I haven't blogged in awhile and I felt like writing, so here we go.
The NBA is back!
I'm very excited about this, but I know not everyone who may be reading this is. I won't talk much about it here as I will be starting a new and solely NBA inspired blog soon.
It's the holiday season, and I'm very in the mood. As an adult, I never really got into the Christmas spirit until the last couple of years, and now I thoroughly enjoy it. I finished my shopping early this year and just finished wrapping all of the gifts whilst watching Hoosiers (I'm thinking of making this an annual tradition.)
I'm working quite a bit lately, I've been super busy between the two jobs. With the NBA starting back up, I am also working more.
I recently got to the cinema to see The Sitter. I enjoyed it a lot. It wasn't groundbreaking, but a solid film with good humor. I plan on purchasing it when it comes out on bluray.
It's been a bit, but I also saw A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. It was a fun movie, if you enjoyed the other 2, this one shouldn't disappoint. It features Danny Trejo as Harold's disapproving father-in-law, an underage party, drugs and a baby.
Anyway, that's all for now. Stay posted about my NBA blog. Merry Christmas to all.
Stay fresh and Keep Calm,
KK
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
So I was informed last night that there is a live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot in the works. I was excited, then i read rumors that Michael Bay was involved. My excitement dropped off significantly. They also originally had the writers of Iron Man 2 writing it, then decided to get some dudes who write a crappy TV show and Mission Impossible 4 instead. My excitement dropped more.
The NBA Lockout is still going on. The meeting tonight (currently in progress, over 10 hours) is supposedly going positively, but I've lost hope and am not all that interested since the media gets fans hopes up, then cuts them down. I'll be pleasantly surprised if they have any form of a season, if not I'll find other things to do with my time.
I went to Chicago for Halloween, it was a very fun time. I saw friends I don't see nearly enough, went to a Blackhawks game on Halloween night, people in costumes at hockey games are a good time (One of my favorites was a Care Bear with the Blackhawks logo on its tummy). If you're wondering, I dressed as The Macho Man Randy Savage. Chicago has been a great time every time I've been there. I'm hoping to relocate there this Spring.
Childish Gambino's CAMP comes out Tuesday!
Monday, October 17, 2011
The Nuggets have seen 3 of their free agents sign in China, which means they can't come back to the NBA until that season is over (which will be toward the end of the NBA season) even if the lockout is lifted, and multiple other players are playing overseas with out clauses, which means they can return if the lockout is lifted.
I'm in favor or players going over and playing, expanding their game and learning to play different ways, and strengthening parts of their games that may be weak. Of the 3 players from the Nuggets who signed in China, at least 2 of them weren't expected to sign again anyway, and the other I believe can be replaced.
Even if Nene leaves, as he suggested testing free agency and chasing a ring in and interview, I think they'll be okay.
As it stands right now, the Nuggets don't have enough guys to man a roster, but I think they can be fine if the lockout is lifted. They have a strong front court with Ty Lawson and Arron Afflalo (currently a free agent who has shown interest in staying), then you throw in Gallinari and the two seven-footers (Timofey Mozgov and Kosta Koufos), the promising Kenneth Faried and the scorer Jordan Hamilton who dropped to them in the draft and you have a young core with promise to build together and play as a team. They also have Gary Forbes who is a free agent, and has shown interest in staying. He wasn't the greatest last year, but showed glimpses of high quality, and has shown he can play in multiple pickup and street games featuring other NBA players this summer. He's young and could turn out to be an asset.
I understand the concerns about the go-to guy who can take over a game when needed. I also think some of the Nuggets players could step up to be that guy (Afflalo and Gallinari come to mind, possibly Nene if he signs, maybe even Jordan Hamilton). If not, I think they have a solid core to drop a special player into. The Nuggets payroll is low now, with Carmelo and Chauncey now in New York, so they could pick someone up or possibly make a trade.
If they can run with this team state of mind they've started, maybe they can make some noise with undervalued guys. I'm personally excited about the team. Maybe I'm just a fan with rose colored glasses, but I like to think they've got a chance to build something great out of what they have. These guys are young and can grow together.
I have faith in Masai Ujiri and Josh Kroenke. I think they know what their doing. At least, it seems like they do.
The NBA lockout has already taken away the preseason, the first two weeks of the regular season and sent numerous players overseas. I really wish it would end, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
I believe both sides deserve their fair share. The players bring the talent that brings in the money. They also deal with being in the public eye, taking the blame when things go wrong and the credit when it goes right. Most, if not all, of the scrutiny lies on players. That being said, the owners provide the outlet and make the deals to bring in the money that the players' talent attracts. Both sides deserve their share.
I know I probably don't know the whole story, but I've been following what I can throughout the lockout. From what I've taken, the players have shown willingness to negotiate, they've given in areas. The owners have not from what I've seen/read/heard. Both sides must show willingness to compromise for this to work.
I'm trying to stay in the middle, but maybe I am leaning toward the players' side. Many of the owners have made horrible decisions and now are looking for ways to get out of dealing with it when they make more. If more owners took a genuine love in their team and the game, maybe it wouldn't be so hard. It's usually pretty obvious which owners are interested in winning for love of the game, and not just in making money.
After all the buzz created last year that aided in getting the fan base back up, and getting more revenue, it's terrible that this is happening now to set the Association back instead of building on it.
I don't know what kind of deal needs to be made. All I know is I'm a fan missing out on the highest level of my favorite sport because people can't figure out how to divide their money. I'm sure there's more to it than I realize, but I'd really like to see some NBA basketball and see the next chapter in its story.
It's been getting colder outdoors, and I've come to peace with it.
I've been finding enough things to pass the time with, here's some things I've recently heard, seen, experienced and some things I'm looking forward to that I think anyone I know should take note of.
MOVIES (In Theaters): I've seen Moneyball twice now, it's a great movie. I think anyone would enjoy this movie. Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill star in it, it's about the business side of baseball. It's the story of the 2002 (correct me if I'm wrong on that) Oakland Athletics and their small bankroll competing with teams spending WAY more money than they did. It doesn't focus so much on baseball as the business. It also has a good enough and broad enough story to appeal to anyone, in my opinion, so check it out.
