Cannot Catharsize: Nana

Ah, the slow days of summer. It's nice to be able to just sit around and relax and do absolutely nothing, and then watch as my days go from meandering to sprinting in a moment AKA when I start my job. I've taken a pretty long break from writing, and depending on how my summer goes, I may not be writing too much on the blog (at least until next semester). But more on that some other time.

Right now, it's another edition of Cannot Catharsize, this time featuring the exquisite anime, Nana, that I just recently finished burning through. Nana is a shoujo anime, based on the manga written (drawn?) by Yazawa Ai, which started airing originally in Japan in 2006. I will be the first to admit that I was quite tentative about watching this anime at first, being that it is mainly a romantic story, mostly plot driven with absolutely no fighting (none physical anyway) nor explosions. But, after watching the first 4 episodes, I found myself hopelessly intrigued by the characters.

The main plotlines revolve around two characters, both named Nana. The first Nana you meet is Komatsu Nana, a naive, air-headed, and spacey girl from rural Japan. At the beginning of the anime, you see her taking the train to move to Tokyo, presumably to live with her boyfriend who moved to Tokyo a year earlier, Shouji. She makes frequent references to the "Demon Lord" (Dai Mao in Japanese), contributing to some elaborate fantasies that she manages to concoct regarding both her friends and her boyfriend (such as when she imagined that he had found a new lover in Tokyo named Sachiko and had been cheating on her for the past year). At first, her character seems like your typical, annoying young girl character, complete with overdone facial expressions and outbursts of emotion, but beneath the surface, she is an extremely complex and pitiable person. Gradually, her annoying habits transform into endearing qualities, with many of the characters at first put off by her outgoing character, only to find themselves wishing they could spend more time with her later.

The second Nana is Oosaki Nana, a husky-voiced, punk-rock singer. She comes off as strong and confident at first, seemingly much more reliable and even-keeled than K-Nana. However, as the series goes on, her flaws begin to seep through, and her character transforms from the strong leading heroine to the emotionally unstable partner, becoming dependent on the support and love of K-Nana, whom O-Nana affectionately names, "Hachiko," after a famous Japanese dog ("nana" also means seven in Japanese, while "hachi" means eight).

Some of the other characters include O-Nana's band, "The Black Stones", including the lawyer-drummer Yasu, O-Nana's only high school friend and lead guitarist Nobu, and the bassist, high-schooler turned child-prostitute Shin. Additionally, there is the rival band, "Trapnest," which include: Reira, the beautiful female lead singer; Takumi, the leader and bassist; the lead guitarist, former "Black Stones" member and O-Nana's lover, Ren; and the drummer, Yasu's old friend, Naoki. On K-Nana's side, you meet Shouji, and their friends, Junko and Kyosuke. While this presents itself as a large ensemble cast, each member is so different, not only image-wise, but also in character and personality. As each character is introduced, their relationships begin to intertwine, with the two rival bands having many inter-band relationships. This leads to many complications between each member doing what's best for their band versus what's best for themselves.

While the anime has many different underlying themes and numerous motifs (such as the use of nana, music, and the part-time jobs each of the characters possess outside of music), one of the main themes is ignoring that which is immediate in favor of that which may come in the future. Throughout the story, the characters continually choose that which they believe will bring them more happiness in the long run versus that which has made them happy up until that point. No details, because most of the occurrences are plot drivers, but it is very interesting to see the characters rationale for making each decision, even if you can see right through them as a viewer.

Overall, I absolutely loved watching this anime, burning through all 47 episodes in about a week. Another season should be forthcoming, and I honestly can't wait to finish the story. I think I'll start rating the anime's I watch, retroactively giving Gundam 00 a B+, and Welcome to the NHK an A-

Grade: A

I leave you with the second OP, "Wish" by Olivia, which is inspired by Reira in "Trapnest."

2008 NBA Playoffs: Conference Finals

Damnit all, I was so close to having a perfect round. Instead, my picks were pretty much obliterated by extremely close games that could have gone either way. Time for a short recap, then the conference finals predictions.

Boston vs. Cleveland
Prediction: Cleveland in 6
Result: Boston in 7
Cleveland was so close to winning game 1, losing 76-72 on some pretty bad play down the stretch. But, if they had won that game, they could have easily coasted to closing out the series in 6 in Cleveland. Instead, they lost that game, and lost Game 7 in Boston by a measly 5 points. So disappointing...

