Electric Shock: CP3's Almost Quadruple-Double

As I mentioned in my end of year post, the New Orleans Hornets' Chris Paul is one of my favorite point guards in the NBA. Well, last night he turned in another phenomenal performance. Paul positively incinerated Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks (the most loathsome franchise in the entire league), ending the game with a near quadruple-double.

His stats for the night:

Minutes: 42
Rebounds: 10
Assists: 11
Steals: 7
Blocks: 0
Turnovers: 2
Personal Fouls: 1
Points: 33

Unreal. At this rate, CP3 is surely headed for the history books. Okay, he's young. Okay, the Hornets aren't the best team in the league or even in their conference. Fact is, the guy plays a tremendous all-around game that defies easy criticism. So give it time. NOLA will likely emerge as a dominant force in the west soon enough. If not, we'll see this budding hall-of-famer burning up the hardwood at the helm of some other ascendant franchise. Whatever happens, I tremble at the mere thought of what a shape-shifting distributor like Paul might achieve.

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Part 2

On an unrelated note, Damon Albarn played some demos for the new Gorillaz album on the BBC the other day. Hit the play button below to rock "Electric Shock," a sidewinder of a track that starts off with a weird orchestral bit before transmogrifying. The final half is a funky little electropop jam that's equal parts Afrika Bambaataa, Cibo Matto, and the music of Sonic the Hedgehog.



One presumes these demos aren't fully fleshed out yet, but they're interesting nonetheless. What'd really be interesting, though, is more info concerning this Blur reunion (new album, guys?)

Anderson, It Was Really Nothing

Today, in a blog post bemoaning the lack of journalistic access to Anderson Cooper's guarded personal life, the Huffington Post finally paid heed to its schoolgirlish sexual frustration over the CNN celebrity news anchor's perceived carnal indifference. Writer Danny Shea, panties obviously in a bunch, could barely control his lusty denouncement of CNN's complicity in what he essentially deems a deplorable example of unjustified P.R. shielding.

He argues, accordingly, that the intimate activities of "America's boyfriend," as he calls Cooper, ought to be inflexibly transparent. How else, friends and countrymen, are we supposed to tell whether or not he's been cheating on us?

In his post, Shea also references the fact that Greta van Susteren and Keith Olbermann have publicly derided this CNN/Cooper conspiracy to mask the truth. Indeed, they have in their own ways jealously referred to the cold-blooded reporter as a shameless "experiment" in mass marketing.

(Ah, but Greta my dear, remember when you, too, were marketable?)

Olbermann, in an interview with Men's Journal, lashed out by saying, "You can't move this big mass of personal stuff out for public display [referring to Cooper's memoirs about the deaths of his father and brother], then people ask questions and you say, 'Oh, no, I didn't say there was going to be any questions.' It's the same thing as the Bush administration saying, 'We're going to war, but you really aren't allowed to know why.' "

This level of outrage seems more than a little disproportionate to the alleged crime. I mean, really Mr. Olbermann? Is Anderson Cooper's (admittedly) prudish reticence over the details of his personal life actually tantamount to the Bush administration's avoidance of explaining the war in Iraq? Let's be honest, now.

Odds are, people will soon get over their restless desires for all the dirty details on this mysterious, slate-gray Aryan. It's just the way of the world in this age of ADHD. The age of iPhones and Blackberries. Sooner or later, though, we'll all have to move on to more important things, like why is there such a dearth of interesting and responsible journalism on TV?

As to the scintillating gossip about Cooper's sexual preference, why not just transfer the issue over to this guy:



It's been done before.

"I skip on the handshakes, I'm straight."

If you're like me, you miss out on a lot of new stuff simply because you can't muster the emotional effort it takes keeping stride with the hype machine (99% of the time a wasted effort). Last year, though, I happened to catch the Cool Kids–a great new hip hop duo out of Chicago–when they opened for Q-Tip at the Highline Ballroom in New York.

Originally MySpace sensations, MCs Mikey and Chuck have gotten a ton of multimedia exposure over the last twelve months. Among the things they've done is appear performing their hit single, "Black Mags" in a recent Rhapsody commercial, tour with M.I.A., and become bonus playable characters in this year's installment of the NBA 2K franchise. Too bad they seem to be Pistons fans.

Released last summer, their album The Bakesale is a compact affair held together by über spare homemade beats and a healthy amount of pitch adjustment. It's real success, though, lies in its infectious, easy-going vibe and catchy lyrics. The songs are positive, cocky, and tons of fun–adjectives you really can't tether to the majority of mainstream rappers these days (and don't go pinning it all on emo king Kanye, either).

"Black Mags"

Lil Wayne On The Fast Track To Becoming the Next David Bowie

A trend that appears to be resurfacing these days is the hip-hop artist crossing over into rock music. Kanye insisted that 808s & Heartbreaks was a pop album and that certain emotions within his heart"couldn't be expressed through rapping". Under the alias Percival Fats, Lupe Fiasco has started a rock outfit known as Japanese Cartoon which lists such indie dignitaries as Hunter S. Thompson and Joy Division as influences. The whole project reminds me of Gorillaz sans the originality and authentic British accent.

