Milwaukee Bucks Blog - The Bob Boozer Jinx : Led Zeppelin

Mad Ants! Bucks change D-League affiliates; Charlie Bell in Africa; Led Zeppelin Olympics video

J.D. Mo — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:18:00 GMT

NBA.com reported this week that the Bucks have switched Development League teams, losing their affiliation with the Tulsa 66ers when the team was purchased by the Oklahoma City Thunder (yep, that's officially the Supersonics' new name -- apparently the Seattle-fleeing cowboys weren't too impressed with the Bob Boozer Jinx proposal, the Rawhides).

The Bucks will now send their 1st and 2nd year players to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where they'll join the invasion of ...

The Mad Ants.

"Ants are ants" ... "NOT these ants."

The Fort Wayne Mad Ants, also the affiliate of the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers, are promoting last year's D-League star Bucks guard Ramon Sessions with the Bucks switch but Ramon won't be anywhere near that picnic. Rookie small forward Luc Mbah a Moute, the Bucks 2nd round pick, might do some time as a Mad Ant and it's possible 1st round pick Joe Alexander could find himself in the D-League if Mbah a Moute is more NBA-ready at this point (don't scoff -- if Alexander doesn't find his game, no reason to keep in Milwaukee). In either case (and it would be one or the other to Fort Wayne but not both) it does appear that being a Mad Ant would be a lot more fun than sitting on the bench in Milwaukee ...

The NBA's Basketball Without Borders Africa kicked off yesterday (Sept. 3) in Johannesberg, South Africa as NBA players, including Bucks guard Charlie Bell and Racine native Caron Butler of the Washington Wizards, toured the city's Apartheid Museum and visited an AIDS hospice. Today, the sixth annual Africa camp -- a Special Olympics camp -- opened and the players rolled out the pill, with former Buck and NBA hall of famer Bob "the Dobber" Lanier, now special assistant to NBA commissioner David Stern, doing the honors.

Here's Charlie doing something that wouldn't be allowed around the lions at the Milwaukee Zoo.

Notice that he's not quite touching the lion cub, though it's apparently well fed and deeply sleeping ... but that's still good work, Charlie. How often does anyone get to sneak in on a sleeping lion?

I have a feeling Charlie's role as Michael Redd's back-up will be more expansive this season than last. I foresee trouble ahead between coach Scott Skiles and Redd, who's not one to warm up to the concepts of team play or defense. Charlie should get some opportunities, and with Richard Jefferson and Joe Alexander on hand he won't be called on to play small forward as much as he was last season.

Last season was a forgettable one for Bell, as then-GM Larry Harris neglected Bell's contract negotiations but then surprised him by matching the free agent offer he received from the Miami Heat. Despite not being too happy about being a Buck and mired in a season-long shooting slump, Bell's defense and toughness earned him minutes under coach Larry Krystkowiak and will probably impress Skiles, too. He is a Flintstone, after all. Look for Charlie to have a solid, productive comeback in 2008-09.

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The British did the world a fine thing by commissioning Led Zeppelin guitarist and maestro Jimmy Page to compose its London 2012 presentation for the Beijing Olympics closing ceremony. The eight-minute piece - which featured Page, singer Leona Lewis and a reworked version of "Whole Lotta Love" - created quite a buzz all over the planet and earned a thumbs up from the toughest of critics -- Led Zeppelin fans, who were more than a little anxious about how it would come off. Page called it as "a wonderful, compact statement of why we're all here, which is London '12"; and raved about Lewis, describing the staging as "so her, so classy" and her vocals "dazzling."

And if there are any lingering doubts about how cool it was to Zeppelin-ize the Olympics, check out this video montage put together by Zep fan Videofleet. Beijing, basketball and Led Zeppelin! Brilliant!!!

I'd watch that vid a second time before scrolling down further ...

Someone sent me a picture a few days ago

in my email

and

I've been trying hard

forget it

ever since.