Detroit vs. Orlando
Prediction: Detroit in 6
Result: Detroit in 5
If Orlando hadn't choked Game 4 down the drain with some dumb play from Hedo Turkoglu, the Magic would have taken both games in Orlando, and pushed Detroit to at least six. Instead, they came up small, and Detroit won quicker than I expected.

Los Angeles vs. Utah
Prediction: LA in 6
Result: LA in 6
I'm pretty proud of this one, because I knew that LA would win all 3 games in LA, and that Utah would win the first two in Utah, and that it came down to a coin flip in Game 6. And LA won the only way you can win on the road against a good team: get up by 20+ points. Seriously, they almost blew it at the end. If they had only been up by 15, they would have lost.

New Orleans vs. San Antonio
Prediction: New Orleans in 7
Result: San Antonio in 7
God damnit, this series went 7 games, exactly as planned, and I though Game 7 was going to be close, but in reality, it wasn't. The Spurs got up big, and like I said before, that's the only way to win against a good team on the road. I was completely expecting the Hornets to come back and win, but they managed to choke away their last few possessions when they went away from Chris Paul. God that makes me mad.

...

All right, now for predictions.

Los Angeles vs. San Antonio
The Lakers really don't have anyone who can guard Tim Duncan or Tony Parker, but the same could have been said about Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams in the last round. It's going to be tough, but I think LA has enough offensive firepower to take down the Spurs (you beat the Spurs by outscoring them, not by playing better defense). That and I love how Derek Fisher is playing right now. Everyone points to Kobe, or Lamar, or Gasol, but I honestly think it's Fisher who won them the Utah series, and who has been the seals holding up an otherwise leaky ship. I think the Lakers continue to play great basketball, and manage to steal Game 4 in San Antonio.
Prediction: LA in 5

Boston vs. Detroit
Good God, the worst NBA playoffs match-up possible has come to fruition. Be prepared for some absolutely disgusting 75-77, ugly, dirty, and sometimes downright dangerous games. Boston is playing like shit, complete shit, and I do not expect them to come out of this series. Detroit is playing extremely well, and are extremely focused. That and I have lost all faith in the entire Celtics roster beyond Paul Pierce.
Prediction: Detroit in 6

2008 NBA Playoffs: Random 2nd Round Thoughts

The 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs is in full swing, and here's just a few thoughts as most of the series' hit their midway points.

Boston vs. Cleveland

Good God this series is ugly. So ugly. 76-72 Celtics in Game one? A Nuggets-Warriors game would have a score twice that. And it's not just good defense. The offenses of these two teams have just been bad. Cleveland won pretty big once they got back home to make it 2-1 Boston, but here's hoping for a LeBron James miracle, coming back from down 0-2 to win 4 straight and take the series, like he did against the Pistons last year. But overall, I never want to see a series like this ever again...except I'm gonna have to when Boston beats Cleveland and they play Detroit in the East Finals (Hurray! Here's to less than 80 points scoring per game! I can't wait!).

Detroit vs. Orlando

To be honest, I have yet to watch a single game of this series, not out of choice though, simply because I don't have cable (so I can only watch the games that are broadcast on ABC). But, from what I've read, Detroit's been pretty much pushing Orlando around, and Orlando's been taking it like a bitch. With the exception of Game 3 in Orlando when Rashard Lewis went off for 30 points, Orlando's been taking it the entire series. After a horrible fourth quarter collapse in Game 4, Detroit is up 3-1, and that means Orlando is done. Why? Because the only way they could come back from down 3-1 is if Lewis or Hedo Turkoglu transformed into LeBron James.

Los Angeles vs. Utah

I think I'm starting to become a Lakers fan. I just like the style they play: very up-tempo, lots of passing, lots of movement, basically basketball the way it was meant to be played. But sometimes I get so pissed off when Kobe gets the ball in the post and instead of posting up or driving to the basket, he just pulls up for a contested jump shot. Sometimes they go in and I'm like "wow, he should not have made that," but most of the time they miss and I'm like "God F@$#-ing damnit Kobe."

The Jazz just piss me off. Every single (and I mean every play), they commit a foul of some sort that goes uncalled. Whether it be a moving screen, raping a defender on a back-door screen, or pushing off on every rebound, they always seem to do something that makes me wonder if the refs really enjoy fair basketball or not. Admittedly, this isn't that bad (because every team makes moving screens/pushes off for rebounds), but the worst and most annoying habit of all the Jazz is that they whine like women. Every single time Carlos Boozer misses a shot, it's like he transforms into a weeping rape victim screaming for revenge. It's like "c'mon dude, man up and just play through the hits. God knows you commit twice as many uncalled fouls as those that go against you."

