Author: shredicusmaximus

Sports, Movies, and Pop Culture this is the name of the game. I'll be talking about said subjects from the point of view of an observer with a consciousness. Enjoy

Ran for Japan

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Today I partook in a nice run along Santa Monica‘s beach in the rain with a few friends. We ran for two miles and hung out for a while afterwards with all the snacks possible available to us. Why were we there you might ask. The title explains it all.

The Tokidoki relief run took place this morning and I wanted to partake. The funds from the 10 dollar entry fees went to the relief effort for the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. We would have bought T-shirts but thanks to the beaten up anime characters on them, we thought “yeah, a simple white t-shirt will do just fine.” They were cute little drawings though. The power rangers were there, and we took pictures with them. For more information please visit my Facebook account.

Josh Duhamel was running it which is the main reason why my friends and I ran into Fergie. Why Paris Hilton was there, well, we won’t argue with another good thing. For us, it was a good incentive to keep running. We wanted to catch up to them. Honestly, they’re well put together, but look the point is it was all in good fun for a good cause.

The day turned beautiful, we enjoyed the beach and chilled for a while afterwards, and got to see the hottest of the Black Eyed Peas. It was a good day to go to the beach, and we all walked away feeling like we had accomplished something special.

If you pay 10 dollars, you might have helped a small piece of Japan, but if you tell your friends and they tell theirs, then you have saved a nice chunk of it.

The Fighter

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So I was watching The Fighter yet again with a buddy of mine this past weekend. He hadn’t seen it yet and I thought it was rather absurd that it had been this long without him seeing this piece of cinematic gold. It was nominated at the Oscars for many different academy awards including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress just to name a few. Any way, after I went to Blockbuster and saw it was completely sold out (for good reason), I bought it on my TV. We both sat down, shut up, got the food out, and watched the movie.

The film is set in Lowell Mass. circa 1993. It follows the story of road worker and actual boxer in real life, Mickey Ward played by Mark Wahlberg. A 31 year old “stepping stone” as he is called by critics and the residents, he lives under the over protective eye of his mother/manager Melissa Leo and in the shadow of his trainer/step brother, a once promising boxer Dicky Eklund played by Christian Bale. Eklund is the pride of Lowell for having fought Sugar Ray Leonard on HBO in 1978 and having “knocked him down” even though it is determined that Leonard simply tripped. Yet after having all the  notoriety come too fast and too soon, Eklund has slipped into crack addiction and crime. He lives in a rundown crack house, repeatedly shows up late to training sessions, and is constantly in drug induced hazes on the days of Mickey’s fights.

Back to Ward. Ward is a very talented boxer, but he is simply falling victim to the wrong fights and with a real chance on the horizon at the age of 31, he is torn between doing what’s best for him and his loyalty to his family. It’s a great story about how this very lovable and real character makes it to the top of the boxing world. It is a very Rocky-esque rise to the top indeed.

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Thank God for Lazy Rainy Sundays

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I don’t know what to make of this past week.

This time last Sunday I was DRIVING home from Las Vegas. I wasn’t there for reasons that some of these teachers and students might think based on what “vibe” I give off unintentionally (that one that says I wreak of mischief). I was there for a funeral. I had been there since Friday night and I was tired on my way back. I came home on Sunday night, the day of the time change coincidentally. I came back just on time for baseball practice in a very tired state. I came back to a TON of Spanish homework, but I also came back to batting practice.Read More »

Das Predictions

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With March Madness looming, the science of bracketology has taken America by storm. With 64 teams in the running, I’m sure you are all aware of the competition to name the exact winner and who beats who etc., etc. Now I must inquire, where the hell is my german zoo animal when I need one?

If it were up to me, I’d have them predict my choices or at least my 8/9 and 7/10 games. Between Paul the octopus correctly predicting the world cup (r.i.p) and Heidi the cross-eyed possum predicting the Oscars, last year’s winner Jake Johnson’s method of deciphering and guessing the winners was not one of classical analysis and probability based on past contests and statistics. He used the help of his pet guinea pig.

As you can see nowadays, the commercial for March Madness has shown us all kinds of uses. While some believe it is simply luck and others believe that it is science, I opt for the animal kingdom. Who knows, it might work out for me.

