03 Jun 2008, Written by Leland Cheuk in politics,pop culture
Enthusiasm and Optimism Unabashed…Well, Almost
One year ago, I made my last post on my now-defunct personal blog. The last post was sports-related – I was lamenting my beloved and favorite sports franchise, the Boston Celtics, who had just finished 24-58 and traded for an $18 million 31 year-old shooting guard Ray Allen in a desperate attempt to become relevant in Beantown a.k.a Championship City. I posted this photo of GM Danny Ainge and Head Coach Doc Rivers after they failed to get the first pick in the draft, looking generally befuddled, like a pair of incompetent detectives from The Wire. 
I don’t mind mentioning that the state of the Celtics last year was not unlike the state of my blog – generally ignored and more work than it was worth.
Today, the Celtics are Eastern Conference Champions, a few days away from playing the LA Lakers for all the marbles. There’s a life lesson in this, I believe. As I sit and post to IsGreaterThan for the first time in several weeks in my tiny role as a contributing blogger to this eclectic, cerebral and all-around fabulous journal exploring the intersections of culture, politics and art, I realize that we can all be too hopeless in these times of recessions that no one can confirm but everyone can feel, endless wars, the continuing decline of the American empire, the simultaneous bad karma of a 1 billion people according to karmic Ph.D. Sharon Stone, and the non-existence of global warming (Myanmar, China, Philippines? I see no evidence of global warming either!). Quagmires can turn into paradises in short order. You may not expect it, you’ll never know when, but like the Boston Celtics and LA Lakers, meeting in the NBA Finals for the first time in 22 years, good things can happen. 
There are many things I’m looking forward to in the next few months. Here are a few:
- I’m looking forward to the best book on 2006, Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic father-son story The Road, getting turned into a movie starring Viggo Mortensen. Hitting the screens in November. Check out this NYTimes feature about the filming. You know they’re going to get it right when they can’t film scenes unless the weather is gray and bad.
– For the fanboys 25 and older, I’m looking forward to the new GI Joe movie coming out in 2009, starring Brendan Fraser (Gung-Ho), Dennis Quaid (Hawk), Sienna Miller (the Baronness), Joseph Gordon Levitt (Cobra Commander) and Christopher Eccleston (Destro). Check out Storm Shadow and the Baronness.
- In pop music, I’m looking forward to Chris Martin of Coldplay continuing his transformation into a non-drugged out version of Scott Weiland. When I saw the ad for Coldplay’s new exclusive for iTunes single "Viva la Vida" (you know, the one they’re playing during every timeout during the NBA Playoffs?), I thought, 1) "Hey, the Stone Temple Pilots reunion has produced a single already" and 2) "they’ve really mellowed out" and 3) "I could’ve sworn Scott Weiland was dead."
- In books, I recently read this year’s National Book Award finalist, Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris and thought it was the best first novel I’d read in ages. I’m looking forward to the award finally going to a book that deserves it. 
- In politics, I’m going to make a shameless prediction. Now that the days of Hillary are numbered and Pastorgate is over, I’m looking forward to the Obama campaign cranking up the Hope machine again and by November, McCain’s going to feel like a 71 year-old speed bag. Just as the Celtics fans out there are shouting "Beat LA," I’m starting to chant "Beat McCain."
And finally, I’m looking forward to having plenty of material to write with in the near future, including my disappointment with:
- The Lakers beating the Celtics in six
- Scott Weiland torturing us with a Velvet Revolver reunion.
- Denis Johnson’s Tree of Smoke winning the National Book Award
- President John McCain
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