I also just saw 50/50 last night. It's the story of a 27-year-old guy getting cancer, and how he deals with it with some humor. It's funny, emotional and well done. It was loosely based on the writers actual experiences. Seth Rogen was a friend of the writer (they worked together on The Ali G Show) and produced it and played his friend in the movie. Joseph Gordon-Levitt took the lead role. It also featured Anna Kendrick (Up In The Air) and Angelica Huston (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) as his grief counselor and mother. Bryce Dallas Howard is also in it, I hadn't seen her in anything expect Spider-man 3; she's more attractive as a redhead. The acting was great, the story was great. Solid film. It is sad and emotional, but also funny and enjoyable. I recommend this one, too. There is a lot of adult language and sexual reference, it's rated R, so not for the whole family, though.
MOVIES [and a TV Show] (On DVD/Blu-Ray): I wrote a blog about The Beaver with Mel Gibson. Go read it if you want to know more about it. I bought it on Blu-Ray. I love this movie.
Almost Famous: The Bootleg Cut will be released on Blu-Ray on October 4. It's a great movie, I haven't seen the bootleg version, but plan on owning this eventually. I own the DVD of the original version, so I'm not in a super hurry for it, but I do want it. The Bootleg Cut was previously released on DVD, and still goes for just under $50.
Community: Season 2 was recently released, as well. It's great, my favorite show on television.
MUSIC: If you haven't heard Watch The Throne by Kanye West and Jay-Z, I urge you to. It's a great album by two of the biggest names in music. Great all the way through.
Childish Gambino's new album, Camp, will be released on November 15. It was originally supposed to come out at the end of September, but he got put on a label (Glassnote, the same label as Mumford & Sons and Phoenix) so it got pushed back so they could do their stuff to it. The first single "Bonfire" is out and it's awesome.
Cole World by J. Cole just came out. I haven't listened to it yet, but he's a great up and coming rapper, so if you're into it, check him out.
Also, She & Him are putting out a Christmas Album, which I will probably buy, I'll have to give it a listen first, though. Great band featuring M. Ward and actress Zooey Deschanel, if you've never heard of them.
RANDOM: Someone finally made a mask of Sloth, from the Goonies. This is something I've wanted for years, and plan on buying one eventually, but I don't want to drop sixty bones on it right now. Here's a link if you want to check it out. http://www.80stees.com/products/Goonies-Sloth-Mask.asp
My Halloween costume has been chosen. The Macho Man Randy Savage! Oh Yeah!
I support Lady Gaga more than most people would expect of me, but I'm not sure what she's doing calling for a meeting with the President over bullying. I understand its a problem because kids are killing themselves, but there's a lot going on right now, and I don't see it becoming a top tier topic right now. Although, she did hold the press conference on Don't Ask Don't Tell, and its over now. So maybe I'm wrong here. Maybe she has more political power than I think.
"Bullying" has been a buzzword in the media for the past year, at least, maybe longer. It has been around forever, though. I'm not sure if its just becoming more popular due to media coverage or if kids are assholes more now or what. It seems we hear about more kids who would prefer to die rather than put up with it until they can get away from the situation.
It Gets Better is a project to tell kids that things will get better, that no matter how bad things are now, they will improve. If nothing else, they will have more important things to worry about. I think this project is good and will hopefully influence young people who are miserable into not killing themselves or cutting or whatever they (plan to) do to themselves.
Lady Gaga has called to make bullying illegal. This seems like a hard thing to do. Some of it could definitely be prevented and and lessened, but some of it will happen anyway. The Nation is dealing with a lot of different things right now, and while i'm in favor of preventing bullying, I also believe there are better ways to go about this without the government right now.
We as people, should start keeping an eye out for signs. Parents and teachers could pay more attention. I'm sure many do a fine job, but I'm also sure there are some slacking off and even probably just letting things happen because they don't want to deal with it. We can all show a little compassion for our fellow man and be better role models for those who look up to us. Whether we want to be or not, we're all role models. There is someone who looks up to us and we affect them in one way or another. We should show younger people to embrace differences and learn from each other instead of pushing others away and holding them down. "I get by with a little help from my friends" is what the Beatles said. We could all use some help from time to time, so we should be there for each other and not just expect people to be there for us when we need it.
All bullying does is push others away. It should be stopped, but I feel our elected officials can deal with some other things right now. Don't let your kids be assholes. Help them to understand that we're all in this together.
And if you're being bullied, keep your head up. Things will get better and you'll have more important things to worry about. Just be yourself and try find ways to better your situation. I understand involving adults may not always work and it may just complicate things, but tell someone about it. Talking to others can help. You may find someone going through similar experiences with some good advice. We're all different so embrace it.
Many of you who know me know I enjoy weird movies. My favorites are movies with strange stories, most likely some mental illness, with comedy mixed in. Laughing during bad times is something we should all be able to do. If you take yourself too seriously you'll never be happy. Movies like The Weather Man and Lars and the Real Girl. I have a new film to add to this list of beautifully crazy movies. The Beaver starring Mel Gibson, Anton Yelchin (Star Trek and Charlie Bartlett) and Jodie Foster (who also directed).
The movie is about a man (Gibson) who is depressed and burnt out on his life. He came to his job by being his fathers son; a job he was under-qualified for and overwhelmed by. He stops talking to anyone, and tries to kill himself, but then starts communicating to the world through a beaver puppet that he never takes off his hand, not even to shower.
This film has a great story, great acting and was well put together. This was meant to be Mel Gibson's comeback after the drama with his ex (leaked phone messages, a battery lawsuit, etc) and alcohol ("sugar***s", rants against Jews). It didn't work out, as no one saw the movie. It didn't play in many theaters, and didn't make much money in the few it was in.
Anton Yelchin has quickly become one of my favorite actors. I loved Charlie Bartlett and this movie is another amazing one. His only big blockbuster so far was Star Trek but I urge you to check out some of his other work.
It's one of those movies, like The Weather Man and Lars and the Real Girl, that teach us that life isn't perfect, and we all have to deal with our share of things in life. Some people probably don't like these movies. They may even think these movies make people depressed. This may be true for some, but these movies invigorate me. I feel they teach us about life and a little of how to deal with it. They teach us to be there for one another and to respect each other. They have heart, humor and are realistic and artistic.
I know I have weird taste in things. All of you may not feel the same about this type of film. I hope you at least check them out, though.
In these times, some of us find ourselves waiting for everything to fall into place while we try our damnedest to make them. We went to college and pursued our interests in the hope of making a living at them only to be released into the worst job market of our lifetime. This job market, as the years pass, seems to get more crowded with the new batch of graduates every semester. Some drop their heads and hope for something to happen, others of us keep our heads high and smile in the face of the high school dropouts who started careers and are now living much more comfortably than we are.
