Friday, January 30, 2009

Perkins Nearly Blows the It, But Team Game Leads to W

KG and the C's walked away with a hard-fought W in Detroit. Their record is now 39-9--best in the league.


On a night in which there was no clear player of the game, the Celtics showed some real fortitude in an arena where road teams normally lose. The Palace at Auburn Hills often has a playoff atmosphere and can be very demoralizing to any team playing there (The announcer doesn't help either. How annoying is he?). 

In a few words, the C's played a team game, through and through. No Eddie House career nights. No Ray Ray burning the net with his sweet J. Not even many give-and-go's or alley-oops from Rondo to KG. Yet they still found a way to win in a gritty, physical (at times excessively), and defensive game.

Ray, KG, and Pierce carried the bulk of the scoring load, scoring 14, 22, and 20, respectively. Allen, with his recent All-Star reserve snub fresh in his mind, struggled finding his jump shot for most of the game, going only 4-14, although he knocked down all his free throws, especially when they counted in the waning minutes. Garnett shot an efficient 10-17 with 8 boards and a couple of blocks (and some huge jump shots down the stretch...a high five and a chest-pound for you, sir), and Pierce was 6-10. Rondo barely missed a double-double, with 8 points (4-8) and 12 assists. Again, his jumper continues to fall, as he sunk both of the 16-footers he took.

House wasn't very much of a factor, hitting only one shot. However, that shot was a BIG one, coming with just a couple of minutes left in the 4th and the Pistons making another run. The Pistons never led in this one, but any time the Celtics started to get ahead, they'd claw (literally) their way back into it. We only led by as many as 11, which is definitely not safe against a tried and tested team like Detroit. 


After committing a dirty foul, Perk wisely walks away from a frustrated Maxiell.

Now onto Mr. Perkins, whose emotions on the court have been well-documented. Look, I like Perk. He's a solid player, priding himself mostly on defense and shot blocking. He's got a big body and can carve out space for himself. BUT, he far too often makes boneheaded plays that could hurt the team. The guy came right out of high school and has been in the league for going on 6 years now, but he makes some rookie mistakes. One thing is that 90% of the time the ball gets delivered to him down low, he gathers (meaning he brings the ball down and then jumps up to dunk it). PERK. When you do this, the defense almost always gets back into the play and blocks you. I'm not being picky, people. He does this A LOT. And if you talk to me on occasion, I've probably vented about it a few times. He needs to learn to just hold the ball up and jump. Not too difficult. Another thing is his temper. At one point during the season, Perk led the league in technical fouls. Although I don't think he's gotten one since (is it 12?), he got thrown out of the game tonight with a Flagrant II foul (which basically means the player wound up and followed through on the offensive player; excessive and unnecessary contact.). Maxiell had gotten the ball down low and was going through a series of upfakes. Perk, wisely, stood his ground with his hands up (what you're supposed to do. *Applause*). Still, Perk seemed to get tired or bored of these upfakes and simply karate chopped his hand down on the back of Maxiell's neck and continued to drag him to the ground. Maxiell immediately got up and pushed Perk, who (give him credit) merely walked away without further incident. Luckily, it didn't turn into the infamous brawl between the Pistons and Pacers so many years ago (maybe because Artest wasn't in the building this time. Don't get me started on his ass.). So, end of story: technical called on Maxiell for retaliation, Perk thrown out. The already lacking-in-size Celtics had to bring an ineffective Big Baby in at a crucial point in the game (Oh, Scal...hurry back!). Fortunately, this whole incident seemed to light a fire more so under the Celtics than the Pistons (it's usually the other way around in this situations), and the Celtics escaped with victory. 


Both teams played with a grudge--Rip Hamilton was called for a Flagrant I foul for taking a swipe at Davis' head on this play.

