This year, for the first time,
I purchased an NBA League Pass, which means I can watch any NBA game I like
whenever I like. This is of less value if you have a full-time job or any life
outside of watching basketball, but I’ve been pretty happy with it so far. I
particularly like watching on the weekends and being able to flick between multiple
games. After a few months of watching I have got to the point now where I
instinctively know how long a time-out is, and know when to flick back.
Part of having full access is
being able to watch the NBA All-Star Weekend. This is something I haven’t been
able to do much over the years, so I was looking forward to it. While I couldn’t
watch the actual All-Star Game live – due to having a job, you know – I could
watch live some of the All-Star Saturday events.
All-Star Saturday was great. The
Skills Challenge (the first event), which is generally considered the least of
the events, was actually quite enjoyable. This was in part to dividing the draw
into ‘guards’ and ‘bigs’, so that a ‘guard’ and ‘big’ played off in the final.
The camaraderie among the groups was somewhat unexpected to me, with Minnesota
rookie Karl-Anthony Towns being mobbed by his fellow bigs after unexpectedly
hitting the winning shot.
The Three-Point Shootout was a
bit long, with eight contestants and then a tie-breaker between three contestants
to determine the last qualifier for the final, but was still fascinating to
watch to find out which of Golden State’s ‘Splash Brothers’ would emerge
victorious. Stephen Curry, the league’s best player and now often considered
the greatest shooter ever, narrowly lost to Klay Thompson, who some consider
the second-best shooter in the league. It was Thompson’s day though, and he
shot beautifully to edge out his more heralded teammate. The Golden State
Warriors, boosted by their two great shooters, entered the All-Star break with
a record of 48 wins and just 4 losses.
I didn’t see the Slam Dunk
Contest live, as I had to go to a mothers’ group meeting (I was one of two
fathers there). But I didn’t know the result when I watched it, other than that
Aaron Gordon and reigning champion Zach Levine met in the final. I haven’t
watched many Slam Dunk Contests but it was clear to me that there wouldn’t be
many contests better than this. In the final Gordon and Levine had three dunks
each with perfect scores before Gordon, running out of ideas, finally scored less
than perfect on his fourth go. Some felt, like I did, that was a bit harsh on
Gordon, who for me had the most memorable dunk of the night when he went
through his legs over the Orlando mascot, but alas for him you can’t get higher
than a 50. At the least I wish they had been made joint winners.
And then there was the
All-Star Game itself, which I watched on replay. The introduction of the
players at an All-Star Game, which I hadn’t seen before, was interesting for me
to watch, but after a few minutes of tribute to retiring Laker Kobe Bryant I
fast-forwarded to the tip-off. What followed was a bit of a disappointment, my
knowing the result notwithstanding. There was essentially no defence – just a
series of easy shots, and contrived alley-oops. I got to the point in the
second quarter when Andre Drummond from my team the Pistons had played a few
minutes, and then gave up. The highlights told me all I needed to know about
that game.
Could they make the
All-Star Game better? NBA commentators The
Starters suggested that they have two captains that pick teams, with some
stars having the ignominy of being picked late or last, hence adding to the
players’ motivations. But I don’t know that the players would actually care
that much about that. I like the intrigue around who gets picked as All-Stars
each season, and the game has a long history, so I hope it sticks around. Maybe
the games are more interesting when they are close.
I watched the second season of
‘True Detective’ on DVD recently, and the point where I got the most excited
was when I first saw the opening credits for the season, with this track
playing over a very moody film sequence. I didn’t pick it up at first, but the lyrics
from the song that the credits use change with each episode. Red raw, disturbed,
and white middle-class – fairly appropriate for the types of characters Colin
Farrell and Rachel McAdams play in this series.
Suede’s new album sounds like
Suede. And this track is Suede at their Suede-iest.
(Actually, the new Animal
Collective album too sounds like Animal Collective at their Animal
Collective-iest. Or maybe that should be Animal Collective at their Panda
Bear-iest.)
PJ Harvey’s new single ‘The
Wheel’ may just be her best track ever. It wastes barely any time in hitting
its full-rock stride, starting off with a barrage of saxophone and guitar that
shoots the listener straight into its dim and heavy atmosphere. The rock intro
may hark back to PJ’s early days, but the call-and-response chorus – with Mick
Harvey returning on back-up vocals – makes it more of a continuation of the
‘many voices’ style of her most recent album ‘Let England Shake’. Like that
album too the lyrics of ‘The Wheel’ attempt to give voice to the murdered; in
this case, 28,000 children who have disappeared, although
the number itself doesn’t seem to refer to any actual historical body count. If
PJ’s new album does end up coming from pretty much the same place as her last one
there are plenty of worse things to be.
