The Magna Carta turns 800 years old today. It’s not so important what card you get it for its birthday, it’s just real important that you sign it. If you are keeping score, Magna Carta Holy Grail turns 2 on July 4.
Starting Five
“I’m glad the end of the world’s working out well for somebody,” he told Samwell. Yes, but not for you, Jon Snow.
1. Snow Fall
The judges will also accept “Et Tu, Olly?”, “Arya Kidding Me?” “Keeping Up With the Sands”, “That Dragon is Draggin’.”
Revenge, served colder than the average temperature of Hardhome, was the main dish on the Season 5 finale of Game of Thrones.
Arya avenged the death of Silvio (from Season 1).
Brienne avenged the death of Renly Baratheon.
The Sands avenged the death of Oberyn Martell.
Alliser, Olly, and other members of the Night’s Watch avenged all the slights, real or imagined, that they feel took place because of Lord Jon Snow.
Cersei Lannister: Naked Launch
Meanwhile, a show that has long been known for being brutal to young women may have had its cruelest episode yet: Arya is inflicted with blindness; the Lannister daughter is fatally poisoned just as she is beginning to look as if she has a future in runway modeling; Sansa may have Butch & Sundance’d to her death off the walls of Winterfell — or maybe the snow, small “s”, broke her fall; Daenerys can’t get her dragon to start and is captured by the Dothraki; Stannis’ wife hangs herself; and Cersei — gasp! — has to endure a haircut without a glass of wine (honestly, that Walk of Shame would’ve been so much more glorious if she’d been toting a pair of stiletto’s and a Starbucks coffee.
Sepinwall’s review.…and Greenwald’s recap.
2. To Cav and To Cav Not
LeBron went for 40, 14 and 11, but even Drew Carey had a better supporting cast.
After three close games to begin the NBA Finals, the Cavs lose their second in a row by at least 13 points. The Warriors went small, which behooves them, and then so did the Cavs, who are not as well-hooved when they do so.
Timofey Mozgov has been Cleveland’s second-best player. He scored 28 in Game 4. He got 9 minutes of play and scored 0 points in Game 5. You take him out for J.R. Smith, but J.R. Smith plays every game as if it’s a Tuesday night in November in Milwaukee. He just never amps up his game.
I don’t know what Cleveland’s answer should be. I hear Michael Jordan is feeling frisky again. Sign MJ for Game 6?
3. Ches King
These Ducks don’t waddle. Cheserek broke the tape but Oregon finished 1-2-3 in the 5,000 and won the team outdoor championship.
Oregon sophomore Edward Cheserek wins the Men’s 5,000 at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene. In just four semesters, King Ches, a native of Kenya who attended high school in Newark, has already won EIGHT individual NCAA titles.
2013 Cross Country National Champion
2014 Cross Country National Champion
2014 Indoor 3000 N.C.
2014 Indoor 5000 NC
2014 Outdoor 10,000 NC
2015 Indoor Mile NC
2015 Indoor Distance Medley Relay NC
2015 Outdoor 5,000 NC
At a school that gave the track world both Steve Prefontaine and the Nike brand, Cheserek is neck and neck in terms of legacy.
4. “Break a Leg,” They Said, And Dave Grohl Did
An epic set by Grohl and the FF
I’m a big Dave Grohl fan even if I think Foo Fighters are no more than a solid B+ band. Anyway, who cares what you think, JW? On Saturday night the Fighters of Foo were playing a gig in Goteborg, Sweden when the former Nirvana drummer tripped and fell offstage and broke his leg.
No one could have handled it any better, though. Grohl spoke to the crowd, promised him that he’d return and that the band would finish the set (this is the man who promised, “I’ll stick around…I’ll stick around” after all) after he visited the hospital, and then did exactly that, playing from a chair.
I wonder if the “Get Well Soon” card from Letterman has already arrived…
5. Dano, Meet Dino
“To the sounds of old T. Rex….” thank you, Roger Daltrey.
Last week’s love for an intelligent, lovingly made film (Love & Mercy) gets trounced in cold-blooded fashion by the oversized reptiles of Jurassic World. The sequel had a prehistoric opening weekend at the box office ($511.8 million globally, only $2.8 million shy of The Avengers).
Bryce Dallas Howard, whose dad used to go fishing with Sheriff Andy Taylor, is on to bigger creatures (and I don’t just mean Chris Pratt)
Opie Cunningham’s daughter did okay for herself on this gig.
Music 101
Ask The Lonely
When you’re feeling love’s not fair/You just ask the lonely/When you’re lost in deep despair/You just ask the lonely
Hate on Journey all you want — I did when I was in high school and the band was at its zenith — but they were a hit machine that created a bunch of “Turn it up” while driving in your car hits. This is one of them. The video is worth watching just for all of Steve Perry’s catastrophic hair and costume choices. A world-class voice in some serious need of fashion and dance move advice.
Remote Patrol
Stanley Cup: Game 6
NBC 8 p.m.
I think we need a Game 7, don’t you?
Doesn’t look a day over 750…
I should warn you up front (as opposed to back) that I’m emotionally scattered today – sad about losing last night’s game, SO proud of LeBrontosaurus (might not have been HIS “opening weekend” but he once again displayed he IS the “best player in the world!”), frustrated that the 4th quarter is once again seemingly the Cavs’ Waterloo, & like every other NBA exec/coach/viewer this past decade, I am, er, ‘once again’ perplexed by JR Smith. (He had a great 1st half & then, poof, nuthin).
After being nervous all day Saturday, I was actually confident once the game started last night. Once again, because of a ‘sign’. Since the middle of the 2nd Finals game, I’ve been pondering whether absolute belief in one’s self (or team) can defeat overwhelming skill/talent & or experience. The way this Finals was going, I became a bit obsessed over the question. But then Game 4 seemed to make the question moot because of a new factor in the equation : fatigue. Oh, I was still hopeful, but also telling myself I needed to be “realistic”. And THEN, Sunday morning, I saw “The African Queen” on TV. Haven’t seen that movie in more than 10-12 years. About 3/4 into the movie, Charlie (Bogart) says “there ain’t nuthin’ a man can’t do if he BELIEVES in himself!” It was a SIGN! Hey, the way last night’s game played out (till the final 3 minutes at least), I really BELIEVED! 🙂
Steph Curry had a great game. Finally. It’s the 5TH game in the NBA Finals. Not the 1st, not 2nd, not 3rd, not 4th, (um, see what I did there?), but 5th, it’s about TIME for the current NBA MVP to have a great game in the Finals. And yet, LeBron STILL outplayed him. For the 5th straight time. (Six if you count the regular season match-up in March).
I like Steph Curry, he’s probably the best shooter I’ve ever seen. But as an overall basketball player compared to LeBron James, it’s like Mighty Mouse compared to Superman. NOT even a contest!
It’s still a while off, but in March 2021 — if the blog’s still here, I’ll still be commenting — if you’re still doing the attractive-birthday-to-you deal (no need to stop), Ms. Howard has a birthday and I’ll way-early nominate “Bryce Dallas 40” as the subhed.
I almost wish it were 2021 already….