To bad HD TV was not invented yet

I ran across this link today and needed to pass it along - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtVSzU20ZGk&NR=1.

Basically, it's a local news report in Oregon from the 70's of some construction workers blowing up a whale. Can you imagne trying to do that today, you would have so many tree huggers and animal right activists crawling around it would look like Woodstock again. Of course if we were able to pull it off we might be able to get a few of the hippies caught up in the blast. I wish I could go back and sit in on the meetings to hear how this ended up happening. I wonder what other ideas got shot down, a laser beam maybe? Classic stuff in my opinion.

Since this is a Jazz blog I may as well mention something about them as well. 2 pretty big road games this weekend against the Wizards and Grizzlies. The Wiz game should be a pretty good test, if we loose to the Grizzlies I may never watch another Jazz road game this year.

Is Anyone Else Scared of the Knickerbockers?

I know the Jazz are playing some of their best ball of the season, but there is something about these Knicks that scares me. Besides, remember this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIUy86Klr0Y

That game still gives me nightmares. Oh and then there was this back in November:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWt4YiK7i6w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n69AmJCY7q8

So what is it with these guys? Why do the Jazz always struggle against them? Is it the Madison Square Garden or is it Bad Karma coming back to us from the time Karl nailed Isiah Thomas with an elbow? If that's what it is (the Karma) I will take it, because that will go down as one of my favorite moments in NBA history. I bet 90% of New York Fans want to hire Karl Malone to give him one with his other elbow.

I do have a better feeling about tonight's game though. Besides we have Korver now. ( I act like he is MJ, but come on, you have to admit, you feel the same way.) I doubt it will be a blow out, but I say Jazz win 104-96. Let's just hope the worst thing that happens tonight is this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLP_Y5NcFuE&NR=1

Late,

Booner

A bit silly...but it's the whole truth...worth watching the whole thing: http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Reading palms.

My homie Mike Chui.

Teenageteardrops.

I love those palm tats.

Stephen Wiltshire. Brilliant artist.

New take on the thermos.

Double walled porcelain cup with silicone top= Safe/healthy/no carcinogenic release.
Reusable= Environmentally friendly.
About $20 a piece. dci product (U.S).

1 win = 5 spots in the standings

We are back where we belong, at the top of the Northwest division and the 4th seed in the west. I am almost ready to remove the dillusional part of the optomistic fan club. The Jazz are looking very confident, very sharp and very capable of keeping up this type of play. Lets hope that they have really turned the corner.

A few thoughts on some Jazz and Spurs players:
Hornacek should get coach of the year for his work with AK. Andrei is actually living up to his nick-name and his contract right now. Korver was the missing link for the Jazz, as far as I am concerned he can not take a bad shot. Price is better than Hart, at least he can get to the rim at the end of quarters and make something happen. Hart just turns it over. I hope J-Slo keeps him in that spot for the rest of the year. I know that the Dingle -Nuggies are our official rival (thanks for the loss tonight by the way), but it feels really good to beat the Spurs. I can't stand every single player on that team, starting with Ginoboli and ending with Ginoboli. I really hate that kid, he's so smug and such a floper.

The best part about this game were the quotes. There were some really great unintentially funny one-liners tonight and here they are:

1. From Ron Boone early in the first quarter, speaking about Timmy: "I'll tell you something else he is good at, swimming." Thanks Ron, I will sleep better tonight knowing that if Tim Duncan ever falls out his boat he will be able to swim to shore safely.
2. From Jerry Sloan in the third quarter to one of the Refs: "How about a f*(%!^g walk!?" I love it when the camera man gets too close to Jerry, you can guarantee that an F-bomb is going to make it onto live T.V.
3. From Andrei during the post game interview about Kyle Korver: "The old lady crowd likes him, what we can do?" I'll tell you what we can do Andrei, we can bring a bunch of old ladies over to his house for good luck.

Thanks for the win and for the comedic relief Jazz. Keep it rollin!

