2009 Nuggets draft review

The Nuggets actually made the 2009 NBA draft somewhat interesting. Swapping the rights to Charlotte's first-round pick, the Nuggets acquired the 18th pick from Minnesota — University of North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson.

G Ty Lawson, 5-11, 193 lb.
Pros: Lightning quick and super safe with the ball. Developed a solid outside shot last year, increasing his 3FG% to 47.2% from 36.1% the year before. Had a 3.5-to-1 assists-to-turnover ratio last year. High basketball IQ.
Cons: Undersized.

I compare Lawson to someone like Jameer Nelson. A little small but incredibly smart and safe with the ball. Plus his ability to push the tempo is going to make the Nuggets very fun to watch.

He's an obvious improvement over Anthony Carter and Jason Hart.

The King of Pop is dead

TMZ is reporting that Michael Jackson has died from cardiac arrest. LA Times confirmed that Jackson is indeed dead. He was 50.

"Michael Jackson is a symbol of America. He is a symbol of freedom and democracy," according to some fan interviewed by Fox News 11 in Los Angeles.

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David Choi's rendition of "Ben" comes up as the top pick on YouTube when I searched "Michael Jackson."

Nuggets '09 Mock Draft Round-up

nbadraft.net has Denver going with Gonzaga PF-C Josh Heytvelt, a 6-11, 246 pound
The Sports Xchange has DeMarre Carroll going to the Nuggets
Collegehoopsnet.com – DaJuan Summers
MyNBADraft.com – Darren Collison
WalterFootball.com – Jeff Pendergraph

Online Escape: 'Sleep'

Director Choz Belen's video for "Sleep" by Deep Foundation f/Jay Legaspi is online. Totally awesome.

Nuggets Draft 2009

If there's one thing that's for certain with the Denver Nuggets, it's that they hate the draft. They absolutely loathe it. The last pick the Nuggets made was in 2006 when they selected Leon Powe with the 49th pick. (Powe was traded to Boston shortly after)

The Nuggets have the 34th pick this year, having traded their first-round pick to Oklahoma City). My gut says get a high-energy point guard to build on next season.

Here's who should be available when the Nuggs pick:

• Jeremy Pargo, Gonzaga, 6-2, 219
Started off career as a two-guard, but made the transition to point after the graduation of Derek Raivio. Pargo is certainly high energy, athletic and flashy, reminiscent of another former Nuggets point guard, Robert Pack.

• Darren Collison, UCLA, 6-1, 166
Lightning quick and smart, Collison helped lead the Bruins to a 26-9 record last year. What he lacks, however, is size. He'll need to bulk up if he wants to compete at the next level.

• Dominic James, Marquette, 5-11, 180
Explosive athleticism allows him to play much bigger than 5-11, but size is certainly a question mark.

Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland'

Yahoo! has a preview of Director Tim Burton's take on "Alice in Wonderland," set to be released March 5, 2010.

In a word, it looks freaky.

Toy soldiers: A look at 'Stuff of Legend'

Imagine if the toys from "Toy Story" had to rescue Andy after he was kidnapped by the boogeyman.

The year is 1944. An allied force advances along a war-torn beach in a strange land, outnumbered and far from home. Together, they fight the greatest evil they have ever known. Never ending waves of exotic enemies come crashing down on them, but they will not rest. Thousands of miles away, the world is on the brink of destruction. But here in a child's bedroom in Brooklyn, our heroes, a small group of toys loyal to their human master, fight an unseen war to save him from every child's worst nightmare.

"Stuff of Legend" will be released in July by Th3rd World Studios.

Comic Book Resources has a preview of the book here.

Online Escape: Literally translation of 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'

Just a 'hunch'

Tired of making decisions? Let Hunch.com do it for you.

Captain America returns?

Superheroes don't die – they just go away until someone feels like bringing them back.

Marvel is bringing back Steve Rogers – better known as Captain America – in a five-part series aptly titled "Captain America Reborn," starting July 1.

I've been an on-again, off-again reader of the series, but I don't know — it seems a little soon to bring back Cap. I've enjoyed writer Ed Brubaker's stories about Bucky Barnes, who took over the role of the legendary hero.

My gut says this will be a fairly high-demand book. Every comic story that gets picked up by the Associated Press gets some sort of a bump.

Denver Film Society: Update

Yeah, this is a few days old, but it's important nonetheless. The Denver Film Society ousted Executive Director Bo Smith after 21 of its staff resigned. Britta Erickson has been named the interim executive director while the board of directors begins its search.

I'm not sure the full story behind what's happened aside from the staff and Smith disagreeing with the direction the DFS was going – particularly in the financial realm. But it seems like this is a good move for the organization going forward.

I briefly chatted with one of the DFS staff members over the weekend and they told me that the budget is still a big concern and there are certain to be cuts but hopefully nothing too drastic.

Mass resignations at Denver Film Society?

According to indieWIRE, several key members of the Denver Film Society have resigned – including Festival Director Britta Erickson and Artistic Director Brit Withey and co-founder Ron Henderson – and another 17 are on their way out in protest of Executive Director Bo Smith's direction.

"The reason the staff is leaving is because of Bo [Smith’s] handling of the organization and not the economic situation facing the organization," Withey told indieWIRE.

According to a source to indieWIRE, there are only five staff members left.

Online Escape: The Ill-matic Kim Jong

With Kim Jong Il reportedly making way for his 26-year-old son Kim Jong Un to take over North Korea, I figure it's time we take a look at one of the Ill-matic's greatest moments.