Lockouts, Series Finales, Hope Everyone's Enjoying Summer!

What up, getting a little caught up with summer and things of that nature, again, it's been awhile. Trying to get post number 2 for the month of July in here before July is up. Not cool. Things have been on the go though, couple weeks back I coached at BNB's Bantam Elite Camp, a basketball camp in Fredericton for the "top 40" middle school aged boys and  girls from across the province. It was good times, long sweat infused days of great reward, followed by a hotbox of a residence bedroom late into the night, with a spattering of meal hall cuisine mixed in between. All told, the camp was an enjoyable way to pass a summer week. I got the chance to coach a couple of kids from Riverview, which was a fun coincidence, hopefully I get a chance to coach them again in the future at what would be the next level for them. (High School)  

Alright, what else has been up - went to Tracy Morgan's stand up comedy show at the Casino just last week and that was quite a show. The show was a little late getting started as Tracy has some immigration issues getting into the country, ala "The Game", but despite our border patrols reservations, Morgan made his way to the Casino and by 835 the show got started.The opening act, Brain Scolero, was pretty good, sweating and setting the table for Tracy's tardy arrival. Morgan proceeded to put on an x-rated gut busting 40 minutes of jokes. Most jokes were quite sexually charged and unquestionably explicit, apparently leaving some spectators in uneasiness. What I say to that, is you obviously didn't know what you were getting yourself into, Tracy said it himself, "If you came to see 30 Rock you're in the wrong place." Tracy handled a few hecklers in a pretty subdued fashion, although at one point he did call a guy "a faggot" which he followed with "not in a derogatory sort of way." It was at this point where I felt that show took a less funny more human turn, and Tracy was just kind of sitting there talking about how he was just trying to make people happy and what not. That went on for about 15 minutes and then Tracy got back to telling jokes for the shows finale and ended it with some laughs. On the whole the show was pretty enjoyable on a number of different levels; I caught Morgan's towel when he tossed it into the crowd, the noticeable public uneasiness of some, and crude, clever, and  'funny cause it's true' humour. I'd give the show a 7.5 out of 10 and I felt it was worth the price of admission. However, as far as the casino slot machines are concerned, I'm less than impressed.

From there, I hit the Island up for a relaxed 4 day retreat, where I mostly chilled and played Golf with a few friends up there. Thank you to them for their hospitality.  At numerous times for in Freddy and in PEI I had some time to write but I also found myself without Internet at these points. The whole week in Fredericton I was staying on campus at UNB and I couldn't find a wireless connection to speak of at all. I donno what's more concerning their lack of connectivity or my attitude that I need to be 'a clicks away' at all times. I will say it is far easier to check information and find ideas with the internet always on the ready. Betcha didn't know that. But it's true. World Wide Web they say.

So that's whats been up. What else is there to discuss. OK let's discuss the season finales for both the Game of Thrones and The Killing. Take a look at the current sports landscape and reflect on the draft briefly. Beyond that I'll sprinkle in some music as well and we'll get an afternoons writing out of this yet.

Headlines

Game Of Thrones Over The Killing
Obvious spoilers in here. These were two shows that I've been watching on a weekly basis throughout their recently completed debut seasons. Seattle based The Killing grabbed my early attention with it's gripping and gritty tale of the murder of Rosie Larson, a high school teenager. The story jumped out of the gate with fireworks, it appeared no one was safe from guilt or investigation. Game of Thrones a new HBO production based on the fantasy saga novels by George R. R. Martin, I've mentioned in here on various occasions in the past. Game of Thrones though stunning visually, took a couple of weeks for me to totally understand the complexities and enormity of  their fantasy world.  However, as the shows progressed it became clearer to me that GOT is the far superior series and will be one I will follow through into next season. And not just because it has dragons. GOT took it's time and created a universe full of characters and ideas. The characters seem to have a great deal of depth to them as we learn the origins, histories, traditions and codes of each house and region. As an adaptation GOT is well written and seems to have a great deal of scope in what it looks to accomplish. Perhaps the supernatural fantasy element appears to be on the way in season two after season one spent a great deal of time in developing some of its main characters to give the show its depth. To this point much of the talk has been of war but we have yet to really see a clash of epic proportion. GOT has gotten it right and taken its time in doing so. That being said. Game of Thrones has certainly taken some chances.