If Perk is reading this, though (I'm sure he is......right?), control your freaking temper. I know the game was chippy, but you cannot let your childlike emotions come into play during games. They're more often than not detrimental to the team. You're a starter for a reason and we want you on the court at the end of games, so don't be an idiot again.

There....showed him...

So, that's 10 in a row for the Green, more than halfway to another 19-game streak!

What's on Tap...

Here's what I'm planning on working on in the next couple of days:

Celtics-Pistons recap (Tonight at 7 on ESPN)

Celtics-Wolves recap (Sunday afternoon at 12)

U2's new music video for "Get on Your Boots" (I've seen it already, although it was an unofficial video on YouTube that got taken down and I can tell you it was awesome and makes the song much better. The common consensus I've read so far agrees.)

And for some visual stimulation, here's the cover of their single:


Hope everyone had a good week and will have a good weekend. Stay tuned.

P.S. Would anyone be interested in a "live blog" type deal during the Celtics game tonight? If you'd like to see that, leave a comment...

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Eddie House Knocks Down 8 Threes and Knocks Out Kings

Baaaaaaasically. Eddie's game was just nasty.


I'm tellin' ya. When the Celtics are clicking on all cylinders it is the most fun thing to watch. Eddie House and Ray Allen are on such a hot streak these days, that ESPN analyst and former player Tim Legler is claiming that Allen is playing the best ball of his career. And that's a BIG statement considering Allen has averaged 23+ points per game over a season 5 years in a row (2002-2007). Although Ray Ray ended up shooting 5-12, he hit 3 of his first 4 in the first quarter (all three in less than a minute and a half). 

There were a ton of positives in this game, but the beginning was brutal. The C's did a great job of composing themselves after letting the Kings shoot 65% in the first frame. If there was ever a trap game, this was it. We hadn't played since Sunday afternoon and the rust was clear from the tip. The Kings were coming off a tough loss to the Cavs in overtime the night before and were clearly fired up. The length of the previous game showed as they appeared to get more and more tired as the game went on. Our lack of aggression turned around in the second quarter as we outscored them 40-19. Being down by 10 in the first quarter and then going up by 14 entering the half is a great turnaround and shows what this team is capable of doing.

Rondo kicks Brad Miller where the sun don't shine after a dirty play the refs missed where Miller stiff-armed Rondo after the whistle blew. Check out that coordination, though!

Rondo again is making a bid to be an All-Star reserve, going 10-15 (again using his speed getting into the paint and getting layups as well as hitting jumpers, which are getting a lot more consistent). He had a total of 24 points to go along with 9 assists. And how great is it to see the chemistry between KG and Rondo? They essentially base their game on eye contact alone, and they've got it down so well that they're going to get an alley-oop at least once a game (they had I think 2 or 3 last night). Another thing they've been running lately is a give and go. Rondo passes the ball to KG who's in the post, Rondo runs by and uses him to pick off his guy, and KG delivers a perfect pass to Rondo who lays it in. I know the Kings aren't a defensive team at all, but this play can work against anyone if run correctly. So pretty.

Tony Allen finally returned to the lineup after an 11-day absence due to an ankle problem. And boy was he effective. He seems to have a lot of explosiveness back and his speed is way up there. He blew by his defender several times. Overall, he was 5-5 with 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and a blocked shot. I'm not a fan of him really, but it's great to see him really contribute off the bench and attack the rim. He was especially needed because Brian Scalabrine was out after suffering his second concussion in a couple of days, colliding with Patrick O'Bryant in practice (after getting an elbow to the head from Dirk Nowitski. And yes, they called a foul on Scal. Makes sense.). He has been playing beyond expectations while he was healthy and believe it or not, when Scal starts for the Celtics, we have a perfect record (6-0 this season). 