The Mask Behind the Mask.

I'm reading this book on Peter Sellers by Peter Evans. As is usually the case with comedians, Sellers seemed quite sad and troubled, yet fascinating. The Pink panther movies are favorites of mine. As a kid, nobody made me laugh like Inspector Clouseau did.

Nói albínói. Dagur Kári.

I'd been eyeing this Icelandic film since it came out in 03 but only chose to rent it last night. It was one of the greatest, most visually beautiful movies I've seen. The cinematography (Rasmus Videbæk) was insane. I highly recommend seeing it if you haven't already.Dagur Kari is not only the writer and director but he also composed the score.

matryoshka!

I've always loved matryoshka Russian dolls. My bubby (grandma) had one from 'the old country' that I played with as a youngster. So I was real pleased to find this lil doll at the Sally Anne today.


Matryoshka's are a big trend in Japan, being that they're toys. The Japanese versions are quite impressive like this theremin doll by Mandarin Electron.


played by Masami Takeuchi, master thereminist.
The theremin is an electronic musical instrument invented by Russian Léon Theremin in 1919. It's designed to be played without being touched (two metal antennas sense the position of the player's hands and control audio frequency from one hand and volume from the other-the electric signals are amplified by the speaker inside the doll).

Look, its something new on our blog

Man, I hate this little vacation the Jazz had scheduled. It wouldn't be so bad if the dumb writers strike was over; instead we get stuck with re-runs of Grey's Anatomy every night(secretly The Whistle is hoping for a prolonged strike so he can watch Izzy, Grey and Dr. McDuxbag more). It's good to have a game back on so we can get back to ignoring our families and yelling obsenities at the TV when Jason Hart checks into the game. Needless to say, I am looking forward to tonights game.

Two random links to get you pumped about our Jazz.

1st - Check out this review of second year players. The Jazz have the number 4 and 5 best players from that draft. KOC should get a raise, if you throw in Derron and CJ the year before and then Fesenko and Almond this year you're starting to get a pretty good history of not effing up the draft ala Curtis Bortchardt, Robert Whaley, Kris Humphries, Kirk Snyder, Pavel Podkelzine, Quincy Lewis and Deshawn Stevenson.

2nd - Bill Simmons seems to think that Jazz are the best team to bet on from the west to make it to the finals. Apparently, he is our celebrity member of the D.O.F.C.

Hungry Planet: What the World Eats.

Peter Menzel and Faith D'Alusio. I've been somewhat obsessed with this concept/book since it came out in 2005. Families from countries all over the world are photographed along with the food and drink they consume in one week.

Aaron T Stephan. Portland.

Stephan collected discarded books and did this with them.
The Building Houses/Hiding Under Rocks exhibition is at the Quint Contemporary art gallery in San Diego right now.

This is also ill. 2005.

Eric White.

oil on canvas.
.
oil on wood.
I was sure these were photos not paintings... redonculous.

What to watch for in the second half

The Jazz are now past the half way mark of the season and and if we were to be honest in rating the first half, they have been disappointing at best. So, with that in mind, I think that there are a three key issues to keep an eye on. In order of importance, this is what to watch for from the Jazz.

How are we going to play on the road?
The road record is horrible at 7-15; if they could have won 50% of the road games they would be sitting at 28-14 and leading the division by 3 games with the third best record in the conference. They have 19 road games left and to be considered as even a minor contender they need to win at least 12 of those games which would give them a 19-22 road reccord for the season. Of those 20 games 6 are against Seattle, Minnesota, Memphis and the Clippers and should be guaranteed wins. They need 3 of the other 13 against decent competition and we will be OK. Its really not too much to ask.

