Rest in Peace, Ian Andrew Greenblatt

Today, instead of writing a traditional post, I would like to take the opportunity to publicly pay tribute to one of my dear friends who is no longer with us.

Yesterday, June 28th marked the 5-year anniversary of one of the saddest days of my life. On June 28th, 2004, Ian Andrew Greenblatt (pictured above) was killed in a car accident in New York City. Ian had just graduated from my high school, The Rivers School, with the Class of 2004. I played soccer with Ian for 3 years while at Rivers, and year after year we grew closer as friends. I always viewed Ian as somewhat of a mentor. Not only was Ian a year older than I was, but he embodied many personal traits that I myself wanted to make a part of my character. Ian's personality blended selflessness, integrity, compassion, humor, honesty, and genuine kindness. I have memories of Ian making our whole team laugh with his hilarious stories, and I also remember more serious moments in which he would give me advice about anything from girls to school to general life lessons. Ian carried himself with the utmost dignity and pride and his character was a magnetic one that people just gravitated toward. Ian's smile and laugh would light up an entire room and it was simply impossible not to laugh after hearing him explode into fits of laughter that sometimes would last what felt like forever.

It blows my mind that it has been 5 years since Ian passed, it seems like it was just yesterday that we were running around on the soccer field together with the rest of the team. Not a day goes by when I don't think about Ian. He was a simply extraordinary person who had a great impact on my life and his memory continues to leave its lasting impression on me each and every day. He affected so many people's lives in a positive way while he was with us and has changed the way that I live my life today. I appreciate every day that I have on this earth now more than ever, and know that he is looking down on us all with his glowing smile. I love you Ian, and miss you every day. May you continue to rest in peace.

Until next time...

Happy Weekend

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I just bought my first fishing rod today and hopefully it gets to see some action while the weather is nice today. On Monday I will be posting the next "King of the Week" if I am able to obtain certain videos that I am in the process of rounding up. The next "King of the Week" feature will be a very funny one, so make sure to check out Life of Lemmons, I promise it will get your week off to an uplifting start!

Also, just wanted to extend a quick "thank you" to the people who have given me feedback so far, it is really helpful and very encouraging to hear that people enjoy what I am writing.

Until next time...

Second Chances

Yesterday evening when I saw the breaking news about the shocking and unexpected death of "The King of Pop," Michael Jackson, I headed to my computer to write an impromptu post and share my thoughts and feelings on the late breaking news. Instead, I decided to wait until this morning in order to sort out all of my thoughts and hopefully be able to express my views more clearly. Compared to all the other reactions I have been hearing, I must say that mine is a bit unorthodox, and even though I might get some flak for this, it is my honest perspective.

In order to fully understand the perspective that I have on this issue, please keep in mind that I was born in 1986, and even though I am obviously familiar with Michael Jackson's incredible body of work as a musical artist, he was essentially not an artist of my time. I did not "grow up" on his music. As one more precautionary foreword, I want to just say upfront that I do feel for his family and the people in his life who were close to him. He truly did revolutionize music and in doing so captured the ears and hearts and dancing feet of countless millions across the globe. While thinking about his suprising death at the age of 50, I started thinking about its implications on a larger scale.

To all the Jackson faithful, I apologize in advance but I simply cannot bring myself to ignore the fact that the latter stages of "The King of Pop's," life were mired with despicable events such as allegations of child molestation. In December 2003, Jackson was charged with 7 counts of child molestation and 2 counts of "administering a toxic agent for the purpose of committing a felony." Since I honestly can't say that I am extremely knowledgeable about all of the legal actions that surrounded him, I don't want to dwell on this fact, but his latter life does prove two things in my mind.

First, for my generation and all of the following that did not grow up seeing Jackson in the mainstream, contemporary media as a positive musical icon, his character and celebrity will be forever tainted. I don't care what anybody says, it takes a twisted individual to even be accused of the crimes that he was charged with committing. No matter how innovative and industry-changing his music was, in my mind (and I'm sure many others) the first thing that I will think about when I hear the name Michael Jackson is a man who became involved in lewd conduct and sexual relations with young boys. I know everyone loves the guy, and this fact seems sad to me even as I write it, but I hope you understand where I am coming from. Yes, I appreciate his music. Yes, he was loved and will still be loved by his millions of fans worldwide. Yes, he will forever be the "King of Pop." But I will never be able to seperate the struggles in his personal life from his achievements as an entertainer. None of you built this character. He made his own mistakes. Repeatedly.