Is it a surprise our generation drinks cheap beer and isn't willing to drop 40-bones to watch one band play a few football fields away? We were taught the value of the dollar and we learned that we aren't getting where we planned. That's why we sip our PBR and prefer our entertainment to be on a large scale with general admission. It's why we shop at thrift stores and it’s why we destroyed the music industry which is being reinvented on our terms.
Every generation has been affected by the economic state it was brought up in, and by the economic state it comes to fruition in. Notice the age of most of the people on Hoarders; they're older people who grew up during or in the aftermath of the Great Depression. They didn't have anything growing up, so they keep everything they get. This was also a time when many successful businesses and franchises were started. People from the 80s, the decade of excess, worked their way to the top and got every ridiculous thing they could and threw it away as soon as they found something new. The 90s had the internet's rapid growth with its share of both successes and failures. Now, we're in the state we're in, the Great Recession as they call it, where it seems no one has money except the people who already had it.
We were brought up by a generation of hardworking people who took pride in their work. They instilled this in us, and told us repeatedly the importance of education and urged us to follow our passion to find our careers. We followed our passions right into this recession.
We still follow our passions, but we do it on our own time.
The positives show through the negatives if you look for the light. We're learning lessons; lessons that have been learned before and are sure to be learned again. We keep our heads high and keep trying for success, because failure only comes to fruition when we stop trying.
We're finding our way. We make mistakes, just like those before us did. We're educated, but we don't have jobs to use our education on, so we use it on our hobbies and in our free time. This is why it seems everyone is drawn to the arts. We can't find the money to use our joy on materials, like the generation before; so we use our joys on expression, as the philosophers told us to.
Our generation seems to be learning how to get cheap thrills with cheap beers and entertainment, and making the most of what we have. The newspaper, music and television industries have struggled greatly and have been forced to reinvent themselves (which they're still in the process of), because we realized we can get all of that content on the internet and don't need to waste time, energy and money on going around to find it all.
Don't question it, we'll figure it out. We're enjoying the journey, like you told us to.
Growing up, I was a big NBA basketball fan. While my brother was a huge Michael Jordan fan (like everyone else in the world), I was idolizing Charles Barkley. He did not want to be a role model and proclaimed that he wasn't, but to me he was. I know my mother agreed with him in thinking that he shouldn't be. She seemed disgusted at his outspoken and scandalous behavior.
Many comparisons have been made and Jordan is known as the greatest ever, I personally don't believe that anyone deserves that moniker because so many things go into it and it is objective (I am not looking to get into this argument here). Charles Barkley had no championships, he also did not have the coaching and as strong of a roster around him in his prime. He was drafted to the Philadelphia 76ers in 1984, a year after they won a championship (the beat the Lakers!). In the 1992-93 season, he was traded to the Phoenix Suns, where he would play his best years, before going to the Houston Rockets to join Hakeem Olajuwan and Clyde Drexler and to try to win a championship in his latter years before retiring before planned in 2000 at the age of 36, after rupturing a quadricep. Barkley was an undersized post man who made a bigger impact on the game than most in his era with hard work, honesty and passion.
Sir Charles began his career on a championship team. He was not a leader of the team, but he learned from the veteran leaders. Something we should all do, learn from those who have come before. While playing with Dr. J surely benefited him, he obviously took the most from Moses Malone. Moses Malone was a fellow post player, who prided himself on rebounding was a great mentor for "The Round Mound of Rebound" to have show him the way. He taught him to work hard and prepare for games, the seasons and the life of a professional athlete.
By 1988, Malone and Erving were both gone (trade and retirement), and Barkley was the team leader. Doing all he could with the limited resources the 76ers management gave him, he relocated via trade to Pheonix. When you try and try and things aren't working, change something. This obviously helped, as he was the league MVP that season and led the Suns to the Finals to an eventual six-game loss to Michael Jordan's Bulls.
"Just because I can dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids." - Charles Barkley
I AM NOT A ROLE MODEL. This was a popular Nike ad campaign designed around Sir Charles in the 90s. He didn't want to be one, but he was. I'm sure there were other kids around the country and the world looking up to him besides me. I mean, he WAS one of the most popular players in the league and he was a polarizing personality. He was honest about his thoughts and feelings and didn't sugarcoat anything for the public. He owned up to things he did, and did not make excuses for his mistakes. He took the credit for his faults as well as his achievements. He was passionate and competitive and often had skirmishes with players during games. Afterwards he was not afraid to say what he thought about it, rather than playing to the media as most did. He always left these grudges on the court, though.
He learned from his mistakes. Once, during a close game in 1991 he became agitated by a heckling fan and turned to spit on him, and ended up hitting a little girl. He apologized to the girl and became friends with her family and provided them with tickets to games. He also served a suspension and paid a fine for the incident. He learned from this. Here's a quote from around when he retired.
"I was fairly controversial, I guess, but I regret only one thing—the spitting incident. But you know what? It taught me a valuable lesson. It taught me that I was getting way too intense during the game. It let me know I wanted to win way too bad. I had to calm down. I wanted to win at all costs. Instead of playing the game the right way and respecting the game, I only thought about winning."
Charles got in many fights through his career. He threw a guy through a window, he jawed refs, he played rough and took some cheap shots, but he was always standing up for what he believed. He stood by his opinions and fought for them.
Barkley never won a championship, but in later years of his career he chased his dream, joining Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler and the rest of the Houston Rockets to try to achieve his goal. You should always try for what you want, don't leave yourself wondering what if.Though he did not succeed, he tried.
For the best years and majority of his career, he was competing with Michael Jordan. The two are widely known as being good friends. They had a healthy competition between them, which is important. Competing with our friends is always important. It does sometimes get out of hand. We've all had times when a pickup game at the park, a board game or even a game of Halo got out of hand and we lost our tempers. Competition brings out our adrenaline and testosterone and things get heated. This is why we should surround ourselves with good people. Our friends understand and don't hold these things against us.
I could go on, but I feel this is enough for now. Charles Barkley taught me a lot about life through his achievements and downfalls. He was a league MVP, an 11-time All Star, and All Star Game MVP, SEC Player of the Year and named one of the 50 Greatest Players of All Time in the NBA. He taught me roads to take, and roads to avoid. He taught me to be passionate about what I do, to voice my opinion on things, hard work and to stand up for what I believe. I am glad I went through life looking up to him.
I am a better man for having Charles Barkley as a role model......because he could dunk a basketball.
[I used Wikipedia to get some of the details like years and stats right, because as a kid, I didn't pay really pay attention to that stuff.]
Here are some of the gems from Youtube, there are more if you feel like checking them out.
