Yesterday

Olympics are over, racing starts 

(for real this time, think we knew the Feb FBF date was wishful 

thinking) in earnest this weekend.  Knicks really phoned it in against 

Cleveland tonight, UVa has fallen back to earth, ie, near the bottom of the ACC.  Good news is that daylight savings is right around the corner.  

Yesterdays
Yesterdays
Days I knew as happy sweet
Sequestered days
Olden days
Golden days
Days of mad romance and love
Then gay youth was mine
And truth was mine
Joyous free and flaming life
Forsooth was mine
Sad am I
Glad am I
For today I'm dreaming of
Of yesterdays
Then gay youth was mine
The truth was mine
Sad am I
Glad am I
For today I'm dreaming of
Of yesterdays

This song appeared on a ridiculous number of records,

a few of my favorites are:

Helen Merrill off her insanely good recording with Clifford Brown

Charles Mingus off an early trio record entitled Mingus Three

not to mention Blakey, Wes and PC all with great versions.

Forgive me?

I don't know how to explain all the Knicks recent success, other than that there are a lot of bad teams in the association.  They play one tonight, always seems to come down to the wire against the Bobcats, I'm going to say they actually win this one easily.

Contador-esque fingerbanging, something tells me he is not really sorry. 

Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty ImagesGilbert Arenas apologized after he joked with Washington teammates before Tuesday's game at Philadelphia.

I can't believe it has come to this...

But I am picking the Knicks to beat the Bulls tonight, and VDN to get fired on Christmas Eve.  There have been many reasons to fire him already, such as sucking really bad, and blowing a 35 point lead last night sealed his fate.  He will be fired win or lose, but they are dead men walking. 

lancelot linkage

Manohla Dargis being surprisingly salty

hmmm, Bender, Curry, Darko....

Happy Birthday to Paul Simenon of the Clash, and hard to believe London Calling was released 30 years ago yesterday. 

Don't tell me....

Tough games to call this weekend, I'm going to pick the Knicks in a stunning road upset in Atlanta, 110-107. Really torn about the Nets coming to MSG on Sunday, I could easily see this being the Nets 1st victory of the year, or the Knicks to go on a whopping 2 game win streak.  I'm gonna say Nets win, 100-89,  but I could easily pull in 0fer this weekend.  

May actually get some snow on Saturday, won't stick since it still is about 8 degrees above average for winter so far, but that would be nice, you know, seasonal.  

The list of things to replace, fix, upgrade on my bike is growing and growing, which is just serving as a reminder that I need a winter beater. I also need a nice simple way to record upright bass as long as I am airing my wants and needs.  

Speaking of which, last night marked the 3rd straight day that someone has trapped me into a very awkward, close quartered and totally inappropriate conversation.  First, there was the post-doc in a neighboring lab who commented on the subway being a great place for viruses to grow as well as to fondle women you are standing close to.  I really want to assume he was kidding, but I just am not at all sure. 

The second one was less odd, so much so that I have forgotten it entirely, but I know it was there, the third took the cake.  It occurred in the Men's locker room at the YMCA, and that right there is not how I like to begin any story.  Someone I know only very vaguely, as a slightly crazy person who is trying to convince me to allow him to be my "trainer" and swears he can get me to "the show" by January was singing "Just my Imagination" with another man in the room.  They were trading comments about bands and songs they like and he launches into a story about a Denzel movie featuring the song "Just my Imagination" and how it "helped me get the best &^%$% of my life" and proceed to tell every detail.  This was perhaps the most detailed story I have ever heard and ended, well, not well, but very climactically.  I walked away blushing and nauseous and still am both.  

Ride safe (no pun intended) and have a great weekend, and don't share too much, I can't take another one. 

blow by boy do these teams blow

Sharing my thoughts as I watch "the game" and get ready for a post suckfest bike ride to the great northern environs of "Nyack" or "Piermont" or some such exotic locale.  

Joined the game late after brunch, just about 4 minutes left in the first.  Devin Harris comes in and instantly the Nets look like a better team, better than they were and better than the Knicks. Timeout for D'Antoni to make defensive adjustments, in other words, to remind them that Harris is good and they should try checking him, and to put in Curry.  

(I didn't predict before the game, but since Knicks are up by 5 right now you should believe me when I say that I have been picking the Nets all along.)

2:09 pm

Knicks hold for final shot, don't get a good one, but close out a decent half up by 9.  Larry Hughes has 10 to lead all Knicks.  Nate got in trouble with increasingly testy D'Antoni for shooting at the wrong basket after the buzzer at the end of period 1, which is a pretty idiotic thing to do, especially since he seemed to be guilty of not trying to get a shot off in the .5 seconds he had.  Oh god, not the freaking Time Warner commercial with the world's most annoying guy again talking about "losers" in HD.  

Time to kit up slowly.  Where the hell is my coffee?  Where is my bib?  Gu?  

This was the post I started writing, and I had every intention of continuing the periodic updates, until....I fell asleep.  Yes, that was how bad the game was, and I am not just saying that since my prediction was wrong.  It was bad, really bad, and that is coming from someone who enjoys old school eastern conference scrums.  I used to sit on the couch with my Dad, and just love watching the Bullets ugly it up against an Eastern Conference opponent. But this just put me to sleep.  

