NBA 2025-6 Predictions

Last year, I correctly predicted the Boston Celtics to win the NBA Title.  Let's see how this year goes!

Eastern Conference:

1.       Cleveland

2.       Orlando

3.       New York

4.       Detroit

5.       Atlanta

6.       Milwaukee

7.       Philadelphia

8.       Indiana

9.       Boston

10.     Chicago

11.     Miami

12.     Toronto

13.     Washington

14.     Charlotte

15.     Brooklyn 

Playoffs:

·      (play-ins):   Boston over Chicago; Indiana over Philadelphia; Philadelphia over Boston

·      Cleveland over Philadelphia; Orlando over Indiana; New York over Milwaukee; Detroit over Atlanta

·      Cleveland over Detroit; New York over Orlando

·      Cleveland over New York

Western Conference:

1.       Oklahoma City

2.       Denver

3.       Minnesota

4.       Houston

5.       LA Lakers

6.       Golden State

7.       San Antonio

8.       Dallas

9.       New Orleans

10.     LA Clippers

11.     Portland

12.     Memphis

13.     Sacramento

14.     Phoenix

15.     Utah

Playoffs:

·     (play-ins):  New Orleans over Los Angeles Clippers; San Antonio over Dallas; Dallas over New Orleans

·     Oklahoma City over Dallas; Denver over San Antonio; Minnesota over Golden State; Houston over Los Angeles Lakers

·     Oklahoma City over Houston; Denver over Minnesota  

·     Denver over Oklahoma City

More notes:

·     So many players have been hurt in the East that have taken out some of the top tier teams- Boston, Indiana, Philadelphia.  New York has been healthy, but changed coaches.  Orlando has a ton of talent but still need to prove they can score.  Cleveland won the most games last year, and have been the most consistent.  This is their best chance to make the finals

·     The West is a dogfight.  Houston losing Van Vleet is devastating; he wasn't their best player but he was the key to the team.  OKC has the most talent, and is young enough to actually improve.  But it's tough to win two titles in a row- too many series against top teams.  

·     MVP?  If you can be the MVP while being a Play In Team, I think Victor Wembayana takes it.  Jokic is the best player, but if anyone is close, the voters won't give him another MVP.  So I'll go for a reach and say Paola Banchero shocks everyone.

-     ROY?  Probably Cooper Flagg, assuming he's healthy

-     Lottery?  If Phoenix ends up winning the lottery, their pick goes to either Washington or Memphis.  And I think both of those teams end up in the lottery as well.  I'm picking Washington or Memphis get the #1 pick...

·     Finals?  The West has the most talent.  But they also will batter each other for three rounds.  And matchups matter.  I think Denver, who has the best player in the NBA, takes out OKC.  Denver is a good matchup for OKC (who is a great defensive team, but might not solve Jokic with a better team around him).  But then they face the Cleveland Cavaliers, who I think have an easier time this year.  And Cleveland (who is a great offensive team) can outscore Denver.

        Cleveland in 7.

Pink Floyd Retrospective: Album 15- The Endless River

 

The final studio album of Pink Floyd

Album:  The Endless River

Year Released:    2014

Lineup:

Pink Floyd

• David Gilmour – guitars (all tracks), EBow (1, 3, 10), lead vocals (18), backing vocals (7, 14, 17), keyboards (7, 15, 16), piano (6, 7), EMS VCS 3 (4, 6), bass guitar (2, 4, 7, 17), Hammond organ (18), percussion (8), voice samples (1)
• Nick Mason – drums (2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18), percussion (15, 18), rototoms (5), gong (5, 12, 16), voice samples (1)
• Richard Wright – Hammond organ (1, 11, 13, 16), Farfisa organ (4, 6, 14, 16), Royal Albert Hall Organ (12), piano (4, 6, 8, 14, 18), Rhodes piano (9, 18), electric piano (3), keyboards (1, 2, 5, 16, 17), synthesiser (1, 2, 8, 10, 14, 17, 18), voice samples (1, 18)

