Olive Oil

Pork

Waves of digital water

an Orange for my Brother, an Onion for my mom

Abstraction as Freedom

More New Orleans Photos

New Orleans in Photos

Happy Fourth!

  today the country turns, like 233 years old, or something.  

congrats USA!  we're still alive and breathing (for now) (drums of doom) (panic attacks).

when all that shit gets to you ... blow stuff up!  or just sit back and watch, preferably while drunk and/or drinking.

have a good day and weekend.  stay relaxed.  be safe.

      

    

   

  

Garlic and Corn

staples of a working man.  oh, and beans.  rice.  probably throw in meat.  potatoes.  beer, whiskey.  bread.  collard greens, kale.  onion.  

late today i am going to attempt to grill my first short ribs.  i'm usually a filet/steak guy but i got some grass-fed beef and a new grill (just assembled today) so let's fire it up.

regarding NBA free agents: there is a lot of talk and signing going on right now.

-Detroit has decided to go "all in" with Ben Gordon (from Chicago) and Charlie Villanueva (from the Bucks).  Gordon is in for around 5 years at 50 Million and Charlie V is 5 years at 35 Mil.  lotta cash on two shoot-first guys without a noticeable 2nd talent (like defense or rebounding, passing, ball handling).  add them to Richard Hamilton who signed a 3-year extension worth 34 Mil and that's 3 guys making top dollar and doing the exact same thing for your basketball team.  not a fan of these free agent pick-ups.

-the Cavs got Shaq and most would argue its a year too late (at least).  but Cleveland hasn't been able to do anything with free agency for years and all it cost them was Ben Wallace and his huge contract as well as Sasha Pavlovic.  what will Shaq do for LeBron besides clogging the lane and missing FTs?  that remains to be seen but if he's motivated, even at his age, he's valuable.  will the motivation stay there thru out the season?  i believe so.  his goal is to get LeBron a ring before Kobe gets another.  it may not be up to him (or Kobe) but instead LeBron.  something tells me LeBron will figure out how to use Shaq if only Shaq has enough gas in the tank.

-the Blazers have apparently agreed to terms with Hedo Turkoglu for 5 years at 50 Mil.  i don't like this.  the Blazers have too many bodies and not enough playing time to go around as it is.  they have inexperienced guys needing PT and more chances at maturing.  Hedo is past his prime and will continue to decline but still make big time money.  this is a classic NBA reactionary move: everybody's signing everybody, so let's overpay for a guy who was in the Finals.  Hedo is a great role player but the Blazers have plenty of cheaper, younger role players.

-the Lakers get Artest.  it makes sense even though i don't like the player or the organization.  same for Rasheed going to Boston.  guys that have track records of not being "totally there" mentally love to go to stacked, talented teams in a diminished role.  they only have to focus on one or two things and for far fewer minutes a night.  let Kobe and Pau do the heavy lifting - let KG and Pierce kill themselves.  

-the Grizzlies got Z-Bo and now there is a rumor that Iverson wants in.  if i'm OJ Mayo or Rudy Gay or Marc Gasol (or even Mike Conley if Iverson is in play) then i'm thinking: "is this season really gonna suck because it sure looks like it.  not only will we lose but now i'm not even gonna get to play my game".

-the undeniable winners so far are the back-in-title-contention San Antonio Spurs.  Duncan and Ginobli need to rest up and heal, and i think they will with great big smiles on their faces, as their team drafted DeJuan Blair in the 2nd round (steal of the draft) and also traded away unimportant bench pieces Bruce Bowen and Kurt Thomas (guys right near retirement) to the Bucks and Fabricio Oberto to the Pistons FOR Richard Jefferson.  i like RJ.  he had his best 3-point shooting season of his career last year with Milwaukee and played his second straight season of all 82 games.  Spurs are looking good.

-the Magic got Vince Carter as Hedo is moving out.  this has the biggest pendulum swing potential of all the movements so far.  but that's Vince Carter.  he can get you 30 points and he can also flame-out.  he doesn't do as nearly as much as Hedo did for them.  

-and the Hawks got Jamal Crawford from Golden State.  i always forget about this but its because its really unimportant.  the Warriors did get Acie Law so i'm anxious to see if he can make himself into an NBA player.  of course, Golden State may not provide that answer.

-there was also a trade involving multiple players from Minnesota and Washington but ... a T'Wolves jersey is not too different from a Wizards one.

  

UPDATE: Hedo Turk is heading to the Toronto Raptors instead of Portland.  something about the "international" feel of Toronto, and being that much closer to Turkey than the west coast of the USA, sold him.  and the money.  he may get a million more here or there.  good news for Blazer fans (and Travis Outlaw, Nic Batum, maybe even Rudy Fernandez).  for Raptors fans a cautiously optimistic outlook.  Toronto sucked last year and have been in need of a prolific wing player (even though they have the formerly talented Shawn Marion).  and this could be Bosh's last year in Canada (his contract will be up).  something tells me Hedo wants a comfortable place to make his money as he nears 35 years old (he's 30 now and with a 5 year contract his skills will decline as his money remains sky high).  as a Blazers fan i feel i can exhale ... and smile.