Links

The Thermals, 'Personal Life': I've been all in with the Thermals ever since their 2006 release of 'The Body, the Blood, the Machine,' which might be the best punk album with a religious theme since, well, Bad Religion released anything. Two albums later, the Portland trio are still rocking punk anthemic. The new album streams on NPR through Sept. 7.

LeBron starring in a remake of "Big": Though the GQ article itself isn't available online, the author's post-mortem is a must read to help bring closure to the bizarre Decision special we all witnessed this summer. Is anyone else starting to see similarities between LeBron James and Tom Hank's overgrown kid character in the movie Big? Nearly everything I have read since the Decision points to LeBron's immaturity and ever expanding entourage insulating him from the outside world. Am I the only one that can envision a future NBA ad featuring LeBron and D-Wade playing Chopsticks on a giant piano?

I Thought MoveOn.Org Was Supposed to Prevent This?: The Lost Season 6 DVD came with an extra 12 minute epilogue to the series finale, *finally putting to rest all questions ever asked about the show or its ending (*please please let this be the case).

Another Arcade Fire Video: Arcade Fire's internet video for 'We Used to Wait,' involves an ingenious use of Google Street View in reviving images of the home you grew up in. The video won't work on Firefox (Google Chrome or Safari browsers work fine), and it's best that you close all other applications before watching.

Thanks For Being Had By Us Part 2: After spending $1.3 billion on building and upgrading soccer stadiums for the World Cup, South African officials report that the white elephants are unfit for the planned conversions to host cricket and rugby events.

What Scottie Don't Know: A fantastic retrospective on the Hall of Fame career of one Scottie Maurice No Tippin' Pippen. Scottie's famous denial of Charles Smith to win a pivotal game 5 in a playoff series at MSG remains my single favorite NBA moment ever.

Is Bébé to Chicharito the new Giggs to Rooney?: Manchester United makes headlines by paying $11.5M for a street player known known as Bébé (baby), who was signed by a Portuguese side for nothing just five weeks earlier. The 20 year old immigrant from Cape Verde has gone from hoping to play in the Homelss World Cup to the world's most famous team in just two years time.

In anticipation of football season starting, check this old highlight reel of Water Payton running the Wildcat formation way back in 1984. Pretty sweet stuff:

Links

Arcade Fire, 'We Used to Wait' [Tunes]: If you haven't watched any of Arcade Fire's show at MSG yet, then this video should be the next thing you do. YouTube been posting videos from the Terry Gilliam directed concert, all of which are entertaining. The 'Power Out/Rebellion' song transition is another must see from indie rock's biggest band.

Dodger Dog: This LA Weekly feature on Dodgers owner Frank McCourt displays his ruthless approach to business, and how he's using the same scorch the earth approach to his very public and messy divorce. Interestingly, McCourt made a boatload from the state of Massachusetts from owning land over Boston's Big Dig, resulting in the biggest eminent-domain settlement in history.

Steroids and Baseball is the new Nuts and Gum: This analysis provides a final break down on the tired, overdone steroids debate. Whether anyone will actually read this before repeating the same steroid soundbites is entirely another matter.

The Football Never Falls Far From the Tree (ESPN insider required): A great article on Jim and John Harbaugh, two brothers who followed their father's footsteps into coaching football in two very different ways. My favorite quote comes from Jim (the quarterback who starred at Michigan and then played 15 years in the NFL) of his brother John (the student who was accepted at Yale but went to Miami of Ohio to save on tuition): "I could have been a player or a coach, my brother could have been anything he wanted."

The James Franco Game: Here's an idea for a new game. Pick which of the three following things is false about James Franco: 1) James Franco does not feed himself. He has one of his assistants feed him. Otherwise, James Franco does not eat; 2) After taking English classes as a break from acting, James Franco started taking up to 62 credits a quarter, and graduated with a degree in just 2 years, 3) James Franco does not drink or do drugs, and often stays up for 36 hours straight in order to accomplish everything he set out to do on any given day. The answer? Remarkably, none.

An Expose on Hippie Crack: Apparently the untold story of the summer music festival scene is the proliferation of gas dealers selling nitrous oxide in balloons to eager concert goers. Who knew that whippits would be the hipster drug of choice? Since nitrous was also the favored pastime at Nintendo playing parties back in the day, this somehow makes sense.

The Biggest Save: Jimmy Nielsen, goalie for the Kansas City Wizard, nearly gambled it all away burning through paychecks on his way to earning the nickname, 'Casino Jimmy.' Seems to me he could release his own website on his gambling picks, calling it the 'Nielsen Ratings.' Speaking of gambling, the Economist is running its own in depth report on the subject here.