This brings me to my second point. We clearly live in a society that values the "second chance." It must be very hard to live in the national and international spotlight, just think of all of the celebrities and athletes who engaged in scandalous affairs. I won't go into their individual stories but here are a view that come to mind for me:

Kobe Bryant holding a press conference after allegations that he sexually assaulted a 19 year-old hotel worker. His case was settled outside of court, but he did admit to adultery. Maybe that is why he bought his wife a $4 million dollar diamond ring in light of the allegations?

Barry Bonds' career and many of his records have been under close scrutiny after suspicions that Bonds took performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) toward the end of his career in order to stay healthy and increase physical strength. Bonds currently holds the all-time home-run record in Major League Baseball, one of the most coveted and revered records in all of sports.

After committing adultery with a 22 year-old intern, Monica Lewinsky, Clinton was formally impeached on the grounds of perjury after he lied about his affair in court by adamantly denying the allegations.

Michael Vick, the uber athletic Atlanta Falcons quarterback, was charged with running an interstate dog-fighting ring. Vick was recently released from prison after serving his term and is currently working to be re-instated into the National Football League by hard-nosed commissioner, Roger Goodell who is known for his staunch stance as a committed disciplinarian.

I'm sure you can think of many more people who crumbled before our eyes in the bright light of the public spotlight. It is interesting to me who gets a second chance, a chance for redemption in the public eye and who is forever outcast. It is important to remember that these people are human beings, just like us. So it would lead me to infer that the actions that we take everyday affect the image and character that the people around us build of us.

In closing, I just want to say that I feel sorrow for the loss of such a public icon. He taught so many people so many things and even in his death taught me (or at least re-emphasized) that our personal character and integrity are two of the only things in our lives that we have complete control of and therefore must be regarded as having the utmost personal importance.

Rest in Peace, Michael Jackson 1958-2009.

Until next time...

Is That?...No, Couldn't Be!...The Sun?!

For the first time in about two weeks, Bostonians woke from their slumbers and were greeted not by the pitter patter of rain hitting their bedroom windows but instead by glimmers of sunshine that passed through the hazy clouds above. Listen, it may not be a perfect day, but what we have today is a start. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

So before I dive into my first ever movie review here on "The Life of Lemmons" I wanted to give a HUGE shoutout to the U.S. Men's Soccer team. Yesterday, the U.S. team faced the number 1 ranked team in the world, Spain, in a semi-final match of the FIFA Confederations Cup. The United States limped into the semi-final match after barely making it out of pool play after losing to Italy and Brazil. Spain was not the number 1 ranked team in the world by any mistake and their position atop the world's soccer kingdom caused no controversy. Before yesterday's 2-0 loss to the U.S., Spain had been unbeaten in their last 35 matches, their last lost coming in 2006. Nineteen year-old, Jozy Altidore scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the 25th minute, and veteran striker, Clint Dempsey added an insurance goal in the 73rd minute of the contest. The U.S. team will move onto the Confederations Cup Final and face the winner of the match between South Africa and Brazil that will be on ESPN today at 2:25pm (Eastern time).

Now, I would be lying to you if I told you that I am an avid follower of soccer in general, but I have been following the FIFA Confederations Cup and definitely watch the World Cup. No matter how much soccer you watch, even if you don't like soccer at all, this is the kind of victory that should make us all proud. Spain did not play poorly and therefore lose the game to the U.S. yesterday. The U.S. outplayed, out-worked, and executed better than Spain. The U.S. players were wearing their hearts on their sleeves and the determination they showed was truly remarkable. Good Luck to the U.S. team in the Final match against either Brazil or South Africa this coming Sunday afternoon.

Last night I got to go see Transformers with some friends of mine. I have been itching to see this movie since the first time I saw the trailer which was back in the late winter/early spring. We went to the Boston Common movie theater, and our tickets were for the 8:30 show. Deciding to be on the safe side, we got there around 7:30 and were told to wait in the line. We were one of the first groups of people in line and as it got closer to showtime the line got huge, or as a true Bostonian would say: "wicked long!" This was one of those amusement park lines that snakes back and forth and once that was full, the line extended past the snack bar and almost out the side door. We managed to get great seats, right in the middle and then watched as the entire theater filled up, a sell-out. It was clear the anticipation was high...