New Orleans vs San Antonio

I was thinking this series was going to be competitive, and some people might say it has been (since the series is tied 2-2), but in reality, these games have not been close. The Spurs were blown out twice in New Orleans, and then proceeded to blow out the Hornets back in San Antonio the next two games. Does home court advantage really mean that much? These are the same guys right? They don't magically switch with some hidden twin that secretly sucks at basketball when they go on the road, right? Cause it sure seems like it.

But anyway, back to studying for my last final (Intro to Partial Differential Equations = B- here I come!). I'll be finishing school soon, then it's two weeks of fun back home with my friends, then off to work at my internship, that I wrote about here. Till next time...

Motion Picture Magic: Iron Man

Since this is JK's blog, I figured I would use his title for movies. This is my review for Iron Man.

Iron Man is based on the comic book of the same name published by Marvel comics. Its about a weapons manufacturer and dealer named Tony Stark. His company, Stark Enterprises builds weapons for the U.S. military. The basic plot (I won't go into details, because that is called spoiling) is that Stark goes into the middle east to demonstrate his latest weapon to the military. After his demonstration, he leaves with the military back to the base. The vehicle he is in is attacked and he is the only survivor, although he is badly wounded. The terrorist group that attacks kidnaps, and then puts an electromagnetic device in his chest to keep him from dying, because shrapnel is slowly moving into his heart. He needs a device for the rest of the movie to keep himself alive. But in the meantime the terrorist force him to make weapons for them. Instead he builds a crude suit of armor (crude but still high tech given the materials he had to work with) and escapes killing most of his captors along the way. When he returns home, he changes his ways and stops building weapons. He then makes a more advanced armor and becomes the hero Iron Man.

Of course theres a little more to it then that, but I try not to spoil movies. Anyway, I must say that Iron Man is the best Marvel movie I have seen to date. Better than X-Men 2, better than the Spider-Man series, it just blew me away. Robert Downey Jr. is perfect in the role of Tony Stark. I don't think anyone else could have pulled that off. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Pepper Potts, Tony's love interest, and Terrence Howard plays Colonel Jim Rhodes his best friend. They both play their parts very well, although surprisingly Howard's character isn't featured that much. (Though you'll probably see him a lot more in the sequel.) Jeff Bridges is excellent as the villain Obediah Stane, who becomes the villian Iron Monger. There is not weak link in the cast.

The battle scenes were amazing. They really got the feel of Iron Man down. When he flies he is like a human jet. The effects are just off the hook. (yeah I said it.)

My one pet peeve, and only because I am a comic nerd, is that they made Stark's butler Jarvis into a computer program. I would have rather seen a guy play Jarvis like in the comic. Its not a big deal, and the general audience won't care.

One more thing. You may have heard about the special scene after the credits. Well depending on your knowledge of comic books will determine whether or not its worthwhile to see it. I am a comic nerd, so the scene made me crap my pants. But it might not mean much to the general public.

Anyway this movie rocks. If you can see it on the big screen, it is completely worth it. I'll leave you with the trailer to get hype. Peace!

5 out of 5

Magic: The Project

So it's been a really long time since my first post. Sorry, I couldn't think of anything I wanted to write about. For this post I've decided to fall back on my favorite hobby, Magic: the Gathering. I want to start off by apologizing to anyone who reads this and isn't already acquainted with the game. Magic is probably the most complex strategy game out there, so it would take several tedious posts to even get a start at teaching the basics. Instead I'm going to write about a deck I'm currently building. I'm going to explain a lot, considering my primary audience, JK and Judd, are former magic players who know the basics and some advanced play of the past, but are completely in the dark as to the current state of the game and the new mechanics.

The biggest thing in the magic world right now is the release of a new set, Shadowmoor. Shadowmor is a pretty good so far as I've seen. The set's main themes are hybrid mana costs, the untap machanic, wither, and persist. Hybrid mana is mana that can be spent with one of two types of mana. Think of a grizzly Bears, if it was hybrid, say Green-Red hybrid, it could be played for its colorless mana and either a red or a green mana (example). The untap mechanic is like the normal tap mechanic, but always has an activation cost and untaps the creature using the ability, thus cannot be played while untapped (example). Persist and wither are creature keyword mechanics, like trample. Wither is simple, this creature deals damage in the form of -1/-1 counters to other creatures (example). Persist is on the same wavelength, when this creature is put into a graveyard from play, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, Return it to play under its owner's control with a -1/-1 counter on it (example). I don't think I'll end up taking about any cards with untap. Untap sucks in constructed and is great in limited, and the bulk of this article will be on constructed.

