song of the day

The magical test for good music is re-listenability. That is, if you can listen to a song over and over, and find yourself still singing along, it’s a keeper.  This one has passed the tests for the first year now.

Th artist, Paolo Nutini, is actually Scottish, not Italian, and he has the vibe of crossed between a funk and soul singer.

Coming Up Easy by Paolo Nutini

woke up this morning…

Can you tell I’m trying to write a paper?

“winning” the lottery

The cover story on ESPN.com yesterday was the NBA draft lottery, with the consensus #1 pick, John Wall, as their cover image (see below).  Do you feel it is okay for a team to “tank” in order to get a higher draft pick?

(c) ESPN

I personally feel that it depends on the situation.  If I were the New Jersey Nets, currently in dead last by a wide margin, as a GM, I would tell my team to go out and compete hard every night, but wouldn’t do anything to make them better.  I would let them run their course, possibly picking up cap space at the trade deadline.  If it came down to it, I may tell my coach to rest some starters down the stretch if we were in danger of losing the coveted #1 lottery percentage.  However, if I was the Sacramento Kings, already with a young nucleus, I would in no way allow my team to tank.  Fostering a losing culture in a team that is not quite at the bottom of the barrell is something I would not want in my locker room.

Aside from the draft lottery, there are other ways to “tank,” which have rarely every been seen in sports to this degree.  The NY Knicks basically said “eff-you” to their fans as they basically said, “We are going to suck for 3 years in the hope of signing Lebron James in the summer of 2010.” Oh and by the way, this plan was put into effect in May of 2008. (Click for article) As a fan, you obviously want your teams to win, but what about the Knicks? Doesn’t it seem somewhat counter-intuitive that the Knicks have “tanked” at the management level, but they are playing hard on the floor? By doing such, the past few seasons, the Knickerbockers have only earned mid-round lottery picks,  but don’t worry about these upcoming draft picks Knick fans, they were all traded away by Isiah Thomas.  Ladies and gentlemen, your post-Isiah, Donnie Walsh-era New York Knicks!

Isiah Thomas was one of the best Point Guards ever. Unfortunately, his success on the court did not translate to the front office,. Not for the CBA, Pacers, Knicks, etc.

Would you, as a fan, support your team mailing it in, in order to get a higher percentage draft at a potential franchise savior? Would you rather see your team bust their butts for an average lottery pick?  Weigh in.

the life of ron

Artest in his Peak shoe with the Lakers colours

While I recently showed a steezy commercial of Baron Davis chilling in his Li-Ning’s, another major Chinese shoe manufacturer, Peak, is taking some heat about the quality of their shoes.  Phil Jackson tore into Peak’s shoes, calling them “concrete blocks” among other things, after Ron Artest, developed plantar fasciitis in both feet.  One of Peak’s marquee athletes, Artest has been noticeably slower on the court this year, due to both age, and as Jackson would have you believe, his Peak shoes.

“I’ve called his shoes concrete boots for about the last month,” Jackson said. “Those shoes look like they are made for the Hudson River. But he stays with them and he gets his feet worked on. But he does not move really quickly. He looks like he’s clogging around out there.”

When asked about the injury Ron-Ron responded, ”I just don’t like excuses. That’s it. No excuses. I don’t want nobody saying, ‘Oh, Ron Artest has got plantar fasciitis, so that’s why he didn’t play a good game.’ No, I didn’t play good or I didn’t do what I did because that’s just what happened. No excuses.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, the risk of developing plantar fasciitis is more common to people “who wear shoes with inadequate support.”  While Artest’s Peak shoes would seem to be the common denominator, Artest has backtracked, telling ESPNLosAngeles.com, “”I was lying to one of my fans,”  when asked about his injury.

This a very interesting issue, as this isn’t the first time that either Phil Jackson or the quality of less-known brand’s shoes have come into question.  Recently, zen-master Phil blamed Lamar Odom’s upset stomach on McDonald’s, hampering the Lakers efforts to get Mickey D’s on board as an sponsor.  While there is no real consequence of Jackson’s comments here, if Artest ultimately switches shoes, Jackson’s complaints will have served their purpose.

Similarly, when Grant Hill came out of Duke and signed a shoe deal with Fila, who had not made a basketball shoe prior, people were questioning the stability of the shoe.  Needless to say, Hill’s foot and ankle injuries have defined his careeer, and though there is no way to draw direct proof the shoes committed the crime, it certainly casts ashadow of doubt.

