NBA & music

two quick recaps of things I've done this year:

1) father john misty, webster hall: excellent. the man is a terrific showman, has that jagger swagger- I hadn't expected that, I thought he'd be more of a meek lodge rocker. but no, a marvelous stage presence. and the band is great, great musicians. the song- not my favorite, but the song that grew the most for me, from album to live: "only son of the ladiesman." dazzling live. beautiful.

2) knicks vs. jazz, from tonight. no carmelo, and not a compelling opponent, but still a great night. for a cheap seat, I had a great view. steve novak, a guy I had barely heard of before the night began, finished with 20- nailed a ton of threes, one he hit as he was falling on his back, a great moment. JR Smith was great- he was the guy I was ready to watch tonight, and he delivered. one of the best moments of the night, a jumpball, circus pass that he came up with, after a long and crazy possession, and he drove right in for the two-handed dunk. a guy in my section was taunting #20 on the jazz (turned out to be gordon hayward, the Butler U. star); for the most part nothing the jazz did drew an opinion from me, all the fun was from following the knicks on either end. also, having played recently in that saturday league, I appreciated following the action on court, trying to anticipate the decision making in real time- just following the ball and checking the ballhandler's options at any given moment. makes me want season tickets.

• also- best laugh of the night was seeing that rapid-fire T-shirt super-cannon that could barely get to the top of the lowest rungs. man, seeing the operators give their emphatic thumbs up after that discouraging performance. comedy is contrast.