Beyond new cards and mechanics, Shadowmoor has really shaken up my favorite format in Magic, Standard. The previous set, Lorwyn, was a tribal based format, which basically means a bunch of creatures that make other creatures bigger because they have the same creature type. Elves and Faeries, and Merfolk dominated the scene. Elves seemed to be the biggest and fastest tribe so it was default for anyone who didn't like to think too much. Faeries was the pre-Shadowmoor hands down best deck. Yes, faeries! They play everything at instant speed which makes them able to play counterspells effectively, and they have the best card in the block, Bitterblossom. Bitterblossom is amazing! You get guys for life, from an enchantment. Other decks played Bitterblossom, but none had Scion of Oona to really take advantage of it (the shroud is counted on the Bitterblossom itself because its a Enchantment - Faerie). Merfolk basically breathe islandwalk with Lord of Atlantis, so they were a great metagame choice against the massive amount of faerie decks. There were other decks in the format, but you can get the point that it was a lot of beat down. There were virtually no combo decks (my favorite type of deck).

Shadowmoor changed all that. Because it is a mini-block, it was added to the Standard format without any sets being removed. Faeries is still really good, but there are two combo decks that were made possible. The first uses Swans of Bryn Argoll plus Seismic Assault plus Dakmor Salvage. You have to get the Swan and the Assult on the board, then shoot the swan with the Salvage dredging it back from the draw, you'll net one card and can start again, once you hit a second Salvage you can start throwing one at the opponent as you discard and dredge both. You run out of deck too quick so you run two Gaea's Blessing so your deck will recycle itself as you go. The second combo is Enchanted Evening plus Patrician's Scorn. This blows up the table, you destroy all permanents. Before you do that though you want to have a threat unaffected by the combo. There are a bunch of creatures that do this. Greater Gargadon can be unsuspended by sacrificing all your land and while he's still on the stack you can play the Scorn for free (assuming you've played the Enchanted evening that turn) the Scorn will resolve, destroying everything, then the 9/7 will come into play. Anything with persist also comes back from the combo, Heartmender and Kitchen Finks are the best of those. Other options are Epochrasite and Nihilith. Garruk Windspeaker can be used too, just put his second ability on the stack and then play Patrician's Scorn. Of course you could always float the mana before the combo and play a creature or Bitterblossom afterwards.

The second combo looks really fun to me. While not as powerful as the first, it seems a lot less all or nothing. Another thing is has going for it is main deck Patrician's Scorn is really good against Bitterblossom. Also the color requirements are a lot easier, and thus the deck will be a ton cheaper. I already own a lot of the more expensive cards involved with Enchanted Evening (the Gargadons and some rare lands). I've gone ahead and purchased most everything else I need to build the deck (was pretty cheap, around $30). This deck can go a ton of ways. The only requirement is either blue or white mana. With that in mind, my next post will take you through a walk-through of my building and testing and re-building process. I'm pretty sure it will end up being broken up into at least two posts. Then on the 30th I'll take to the deck to Friday-Night Magic at Let's Play in Waverly, NY (my first plug, I feel dirty). I'll make up a report of how things went, I doubt I'll find a way to do a play by play, but I'll try to remember as much as possible.

I'm extremely excited about this project. My first post... frankly sucked. I have a feeling these are going to go really well, and be a lot of fun. My cards are shipping to my house and I'm at school. So I'll get started when I'm back home on Sunday. Oh, and I'd be really appreciative if I could get any input once I start posting builds.

Evolution 2008, Part 4: Capcom vs. SNK 2

Been a while since I typed something. I guess I'll continue my coverage (if you really want to call it that) of Evolution 2008. (Refer to my older articles if you don't know what I'm talking about.)

The next game I'll talk about is Capcom vs. SNK 2. Yeah, there is only two games in the series, and yet it has a rich history behind it.

When Street Fighter 2 came out, people were blown away. And when something new and popular comes out, others try to capitalize on it. So began the fighting game wars of the 90's. Many clones came out, not being so successful. But there a were a few that managed to be popular. In the U.S. it was Mortal Kombat (as terrible a game that is). Everywhere else, it was the company SNK.