Ha the 1:30 mark gets me. But yeah like the man says "They killed off one of the main actors before the finale". He's right, that was episode 9 but the show is still all that to me. GOT had a great finale that only makes you look forward to what's coming next. I'll be anxiously awaiting it's return.

The Killing on the other hand, just left me feeling mostly used and confused. After watching the show, week after week, it became clear to me that they were reaching for ideas. A whole episode was dedicated to officer Linden losing her son and searching around Seattle for a whole day. Not a word was mentioned about the Larson case the whole episode. So we could see a human parallel between the detective Linden and the Larson family? This far in? I think they needed another week to plot the course for their ending, call me a conspiracy theorist but I think this came about just about the same time as they signed on for a second season and now had to hurriedly come up with an ending that allowed for a second instalment. You have exhausted the twists and turns and all of the unbelievabilities for this season. As far as I'm concerned they could easily have started a new case with season 2 and wrapped it up with Richmond as the killer - I would have been fine with that. They clearly should have checked the log books and checked the gas on the campaign cars weeks ago (think this is no brainer police work, no?) but I'll let that slide, just wrap this show up for me, I've suspended disbelief for nearly every possible fringe character here. But no, The Killing jumped the shark and tried to end with a big one, I'm not sold. Holder's now a dirty cop, not a misunderstood one? Richmond wasn't guilty despite all of the signs that pointed at him?, Balko kills him so we'll never hear Richmond's side?, The end, see ya next year.  Take it or leave it for me as far as next season goes, I used to feel hmm, invested, I donno that I still will next time around. So that's it. I'd say watch Game of Thrones if you haven't already and as far as The Killing goes, meh, I think I wished I'd tuned out after episode 8.   

Locks On and Locks Off
The NFL has completed a deal between it's athletes and owners and their lockout is over, meaning that as I expected the whole time, the season would go on as scheduled. The NFL earns so many people, sooo much money that there was no way a deal wasn't going to get done. As far as the NFL  was concerned the system wasn't broken it just needed to be tinkered with. The owners wanted a little bigger slice of the pie and the players wanted more guaranteed dollars and better working conditions (No 18 game seasons or OTA's). And after a lot of pomp and circumstance the two sides compromised, agreed, and now a frenzy of off season activity has seen many franchises in rush mode to get their rosters set for training camp and a season that really isn't all that far off. Is it just me,or  is it just the fact that the off season has been reduced to about 2 weeks rather than the usual 6 months, but it seems to me that the free agent crop is more bountiful than ever this off season, plenty off big name players have been available and moving. The landscape has likely shifted yet again for another season, in a league where parity has reigned in recent seasons. The Pats and Eagles look like the early winners with both teams grabbing big name player potential guys at relative discounts for their services. The Pats with Albert Haynesworth and Ochocinco and the Eagles landing prized free agent cornerback Nnamdi Osamugha. The Eagles also acquired Dominic Rogers Cromartie and defensive end Jason Babin as well. The Eagles have helped themselves quite nicely so far, but still look to re-sign DeSean Jackson to remain a home run threat. Where will Plaxico and Moss end up? Lot's of intrigue out there heading into both an exciting new NFL season as well as the equally exciting fantasy football season that will accompany it.

The story as far as the NBA is concerned appears to far bleaker, despite the NBA's scheduled tip off being still a ways off the NBA appears to be headed for a shorted season at the very least. Unlike the NFL, the NBA's system is broken. Considering that the NBA just enjoyed some of it's greatest ratings ever, the leagues popularity is at a high recently speaking. In an NBA that had been a bit starved for hype since MJ hung it up at the end of the twentieth century, the league was rejuvenated when LeBron said he would take his talents to South Beach. People tuned in for love or hate to see what would come of an ultra competitive and ultimately one of the more exciting seasons in recent memory. So with all that momentum and hype machine working how are many of the NBA's franchises losing money? The system is broken and needs to be fixed. The players collect perhaps too great a share of the total percentage of revenue and even then the contracts may not be evenly distributed based on what each player brings to the table. The best article I read on the subject came from Bill Simmons on his Grantland site. Here's a link. http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6749669/if-ruled-nba-world  I don't think the NBA wants a lockout but I think it'll be inevitable in this case. The players have too much power because it is a star driven league and the owners will do anything to acquire the type of stars that can put a team of the top. The NBA, unlike many of the other major sports, is a league in which having a superstar player can mean all the difference for franchises. Having more than one is the covet. Rest assured the stars and the owners will come out of this on top. But yeah I'd said basketball will start up around Christmas time but it could go longer depending on how this European experiment works for some of the NBA players willing to go overseas. This will be an interesting one and I'll be following it for the next little while.