Now onto the star of the show. Tedward. Is he ever gonna cool off? Doesn't seem like it. After an extended break, House picked up right where he left off. Quote of the night from Tommy: "They shouldn't call him Eddie House...they should call him Eddie MANSION!" He was 8-9 from three, which is a career high for him. He came within 3 points from matching his career high in points, but missing only one three is impressive enough. And it wasn't like he was wide open with all of these. Several of them were off balance and/or with a guy in his face, forcing him to change the arc of the ball. One memorable one had Eddie running to his left on the baseline with a defender in his grill and he STILL knocked it down. Incredible. The Kings actually ended up double-teaming him. 

That'll do, Eddie. That'll do.

The bench overall scored 61 points, with House outscoring all of the Kings bench players on his own. Our previous high for bench points was 49, if I remember correctly. When your bench scores that many points, I don't care if you're playing the London Sillynannies or the Monstars from Space Jam, you're going to win.












Next game at Detroit on Friday at 7 pm. Until then...

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Yeeee, It's Ya Boi Chi City!

This guy is one of the more hilarious people around the internet that most don't know about. This is his funniest in my opinion. Oh, and again def NSFW, dudes.



Monday, January 26, 2009

The Best Invention Ever.

It's about time someone made a parody of this. Well, it actually did a pretty good job of parodying itself...


I Can Totally Relate to This!!

Pretty damn funny. Rated R though, in case you're sensitive about things like that. As Fitzy says, "Definitely NSFW, dude."



Sunday, January 25, 2009

C's Continue to Dominate...and a Sighting of Leon Powe??

Led by KG, the Celtics have newfound energy, especially at home, where they are now 22-2.


That game was textbook. The C's are now at 8 wins in a row after going 2-7. It'd be great to keep this energy up through the All-Star break in February.

First and foremost, the main worry going into the game was the matchup nightmare with Dirk Nowitski. Now, any fan of the game knows that this 7 footer has the ability to shoot the three as well as post up with the best of them. In fact, he's one of only half a dozen or so who has shot at least 50% from the field, 40% from 3-point land, and 90% from the line. Nash had done it twice, Larry Bird once, and Ray-Ray is currently doing it. So KG clearly had a big load to carry. And carry it he did. Dirk was held to 0-7 shooting to start a game, including missing a couple of bunnies after faking out smaller defenders. In all, Dirk was 4-17 (0-3 from downtown) and was a -23 when he was on the floor.

KG was nothing short of dominant in this one. He played only 25 minutes, yet shot 7-11 for 23 points. The game was over by halftime, which has become a common occurrence at recent Celtics games. We lead by 35 at one point and scored 74 points by halftime (season high for the C's...the Knicks had scored 82 in a half this season).

Basically everything was falling for us, too (65% in the first half, 54% for the game). Ray Ray was again on fire, possibly making a case for a reserve position on the All-Star team (to be announced this Thursday). He went off for 23 points on 4-5 from three and dishing out an uncanny 7 assists. Rondo again took control of the game and outplayed vet Jason Kidd. He shot 6-10, including a handful of pretty jumpers. When he shoots those with confidence, he can knock them down. He nearly had a triple-double with 13 points, 14 assists, and 7 rebounds, while sitting out the entire 4th quarter. This guy is so mature beyond his years, it's scary. His talent keeps improving it seems from game to game and it's only a matter of time before he's a household name around the country and an All-Star.

The C's tied a team record for three pointers made with 16. Eddie House, of course, made a significant contribution to that total, making 7-11, tying his personal best and coming one short of the most made this season (Ray Allen with 8). He also had 23 points in 28 minutes and is quickly proving himself to be a VERY dangerous (and efficient) scorer. Give him a good look these days (which for him means the defender only has to be about 7 inches away) and he'll knock it down.

Eddie House was so hot from long distance, he actually made this shot...


