Sports video games

As a guy who is really into sports and somewhat into video games, sports video game is of course something I play (once in a while) Turns out lots of sports stars enjoy them too. Check out this article:

Between games, practices, travel and promotional appearances, you'd think that the NBA's multimillionaire stars would be too busy. But most NBA players say they find time to play video games every day. In fact, the NBA claims that 85 percent of its players are gamers. "I would say I play about three or four hours every night," says Orlando Magic Center Dwight Howard. "I'm a night owl, so after games I'm up till about 4 or 5 a.m. playing video games." "That's all I do," says Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant. "If I'm not on the court, I got the controller in my hand." "With the schedule we have this year, I don't get to play as much as I want to," says LeBron James of the Miami Heat. "But whenever I get some down time I play some Xbox." As the NBA playoffs get under way, half the league's players are done for the season, giving them more free hours to fire up their video game consoles. The other half will have extra time off between playoff games, thanks to the league's stretched-out postseason schedule. "I play a little bit, but I played more during the summer," says Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics. "This season is so crammed, it's tough." The league's rising young stars aren't immune from the thrills of gaming, either. Ricky Rubio (Minnesota Timberwolves), Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers) and John Wall (Washington Wizards), made a pit stop while in Orlando for the 2012 NBA All-Star Game to check out the new "NBA Live 13" game at Electronic Arts' Tiburon studio -- the developer behind sports franchises like "Madden NFL 12," "NCAA Football 12" and the new "Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf 13." NBA fans will have a choice of simulation games next season when "NBA Live 13" tips off against "NBA 2K13." It's been a few years now that gamers, and NBA players, have had no choice in pro-hoops games (outside of the arcade game, EA Sports NBA Jam). "I'm excited they brought 'NBA Live' back," says Durant. "I haven't talked to anybody yet (about the cover). I'm sure I'll get a call here in a few hours or a few days or so. I haven't heard about it, this is my first time. I'm excited." Durant was the cover athlete for "NBA Elite 11," a rebranding of EA Sports' basketball franchise that was canceled because of horrible community reaction to the glitchy gameplay. But he's still up for being on the cover of the new game. "I'm a '2K' person now," says Andre Iguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers. "I might give 'NBA Live 13' a try, but '2K' has taken over the basketball scene." Although a knee injury to New York Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin knocked him out for the season, he's still playable in "NBA 2K12" -- and his gameplay has improved thanks to not one, but two player rating upgrades by developer Visual Concepts. "I actually don't know the exact numbers, but I know for a while I was in the 50s, I believe," Lin says. "I think ESPN had me as the 467th best player out of 500 or something like that coming into the season." Now that Lin has earned a 75 in the game, up from 56 when he was a bench player, he's not focusing on how high his player rating can go. "I'm not really too worried about that," he says. "I don't have a set number or goal, but it's cool to be able to hear about progressing. That's the important thing, is that me and my team continue to improve. As long as we're headed up, I think we're good to go." New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony is happy for his teammate's player rating upgrade. "It's getting up there," he says. "It should be in the 90s. If I have a chance to play '2K12,' he's definitely in my starting lineup." But not everyone is crazy about their NBA 2K12 player ratings. And yes, they do check out their in-game attributes. "I like some of the ratings, but I feel like some of them could be increased a little bit," says Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward. "Defensively, I think they've got my grade a little low. I think they had one of my teammates, Al Jefferson, a better perimeter defender than me. I was like, 'Come on now, that can't happen.' With time, they'll probably increase them, so I'm not too worried about it." Utah Jazz teammate Jeremy Evans, winner of the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, would also like to see his player ratings in NBA '2K12' improved. "When I play '2K12,' and sometimes I play as myself, I get mad," he says. "It's like, 'I would have dunked that in the NBA.' It's a great game, but sometimes they don't actually make you like you want to be made." Evans grew up on sports games like "Double Dribble" and "NBA Live" on the Nintendo 64 and now plays "FIFA 12" and the "Call of Duty" series. When it comes to video games, some NBA players will try anything. "I played everything...football games, basketball games, baseball games, Donkey Kong, and all of that," says Los Angeles Clippers star Blake Griffin. "Actually, probably my favorite game to play is 'Tiger Woods Golf.' It's always been fun. I've played it for a long time." So the next time you're on Xbox Live, it may just be an NBA All-Star in that game world with you.