It may seem that Ron-Ron’s dubious past may have us more likely believe that Artest would sacrifice performance for the all-mighty dollar that Peak provides him.  However, what about other NBA players who wear Peak shoes, like Shane Battier, Jason Kidd, and Jose Calderon? Though they may not be the biggest stars with the highest contracts, do you think try-hards like Battier would sacrifice an ounce of performance for money? I really hope not.

Take a look at Artest’s shoes, would you wear them to play ball in?  Is it a player’s prerogative to sign an endorsement for as much money as possible, even though it may affect their playing career, and ultimately their NBA contract?  Weigh in.

Ron Artest's original Peak shoe

music monday

Though undoubtedly this song is not new….it has been rediscovered on the iTunes Shuffle.

La Roux – In for the Kill (Skream’s Let’s Get Ravey Remix

The original of this song is absolutely terrible, unbearable, however the slower, darker remix has legitimate vibes.

baron davis (b diddy, boom dizzle, etc)

We all know Baron Davis is cool, as he is friends with everyone from Jessica Alba to Steve Nash. (We’ve all seen the step-brothers video, hopefully).  Well, the man who left an established North American footwear brand for the relatively obscure Chinese brand Li-Ning, is making it his mission to give Li Ning his all. He certainly brought his cool vibe to the latest Li-Ning commercial. Enjoy.

the mixed bag: lebron, twitter, broken bells

Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images

So the other night, as I often do, I quickly checked my Twitter feed.  One of the NBA columnists I follow, Brian Windhorst, had a tweet that read: “Cavs 34, Blazers 29 after 1Q. Bad mix: Blazers not playing interior defense and LeBron hitting jumpers. He’s 8-for-8 w/ 20 pts.”

Understanding the possibilities of LeBron challenging Kobe’s 81, I tuned into see what LBJ was going to do.  Though he didn’t come anywhere close to getting 80,70,60, or even 50, he led his teammates to victory with numerous assists in the second half.  Though LeBron didn’t get his points, I tuned into see a great basketball game, all because of one tweet.  As I keep telling Twitter non-followers, Twitter is only as useful as you make it.

Simply because of Twitter, I was put onto a great basketball game, one that I discussed ‘at the watercooler’, so to speak, the next day.  This is where people in creative industries, particularly the music industry as they are the most far behind, need to take note. A single person’s positive feedback can turn into a loop of sorts, if the person passes this onto others. Not only did I spread the gospel about the game through word-of-mouth, I just spread it via this post on the blog.  Though this feedback loop is understood and accepted within the music industry, the record labels still try and impose their dated methods of spreading music, be it by commercials, placement, big-budget videos, and 30-second samples.

So as a case study, let’s have a look at Broken Bells, the new collaboration between DJ Danger Mouse and James Mercer, frontman of the Shins.  The group has done no real advertising, but through word of mouth and the blogosphere, they have seen a ton of hype and free publicity.  Broken Bells intelligently released their single, The High Road, for free, in full.  While I realize that the blogosphere is not the end all be all, and certainly does not guarantee commercial success, usually if you get people talking about a band on the blogosphere, the interest is genuine.  Are you more likely to listen to a the song after seeing “Broken Bells” on the side of the bus or after a friend’s raving review of them?  Would you rather be able to listen to a 30-second sample, or the whole song?

Listen to Broken Bells on their official website (just a warning it is a blank page, with the song playing)

sorry folks

My computer is broken (has been for a while), and until January 4th, I’m out of commission.  Sorry, as much as I like blogging, I refuse to do it from an iPhone keyboard, it’d be the death of me.  Thanks to everyone who continued to check in these past few weeks.  Anyways I’ll be back sometime in January, happy holidays!

-Senga

google chrome for mac osx

First impression? This is going to be my new default browser.  Very minimal, streamlined, fast, etc…but it does use double the processing power of Safari or Firefox – I’ll live though.  Again fast and minimal – and that’s without all it’s features found for Windows implemented yet.

Mountain View, California is soon going to be recognized on the same level (if it isn’t already) as Redmond or Cupertino.  Once again, Google is taking over the internet with superiorly designed product – what a novel concept.  Though I don’t really like relying so heavily on single corporation, I hope Google fosters competition, making computing better for all.

song of the day

December 4th, 9th Wonder Remix – Jay-Z

While Jay-Z turns 40 today, giving a whole new meaning to his 40/40 club, here is a remix of his song, December 4th.  I like the 9th Wonder remix much better than the original, so that’s why it’s up here. Enjoy.