I am guessing that right about now Gary Bettman is thanking his lucky stars for the whole fiasco in Phoenix. If nothing else, it is deflecting attention away from the fact that the team he and the league have chosen as their Stars Of The Future are getting their asses handed to them. I can only imagine the little tantrum he must have fired off in his limo after the game.

I’d love to see his mini-bar bill when he checks out of his hotel. Or maybe the Who-like damage to the room.

Note to the idiots who run the NBA: The last series of a playoff run is a “final”, not a “finals”. There is only one final of any kind in any given year. Otherwise it wouldn’t be final at all. It would be (to not exactly coin a phrase) as semi-final.

The NHL may be run by fenderheads, and get a lot of things wrong (screwing up the logo, ugly sweaters, watering down the drama of a goal-under-review) but in this one thing, at least, they have it right.

It’s a final. Not a fucking “finals”.

Guitar Hero 5 has PETER FUCKING FRAMPTON on board.

Really, I don’t need to say anything more.

After being featured – which, I am told, is a huge feather in the cap for any developer – the guys who did the fabulous Classics application have lowered the price to 99 cents as a little bit of a celebration and thank you. If you haven’t seen this application yet you are really missing out. It currently features 20 works of western literature that range from the beloved (The Hound Of The Baskervilles) to the semi-obscure (Flatland) but all of which have two things in common: One, they are now in the public domain, and two, they are universally excellent.

For me this set was a no-brainer – so many of the heroes of my youth are here, in books that were my best friends and welcome escapes in my pre-teen years. Arronax and Nemo, Square and Sphere, Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver, the Eloi and the Morlocks, Watson and Holmes, and the indomitable Ned Land … the whole gang is assembled, in your pocket and ready for a few moments – or a few hours – of entertainment whenever you have the urge.

There are two really remarkable things about this exercise that make it work anyone’s while, not just a fanboy like me. The interface is brilliant – simple, easy, and incredibly workable, this is the interface that the Kindle people should have used. It’s elegant and pretty much perfect and belies the fact that the creators are just some spare-time joes. And the content is ever-expanding … once you purchase Classics, you get additional titles as free updates as they are added to the roster.

Buy it. Now.

I know that there are great teeming hordes of readers out there who are wondering why there has been a dearth of postings here. Essentially, I have been working on something else (which shall be revealed presently) and between that and a need to remain employed, I just haven’t had the time.

Many apologies.

However, that doesn’t mean that this particular organ is permantely mute – there are things afoot that will demand comment on over the next few days:

WWDC: ’nuff said.
iPhone OS 3.0: I know some of you will be looking for an unlock.
Red Wings: Stanley Cup bound, as is right and proper.
The Phoenix Coyotes: Slippery Jim is a tool. The Hamilton city council is a prize bunch of gullible boobs. Both deserve comment.

So stick around. The new project (stay tuned!) will be getting most of my time this summer, but there will still be some pith and substance here when the events of the day warrant it.