I love these blowout games, not only because we get the win, but also because we get to see the young players and what they can do. There has been an abundance of garbage time this year already and it's great to see the 10, 11, and 12 guys gaining more confidence. Remember, when Perk was out for a while and Scal got to start, his confidence just kept on growing. Before that, his scant minutes saw him airballing threes and making rookie mistakes. But because of those increased minutes, he has become a very underrated defender and once again a threat from deep (he was 2-3 today with 6 points). Big Baby is asserting himself more down low, scoring an and-one on a pretty layup in which he cleared out space from Dirk, causing the foul.

Gabe Pruitt is getting more playing time as of late because of Tony Allen's absence and from what I've seen, he's a great third option off the pine. His jump shot exudes confidence and he seems to bury it more often than not. He handles the ball up the court better than Eddie and has three point range. Bill Walker got some minutes tonight, and although there are signs he can be a very explosive player, he did seem nervous out there, fumbling a few passes and getting a layup blocked by Kidd. Patrick O'Bryant, one of the guys I'd like Doc to play more, hit a DEEP two (swish!), and his length is great for rebounding. He did try a hook shot, coming up a little short, but I have seen him hit that a few times and it is prettayyyy.

And how about the Leon Powe sighting! Does anyone know why he hasn't been playing recently?? I don't think he was hurt or anything...Anyway, he wasn't effective, to say the least, going 0-3, which was probably due to some rust.

Overall, great win by the C's yet again over a quality West opponent, proving that their stutter from the Christmas game was just that. They're still the champs and are still the team to beat in the Association. Until they're knocked off that perch, they will be the best team out there.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Two Words: Lavar. Burton.



I would have done anything....ANYTHING to have been there.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Bush Babies All Over da Place

Remember this guy from American Idol? The "bush baby"?

Well, there was another sighting of him:




And here's another for good measure:

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Celtics Show Magic It Ain't All About the Three

We're going streaking!!! Tonight was a BIG win, although no one from the team will say so ("Every game's important"..."One game at a time", etc. etc.) Well, team, anytime you beat a conference powerhouse with a legit MVP candidate, who has just gone 4-0 on a West coast road trip defeating all the division leaders out there, it's a BIG win.

Once again, the bench came up huge. House couldn't find the range this time, but luckily, Big Baby was knocking down everything from "baby" hooks to 17- to 18-foot jumpers. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.....this is not my Batman glass. You might be asking, "This 350-pound behemoth made 4 jumpers from beyond 15 feet, and two other jump hooks from 7 and 8 feet?!?" Yes. He did. And he's actually had that shot the entire year. He's consistently worked on it and can knock it down pretty frequently when given the opportunity. It worked especially well tonight because Howard refused to go out and guard Davis when he moved out beyond the paint. Davis also did an admirable job on Superman, holding him to just 11 points and 11 rebounds, which is like holding Bill Russell to only two handfuls of championship rings instead of the two-and-one tenth handfuls he actually got. (I can't tell if that analogy made sense, but whatever.) It was really reminiscent of Scal the other night holding Beasley to 6-16 shooting. 

The game itself was again sloppy, again by both teams. The Celtics committed a 2006-07-esque 21 turnovers, which didn't hurt us too badly because we recovered our D for the most part. With regards to offense, we came in knowing the Magic were a 3-point shooting machine, which as we know from our Antoine days, can be a great thing or a curse. Tonight, as in the last time we played them, was a curse. The great thing about these types of teams is that even if they're shooting 0-40 from beyond the arc, they keep popping them. They were only 7-22 tonight, which saved us from the loss. On the other side of the spectrum, we only attempted 6 (missed them all). But our relentless attack in the paint led to Howard fouling out at a crucial moment in the game (around 2:30 left in the 4th with the Magic making some noise). One thing I didn't like is that when Howard got his 5th, we went a few possessions without attacking the paint. Listen. When you've got a player as dominant as Howard in foul trouble, you've GOT to go at him and try and get him outta there. Luckily, we eventually did and got away with the W. Pierce was solid and took advantage of the lesser Turkoglu, scoring 27, three of which came on an old-fashioned, vintage Pierce play in which he upfaked, had Hedo fall into him, faded away, and knocked it down. LOVE watching those fall. 

