News The camera flashes to the hall just outside the locker room, as it always does before games, and most of the players glance sideways at the camera for a minute or ignore it all together. Nolan Smith, though, flashes a smile and a big peace sign, like he's a giddy fan who has falsely assumed he's on national television. I like that. Looseness. I know Nolan probably won't see the court much—if at all—tonight, ...   More

News Andrew Bynum is good. He's real good. He's big, he's quick (considering the bigness) and he plays aggressive basketball. He's especially good at flattening out Puerto Rican point guards who play with a little too much gusto. So that's my word of the day: Bynum. I'm not sure how the Blazers intend to defend the young man, but neither of the team's aging centers are going to be able to keep up with him ...   More

Music This city is huge. It stretches forever. From the top of this hill, I can see maybe 220 degrees of solid sprawl, and I know behind me is another 140. Stayed with the illustrious Adam Stamp last night, and he lives a block from the bottom of Runyon Canyon park, where supposedly the stars are to be seen, so I head up to see what I can. I'm pretty sure I see Mark Duplass doing pushups, but I'm not entirely ...   More