Maybe I'm just nostalgic, but it seems that in the 90s they made a lot of family sports movies that appealed to the whole family. Re-watching some of these movies as an adult, I've noticed there are quite a few jokes I didn't get as a kid (I.E. there's a goat raping joke in The Air Up There [1994] with Kevin Bacon ). Perhaps, part of this is due to the MPAA taking a stronger stance on things.
The family friendly stories of films like The Mighty Ducks movies, The Big Green, Little Giants, The Air Up There, Rookie of the Year, Little Big League, The Sandlot and all of the others that came out in this era were enjoyable for the whole family. The filmmakers worked in jokes for the adults and used jokes for the children that the parents and older kids could enjoy, as well. From the Little Giants "When she's hot to trot, she's still gotta squat" or Coach Bombay saying "I'm sure this will be a real bonding experience. One day, maybe one of you will write a book about it in jail." Another example is when the kids in The Sandlot share a bag of Redman chewing tobacco before riding carnival rides, and they all throw up. This is taboo, but it also teaches them drugs have consequences. These jokes seem taboo to kids because they deal with adult situations and things, depending on their age and knowledge, they may or may not know about, but do not cross any boundaries or hard topics that can't be easily explained to kids. And the parents are still entertained because the jokes and story are actually enjoyable to them, too.
These films also often incorporated words like "shit" and "damn" which a lot of kids know, and know they shouldn't say. They're known as bad words, words that adults use sometimes, but as kids you are not supposed to say them or you get punished. This adds to the taboo which makes the kids more interested, and keeps it more realistic for the adults.
They did all of this and incorporated morals and lessons for the kids to learn, and for the adults to relearn.
In the 2000s, it seemed sports movies got overly serious, like Coach Carter and Friday Night Lights that dealt with adult situations a lot of kids aren't old enough to comprehend. There are also movies like Disney's The Rookie and Meet The Titans that feature a more mature view, mixed in with a touch of comedy and its all appropriate for the whole family. These movies didn't seem as fun, though, because they addressed things from the adult point of view, which kids can't completely relate to.
We can all relate to the kids point of view to things, we were all there before. We've all had the experiences of being a kid, trying to overcome something we're too small and not trained enough to overcome, the impossible.
Maybe I just haven't seen any of the quality family sports movies in recent years, or maybe they have, indeed, just stopped making these types. I would place at least part of the blame on the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), the organization who controls the rating system for movies, for the lack. They've put stricter restrictions on things, drawing a thicker line between adult movies and children's movies and making less of a grey area.
I could just be being nostalgic, but I'd like to see some new movies like these.
If you have any movies you'd like to suggest to me, to prove me wrong, or just clips from these types of movies you'd like to share because you enjoy them, feel free in the comments section.
[I have noticed the type of humor is coming back with movies like The Diary of a Wimpy Kid films, but I have not seen sports movies like this]
In 2005, I discovered a band called Lucero. They were featured on a compilation album I purchased on a whim and have loved ever since (Atticus: Dragging the Lake, Vol. 3). This album introduced me to a few new bands, and some new songs by bands I already loved, track six was one that stayed with me. The song was "Bikeriders" by Lucero. The raspy voice, the mixture of genres choosing none in particular, the words...this song was one I wished I had already known, but also wished I could hear it for a first time again.
I looked more into this band and could not find (and still have not found) a song of theirs that I didn't like. The more and more I heard from them, the more and more I liked them. Looking back I can tell that they fuse more of my life than I'd like to acknowledge. In my teen years I denied the country music I was exposed to as a child through my parents preferred radio stations. I see now that there are parts of this music that have stuck with me, the parts that Lucero and artists like Ryan Adams and Ben Kweller take from it, and add to rock, punk and whatever else influences them at the time of writing.
I choose not to have a favorite band or artist. I am open to any kind of music, but do have strong opinions sometimes. I'm not very fond of country music, although some of it I can stand, but prefer to avoid. I think the reason is that it lacks the dirt, grit, honesty and pain that it has held in past generations. Now it seems that country songs are written with things you expect to hear, then have a sheen applied to them. It's strange to think now that country music used to be for the rebellious kids.
I am drawn to musical artists who don't reside in genres. They bend and break them and make something more original. They keep the heart, honesty and emotions in them. I enjoy hearing the crack in a voice ridden with pain. Music brings about a wide array of emotion in us, whether it puts us in someone else's shoes, or shows us someone else has been in ours. Sometimes it cheers us up and gives us energy, sometimes it comforts us.
If I were to list my favorite artists right now, they would be all over the place because of my eclectic tastes. The thing that would be constant in most of them are the pain and honesty, whether sad or happy. The painful experiences we have make us stronger and build character; sometimes they make us better though they don't seem like it at the time.
We've all felt some pain in life, and sometimes it leads to great things like music, literature and art. A lot of artists seem to lose their edge when they get out of their funk; Ben Nichols seemed to keep his somehow with the latest Lucero album (it's been out since 2009).
I am in one of the positive points in my life right now, and I don't plan on it ending.
With Fall so close, and my last post ranting about it, I thought of another good thing (that comes about because of the crappiness of fall)....the Fall TV Lineup. I've grown up on TV as I believe many of my generation have. I'm pretty pumped for new episodes of Community and Parks and Recreation, as well as seeing how long The Office can hold on without Steve Carell. I am also looking forward to seeing where the second season of Happy Endings leads. That show has great writers and comedy and is the best of the friend, group, couple dynamic that has been pushed on television viewers the last year or two. I only enjoyed one other show that was new last year, and it was canceled by Fox. If you don't watch Community, Parks and Recreation (both on NBC Thursdays) or Happy Endings (ABC Wednesdays), I urge you to give them a chance.
In addition to these shows returning, I am also intrigued by some new shows. The new shows this season that are being advertised during the television shows I watch regularly seem to have primarily female leads including: Whitney, starring Whitney Cummings, The New Girl, starring Zooey Deschanel, 2 Broke Girls starring Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs. I am also aware that a new show with my biggest celebrity crush, Rachel Bilson, will be premiering. This show will be on The CW which makes me nervous, because they aren't known for quality entertainment. The show seems questionable, big city doctor moves to small town in the South. This dynamic works sometimes (Doc Hollywood, Doc Martin, Northern Exposure), but sometimes is doesn't. Knowing this and that the show is on The CW, I am glad Rachel Bilson is starting to do movies with some bigger named people, like The To-Do List with Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, Donald Glover and a bunch of other people.
There are many other shows that will be premiering soon, some that I know about, some that I don't. If you have any shows that look promising feel free to mention in the comments.