Great game tonight and we're now at 7 games in a row. Do I smell 19 again? Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We showed great composure down the stretch and now we get a few days off before we match up with the Mavericks on Sunday.

Anything else you noticed about this game? Does this game show that the C's are still the champs and the team to beat, or are Cleveland and the Lakers still at the top? Discuss.

Paul Pierce's All-Time Celtics Ranks

It's rare these days to have a player stay with the team that drafted him for his entire career. I mean, could we really have blamed Pierce if he demanded a trade after all those completely crappy years the Celtics had? No. He's a loyal guy, a fan of the game and its history, and has matured his game and his attitude to the point of being an all-time player. He is in the top ten in almost every offensive statistical category for the C's, which is a pretty high achievement, considering the Celtics have had more Hall of Fame players than any other team. Oh, and as a fun fact: Pierce was the fastest Celtics player to reach 10,000 points, ahead of Larry Bird. Yeah. Pwnage.

Because celtics.com does an awful job of updating their 'Top Ten' sections, I decided to update it myself. Here's where Pierce stands, including the Heat game last night:

GAMES PLAYED
1) John Havlicek............1270
2) Robert Parish............1106
3) Kevin McHale............971
4) Bill Russell.................963
5) Bob Cousy...................917
6) Tom Sanders..............916
7) Larry Bird...................897
8) Don Nelson................872
9) Sam Jones..................871
10) PIERCE..................776

MINUTES
1) John Havlicek............46,471
2) Bill Russell.................40,726
3) Robert Parish............34,977
4) Larry Bird..................34,443
5) Bob Cousy..................30,131
6) Kevin McHale...........30,118
7) PIERCE...................29,103
8) Dave Cowens.............28,551
9) JoJo White.................26,770
10) Sam Jones.................24,285

POINTS
1) John Havlicek..............26,935
2) Larry Bird....................21,791
3) Robert Parish..............18,245
4) PIERCE.....................17,787
5) Kevin McHale...............17,335
6) Bob Cousy.....................16,955
7) Sam Jones.....................15,411
8) Bill Russell...................14,522
9) Dave Cowens................13,192
10) JoJo White.................13,188

FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS
1) John Havlicek...............23,930
2) Larry Bird.....................17,334
3) Bob Cousy.....................16,465
4) Sam Jones.....................13,745
5) Robert Parish...............13,558
6) PIERCE......................13,172
7) Bill Russell....................12,930
8) JoJo White...................12,782
9) Kevin McHale...............12,334
10) Dave Cowens...............11,787

FIELD GOALS MADE
1) John Havlicek................10,513
2) Larry Bird......................8591
3) Robert Parish...............7483
4) Kevin McHale..............6830
5) Sam Jones.....................6271
6) Bob Cousy.....................6167
7) PIERCE......................5818
8) Bill Russell...................5687
9) JoJo White...................5648
10) Dave Cowens.............5608

FREE THROW ATTEMPTS
1) John Havelicek............6589
2) PIERCE.....................6069
3) Bob Cousy....................5753
4) Bill Russell..................5614
5) Kevin McHale.............4554
6) Robert Parish.............4491
7) Larry Bird....................4471
8) Sam Jones...................3572
9) Ed Macauley................3518
10) Cedric Maxwell.........3496

FREE THROWS MADE
1) John Havlicek.............5369
2) PIERCE....................4842
3) Bob Cousy...................4621
4) Larry Bird...................3960
5) Kevin McHale.............3634
6) Robert Parish.............3279
7) Bill Russell..................3148
8) Bill Sharman...............3047
9) Sam Jones...................2869
10) Cedric Maxwell........2738

ASSISTS
1) Bob Cousy...................6945
2) John Havlicek............6114
3) Larry Bird...................5695
4) Bill Russell.................4100
5) JoJo White.................3686
6) Dennis Johnson.........3486
7) PIERCE....................3053
8) K.C. Jones...................2904
9) Dave Cowens..............2828
10) Nate Archibald.........2563

Crazy thing: Pierce can get to the top of each of these lists, save assists and points scored. (He may have been able to eclipse Havlicek had the Big Three not come to town, causing Pierce to have to share the scoring load. But I'll take a ring over All-Time Scoring Leader :)



Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Tedward.

