Next Up: Indians vs. White Sox
May 18, 2015LeBron James: I love quieting a crowd on the road (Video)
May 19, 2015Happy Tuesday WFNY!
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m more than ready for more basketball. These five days off are great for the Cavaliers, but torture for fans. The exciting thing is that, if the Cavaliers are going to be in the Finals, then we are at the halfway point of the playoffs. Eight wins down, eight more to go.
So now we turn our eyes to Atlanta. Before Game 6 of the Hawks-Wizards series, I asked the WFNY guys who they wanted the Cavs to play. I picked Atlanta. Sure, it’s strange picking to play an opponent that would take away home court advantage from the Cavs. But I dunno, the idea of playing the Wizards just didn’t sound fun to me. I’m not sure I could handle another four to seven games of having to watch Paul Pierce. And you know the Wizards would play into this whole silly “rivalry” nonsense, and the series would turn ugly and physical. After the Celtics and Bulls, I was tired of teams trying to get physical. I’m ready to play an opponent that just plays basketball. A team like the Atlanta Hawks.
Be careful what you wish for, though, right? For the most part, the Hawks had the Cavs’ number in the regular season. The Hawks have home court. The Hawks had the best record in the East this season. The Hawks are well coached and play really good team basketball. They’re very good. They’re going to be a very tough opponent.
I’m picking the Cavs to win this series, though. And this scares me more than anything. I picked the Cavs to lose to the Bulls. I am generally pretty bad at picking outcomes in anything in life, not just sports. I tend to think one thing is going to happen, and then the opposite happens. But I can’t be insincere to try to buck the system. I truly believe the Cavaliers are going to get it done and beat the Hawks. But by thinking this, the Cavs will probably lose. Which, I guess means I am actually picking them to lose. And if the opposite always happens, then the Cavs are going to win!
I don’t know how this stuff works. I just know I am nervous and excited for this series to get started. The last time the Cavs were in the Eastern Conference Finals, it was not a good experience. At all. It was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. To this day I get angry when I think about that Magic series. Nobody can ever convince me that the Magic were a better team than the Cavs were. The Magic shot 38.1% from three in the regular season that year. In each of the first two rounds of the playoffs, they shot exactly 34.6% from three. Against the Lakers in the Finals, they shot 37.2%. Against the Cavs in the ECF? They shot 40.8% from three. Unreal. It still makes me sick just thinking about it.
My biggest fear about the Hawks is living through another series where the Cavaliers are simply shot out of the building over and over again. The Hawks had the 2nd best 3P% in the NBA in the regular season. With the Cavs being in the injured and hobbled state, they must find a way to contest everything on the perimeter and not let the Hawks get going with their three point shooting.
The bottom line for me, though, is that even with Kyrie being slowed by his injuries, I still think the Cavaliers have the best two players in the series. That has to count for something.
*****
Farewell, Mad Men
I know Scott touched on the Mad Men series finale yesterday, but I wanted to add some thoughts of my own.
I thoroughly enjoyed the finale, even as it was nothing like what I expected. It was honestly a little more like a typical finale than I was expecting. And I was happy about that. I like series that have closure. Or, at least as much closure as you can get with living characters. Shows like Breaking Bad and Lost, where the main character dies in the finale, give the most closure. There’s nothing to ponder about their post-show future.
With shows like The Wire and Mad Men, however, where the main characters are still living when the show ends, you’re free to imagine what their future holds for them. I don’t really prefer one style over the other as some kind of universal truth. I just think each show needs to use what works best for themselves.
The funny thing about the Mad Men finale was that I didn’t interpret the ending the way the vast majority of people did. As I watched the final scene, and saw Don sitting there in meditation and saw the smile wash over his face, I actually thought he had discovered something about himself and life in general. And then they cut to that real life Coke commercial. And it was so jarring to have an old commercial that was used in real life used artistically in a show. What did it mean?
As I noticed the similarities in the aesthetic of the ad and the retreat Don was at, I thought Matthew Weiner was making a point. I thought he was trying to show us how the advertising industry, the very industry that consumed so much of Don Draper, is always trying to appropriate real life experiences and distill it into something consumable. And I took it as a direct contrast to the experience Don had at the retreat. It somehow made the Coke commercial feel almost offensive in a “how dare they cheapen the experience of people learning about themselves and their relation to others” type of way.