SNK is an acronym for "Shin Nihon Kikaku, which translated stands for "New Japan Project." They rose to challenge Capcom's hold on the fighting game market. They never actually beat Capcom, but many of their games rivaled Capcom and stood up very well. Particularly their series "Fatal Fury", "King of Fighters", and "Samurai Showdown." Fatal Fury did well in the U.S. and Samurai Showdown was extremely popular in the U.S., while King of Fighters caught on in Mexico and other Latin American countries. Eventually SNK went bankrupt, but revived as SNK Playmore.

So being Capcom's greatest rivals, people started wondering what if would be like having Capcom's characters clash with SNK's. In 2000, that happened with the release of Capcom vs. SNK. People picked their characters, with each character having a "ratio" score attached them. You could pick characters that had their ratio score equal up to four. Four example, four ratio 1 characters, two ratio 2 characters, a ratio 1 and ratio 3 character,you get the idea. Then you picked a super meter based on Capcom or SNK, called Capcom groove or SNK groove.

The game was different, as Capcom opted to mix the Street Fighter and King of Fighter play styles into a hybrid system, and only using four buttons. This was strange to many players.

The next year saw the release of Capcom vs. SNK 2, a more refined game. They changed the system to the traditional six-button style. Also players could now pick from six different grooves, each based on a system from different Capcom and SNK games. The C, A, and P grooves and the S, N, and K groves. (See what they did there?)

The community for this game is sadly dying out. There are very few top players, and no new blood seems to be showing up. Its always the same named in the top ten. This year may be CvS2's last hurrah. As for who I think will win, no idea. But it won't be anyone new.

I'll leave you with a match video. This is a casuals match from Evolution 2006, between the players Buktooth and Gene Wong. Enjoy!

Motion Picture Magic: Rocky Balboa

(There's an update to this post at the bottom, because I stupidly left out Rocky II when I listed the Rocky movies in my order of preference. Good catch by Judd.)

After watching Rambo, the latest installment of the Rambo series, I was inspired to watch other works by Sylvester Stallone, and naturally decided to revisit the Rocky series. And so began a grueling trial of 5 Rocky films, including Rocky I, Rocky II, Rocky III, Rocky IV, and the latest film, as well as the subject of this post, Rocky Balboa (Notice how I casually skipped Rocky V, I'm not even gonna dignify it with a hyperlink). If I had to give each film a rating, I would agree with most of the ratings Stallone gives. I laughed so hard at the reason Rocky IV gets a 7.5: "lots of montage." If anything montage makes a film exponentially better, not worse, Sly! At least that's how it is in my world... But more on that some other time. Gotta love the zero for Rocky V as well (Stallone tells it like it is). Ranking the Rocky movies from best to worst, I'd have to go with I, Balboa, III, II, then IV, and V doesn't get a ranking (because it's obvious what it should be).

Now some of you might be looking at that and being like, "WTF, you have Balboa before IV?! And III before IV?!" The answer is a definitive, "You should actually try watching IV as a serious movie, beyond 'Rocky fights a 'roid ragin' Russian robot' (Alliteration, yes!). Not only is the first half of the movie absolutely ridiculous (with the robot and the pseudo life-partner relationship between Rocky and Apollo), but there is a grand total of 5 montages. Five! In one movie! (Now that's nowhere near Transformers: the Animated Movie's grand total of 10 montages, but still, that was a movie about toys. Incidentally, Vince DiCola does the soundtrack for Rocky IV, the same guy who did the soundtrack for Transformers! If you watch both movies, it's so obvious). Listing off the montages we have: Introduction montage (a staple of all Rocky movies), "Apollo dies then Rocky goes driving" montage, Training montage 1, Training montage 2, and final fight montage. Seriously. WTF. 2 training montages? A montage is basically like director saying "OK a lot of shit happens, but we don't wanna show it all, so here's a musical treat!" But I still love them.

Rocky III is also vastly underrated, (even though Mr. T's performance is as crappy as advertised) but it still tells a very good story about Rocky's heart and determination. which is really what the Rocky movies are about. Plus there's the strikingly overt gay undertones between Rocky and Apollo during their training sequence (look at how Apollo looks at Rocky's butt as they're doing the dance-training thing). That and the freeze-frame ending is priceless. But anyway, back to Balboa.

