Who's the last guy on the end of your bench?: Portland Trailblazers

Anyone who reads this blog (Taka, Sam, Max, Avis, Sweet P [fair, unbiased coverage, even for my republican countrymen; this is what it's all about, I'll even link his blog right here!] and that's probably it, unless Harry Hirsch likes the NBA more than he led on, knows that Benicio Del Toro wore a Blazers shirt on the Colbert Report a little while back; I wrote Henry Abbot of TrueHoop an email about it, even seeing it a day late he didn't put it up until the day after receiving my email, but I got 0 love on the post, which led me to believe that I am not a unique butterfly/gumshoe/shoegazer/cumdumpster. I am another spoiled, northeastern, liberal fucking around on the internet, trying to figure out why my brain was wired to type the words as they appear on the screen. Having no experience in programming, only minimal html code that I've actually learned only recently, I'm wondering why things gotta be the way they are, but it requires an understanding of the intuitive logic that goes in to programming. I'm gonna leave further commentary on that to Nick Knight and his soon to be, eventually that is, PHD from Berkeley for Comp. Sci.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Benicio Del Toro
www.colbertnation.com
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HEY! I'm not the only one making mistakes/baring my soul in such indignant fashion. Wha' happened to this bio on NBA.com describing current Blazer assistant coach Joe Prunty; maybe the worst basketball name I've ever read out loud to a German person.

Jai alai (t) s [all non-blazer facts]:

He joined the Spurs in the summer of 1996 as assistant video coordinator. He was named an assistant coach at the University of San Diego in April of 1997. Prior to the start of the 1997-98 season, he returned to San Antonio as the Spurs video coordinator and was promoted to assistant coach/video coordinator during the summer of 2000.

Then in 2002-03, he was promoted to advance scout/assistant coach. For the last two summers, he has coached the Mavericks Summer League team (at the Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City in 2006 and the Vegas Summer League in Las Vegas in 2005).

In the six summers prior, he served as either a head coach or an assistant coach for the Spurs summer league squads in Boston and Salt Lake City. He has also worked a wide variety of summer camps including ABCD camp, Superstars, Pepperdine University and University of San Diego.

Panty Liners!

Who's the last guy on the end of your bench?: New York Knicks

CHRIS BROUSSARD; you have a face for the internet age! OBERLIN ALUMS IN ACTION! (inaction?) Where's George Smith at?

What does this have to do with the NY KNicks? Well, for one thing, señor Broussard (whose picture up in the main stacks part of WOBC is fucking hilarious) sez that David Lee is not gonna get a contract offer from anyone, but the Knickerbockers. Same goes for WORLD CHAMPEEEN Lamar 'Lazarus' Odom with his LA County Lakers.

The knicks are gonna run again; they play for Mike D'Antoni, it's a given. Poor Chris Duhon's back couldn't handle it; Y'all questioning Steve Nash's durability again? I'm so fucking sick and tired of reading about these asterisk the mvp seasons of Nash over stat inflation. They will be cited as evidence towards a trend that was ushered in by some pretty incredible PG's; Nash's ascendance coincided the rise of young Chris Paul from cockknocker (Was Julius Hodge ever the same after that? Oh wait, maybe getting shot in his car was a bit more traumatic on his 'road to hope') to knockin at the gates.

Did you know Mike D'Antoni has a brother named Dan? Dan D'Antoni, ugh, well if y'all were hip to Jack Macculum's brilliant little log of what came to pass for the suns back in the dawn of the SSOL era, you'd know that D'an (easier shorthand, I'm sick of writing this last name; is it ironic that it took more effort to type the explanation? I HATE irony.) speaks Portugese, which was incredibly helpful in coddling (developing), mercurial guard Diana Taurasi Leandro Barbosa. What does that mean for the Madison Square Garden Dolanite Dolemites who run and gun and stun but never do quite enough to beat out Bosh and his dinosaurs (that goes double for Hedo) for Atlantic Division also-ran status.

SO GET TO KNOW D'AN!

Highlights:

Prior to joining the Suns in 2005, D’Antoni accumulated over 500 wins as head coach of Socastee HS in Myrtle Beach, SC, a position he had held for three decades beginning in 1975. Dan is also the founder of the Beach Ball Classic, the prestigious South Carolina high school Christmas basketball tournament that has showcased the likes of Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, Grant Hill, Rasheed Wallace and Raymond Felton. The Classic - which began as an eight-team affair in 1981 - has evolved into a 16-team national competition, with a women’s tournament added in 1998.

Word has it a young Jason Kidd could actually dunk!

RICHARD MANUEL

Yes, I have heroes. No, I don't think covering David Bowie is part of that solution; Is TV on the Radio the next Wallflowers?

At least it's for a good cause; if you believe in good causes to give money for.

I had always assumed vocalist/pianist/drummer/all-around good dude Richard Manuel had died from his liver exploding; rumors abounded that leading up to this death he'd developed the habit of drinking 6 bottles of Gran Marnier a day. For anyone who's never tasted that syrupy orange devil, go get a pricey glass of that shit at your favorite dive and pour one down the gullet for an all-time great.

UPDATE: WHAT THE FUCK? It all makes sense now.




CLEVER ADVERTISING IS KING!


So, let's find out what the fuck happened (of course we consult the original patty melt, allmusic.com, for answers)

In a group remembered for their vocal talent, the late Richard Manuel was often seen as the lead singer. His is the first voice you hear on the Band's legendary debut album, Music From Big Pink, a rich baritone so soulful and charged with pathos it's hard to believe it could come from the frail Canadian. His is also the last voice heard on that album, a lonesome, quavering falsetto on Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" that raises the hair on the back of the listener's neck. Sadly, Manuel hanged himself in a motel room in Florida on March 4, 1986.

Manuel, the son of a Stratford, Ontario, mechanic, developed his vocal ability as a youth in the Baptist church choir. He grew up listening to country music, eventually discovering R&B, which would become a huge influence. (His voice would garner frequent comparisons to Ray Charles.) Manuel was the fourth future member of the Band to join the Hawks. In 1961, Levon Helm was the drummer for the Hawks and Robbie Robertson was on bass. Soon, however, Robertson took over as lead guitarist and Rick Danko was added as the new bass player. When Stan Szelest left the group that year, Richard Manuel was brought in as the piano player.

Throughout the legendary career of the Band, Manuel was troubled by drug and alcohol problems. It was only a few years after the Band had reunited in the '80s (without Robertson) -- and during an endless tour of much smaller clubs than the group was accustomed to -- that Manuel committed suicide. No other singer in the group was as admired, however. Even musical giants such as Eric Clapton (who has made no secret of his fascination with Manuel) were in awe of his vocal ability. Clapton would go on to record a tribute to Manuel, "Holy Mother," on his 1986 album August. Ex-bandmate Robbie Robertson would also eulogize Manuel on his 1987 solo debut with "Fallen Angel." Richard Manuel's grave is at the Avondale cemetery in Stratford, Ontario.

Yes, this worries me that he's a hero of mine.

the drug war

Mexico is raw as fuck.

War on Drugs? Whose drawing up these battle lines? One of the most interesting things to me so far about Leo Tolstóy's WAR AND PEACE is his usage of maps; something that Jorge Luis Borges, Thomas Pynchon and other names that I drop as to raise your opinion of my literary savvy, have touched upon.