On second thought (well, it won't load to the site for some reason) ... it seems the basketball gods have conspired with the Led Zeppelin gods to ensure your unfettered enjoyment of those two fine things in life.

An Olympic Close: Wanna Whole Lotta Leona?

J.D. Mo — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:39:00 GMT

Hell hath not frozen over ... yet, but some believe that this phenomenon may indeed become something more than a hackneyed cliche Sunday during closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. No, no not a Spanish upset of the Redeem Team. No, this is an even more unexpected event, the sort of thing previously believed to be unthinkable ... unholy even. And apparently it will be aired at an as-yet-unspecified time Sunday evening on your local NBC Olympic channel.

Guitarist Jimmy Page, the mercurial genius who gave the world Led Zeppelin, will write the coda to the Beijing games and lead British "X-Factor" pop icon Leona Lewis in a performance of Led Zep's "Whole Lotta Love." For those of us who don't know, including me, X-Factor is the British version of American Idol. In fact it's the next generation of the show "Pop Idol" which spawned American Idol. This is the Brit TV crap produced by the same Simon guy whom we see on our TV sets crabbing at cheezy singers and picking fights with Paula Abdul.

One might wonder whether Page's groundbreaking sonic slab of pseudo-sexual mojo is an appropriate piece of music to cap an Olympics ("Kashmir" would have been a better choice, but then Pagey'd probably require Robert Plant for that). One might also wonder how this union ever came to be. Turns out it has everything to do with the British hosting the 2012 games in London. The Brits are allotted some performance time during the closing ceremonies to accept the Olympic flag from the Chinese and carry on.

The all-too-obvious emissaries for this important British Empire task? Well, of course, soccer posterboy David Beckham, the guitarist from Led Zeppelin and the 2006 winner of a pop idol TV show -- who, although she may be one of the sensual things ever born on British soil, sings the sort of souless pop nothings that turn Zep fans to stone. She cites Mariah Carey as an influence. Of course.

As these things go, once Page agreed to allow the use of the song, his involvement grew to encompass composition of the British musical score and a starring role in final production:

I prefer to look on the bright side and remember that Pagey's recent collaborations have been brilliantly executed. The Black Crowes tour (1999-2000) was the next best thing to Led Zeppelin; the encore guest appearance with the Foo Fighters earlier this summer rocked; the Led Zeppelin reunion in December has been hailed as the concert of the decade. Brilliant, all of it.

And who can forget "Come with Me" - the *** son of "Kashmir" meets Sean "Puffy" Combs and a Godzilla flick? The very mention of it caused bloodletting in the Houses of Holy, but the result was astonishingly ... good -- with Page even writing for "Kashmir" a fresh new bridge. It was so good, the youtube police have zagged the incendiary, full orchestra 1998 Saturday Night Live performance ... but leave it to the anime kids to give us something cool to look at here:

As for Leona, she of "Bleeding Heart" or whatever the hit was called, I think we can all agree that "Whole Lotta Love" is a stretch for a girl who wears hoopish gowny things in concert and says she's not brave enough to pose nude, even for PETA. Leona may be exotically beautiful in an Aphrodite rising from the foam sort of way, but this is not a gig where she can get by on sultry looks alone. For this collaboration to work she'll have little choice on the world's largest stage but to loosen up and embrace Whole Lotta Love's grinding, gutteral surges which leave little to the imagination. Will Page and Lewis tempt the erotic depths of the song's middle section?

This could be incredibly hot or an embarassing disaster, but I'll hold out for the former. I'm sure Page knows exactly what he's doing ...

Keep-a-coolin baby ...

The youtube police have nabbed video of the final production but here's what it looked like:

They've nabbed that too, and we know who they are. You may find it on the nbc.olympics.com I'd imagine, but here's another idea: Go back up to the interview with Page and let it play through. You will then get a menu 1-7 of "related video." Pick #7 -- you won't be disappointed.

Keep a coolin' baby.