot and seeing Kevin Durant win it with just long-range jumpers was kind of a letdown but hey... it was something different at least. Best shot to me was the jumper from the bleachers - probably not a huge degree of difficulty but at least it looked good.

Shooting Stars
Ahhh, the one time of year to see Bill Laimbeer chuck up half-courters. Good times. The Los Angeles squad got bounced early because they just couldn't hit the half-courter but it's always cool to see one of the Lakers' unsung heroes get to play a role in All Star Weekend. Oh, the Detroit team won but no one cared.

Skills
The thing that struck me the most about this one was the amount of half-assery going on. A few years ago when (I think) Kobe, Kidd, Parker, and Bibby were in it, they were hauling ass through the course. These kids were just taking their time with it all and made the whole competition kinda weak. I didn't even care who won by the end of it.

3 Point Shootout
The big story going in was Jason Kapono trying to win his third title in a row. The big story going out was how awful the competition was. Some embarrassingly low scores and it does the NBA no favors when the commentary team is putting down the shooters as being bad and how the really good shooters in the league aren't involved with it. The air goes out of the balloon when Kapono gets eliminated and some scrub from the Heat that I don't know wins.

Dunk Contest
What can you say? It was entertaining. There are issues with the Dunk Contest. As has been stated, almost every dunk possible has already been done in some fashion and most people are struggling to find something unique that they can physically do so in most cases, they're resorting to cheap gimmicks and the like. Sure, the Superman thing was funny as was Nate Robinson breaking out the green gear but... really? Then you have the horrible rule that they get two minutes to hit the dunk and if they fail, they get two more attempts. This creates horrible segments of the contest where they can't hit the dunk and everyone grows restless. I say go with the three strikes, you're out rule. If they can't land it in three, tough shit. I'd also like to see them go back to six dunkers but that's just me. The "big news" during the contest was LeBron "preliminarily" putting in his name for next year's Dunk Contest. That could be fun.

In the end, I think the NBA needs to boost the star power in these events by hook or by crook to really get people interested in them.

As for the game? I haven't decided if I'm watching it. I'm working and WWE's No Way Out looks pretty good so I might go for that viewing choice.

Okay, I Lied

So, tonight's post is no better buy I have to go into work on my day
off tomorrow! Yes, I'm getting up at 6 AM to go to work on my day off.

Pity me!

Sent from my iPhone

Spectacle

I stumbled upon a show on the Sundance channel recently called Spectacle. It's hosted by Elvis Costello and looked like it had some promise so I DVRd a couple of episodes to check it out.

The first episode featured Herbie Hancock so I didn't really expect much out of it and was much more looking forward to the second one with Jenny Lewis and She & Him - two of my favorite acts. Oh, Jakob Dylan was on it too but... yeah.

So, Herbie Hancock. The show is kinda unique as it features an interview interspersed with the guest performing bits of music here and there. The end of the show saw a duet with Elvis himself.

I found the show interesting enough that I was glad I had watched it and am looking forward to the next one.

Weird post, huh? I just spent about four solid hours writing so I'm a little brain drained.

I'll try to do better tomorrow!

Blue's Concert Calendar

I haven't updated this in a while so I thought I'd give it a look in a slightly different fashion. Instead of just listing a pile of shows that I think sound snazzy, I thought I'd spotlight a handful of my favorites that I'd like to go to the absolute most and then give a little insight as to why.

Sound good? Good!

Tuesday - Feb 17 - Largo - Ben Lee
This is a record release show for Ben Lee and since I kinda dug his last record, I'm thinking I might kinda dig this one too. For someone who went from my least favorite of the Bens [Folds y Kweller being the others,] I've quickly developed a fondness for Mr. Lee. Bonus points if he gets Mandy Moore there to duet on Birds And Bees.

Tuesday - Feb 17 - Glass House - Lykke Li
I really wanted to see Lykke Li at a live in-store at Amoeba late in '08 but didn't make it. I think I'd enjoy this show - or I'd leave it absolutely hating Lykke Li. It's one or the other - I don't think there's an in-between on that one.

Thursday - Feb 26 - Largo - Colin Hay
I've extolled the virtues of how awesome Colin Hay is on this page a handful of times. Mix his newer solo stuff with his acoustic greatness in tackling the old Men At Work jams and I'd have to imagine Colin Hay is one hell of a show to see.

Thursday - Feb 26 - Club Nokia - Tenacious D
Oh, come on. It's the D! Do I really need to go further? The first time I heard more than one or two songs from the D was when they performed at Comic-Con a few years ago. An actual sorta full concert at Comic-Con in front of 7,000+ geeks. You've gotta love that. Oh, and don't forget that Jack Black was on stage a couple hours earlier to answer questions about King Kong and got only D questions instead. Awesome.