Of Note

Colengelo is an Idiot - I found it hard to believe that the Raptors would take another big European with their 5th pick in the 2011 lottery draft about 6 weeks ago. But then again they are  the Raptors and Colangelo is their GM. Toronto could have addressed a major issue by taking Brandon Knight, who was unexpectedly available. It's become apparent that in today's NBA you need a top level PG, and I'm not so sure Bayless or Calderon fit the bill. Beyond that the Raps already have a soft, finesse big man who doesn't like to rebound in former lottery pick Andreas Bargnani, if you're going to pair his talents with anyone I think it should be a defensive oriented, glass eating, banging big man, not another Euro finesse project and that's just speaking from a basketball standpoint. From a PR standpoint I think the pick is a joke. Does Colangelo not know that people are tired of him trying to unearth the next Euro Dirk? Even if the Raps had Jonas Valanciunas rated that high, shouldn't they be questioning their own rating systems at this point when it comes to overrated talent from across the pond? Anyway I may eat my words on this one but I didn't like the pick then and I still don't like it. 

Twin Peaks - Interesting show that I initially got into because of The Killing. People were comparing The Killing to Twin Peaks so I thought I'd check it out. The show aired in 1990 on ABC and was the creation of David Lynch and Mark Frost, so you can expect some oddities. Twin Peaks was a top rated show during it's 1990's run and tells the story of a Laura Palmer, a high school home coming queen who's body is found in the season's pilot. The film follows a quirky FBI detective, Dale Cooper, (Kyle MacLaughlin) who comes in from out of town to investigate the case. We learn there is more to this quiet Washington town than initially meets the eye, as Lynch and Frost unveil a seedier under belly to the respectable small-town. I enjoyed this show, partial because of its early 90's kitsch but also because of it's good writing and interesting characters. worth checking out if only for the campy theme song.


Big Sean/Killer Mike are taking home my inaugural artist of the month award. Per usual I couldn't decide which artist to honour with this award and per usual I just made this award up but yeah I wanted to acknowledge that Big Sean's album Finally Famous and Killer Mike's album Pledge 3 we're dope albums and were in heavy rotation for me in July. Big Sean's long awaited major label debut is nothing otherworldly but it is clever and catchy enough to  keep you listening, blessed with a lot of production from No.ID  and that seems to be working. Killer Mike's Pl3dge  album is chock full of gritty story telling and conscious questioning of the current 'system'. Killer Mike has some political aims from his music. Undoubtedly these are two of the albums I've played most often this month and that, earns them the Artist(s) of the month. Something I just made up now, on the spot, but meh, why not? Highlights include: Finally Famous: "I Do It", "Memories Pt. 2" Ft. John Legend, "Marvin Gaye & Chardonnay" Ft. Kanye West & Roscoe Dash, "100 Keys" Ft Rick Ross. and on  Pl3dge: "That's Life 2", "Ric Flair", "Ready, Set, Go" Feat TI and Big Boi

Speed Read 

Kanye West/Jay Z - Kanye and Jay Z dropped the first single "Otis" off  their new album Watch the Throne set to drop in a few weeks time. The song pays tribute to it's namesake borrowing a sample from Soul Legend Otis Redding. Here's the single I like it but I don't love it. 4/5

Colby Rasmus - I really liked what the Jays did in acquiring the former first round Cardinals draft pick at the deadline. The Jays unloaded some of their arms but as far as I was concerned only Frasor was of any value out of those guys. I think there is still plenty of potential for Rasmus who is still very young and seemed to have butted heads with LaRussa in St. Louis more than played poorly. We got the best player in a trade and to me that's the most important thing. (*He hit a two run double while I wrote this, good omen, no?)