The heat wave in the region is over, so the end of the summer season is nearing. Some you people out there who I like to describe as "horrible" are happy for fall to come about, but I am not. Summer is the greatest season and Fall, or Autumn as some of the kids in other areas call it, is the worst season, hands down. Here's my argument. Suck it!
In the Fall, things die.
The world turns to many shades of brown as the plants meet their demise, the dead leaves all fall to the ground to be crushed by the feet of people walking by and kids finding joy in their death, and the birds all get the hell out of town because they know things are about to take a turn for the worse. As much as I'd like to join them, I must suck it up, throw on some layers and brace for the brisk breeze.
In the Fall, what am I supposed to wear?
One of my biggest arguments against the middle seasons (Fall and Spring) is I have no idea what to wear. In the middle seasons the weather fluctuates so much there's no way to plan other than the inconvenience of layers. I don't like having extra stuff to carry around later in the day because I'm sweating when I started the day off freezing my ass off. In these circumstances I choose to keep my hoodie on because I'd rather be at an uncomfortable temperature rather than deal with the inconvenience of holding/carrying the extra baggage. I enjoy wearing hoodies and being able to use different styles to change my look, but so much inconvenience comes with the Fall season and its fluctuating temperatures.
Because of the temperature change people often get sick, too. Then I have to deal with the risk of getting sick myself. I go to movies or events or just to the store or post office and have to hear people hacking and wheezing and blowing their noses into their handkerchiefs that they keep in their back pocket covered in their nasal mucus.
Every season comes with its inconveniences, from Summers back sweat to Springs wetness to Winters timely preparing for the outside conditions. Feel free to have your opinion on the seasons, feel free to voice them, but my order is set and will not change.
Summer>Winter>Spring>Fall
Fall is by far the worst, outside of burning things and making piles of leaves to jump in there is nothing enjoyable about it.
So a lot has happened since I last blogged.
Amy Winehouse died. I'm not sure how many other people were saddened by this, but I was. I enjoyed her music and thought she was an amazing talent. She had her problems, maybe not enough help, but I personally was hoping for her to overcome and get back on top. The cause of her death is still unknown even after an autopsy. They (the people following the story including me) are waiting for the toxicology results to come in to see if the expected is true, that she overdosed on a crazy cocktail of drugs and alcohol.
In the last year or two, I read multiple stories of how she was trying to overcome her problems and doing pretty well at it. I was not personally around her so I do not know how she was doing. Rumors were she was trying to get off the drugs, and I know she got the breast implants for self-esteem and I read that they helped. I'd like to find out that she was cleaning up, and finished the album she was working on that she was having trouble with writing for, and that she died from natural causes or the results of the life she'd lived that were already there and was trying to get out of.
Her death did bring about some recognition for those suffering from drug addiction and some urge for the people who love them to help them overcome their addictions. Russell Brand wrote an amazing piece about Amy and addiction. If you haven't read it yet, I recommend it. It's located on his website.
So the NBA Lockout is in its third day. Nene opted out of his contract with the Nuggets; I'm still not quite sure how I feel about this. Nene's positives outweigh the negatives and he's a great player for the team, and would be with most teams. A good center is hard to find. He would also probably be better at power forward which rumor has it he'd be playing for the Nuggets next year. I completely understand his opting out of the contract, but I have no idea what he's thinking about as in staying versus going elsewhere to play. He can obviously make more money as he is one of the top names in this years free agent class, and he could just be trying to get more money out of the Nuggets. He is married to a woman from Colorado and they have a child on the way, but he also took the summer off from playing for his homeland Brazil's FIBA team to focus on contract negotiations and everything. So there's a lot of confusion when I think about this, if he does in fact stay I'll be happy; if he doesn't I will wish him the best and will still be pulling for his success and I will hope the Nuggets can sign Kenyon Martin to a new contract. I am very excited about the Nuggets franchise if the league ever gets going again. With the talented, young front court of Ty Lawson and Arron Afflalo, a mixture of youth and experience all dedicated to being a team, the new addition of the modern era NCAA's rebounding record holder and a scorer out of Texas, two young 7-footers who are expected to come into their own this year. A lot of things could go wrong, but a lot of things could also go right. I look forward to the NBA players and owners getting the new CBA worked out and getting on to the next season (hopefully next year).
Things have been going solidly. My whipping myself into shape is starting to show a bit; there's still a long way to go, though. I've been feeling great, I saw Super 8, best movie I've seen in a long time. I also saw Bad Teacher, which was also a solid flick, especially since the beautiful Lucy Punch (Doc Martin (English TV Show)) played the annoying, overachieving role (I usually fall for the girl who plays this role in movies). I've been listening to a lot of rap music, including Childish Gambino and Pase Rock, a lot of energetic stuff like Girl Talk and Andrew W.K., a little Vendetta Red, and also a Steel Train record that's available FO FREE with two B-side tracks. Here's a link....<iframe frameborder="0" style="overflow:none; width:510px; height:440px; border:0;" src="http://app.topspin.net/f4m/84062"></iframe>
Rock.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Warm weather has arrived, and it is tremendous. I had been spending quite a bit of time taking walks, running and going to the park working on my shot, but lately it's been raining a lot, on top of me working overnights and sleeping much of the day. Summer is my favorite season for these reasons, the outdoor activities and a more active lifestyle is easier to live.
The NBA season ended, with the Dallas Mavericks beating the Miami Heat in 6 games. Congratulations to the Mavs for the achievement. The Western Conference still remains on top! I'm looking forward to see the reshaping that happens this offseason. The Nuggets have many free agents, its pretty certain they will lock up Nene and Arron Afflalo, their two biggest free agents, though, which is great. Its also been talked about that Timofey Mozgov will be playing more minutes next year, he has high potential and I hope he works out. Free agents I would like to see the Nuggets pick up: Shannon Brown, Deandre Jordan, Dwight Howard would obviously be welcomed, as well. I don't know much about the Draft prospects, so I won't say anything about that, I hope they can get a solid player who can make a contribution to the team.
I also recently joined the Twitterverse. I had been anti-Twitter for a long time, and it just won me over. Follow me...REALKristopherK.
So I just found out Fox isn't bringing Traffic Light back for another season. I enjoy this show, and am sad it won't be back. I guess it holds with Fox's history of canceling quality shows after a season, though. It wasn't the best show on TV, but it was my favorite show on Tuesday nights. It was also on the level with ABC's Happy Endings as the best couple comedies on, which is something the networks have been pushing, many are pretty crappy, but Traffic Light was one of the good ones, it and Happy Endings are the only ones I enjoy. That's enough complaining about something I have no control over for now, though. I will hope another network picks it up, and if not, oh well, I will find ways to spend my Tuesday nights other than watching television.