Other than Rocky I, I think that Rocky Balboa is far and away the best of the Rocky series. Stallone really brings Rocky to life one more time, and his character portrayal is his best performance since Rocky I. You really feel as if this is the real Rocky, some 30 odd years later after his first fight with Apollo. Honestly, I think you could just skip from Rocky I to Rocky Balboa and not miss a beat, Stallone-wise. Sure you'd have a few character gaps, but Stallone's performance is so good that you'd just assume they're just plot fillers. The rest of the actors also performed extremely well, with Antonio Tarver pulling off an excellent Mason Dixon, and Milo Ventimiglia giving us a believable Robert Balboa, Rocky's son.

In addition to the good acting performances, the movie has an excellent message and theme. Really, the entire Rocky series is so moving because of its thematics, with Rocky being the dumb, good-hearted fighter with the unbreakable will. I especially love the line "...it ain't 'bout how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward." I think Rocky I and Balboa should be required viewing for all kids 10 and older. It really teaches you to suck it up and keep going forward despite impossible odds against you. Rocky is really really stupid (he says his wife died of "woman cancer."), but he also shows that you can be dumb, but still have self-respect, and that you can be given nothing and still make yourself into something.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

I leave you with the best part of the film, the intro to the training sequence. Watch it; it will change your life. "Let's start buildin' some hurtin' bombs!"

Update: Rocky II definitely is the 2nd worst Rocky film for me (I don't count V as a Rocky film), because there's very little depth beyond the plot. Sure it accomplishes its purpose in Rocky winning the title from Apollo, Adrian freaking out because Rocky gets the crap kicked out of him in every fight, and everyone in the world making fun of Rocky because he's an idiot. But, it really doesn't bring much more out of the characters, and seriously makes me want to kill a couple of them (Apollo and Adrian both have a couple "omg just stfu" scenes). A decent film, but I definitely liked III better.

2008 NBA Playoffs: 2nd Round Predictions

(See my 2008 NBA Playoffs Predictions, and my 1st round results post.)

Well the first round is (mostly) over, so it's time for my revised second round predictions (given that some of my first rounders were wrong...). Just a little disclaimer before we continue: I do not guarantee accuracy nor credibility, but I do guarantee selective memory in touting my correct picks and conveniently forgetting those that I get wrong. With that, on to the 2nd round...

East

#1 Boston vs. #4 Cleveland

This is assuming that Boston wins Game 7 vs Atlanta, which I fully expect them to considering they've handed the Hawks three 20 point beatdowns in Boston during this series. Even so, because the Celtics have gone the distance against the Hawks, I have absolutely no confidence with them against Lebron James and co. If they can't stop Joe Johnson, they won't stop Lebron. Boston may come out like the real Boston (the one from the regular season that dominated and won 66 games) and make me look stupid, but I'm not betting against Lebron anymore.

Prediction: Cleveland in 6

#2 Detroit vs. #3 Orlando

Unlike Boston, I think Detroit has actually pulled it together. They played pretty well, beating down the 76ers in the last 2 games, closing out the series in 6. And although Orlando did beat Toronto in 5, it is Toronto... The Raptors didn't have the size nor the strength to deal with Dwight Howard, but the Pistons do have a few big men that they'll throw at him to slow him down. I also think that Detroit's perimeter defense will be able to shut down the Magic's three point shooting. With those two things down (Howard, 3-pointers), the Magic really have nothing else to go to.

Prediction: Detroit in 6

West

#1 Los Angeles vs. #4 Utah

Utah played a pretty good series vs. Houston, but they did allow T-Mac to get 40 points in the close-out game despite him having to play 1 on 5. Plus, with Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko having almost non-existent postseasons, the Lakers will be able to take this one with Kobe Bryant again leading the way (and fresh off his MVP award...?).

Prediction: LA in 6

#2 New Orleans vs. #3 San Antonio

God, this is the hardest one to pick. New Orleans is coming off a great series, absolutely dominating Dallas in the first round (causing Dallas to fire their coach). Yet, San Antonio is also coming off a great series, pounding the crap out of Phoenix in 4 out of 5 games, 1 of them a classic (Game 1), 2 huge beatdowns (2 and 3), Phoenix's last gasp (4), and the closeout (5). This one's so hard to pick because it's not as if we can use the regular season to compare the Spurs to the Hornets (because the Spurs just don't give a crap during the regular season, obviously...). I have a feeling this is going to come back and bite me in the ass, but I'm going to pick youth over experience, and go with Chris Paul and the Hornets. Hopefully Robert Horry gets hurt (so he won't be able to put Chris Paul into the stands like he did to Steve Nash).

Prediction: New Orleans in 7

...