Captain America - Went to see Captain America this week, I thought it was pretty good but not great. Another super hero movie for the summer blockbuster catalogue. I would rate it slightly below what I thought of Thor. So I'd say 7/10. If you got nothing to do then go check it out, another 3D flick, which is almost getting irritating at this point. The origins portion of the film means its a bit slow getting started but then it picks up steam as it goes. Worth a look.

Cowboys vs. Aliens - Movie to check out for this week.

And while I have no new top 20, I will give you the 5 Songs I liked that I've heard the past 2 weeks. The only caveat being that I must have first heard the song within the last 2 weeks.

1. Drake - Headlines - The first official single off of Drake's new Take Care album, set to be released later this year. Produced by Boi-1da.
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2. J. Cole Ft. Trey Songz - Can't Get Enough - Just business as usual in Cole World as J. Cole drops another track in anticipation of his major label debut, when will that happen? Who knows but enjoy the releases until it does. This one features RnB crooner, Trey Songz  backing Cole up.

3. Frank Ocean - Thinking About You - Fairly new RnB sensation. Heard the song, liked it, what do you think?

4. Wiz Khalifa, Curren$y, Big Sean - Flowers - Produced by Big Jerm, these three up and comers have worked together to put out a mix tape for the summer. More leaks to follow.

5. Nappy Roots - Congratulations - First single off of Nappy Roots new album coming out this fall, on the album Nappy Roots collaborate with the production of Outkast Dungeon family members Organized Noize, hence the album title Nappy Dot Org

Hope all is well where ever you're at. Enjoy your extended New Brunswick Day long weekend local readers!

P. 

Blog: The Summer Edition - It's the Final Countdown, and New Hip-Hop Countdown.

Hallelujahs and hoorays for the long awaited arrival of the summer. Better late than never and the latest heat wave has been a a pleasant reminder of what we've come to expect from our summers, especially in this modern 'globally warmed' climate of ours. I near screamed, "conspiracy!" in late June. Hopefully we hit our averages though, things stay the course and we get toasty. So I know its been awhile since I last wrote, way too long really. No excuse really, but we'll try to get back on track. So let's get back to something I've been working on for a while now, my summer countdown, so here is the latest blog - were calling it, the summer edition. We'll give one last look at the countdown to summer, and look at what this summer has in store in regards to some music, movies and anything else entertaining.

Over the past couple months I've been running a tally of assorted summer delicacies to build up the hype, excitement and anticipation of what to expect and adore from the coming 3 months. So here is that list in it's entirety dating back some 70 days! Whooo! This was truly a labour of love as at times I had trouble coming up with enough entries, that's not to say that summer didn't have that many, more so, that I was enjoying a creative spasm and couldn't shake the cramp; so as you'll see, I had a beer. In honour of summer, of course, and that usually did the trick. I've updated some of my commentaries that date back to previous entries, surf's up, take a deep breathe, off we go.

70. Golf - "Isn't it fun to go out in the sun, and lie on the course?" - Bob Hope

Plenty A Gross Bum

69. Skinny Dipping -Not to be mistaken with streaking, which doesn't necessarily require water. If you can incorporate the two, even better.

68. Watermelon - Preferably seedless, wait, preferably vodka infused!

67. Vacation - In the words of Drake, "I'm on one!" I hope you are too!

66. Road Trips - Because you would hate to disrupt your life with something like routine!

65. A Good Toss - Games are easily invented with a ball and a beach.

64. Nice Cars - Give me something double-take worthy.

63. Camp Fires - Man has been fascinated for centuries, now get drunk and jump over that fire!

62. Hot Dogs Over the Open Flame - Your reward for a fiery near death experience.

61. Smores - Complete with a delectable dessert!

60. Ice Cream - Am I still a child if I like moon mist?

59. Slush Free Sidewalks - When I wrote this, this was an issue. Slush. You remember.

58. Green - Life, Go!,  Dead Presidents, Ganja, Innocence, green is plenty good.

57. Summer Sports - Summer time well spent.

56. Bridge Jumping - Give your heart a natural boost!

55. Cliff Jumping - "So there are no rocks, right there? For a bit, ya say?" I'm jumping.

54. Longer Days - The more daylight the shorter the days seems, or is it just me?

53. Summertime - Sublime - Here's a new more recent Sublime song featuring Wiz Khalifa. The band doesn't quite sound the same with Rome on the mic but this is still a good summer jam to bump to.

