Ramble on ... News Item: Orlando and FUN ITEM: the House of Blues

Here are some fun tid-bits from the notebook over the past week:

NEWS ITEM: ORLANDO FAN MAKES COMPLETE IDIOT OF HIMSELF by MAKING ISSUE of THIS:
(aka. Big Baby Takes High Road... Son to be made fun of by friends forever)

Boston Celtics forward Glen Davis apologized Tuesday for bumping a 12-year-old boy while celebrating his game-winning shot against the Orlando Magic.

Davis said he got emotional and didn't see the boy as he turned and ran to the Celtics bench to celebrate his 21-foot jumper that gave the Celtics a 95-94 win over the Magic on Sunday. It tied the second-round playoff series at 2-2.

"If I've hurt anybody or if I've done any harm to anybody, please forgive me because my intentions were just harmless," he said.

Video of the play shows the 6-foot-9, 289-pound Davis ducking behind a referee and stepping out of bounds before appearing to place a hand in the small of the boy's back. The boy took a step back and his hat fell off.

If he had realized he made contact with the boy, Davis said he would have tried to make him feel better.

The boy's father wrote the NBA office demanding an apology.

TL VIEWPOINT: PUH-LEEZE? Dear God. Mr Orlando Magic fan, please donate your time to some charity and help raise some money for the Magic Foundation or the V Foundation to lift this ridiculousness off yourself and your son. Other than that? I have NOTHING to say.

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The House of Blues in Boston is a terrific venue that will be growing and growing in popularity on teh Boston music scene. Check it out by clicking on the link above.

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The WSJ organized a Commish fest. I used to LIVE for these. A certain Commish of mine, always, always came away from these "seminars" with the same thrill enjoyed by President Josiah Bartlet won the debate against Gov. Robert Richie of Fla. in "The West Wing," the greatest television show ever recorded.

On the "debate" - The SBDaily said: "The mood among the four was light and collegial, which was to be expected given that each has been with his respective league for more than 15 years and they know each other well. But NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, in particular, directed several jocular barbs to the others, such as funneling a question on brawling to Stern and Selig. Despite the panel being entitled "The Future of Sports," the session did not at all address key forward-looking issues in the industry such as digital media proliferation and labor. Each of the four leagues faces an expiration of its current CBA within the next several years."

Tell me (the boy barrister) Gary B. Bettman got the best one-liner in? Oh, no!

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JERRY BRUCK GOES THE WAY OF THE VIDEO GAME: How great is this?
Bruckheimer to launch video game studio
Halo 3 producer Jim Veevaert and former Ubisoft executive Jay Cohen will join Jerry Bruckheimer Games
By Alex Pham

May 12, 2009

Jerry Bruckheimer, the producer of action films and television shows such as "Top Gun," "Black Hawk Down" and "C.S.I," now thinks video games are where the action is.

Bruckheimer is the latest Hollywood kingpin to dive into the $50-billion-and-growing global game industry. Lured by software sales that have eclipsed those of the music industry and long ago surpassed box-office revenue, many film and TV executives have gone down the same path -- only to find success elusive in the risky, hits-driven game business.

Bruckheimer plans to announce today the creation of Jerry Bruckheimer Games Inc., a studio based in Santa Monica. He said in an interview Monday that his interest in the burgeoning entertainment genre was driven by the narrative opportunities.

"Games are evolving just like movies," he said. "There's storytelling and there's character development in games. . . . We're in the entertainment business. We entertain you in theaters, on TV and on your game platforms."

But Bruckheimer, who is famed for his Midas touch with films, doesn't hide his lack of expertise in games.

"I have never developed a game," he said. "I'm kind of a neophyte at this."

That's why he hired two veterans of the game industry, Jay Cohen as president of development and Jim Veevaert as president of production, he said.

Veevaert, 46, was executive producer of the popular shoot-'em-up game Halo 3 at Microsoft Corp. Cohen, 38, was senior vice president of publishing in North America for Ubisoft Entertainment, the French publisher of games with strong back stories such as Prince of Persia, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Assassin's Creed.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-bruckheimer12-2009may12,0,7740262.story

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