Look! Something genuinely useful on MySpace!

I soon discovered a frequent companion to my cigarette purchases when I tried the vitaminwater with the white cap on it. I'm not crazy about some of the flavors and I usually opted for the XXX flavor (acai, blueberry, and pomegranate) until the white-capped sync flavor (described as "berry-cherry") began showing up in the coolers at the gas stations.

Normally, there's some sort of throwaway copy on the bottles that's supposed to induce a chuckle, but one evening while sitting in a court-ordered group therapy session where one person was blathering on about whatever it was that struck them as an injustice, I actually read the thing and how the MySpace music promotion worked.

Now, I'm not exactly a serial downloader of music. And I certainly haven't spent as much on actual purchases of compact discs in recent years—at least not when compared to how I was a decade ago.

But I was almost always drinking vitaminwater—and as of late, more of this sync stuff.

So I decided that while the bottle caps just contained another alphanumeric code that I see on the bottom of every cap for every other beverage I consume and then throw away without a second thought, I actually began saving the sync caps.

Before I knew it, I had 10.

Now, while my initial hope was just to go and download many of the same songs I had at one time or another used for my profile, the site instead directs you to Amazon.com's music page. And while that initially caused a little bit of concern, it instead proved to be totally hassle-free.

Better yet, each cap earns you roughly a buck and a half in credit, while most downloads are priced at $0.99.

So before we get to how my trial run went, seeing as how I'm still drinking this stuff and still collecting caps, I'm also running low on ideas. Or maybe I'm just eager to ask for suggestions (E-MAIL: murtskered [at] gmail [dot] com). It's getting fun making new mix CDs, like I was in high school again or something.

That said, here's the initial playlist that made me giddy:


I think the track arrangement is pretty obvious; I simply went shortest to longest—and it actually worked out pretty well:

• "Blue Orchid" was actually the first song I downloaded because I for some reason still unknown to me do not own "Get Behind Me Satan." The White Stripes are a band I was slow to come around to, but I'll stand by my assertion that their more recent work is superior to the early material I wasn't as enthusiastic about—although both the video and the actual song, "Fell In Love With A Girl," were legendary, of course.
• The Strokes version of "Mercy Mercy Me" was downloaded mostly just because it's The Strokes and that's good enough for me. It's not my favorite cover song of the moment (and that would've been the first thing I downloaded had they actually had it), but overall, I think the band's version is effective.
• I haven't bought a Weezer disc since the green album, but I'm almost always a fan of their singles and "Troublemaker" is one that can rival the enthusiasm I had for "Buddy Holly."
• Keane's "Is It Any Wonder?" was one of the few songs I actually liked hearing at work. Initially, I related to the lyrics and applied them to my own failed relationship at the time, only to learn that it's actually about the Iraq War.
• The first song transition that made me smirk was the ending line from Keane asking, "Is it any wonder that I feel betrayed?" and led to the synth groan of "Shoulda Known" from Atmosphere that Robert Christgau called beatmaster Ant's "catchiest hook in years." Indeed. Another album I need to buy (just because the title alone is flat-out awesome), as evidenced by the other Atmosphere track I downloaded, "Your Glass House."
• Digitalism's "Pogo" has always been a song I've been a fan of since I first heard it on a year-end mix my friend makes every Christmas. I even made it the profile song for my website's own MySpace page and have no intention of ever changing it. Instant good mood, every time. Wolf Parade's "Shine A Light" also comes courtesy of the damaged year-end disc a friend made a few years back.
• The Chicago Blackhawks really couldn't have picked a better song to be played after every goal the team scored than "Chelsea Dagger." Jeff Cagle posted the Fratellis on his Tumblr each time the Hawks won in the playoffs and while I never once grew tired of hearing the tune, I'm hoping we can actually get it posted 16 times for next year's Stanley Cup.
• Much like that Wings cover by the Foo Fighters I linked to, I especially wanted to find Franz Ferdinand's cover of Gwen Stefani's "What You Waiting For?"—but no such luck. I did however manage to grab the band's version of Blondie's "Call Me," which definitely ain't bad.
• Death Cab For Cutie's "Soul Meets Body" mirrors the Keane tune in that I also discovered the song at work and the song leads into an Atmosphere selection—a transition also mildly amusing with the repeated "melody softly soaring through my atmosphere" leading to the band of that name.
• Another justification via title alone, this time from Hayes Carll: "She Left Me For Jesus"
• And lastly, the disc ends with T. Rex's "Jeepster," which was a tune I came across on Tumblr and just found myself playing repeatedly.
  