How long will J-Slo stick with his current rotation?
I know that questioning Sloan's coaching ability is viewed in only two ways. You either hate the guy and nothing he does is good or he is in line to be the next prophet. I am starting to think that the old man has lost it. Why does he keep playing Jason Hart and Jarron Collins? I really want to know the answer to this. I am possitive that letting AK or Brewer run the point for the 4 minutes a half that Derron is on the bench is a better option that having Hart in the game. Its 8 freaking minutes per and Jason Hart sucks for each second of them. Hell, a lineup of Memo, Boozer, Millsap, Collins and Fesenko couldn't do worse; it's that bad. Speaking of Fesenko, Get him up here and give him all of Collins' minutes. He is a better defender and we need the comic relief in post game interviews. I actually miss having Gordan (the state fair MVP) around just for the post game comedy. It's time to shorten up the rotation to the starting 5 with Harpring, Millsap and Korver coming off the bench.

Is there one more trade to out there?
If possible we need to get a defensive minded big man (although I think Fesenko could fill this void for 10 to 15 minutes per night if given the chance) and a real back up point guard. I am pretty sure we will not be getting the big man because teams don't trade big guys who can play defense. As a back-up PG, maybe we could get Jason Williams from the Heat for some sort of poo-poo platter. I think that CJ Miles, Morris Almond, Ronnie Price, Jarron Collins and Jason Hart are all expendable at this point. There is no way Miles and Almond are going to crack the Korver, Brewer combo so lets get something for them while we can, they are certainly our best trade chips right now. If we can get someone who knows how to get the ball to Boozer for 8 minutes per game we will be a lot better.

Random stat of the year that sums up the Jazz:
The Jazz are currently 28th in the league in receiving technical fouls with a grand total of 6 for the year. What the hell Jazz, show some emotion and feel free to get T'd up once in awhile. A well timed outburst and technical foul can really change the flow of the game. Sloan used to know how to do this and Malone was great at it, in the 2000-2001 season he had 21 by himself. Williams and Boozer need to step it up and make a goal for 10 each over the last 40 games. I think that we may be looking at a bunch of cinderellas on this team which explains the 4th quarter collapses that they have been having on the road. It's time to start demanding a little respect fellas.

Jonna Pohjalainen.Finland.

Great Graphics.

Brilliant.

Utah Jazz-Midseason Grades for Staff and Starters

It's time for the midseason grades. These grades only reflect the opinion of CB Jack. Please feel free to comment and give your opinion.

Staff

Kevin O'Connor: For a guy who has stunk up the majority of his draft picks, he sure made up for them in quality trades. Fesenko has potential to be a starter/good rotation player, but the verdict is not out on Almond. He can score in the D-League, but is currently shooting 11% in the big league. The Korver trade was one to put on his resume. Great job so far Mr. O'Connor. GRADE: A-

Jerry Sloan: Signed a one year contract extension early in the season. While Sloan has done wonders for a group of less talented players, he seems to have lost his fire this season. He needs to realize that this team needs a little praise now and then. They are not season veterans who can take the constant criticism and not begin to play head games with themselves. He could say whatever he wanted to Stock and Malone, but they had been around the block enough to take it with a grain of salt and keep playing. Jerry's time may be up. GRADE: C-

Starters

Deron Williams: Talk about a guy who is so close to achieving stardom he can smell it. If only we could get him to touch it, embrace it, and take it to bed with him. While his scoring is up 3 points, along with all of his shooting percentages, his turnovers are also up .4 per game. As a co-captain I want to see more leadership out of him. His defense has been sub par in my eyes. While he should have been an All-Star lock at the first of the season, Deron will not dress in New Orleans this year thanks to his struggles in December. GRADE: B

Ronnie Brewer: We all knew he had it in him. I loved this guy since seeing him sport a Jazz blue suit on draft night. His offensive game has progressed much quicker than I anticipated. He has an amazing ability to get to the hole and flush down anything within 5 feet of the basket. His defense has been good at times, but he has a difficult assignment almost every night. Currently he is 12th in the league in steals. GRADE: A-