Additional musicians

• Guy Pratt – bass guitar (9, 14)
• Bob Ezrin – bass guitar (11, 13, 18), additional keyboards (1)
• Andy Jackson – bass guitar (5, 16), effects (15)
• Jon Carin – synthesisers (9, 11, 13), percussion loop (11, 13)
• Damon Iddins – additional keyboards (4, 12)
• Anthony Moore – keyboards (15)
• Gilad Atzmon – tenor saxophone (7), clarinet (7)
• Durga McBroom – backing vocals (14, 17, 18)
• Louise Marshall – backing vocals (18)
• Sarah Brown – backing vocals (18)
• Stephen Hawking – voice sample (14)
• Escala:
  • Chantal Leverton – viola (18)
  • Victoria Lyon – violin (18)
  • Helen Nash – cello (18)
  • Honor Watson – violin (18)

Track Listing:

Side one
No. Title                Length
1 "Things Left Unsaid" 4:26
2 "It's What We Do" 6:17
3 "Ebb and Flow"        1:55
Total length:        12:38

Side two
No. Title                Length
4 "Sum"         4:48
5 "Skins"         2:37
6 "Unsung"         1:07
7 "Anisina"         3:16
Total length:         11:48

Side three
No. Title                 Length
8 "The Lost Art of Conversation"  1:42
9 "On Noodle Street"  1:42
10 "Night Light"         1:42
11 "Allons-y (1)"         1:57
12 "Autumn '68"         1:35
13 "Allons-y (2)"         1:32
14 "Talkin' Hawkin'"         3:29
Total length:         13:39

Side four
No. Title                 Length
15 "Calling"                 3:37
16 "Eyes to Pearls"          1:51
17 "Surfacing"          2:46
18 "Louder than Words"   6:36
Total length:          14:50 

CD length:          53:02

Overall Thoughts:

Keyboardist Richard Wright left the band after "The Wall".  He rejoined David Gilmour and Nick Mason after Roger Waters left Pink Floyd, but was technically not a member of the band for some legal reason that I don't quite understand.  He co-wrote several of the songs on the Division Bell and was part of their tour.  Wright passed from lung cancer in 2008.

Gilmour and Mason, in tribute, took several of the unreleased recordings from "The Division Bell", added and re-recorded some parts, and released it as "The Endless River".

It's an instrumental album- only "Louder than Words" has any vocals.  The music is good (ever since Gilmour settled in as the lead guitarist, Pink Floyd's music has always been outstanding), and it works as ambient background sound.  It many ways, it's a throwback to their earlier work.  There's no 'great' solo here, but an album full of beautful music is a good thing.

This is their last studio album, and the last album of the Pink Floyd Music Retrospective.  Having gone through their catalogue, I would sum up Pink Floyd this way:  early Pink Floyd was pure psychadelic music.  After Syd Barrett left, the band took a few albums to discover itself.  They always had great music.  When Roger Waters was at his best, his lyrics elevated them to one of the greatest music groups ever.  When he left, the rest of the group still put out great music, but couldn't quite hit the highs of their work in the 70s.  But it's still damned good, and worth listening.

Ranking of Pink Floyd Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Wish You Were Here
2. Dark Side of the Moon
3. The Wall
4. A Momentary Lapse of Reason
5. The Division Bell
6. Meddle
7. A Saucerful of Secrets
8. Obscured by Clouds
9. Ummagumma
10. The Endless River
11. Animals
12. More
13. Piper at the Gates of Dawn
14. Atom Heart Mother
15. The Final Cut

Top 10 Pink Floyd Songs (changing as more albums are reviewed):

1. "Wish You Were Here", Wish You You Were Here
2. "Comfortably Numb", the Wall
3. "Money", Dark Side of the Moon
4. "On the Turning Away", A Momentary Lapse of Reason
5. "Us and Them", Dark Side of the Moon
6. "Learning to Fly", A Momentary Lapse of Reason
7. "Welcome to the Machine", Wish You Were Here
8. "Time", Dark Side of the Moon
9. "Fearless", Meddle
10. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)", Wish You Were Here

Thoughts with Whiskey: 2025-09-27

It's almost October... the year has seemed to both flown by quickly and been a slow, meandering crawl.  I'm drinking Weller's Antique- let's pontificate!

How do they keep winning?

* As I'm typing, the Cleveland Guardians are tied 2-2 to the Rangers.  Assuming they win tonight, I believe they clinch a playoff spot; if they win and the Tigers lose, they win the AL Central.

I admit to being completely wrong about this team.  I thought they were blowing up the team that made the ALCS last year, that they didn't have the offense to be contenders, and that just a little bad luck would cause them to lose 90 games.

