Blockbuster Season, Osama Passes, Countdowns!

Professional development day - aka, a supply teachers long weekend. I still work tonight at the City Grill, but it's another short week for students around New Brunswick, I donno if you remember it being like this when you were in school, but there is something like only 2 weeks, in which the students have 5 school days in the week, over the course of the final 7 weeks. I know that sounded like some kind of algebra problem but this blog is a product of this professional development day because I've been a bit too busy otherwise. I know it's been some time since my last post, but it has been a rather busy last week. For example, yesterday I taught during the day, coached track and field after school til 5:30, went home - had a peanut butter sandwich and put my feet up  for a half hour. Catch my breathe, and I'm heading back to the school for 7 to open the gym for the high school boys basketball team which wrapped up at 9.  A long day, and I didn't feel much like writing when I came to the end of it. Also I've been in teaching Phys Ed all week, an though I greatly enjoy it and it's great to be working, it doesn't leave any down town for writing or formulating ideas like some other courses I've covered in recent weeks. I'm busy teaching the kicks the soulja boi dance and evaluating their 'boot scootin' boogies' - Ha, I know.

Anyway 'nuff excuses, much has happened in the past week, we had the Canadians de Mont Royale meet their demise, the once seemingly invincible San Antonio Spurs also saw their season end- does that mean the end of their 'dynasty' as well? Tim Duncan didn't look like his old self getting outmatched by Gasol in the first round, and no not Pau, it was Marc making Duncan look aged in the first round. Will the Celtics and Lakers be the latest to see their seasons fade? Some of this feels so old, it's irrelevant - in our information age, in which we're fed new interesting stories by the hour, each day. This was a big one from this past week. This video is nice.

Yep, Osama Bin Laden was killed this past week, too somewhat disturbing hysteria. However, I will say I think we always knew if the Americans ever caught Bin Laden, his punishment, was assuredly death. I just like the comedy in that video, ha the Hip Hop Obama. There are some beauty one-liners.

Happy Belated Cinco De Mayo  to you all, we're in a new month and usually May marks the beginning of the summer blockbuster season. This year the champagne was popped prematurely with  the opening of Fast Five coming out this past weekend - breaking records for an opening weekend in April. So with that jumping off I think it's time to take a look at the summer blockbusters that will follow it in the coming dog days of summer. I missed last weeks hip hop's most wanted countdown, so i'll be getting back to that. Also the summer countdown continues - this time it feels a little more appropriate with all the good weather we've had this week, though it seems some showers are rolling in, just in time for the weekend. So we've got a little wrap up, some tunes, some movies and, another smorgasbord of reasons why summer cannot come early enough! Let's get at it.


I started to write about this summers blockbuster movies and I was looking for clips when I stumbled upon this summer movie trailer. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll humbly allow this video to do the talking on what films to look forward to for this coming summer season.

Some pretty epic looking films in there - X-Men: First Class, Captain America, the new Harry Potter. A few dud looking ones, Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides, Green Lantern, Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon (IMHO). And a few that I'm not real sure on, but I'm intrigued enough that I'll want to go and find out - Cowboys and Aliens, The Hangover Pt. 2, Super 8. I went to see Thor, I thought it was pretty good, I liked the depths they writers took to explore the science fiction side of  story, I don't want to say too much because I  know many will want to see it. I give it a 7/10. As for the other big blockbuster out there Struan has already seen Fast 5, and he recommended me seeing it, saying it was wild. That leaves me feeling that if you go in there expecting a non-stop action adventure from Fast 5 ,than your expectations will be fulfilled and then some. I'll probably see that at some point, I'm not the biggest fan of the full throttle action adventure genre, but I do admit they are the best to see in the theatre atmosphere. Whereas, I might prefer an extended 3 hour drama from the comfort of my own home, just sayin. What I find surprising is that I am kind of looking forward to seeing the new Harry Potter- yet I have never seen or read any of the series to this point - maybe a marathon is in order. But yeah if I were to rank my top 3 picks for movies I'm most looking forward to seeing, it would have to be. 1)  Hangover Pt.2 - I donno if it will be as funny as the first but I'm expected a lot of the same and I'll be quite happy if that's what I get. 2) Cowboys and Aliens - The western sci-fi genre has exactly been an easy genre to pin down with top quality films, that said I'm waiting with bated breathe to see what comes of this film. And lastly my 3rd selection would have to be X-Men: First Class. The previews look promising and I though the premise behind the film to be a story line worth checking out, and the X-Men films have yielded pretty solid results in the past.   

