Macca

You're right up with the scene 'nb'... Good on ya! Jeff always had a great voice, I'm assuming his voice has held up over time yeah?

Contador holds a 2 second lead over Fabio Aru whilst Porte is 3rd (20 seconds behind the Spaniard) Things may hot up on the weekend though - the stages on Saturday and Sunday contains some reasonable climbs. I'll post up the profiles of both days on Saturday if I get a chance. The SBS coverage has been first rate as usual. Stage 5 highlights

No worries Earl ... never a problem. Whilst I'm here ... a couple of classics from Bowie ...

Here you go EH ...

He and Gisele might decide to have a nice little holiday in the Bahamas for a month. The Pats won't miss the draft picks going by how they normally go about their drafting (picking up good players late in the draft is their specialty isn't it ) As for the million dollar fine - chump change. They got their Super Bowl - that's all that counts, Gorgo

The Giro d'italia kicks off on Saturday night ... looks like SBS & SBS HD are covering every day of this Grand Tour - from about 10.30pm - 11.00pm (Cable Eurosport HD & Eurosport SD are also covering every day) Contador is even money favourite but our own Richie Porte is a firm short priced 2nd favourite and he might be a real show with the might of the Sky team behind him. Richie Porte confirmed as Team Sky’s leader in Giro d’Italia

So who gets through to the conference finals? ... it's sort of looking like the Blackhawks/Ducks & Capitals/Lightning but the Rangers might overhaul Washington. Montreal will need to get a hurry on too.

Spurs out! ... came down to the last play in game 7 - the Clippers now go on to play Houston. Cleveland will miss Kevin Love - I now believe that the Bulls can win their conference semi-final match-up. The other series' can go either way. Conference semi final match-ups Atlanta Hawks vs Washington Wizards Cleveland Cavaliers vs Chicago Bulls Golden State Warriors vs Memphis Grizzlies Houston Rockets vs Los Angeles Clippers

I get what you're saying 'cfh' but I actually believe and have nearly always believed that those picking these draftees are doing the best they can, all things considered. They are making decisions that may or may not work out - all the expertise in the world still doesn't guarantee anything. The real skill in drafting is being able to pick the diamonds in the rough ... even so, Brady at pick 199 still doesn't make a whole lot of sense. All drafts have numerous players that end up being overrated and underrated. It's the same story every year in all the drafts. Our draft (the AFL's) is the most confusing of all (mainly because of the age of the draftees) In the NFL, most of these draftees are 22-23 years old and there are still numerous busts. Having said all that, I still accept the drafting process to a large degree and the results and picks that come out of these drafts are all quite fascinating. My expectations are always tempered though - 2 of the big questions out of this draft will be Winston & Mariota. Can both be great or could both be busts? Or any other result in between? As for GB's picks so far ... I've read up about Randall & Rollins but to make a prediction on how they're going to turn out would be a guess. Randall is a safety & Rollins is a CB but are either or both going to be productive players? Who knows? .

Discovered another new artist recently - Hiromi Euhara Here's a profile of her album 'Alive' on Allmusic.com Favourite track for me is 'Seeker' which can be found in full here Hiromi - Seeker (accompanied with Contrabass guitarist & Drummer) It's a much more fuller version of the song than the youtube clip below - I like both but prefer the fuller version.

The Wizards won again today so there's one tip that's highly questionable The Mavs, Spurs and Portland can all win their respective series' too. It's not all that clear cut really ... wouldn't surprise me if a team just gets hot and takes the title (outside of GSW & Cleveland) Rose and Bulls might surprise in the East whilst there's a number of teams in the West with claims.