They didn't have a little bad luck- they had phenomenal bad luck, as they lost two pitchers for the entire season due to a gambling scandal, one of them (Emmanuel Clase) being their closer.  They still can't hit (they are dead last in the AL in runs per game), at one point they were 15 and a half games behind the Tigers...   and yet, they keep winning.  I am amazed and astounded by this team, and I cannot explain how they keep being successful.

* I've started writing again.  Just flash writing at either the writing club or on the Absolute Write forums.  But it's something.  I don't know if I should try to rewrite my attempted book or try something new, but for now I'm enjoying just writing at the moment.

* The final Pink Floyd music retrospective will be Monday.  It's been a fun exercise, and I've learned a lot about the group.  I suspect I'll pick another artist sometime in 2026, but right at this moment I have no idea who that will be.

* As always, looking for a new computer game.  I'm playing Grimdawn because there's enough variety to keep me interested, but I'd like something new.  My problem is that many 1st person games trigger my vertigo.  And I cannot play evil- which limits replaying some great games like Baldur's Gate 3.  Suggestions are always welcomed.

Stay safe, my friends.  

Pink Floyd Retrospective: Album 14- The Division Bell

 

Richard Wright's final album with the band...

Album:  The Division Bell

Year Released:    1994

Lineup:

Pink Floyd David Gilmour – vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, programming Nick Mason – drums, percussion Richard Wright – keyboards, vocals Additional musicians Jon Carin – additional keyboards, programming Guy Pratt – bass guitar Gary Wallis – percussion programming and performance Tim Renwick – additional guitars Dick Parry – tenor saxophone Bob Ezrin – percussion, keyboards Sam Brown – backing vocals Durga McBroom – backing vocals Carol Kenyon – backing vocals Jackie Sheridan – backing vocals Rebecca Leigh-White – backing vocals Michael Kamen – orchestral arrangements Edward Shearmur – orchestrations Stephen Hawking – speech synthesis (on Keep Talking)

Track Listing:

No. Title                                                         Length

1. "Cluster One"                                   5:56

2. "What Do You Want From Me"             4:22

3. "Poles Apart"                            7:03

4. "Marooned"                          5:30

5. "A Great Day for Freedom"             4:16

6. "Wearing the Inside Out"                    6:49

7. "Take It Back" 6:12

8. "Coming Back to Life"          6:19

9. "Keep Talking"                          6:11

10. "Lost for Words"                   5:15

11. "High Hopes"                                  8:31

Total length: 66:23

Overall Thoughts:

After "A Momentary Lapse of Reason", Pink Floyd went seven years before recording another album.  It would be the final album for keyboardist Richard Wright, who would pass away in 2008.  The legally no longer a member of the band, he collaborated and even wrote some of the music for their 14th album, "The Divison Bell".

There was an overall theme to "The Division Bell"- communication and talking through problems.  It's a good theme, not one that us usually the centerpiece of a rock album.  "Keep Talking" has Stephen Hawking in the background saying the humanity's ability to talk was a reason mankind was able to be more than animals.  "Lost for Words" is the opposite- how a lack of communication led to anger and bitterness (the song seems to be an ode to their former bandmate Roger Waters).

There's some excellent songs here- "Keep Talking" and "Take It Back" are the highlights, just missing my personal top 10.  Musically, the album is excellent, and the instrumentals are fantastic.  It never quite reaches the heights of their best albums- but "The Division Bell" is a great record.  

Ranking of Pink Floyd Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Wish You Were Here
2. Dark Side of the Moon
3. The Wall
4. A Momentary Lapse of Reason
5. The Division Bell
6. Meddle
7. A Saucerful of Secrets
8. Obscured by Clouds
9. Ummagumma
10. Animals
11. More
12. Piper at the Gates of Dawn
13. Atom Heart Mother
14. The Final Cut

Top 10 Pink Floyd Songs (changing as more albums are reviewed):

1. "Wish You Were Here", Wish You You Were Here
2. "Comfortably Numb", the Wall
3. "Money", Dark Side of the Moon
4. "On the Turning Away", A Momentary Lapse of Reason
5. "Us and Them", Dark Side of the Moon
6. "Learning to Fly", A Momentary Lapse of Reason
7. "Welcome to the Machine", Wish You Were Here
8. "Time", Dark Side of the Moon
9. "Fearless", Meddle
10. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)", Wish You Were Here

Pink Floyd Retrospective: Album 13- A Momentary Lapse of Reason

 

We heard a Pink Floyd album that was almost all Roger Waters.  How about a Pink Floyd album with everyone but Roger Waters?

