by John Walters

Starting Five

1. Cavs Overcome LeBron’s 23 Missed Shots To Beat Hawks

Cleveland’s recidivist Cavalier, LeBron James, missed 23 shots — hmm, 23….where have I heard that number before in relation to the Eastern Conference finals? — but the Cavs were able to outlast the Predatory Avians Species in overtime, 114-111. LBJ did score 37 points, grab 18 rebounds and dish out 13 assists.

So the Cavs and Warriors are both up 3-0….that’s going to make Adam Silver’s nuptials this coming weekend go that much smoother.

2. Festival Time Across the Pond

The first big summer festival in Europe took place over the weekend in Norwich, England. BBC Radio’s Big Weekend drew a 2-day lineup that included (Saturday) Florence and the Machines, Fall Out Boy, Muse and David Guetta and (Sunday) Imagine Dragons Taylor Swift and Foo Fighters, who closed this show, too.

This was also the last weekend of Premier League play. It’s as if the powers above needed to have something ready to sate the masses who were on the cusp of football withdrawal.

Drama? About an hour before T-Swizzle took the stage, London native Rita Ora performed. Ora’s ex, Calvin Harris is A) Swift’s current boyfriend (TRUE) and B) A former defensive back for the Dallas Cowboys in the Seventies (FALSE). Ora took a mild swipe at Harris (who will be lucky to make it through the summer with Swift, predicts I) but the only Bad Blood was Swift’s song, which she would later include in her set.

Here’s her set in total. Nice sunset at about 20:00. WARNING: I’m beginning to be over Taylor’s entire boyfriend drama. It’s almost as tiresome as my entire girlfriend drama. Almost.

p.s. Her songwriting is regressing and becoming increasingly self-absorbed. There, I said it.

 3. The Dean of Daring

I didn’t know much about Dean Potter when I learned of his death last week during a BASE jump in Yosemite National Park. We’ll all have to wait for the inevitable 24-page Jon Krakauer story to come, to be followed by the best-selling Krakauer book, to be followed by the Krakauer film, but Potter wast truly an original. And truly fearless.

Watch this 2006 ascent of Heaven in Yosemite, the first free-solo climb of this face ever made. This “freebase” jump from Switzerland will also rattle your cage some. Potter’s mantra with freebasing, in which you free climb with a parachute so that when/if you fall you’ll be okay was “Fly or Die.” Last week he got the latter.

4. Pop Culture Leftovers from Last Week*

David Letterman taped his final show on Wednesday, May 20th. But, as you know, Late Show ordinarily ran Monday through Friday. Why did Dave cut short his final week? Was it because he wanted to get to the Indianapolis 500 early? Or was he all too aware that his hero, Johnny Carson, aired his final Tonight Show on May 22, 1992? In other words, had Letterman’s final show aired last Friday, it would have been 23 years to the date after Carson’s. And would Dave have wanted to appear that presumptuous?

Note: Carson was 66 when he retired; Letterman, 68.

Mad Men: On at least three of the final seven episodes of this half season, the last scene is of Don Draper all by himself (I can’t account for the other three, which I haven’t seen). That’s no accident. In the final scene of the series, Don is not alone. He is sitting in the lotus position, in the midst of a multi-cultural, multi-racial, coed meditation group. Notice, what are they doing? Singing, in perfect harmony….

*Heat at 350 degrees for half an hour, then serve.

5. Melisandre the Giant

On Game of Thrones, Melisandre wants to sacrifice the daughter of her king/lover to the Lord of Light. Ehhh, wouldn’t you rather just have a new leather bodice? Oh, it’s easy to root against Carice Van Houten’s character, but face it, you’d take her to the prom if she wanted you to.

Music 101

Happy Days/Get Happy

The Judy Garland Show (CBS) lasted just one season and 26 stormy episodes in 1963-64, but that’s what happens when you go up against Bonanza’s time slot. And yet, this duet between the host and a young Barbra Streisand is legen — wait for it, later CBS show catchphrase –dary. This show was taped on October 4, 1963, and aired two days later. Six weeks later, happy days would be gone for a long, long time…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYpcFHtxm60

Remote Patrol

Game 4: Warriors at Rockets

ESPN 9 p.m.

As ESPN2 runs a marathon of “30 for 30” counter programming, ESPN will be running the Stephen Curry Show, which could mean, as it did on Saturday evening, “30 for 40.”