Happy betting.

Ain’t No Tomorrow

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“Ain’t No Tomorrow,” was the mentality, the driving force, the inspiration, and the trigger for the greatest run through the post season the NBA has ever seen. The 2000-2001 Los Angeles Lakers were an interesting spectacle. Injuries, a new cast, and most of all, a loss of harmony and togetherness between it’s two main characters make this season sound like a popular soap opera one would tune in to watch on NBC. Also on NBC, the NBA was the main sports broadcast, and so were the Los Angeles Lakers who in a season went to hell and back to leave us with the greatest showing of post season dominance we as fans have ever seen.

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Finally, my train is here

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With the window to my next four years open and the endless possibility flows in like the rays of sun through a dark room, I ask myself, “what do I make of the previous three?”

Like many of my colleagues in their final year of high school, I too have had the fortune of anxiously tearing open a letter to read the words dedicated students wait to see since they began the process oh so many months before, “congratulations, you have been accepted.” At this moment, one may experience a leaping sensation in their heart as the rate increases.

Some may not be able to breathe or speak with excitement. The eyes may start to smart as tears of joy flow freely like persistent waterfalls and some may reveal a small grin while feeling their own sense of great emotion. Maybe you’ll jump maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll scream, maybe you’ll break into random song. Maybe you’ll hug the first person you see. For those of us in boarding school, the cell phone on your dresser drawer rings continuously for hours as family members and friends congratulate your impressive accomplishment. You try to take the moment in while at the same time you try to express yourself, and as you celebrate, you know that for the moment, the weight of the world has been lifted off your shoulders.

Today I’m another one of those lucky people. I’m a person who an institution of great prestige said “yes” to. 14,000 other hopeful applicants completed the process with me and the fact that I made it makes it that much sweeter. Did I mention that it’s my #1?

I came back from the Honors Ski Trip in Yosemite National Park to find an email telling me of my good fortune. The email was from the University of San Francisco. I can yammer on and on and on about each and every detail of the process and the story behind it like I usually do but however, this is not my prerogative.

The significance of this to me is that the chapter of my life lingers as I am about to turn the page. It is the feeling that you get when you’re waiting in a train station you hear your train coming down the tracks, and you think to yourself, “could it be? finally, in this moment, MY train has arrived.” Now it seems that all I have to do is step on. It is a new beginning taking me to destinations not yet treaded and not yet known and not just to San Francisco.

Times like now only add the incentive for me to count down the days until we as a senior class commence under the hot sun of an early June day to accept our diplomas. Yet I can’t help but think back on the past three years and question them, reminisce on them, ponder them, and to contemplate my exact emotions. I can’t say that I approve of all that’s gone down since I came to OVS as a 15-year-old, but for now, I try to stay away from senioritis, keep the grades up, and think about all the future holds while trying to live in the present. Still, it’s hard to keep your head in the moment when your mind’s a million miles away, or in this case, just up the state.

“TOGETHER” we achieved it.

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My room, 11:46: If you walked in you’d find me watching game film. I had a coke in hand so as not to doze off during the 4th quarter, and as I tried to find a comfortable position, my eyes were ever glued to my computer screen. Deficits of 13-0, 35-28 and 40-32 were erased as we fought with such resilience and the grit of warriors that even the most unemotional soul would have burst into applause.

When it got there, to the play I wanted, I rewinded and replayed until I was satisfied. I remember it as if I was still there. Ojai Valley School running “Duke,” a defensive play. Less than half a minute to go, 49-48 Thacher. Thacher’s guard throws the ball away, I hustle the width of the court to retrieve the ball before it went out. I get it, immediately pass to guard Alex Alvirez. The pump fake, defender goes flying by, Alex drains the three, we’re up 51-49. My Facebook status after the game received comment after comment describing the back and forth, come from behind win in their gym as, “intense.”

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Introducing The Auctioneers

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From meth burnt carpets in Las Vegas hell holes to champagne buffets aboard the Mary Ellen, their mission is to die free and to play music that will enhance the mood and make you become soul junkies.