American Comics

一直覺得我的童年過得和其他朋友的很不一樣：我沒有去公園和鄰居小朋友玩；沒有看過幾集IQ博士；「公仔書」除了老夫子、加菲貓之外，如龍虎門、中華英雄等等名作完全未睇過，直至大學時代才首次接觸天下畫集，並感受到公仔書的吸引力。出來工作後我還曾在唐人街訂閱天下及龍虎五世好幾年呢。

不過身在美國多年，卻從未接觸美國本地赫赫有名的Marvel及DC公仔書；對於各位superhero(e.g. Superman, Spiderman, Batman)的事跡，皆從電視電影認識。隨著兒子開始接近看漫畫的年齡，作為一個盡責的父親，我認為是時候事先了解下美國流行的漫畫是甚麼一回事。從香港連環圖得來的經驗，知道中途開始follow一套漫畫殊非易事，皆因人物來龍去脈經歷多期發展必定變得錯綜複雜，死過番生幾次不足為奇；美國的漫畫在這方面尤其遭讀者詬病（請看這個攪笑帖）

由於喜愛的女明星Cobie Smulders有份參演The Avenger（飾團隊統籌員Maria Hill一角），我愛屋及烏決定看看The Avenger，在Amazon收加州稅前買入The Avenger Vol.1合訂本，以為可以從頭開始follow，誰知所謂Vol.1也有多本，我仔細查閱維基百科，才發現買的其實是2010開始畫的故事，提到不少Avenger之間過去的情仇，和歹角Kane的恩怨，均不知詳情；總算勉強明白，看完全本。暴力程度和香港的相若，血腥程度則更低，我想讓年青人看看也可以接受吧。繼後的Vol.2不打算追了，反而找到一個給電影迷寫的Avenger指南，下一本可能會看看該指南介紹的The Ultimates。

紐約+華盛頓：音樂篇

在紐約生活的日子一星期去三四場live jazz shows是等閒事，十二年前離開之後此情不再，今次當然要舊夢重温！出發前預先查了各著名jazz club(Village Vanguard, Blue Note, Iridium, Jazz Standard, Birdland)的節目，老實說只有Larry Coryell及Earl Klugh兩位結他手名氣較大特別想看，不過作為全世界爵士樂之都，我深信只要在我以前住的Greenwich Village走走，一定有好jazz。

我們星期日抵達NYC，Larry Coryell及兒子Murali Coryell一連兩晚在 Iridium演出，第一晚rhythm section由Victor Bailey(bass)及Lenny White負責，一看就知勁fusion；就如以下video：


第二晚則和Les Paul Trio的結他手Lou Pallo及bassist/vocalist Nicki Parrott合作。明顯我是去了第二晚，雖然很想很想見識「神級」bassist Victor Bailey，換上一個彈得唱得的靚女也是好事。大部份時間Larry Coryell彈他那支Ken Parker Archtop，比較多傳統jazz jam。正如Larry Coryell說，大家欣賞他們jam野吧：

Watch live streaming video from iridiumlive at livestream.com

還想一提的是，從Broadway進Iridium大門行落樓梯入地庫坐在開揚的大廳，感覺反而怪怪，因為隱約記得以前是上樓梯，場地長型多視線受阻位。上網查查，原來Iridium在2001年（我離開NYC之後）才搬到現址！表演結束後我買點紀念品，是介紹Sunburst款Les Paul結他的書／圖集，找來Lou Pallo為我簽名，他還送我一塊guitar pick。Iridium和結他設計及演奏大師Les Paul有不解之緣，96年至09年Les去世，他逢星期一都和他的三重奏在那裡演出，可說是該地揚名立萬的功臣。我以前一直想找個星期一看Les Paul Trio演出，可惜在他去世後才有此機會。