So, that was pretty good, huh? Anytime you have Eddie House score 20 points in one quarter and knock down 7 treys overall, you should win. And despite the score (98-83), the game felt much closer than it was. For one thing, we were looking like our upcoming opponent, the Orlando Magic (tomorrow at 8 on TNT!) shooting the three ball tonight. House went 7-11, Ray Ray got hot late and ended up with 27 points on 5-6 from downtown, heck, even Rondo hit a deep three (all net, by the way). Overall, the C's went 15-25, which was much needed when we were looking like a D-League team handling the ball (21 TOs). 

It was an incredibly inconsistent game. The Celtics came out of the gates on fire, as they have basically this entire 6-game winning streak. Towards the end of the 2nd and throughout the 3rd quarters, however, we seemed to be rushing a lot, taking too many contested jumpers, and just not executing. The Heat, on the other hand, attacked. Well....Wade did most of that. I'm tellin' ya, if it wasn't for Teddy, this game would have been MUCH closer than it ended up being. 

Fun fact: We came within 7 points of leading a game by 30+ for the fourth straight time. Oh well, as long as we get the W. 

Oh, and another thing...I'm loving the lineup Doc's going with: Rondo, Eddie, Ray, Pierce, and another big off the bench. Sure, there's a size problem, but it worked perfectly (for the most part) tonight since we went up against an awful rebounding team (we outrebounded them 48-30). When we do have an issue with size, meaning when the other team is dominant on the boards and our bench guys aren't doing the job (Scal is the tallest out of Powe and Big Baby), I'd love to see the use of O'Bryant more. Sure, he's young and inexperienced (played only 16 games for the Warriors and 24 so far with the Celtics), but from what I've seen from him in a lot of garbage time this season is mostly good. He's tall, lanky (Luol Deng-esque) and a true center. He's got a pretty baby skyhook and a consistent 18-foot jump shot. And also just having a 7 footer down low allows for a psychological edge (did we really think Mutombo was going to be a big physical presence down low? No. He's old. But his presence is enough...or would've been.).

'Tis all for now. Whaddaya think? Should O'Bryant get some more playing time? Do you think I'm pretty??

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Get on Your Boots

Well, my four and a half year wait ended yesterday when I, and the rest of the U2 community, were graced with the presence of their first single off of No Line on the Horizon, which is due out in early March. "Get on Your Boots" is, I'll admit, a strange title. But, it's better than what was going through the rumor mill a few weeks ago, which was "Sexy Boots." Anyway, this new U2 release is the thing I've most looked forward to in a long while. Friends of the band got the chance to listen to the album already and their reviews are all positive, from what I've read. Most will agree that a departure was necessary after the straight up and stripped down rock and roll of 2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind (to me, their third masterpiece, after The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby) and 2004's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. I caution you, I'm probably gonna get really into this one, so bear with me. Now, these two albums were good and all on their own: HTDAAB won the coveted Album of the Year Grammy in 2005, as well as 7 awards and had the second-highest grossing tour of all-time (behind the Rolling Stones). ATYCLB brought U2 back into the mainstream, away from the experimental trifecta of albums in the 1990s which undoubtedly galvanized U2's fanbase. 