It was this past spring when my brother introduced me to E.B Sollis. I got his number from my brother with the message saying “tell him you’re down to play with his band when you come out here.” I started talking to the man himself a couple days later when I told him they had some “sick tunes.” He replied, “thanks mang, your bro tells me you’re quite the hunk with an axe,” (yes, we talk like that.) From there, the ball started rolling. We became friends on facebook and from there, I got exposed into the world of a NY rockstar.

Erik and E.B

We met up later when I went to his apartment with my brother. There was Sollis and the rest of them chillen on the couches, the smell of cigarettes filled the room, a couple beer bottles, an ash tray, and a few lighters rested on the glass table by the couch and there were posters and photographs. I went to get a drink and the fridge had a few song lyrics written on stickies with polaroids and funny magnets. I thought “this is the life.” “Yo Ry,” Sollis said, “you know D-Bo went to Berklee too.” “You got in?” he asked. I told him it was the 5 week summer program I got accepted to, “Gotta love Boston man, I’m from there, just keep in mind Berklee ladies are fast, a little crazy, but oh so sweet.” Long hair and a silk long sleeve shirt made him look like somewhat of a Jesus figure, but nevertheless, he was one of the 5 characters that made up the band. Sollis, D-Bo, there’s Ryan the “pianist” as he likes to be referred to. Though he play’s keyboard like a man possessed, he calls himself, “a fxckin piano player.” Reason: “because I got straight class bro.” Chris “The monster” plays bass and Erik shreds along on the guitar. Sollis had a white Les Paul with the word “SOLLIS” written across the body and Erik had his Gibson SG by his side. They asked what I played, I pulled out the Fender Stratocaster I had in my case, “damnnnnn, someone must get the girlies huh?”-Erik.

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A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do

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Ladies and gentlemen, pay attention so you don’t get me wrong.

Just like the majority of American viewers on July 8th 2010, I just loved having an hour of my free time devoted to some creep in a purple dress shirt form a relevant sentence only to break the collective heart of an entire state. I just loved it.

Some may call him arrogant, some, overrated, some may call him a straight up a-hole, but hear me out here: “the decision” is seeming to work out, not just for The Miami Heat, but for LeBron James himself in more ways than one when it comes to winning basketball games.

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Back where it belongs

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When he left Green Bay in 2008, twas the end of an era. Brett Favre had left for the bright lights of the big city leaving the reins in the quiet, soft spoken hands of Aaron Rogers. Reminiscent of Friday Night Lights, a show thats first season tells the story of a change. The star quarterback revered by the community and nation, is thanks to circumstance, leaves responsibility in the hands of an untested new comer. Enter Aaron Rogers, three seasons later (tonight), an elite quarterback in the NFL.

Their opponents tonight were no walk in the park. The Pittsburgh Steelers after all, were the six time Super Bowl champions with one of the best QB’s in the NFL and the Defensive Player of the Year in Troy Polamalu. This was the final test for a resilient Green Bay team.

First the Eagles, then the Falcons, then the rival Chicago Bears, the path was paved and the stage was set for Super Bowl 45 in Dallas. Ending just at 7:08 pacific time, the Vince Lombardi trophy, named for the legendary hall of fame coach that formed Green Bay’s first NFL dynasty, returned to its city of origin. The packing city of cold beer and cheese heads.

Here’s the jist of it all.

Behind a likable cast of veterans and all stars, Aaron Rogers threw three touchdown passes, two to Greg Jennings and the other to Jordy Nelson. We also witnessed a solid game from veteran “good guy” wide receiver Donald Driver. The victory was that much more special to Driver considering my friends and I may have witnessed his last NFL game. A “pick 6” from Nick Collins and solid defensive games from Clay Matthews and AJ Hawk. The defense proved clutch enough to out last a gutsy late game attack even with the loss of half the starting back field including pro bowler Charles Woodson. James Starks had 52 rushing yards. Last but certainly not least, with a rating of 110, Aaron Rogers has now established himself as an elite NFL QB with the highest QB passer rating of anyone in NFL postseason history.

Tonight’s game was truly a back and forth match up. Pittsburgh had its own share of good performances notably from Rashard Mendelhall and Mike Wallace but in the end, it was Green Bay who persevered. Through all the tests Aaron Rogers has faced and for the entire team, after each challenge was conquered and the final whistle blown, tonight’s victory was as sweet as ever. The Vince Lombardi Trophy is back where it belongs.