Steel Panther. This may be the best video I have ever watched. So many great one-liners. Truly epic:

Links

Diplo, 'Chasing The Dragon' [Tunes]: The DJ behind Major Lazer, M.I.A. and Robyn, has released an old school mix of 60's and 70's rock and soul. No singles, no tracklist, this is purely 64 minutes of good times for your next outdoor bbq. You can also download the mp3 to Itunes for future listening here. That foreign sample of the Stone's 'Paint It Black' is killer, and don't sleep on the Michael Damian shout out (you know the song, Rock On).

Like Drinking Ten Lightnings!: Would you be interested in watching the pilot episode of David Cross' new show, co-starring Will Arnet and Spike Jonze? 'The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret' was picked up in Britain and will premier on the IFC this fall. This show isn't to be confused with Will Arnett's Running Wilde, which will premiere on Fox this fall as well. Apparently Christmas has come early for Arrested Development fans.

It's a Mad Mad Mad Men World: This website absolutely crushes the fashion featured in Mad Men. Don't believe me? Just scroll down to read the bit about Roger Sterling's office (picture above). Along with with Alan Sepinwall's blog, there is no shortage of must read blogs covering the best show on TV.

Baseball is For Closers: Ever want to know what it's like to bid for a major league baseball team? Mark Cuban describes the process in his blog. It turns out, like most things, it's a lot more boring than we'd like to imagine. Still, the notion of owning both the Mavs and Rangers just to hold the television networks hostage to a bidding war is fascinating. Let's hope this isn't the last we hear of Mark Cuban in baseball.

Sounds Like Someone Had A Case of the Mondays: Lost in the hoopla surrounding the Jet Blue Bandit's slip and slide moment is this blogger's posting from his experience being on the plane. Not much new to report, but it's interesting to read a near real time take on the incident outside of the mainstream media glare. The line "to the passenger that just called me a motherf----r, f--k you" needs to be worked into a rap song immediately.

Baseballs Before and After Hoes: This kid shows some veteran moxie by claiming he 'lost a ball in the lights' when he bailed out of the way of a baseball that hit her girlfriend. Curious as to why he's the one holding the baseball after that display.

The Best Catch of the Year: In case anyone hasn't seen this yet, it's straight out of a Spiderman influenced Manga comic:



And just because I feel like it needs to be in here, a bonus second video, the Double Rainbow all the way:

Links

Arcade Fire, 'The Suburbs' [Tunes]: The idea behind Arcade Fire's third album, The Suburbs, was born from a picture received from an old boyhood friend, showing a daughter on the friend's shoulders at the mall around the corner from where the band grew up in Houston, Texas. There's a familiarity with places we grew up, and adulthood comes with discoveries and disillusionment away from what we once knew. By now Arcade Fire has grown far beyond its indie-rock roots, and is now capable of selling out arenas. Thankfully, the band is still kind enough to let us all in on the fun, hiring Terry Gilliam (the Monty Python alum who directed Brazil and 12 Monkeys), to direct a free live webcast of Thursday's show at Madison Square Garden.

I Wonder if There's a Madden Video Jinx?: President Obama appears in the new release of the Madden video game franchise. Apparently there are video clips specific to each team visiting the White House when they win the title. How cool would it be to see the '85 Bears doing the Super Bowl Shuffle in front of Reagen on a throwback version?

Red Bull Isn't the Only Thing That Gives Him Wings: Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum signs an endorsement deal with Red Bull in an attempt top make baseball look cool to kids. Like the secret halfpipe Red Bull built for snowboarder Shawn White, the caffeinated drink company has agreed to build Lincecum a secret pitching mound to help in perfecting his unique pitching motion. Early reports indicate that Timmy has requested the pitching mound be located in Humboldt County.

Selling Out has its Downside: After attaining fame and fortune with a sellout album geared for the masses, the Kings of Leon cancel a show due to a heavy droppings of bird shit all over the band. Bird pooh in the mouth sounds like a higher form of Chinese water torture. Or eating at a Chevy's.

The Best GTL Compliment There Is: The highest paid soccer player in the world, Christiano Ronaldo, is mistaken for Jersey Shore's 'The Situation' at a New York eatery. Word is that everyone realized who it was when Ronaldo fell down clutching his knee after being breathed on by a nearby sommelier.

Those in Nats Town Probably Want to Skip This: A former major league pitching coach compares Stephen Strasburg's throwing motion with Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. Let's hope Strasburg doesn't join them and Brien Taylor on the Mt. Rushmore of failed pitching prospects.

Those in Any Sports City Probably Want to Skip This: ESPN releases a report showing the unsanitary conditions that food is served to customers at sporting events. Florida leads the way with 7 of the 8 most unsanitary concession stands in the nation. Perhaps those attending Heat games will get the sick to the stomach feeling that Cavaliers fans will have every day for the rest of their NBA fan lives.

A wrap-up video on Maradona's at the World Cup. It's a damn shame that his coaching contract wasn't renewed. Any chance we can start a facebook group to have him replace Ellen on American Idol?