Despite all of the success, and in special reference to Bomb, the songs were good on their own, but the album did not live up to them, unfortunately. It lacked the expansiveness and story-telling quality of The Joshua Tree and the complexities and darkness of Achtung Baby. In a way, the songs simply grew stale after an almost 2-year tour that saw U2 perform in every continent, save two. Here, another parallel is seen in the change from The Joshua Tree to Achtung Baby. At that particular point in time (1989-1990), the band decided a complete 180 must be taken or else they'd disband. And, sparing you the details, they nearly did during the recording sessions. Now, U2 realized the same risks needed to be taken and "Get on Your Boots" gives us a hint that they were successful. 
Now that I've given you a lengthy, although not nearly complete, history of U2's transformations (if you actually want to know more, let me know...), here's a link to their new single so you can listen as I review it:


First things first, you need to turn it up loud. Larry's drumming in this song is great. It's reserved when it needs to be and it explodes more than you think it can. It's a mix between the martial drumming from the War era of 1983 and the rhythms of the 1990s. Bono's voice is clearly better than last time around--probably his best since 1993. The quick-fire lyrics are reminiscent of many songs ("We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel and "Subterranean Homesick Blues" by Dylan immediately come to mind). The one thing you can easily see is that this song is FUN. It's danceable, easy to tap your foot to, and will be killer live (into that in a sec...). Their work for a time in Morocco is heard on this song--the "you don't know how beautiful" sections are very exotic as is the entire rhythm section. The Edge even manages to sneak in a small bit from what seems like their VERY early days (I'm talking pre-albums...1978-79) with those high, icy notes.

 "I don't wanna talk about wars between nations" sums it up pretty well. Separating the music from his other job as humanitarian is JUST what the record needed. It's simply a funky, electronic rocker. The "let me in the sound, let me in the sound!" section followed by that brief guitar riff by Edge will blow the roof off of arenas when they tour (that riff will be extended, as it should be). This is another key thing to keep in mind while listening: U2's intention when writing songs was and is to visualize it in a live context. This song may come across as strange to some people (it did to me on my first 2 listens), but trust me, it's a grower. U2's classic songs were never "instant" classics ("With or Without You" in 1987 was a crazy-strange sounding song considering the context of music it was played with on the radio, i.e. horrible 80s music. And "The Fly," which was the first thing fans heard from the "new U2" was met with derision).

Are there better songs on the album? Sure. Many are saying that this isn't the extent of the experimentalism that we'll see. If you're really interested, to me it's a mix of U2 songs "Discotheque," "The Fly," "Fast Cars," "Vertigo," and "Lady with the Spinning Head." Go check some of those out on YouTube and see for yourself. 

Oh and one last thing if you're not convinced that it's sounding different than their past 2 works. The song really has no typical song structure. Which part is the chorus? The "let me in the sound" part? The "you don't know..." part? The answer is really neither...or both. And that, I think, is the point. It's stripping away conventionality and replacing it with a fast-paced, in your face, multi-layered barrage, which, after it grows on you for a little, is an incredibly smart thing for U2 to do. Read my lips: this will bring the house down live.

The *Inaugural* Blog!

Heh, did you get the pun up there? Pretty funny. Anywayz, after retiring from the radio, I figured that I needed something to fill my time here at PC (wut wut). I like the Celtics and I like talking about them, so I figured I'd do it here so I have a place to vent when they LOSE TO D-LEAGUE TEAMS 5 OUT OF 7 GAMES!!!!!!1111one. But I digress. 

Oh, and I'll also be talking about other stuff that I experience in this life--U2, music in general, movies. Things like that. I'll try to make each entry a good read with some funny things mixed in to keep you from leaving and never coming back. 

What's the main thing I want out of this, Barbara? Well, I want all ya'll to leave comments. It don't matter who ya are, but I love getting feedback and other opinions as to why the Celtics LOSE TO STUPID...you get the idea. Maybe I'll even throw some trivia questions in there and the first person to answer correctly gets...something. Free post if you work at Playground.

Aiight, that's all for now--got one more class today. Then maybe I'll go over the C's win over Steven and the Suns.

Andy, out.