2.Synthia: album – The
Jezabels
Australia’s indie-rock
darlings The Jezabels’ have returned with their best album yet and one that
recaptures the twisting, writhing sound of their early EPs. ‘Synthia’ takes a
lot of turns – on opening track ‘Stand And Deliver’ singer Hayley Mary sighs
that ‘you can marry me/let me be your wife’, and then follows that up by
proclaiming stridently on the next track that ‘My Love Is My Disease’. On
‘Smile’ she tells us that we can ‘call her sexy’ and ‘whistle at me on the
street’, but she has ‘one rule – don’t tell me to smile’. Alas, the
band has had to cancel their tour as keyboardist Heather Shannon receives
treatment for ovarian cancer; hopefully they can get back on the road again
soon and give this album the showcasing it deserves.
Foxes’ music, I think, can
rightfully be called ‘indie-pop’ – Louisa Rose Allen writes her own songs, and
her singles have never really got higher than the UK Top 20. It’s also really,
really good. ‘Better Love’ doesn’t break much more lyrical ground than your
average pop song – it’s about a relationship that’s not going too well, and
that’s about it – but it takes the grandiose choir sound and uses it to
stunning effect. And Allen sounds like she means what she sings, which helps.
If you’re looking for a bit of pop to go with your guitar music I recommend
this.
One good thing about the Super
Bowl this week is that it starts at 10.30am AEST, and I have the day off work.
There was a tired few months’ worth of Monday mornings when I was getting up at
5 or 6am to watch the free-to-air coverage of the NFL before I went to work.
I’d do some exercises while I was watching – it sometimes took 10 to 15 minutes
to get the body to move, but then my routine for the first half would be
something like:
·5 minutes of jogging on the living room rug (or
‘shuffling’, as my wife calls it);
·50 reps on my weight – I only have one – 25 on the
right, and 25 on the left;
And then at the half-time break
I’d shower, dress, and get my coffee. My memories of the NFL season are
therefore full of dawns and tired, seldom-used muscles. And the 49ers being
unable to score – we got a lot of coverage of the 49ers this year in Australia
with Jarryd Hayne sitting on their bench. I’m a 49ers fan so I like seeing my
team, but I would have preferred to watch them more two or three years ago.
I would prefer Denver to win,
but I have no problem in Carolina doing so. It’s mainly because I want Denver
quarterback Peyton Manning to win another Super Bowl before he retires and
gather more support to his side of the Manning
v Tom Brady debate. Sure it’s his teammates that are carrying him over the
line, but it’s hard to get traction against the Brady boosters while he has
three more championships. I like Manning more than I like Brady and the
Patriots. Carolina quarterback Cameron Newton will have other seasons left, and
therefore other opportunities to win the Super Bowl.
But that’s a bit unfair to Cam.
There is a lot to like about Newton as well – he’s one of the most fun
quarterbacks to watch, as shown by his flip touchdown earlier in the season.
And it’s pretty hard to get
into the Super Bowl, so you never know, this may be Newton’s only chance. So if
the Panthers roll over the Broncos like they have rolled over many teams this
season that is OK with me as well.
Marvel
Comics have been advertising recently that they are ‘all-new’ and
‘all-different’; one of the series that actually delivers on this promise is
‘The Vision’. In my view, the first four issues of this series are some of the
best Vision stories ever.[1]
For this series, writer Tom King had the somewhat unusual idea of having the
Vision try and settle down in the suburbs with a family of Vision-like
synthezoids – wife Virginia, and children Vin and Viv. The Visions want to fit
in, but not all of their neighbours are welcoming. And when the family comes
under attack, things start to become even more complicated.
The Vision almost takes a
backseat here to his heretofore unfamiliar family. Long-time Avengers readers
will know that the Vision has
tried to settle down for a quiet life in the suburbs with his family before, back when he was married
to fellow Avenger the Scarlet Witch. So I did wonder a bit why they didn’t just
use Wanda here, but created the new character of Virginia instead. The
Scarlet Witch has shown a dark side in the past as well, so it seemed like one
could just as well use her. But on further reflection, a difference is that,
while we have seen an ‘evil’ Scarlet Witch before, readers probably feel like
they know her limits by now. Virginia on the other hand is an unknown to us –
we’re not sure yet what lengths she will go to.
Similarly for Vin and Viv. One
of these characters suffers badly early on in the series, and it’s
heartbreaking to watch. After that one isn’t sure quite how they will react to
that incident, plus the difficulties they face fitting into their new school.
