I love that song. Please listen to that while reading. OK:

A lot of thoughts are pouring through my head. The past 5 days I finished the Wire (before the NBA playoffs) and since the Playoffs began, have watched ~most of the games. Also, I got a stomach-flu or something 3 days ago which literally rendered me bed-ridden, as it felt like I got food poisoning or something. (I may have, I'm not sure) Good news is I feel 99% today, so hopefully that's over.

Some basic NBA thoughts:
-Celts/Bulls series is phenomenal. As a Boston fan, I feel pretty lucky to be tied 1-1. After G1 I thought it would be over soon as the Bulls ran incredibly hot and we ran very badly and yet we still should have won (Pierce missed his FT) but G2 the Bulls continued to play tough, some guys who ran hot in G1 didn't (TT, Rose) and yet we needed Jesus Shuttlesworth to play like a man possessed in the crunch. I thought this would be over in 5 before it started, and actually didn't really waver from that prediction after game 1, but now I think it will go the full 7. Powe's injury is truly tough, as our frontcourt depth is nonexistant. Playing BBD or Mikki for any amount of time is a true leak.

-Philly shocked Orlando by taking game 1. Donyell Marshall! (Pic below) He was on the Jazz during the Stockton/Malone era, went to UConn, and has hung around the league for a while. He has literally given the Sixers such an injection it's uncanny. Anyway, Philly is horrible at taking 3s, Orlando is very good... there is a saying about a 1game sample size in the NBA (or basketball in general I suppose) which is "Make-or-Miss league". Philly ran insanely good on the outside in G1, Orlando ran really bad, but things like this happen. For the record, the Sixers did this to the Pistons last year too; they have a lot of fight in them but they still have no chance to win the series. When everything goes your way (coming back from down 18+) and yet you require Iggy to hit an incredibly contested/difficult shot (good defense by Hedo on the play) then congrats. I initially said 5 games, and I am actually not wavering on that, either.



-The boring series, as expected, are the 1v8 matches. Ofc, this bothers me as a Utah fan, but I wiped my hands clean with Utah ~2 weeks back. I believe I made a blog post, or at least a mention, about it. If I didn't, at some point every fan who is truly emotionally invested in their team goes through a phase or moment when they realize their team is NOT a contender. Mind you, this doesn't happen if they believe their team IS a contender (whether or not the team is actually a contender is another story) but it made me happier to make this realization. I simply lost all expectations, and am at peace with them stealing 1 game in Utah. I just don't want to get swept by the ****ing Lakers.

*For those interested, the true contenders this year are the Cavs and Lakers. I haven't *quite* gone through this as a Boston fan yet, since I'm holding the possibility that as the playoffs go on KG gets healthy, but seeing BBD and Mikki Moore combine for 53 mins in G2 is going to fast track my mental state to one of acceptance.
**As noted, some fans can convince themselves their team IS a contender (until/unless they get knocked out, of course) and those fan bases right now are Houston (they look good), Denver, Portland (although another game like G1 and they will have the same epiphany), Orlando, and Boston. It's also not completely out of the realm of possibility one of these teams actually win, but for the most part "the field" (outside the true contenders) likely represents less than a 1in3 chance of occurring.

-Closing NBA thoughts, as noted above the Rockets truly look good. I did a cover-your-back prediction (I generally don't do this!) since I made 2 separate predictions, (technically in my defense one was a Pre-KG and one was a Post-KG... but that shouldn't change any Western pick!) and had 1 of those Rockets in 7 and the other Trailblazers in 7, but now I think it'll be Rockets in 6. Conditional probabilities! My other predictions looked the same, and for kicks, here they are:
Cavs in 4 (looks good), Magic in 5 (doesn't "look" good but still "feels" right), Celtics in 5 (this wont happen), Hawks in 6 (I really didnt/dont think much of the Heat, and if G1 is a microcosm for the series, I may have even moreso underestimated the Hawks!). Lakers in 5, Nuggets in 5 (wasn't enough love for this), Mavs in 6 (my only "upset," so far looks good), and Tblazers or Rocks in 7 (for full disclosure, I initially said Rockets but then changed my mind to Trailblazers, so this one does NOT look good).

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04172009/watch.html

That's the David Simon interview mentioned in the title. I recommend everyone should listen. For those who have not seen the Wire, it wont reveal much, so it's OK/safe from spoilers. For the most part, I think. Anyway... The Wire is the best show I've ever seen, period. I finished watching it, and it made me really depressed. There are numerous levels to it - it's so incredibly intense that it's easy to get lost in the storyline. It makes you think. One of the things that I took from the show is that change in society is nearly impossible. Nearly impossible.

I figure since I haven't done a "top 10" list in a while, I'll rank my favorite TV shows. As a preamble, I'm able to watch a lot of TV, and although I don't like watching it on TV (I hate commercials) I LOVE TV-on-DVDs. So I have an extensive collection. I also develop an affinity to the characters/etc., it's a nice feeling when you "know" a show. If it's a good one, at least! I'm going to list the shows I own, basically, so anything that has made this list I feel is quality, and therefore, I recommend. Just because a show is ranked last does not mean I dislike it, but rather, don't like it as much as the others. Here goes! (I own 14 unique shows, so will list them... backwards!)