God, these playoffs turned out gay. Whoever went chalk with their picks got them all correct... Western Conference most competitive ever my ass. Till the next round, where I'll probably tout my correct picks this round, and casually forget/brush-off my wrong picks.

2008 NBA Playoffs: 1st Round Prediction Results

Well...for those of you who read my 2008 NBA playoffs picks, they generally fell into 3 distinctly different categories: the ones I got entirely correct, the ones I got mostly correct, and the ones I got completely wrong. With that, let's have a little recap.

Predictions that were entirely correct:

East

#3 Orlando vs. #6 Toronto
Prediction: Orlando in 5
Result: Orlando in 5

Orlando took the first two games with ease, as expected. After those first two games, I thought perhaps that Orlando might sweep, but the Raptors came back in Toronto as expected with a good effort due to home court advantage. However, Orlando easily took the next two, as the combined strength of Dwight Howard and the Magic's 3-point shooting were too much for the streaky-shooting Raptors (despite a monster 39 point, 15 rebound game from Chris Bosh in game 4.).

West

#1 Los Angeles vs. #8 Denver
Prediction: LA in 4
Result: LA in 4

Many of ESPN's experts picked this one to be the Lakers in 5 or 6 games, but I knew better. The Lakers simply had too many offensive weapons, with both Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol having a monster series. Plus, the Lakers ability to play occasional defense made all the difference between them and high-scoring Nuggets. Of course, the Nuggets basically imploding in a couple games helped, but that was sort of expected given their team make-up and abundance of tattoos.

#4 Utah vs. #5 Houston
Prediction: Utah in 6
Result: Utah leads 3-2 as of 11:45, 05-02-08 (*Update*: Utah won pretty big, building a huge lead going into the 4th quarter. So Utah takes the series in6, as I predicted ;) ).

Game 6 is going as I'm typing this, but the Jazz are up by 16 now with less than 6 minutes to go in the first half, and they're at home, so I'll just assume they're going to win (sorry Houston). Now that I think about it, I really shouldn't have given the Rockets two wins, given my analysis of their only play (Tracy McGrady dribble/turnover). But, the return of Rafer Alston really helped T-Mac, and the Rockets were able to pull out two wins, one extremely impressive victory in Utah, and an enormous 95-69 beatdown in Game 5 when down 3-1. But, T-Mac is basically alone in this series, and him carrying them this far has been an amazing achievement. I feel bad for the guy, because he's infamous for going out in the first round of the playoffs, but most of the time it really hasn't been his fault. (UPDATE: wow, in the two minutes I've used to type this, the Rockets have managed to pull within 9, and T-Mac already has 24 points with 4 minutes to go in the 1st half! I may have to change this prediction later...)

Predictions that were mostly correct:

East

#2 Detroit vs. #7 Philadelphia
Prediction: Detroit in 5
Result: Detroit in 6

I expected Philadelphia to have at least one solid game on their home floor, but I didn't expect them to take the first game in Detroit, at all. But, the Pistons finally came alive after Game 3, and took it to the 76ers with 2 impressive wins, one in Philadelphia, the other at home winning by 17. Detroit was simply too good for the overachieving 76ers. Sorry Philly, better luck next year...

West

#2 New Orleans vs. #7 Dallas
Prediction: New Orleans in 6
Result: New Orleans in 5

I'm quite proud of this one, mostly because many of ESPN's "experts" picked Dallas to win, most attributing it to their "playoff experience." But, all the smart analysts (aka those that don't appear on TV), actually know enough about basketball to realize that playoff experience is a joke when matching up against a quicker, smarter, better coached, more efficient basketball team. And as I predicted, Chris Paul made Jason Kidd look like a retiree, averaging 24 points, 12 assists, and 2 steals a game, including a monster 32 point, 17 assist Game 2 and a triple-double in the decisive Game 5.

Predictions that I got completely wrong:

East

#1 Boston vs. #8 Atlanta
Prediction: Boston in 4
Result: Tied 3-3 as of 05-02-08

I completely did not see this coming. Atlanta has played with so much heart, and Al Horford, Joe Johnson, and Josh Smith have all been amazing for the Hawks in this series. Plus, Boston has played with a lot less intensity than I expected, and this causes me to seriously doubt their potential to win the championship this year (or even beat Cleveland in the 2nd round). I predict that Boston will win Game 7, simply because of their home court advantage, where they've pretty much taken it to the Hawks at home. But still, great series from Atlanta. Their future looks very bright indeed.