It made me think Don had learned something profound. And I felt really good about that ending. I thought it was perfect. So much of this show was based around advertising, and using a real life ad to demonstrate one final point about how the advertising industry fits inside real life was just so good.
And then I went on Twitter to see everyone else’s reaction. And everyone was talking about Don being the one who came up with that ad. I immediately rewound the entire last sequence of scenes and watched it again.
“Oh my God. They’re right.”
It’s hard to think Weiner intended anything else. That smile on Don’s face? That smile was because he came up with the perfect idea for Coke. He had his ticket back to the only place he ever really fit in. For as much as so many of us had hoped Don would at some point learn something real about himself and somehow change his ways, the truth is Weiner was always creating a show that told us that no matter how everything around us changes, and no matter how much we may adapt, at the end of the day, people don’t really change. We are who we are. Don Draper is who he is. So of course Don would come out of that retreat learning nothing more than how to exploit the aesthetic for a mega successful advertising campaign.
Even though I don’t like this ending near as much as the ending I initially applied to it, I still thought this was an extremely fitting and highly satisfying end to the show.
I have no clue where Mad Men ranks on my list of favorite shows. It’s up there pretty high, and I’m really going to miss it. But it’s such a different show. There’s really never been anything quite like it in my life. People will sometimes ask me what the show is about, and it’s really hard to answer that question. Even just to give a one sentence basic premise is hard. Is it about the advertising industry? Not really. Well, it is, but not as the main premise for the show.
The show had mystery and intrigue, particularly early in the show when Don’s double identity was a greater focus. We saw main characters come and go. All these elements of great television. I’m going to miss so much of it. And yet, I don’t know if I will ever rewatch the series.
I enjoy rewatching shows. I probably rewatch Lost at least once a year. I’ve gone through The Wire probably five times, if not more. I’m currently going through Breaking Bad for a second time. I love going back and discovering things I missed the first time, putting new pieces of the puzzle together in ways I previously wouldn’t have. But with Mad Men, it feels like cheating. The show was never really designed for binge watching and mass consumption. It’s meant to be taken in slowly. One episode at a time. And that style doesn’t lend itself well to rewatching.
Either way, thank you Mad Men for an amazing run and for giving us something unique.
*****
New Music of the Week
I’ll start this week first with an honorable mention. For those who were into metal in the late 90s and early 2000s, do you remember Coal Chamber? They were one of the heaviest bands of that era with such a dirty, driving sound. I absolutely loved their sound and the feel their brand of metal brought about.
After just three albums, though, the band broke up and went their separate ways. Now, they’re back. I had no clue they had reunited, nor that they had a new album coming out. But when I was looking through Amazon at all of this week’s new releases, I saw a new Coal Chamber album in there. I couldn’t believe it.
Sure enough, Coal Chamber are back, and anyone who was a fan of theirs will like the new album. It’s not much of a departure. It’s more or less picking up right where they left off. The album is called “Rivals”, check it out.
Speaking of reunions, though, this week’s new album of the week is the new album from Faith No More called “Sol Invictus”.
Reunions seem to be the in thing in music these days. I guess in some ways it makes sense. When you look at the movie industry, remakes are the big thing. Remakes have found their way to TV as well. So why not music, too, right?
Some of these reunions have been great, some have been rough to watch. When Faith No More announced they were getting back together, they initially said it was just for live shows. As so many of these reunions do. Eventually, however, they announced a new album. I was stunned. I honestly never thought we’d get another Faith No More album.
The new album, “Sol Invictus”, is incredible. Faith No More, and in particular their frontman Mike Patton, are known for their weirdness. Not a weirdness in a doing this differently for attention kind of way, but more a weirdness in that they see music differently than most people do. They’re able to blend all these really bizarre and quite different genres together in a way that actually makes sense. There’s a real genius to their weirdness.
Sol Invictus has no shortage of vintage FNM weirdness. Most people know FNM for only one thing, the song “Epic”. In particular, they know of the fish out of water flopping around at the end of the video for the song.