So obviously the first disc here was composed moslty of songs found through Tumblr, work and old mixes made by friends. The second disc took a little bit of a different twist, which I'll get to next time. And as for the third, well that, dear reader, is where you come in.

Until then, I'll just be sitting here drinking this damned pinkish-purple beverage, collecting caps and enjoying the tunes.

End of an Era

I was still one of the believers that I didn't need a Facebook account. I thought MySpace could fulfill all of my little social networking needs and desires—of which I have not many.

Still, the past few experiences using MySpace's blogging software have been nothing short of maddening. Clearly, my interest in even signing on has dwindled ever since I was introduced to Tumblr back in September. Its simplicity is refreshing and it's no wonder to me why I and many others opt to "blog" over there, if that's what you want to call it.

And indeed, during the build-up to my little A.R.M. (use of exclamation point not consistent) weekend, it's hardly a surprise I talked about things more over there. But tonight, fully intending to write up a whole summary of that weekend, I couldn't have been more than a few paragraphs away from finishing when Firefox experienced a problem, had to shut down and, well, you can probably guess what was there when I came back: nothing.

Oh, sorry—the original title was still there. Maybe I'll use it in a future blog post recapping the weekend, but I doubt it.

I long ago came to loathe the folks who either on MySpace or Tumblr or any similar spot, really, felt compelled to announce their intention to delete the account. The call for attention was always the same threatening nature and I sincerely hoped that the person in question got what they wanted, but ultimately, I saw the same thing so often that I stopped caring. "Go ahead and delete yourself," I thought. "You can be replaced."

But I'm finally calling it quits on blogging at MySpace, which I believe is hardly a threat. If anything, I'm just holding out until the folks there can give me a reason to dedicate any more time to posts that cannot be saved as drafts during composition—as Tumblr and even Blogger here does. It's a logical safety net that we were often reminded when first learning about computers ("Save early and save often"), and yet the fine folks at MySpace seem to believe isn't worth the trouble. Good luck with that.

Do not, however, expect me to come away from this whole thing championing Facebook and singing those praises. As best I can tell from the two weeks I've had the account, the whole site is basically a MySpace 2.0, and I'm not particularly interested in going out and scrambling to reconnect with a bunch of people from my past. Counting friends still strikes me as being a total bore—and the return trip home last weekend with my ex actually insinuating that I had probably had more sexual partners than she has had made for some really interesting self-examination that I have often avoided ... but that's something I intended to elaborate on in closing out my story—before the whole thing disappeared, of course.

Maybe I'll come back to the thought another day.

I've had some recent ideas for posts relating to things other than sports for BMC here, but I really wanted to leave the blog up for a few days with the ten most recent posts being entirely my predictions and comments about the NBA and NHL playoffs that I felt represented the beginning of summer (I just liked the way it looked, I guess ... sue me). Now that those are over, I'm ready to start putting more stuff up here since—unlike MySpace—I was able to save the ideas for a rainy day or some late night spell of boredom.

The forecast is calling for showers this week. And I'm an occasional insomniac.

Final Thoughts on 2008-09 NBA Season

And now, the final post-season prediction numbers from the NBA playoffs:

David Thorpe, ESPN: 13-2 (3)
Ball Don't Lie, Yahoo!: 13-2 (3)
Jalen Rose, ESPN: 13-2 (3)
Chris Sheridan, ESPN: 12-3 (7)

John Hollinger, ESPN: 12-3 (4)

Ken Berger, CBS Sports: 12-3 (3)
Nunzio Ingrassia, CBS Sports: 12-3 (3)
J.A. Adande, ESPN: 12-3 (2)
Sergio Gonzalez, CBS Sports: 12-3 (2)
Kenny Smith, Yahoo!: 12-3 (2)
Chris Broussard, ESPN: 11-4 (5)
Chad Ford, ESPN: 11-4 (5)
Lyle Crouse, CBS Sports: 11-4 (3)
Jamey Eisenberg, CBS Sports: 11-4 (3)
Marc Stein, ESPN: 11-4 (3)
Henry Abbott, ESPN: 10-5 (4)
Tim Legler, ESPN: 10-5 (4)
YOURS TRULY: 8-7 (4)

So there you go, folks. A ridiculously poor showing this year for myself in NBA prognosticating, but not really all that great a year for the league playoffs in general.