Andrei Kirilenko: After all of the off season trade speculation, I was worried as to which Andrei would show up this year. I have been pleasantly surprised with his effort. My knee jerk reaction to yell "Don't do it..." when he appears to be setting up for a shot is gone. Watching highlights of him in Euroleague made me think we needed to get him the ball more around the basket, I'm not so sure of that anymore. I seem to see him get blocked and stripped going up for layups more than he should. His three point percentage and assists are all up from his career average, but his blocks and steals are both well below. GRADE: B+

Carlos Boozer: Two years ago I actually took a full size poster to a game that read "Boozer leads our team in $teals". I was sure this guy was bending us over and laughing all the way to the bank. This is my cue to eat crow. He is a virtual lock for the All-Star team and has been the most dominant power forward in the NBA to this point. I love his offensive game, although I wish he would get a few more power dunks like last year. His defense on the other hand leaves much to be desired. You would think that with his ability to beat bigger, faster, taller guys on the big end, he would have translated that into ways to play better on the defensive end. Not so. He is a defensive liability for us. Carlos, meet your Achilles heal. GRADE: B+

Memhet Okur: The money man seems to be troubled with all of the sub-prime lending. I know babies are blessings and all, but little Melisa Okur has jinxed her daddy big time. I know the guy is slow, but when he takes the ball to the hoop he almost always converts. So why doesn't he do it more often? Go to the hoop Memo! His glimpses of greatness are often overshadowed by his lazy defensive court sense and lack of overall energy. If the Jazz hope to get back to last years form, I think this is the guy they need the most. GRADE: C+

So there are my grades for the first half of the season. Bench grades will be coming soon. They will be great for some, and straight up ugly for others. Here's to hoping our guys get their act together and put together a playoff push!

Real Players. Real Fans. Honest Bloggers.

My Utah Jazz!

Sigerson Morrison does a version of the desert boot for women.

black patent leather.

Dee Brown for life

Who needs basketball when he can rap like this. http://deebrown11.com
Why on earth would the Jazz give up on this guy. He is a great team mate, and a guy that likes to pass first. He may be small ,but his aggressive defense would of given us a spark. I miss "D".

Walt Kelly's Pogo. 1940s.

Nadja.

Woody.

Symbol for sign language.

Alice in Chains.

St.Henri.

http://www.turnhere.com/Default.aspx
Turn Here has a plethora of short films on different cities and neighborhoods all over the world. Interesting local people take you on a tour of their city and show you the best spots.
The following film is on Montreal's St.Henri hood.

1.17.07 Jazz @ Nuggets

There is a good reason as to why I didn't post my recap last night. Not only did I want to sleep it off to keep my post from becoming rated R, but I didn't want to give the McNugget's fans the joy of reading my anguish. Oh, and guess what McNugget fans, we hate the McNugget's with more venom than you could ever hate our Jazz.

1st Half:

The Jazz came out with good energy and looked like they wanted to get a quick jump on the McNugget's. Memo hit his first two shots which usually means he'll have a great night. Things were rolling along just fine until David Stern called the Pepsi Center and spoke with the refs, reminding them that AI is an "untouchable superstar" and that they should try to get as many calls as possible to go his way. Because nobody wants an unhappy Allen Iverson, after all, he is what the NBA is all about.

I agree with Whistle in his earlier post that the flops have got get under control. There are flops, and then there are FLOPS. All I can say is Iverson uses his body better than any guard in the league, and while I think he is incredibly gifted offensively, he is just as dirty as Stockton on the defensive end. I hate him. He is everything wrong with the NBA.

On another note:


Linas.

Did you ever see the story on the twins where one is black and the other is white? Well here is another one for you.

Both guys love playing the Jazz. Must run in their blood.

I could care less if someone goes off for 41 pts on us, after all we're a horrible defensive team. But tell me his name is Linas? That's a serious slap in the face. Speaking of face, look at him in this picture. You know he is talking to himself in the third person "Linas, you are de bestest player in Nuggets stadium right now. In the faces Iverson and Melo."

2nd Half:


Jazz blew it in the 3rd quarter. Why are we such a horrible road team? I've never seen a team so slow to get back on the defensive end.