Some people have thought of Faith No More as a one hit wonder, which is really a damn shame. Faith No More are so much more. Every album of theirs has been a great listen, offering so many sounds and textures and a musical sense you won’t find anywhere else. Faith No More were and are an incredible band.
Many people consider their 1992 album “Angel Dust” to be their best, but for my money, the follow up to that album, “King For a Day…Fool for a Lifetime” is the best thing this band has ever done. To this day I listen to “King for a Day” frequently. And if “Sol Invictus” reminds me of any FNM album, it’s “King for a Day”.
“Sol Invictus” is easily my favorite album of the week. It might even be one of my favorite albums of the year so far. Check it out.
*****
That’s all I have this week. See you all again next Tuesday when we will discuss the status of the Cavs-Hawks series in more depth. Have a great rest of your week!
13 Comments
Best reunion album this year IMO has been the new Swervedriver “I wasn’t born to lose you.” Picked up right where they left off in the 90s -> heavy shoegaze with great riffs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYcGbuqDe2I
Early 80s – early 90s were my heyday of metal.
Nu metal just doesn’t do it for me, and the proliferation of cookie monster vocalists is just unbearable.
Maiden has a new album due out this year. m/
We must forget Orlando, Andrew, we just must. Because: 1) Mike Brown was incapable of making an adjustment, even if one had been available to give Z some help on Howard; 2) Howard suddenly started hitting FTs for the first time in his career. Hack-a-Dwight blew up in Mike Brown’s face, and Z played like a helpless old scarecrow; 3) A bunch of the Magic careered in that series, for reasons fortuitous or chemically driven (as indicated by later positive testings). Who’s on a roll now, them or us? Who needs to be drug tested, Umlat Schroder or … Aussie Delly? (Hint: Who just played 30+ second half minutes without a single breather, SHUT DOWN Rose and jacked easy breezy 3s like Del Curry? Just say YES, Delly. Always yes).
Re Mad Men, I also re-watched the last 10 minutes to make sure what the ending was. No doubt, my man. That was a smirk on Ham’s face, not a smile of someone at ease.
❋✦✧❋✦✧ I AM MAKING 99USD PER HOUR@mg7//
➨➨➨https://AllGoodSimplexCrowd.com/lifetime/work…
Still have my Angel Dust cassette
YEAH I MARRIED A SCARECROW
Love FNM, and love the new album. Saw them in Santa Ana a few weeks, and they were amazing. It was the best show I had seen from them, and I’ve seen them A LOT. If you have a chance, you should check them out live.
Even with everything, Delonte West came oh so close to grabbing a loose ball that would have sealed up a victory. Instead, last second shots of our nightmares for the Magic.
And, please do not forget that Rashard Lewis’ drug test was withheld by the NBA until the day after that series ended. Hey look, gift title to the Lakers. Of all of the Cavalier playoff losses in my lifetime that particular series actually makes me the most angry. We were definitively the better team. Sigh.
Good points. I know it is illogical to fear a re-occurrence of that series we will no longer mention, but I can not help it. Must be that Cleveland sports fan thing beaten into my psyche.
Rafer Alston? Really? SMH…
Ugh. Seemed like every shot those guys chucked up went in.
“…at the end of the day people don’t really change. We are who we are….” Anyone who forgets this, does so at their own peril. Appreciate the insight.
You gotta let it go Andrew. Championship is one journey you got to leave your baggage behind for. You spend all this time worrying about what might happen and you’ll forget to enjoy what is happening.
I’m kinda struck by the fact that every major TV show finale of my youth was a sitcom. MASH, Cheers, Seinfeld. Now it’s all dramas and the Sopranos ending set the stakes high and showed how not sticking the landing can change how people view years of work.
Lastly since no else will I’m throwing some love out to Cleveland for a great run this weekend. There’s nothing like the comraderie/misery of half and full marathons. Runners were great, the humidity and rain sucked but the crowd was great. Love how Akron and Cleveland support these events
Man, sorry I wasn’t around yesterday to see this, but man, I too love the new Swervedriver album a TON. It’s ridiculously good.