While the opening round series between the Celtics and the Bulls certainly created a lot of excitement to open the playoffs, even in that series and in many series throughout the post-season, officiating was sloppy and inconsistent. And just as many of us thought, when that Bulls-Celtics series ended, it was assuredly the best series of any in the playoffs.

While one could reasonably argue that the Los Angeles Lakers were in fact the favorite to win the entire thing all season long, I'm still not sure that anybody is going to be remembering this as a season in which the franchise overcame an opponent that will make this title win worth remembering. While it assuredly does cement Kobe Bryant among the legends of the game and makes Phil Jackson stand alone with 10 career NBA Championships, the Lakers didn't have to get by Tim Duncan and the Spurs that also won four titles in a decade because they were without Manu Ginobli. And L.A. didn't need to worry about avenging last year's loss by overcoming the defending champions because the Celtics were without Kevin Garnett.

Now, of course the Lakers are only guilty of beating whomever got in their way. It's not their fault so many of the perennial favorites ended up getting dealt some shitty late-season cards.

But I am of course upset only because I hate the Lakers and they didn't end up blowing it like it can be fun to watch them (or anyone you really hate for no particular reason) do sometimes. This year, they actually got the job done because, well, the Orlando Magic beat themselves.

Oh, c'mon—you know the Magic could have just easily been up three games to one, provided a last-second layup went in and Dwight Howard sinks either one of the two free throws he both missed. And there I am at the end of the NBA season this year, clinging to notions of what could've been.

I am left with the final feeling for my Chicago Bulls being something of still modest concern: Vinny Del Negro likely gave himself a little more wiggle room by getting the team to push the defending champions to the limit in a series they were expected to be bounced from far more routinely. That doesn't necessarily mean the guy's a great coach (as some of his decisions and non-adjustments in that Boston series proved) but I know he's going to survive the early-season calls for his head on the radio next year.

And I (still) want to lose Ben Gordon. Derrick Rose becomes a better player and the Bulls become a better team without Gordon around, and you tried making that jackass an offer (twice, I believe) only to have him strut away like everybody else will be jeopardizing their chances in the LeBron sweepstakes for some 6'3'' guard with wildly hot and cold shooting streaks to complement his inability to pass. Let somebody else have Ben Gordon, I say. Sure, he can become the top scorer on a different team and they can get knocked out each year in the first round. Have fun with that. Me, I want another Larry O'Brien Trophy to be brought into Grant Park.

Anywhere but Los Angeles next year, please.

Final Thoughts on 2008-09 NHL Season

Here's the final numbers I had when comparing my picks this year to the guys from ESPN and Yahoo!:

Scott Burnside, ESPN: 13-2 (5)
YOURS TRULY: 12-3 (6)
Sean Leahy, Puck Daddy: 12-3 (2)
Barry Melrose, ESPN: 12-3 (1)
Matthew Barnaby, ESPN: 11-4 (4)
Matt Romig, Yahoo!: 11-4 (2)
Pierre LeBrun, ESPN: 11-4 (2)
E.J. Hradek, ESPN: 11-4 (1)
John Buccigross, ESPN: 11-4 (1)
Jim Fox, Yahoo!: 10-5 (0)
Greg Wyshynski, Puck Daddy: 9-6 (2)
Ross McKeon, Yahoo!: 9-6 (2)

Puck Daddy has a terrific recap of this year's Stanley Cup playoffs (although I'm a little irked they didn't mention that Huet save from Game Seven), and I just don't think the NHL could have asked for a better finale. Friday night's conclusion to the season was widely dismissed by most pundits as presumably being yet another Detroit victory, seeing as the deciding seventh game was at the Joe and all. And since the home team had won all six of the previous games, the logic was certainly sound. But rather than being a game in which the championship veterans outlasted and outsmarted the younger returning runners-up from the previous season, the kids went at the old men, put two goals on the board (you know, conspiracy), and held off numerous desperate Detroit attempts to score right down to the final buzzer.