Three numbers to show why the Jazz lost this game.

11, 24, 41

Here is the box score, I'm sure you'll find what they mean real quick.



Final Score: Jazz 109, McNuggets 120



Final Thoughts:



I hate the McNuggets. Can't wait to get them in the ESA and have our boys roll over them just like last year.



Jerry Sloan has lost his fire. He never gets mad, never gets T'd up like he used to. I don't get it. Maybe Herriman has made him soft. This is the most excited I've seen him all season.
Time to get real Jerry and go back to your old self (except please call some timeouts when the other team is on a 12-0 run.)

Do I really need to make a comment about this picture?

Gettin' Jiggy with it.

Wanna read how the McNugget's fans feel?

Here are the two best Denver Nuggets blogs on the internet:

Nugg Doctor

Pickaxe and Roll

Another Jazz Killer!

Hi I am Linas Kleiza from the Denver Nuggets. Nobody knew who I was until I lit up the Utah Jazz for 41 points. I average 11.2 points a game and usually spend a lot of my time coming off the bench. Now I am in the race to be selected to my first Allstar Game and now I have more people wanting me to endorse their products, Thank You Utah Jazz for your weak A$$ defense. Memo, Boozer you can guard me anytime! Wait didn't you both go to the Allstar game last year? Oh wait, but at the Allstar game you don't have to play defense! You guys were a perfect fit!

Great showing Jazz! I agree with Whistle Nuts, Why can D Will not go more minutes? You see Bron Bron and Kobe out there pretty much all night! Oh wait, we do have Jason "I can't shoot worth SH$#" Hart that can come in a take some of those minutes???

Big difference in the game: the nuggets stuck with their player who was on fire (above mentioned Mr. Kleiza) The Jazz: sit Korver, our player on fire, until well into the 3rd quarter! Great call JSlo, who needs points anyways to win, oh wait, we do!

I love watching 4th quarters when I get to finish the game watching Jarron "the jazz have made me a rich man for not doing jack crap" Collins and the rest of the scrubs. CJ who was thankful for the trash time so he could get his scoring average up! Just average 20 more points a game and you will pass Bron Bron!

I hate to be sooooooooooooooo negative but it's hard to watch. You can draw up the outline of how each Jazz game is going to go before it is even played. We will play tough for the first three quarters while letting a virtually unknown name on the opposite team (M. Webster, L. Kleiza) light us up. Then in the fourth quarter we will get down by ten and then JSlo will through in Jarron Collins, Ronnie Price, and CJ this = GAME OVER!!!

Things That I Can't Stand !!!!

1. Anyone who flops to draw a foul from the officials. A.I. may be the biggest flopper in the league. Although the Jazz have some great actors too. Such as Jason Hart, Jaron Collins, A.k. and Harpring. I think the N.B.A. needs to give a foul to the person who flops, It is getting way out of hand. Sometimes I feel like I'm watching the world cup. Next thing you know when we score a basket everyone is going to yell gooooooooaaaaaaaallllllllll.

2. Boozer is driving me nuts. He is the worst defender in the league for being such a great scorer. Sometimes he looks like he doesn't give any effort on defense at all.

3. Fake injuries are a big thing I hate. You get a guy falling down for anything and he acts like he torn his A.C.L. or broke something. Then amazingly he gets the ball seconds later and he is back to 100%. I think if anyone delays the game for 1 second he should have to sit out at least 10 possession's. Guys like A.I., Tracy McGrady and D-Wade would never see the floor.

4. Next time the Jazz have the ball with no shot clock usually in the second quarter and Jason Hart has the ball he takes the shot every freaking time. Watch for it. He has yet to make one this season. But is his mind he's a scorer. Booner said, something interesting the I totally agree with he said. " Jason Hart must be the best practice player ever because its amazing he is even in the league". I'm sorry he might be a good guy and I honestly feel bad coming down on him, but he is not good.

