May Day

So, May is here! Last month of school before I go home and resume work at the Youth Center at the Hanscom Air force base in Bedford, MA. My job is the bomb diggity. Basically, I hang out, do arts and crafts, go swimming, and go on field trips with kids all day. Totally fun. However, before camp starts, I get to do fun tasks like cleaning and organizing the storage facility formerly known as the back locker room. This is the kind of task that makes up for all the fun I have during the rest of the summer. Maybe I'll even take a summer class at Middlesex Community College to get a kick start on my studies for next year. By the way, the weather is absolute crap today, unlike what's pictured at left. Even so, I'm planning on braving the elements to go kick the soccer ball around with my bro Matty Solomon. Should be some good times, let 'em roll.

Okay, I'm sitting around in the lab trying to do my report on Mexico which is due tomorrow. Hmmm...how have Mexico's relations with neighboring countries changed since the end of the cold war? I wonder. Actually, I wonder even more what Grand Theft Auto 4 will be like...Even more intriguing, what will playstation 3 be like? Will I be able to scrounge up enough scratch to get one? All of these are excellent questions, and I don't pretend to be able to predict the future. Ah, perhaps I'll just end up surfing the net for another few hours, get tired and go back to my dorm to watch the NBA playoffs. My favorite is still the Pistons, but the Mavs are looking quite impressive. I'd really hate to see the Clips or the Spurs take it down. Damn you, Alien-looking Sam Cassell. And Ginobili, why don't you flop your arms around a little more trying to draw calls. If you play the Lakers, you better hope Phil Jackson doesn't have a media barrage concerning what he thinks of your tactics. Cause if so, you can kiss several million goodbye in potential endorsements. No, dude, nobody wants to sponsor a guy who's been blasted by the king of basketball insultation. Aright, this rant is over. I really should get cracking on this Mexico paper. Maybe if I rant about drug tunnels and illegal immigration it will amount to 3-5 pages quicker... Here are a couple pictures I like. Up: Boston. Down: my cat: $1million

NBA playoffs

So, the NBA playoffs are set to kick off tomorrow at 3pm eastern time. I, for one, can barely contain my excitement. I know a lot of other people aren't that interested in basketball, and haven't been since the advent of the "athletic," high flying, new school game. Sure, players get away with travels that would've probably been called even 15 short years ago. And sure, some of the pretty sky-hooks and mid-range jumpers that were the trademarks of the stars in the Celtics heyday are virtually extinct. But the loss of these spectacles has been supplemented by some equally excellent plays. The near half-court three pointer that you can see Kobe Bryant and Mike James spotting up for regularly is a source of excitement. The dunks are more thunderous. Though the "tricky" plays may be relegated to the likes of defensively challenged players like reigning MVP Steve Nash, the overall athleticism serves me with at very least an adequate replacement. I, for one, can't get enough of Shaq leaning on his man into capitulation. Kobe has elevated his game to almost unprecedented levels. No, we all know the man doesn't have the leadership capabilities of the man he's been compared to throughout his career.


But, he may well have surpassed him in the ability to create a shot anywhere on the floor. Though usual suspects AI, T-Mac, KG, B-Diddy, and the Truth are all absent from this year's competition, there are first timers/MVP candidates Elton Brand and the King, LBJ to replace them. My personal picks to watch: Nowitzki, Carmelo, Arenas, Sheed, Shaq, Kobe, and, of course, crazy RonRon Artest. These games are going to be classics, but there can only be one winner. This year the obvious pick is the Pistons. The slight underdog is the Spurs. The winner will be.................The Pistons. The only team that has a chance to challenge Detroit's comparative youth, offensive firepower and defensive intensity over a five game series: The Dallas Mavericks. People have been calling Nowitzki soft for his entire career. Maybe they're right. But if they say that about the rest of the players on his team, watch out. And enjoy!

audio essay

So, I've finally finished the audio essay that I've been working on for a couple weeks now. Despite having lost it due to an unexpected auto logout on the mac lab computer and an unexpected crash of my own computer, I persisted, and I think it turned out pretty well. Even if it's not about to be syndicated by radiostations worldwide, I think it should be. Well, maybe it doesn'y deserve airplay, but it's got some nice sound effects in it. So, Check out my melodies!

Celtics to miss playoffs

What a bummer. This season has been in the can for a few weeks now, but diehards such as myself have had trouble truly admitting that. Now the question is: what to do in preparation for next year? This is not so easy. As this article helps to explain, there are many points of view on what needs to be done. In my mind, the biggest need is for a dominating big man. Sure we have Kendrick Perkins and Al Jefferson, but these guys still have their troubles. Perkins has really developed into something nice. He's got his sky-hook working in the post, he is indeed one of the best outlet passers (off a rebound) on the team. Aside from that, he's a menacing presence on defense at 6'10", always willing to do the gritty work like boxing out and blocking shots. Al Jefferson, meanwhile has quite a bit of work to do. My confidence is definitely bolstered by the successful development of Perkins, who couldn't do much on the offensive end in his first two years and who, like Jefferson, struggled mightily with foul trouble. Perhaps time is the answer. Maybe Jefferson will develop over the course of the summer into the future hall of famer that many project him to become. In fact, I really like the long-term projection of where this club is headed. A starting five of Delonte West, Paul Pierce, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, and Kendrick Perkins is a whole lot more enticing than it was at the beginning of the year. The only real concern there is that Pierce could be too old to dominate the way he has this season by the time those other guys develop into NBA starters. Clearly, Michael Olowakandi, Raef LaFrentz, and Wally Sczerbiak do not belong in that picture. We need guys that have not only the desire, but the ability to play good, tough, defensive basketball. Even with this thought, however, I can take some solace in the fact that we have some exiting young bench guys in Tony Allen, Dan Dickau, Orien Greene, and Ryan Gomes. Certainly, I would think at least one of those guys will develop into a starter at some point. The question is when, and will Paul Pierce be around to see it? Danny Ainge will provide us with at least part of the answer before opening night, 2006.

Just a taste...

ON Thursday after class, I was dissapointed to find the dining halls closed for the day. My dismay quickly succumbed to utter, unabashed joy when I realized that today would be the day that the Taste of Umass food and fun festival was to be held at the mullins center. As this man's expression indicates, there was plenty of good food to be had. There was even a hotdog eating contest. The winner will have a chance at facing off against hotdog eating champion Kobayashi.

The best part of the thing was the free samples, though. I now have enough triple threat power bars to last me the rest of the school year. Good times.

yo

yo, its been a while since I last hollered at cha, but spring break was truly draining. I spent my time working on papers and readings that I 1.never bothered to do or 2. aren't due for a while. Ok, so it wasn't really that draining, but some stuff happened. It would be nice to have millionaire parents who sent me away to Cancun for a week of drunken debauchery every chance I get, but then again, I'm a big believer in the sweet not being as sweet without the sour. Not to say that I have truly suffered in my life, but some of those beers I had over break definitely tasted like they'd been sitting around in someone's trunk for a bit too long. Anyways, it's good to be back, and here's a few more pics for your viewing pleasure.
p.s. the audio below consists of the duck
pond-more to come




At Left: Two handed partying
Below: Leaping into sleeping
Bottom: skating outside the FAC