So I haven't blogged for quite some time, and for some reason I just got the feeling to write. No one will probably read this anyway, and that's fine. I'm just writing to write.
The last time I wrote one of these, I was probably talking about the Denver Nuggets. Their season came to an end in the first round of the playoffs losing in 5 games to the Oklahoma City Thunder. They were the team I most feared in the Western Conference, and I believe whoever wins the OKC/Memphis series will win the West and most likely the Championship, although Dallas is playing the best basketball I've ever seen their current team play so I won't close the door on them yet(Dirk is playing like a big man should, and probably wants a ring while he's still in his prime).
With the NBA Playoffs in full swing, I also decided that I should get an autographed Charles Barkley Suns jersey, frame it and hang it (I may never get around to this, but we all need goals), as he's been my hero since I was a tyke. Chuck Klosterman says whoever your hero is when your 9 is your hero forever, and I agree with this as Sir Charles is still my hero, though, I'm sure younger NBA fans see him as nothing more than comic relief. I even had a crush on a girl in the 4th grade because she had a Charles Barkley jersey, I later found out she was not even a big basketball fan and it was her brothers, but she will always have a place in my heart. When I was a kid, no one thought the Round Mound of Rebound was a good role model, not even him. He had a whole NIKE ad campaign about how he wasn't. My mom didn't think he was either, but she still bought me his jerseys and poster which I am thankful for. Personally, I think he was a good role model. He taught me honesty and to stand up for myself, and that effort and passion are a big part of basketball, and of life.
ANYWAY, that's enough about NBA Basketball for now. Lately I've been feeling pretty great about everything, I'll soon be leaving my crappy job, keeping my resume building job, and going back to an old job where I know people and will get more hours thus more money, not to mention I'll be working overnights so I'll be more comfortable with my schedule, I'll take very late nights over very early mornings anytime. In starting a new (old) job, I took a pre-employment drug screening today (a piss test). Whilst in the waiting room of the hospital, I thought a webshow about a hospital waiting room would be fun (anyone interested in making one, I'm open to collaborating on that project).
I've also been working out a lot lately and eating healthier. I'm motivated to better myself right now, even though I believe I'm a pretty awesome dude, I just need to look like it. Working out makes me feel a lot better about myself and gives me more energy and leads to me doing more things and enjoying life more I think, and enjoying life is what I want to do (One of my goals is to be next in line as The Most Interesting Man in the World). Working out also gives me something to do and enjoy, living in a small town you need hobbies.
I also started playing guitar again, something I'd been slacking on for awhile (due to my ex not liking it as much as she thought she did, and not much feeling like it after the breakup). The weird thing about this is, I like to write songs as a hobby, it helps me get out my thoughts and all, sort of like a journal, I guess. But I've been listening to a lot of rap lately, if you guys don't know Childish Gambino, check him out, he's fun and great and he makes his own beats and sometimes samples good indie songs. Listening to rap is good, I believe it helps raise self-esteem, but it creates a problem when you're used to writing crappy acoustic songs. So I've been writing some crappy acoustic songs with more swagger. I've also been writing raps a bit, but they're horrible, I'm sure.
This year I also decided to attempt to half-ass follow Major League Baseball, as I haven't for a long, long time. I can't watch baseball on TV because I have a short attention span and get very bored; for the most part, I can watch basketball no problem, but not baseball. I have however been to two games already this year and I had an amazing time at both. The first was the White Sox vs. Tampa Bay in Chicago. The White Sox are my favorite team because they were my favorite team as a child (until i lost interest in baseball). Frank Thomas was the man, and always will be in my world of baseball. The White Sox lost the game, and have been losing a lot this year, but they can go out knowing they got a fan back this season (even though I probably won't pay as much attention as I aspire to, I'll most likely lose interest). The other team I follow is a National League team, The St. Louis Cardinals. I've been a fan of them for as long as I could consider myself a fan, too. They are the closest team in proximity to me, and they have a strong tradition and fan base. The game I went to was against the Florida Marlins, and it was fun, we had bleacher seats in the first row behind the Marlins bullpen and a good crowd around us. The Cardinals won the game and I had a lot of fun. So I'd like to welcome baseball back into my life, even if I don't care about you as much as others, I don't feel like you care about me much, either, but we're cool.
So that's where I'm at in life right now. This seemed like an odd collection of thoughts, but that's where I am, in the midst of the upswing of a renaissance in my life. Sorry for the overuse of parenthesis, hopefully it was slightly enjoyable for anyone who wasted their time reading it, and if you did, thanks (you even made it to the end!).
My whole life, storms have always excited me. I enjoy them. If it must be cold, I would much rather there be a lot of snow, it makes the cold more bearable (rain with cold is horrible, though.) I enjoy watching storms, rain or snow.
A good summer thunderstorm excites me a lot. I like to watch the trees whipping in the wind and the sky to look like daytime for just a moment when the lightning strikes. The blowing rain with a sparkling, wet glaze laid over everything. It seems kind of tropical to me for some reason.
A winter storm is a little different. It's cold and snowy and icy and I always dream of being snowed in with these. Not having to worry about responsibilities, jobs, the outside world. I've dreamed of having situations like in cartoons where you open the door and a pile of snow just falls in and covers you. I'm a pretty carefree guy, anyway, as anyone who knows me could tell you, but its nice having even less to worry about for a day or two. Stay home and watch some movies, find some new music, nap.
The blizzard that someone on Facebook declared "Snowpocalypse" has been okay, the crappy TV was crappier than normal, though, and no movies seemed to interest me enough, and for some reason Discovery HD Theater wasn't coming in at all. I still feel it would've been more enjoyable if my laptop wasn't being a pain-in-the-ass with the audio being problematic. I had problems with it about a month ago, but it stopped and decided to work fine until today when I wanted to catch up on some missed TV episodes via Hulu.
All in all, I give this snowed-in day a C+. I enjoyed watching the snow and wind and knowing that it was one of the biggest snows we've had in a long, long time. I also enjoyed the whole not worrying about outside life too much. I also started re-reading Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman specifically because it ends with a really bad blizzard that actually occurred in 1984. It wasn't as great as I would've liked it to be, but it passes because it was better than going to work or anything. And it would've gotten a better grade if not for my computer problems and the poor scheduling of basic cable for February 1, 2011.