52. Cottaging - Preferably with no telecommunications to the alleged 'real world'. (Some of you just cursed at me, "#### that!")

51. Cold Beer - I'll take my first on the golf course in my mind. I'm 6 under, and deserving.

50. Reunions - Bring the fellas back together for a time, that's what I'm saying!

49. Frisbee - "Hippies!.... Hippies want to save the world but all they do is smoke pot and play frisbee!" Eric Cartman (South Park)

48. Bar-B-Q's - Bout time I got a few steaks and made this happen!

47. Summer Concerts -Feels ''more alive' to watch a show outdoors.

46. Shorts and Tees - Fuck the Rouge this is summer's unofficial dress code.

45. Summer Kicks - The crispiest.

44. Patios - Put me on the patio and instantly add 3 tall ones to my tab.

43. Summer Bars - Your exclusivity suggests to me, that you, too, like summer the best of all the seasons.

42. Pool Parties - Can easily lead to our #69 entry. Bottoms off, I mean, up!

41. Jet Skies - The effect on your jaw is similar to that of a playing on a trampoline, or magical mushrooms (so I'm told, of course), rigid perma-smile.

43. Flip Flops - Not just for the undecided.

42. Windows Down - In my world a cool breeze beats a cold air conditioner in the car. My world.

41. Boys of Summer -Don doing his thing.

40. Air Conditioning - Because sometimes there is such thing as "too hot".

39. Sundresses - It's more of an aesthetic preference than a practical one.

38. Water Balloons - "Fire in the hole!"

37. BIF Parties - Can we get a beer in someones face already! Dogg!

36. Pool Hopping - Now, it is not recommended to have a pool party in someone else's pool, but that is simply a recommendation, and the full monty is worth the extra effort.

35. Lobster - What a mythical little beast, I like the pinchers.

34. Washer Toss - Assemble your tandem. And we're talking near-gender-equality, in a near-sport here.

33. Cold Beer - Must have really milked that first one!

32. Tenting - "Pitch your tent right over there", that's what she said.

31. Slip and Slide - Preferably a slip into a slide and not the reverse order.

30. Trampolines -  I've always enjoy this video for some reason or another.

 

29. Convertibles - Isn't this just a timeless convention that pervades our consciousness, this notion an image of 'convertibles are cool', maybe, or maybe they're just way more fun.

28. Animals' summer dispositions -  At this point I'm talking all mammals. We're all just a bunch of happy beasts right about now.

27. Bikinis - Happy 65th Anniversary to the Bikini. Well done.

26. Super Soaker 3000 - "Say hello to my little friend!"

25. Keg Parties - Nothing gets me going like a chick banging out a 20 second keg stand. Real talk.

24. Bikinis - So nice, it made it twice.

23. LFO - So many ridiculously good lyrics in this jam, but "Summertime girls are the kind I like, Steal your honey, like I stole your bike" still takes the cake. Dreamy bunch.

22. Devil May Care Attitude - Getting in touch with your inner-rebel nation. See also; joining a fight club.

21. Mussels - Yeah! Give me one of those delicious little snot-shot looking, delicacies. Grossly good.

20. RCHP - Announcing new countdown! New ReD Hot Chili Peppers anthem has been given an August 30th release date. The album is titled, "I'm With You" and was produced by Rick Rubin, famous for his work with the Beastie Boys,'99 Problems' w/ Jay Z, among numerous other accomplishments.

19. Beer - Beer Me.

18. Summertime -This was originally a spot for the jazz tune summertime. I've already posted that. Great summer jazz tune check it out. Here's a new Common track called "Summer Madness", just in time for the summer.

17. Summer Reading - Into Robertson Davies' Fifth Business at the moment. So far I've enjoyed it. Beach. Read. Sleep. Burn.

16. Sun Showers -May there be more sun showers than baby showers ahead in the medium future.

15. Yard Sales - My grandmother would be remiss if I did not include this as one of summer's pleasures. "My Lord, you should have seen the things they had, an they were just giving them away".

14. Mini Golf - If you're with your buddy go golfing, if you're with your girl...

13. Snorkelling - For the last time, where are all the mermaids at?

12.  Corn Boils - Corn on the cob, a uniquely special, summer staple.  

11.  Cold Beer - Take the keys .

10. Lapping Waves - I'm looking for those Pacific ocean waves like down in Oz, you know, like the wave pool at Magic Mountain.

