Nash Makes Bid to be NHL All Star Game MVP; West Wins 12-9

2-2-4 by the Columbus Blue Jackets forward was one of the top performances on the night

Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Rick Nash said he was surprised to be an All-Star and that he was going to go to the game, to represent the team and "have fun with it."

Nash did more than have fun with it, he nearly took home the MVP Award, which went to Buffalo's Daniel Briere.

"It was more fun this time, going back, knowing some of the guys and knowing what the game was all about," Nash said. "It's not serious at all, it's for the guys to have fun and for the fans to be entertained."

On a night where the focus was on the fire power of the Eastern Conference team, Sidney Crosby's first All-Star game and Joe Sakic, Nash went out and scored two goals, two assists, a game-high six shots on goal en route to a big-time performance.

In the first period, Nash was orignially credited with a goal on a deflection in front of Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller. At the beginning of the second period the goal was changed and given to Los Angeles defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky. Nash was credited with an assist on the play, and that was the only thing which would not go Nash's way Wednesday night.

In the second period, in a stretch of 54 seconds, the line of Colorado's Joe Sakic, Chicago's Martin Havlat and Nash tallied twice. The first goal was No. 61's first National League Hockey All-Star goal. He used his speed, power and strength to fend of Buffalo defenseman Brian Campbell, drove to net and sliding it around the outstretched right pad of New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur.

"It was fun getting to play with Sakic and Havlat," Nash said. "I'm pretty spoiled here, getting to play with David Vyborny and Sergei Fedorov, but getting another chance to say I played with Joe Sakic was pretty cool."

Not much later, Nash assisted on a Havlat goal, the third score of the night for possibly the most dangerous line of the entire night. They weren't done yet.

In the third period, Nash took a pass from Sakic and burried a shot past Montreal goaltender Cristobal Huet at the 7:12 mark. His work wasn't done yet, as he, Western Conference teammate Minnesota's Brian Roloston and Boston's Zdeno Chara were all going for hat tricks in the final nine minutes of the game.

"The first goal, I just got a pass from Sakic, took it in and scored," Nash said. "The second one was another great pass by Sakic and I just put it upstairs."

On NHL.com Nash, who was +3 for the night, was voted the No. 2 star, with Briere voted the No. 1 star and Roloston the No. 3 star. Anyway you look at it, Rick Nash had a great night, represented the Blue Jackets, and maybe gave a little preview of what's to come in the second half of the season.

So, what did head coach Ken Hitchcock think of Nashes performance ?

"Most importantly, did he have a good time?" Hitchcock said. "He said he really enjoyed it and that's what you want players to leave with - a positive experience with each other."

For the game, the Western Conference won 12-9, with Nash getting credit for the game-winning goal. The game was 3-3 after one period with starters Miller and Vancouver's Roberto Luongo giving up three goals each.

The second period was highlighted by six Western Confernce goals, to take a 9-6 lead into the final period. The Eastern Confernce scored three times, but could not slow down the Western Confernce, who added an empty net goal by Calgary defenseman Dion Phaneuf.

Knowledge 87

Here’s the lowdown on the latest issue of Knowledge (K87), now available to buy online at www.knowledge.co.uk or in all good newsagents and record shops…

Marcus Intalex, ST Files & Calibre have been at the forefront of the liquid rollers this year. Knowledge caught up with them to chat about the new album and all things MIST:I:CAL

Coming with a second album can be a tough process, not for the original Blu Mar Ten members Chris Marigold, Leo Wyndham who along with some help from newcomer Michael Tognarelli have come with the goods once again. Knowledge dropped into their Camden Studio to catch up.

All Crews has gone from strength to strength since it got published in 2004. We catch up with author Brian Belle- Fortune to see what he thinks about the current state of the drum and bass scene and to discuss where its going.

We talk to recent newcomer Benny Page about his rapid rise as a dancefloor smashing producer, being the protégé of Shy FX and all things Digital Soundboy, plus take a look into what his plans for the future are.

One of the original founding members of Brockie’s Undiluted Records and as KoolFM’s longest serving DJ, Kane should be up there with the best of them. We chat to him about why things have been so quiet as of late, and how he’s planning his comeback.

Residing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin are Gein, three boys that have been pushing the harder sound of drum and bass stateside. Knowledge dropped in to have a chat about their inspiration and to find out how their new EP is going.

Knowledge checks in with Kenny Ken and Mace to find out about their new projects; Mace’s Digital Funk label is a response to the changing face of the music scene and is a strictly digital affair where Mace hopes to be able to cover different genres and Mix & Blen’ sees Kenny Ken wanting to keep things rolling with the classic jump-up label.

In Digital Nation, Don John ‘The Bastard’ gives us a lowdown on the best of this year’s music production releases so you can spend all of your Xmas cash wisely. Touching on the best piece of hardware and the best plug-in Don John will guide you into next year with the tastiest bits of kit for your studio.

We also check out BBK’ new signings Brookes Brothers, take a look into the worlds of Utah Jazz and Eastern European producer Sunchase, take a trip into the artwork of talented designer Richt and touch down with MC JokerD And, If that isn’t enough then we also have all the latest games, books, websites, news, fashion, cool shit, DJ equipment, clubs, plus all we review the movies and DVD's to keep your probing minds at bay for another month.

