So I had some problems with my hosting service (forgot to renew my subscription - whoops!) and so that messed with password cookies (why are they called cookies anyway?) or some such.  I’m no tech whiz so I don’t know.  But I’m back now and this should be up and running again in no time.

I’ll start again with the observation I had after watching some NBA games over the past few weeks: Nate Robinson was right when he said something along the lines of “no one boxes out.”  Seriously, no one in the NBA, especially guards, boxes out.  I can understand this somewhat, as not a lot of teams crash the boards in order to prevent fast breaks, but seriously, I saw no one boxing out.  A lot of players would just turn and watch the shot, exactly what they teach you not to do.  Then again if you’re 6′6″ and freakishly athletic, I’m sure the fundamentals mean a little bit less.  Again, just something I noticed.

Few things to look out for when watching this video of the Knicks game against the Wizards. Firstly, the coaches don’t do anything for the entire huddle. They talk amongst themselves while the team falls apart. Second, Nate Robinson will scrap with anyone, especially bigger players. Most notably Yao Ming.

So I just came across Funny or Die courtesy of a post on Awful Announcing and I have to say there’s some good stuff on there. I guess its some sort of Will Farrell brain child. He’s got his own page up there if you want to check it out. Funny stuff so far from what I’ve seen. Just wanted to pass it along.

I’d go on a rant about this Kidd trade that looks to be going down between the Mavs and Nets, but I’ll spare you.

As you all well know, Wikipedia is relatively insane. There are what could be called WikiTerrorists who go around posting misinformation on various profiles just for the hell of it that are hilarious for the two minutes they’re up before WikiWatchers (not really called this) take them down. It happened to Tom Brady’s after the Super Bowl and various other people at various other times.

But Wikipedia is supposed to be there for information. For a mass source of useful knowledge that grows and grows organically from our own minds. Oh yeah, it’s also for checking on the world’s per capita beer consumption by country.

So on Deadspin this morning, I saw a link to MSNBC from last night saying that the Suns and Heat were talking a Marion for Shaq deal and I immediately thought ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!!? Look, I know some of these Western Conference teams feel they have to respond in some way to the Lakers getting Gasol (and, admittedly, they should be a little worried given how he played last night against the Nets - then again, it was the Nets), but it would help to make deals that make sense. John Hollinger (should be free Insider shit) does a pretty good job of breaking down why this is the stupidest trade the Suns could make: he’s older, out of shape, doesn’t fit in with an up tempo style, has gotten lazy on defense, will complain more about his role on the team than Marion, and generally is probably the worst player for any type of fast break game. Hell, he doesn’t even rebound as much as Marion. And on top of this all, HE’S INJURED!

A larger point though, if you’re gonna let Marion go, or if management truly feels that his attitude is detrimental to the team, that’s all fine and good, but get a player who fits the system and, dare I say, is of equal value. Shaq is far below value for Marion especially considering everything the Suns do offensively. I’d have to think there are other teams out there that are interested. Maybe you don’t get a big man, which for some reason the Suns seem to be looking for (after trading a perfectly serviceable one - Thomas - this offseason). Marion for Kirlenko (sp? don’t feel like checking) especially since he’s come back to form this season or maybe some of Portland’s young pieces along with Pryzbilla (not as likely a trade given that Pryzbilla is sort of Portland’s only five at the moment and Portland’s on a roll) or maybe Jersey’s wings or if the Mavs are looking to shake things up maybe something down there could be worked out or if you have to go to the Eastern Conference then, let’s see, maybe to the Pacers for Danny Granger or if you want an injured O’Neal, Jermaine even fits better, or shit, I guess my point here is that there’s gotta be other teams out there willing to consider Marion deals. But if the Suns are only looking for 7 foot, 300+ center then I guess they only have one place to go.

More from Deadspin in the grand search for answers on this one.

That’s right 97.5 million people watched the Super Bowl on Sunday. That means 97.5 million people may or may not have been really weirded out by that talking Etrade baby who vomits after making a trade. That was just weird. And oddly, Naomi Campbell cannot dance it seems.

To speak of the game for a second: FUCK YEAH! 18-1 baby! Go Giants! That shit was just sick. It was everything you could’ve wanted from a game really (except maybe some more offensiveness). Close all the way through, both teams playing fairly well, the Giants front four mauling Brady, good things all around. And best of all, the Giants won. Also, at the beginning of the game, I said and I quote, “It would be funny if Eli Manning orchestrates a game winning fourth quarter drive,” and IT HAPPENED! Who would’ve thunk it? Great stuff.
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I just couldn’t pass on this little gem especially because everyone in the article seems to have no idea what the connotations of the name “Lolita” are. Admittedly I didn’t read it till recently, but you still have to have an idea about the word right? Am I right here?