As a hockey fan, you really couldn't ask for more. Maybe overtime.

But this was my first true year of beginning-to-end following of hockey, and I picked the right year to do that. The hometown Blackhawks gave me a compelling reason to cheer for months on end. And considering that my most realistic demand of the team was just to win an opening round series of the playoffs, they went and got all the way to the conference finals. And while their five-game ouster at the hands of the Red Wings was somewhat expected, the memory of pains suffered by the Chicago Bulls at the hands of the Detroit Pistons led to something of a dynasty.

I don't want to get too far ahead of myself because the Hawks will have a number of issues to deal with during the off-season. And while it would indeed have been sweet for this storybook season to end with them hoisting the Cup, I can deal with this being a part of watching these players mature before our very eyes.

My pre-season predictions next season will certainly be a bit more expansive, and while my pick of the Dallas Stars to win the Stanley Cup wasn't even close, the Penguins actually ended up coming out on top instead of second for a second year, as I had predicted. And as has been said, the fact that arguably the game's premier player won a championship with such a young team can only help attract people to the game.

Of course, they keep saying that every couple of years. But I'm no longer really concerned with how or when hockey will ever leapfrog one of the other three major sports in the country. On a strictly local level, the rebirth of the Chicago Blackhawks has created a delectably euphoric buzz that seemed pass through many of the places I went throughout this season.

I can already hardly wait for them to drop the puck on next year.

2009 NBA Finals

I guess the first thing I would point out about how we all did last round is that not a single person had both conference final series correct. So while all three other possible NBA Finals scenarios were all predicted one way or another (Lakers-Cavs was, quite obviously, the most popular pick, predicted by 12 of the 18 experts listed below), it ends up being Orlando against La-La Land and nobody scored better than one-for-two, bringing everybody to these totals:

David Thorpe, ESPN: 12-2 (3)
Ball Don't Lie, Yahoo!: 12-2 (3)
Jalen Rose, ESPN: 12-2 (3)
Chris Sheridan, ESPN: 11-3 (7)

John Hollinger, ESPN: 11-3 (4)

Ken Berger, CBS Sports: 11-3 (3)
Nunzio Ingrassia, CBS Sports: 11-3 (3)
J.A. Adande, ESPN: 11-3 (2)
Sergio Gonzalez, CBS Sports: 11-3 (2)
Kenny Smith, Yahoo!: 11-3 (2)
Chris Broussard, ESPN: 10-4 (5)
Chad Ford, ESPN: 10-4 (5)
Henry Abbott, ESPN: 10-4 (4)
Lyle Crouse, CBS Sports: 10-4 (3)
Jamey Eisenberg, CBS Sports: 10-4 (3)
Marc Stein, ESPN: 10-4 (3)
Tim Legler, ESPN: 9-5 (4)
YOURS TRULY: 8-6 (4)

Yeah, those numbers suck for a variety of reasons—and it's not just the knowing that Jalen fucking Rose, of all people is tied for the best marks, although that does make it sting a little more than I want to admit.

But what really kind of irks me is Yahoo! didn't bother putting up picks for two of their supposed "experts" from previous rounds, so the guy that was softening the cellar for me a little bit had to be excluded from these standings, seeing as I had no idea what he picked. Who knows, maybe he was the guy that actually had the vision to call a Magic-Lakers Finals, but I really doubt it.

Guess we'll never know, but let's just get this out of the way and see if I manage to catch Tim Legler (!) or if I finish one measly game over .500 for the entire playoffs:

Orlando Magic over Los Angeles Lakers in six games

Oh sure, I know what you're thinking (read: B. Doggy), and if you think I'm only making this prediction because this is more what I want than what I genuinely think will happen, well, I guess I would just point out that if my pick was what I wanted, then I would have had the Magic in four games.

And I was even tempted by the idea of thinking Orlando could concievably use the Games Three/Four/Five all at home argument to suggest that a split in L.A. could just be the springboard to three successive wins in Florida to win the thing there, kind of like, oh, I don't know, um ... oh yeah! Five years ago. Yeah, like that.

But, really, my forecast goes like this: split in L.A. and Orlando takes two of three at home before emphatically taking the Lakers down in Game Six. Dwight Howard will be your MVP.

And I won't have to hear about Kobe Bryant for at least four months.