We'll keep the summer countdown running - I feel like I have about a dozen days to make up. But that's a good thing - times flying, summer we'll be here before we know it.

Here goes ten more reasons to love summer, numbers fifty four through forty five.
54. Longer Days - While I can't say that the our summers intensity or length can compete with that of the summer I experienced while in Australia, I will say that I came to greatly appreciate the hours of sun that we enjoy after dinner. Despite being summer, the sun would set between 6:30 and 7:30 most every night that I can remember, while I was down under. I love that there is enough time to push for 18 holes at the peak of our summer. Some of those sunny evenings find just the right temperature and carry their light til near 9:30 making for great east-coast summer nights.
53. This song.

52. Cottaging - It's getting to that time of year when people get out to
their cottage and take down the boards off the windows, make the necessary repairs the harsh winter has dealt, clean out the cobwebs and prepare themselves a summer retreat away from the noise pollution of the city suburbs. Cottages often make for some of the summers best house party locations, often hidden away, these make for the best party moments of the summer.
51. Cold Beers - Nothing beats and ice cold beer after a good sweat on a warm summers day. Nothing.
50. Reunions - Summer often marks the return of students from university to see friends and family they've been away from. Often weddings are held in the summer and provide a great opportunity to bring people together. Here's to summer occasions that bring us closer together with those that we've spent time apart from!

49. Frisbee - You need warm hands and good weather to play Frisbee, therefore it is a summer sport where we're from. The great thing about Frisbee is that its never the person who throws the Frisbee that has to go over and retrieve the Frisbee after it was come clamouring unexpectedly in on an elderly set of sunbathers or too close to the nesting area of an overprotective mother of what seems like 8 children. You can 'go fishing' with your frisbee tosses, I prefer to to see an  awkward, "I'm so sorry, we were just tossing..." with mine.
48. Bar-B-Q's - The summer BBQ season is well under way and it adds a whole new element to my versatility as an amateur chef. Whether it's steaks, kebabs, or scalloped potatoes a BBQ is a great way to kick your feet up. enjoy a cold beer, and have some great eats.  
47. Summer Concerts - The summer concert series traditionally begins with Coachella in April, and this year was no different, Kanye West, Arcade Fire and Kings of Leon headlined a show that had a line up that likely won't be topped. That said,  Arcade Fire will be coming to Moncton as part of the U2 show later this summer.
46. Shorts and Tees - The most comfortable outfit going.
45. Summer Kicks - There is nothing worse than getting your sneakers out too soon. The slush and winter grime will ruin even the nicest pair of crisp summer kicks. The slush is gone, the rains have cleaned up the sidewalks, even the grass around is drying up - it's time to get the summer sneaks out.

And lastly I wanted to get back to my Hip Hop's Most Wanted Top 20 List, which I had let slide for a week.

LW TW Track Artist
n/a 20. Ballin - Young Jeezy Ft. Lil Wayne
n/a 19. F5: Furiously Dangerous - Ludacris Ft. Slaughterhouse
n/a 18. Fast Lane - Eminem and Royce 5'9" (Can't help but think Nate Dogg should be on this hook. RIP.)
n/a 17. Disgusting - J. Cole
17. 16. My Last - Big Sean Ft. Chris Brown
19. 15. Show Goes On - Lupe Fiasco
16. 14. Wake Up - Wiz Khalifa
10. 13. Phone Numbers - Wiz Khalifa Ft. Trae The Truth and Big Sean
15. 12. On My Level - Wiz Khalifa Ft. Too Short
08. 11. Makin' Dough - Obie Trice
12. 10. Eraser - Kid Cudi
06. 09. Black and Yellow (Remix) - Wiz Khalifa Ft. Snoop Dogg, Juicy J, T-Pain
11. 08. All Black Everything - Lupe Fiasco
07. 07. Capcom - Kid Cudi
09. 06. American Rapstar - Big K.R.I.T.
05. 05. 6'7" - Lil Wayne Ft. Cory Gunz
03. 04. All Of The Lights - Kanye West
01. 03. Red Nation - The Game Ft. Lil Wayne 
04. 02. Roll Up - Wiz Khalifa
02. 01. Dreamin' - Big K.R.I.T

That's it for this week. Quick shout out to all the wonderful mothers out there as this weekend mark the passing of Mother's Day.

                                                      I love you Tricia Diane Budd!