Album:  A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Year Released:    1987

Lineup:

Pink Floyd

• David Gilmour – vocals, guitars, keyboards, fretless bass guitar, drum programming, sequencers, production
• Nick Mason – electronic and acoustic drums, spoken vocals, sound effects
• Richard Wright – backing vocals, piano, Hammond organ, Kurzweil synthesiser

Note: Wright was credited among the additional musicians on the original release. All reissues since 2011 credit him as an official band member.

Additional personnel

• Bob Ezrin – keyboards, percussion, sequencers, production
• Jon Carin – keyboards
• Patrick Leonard – synthesisers
• Bill Payne – Hammond organ
• Michael Landau – guitar
• Tony Levin – bass guitar, Chapman Stick
• Jim Keltner – drums
• Carmine Appice – drums
• Steve Forman – percussion
• Tom Scott – alto saxophone, soprano saxophone
• John Helliwell – saxophone (credited as John Halliwell)
• Scott Page – tenor saxophone
• Darlene Koldenhoven (credited as Darlene Koldenhaven) – backing vocals
• Carmen Twillie – backing vocals
• Phyllis St. James – backing vocals
• Donny Gerrard – backing vocals

Track Listing:

No. Title                                                         Length

1. "Signs of Life"                                   4:24

2. "Learning to Fly"                                4:52

3. "The Dogs of War"                            6:05

4. "One Slip"                          5:10

5. "On the Turning Away"                    5:42

Side two

No. Title                                                         Length

6. "Yet Another Movie"                            6:14

7. "Round and Around" 1:13

8. "A New Machine (Part 1)"          1:46

9. "Terminal Frost"                          6:17

10. "A New Machine (Part 2)"                   0:38

11. "Sorrow"                                  8:47

Total length: 51:08

Overall Thoughts:

"The Final Cut" was a Pink Floyd album in name only; it was a Roger Waters album with little input from David Gilmour and Nick Mason (Richard Wright was no longer a member).  

The album was not a success and Waters left the group, calling Pink Floyd a spent force and saying the group was disbanded.

Gilmour and Mason felt otherwise.  Lawsuits followed, and in the end, Gilmour and Mason recorded three more studio albums as Pink Floyd.  "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" was the first.  

Unlike the previous albums, there is no central theme around the album.  Gilmour took over primary songwriting duties, and other musicians were brought in- including a returning Wright, though Wright was no longer legally part of the band.

The results?  Much better than the 'Final Cut'.  It's a collection of singles instead of an album, so if you go in expecting a coherent theme, there isn't one.

And the songs are excellent- the lyrics might not as good as Waters, but they aren't bad.  "Dogs of War", for instance, evokes excellent imagery but doesn't really go anywhere.

But the music is significantly better- and there's an energy on "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" that is lacking in "The Final Cut".  The guitar work is outstanding and some of the songs are instrumentals ("Signs of Life", "Round and Around, "Terminal Frost""), which had been missing from Pink Floyd albums since "Dark Side of the Moon".

It's not a perfect album.  The music starts to get repetitive towards the final few songs.  But I enjoyed listening to "A Momentary Lapse of Reason".

Ranking of Pink Floyd Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Wish You Were Here
2. Dark Side of the Moon
3. The Wall
4. A Momentary Lapse of Reason
5. Meddle
6. A Saucerful of Secrets
7. Obscured by Clouds
8. Ummagumma
9. Animals
10. More
11. Piper at the Gates of Dawn
12. Atom Heart Mother
13. The Final Cut

Top 10 Pink Floyd Songs (changing as more albums are reviewed):

1. "Wish You Were Here", Wish You You Were Here
2. "Comfortably Numb", the Wall
3. "Money", Dark Side of the Moon
4. "On the Turning Away", A Momentary Lapse of Reason
5. "Us and Them", Dark Side of the Moon
6. "Learning to Fly", A Momentary Lapse of Reason
7. "Welcome to the Machine", Wish You Were Here
8. "Time", Dark Side of the Moon
9. "Fearless", Meddle
10. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)", Wish You Were Here