Tuesday - March 10 - Henry Fonda - Cut Copy
Cut Copy was one of my favorite discoveries of 2008. Their amazing blend of retro 80's sounding greatness mixed with a tinge of the modern electronic style made theirs a sound that I loved to hear over and over throughout the year. And people are still discovering Cut Copy so I'd love to see them in a small venue before they potentially explode.

Thursday - March 26 - Glass House - The Airborne Toxic Event
One of my favorite band names EVER - The Airborne Toxic Event also holds the honor of being the only KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic podcast that I've actually taken the time to listen to of the 20+ on my iPhone. They played a fantastic acoustic set on that show and ever since I heard it, I thought seeing them live in a small venue would be amazing.

Thursday - April 2 - The Wiltern - Lily Allen
Well, since I enjoyed Kate Nash so much, it only seems fitting that I might enjoy the artist that most people confuse Kate Nash for. Lily Allen preceded Kate Nash by about a year but I just never got as into her as I did Kate Nash. But the Lily Allen album has provided some surprising moments for me on shuffle over the past six months or so.

Wednesday - April 15 - LA Sports Arena - Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band
Arguably my favorite band in the world and almost definitely my favorite live act of all time? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I want to go to this show. The only thing holding me back is the shitty venue. The LA Sports Arena? Really? Bruce, how can you make all the 25-65 year olds that make up your demographic travel down to the fuckin' ghetto to see you live? It's just mean!

Thursday - April 16 - Staples Center - Britney Spears
Now, I'm only half-joking about this one. I mean, I'd go - I seriously would go. But there's a handful of reasons it'll never happen. 1] I would hate every single person in the arena. There's not a doubt in my mind that I'd ponder several times throughout the night the best way to permanently silence 15,000 voices. 2] She'll lip sync and I'll be pissed. It'll be some bullshit "Oh, she has to focus on the dancing" excuse that'll make me want to tear down the heavens because Janet Jackson and Madonna dance as hard as Britney does and they don't use that shit as an excuse. 3] Well, I just don't know if I'd want to admit I was at the show. It's bad enough that I have to tell people I saw New Edition in concert. How many strikes against my street cred can I have?

Thursday - April 23 - Henry Fonda - Mates Of State/Black Kids
That's a hell of a double bill. I adore Mates Of State and have ever since they outshined everyone musically at the Death Cab show a few years back. Seeing them in that small of a building would be a fantastic night. Plus, you get the Black Kids who have one of my favorite songs of the moment. It's a win-win night.

Tuesday - May 19 - The Palladium - The Decemberists
I don't think I've been to the Palladium for somewhere approaching a decade and since they recently renovated the place, I'd love to check it out to see what they've done. Plus, I've been wanting to see The Decemberists for a long while since I had to miss out on their night at the Bowl with the Orchestra to attend a bachelor party.

Sunday - May 24 - Greek Theatre - Flight Of The Conchords
The greatest comedy act of our time in one of my favorite concert venues? How can we go wrong? But I'm not sure I'm willing to cough up $50 for this show.

CHRISTIAN!

Well, it was quite the unexpected and blah return but Christian is back. And in honor of that...

WWE Edge & Christian Funniest Moments
Uploaded by sir-roddick

Rejection

Eh... most people probably have guessed/assumed by now but I might as well make it official. A couple days ago, I finally got a reply from the fellowship I had submitted my screenplay to and... well, since I'm not doing cartwheels, I'm sure you get the idea.

I don't want to turn this into some crazy introspective "where do we go from here" style post soooooo...

Yeah.

I don't have much to say about it. I'll just have to figure out what to attempt next.

Thanks for all the support.

BSG vs Lost: Week Three

Alright, let's do this before I completely forget.

Lost tried to strike a big blow back to retake the crown this week but really, all I can seem to remember about it was that I was kinda brainscrambled when it was over. Not that I'm one of those people bitching about it being too confusing or what have you - but I just remember my brain being a little fuzzy when it was all said and done. I actually didn't care for it as much as the week before even with the big shocker of a finish.

BSG was highly anticipated this week after the big cliffhanger with the grenade last week. This was the week that Adama and the gang fought back. Some bloodshed ensued and in the end, someone got executed.

Damn right he did!

My brain is a little fuzzy after being at work for 12 hours today so let's make this easy...

BSG - 2
Lost - 1

But this week, I'm nowhere near as excited about BSG as I was last week. This is Lost's chance to pull the comeback.

Oh, and I officially gave up Heroes this week. We'll see if they can win me back when Bryan Fuller gets back in the game.