FREE COVER CD Mixed by MACE

1. Locuss – Days Of Fury (Planet Funk Dubplate)
2. Dj SS – MA2 (Kenny Ken & Mace Remix) (Formation)
3. Mace – The Rattler (Mix & Blen’ Dubplate)
4. Kenny Ken – Murda You (Benny Page Remix) (Mix & Blen’ Dubplate)
5. Mace – Forever Soul (Planet Funk – Pfunk007)
6. Blue Sonix – Luv Me (Logistics Remix) (Spearhead Dub)
7. Contour – Medieval Love (Planet Funk – Pfunk009)
8. Silva D – Love & Hate (B Cee & Lomax Remix) (Ease Up Dubplate)
9. Contour – Colour of Science (Planet Funk – Pfunk 009)
10. Mace – Holding On (Digital Funk – Dfunk001)
11. Kenny Ken & Mace feat. Demolition Man & MC Fats – Fire 2006
(Knowledge & Wisdom)
12. Samurai feat. Charlotte – I Wanna Tell You (Mace Remix) (Restless Natives)
13. The Outfit – Wantin’ You (Planet Funk) (Rockstar EP – Pfunk006)
14. Ed Funk – Lazy Afternoon (Peshay Remix) (Planet Funk – Pfunk007)
15. Kenny Ken – Everyman (Benny Page Remix) (Mix & Blen’ Dubplate)
16. The Outfit – Topless (Planet Funk) (Rockstar EP – Pfunk 006)

Apple announces iPhone

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Apple Computer (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs confirmed months of speculation Tuesday by unveiling a new mobile phone that plays and downloads music and a set-top box that allows people to stream video from their computers to their televisions.
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Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, said the iPhone would "reinvent" the telecommunications sector.
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Steve Jobs introduced AppleTV at the MacWorld Conference & Expo in San Francisco today.

Jobs said Apple's iPhone would "reinvent" the telecommunications sector and "leapfrog" past the current generation of hard-to-use smart phones.

"Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything," he said during his keynote address at the annual Macworld Conference and Expo. "It's very fortunate if you can work on just one of these in your career. ... Apple's been very fortunate in that it's introduced a few of these."

Jobs demonstrated the phone's music capabilities by playing "Lovely Rita, Meter Maid, " from the Beatles' Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.

iPhone uses a patented technology Apple is calling "multi-touch," and is essentially a computer with a blank screen that users configure with easy-to-use software so they can touch the monitor with their fingers.

"We're going to use a pointing device that we're all born with," Jobs said. "It works like magic. ... It's far more accurate than any touch display ever shipped. It ignores unintended touches. It's super smart."

The phone automatically synchs your media -- movies, movies, photos -- through Apple's iTunes digital content store. The device also synchs e-mail content, Web bookmarks and nearly any type of digital content stored on your computer.

"It's just like an iPod," Jobs said, "charge and synch."

iPhone is 11.6 millimeters thin, thinner than almost any phone on the market today. It comes with a 2-megapixel digital camera built into the back, as well as a slot for headphones and a SIM card.

Apple will begin taking order Tuesday for $299 video box, called Apple TV, and the devices will be available in February.

The gadget is designed to bridge computers and television sets so users can more easily watch their downloaded movies on a big screen. A prototype of the gadget was introduced by Jobs in September when Apple announced it would sell TV shows and movies through its iTunes online store.

The product could be as revolutionary to digital movies as Apple's iPod music player was to digital music. Both devices liberate media from the computer, allowing people to enjoy digital files without being chained to a desktop or laptop.

"It's really, really easy to use," Jobs told the crowd at San Francisco's Moscone Center before demonstrating the system with a video clip of "The Good Shepherd." "It's got the processing horsepower to do the kinds of things we like to do."

AppleTV will come with a 40-gigabyte hard drive that stores up to 50 hours of video. It features an Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) processor and can handle videos, photos and music streamed from up to five computers within the wireless range.

Jobs also said Apple has sold more than 2 billion songs on its popular iTunes music download site, catapulting the company into the top ranks of music sellers worldwide. Apple, which sells 58 songs per second, or 5 million songs a day, sells more songs than Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) and ranks behind only WalMart, Best Buy and Target as a music retailer.

"We couldn't be happier with the growth rate of iTunes," Jobs said.

He said Apple will sell digital movies from Paramount. Apple has partnered with Disney for several months, offering about 100 movies on iTunes. With Paramount's selection, it will have 250 movies available for downloading on the site.

It remains to be seen whether the king of digital music can colonize an entirely new category of gadgets. Apple could use a megahit along the lines of its iconic iPod to divert investors' attention from the stock options-backdating scandal that has tainted its reputation.

The backdating of stock options, which has been widespread among Silicon Valley companies, involves pegging stock options to favorable grant dates in the past to boost the recipients' award. It isn't necessarily illegal, but securities laws require companies to properly disclose the practice in their accounting and settle any charges that may result.

In a December filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple said Jobs was aware of, or recommended the selection of, some favorable grant dates but he neither benefited financially from them nor "appreciated the accounting implications."

Apple shares were up 95 cents, or 1.11 percent, to $86.42 in midday trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $50.16 to $93.16.