It now appears that artiste extraordinaire Lil Wayne is joining the fray:

According to up-and-coming Canadian hip-hop artist Drake, Lil Wayne has been hard at work on a rock-oriented follow-up to last year's blockbuster Tha Carter III "Wayne's coming out with a new album, it's a rock album. A complete rock album," Drake said, before explaining his new direction was partially inspired by Kanye West's ambitious new record, 808s and Heartbreaks

Awesome. Rock and roll is officially cool again with trailblazers like Lil Wayne at the helm. We can likely attribute some of this newfound interest to the phenomena of plastic instrument music games. I, for one, welcome our new musical overlords if it means more of this:

Let's all give a round of applause to the meanest shredder since Fred Durst!

Yes It's a Big Deal: Spencer's Best of 2008 Pix

Here goes.

Best book about basketball that's not really about basketball

Rabbit, Run by John Updike



As an author of fiction, Updike writes rings around the rest. As a young (i.e. sensitive, arrogant) American man, this book means a lot to me.

Best rock 'n' roll band that makes me wish I had a raspy voice and really good hair

The Replacements



I love these guys. Filthy, immature: they had a tendency to romanticize. Listening to songs like "Androgynous," "Kiss Me On The Bus," and "Sky Way," it's hard to deny that–as a songwriter–Paul Westerberg is a living national treasure. According to Spin, he's started playing hockey and still lives in Minneapolis. You've gotta admire that.

Best rock 'n' roll band whose members I'd probably hate if I knew them personally

The Royal We



This band is now defunct. Their songs are awesome, but betray an artiness that makes me think I'd constitutionally despise at least one or two members. They made one self-titled record and then broke up, so they've got mystique. Two things. "All The Rage" is what happens when the Vaselines O.D. on Pixy Stix. "Back and Forth All Day" is the rawest campfire gold.


Favorite rookie in the NBA

Courtney Lee - The Orlando Magic



Perhaps an obvious choice for me, especially since I don't really know how any of the other picks have done thus far. I feel some pity for Kevin Love. Not so much because he's on the T-Wolves but because I read a blog entry around Thanksgiving where he just came across as really sad and homesick. It was enough for me to forgive him Mike Love's nephew status.

As for Lee, he plays an admirable defensive game, characterized by that most glorious stalwart of urbanized sports terminology: hustle. He can sink the three, drive the lane, and is seriously impassive on the court.

Favorite Coach in the NBA

Stan Van Gundy - The Orlando Magic



Where to begin? There's the 'stache, the 'tude, the head in the hands. This guy is the complete package: lovable neurosis wrapped up in a Miami Vice sports coat. His brother Jeff is kind of a douche, but still somewhat cool.

Favorite Point Guard in the NBA

Tie:

Chris Paul - The New Orleans Hornets

AND

Jameer Nelson - The Orlando Magic



Paul:
Shitty deodorant commercials aside, this guy plays ball with a flair far too uncommon in today's Celtics-dominated league. He zips left, he spins right. He can hoist the J. He can pass it behind the back and spot the alley-oop three moves ahead. They say he's like Isiah Thomas, I can't vouch for that. He bowls in the high two hundreds.



Nelson:
Nelson was my least favorite player last year. This year he's making us all eat our words. He was player of the week in the East last week and for good reason. "My Little Friend" indeed.

Best Blast from the Past

The Brotherman OST



I can't say enough about this album. All I'll say now is "We Can Work It Out." As for this picture, the words "outta sight" fail me.

Best Country in the World

The U.S.A.



I love this place, so let's get one thing straight: we're not any more a bunch of bastards than the next country is, so the rest of you should please get over yourselves. Think long and hard and remember who gave you Rock 'n' Roll, the quarter-pounder w/ cheese, AND the game of basketball. See? We've always had your best interests at heart.

Best Car

Dad's Hyundai. I'm not sure what model it is. It's gray and has a working CD player and gets good gas mileage. Sorry, Detroit.


My dad's car looks nothing like this.

Best Rap Group

A Tribe Called Quest



I didn't like rap for a long time. These guys showed me how cool it is. Went to a Q-Tip show this month that was A-C-E.

Most Rock 'n' Roll Moment

Meeting Mark E. Smith with Justin and Ryan in Morecambe, UK. The definition of surreal.



The Annual Bill and Ted Most Excellent Babe Award

Beth Murphy - Times New Viking





Times New Viking are an amazing live band. Their keyboard player and singer, Beth Murphy, is extremely attractive. She also rocks. Killer. I read somewhere that she is a Pisces. I am a Pisces. We would probably never get along.

Coolest thing Julian made me check out

Francine



Francine is a gorgeous band from Cambridge, MA. Gorgeous songs that reference stuff like the movies Dune (the one starring Sting) and Aliens (one of my all-time faves), all written by this cool dude who works at Harvard and used to play with Aimee Mann. I even reintroduced the word "nasty" as a synonym for "cool" into my vocabulary just because of these guys. They say a new record is coming along any day now. Certainly it will be A+


Coolest thing to do back home

Watching basketball games in HD with the 'rents and the sib or else with the broheims while drinking Sam Adams Winter Lager.

Most Rock 'n' Roll Venue

Market Hotel, Bushwick, BKLYN, NY

Hopefully a film will be made about the scene one day and I will be interviewed by someone about it. I will talk about this place fondly, how glad I am that it exists even though I would be the vomitron if I had to live there.

Best Sweet Hook-up

Getting to see shows for free because I write cheeky reviews about them for PopMatters

So sweet. Hope yr. jealous.

Best thing about being graduated from college



The world is my öyster.

See you next year, friends.

ST