5. Why on earth can't Deron play 48 minutes is he in that bad of shape. His numbers would be up like Chris"I never get taken out of the game because if my coach did we would lose"Paul. When he is out we can't do anything on the offensive end.

6. In my opinion Korver can shoot every time he touches it. They are always good shots and if he misses, it barely misses.He battles on defense I love that he is on our team.

7. Jerry Sloan sometimes puts in the dumbest line ups and sits guys like Korver when their hot. Jerry Sloan needs to start calling timeouts when our team gives up 4 uncontested baskets in a row and give them an ass chewing. It seems like this year he is letting the officials call whatever they want. I think he needs to show a little emotion, get a "T" even better get thrown out in our behalf.

8. It amazes me what players can say, and get away with doing in a basketball game to officials. If I were an official and I had a player whining about ever call.I would go out of my way to make every call go against them. But it seems like the officials baby the superstar for complaining.

9. The Jazz will be lucky to get a seed higher than 8th

The Whistle

Luke Best.

Based on floor patterns of school gyms. His drawings are nice too.

painter/ calligrapher Mouneer Al Shaarani.

Jim Gaylord.

HOMU. The homeless museum of art.

AccuScore Game Details (Jazz @ Nuggets)

After 10,000 simulations, it looks like the Jazz have a hill to climb in order to pull this win off in Denver tonight.AccuScore has powered more than 10,000 simulations for every NBA game for ESPN.com, each simulated one play at a time and minimum of 10,000 times. For more, visit AccuScore.

The Daily Diet Coke and Beto's Breakfast Burrito

Here are some good Jazz articles to get your Jazz craving fed this morning. Feel free to print them off and take them to the throne with you.

-Salt Lake Tribune explains why CJ Miles has two consecutive DNP's.

-Is our recent win streak thanks to Kyle Korver? "No" the new Jazz man says.

-More reasons to watch the HUGE game in Denver tonight.

-After last season, I didn't think this was possible.

The Top 8 reasons to watch the Jazz vs. McNuggets

Why 8 things you ask, because I am predicting that D-will is going destroy the Nuggies and 8 is his number. A little Karma never hurt anyone. On to the list -

1 - It’s a mid-season playoff game:
Seriously, this game means something. I know it is only January and we are barely half way through the season but this game is B-I-G big. At least for the Jazz it is, we need this win like AK needs another free pass. A win tonight goes a long to proving that we are back and ready to play as champions.

2 - Cornrows and Headbands vs. Side-parts and Sport Jackets (with dickies):

3 - Can the Jazz win a road game?
Seriously, can they? The Jazz are 6 - 14 on the road this year and have only prevailed in 1 of their last 11 roadies. (Just saw something that made me feel better about this though - the Nuggies are 7 -10 on the road and the Blazers are 6-11. We are not the only team in this division that sucks on the road.)

4 - Could it be an all powder blue jersey night?

How much do we have pay to see this? Seriously, lets find out and make it happen.

5 - Who is going to play defense?

Both teams are giving up over 100 points per night. The chances of this game being low scoring are as slim as the chance that David Harrison is not doing drugs.

6 - Who’s the better duo – D-will and Booze or Melo and AI?
Booze and D-Will Combined Stats - 42.4 Pts / 13.7 Rebs / 12.0 Ast

Melo and AI Combined Stats - 52.7 Pts / 9.9 Rebs / 10.4 Ast

7 - Who throws a better party – A.I. or A.K.?

8 -Will we see a white out from the Jazz?

This could be a legitimate lineup on the floor for the Jazz. And it would a pretty good one too.

C - Memo Okur

F - Andrei Kirilenko

F - Matt Harpring

G - Kyle Korver

G - Deron Williams (He's mostly white - click here and scroll down to # 8)

3 Final predictions on the game:

Final Score: Jazz 124 - McNuggets 116

D-will puts 2 Nuggie point guards on the floor with a cross over move and scores at least 35

Melo and AI combine for 75