09. Block Parties - Preferably featuring Matchstick Mike.

08. Fireworks - Stru and predicted 15 minutes of fireworks. Moncton gave us 25, I guess we've finally made it Moncton.

07. Hammocks - All that's missing is the breeze.

06. Picnics - Does anyone still do this. Besides, you know, the Teddy Bears, are they still doing their thing.

05. Sand Castles - These can be simple, or elaborate and intricate, either way they usually end up with someone buried up to their neck in sand.

04.  Fresh Cut Grass - It's like a new hair cut for your house. Everything looks bigger, better and cleaner when it's been neatly trimmed.

03.  The First Burn - Nothing like getting your Lester the Lobster on that first couple times to the beach as you transform from a starch-pasty-white, to a fuming-molten-lava-red. The first burn is the first tan. Amirite?

02.  The Beach - I've alluded to it many times here but haven't come out and officially given it numbered status, but the beach is one of the biggest reasons I look forward to the summer season. The relaxed atmosphere, the scenic views(!), the sun beating down, the refreshing dip at arms reach, the perfect terrain for rest or play.

01. Late Night Shenanigans - The summer is the perfect time to stay up all night and keep the good times rolling. Think Dazed and Confused party at the moon tower. The summer can be one of those times where the nights never seem to end, from one place to the next - a new adventure lurks around every corner and time is just a number. That's what I love about summer.

And there we have it, 70 reasons to stop reading, get out and enjoy everything that summer has to offer. 

But before you go I'm gonna give you a most recent Top 20 Hip Hop Countdown because I haven't done that in awhile and there has been a tonne of new music coming out these days. Stay tuned for the next blog, which will be my review blog in which I'll take a look at how I did in my own mock draft as well as the give out some team grades for the selections themselves. I'll review Big Sean's much anticipated "Finally Famous" major label debut album. And we'll also take a look at the first seasons that were, for The Killing and The Game of Thrones, so if you haven't finished those up - spoiler alert in advance, and if you have time, finish 'em up! So that's what I'll be working on this weekend. Here's a song by Chiddy Bang that I've been feeling, it's called "Mind Your Manners", it really borders a bit close to the pop step for me but I catch myself hitting the replay button. More of a  hip-pop track than a hip-hop track. Let me know what you think.

Like I was saying above, there has been a plethora of recent hip hop releases of late and some have been pretty on point. So that'll shake this lastest list up quite a bit and I'm gonna toss out a couple other new tracks and feel free and comment on my fb or whatever if you think they're something you'd be looking to bump. Cheers to some good new hip hop!

Hip Hop Top 20 - Week 06. 07. 2011

LW TW  Song  Title        Artist

16. 20.  That's Life 2 - Killer Mike/ Trust Issues - Drake

n/a 19.  Pot of Gold - The Game Ft. Chris Brown

n/a 18.  I'm On - Trae The Truth, MDMA, Lupe Fiasco, Wiz Khalifa and Big Boi

n/a 17. Marvin Gay and Chardonnay - Big Sean Ft. Kanye West & Roscoe Dash

n/a 16.  I'm On - The Game Ft. Mars

20. 15.  Marvin's Room - Drake

n/a 14.  Reagan Era - Kendrick Lamar Ft. RZA

n/a 13.  Work Out - J. Cole

05. 12.  All Black Everything - Lupe Fiasco

n/a 11. Ghetto Dreams - Common and Nas

04. 10. American Rapstar - Big K.R.I.T

14. 09. How High - J. Cole

11. 08. M I Crooked Letter - Rossini Ft. Big K.R.I.T.

01. 07. Roll Up - Wiz Khalifa

06. 06. Wake Up - Wiz Khalifa

07. 05. Disgusting - J. Cole

12. 04.  Nasty - Nas

02. 03. Fast Lane - Bad Meets Evil(Eminem & Royce 5'9")

08. 02. Dreams Money Can Buy - Drake

03. 01. Return of Simba - J. Cole

Cole is simply the best thing going these days in my opinion. He's got numerous songs on here and I didn't even include "See It To Believe It", which is another very good track from Cole. Expect his debut major label album to drop later this year to some critical fanfare.

That's it. P.