星期三再出動，目標是位於Village的jazz club Smalls，名符其實小得可以，也甚具傳奇性。記得十幾年前該club沒有酒牌，大家都是自備飲品。收入只靠cover charge，不知是不是這個原因，我走之後幾年便結業。而我知它從新營業是因為爵士結他大師（及老師）Jimmy Bruno早幾年在那裡演出，我們這班學生兼fans都上網看webcast。和以往不同的，現在的Smalls有酒賣；不變的是，午夜過後還有演出，而且之後還有open jam。當年就是我（和很多知音人）常常徹夜不歸的蒲點，今次自然非去不可。色士風手Patrick Cornelius的樂隊演出之後，「午夜場」是女色士風手Melissa Aldana的樂隊，玩modern jazz的女色士風手固然令人矚目，但我更留意的是結他界聲望日隆的Gilad Hekselman（我的老師十分欣賞的校友Kurt Rosenwinkel當年也常在Smalls打躉）整體上演出火花十足。（作為結他友的我對Hekselman彈那支Victor Baker度身訂造的細版archtop亦極感興趣，類似這一支)這場結束後，輪到一眾參與open jam的樂手陸續上場，整晚坐在我隔鄰那位仁兄也是一份子，原來是色士風高手。這十幾年來我的演奏技術進步不大，對這班open jam友造詣的欣賞卻是與日俱增，皆因open jam並無事先訂出曲目，參與的樂手要背熟一大set經常演出的standard，包括head melody及chord changes，有人問我幾時去open jam，我實在不敢想像。(寫這段之時看到一篇相關Q＆A，獲益良多)直到2:45am，知道明早還有節目才依依不捨回酒店。

星期五離開NYC，之前一晚當然「搏老命」也要出多一次。先到Village Vanguard 11點場看新進Vibraphonist Warren Wolf的Quartet演出，無獨有偶，其中幾位樂手都是來自我們之後那天去的DC！鋼琴及bass手似曾相識，認得之前一晚在Smalls的open jam中見過他們上場，這個四重奏組合玩live聽起來比有色士風手的唱片要精采。

散場後再到離我舊居(Sullivan St)不遠的The Zinc Bar，當晚有著名鼓手Jeff "Tain" Watts領軍的樂隊，成員還包括另一位當打色士風手Marcus Strickland。總括來說，NYC四個場地大牌音樂人看了不多，但this and next gen的强手卻看得不少，實在是心滿意足。

有圖有真相

Sports highlights: IndyCar championship, NFL

This was what I wrote about IndyCar last year around the same time: Will Power had the point lead with hopes to win the championship. We all knew the final race of last season was the sad one in which Dan Wheldon lost his life. Will Power was also involved in the same accident and the title went to Dario Franchitti. In the same article I also wrote about 5-time champ Jimmie Johnson not winning that NASCAR race and ended up failing to defend his title. Similarly, this year 4-time champ Dario Franchitti has a down year, who was the major rival of Power. Looks like it's finally the year that Will Power could win it all. On the other hand, his track record on oval, especially for the last race of the season, didn't look good. He crashed 2 years in a row. So, with a point lead going to the final race of the season at Fontana California on 9/15, I was still quite unsure about his chance. Unfortunately, what all Will Power fan worried about, namely, another crash, indeed happened, while he and the eventual champion Ryan Hunter-Reay raced for position. Will Power's car lost control during the turn. Fortunately he didn't get hurt and no other car was involved so basically he lost the championship on his own. The only "saving grace" for IndyCar fan like me was that Hunter-Reay is an American (I also wrote about American not doing well in the sport.) He was the first American winning the championship since Sam Hornish Jr did it in 2006! (Apparently IndyCar was too comfortable for Hornish and he had to moved to NASCAR and endured some hard times there.) Ryan Hunter-Reay really deserved to win. He fought hard after the 2 poor performances late in the season. Even with Will Power crashed, Hunter-Reay still had to move up positions to gain enough points over Power and he did just that. Congratulations to the new champ.

It's September and it also means another new NFL season has started. I have not been a happy NFL fan for a while. However, I still enjoy watching the highlights as most games were still exciting (close games, spectacular plays, etc) It has been a good weekend because:
1) All those talks about 49ers going 16-0 has stopped after they got beaten up by the Vikings.
2) The Cowboys barely defeated the Bucs.
3) On the day former Raider Marcus Allen lighted the ceremonial flame that honored legendary (and controversial) owner Al Davis, the team won one for Al again, beating the mighty Steelers with a last minute field goal. Most people disagree with Davis picking kicker Sebastian Janikowski in the first round but Janikowski has indeed helped the team winning quite a few games. So Al may be right after all.
4) A few other games were also decided by last minute FG, including the Ravens beating the Patriots, the Jets beating the Dolphins (Reggie Bush is not going to be the RB with most yards this season, BTW), the Titans beating the Lions, the Chiefs beating the Saints (I was laughing so hard when the Saint's players cried "Justice! Fairness!" after the suspension of those involved in the bounty-gate was overturned. Going 0-3 is real justice and real karma, man!)

Last but not least, so happy to see the Giants winning another NL West title. They did it with chemistry and without ego.