It would be no real surprise if the Clippers knock the Spurs out but the other teams in the West would be mighty thankful if that happened. A 7 game series beckons but it's a toss up. Bit late with the tips but for what it's worth ... (likely winners in dark italics) Golden State to meet Cleveland in the final, EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlanta Hawks vs. Brooklyn Nets Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics Chicago Bulls vs. Milwaukee Bucks Toronto Raptors vs. Washington Wizards WESTERN CONFERENCE Golden State Warriors vs. New Orleans Pelicans Houston Rockets vs. Dallas Mavericks Los Angeles Clippers vs. San Antonio Spurs Portland Trail Blazers vs. Memphis Grizzlies

If it's classic rock that you're looking for then this online station out of New York is quite good ... Q104.3 (New York) I believe they do an 'all things Beatles' hour on Sundays from 10pm (our time) ... that includes each individual as solo artists (or such like) .

Stumbled across this radio station - decent too Jazz24.org (jazz 24/7)

I like the way a number of the muso's (including Miles) trot off and have a ciggie - during the song! Classic. I really like 'A Kind of Blue' too ... it's taken about a dozen listens but not only is the song a great one but it really shows off Davis' talent with the trumpet. Jazz24.org (jazz 24/7)

Ronny Jordan was almost certainly influenced by George Benson but he had his own distinct style all the same ... I only discovered him a few years ago when I got back into listening to jazz a lot more ... died young (last year) early 50's ... too young really. I don't like being too pushy with music but he was and still is a favourite of mine. Like a lot of artists, they can often be an acquired taste and need multiple listens to really appreciate ... Ronny Jordan was one of those artists. Anyway, while I'm here, here's the Miles Davis version of 'So What' followed by 'A Kind of Blue' Jazz is perfectly suited to late Saturday nights and Sundays ... for whatever reason, it just works.

Here's a couple from the late, great Ronny Jordan First, one of my favourites ... 'At Last' then a version of a song that Miles Davis made famous called .. 'So What'

I've changed my tune to a degree on older players ... too many of them are having their better years in their 30's (one could argue that Johnson, Clarke, Harris, Rogers, Haddin et al are all playing as well as they've ever played - hell, even Watto might do a 'negative split' ) Good summary anyway Nasher and I wish Voges and Ahmed all the best - they've fully deserved their call up's. Siddle too - that '7 for' haul against South Australia late in the season would have helped - he's a good 3rd seamer who can slot into his role with ease (it looks to me to be a play safe move by the selectors - in case of injury to any of the favoured 4 other quicks) I like the fact that we've picked a reserve keeper for 'both' tours as well - haven't seen a lot of Nevill but he's been around for a time. Am I right in saying that we only play 2 tests against the Windies? It's such a shame that this once great match-up has been reduced to Australia only touring for 2 tests. It should be 3 tests regardless. All the same, it looks a very good squad to me.

Good call ... should be a great match. Interesting that this is Australia's 7th final in 11 attempts (we've won 4 world cups of course) It'll be tough but I expect a 5th triumph - however, if the Kiwi's get up, it'll be well deserved on their part.

Another from "BCS" (ep 8) This time Galt MacDermot with 'Coffee Cold' from his album Woman is Sweeter/Shapes of Rhythm (review and samples)

Great finish ... happy to see the Kiwis get through. The South Africans blew it again - 3 run-out blunders and missed catches. Now, let's see if the Aussies can win on Thursday - the spinners from India might prove a handful on the Sydney deck.

*Spoiler alert* haha This song featured on the latest episode of 'Better Call Saul' ... Chris Joss with 'Tune Down' (from his album 'Sticks')

England are out of the world cup! Good on Bangladesh - they won the game fair and square and they're now in the QF's.

Something different ... Jazz24.org plays jazz 24/7

I'm assuming this is the one yeah? To post a song - just copy and paste the address bar (here) for whichever youtube clip you want to post up. The address bar will initially just copy as the 'text' but once you press post, the video will then magically appear (well, maybe not magically but you get the drift) By the way, the song is kinda cool in a corny sort of way ... I like it ... speaking of Viv, how good was he in the inaugural world cup? 3 direct hit run-outs (?) including both Chappell brothers I believe. What a player!