"Ball don't lie."

With only two classes, no job and cable television, being productive with my time has become difficult. I'm watching too much playoff basketball. When I didn't have television, sports wasn't really a concern or something that I felt my life was missing. But now I find myself enjoying it quite a bit. Will the Lakers meet the Cavs in the finals? Or will the Magic crash the party once again? And what the hell is wrong with Paul Pierce's sideburns? It's a soap opera for dudes. And like any soap opera the narrative is old, yet powerfully addictive. Watching the NBA again reminds me of the golden years the Sonics had when I was a kid: Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, Detlef Shrempf, Sam "Big Smooth" Perkins, etc. Someone needs to upload that song by the Presidents of the United States of America that was a dedication to the team. "Supersonics, oh yeah!"

Watched Where the Wild Things Are with my parents last night. My second time, their first. Don't think they hated it, but they weren't that big on it. I expected that, though.

Currently reading Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan. The problem with most of the science fiction I've come across (in my admittedly small sampling of the genre) is that everything gets bogged down by unnecessary technobabble that only in-the-know nerds can make sense of (*cough* Neuromancer *cough*). Vonnegut, however, never did that. His imagination was infinite, but never tripped over itself and was relatable to almost anybody. Too bad he's gone. Though I'm not even halfway through his body of work, so there's plenty of great stories left.

CURRENT FAVORITES

Red Sparowes - The Fear is Excruciating, But Therein Lies the Answer (A pleasant surprise. Their last effort, Every Red Heart Shines..., only had one jaw-dropper and was plagued by flat production, which may have been partially due to the band getting robbed before recording. I was also a little bummed to hear that Josh Graham of Neurosis left, but it appears that some member swapping has done the group good; besides being an improvement musically, there now appears to be a rather attractive lady in the band. Anyways, this new release is more on par with their debut, At the Soundless Dawn. Good use of dynamics and utilization of three-guitar interplay. Could still use more steel pedal guitar. But I'm a shameless fiend for that shit.)



Descendents - Milo Goes to College (An obvious classic from the California punk scene of the 1980's. "I'm Not a Loser", "Hope" and "Bikeage" are some of the genre's best songs - pissed, melodic and fun. Makes me wish I had learned to skate and gives me the hilarious image of tearing up Brier a la Gleaming the Cube at age 26. First heard "Bikeage" as a cover back when I was 16, listening to Big Choice by Face to Face; it's the last track, right after the ever-popular "Disconnected". Always loved the lyrics:

Sitting there with a mouth full of beer,
Your eyes are glazed, your face is red,
Who's gonna pick you up and use you for tonight?

Not Dave.