Richard Berry (no relation to Chuck), best known as the writer and original performer of “Louie Louie,” was an artist of stupendous talent and breadth. This romantic number, for my money, is one of the most criminally underappreciated songs of all time.
JaVale McGee came up huge against Portland — and man, does it feel weird to be saying that.
I haven’t been blogging about the playoffs so far this year, for a couple of reasons. One of them is a desire — which I think I share with the whole of Dub Nation — to do everything differently from the way we did it last year. The loss in Game 7 of the Finals left a bad taste in our mouths that will not be cleansed until and unless our team hoists the trophy again.
Which does tend to take a little bit of the fun out of things. Long gone are the carefree, overachieving Warriors of 2014–15. With the addition of Kevin Durant, this year’s team carries a heavy burden of high expectations, and anything short of a title will be considered an abject failure.
They’re still entertaining to watch, though. In Game 4 of the opening-round series against Portland, they dropped 45 first-quarter points on the Blazers in a blinding blitzkrieg of basketball brutality. They completed the sweep three quarters later and now await the winner of the Utah Jazz/LA Clippers series. (more…)
How long, oh Lord, how long? And how much longer will we have to wait before some high-powered shark with a fistful of answers will finally bring us face-to-face with the ugly question that is already so close to the surface in this country, that sooner or later even politicians will have to cope with it?
Is the democracy worth all the risks and problems that necessarily go with it? Or, would we all be happier by admitting that the whole thing was a lark from the start and now that it hasn’t worked out, to hell with it.
—“Fear and Loathing in the Bunker,” 1974
Iggy Pop turned 70 this week, which is just rude.
But he’s still got a lust for life.
A few days ago this song came up on the iPod I keep in the bathroom, and every time that happens I end up listening to it a bunch of times because it is such a goddamn beautiful tune. It’s from Stephen Malkmus’ first solo album, which is now…wow…16 years old. Hit it, Steve.
