by John Walters
A Medium Happy 50th to Helena Bonham-Carter. Once a promising actress, she came down with an acute case of Tim Burtonitis, the same disease that threw Johnny Depp’s career off-track….
Starting Five
Frye, on his 4th team in the past 3 seasons, is suddenly the Cavs’ 6th man
Lake Effects
In Games 3 & 4 in Toronto, along the shores of Lake Ontario, Raptors All-Star Kyle Lowry scored 20 & 35 points. Last night in Game 5 in Cleveland, along the shores of Lake Erie, he scored 13. He had 8 and 10 points in Games 1 and 2 near Lake Erie.
The story, though, is a devastating defense by Cleveland, Peak LeBron, Peak Channing Frye (shooting .571 from beyond arc, 12-21), and an apparently warging Richard Jefferson, who is playing as if he’s 28 again.
Lowry has been like Jerry’s two-faced girlfriend, Gwen, this series
Cavs win, 116-78, That’s the EIGHTH game this playoffs decided by 30 or more points, which is an NBA record. No wonder you’re flipping over to “HBO and Relax,: ( <–I stole that from A.J.)
Finally, a Cleveland-OKC NBA Finals will give us Quicken Loans Arena versus Chesapeake Energy Arena. A company that has been investigated by the Dept. of Justice for corruption in home loans versus a company that made its fortune off fracking. #Murica
2. Jackie, OH!
This is probably my favorite vantage point for any baseball photo
Very quietly, what with all the hysteria over the Cubbies (and those other Sox), (and also, the utter lack of hysteria over baseball unless Jose Bautista is taking one to the jaw) the Red Sox have climbed into first place in the A.L. East (29-17) and have the best record in the A.L.. Even more quietly, outfielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. (not a Martin Short character) has gotten more than halfway to Joe DiMaggio’s untouchable mark of hitting safely in 56 straight games.
Bradley, who bats 6th, went 2-4 in a 10-3 win against the Rockies last night to hit safely in his 29th consecutive game. He is batting .350, which leads the A.L. Teammate Xander Bogaerts hit a home run to bring his own hitting streak to 18 games. He’s hitting .349, second-best in the A.L.
3. That’s Mad, Max
Verstappen is Dutch and means “not stopping.” You may wanna check that
How fast were you allowed to drive when you were 18 years old? On May 15 Dutch driver Max Verstappen won the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix, becoming the youngest person ever to win an F/1 race. That’s a pretty big deal in Europe, where I’ll be moving in December….
4. Death at the Show
The question becomes, How do they turn this into a story arc on Vinyl next season?
Irving Plaza, a block off Union Square in NYC, has always been a great venue for a smaller show. But last night it was a shooting gallery as shots rang out just before rapper T.I. (“Live Your Life”) took the stage. Three people were hit and another person was killed. Watch the video in the link and the last thing you hear is someone say, “Get the f**k outta here,” which is probably the last thing a lot of people say before a bullet hits them.
According to witnesses, (read this), a fight broke out backstage and the shots may have come from the green room. That certainly narrows the list of suspects. Of course, the crowd was not, say, a Dierks Bentley crowd and there’s very little chance ISIS was behind this, so nothing to worry about, America. You know, it happened to “them.”
5. ConGrads
This is Alex Idrache. He was born in Haiti but last week graduated from the United States Military Academy. He’s now off to flight school. This is the American Dream in one photo. Kudos to Staff Sergeant Vito Bryant, who snapped the photo.
Benjamin did it all at Brophy Prep in Phoenix
Closer to (my) home, this is Josh Benjamin who, like me, graduated from Brophy College Prep in Phoenix (it’s just that he did it last week and I did it last century). Benjamin was the Jesuit school’s valedictorian and homecoming king (the first African-American valedictorian, it is believed, but not the first such homecoming king; we voted my teammate and classmate Dan Simmons HK in 1983).
Love this kid. And I think he’s from the East Valley. Respect that commute, Josh; I did it, too.
I’ve not met Josh, but this fantastic story by Richard Obert of the Arizona Republic mentions that he played football, ran track, speaks Spanish and did plenty of volunteer work while also graduating with a 4.4. GPA. He’s off to Harvard (Josh spurned Notre Dame; other than that, he seems like a good kid) where he plans to major in math. Michael Wilbon should really try and meet him.
(I’m not supposed to say that Josh looks as if he could be Jaylon Smith’s younger brother, right? That would be wrong?)
Reserves
Little Trump at the National Spelling Bee. From Jimmy Kimmel Live last night.
Music 101
Fly Away
It’s also Lenny Kravitz‘s birthday. As the son of the woman who played George Jefferson’s neighbor and nemesis on The Jeffersons turns 52, we remember this hit from 1998 that soared to No. 2 in the UK and No. 12 here.
Remote Patrol
Game 5: OKC at Golden State
TNT 9 p.m.
Steven Adams will kneed to (the groin) play his best
This should be good. If the Thunder put the dagger into the Dubs at home, ending the greatest non-championship season in NBA history, that’ll be memorable. Don’t care what anyone says, Stephen Curry is still not 100%. But even if he was, I’m not sure these Thunder are losing. Russell Westbrook is in Hall of Fame form (and he IS a future Hall of Famer).
Someone has to say it. Sweet Pea! ?