I got the new Rolling Stone in the mail yesterday, and on the Threat Assessment scale there was mention of Sega intoducing "Toylets". Toylets are pee-controlled video games for urinals. Upon more research I learned they are only in a few locations in Japan, but this thoroughly excites me for the future.
I know this is a weird thing to be excited about, but who cares, sometime in the near future men will be able to play games with our pee streams. We already do this, with the aiming and whatnot, now we will be able to keep score and compete.
Some women may think this sounds gross and disgusting, but your opinion may change as soon as they find a way to make games for your toilets. I'm sure they will make some equal opportunities for you (I do believe I read that one of the games measures volume).
With all of the motion sensor games these days, its nice to see Sega taking an extra step forward. I grew up on the Sega Genesis, then switched to Playstation, but Sega will always keep a place in my heart. I have friends who still wish the Dreamcast would've lasted, and honestly so do I, even though I never played one until they were already out of production.
Anyway, I was just really excited about this news for some reason, Buffalo Wild Wings already hooks you up with TVs at the Urinals, why not hook up a Toylet.
The music industry is at a very critical time right now. The last decade or so its been going through a renaissance, sparked by Napster and the file sharing generation. There seem to be more bands out there these days, but the bands aren't lasting as long because they don't have the money. Many artists are forced fund their own records and tours and do much more of the work on said records and tours.
Record companies are about money, we all know that. That's how the business got to the point where it is. But also, the internet has fueled more artists to have the tools to do more of the things on their own. They can promote themselves through social networking outlets and youtube and blogs. They can gain popularity by playing shows and friends sharing pics and videos of the shows with these same types of things. There do seem to be many more labels today with all of the indie labels that have popped up, but most of these don't have the money to last long.
I am very interested to see where all of this goes, I hope it turns out well with the more artists putting their music out there, but the record companies it seems have stopped promoting as many artists as they used to. This is why mainstream radio isn't really relevant anymore. Everyone gets annoyed with Top 40 stations because it seems they only play 5 songs. And rock fans don't like rock radio because its all generic and sounds the same. With the internet and the iPod generation we seem to be growing apart musically. We all have our own taste and our own artists we enjoy, but because of this the artists don't last as long due to lack of funding. I hope someone finds a way to make music easily accessible and lasting at the same time, soon. I want the music industry to thrive again, but with people who do it because they enjoy the music, not just because they want fat checks. I understand we all want fat checks, but the art form needs to be respected all the same. I think we would all like some more variety instead of what seems like the same songs being put out over and over and over. We've all got our own tastes, and that's something I love, our differences make this world a lot better, but it seems to be at least part of the downfall of the music industry.
I'm in support of us all having our own tastes, but I would also like for the artists that I enjoy to last longer; I guess they'll live forever in my iTunes, but I wouldn't mind them being able to maybe make a few more records.
Today is Dolly Parton's birthday! Happy Birthday, Dolly! Also, the Coachella 2011 lineup was announced. It's in California and I'm a little short on cash so I won't be attending. From what I've been reading people aren't too impressed by this year's lineup, but it doesn't seem that bad to me.
The headliners are: for Friday, Kings of Leon; Saturday, Arcade Fire; and Sunday, Kanye West and The Strokes. Kings of Leon are one of the biggest rock artists in the world. Yeah, they changed their sound a little to get where they are, but we can't forget the catalog that they have. All of the acts on Friday seem a little more pop friendly, anyway. The Black Keys , The Chemical Brothers, Robyn, Lauryn Hill, Cold War Kids, Cee Lo Green and Brandon Flowers are some of the names that stick out to me. It doesn't seem Coachella is really looking for street cred with this setup. I enjoy a lot of the artists on the list, but most are not going to appeal to other festival crowds like Bonnaroo or Lollapalooza.
The lineup for the usual festival fans seems to be Saturday. Besides Arcade Fire, the bill includes Animal Collective, Bright Eyes, Mumford & Sons, Broken Social Scene and Scissor Sisters to name a few.
They bring it home on Sunday with Kanye West and The Strokes. The other acts on Sunday include Duran Duran, Ratatat, Nas & Damien Marley, Jimmy Eat World and Neon Trees. This set seems like the most fun to me. There are definately acts that I would love to see on the other days, but this seems like the one that would be the most interesting and fun. While other sources are not amazed by the Coachella 2011 lineup, I would like to point out that it's pretty similar to most festival lineups in recent years. The music business has been struggling and you have to put artists on the bill who will sell tickets, people aren't as willing to throw their money around in these hard times.
I am not the biggest fan of reality TV these days, but perhaps that's because there haven't been shows about things I enjoy. I used to like The Real World before MTV made it all about people sexing and fighting, when it was about people living together and being exposed to different types of people. I've fallen victim to the marathons of VH1 reality shows like everyone else before, and just as I select to swear them off, they throw in The X Life, which focuses more on the wives of extreme sports stars, but the stars themselves are actually in the show a lot, too, which is enjoyable. I just found a reality show that is everything I want in a reality show, though.
The show is called Adrenalina and is on Discovery HD Theater. It's two guys traveling and making extreme sports videos basically. They incorporate some historical facts in, and they tell you what song is playing (which I don't understand why more TV shows don't do that, it was one of my favorite things MTV did when they quit playing music videos). They often have extreme sports stars on and just seem to be enjoying the places and cultures they experience. I recommend this show to anyone who enjoys extreme sports and/or exotic locations. It's on HD theater Thursday nights. They also had ads for another show that looks to be about kitesurfing which looks like fun, hopefully I get a chance to see it soon.
Last night the Denver Nuggets beat the Heat by 28 points. The Heat were without Lebron James, but when you're supposed to be the top team in the league shouldn't you be able to compete without one guy? The Nuggets were without Birdman, he's out for a week or so to rest his knee and back that he's had problems with recently.
Some people may say this was Melo's Last Stand in Denver, and if so, so be it. The rest of the team showed last night that this team has a future either way. George Karl is keeping home that Carmelo may stay, so I am, too. Last night, Ty Lawson, Arron Afflalo, Nene and J.R. Smith showed that the team still has a strong core. Seven guys scored in double figures for the Nuggets, and Chauncey Billups had 13 assists and 7 points.
In the post-game interview, Dwayne Wade talked about how the Heat run much of their offense through James. Which basically told me that Lebron is in no better position than he was in Cleveland. Either way, the Nuggets were playing hard last night. They were moving the ball, moving without the ball, and they were playing great defense and running the entire game.