#4 Cleveland vs. #5 Washington
Prediction: Washington in 6
Result: Cleveland in 6

I bet against Lebron James, and I paid the price. Washington didn't show half the toughness or defensive intensity that I expected out of them, and they allowed James to basically beat the crap out of them all by himself. Plus, the return of Gilbert Arenas seemed to hurt a lot of players chemistry, especially Caron Butler, who had a couple good games, but also a couple of real stinkers. Antawn Jamison was also extremely quiet in this series, not being nearly as dominating as he needed to be for the Wizards to win.

West

#3 San Antonio vs. #6 Phoenix
Prediction: Phoenix in 6
Result: San Antonio in 5

Man, the Spurs are such a-holes. They lie in wait, biding their time until the playoffs, then they just magically turn it on. It's almost as if the regular season is just their stretching and warm-ups, and the playoffs are the actual game. Game 1 was amazing, with the game going to double OT on threes by Michael Finley, and of all people, Tim Duncan. After that, it was all down-hill for the Suns, who couldn't hold a lead nor keep a rhythm. Some blame this on Hack-a-Shaq, used by Greg Popovich (coach of the Spurs) to discombobulate Phoenix's highly rhythm oriented offense. But man, I can't believe the Spurs are this good despite being so old. Maybe it's the return of Robert Horry? ;)

...

I'll save my revised second round picks for tomorrow, just because I'm tired and need some time to think about my predictions before actually explaining them :P.

A Fear Sleeps, Inside Your Stomach, It Swells...

It's so strange. I don't know why I always get the urge to write late at night, but I do. Maybe it's because that's when my best ideas start coming to me. Or that's when I finally have some time to slow down and think about the things that I've been through, the things I've experienced. I write a lot by feelings: depending on which feeling dominates me at a certain point, usually has the greatest influence on the topic I decide to write about. If I feel happy and expository, I'll write about basketball, or movies. If I feel angry or sad, I may write about my frustrations or my tribulations. With each feeling, I try to write about it in some way as a method of expressing my emotions. I usually try to tie each emotion in to some topic, be it basketball, movies, anime, philosophy, school, family, or even searching for a job. But some feelings have no context...

So, what is it that I feel now? I'm not sure to be honest. School is pretty much over except for finals and a couple assignments, but nothing too prevalent. Tomorrow is the last day of classes, and I don't have anything due so I'll be able to go out and have some fun. Yet, I can't seem to shake this feeling. This feeling that I can't really explain. This feeling that seems so close, yet so far. This feeling that seems so much, like fear.

I'm willing to admit that I am afraid of certain things; that's part of me being honest with myself and others. But one's fears so often shape what one is, that exposing one's fears to the world is the quickest way to lose one's own mystique, one's own aura of ambiguity. Ask yourself, "what do I fear?" Answer honestly. It doesn't have to be an object or a tangible goal. It can be something like failing yourself, not living up to your own standards, or not having enough fun while you can, or giving up too soon, or any number of things. But think about your answer. Think about what you fear. Sometimes this is the hardest question in life, figuring out what you truly fear. Nothing mundane, like spiders, or the dark, but real life fears. Occurrences that seem so hideous that you would do anything to avoid them. Once you understand that which you truly fear, is when you truly understand yourself and the true reasons behind your actions.

What do I fear? I'm not sure. But I do know what I do not fear. I don't fear failure. I don't fear loneliness. I don't fear death. I don't fear pain. I don't fear the unknown, and I don't fear the truth. So what is it that could bring me to write an entire post devoted to fear? Perhaps the fear that all the people I know will pass through my life, one at a time, without truly coming to know what I understand. That people will only know one facet of my self without learning all there is to know. The fear that my words go unheeded, my advice goes unwanted, my ideas go unknown.

Perhaps that's the way I like it, not being understood. Perhaps this fear is just a visceral reaction to myself thinking that perhaps my way of living is wrong. But I do remember one time Matt told me something to the effect of, "now that I think about it, I don't really know anything about what JK likes or dislikes." And I remember that made me happy. Not being understood. The fact that everyone knows me, but no one really knows me. I don't know why that makes me happy. Maybe it's just my mind coming to accept the way that I am. Maybe it's just me settling for the fact that I don't want to change myself, the way I act. Who knows.

I leave you with the beautiful song, "Sadame," from the anime X. I can play this song on the piano, and it's so amazing, in that it can both calm me and bring me to tears depending on the circumstances. It encompasses so many of my raw emotions, and if you truly listen, you can hear the song telling you a story. A story of joy, sadness, despair, and lasting fear.