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it's been interesting these last 2 and a half months working at the NBA. i feared i may get sick of talking basketball - ya know... that has always been part of what has kept me away from the music industry as a profession. i love music soooo much that i would hate for it to become my source of income, and therefore a necessity, as opposed to a pleasure. but to my pleasant surprise, the job has only compounded my love of the game!
last weekend i was walking around the city with only de la, common, stevie and miles keeping me company, as usual - and decided to go to the new BR Monogram store on Bleeker. dope gear, by the way. on the way, i strolled by the the WEST 4th (cage) courts - a NYC basketball mecca. I remember when my dad and i used to walk around on weekends and stop and marvel at the leaping ability, dribbling skills, and quick temper of the players there. now, as i watch the players in the NBA D-League, i realize that only the TRULY talented make it to the NBA. wow - i thought the guys on West 4th were good... but Mike Taylor was automatic in the NBA Development League Finals friday - lifting his team to their first Championship. better, faster, stronger than those cats in the village and in most every gym around the country.
but, if you think you or your boys got the goods - we'll give you a chance to prove it. we are holding what is tantamount to open try-outs : NBA PREDRAFT CAMP in Georgia. $500, a dream - and legit talent is all you need. last year, 10 players of the 200 who showed up ended up playing in the NBA D-League. not bad odds, right? better than throwing hands with cats in the cage.
right before i left old navy for nokia in 2004, i discovered a lovely place on 23rd between 5th & 6th aves for grabbing a quick bite. rickshaw dumplings features wonderfully crafted sets of little goodies. for the non-purist dumpling eater, like myself, it's a wonderful twist on the traditional - as rickshaw features different dips and accompanying salads or soups to complete your dumpling experience. i prefer the chicken and thai basil, myself. but the shrimp and duck are awfully good too! so as to give you the public's view, as opposed to only my own, i offer you a link to YELP. if you don't know about Yelp, well, now you know. it's a 'regular peoples' zagat. you can log in - read and/or write reviews on eateries, cafes, lounges...etc. if you're in the flatiron district, and are looking to avoid the suburban blight that has supplanted itself (outback, olive garden...) in our fair city, try rickshaw - cheap and cheerful.
i was walking around in LES (new york's Lower East Side) today with carrie, and encountered the coolest urbanized version of a sport i'd ever seen. men & women on bicycles playing polo with augmented metal canes... like the ones that visually impaired people use -- they affixed a metal piece to the end of it, as a "mallet" - and used a tennis ball. cones were set up as goals. gotta love the ingenuity!
alvarez sent me an sms at 11:30am, as i was getting ready to show patti's apartment (which she found a sub-letter for today - congrats!). the text msg read : "yo - some yankee tickets fell into my lap for today. any interest in going 1pm game?" -- to which i responded, HELL YEAH! it was beautiful day for game - sunny but not too hot - and they gave out commemorative yankee stadium calendars to all in attendance. this is the last season in which the Yanks will play at the current Yankee Stadium. They will open the '09-'10 season across the street - literally - in the 3rd iteration of this, the mecca of baseball.
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