The Nuggets were wearing smiles during the game last night. One thing I enjoy is when teams seem to have fun, and the Nuggets were definitely having fun last night. Especially with getting such a big lead that the fourth quarter was reserved for the reserves. It was nice to see them enjoying the night, its been awhile since they've been smiling with all the drama circling. Who knows what will come of it, they're saying it'll be completed next week, but these rumors have been going on so long nobody knows what to believe anymore and everyone just wants to get it over with. Personally, I'm with George Karl, I'm going to try not to worry about it until it happens. Even though its hard with everyone talking about it so much. I don't know much about Derrick Favors or the other players in the latest deal proposed, and won't go out of my way to look into them until they show up in Blue and Yellow. And if they do, I hope they can enjoy the game and play as well as the Nuggets on the floor last night.
Last night The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Miami Heat. The Clippers are a favorite team of mine, behind the Denver Nuggets. Miami makes the trip to Denver tonight, I'm looking forward to it, I have to work but should be able to watch most of the game.
Everyone was talking smack after the Nuggets lost to the Clippers and the Kings, which granted it was by more than the Heat did, but the Nuggets have had a lot of drama to deal with lately. I'm not trying to make excuses, I'm just happy to see the Heat lose and the Clippers win.
The Clippers are finally making a name for themselves behind Blake Griffin (24 straight double-doubles) and Eric Gordon. Baron Davis also has started playing to his ability again. If they can keep their young core together they could definitely be a force to be reckoned with in the next few years. Besides Griffin and Gordon, they have Deandre Jordan who is growing into a great rebounder and improving his game all the time. They also have Al-Farouq Aminu and Eric Bledsoe who are helping quite a bit as rookies (Bledsoe got a huge block on Lebron James last night, He's 6'1").
They haven't had the best season sitting at 13-24, but have gotten some key wins over the Spurs, Heat and Nuggets. I hope they realize what they have and stay together to become a force in the league. They have proven they can play with the top teams and they're starting to finish those games now (even if their way is to go huge in the first half, 44 pt first qtr vs. Heat).
The Heat are in Denver tonight, Carmelo Anthony guaranteed he'll be playing, we'll see how all that drama plays out, but tonight its Miami at Denver, and I hope the Nuggets are prepared because the Heat will be trying to prove themselves again after last night. The Nuggets are also trying to prove that they're still a contender, they've been left out of the talks this year, much do to the planned exit of Carmelo Anthony. But I am excited for this game, even more so after the Clippers taking the Heat down, both teams have some things to prove to the world.
Lately I've been all over the place with the music I'm listening to. Techno, acoustic, rap, rock...a little of everything. If I were to make a soundtrack for the way I feel right at this moment, I don't think I'd be able to, I would probably try to find some weird homeless man and throw him in a studio with Kanye West, T. Bone Burnett, Paul Simon and Daft Punk and see what came out of it.
Music is where I usually feel I can find myself, lately I've been finding myself more in TV shows or movies. I grew up on TV, which could explain my short attention span. In my opinion, the best show out there these days is Community on NBC. It started off as a normal sitcom with decent jokes, and has grown into itself. It seems that its getting established, they're more free with it and are comfortable doing ridiculous things. Last week, I Season One for the first time since it was on air. It was great. If you haven't watched this show, I recommend it. The character Abed is glorious, he is the heart of the show. He mostly lives his life through movie references and seems to understand life more than any other character on TV.
This started as me wanting to write about my current musical state of mind, but it turned into me talking about my favorite TV show. Oh well. Life changes.
The Denver Nuggets are my favorite NBA team, and currently are in the midst of a storm with rumors about Carmelo Anthony's departure. The trade talks and rumors have been swirling since the Summer 2010 Free Agent class did their part in shaking up the league. The next guy in line was/is Carmelo Anthony. Immediately trade talks started with rumors of another Super Team like the one that formed in Miami. Countless teams and players have been mentioned in the rumors swirling around this next big projected shake-up.
The current deal said to be on the brink of closure has Carmelo Anthony taking Chauncey Billups with him to the New Jersey Nets. Its a three team deal, with the Nets getting Anthony, Billups, Shelden Williams and Anthony Carter all from the Nuggets, and Rip Hamilton from the Detroit Pistons. The Nuggets are also trying to include Al Harrington in the trade, but the Nets don't want him according to the rumors. The trade would send rookie power forward Derrick Favors to Denver, along with some lottery draft picks.
Denver is trying to avoid getting "Lebron'd", a term that came about after Lebron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers with nothing after deciding to take his talents to South Beach. Derrick Favors and the lottery picks offer them a chance at rebuilding with a young team.
As a Nuggets fan, I've been in support of Carmelo Anthony through the whole debacle, but its starting to look like its affecting his play, as well as the play of the whole team. Yes, I would like to see him stay in Denver, but I understand his want to be in a larger market, and somewhere where his wife will have more opportunities in the entertainment world. It will be hard to see him leave Denver, but its beginning to look easier with the play of the last few games.
So it looks as though the Nuggets will be rebuilding. I think they already have a solid core to start with. Ty Lawson is a very promising young point guard who, in my opinion, gets overlooked. He has the ability to just blow by people on the court, he does have a disadvantage in only being 5'11", but the positives heavily outweigh the negatives. They also have Arron Afflalo and Nene, who are both having career years. Afflalo has improved greatly his last couple of years in Denver, he is now more of an offensive threat and still keeps his great defensive ability. Nene is leading the league in field goal percentage, and has more speed than probably any other center in the league. And lets not forget Kenyon Martin is still building back up to being able to play with no limits on time. He is a defensive leader when he's on the team and helps in getting in the mind of the other teams. Last year the short time he was fully healthy, he was getting double-doubles pretty much every game. J.R. Smith also offers some positive, he hasn't been doing that great lately, but we all know he has the potential. Coach Karl says J.R. is showing maturity these days, lets hope he can be mature and consistent with his playing. When you figure in Birdman coming off the bench sparking energy, blocking shots, rebounding and giving another strong defensive presence and the long history of Coach Karl, you can see how this team still has potential without Anthony.
In my opinion, the Nuggets still have a strong core and have potential to remain a strong team in the West and in the NBA. They will be lacking a franchise player, though. With Anthony and Billups, the only closers the team really has leaving, the close games will be tough and some that should be close won't be anymore. I'm keeping faith in the Nuggets and Coach Karl, though. Perhaps if/when Anthony finally leaves it will clear the skies of Denver, and they'll start playing better because they won't have one guy to rely on. They have players who have the ability, the time may be coming for them to step up and show they can compete with the league's elite.