They seem to vacillate between wanting to fit in, and being ticking time-bombs that
will show those silly, narrow-minded humans what is what. In a country plagued
by school shootings and violence, there is a not wholly unreasonable basis to
their neighbours’ fears.
Distrust of a family that is
different has been done before, but King keeps throwing curveballs into the plot
that significantly change the story’s course. Four issues in then I still don’t
have a strong view how the Visions’ attempts to fit in will end – in failure or
success? This set-up though has made the Vision more interesting than he has been
for years. Marvel has surprised me with this one.
Read here for Comic Book Resources’
interview with writer Tom King.
[1] The others: Roy Thomas’ ‘Behold The Vision’ and ‘Even An Android Can Cry’, which were the Vision’s first two appearances, and Bob Harras’ one-issue examination of the Vision in ‘Avengers’ #348.
BASKETBALL: Someone campaigned for San Antonio forward Kawhi Leonard to be voted
into the NBA All-Star Game, which he was, by creating these nifty ‘old
school’ Kawhi basketball cards.
This was one of those tunes
where ten seconds in I felt like I had heard it before. More than that, I felt
like it was a forgotten favourite. And then the chorus came in, and I’m a
sucker for a high voice done right. I didn’t even know the Mystery Jets had a
high voice in them. What I’m saying in this song was a comfy, pleasant
surprise.
4.Leave Me Alone: album –
Hinds
Back when the Spanish
quartet Hinds was the duo Deers I
loved ‘Bamboo’. God
I loved ‘Bamboo’! Nothing else on their first album quite matches up to that,
but it’s still pretty good. ‘Garden’ and ‘Castigadas En El Granero’ are
probably the best of the rest for me at this stage. And now I can own ‘Bamboo’
on CD if I so wish.
‘Is it human to adore life?’
is not exactly the sentiment you expect to hear from a dark, goth-like band
that calls itself Savages and plays moody, distorted guitar. In the chorus to
this track singer Jehnny Beth sort of recalls the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde.
It’s notable as a variation on Savages’ usual sound, and from what we were led
to expect for the upcoming album based on the two tracks (‘The
Answer’ and ‘T.I.W.Y.G’)
that preceded it.
From the
lyrics in the first verse I wasn’t sure if this song’s narrator
was someone who never cries (‘take all my defenses’), or was perhaps trying to
make their partner cry (‘what kind of monster have I been today?’). Reading the
lyrics again, I think both of those things could be intended. Then the second
verse seemed to veer off on unrelated topics (‘from the birds at my feet / to
the breakdancing boys / and their boomboxes’ beat, beat, beat’). It’s quite
nice though, and the chorus will stay with you. We all know someone who’s been
there, if not our selves.
1.Blackstar: album – David
Bowie
I don’t have too much to say
directly about David Bowie’s latest, and – as it sadly turns out – final album,
as whatever meaning it has, not much of it has been revealed to me at this
point. (It seems I’m not alone here – see this recent New Yorker
article about Bowie’s ‘beautiful meaningless’). I do want to share
these thoughts about it though.
With the release of
‘Blackstar’ and ‘The Next Day’ a couple of years ago, it seemed as if Bowie had
put semi-retirement behind him, and was embarking on the next phase of his
career. A bit of what I read about the album prior to listening to it talked
about the new directions that it suggested. As the big new release I was
listening to it for the third time, and was about halfway through the first,
title track when the news popped up on the website I was reading: David Bowie
had died. How weird! There is a good chance I’ll never have a moment like that
again …
Who knew, hey? Bowie’s new
album didn’t exactly sound like his ‘last will and testament’. I suppose now I
can see some signs, in that the album has only seven tracks and four of those
had already been released, potentially indicating that the album was shorter
than it would have been if Bowie had been in full health. Then again, maybe it
wouldn’t … maybe Bowie intended it to be only that long …
Now I think about it though,
it seems somewhat appropriate that Bowie’s final album felt like it was looking
forward to the next stage. His music often felt like and referred to what was
coming next. Also, life doesn’t always end neatly so much as it is interrupted,
like the people
walking through the market square in ‘Five Years’
catching the news that the end has come.
David Bowie will be most
remembered by me for his incredible run of albums in the 1970s: The Man Who Sold The World, Hunky Dory,
Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Young Americans, Station to Station, Low,
‘Heroes’, Lodger, and Scary Monsters.
Those were ten great albums, and contained many
great songs.
But his past two albums were pretty good as well. It’s a shame that we also
won’t have more albums like them.