This 2 and half hour movie held my attention for the entire duration. I can't count the number of explosions, battles, chase scenes, and majestic panoramic shots of some of the world's most beautiful places. What the movie lacks in substance, it more than makes up with unbelievable special effects. There was also a good amount of comedic content in the film that had the whole theater laughing out loud in various points in the movie. If you are like me and you go into the movie just looking to be entertained and not really expecting a real storyline or substantive plot, you will be very satisfied. If you are looking for a deep plot and an intricate storyline, why would you be going to see Transformers in the first place, right? Oh, and did you really think I wasn't going to seize this opportunity to put another picture of Megan Fox in here? This is a screenshot from the new movie and you will just have to see it for yourself in order to get some context. Who am I kidding? there is no context... just enjoy (Sorry, Mom).

Overall, I give Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen 4.5 out of 5 stars. If you appreciate great special effects and the occasional laugh, but don't mind just sitting back and mindlessly consuming the images on screen, this movie is for you! If any of you see it, post a comment and let me know what you thought of it.

I hope everyone has a chance to get outside and enjoy some of this real summer weather today.

Until next time...

Finding Inspiration

Not even worth saying what the weather is like today. The only thing worth repeating on this topic is that this is just ridiculous. It's June. C'mon, Mother Nature, throw us a bone here.

Today, I got around to watching the movie 3:10 to Yuma. It's a pretty entertaining Western re-make starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. Honestly, I didn't love the movie, but about 45 minutes into the movie, one of the characters said something that stood out for me and caused me to start thinking. One of the less important characters, Glen Hollander, says: "Sometimes a man has to be big enough to see how small he is." This is the perfect example of how sometimes in life it is possible to receive inspiration from strange places.

I believe that since we are all different people, we interpret everything we encounter in life differently. This quote may mean something totally different for two different people. I have always found this truth to be fascinating. For me, this quote stresses the importance of certain values and moral ideals that we should all strive to uphold. The first value I feel this quote promotes is humility. At certain times in our lives it becomes easy to get caught up in the events occuring in our own personal bubble and when this happens we tend to forget our true place in the world we live in. Think about how much more of a pleasant place our world would be if instead of putting our own goals and agendas in the forefront of our minds, we took the time to take a step back and begin to think about what would be best for the greater good. Individually, we all may just be tiny pieces of the puzzle, but together, can't you just imagine the world we could be living in?

The second layer of meaning that this quote possesses for me is actually found in challenging the objective statement that is being made and thinking about the other side of the argument. Yes, we are all relatively small, and it is healthy to be able to admit this fact, but when you take the time to think about how much each of us are actually capable of contributing to society in so many different ways, we as individuals and the potential impact of our actions do not seem quite so small. A personal anecdote that is relative to this thought is that this summer I have taken up running as a way of exercising and continuing to engage in my love for athletic activities. Another item on my "bucket list" for this summer is to run a road race on behalf of a charitable organization. I haven't done much research into which race I would like to run or for what charity I will be running it for, but I think this is both a reasonable and rewarding goal that I can strive for.

That is the one thing that always amazed me about the student population at Colby. For the most part, the kids at Colby really cared about the communities that they lived in and realized the value of giving back to those communities. Whether it be by participating in the Colby Cares About Kids (CCAK) program, the Colby Volunteer Center, the Colby Environmental Coalition or the annual Relay for Life sponsored by the American Cancer Society, kids found a way to actively participate in their community and contribute in a positive manner to the greater good. Their work not only directly helped countless individuals, but also indirectly inspired countless others to get involved.

On a lighter note, I have 2 great videos to show you guys today. The first, I knew I had to put up on my blog the second I opened my eyes this morning. I can't quite remember what my dream was about last night, but I know it was about basketball and this play was the first conscious thought that was processed by my mind when I woke up. The video shows Allen Iverson executing his infamous crossover dribble move during his rookie year against the best player of all time, Michael Jordan. In order to avoid the consequences that will surely come from this blasphemous video, I will be sure to post my favorite Michael Jordan moment on the blog tomorrow. But in the mean time, enjoy!:




The second video I wanted to post today is the trailer for the new movie that I am dying to see, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Besides the simple fact that Megan Fox is starring in this movie, (here she is if you are not familiar with her. Her looks are simply unfair):

I loved the first Transformers movie and by the looks of this trailer, the second installment will surely not disappoint. I could not embed the trailer in the blog, but here is the link to the video on Youtube. Make sure you enjoy it in High Quality and Fullscreen in order to get the full effect! Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCHdvJyDlS0


Until next time...