In case the 1st song ended, here's the next one to listen to, I love this song too:


#14: Entourage. I only have 1 season (season 3, oddly) and I followed this show religiously for a while. I think I got S3 because I missed them on demand, and obviously wanted to keep things going chronologically. This is basically a comedy that is the equivalent of a male Sex & the City (I'm sure everyone knows this show/all the ones I see, but whatever, throwing a brief description can't hurt!) and is a show I can have on and somewhat zone out. Lots of hotties which is a major plus, but overall some characters annoy me, it's not that funny, and it's incredibly formulaic. Regardless, it's watchable.

#13: The Office, UK. Strangely I have season 2 (and not 1) but I got this a while back - I think Amazon offered me a deal for a CYE season paired with this, I had heard good things, so I said "why not". I've watched it once through, several episodes more than once (major negative: BBC shows only have 6 episode season!) and it's good for a laugh. It's incredibly British. It's funny, but not in a standard American sitcom way (which is a good thing) or Jewish humor way (which is not a good thing, but not necessarily a bad thing).

#12: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. I have S1, 2, and 3, and they're quite funny. It's OUTLANDISH, which unfortunately bends my realism-bar (things that are real tend to be more funny!) and the show doesn't exactly build (I love things that continue a plot/major storyline, few comedies do this, but the ones that do, major points). That said it's a funny show!

#11: Da Ali G Show. There are only 2 seasons, which is unfortunate... I have both, of course. It's hilarious, and probably isn't higher for just 2 reasons: 1. Low rewatchability. Although I've seen every episode at least twice, a lot of the shock wears off, and since everything is interview-setup (and you know what is going to be answered... and the reactions) a lot of the humor is lost. 2. There just isn't a lot of content. If you've never seen Ali G, immediately watch it.

#10: Flight of the Conchords. It's in the 2nd season (I was able to watch the season opener on Funny-or-Die, but since then can't find any other episode!) which unfortunately will be its last. It's a different brand of humor given it's mainly in song format, featuring "folk parody". It's based in NYC, and sorta has a plot, and is only penalized since there just isn't much there. But again, very funny.

#9: Firefly. This made my list because I love Buffy (as you'll see) and the creator of Buffy made this. (Joss Whedon) It's a sci-fi based drama (for the record, I like longer shows where you can see character development, which is why I think dramas get rated higher than comedies for me) which really should have gone on for a while. For whatever reason, Fox canned it after 1 year, it developed a cult following, and has about 9 hours of amazing content. I've seen it through twice, (some episodes 3 times) but I don't think I can really go back - it makes you crave more, which you're not going to get.

#8: The Office, US. I love Michael Scott! A brilliant show, in its 5th season. I have S1 through 4, ofc - people argue about ranking the seasons, I think its probably: 2=3>5*>4>1. Something like that. Doesn't really have any flaws/is hysterical, it's just I like other shows more. For the record, it's the ONLY show that made me actually make sure to tivo/watch new episodes (on Thursdays!) which says a lot.

#7: Dexter. So twisted and perfect. I have S1/2, it's in its 3rd season (which may have happened, I have been very good about avoiding any spoilers/finding out anything that happens in the 3rd, I don't get showtime, so just going to wait on the DVDs). Somewhat low rewatchability as the main plot is SORTA mystery, but there are hotties as well as a non-formulaic plot filled with twists... I love it.

#6: X-Files. If I knocked any show for LACK of content, X-files is at the other end... Each show is a 1hr show (technically 45 mins) and instead of the standard 12 episodes or so, there are 22-25 IIRC. And there are 9 seasons. Lolz, not kidding. Haven't ever watched it through twice. The MAJOR plot is incredibly slow moving, but since there is so much content (perhaps 170 hours???) I'm sure if I ever get an X-files fix I'll be indisposed for a week. Or two. I like both mystery and sci-fi, it's hard not to really get attached to Dana Scully and Fox Mulder, and at this point although it's somewhat of an older show, holds up incredibly well.

#5: Seinfeld. I'm almost ashamed it's been bumped this low. Well, "low" is a relative term; I absolutely LOVED Seinfeld, and still do. (I LOVE this show and every subsequent show I will list) The big knock is that SOME of the jokes have been dated and the plot isn't nearly as stable as other present shows (like the Office where there is a linear/chronological transgression). Regardless, it was my favorite show for a while, and even when you go back to see shows (some of which I've seen many, many times...) it's always good to cheer you up.

#4: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I just rewatched S3 through 7 earlier this year, and I still love the show through and through. Sarah Michelle Gellar has always been waaaay my favorite actress, and Buffy is the reason why. Some people may mock this, but it just means they never discovered how brilliant the show was. It does suffer from slowly getting a little worse in quality each season (as some things got more bizarre or stretched things) but they actually ended the series well. Most shows end things in a terrible fashion with no closure, and that bothers me. As a fan it's hard to admit I have only seen SOME "Angel," and I'm pretty sure that's the next TV purchase.

#3: Curb your Enthusiasm. My favorite comedy ever, it's Seinfeld only much better. And yes, it's much better. 60 total shows, each one is awkward, yes some are better than others, but man oh man it's hard not to get uncomfortable with Larry David. And that's a good thing.

#2: Star Trek: Voyager. For a show to bump this off the top of the pedestal, wow. Has to be an insanely good show. I never got into the other Star Treks, no idea why, but I did with Voyager. Not much else to say except this was my favorite show since I was 9 or whenever I saw it for the first time. Until...

#1: The Wire. Go watch it now. You will not be disappointed.

Wow, I was planning on talking about poker stuff, but this turned into a TV discussion. Oh well! Next time.