All in all: Funny.

Art (as in painting, sculpting, etc) has always been somewhat lost on me especially as it moved into the modernist and abstract eras. The tone of this indicates that I may have been alive before such art existed, but, of course, I was not. Point being: I don’t get what a lot of it is all about. I enjoy still lifes and landscapes, more abstract photography I can sometimes get because it’s still a picture of something that is out there in the real (so to speak). But I am continually getting off point. What I don’t get is stuff like this dude Daniel Edwards is making.  He’s the guy who did Britney Spears nude on the bear skin rug with her baby crowning (it’s a sculpture, not some bizarre sex act).  Now he’s done a sarcophagus of Oprah.  Sure I understand that it’s some sort of commentary on popular culture and all that, but I don’t really understand it’s purpose.  I am just simply like “Why?” and then more like “Why the fuck do people care?”  Then again, I’m just an ignorant writer/paralegal/blogger hybrid of sorts that in all likelihood cannot breed (much like the mule).

Best part of the whole thing though, down at the bottom in the comments John from London notes, “Oprah will be President of the U.S.A. - it’s only a matter of time.”

At my graduation (my small portion of NYU that is) we didn’t have a real graduation speaker. Like a famous person graduation speaker. We had a pretty funny student get up there and give a damn good speech but we didn’t have famous writers or political figures or anything. I’m sure there was someone at the main Washington Square one as well as CAS and Stern and Tisch, but Gallatin was small and honestly I didn’t really care. I had a good high school speaker, but it was really nothing compared to this. It’s Will Farrel delivering some sort of speech at something called a Class Day at Harvard. It’s good. Take my word. Also, a December graduation speech from Scott Van Pelt which I found amusing. I think it’s always interesting to listen to speakers who never really expected to be chosen as speakers. I’m sure Will Farrel knew at some point someone would ask him to give a speech at a school, even if he didn’t really think it was Harvard (though it was class day, whatever that is). But Van Pelt? He’s an ESPN anchor. I don’t know how often they’re asked to anywhere but communication schools and even then rare I’d have to think. But what do I know? I didn’t even have a speaker.

If you’re talking about Charlie Wilson’s War, then yes, I think you can. I saw C Dubs Dubs last night and came away pretty thoroughly entertained. I wouldn’t say that it knocked me on my back, floored me one might say, but I was most definitely entertained. The New York Times Review got part of it right in saying that despite the seriousness surrounding the subject of the movie (not Wilson himself but escalation of covert operations in Afghanistan), the movie succeeds in being quite humorous and lighthearted. Sure, it shows the atrocities of the refugee camps and of the war itself, but they’re bookended by cocktail parties and hordes of pretty secretaries.

So in the end, you basically have a movie with a simple plot (SHOOT DOWN HELICOPTERS - this is repeated endlessly I think for the sole purpose of reminding you there actually is a simpler goal other than END THE COLD WAR and not as endless as KILL RUSSIANS) held together by the power and momentum of some fabulous scenes. Fill Up See More Hoff Man kills it as usual and his dynamic with Tom Hanks is incredible (punctuated by the scene where the two initially meet). Those two pretty much make the movie along with aforementioned hot secretaries. Julia Roberts is also in this film, but her role is sort of minor and she didn’t really do it for me (here, I disagree with the Times - “Julia Roberts, as golden as an Oscar statue, incarnates Ms. Herring as if paying tribute at once to Barbara Stanwyck and to the legions of anonymous Julia Roberts impersonators toiling in drag clubs across the land. I mean this entirely as praise: Not many movie stars have the wit or the moxie to embrace the camp elements of their own personas, and the character is clearly something of a performer in her own right.” Yeah, didn’t really see it that way). This is not to say that she doesn’t do a good job. I think she does a perfectly serviceable job, but I think it was somewhat hard for her to shine when she was following up the intensity and insanity purveyed by Hoffman and Hanks in the other scenes. She does well as a sort of foil for Hanks and Hoffman, the straight woman with an evangelical, alcoholic twist, but the two men seemed to embody their parts like no one else could while I could have seen other actresses in Roberts role (unlike say, her role in Mystic Pizza, or Erin Broccoli). Maybe this speaks to the specific scenes given to Hoffman and Hanks as well as their real-life rolls in the actual events portrayed in the film. Either way in the end, she does a fine job, Hoffman and Hanks steal the show, and I felt good for spending $11.75 on a 97 minute film.