Knicks won then lost in overtime the following day to the Boston Celtics, who had clearly enjoyed NYC the night before and were not enjoying the early Sunday start time.  Time for a West Coast Swing, look for the Lakers to demolish the Knicks tomorrow night, let's say 128-100.

Nyack was beautiful, I felt recharged, hadn't gone for a while, and felt new and fun all over again.  

Knicks Win!!

Ok, not yet.  Call me crazy, but I'm going to take the Knicks to beat the Pacers on the road, 112-104.  We started their 5 game win streak, they haven't won 6 straight since the end of peach baskets, and, well, that's all, they must be primed for a letdown.  Plus, things are getting a bit tumultuous in NYC with D'Antoni perhaps finding his way to the hot seat, and discussions of whether or not to sign AI.  

Now, before I start ranting about the Knicks I must return to trying to figure out what the hell this really annoying click is on my bike.  Everything I adjust fixes it for pretty much exactly one ride, and then it returns.  On the top of my drive train side pedal stroke, usually only when torqued, but occasionally even when not.  Was sure it was derailleur related, and now sure it's not, and the list is getting narrower and narrower.  Bottom bracket maybe? Good use of my day at work though while listening to Wessell "Warmdaddy"Anderson "Live at the Village Vanguard."

Finally, here's a good review of Agassi's book:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/review-open-by-andre-agassi/article1366288/

About time, I was getting really sick of everyone fawning on him and asking people to leave him alone.  You want to be left alone?  Don't (ghost) write a book, go on a book tour, get paid millions for that book, crap on a lot of people for your personal gain, brag about lying and cheating.....

Curry x2?

Knicks welcome the Warriors in what should be an extremely wide open scorefest, whoever gets to 120 first wins this one. (we'll say GSW 126-108) I'm going to take Golden State to push the Knicks over the top for the worst start in team history.  Should be fun to watch though and both Nate and, wait for it, wait for it.... Curry! may return to "action."

Would like to go to Mercer Cup this weekend, really gotta get on building up 

a cross bike and/or cheap single speed.  Should be nice and muddy with Ida remnants.  

Been on a Bond kick lately, watched Dr. No (the first Bond) and On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the 6th (with Lazenby taking over for Connery, then Connery came back for one more).  Thoroughly enjoyable, very very different, both from each other, and from newer Bond movies. Kinda made me hate the new ones, seems like they stopped trying. 

Today's line

Knicks lose to an underachieving Utah Jazz (isn't it about time they and New Orleans just swapped names?), let's say 104 - 90.  Too much Boozer and Williams.  Who knows, Boozer could be a Knick next year, the "fans" probably won't be cheering him though, that disgusting display is reserved for King James. 

My romantic comedy treatment

 A friend emailed me these fateful words yesterday:

he's really been great this whole time, ___ almost makes me want to break the law. or at least sue someone

From there it was a no-brainer.  Picture Matthew Mcconahoweverthefuckyouspellhisname and Cameron Diaz as lawyer and criminal.  Either one can play either part.  For now, we we say he is the criminal and she is the lawyer, but it can be flipped.  Basically, the premise is simple, he keeps committing crimes for the sole purpose of spending more time with her.  (The tag line for the inevitable porn version is "he keeps coming back because she is so good at getting him off).  Yes, it's been done a billion times and will be awful, but that doesn't matter.  

We discussed different possibilities for the principal roles, perhaps Alicia Silverstone, or maybe someone more in the Geena Davis realm, or maybe Parker Posey, and Tilda Swinton came up, but that starts to veer into a whole different realm, namely respectable versus money.  

Maybe it's a small town, maybe there is a poker game with the sheriff? The first half is definitely full of madcap hijinx.  There is definitely a conversation with bars between them.  Perhaps she had to stay in the small town merely to defend him, her high school sweetheart, right as she was finally about to break free to the big city.  Clearly there is a happy ending.  Roll credits with Ella singing "My Romance, doesn't need a thing but you" and you've got yourself a movie.  A money maker, that was the point.  I didn't say a good movie, just one that would make money.  

The Knicks welcome Lebron to MSG tonight so everyone can analyze to their heart's content the odds of him calling NYC home next season (little to none).  But, in terms of this season, expect more of the same, no d from the Knicks mean that Lebron and Shaq make this a laugher early, subs come in, Knicks put a dent in the lead late but still fall big, 98-76.  

Looking forward to a nice, sunny weekend, full of long rides.  Enjoy. 

I can't bear to watch

I didn't watch the game against Philly.  I swore off near the end of regulation against Charlotte, when Raymond Felton waltzed directly to the rim, not once, but twice, for a virtually uncontested layup, using barely any time off the clock, against Jeffries, who is supposedly the Knicks defensive stopper. 

The 76'ers shot SIXTY ONE FUCKING PERCENT against the Knicks.  Obviously, D'Antoni isn't known for coaching defense, but this is ridiculous.  His Suns team could actually get a stop once in a while, and definitely could when they had to.  

I did, however, nail exactly the number of points the Knicks would score against Charlotte, just got everything else wrong.  So, to keep my predictive streak alive, tonight the Knicks fall at home to New Orleans by  a score of 111-92.  

Friday follies

Best chance for a road win tonight, against the lowly bobcats. Charlotte put up a whopping 59 points in their season opening loss to Boston. Can the Knicks "defense" turn Charlottes's terrible offense around? I say knicks win 100-87 (and I lap the field at Boogie Nights)

A boy can dream, right?