Monday This-And-That

A little of this and a little of that heading into the final full week of April:

It’s amazing what a few nice days will do for everyone as the bright sunshine and warm weather was a welcome relief and as I predicted signs of spring were everywhere. Homeowners took advantage with many working in their yards and on their lawns as it seemed like everyone was outside.
Boaters were out on the Toms River, the Lakewood BlueClaws had their biggest crowd of the season Sunday, visitors and locals headed to the boardwalks. That redness isn’t blushing….it’s sunburn. By the way don’t be in a panic yet to get all your summer clothes out…we’ll be back in the 50’s for the middle and end of the week.

Actor Anthony Hopkins has played a lot of characters in his long movie career but too many will be best known for his roles as Dr. Hannibal Lecter.
Hopkins stars in “Fracture” which debuted this weekend and I think it’s his best performance since “The Silence of the Lambs.” Hopkins teams up with Ryan Gosling in “Fracture” and the two give very good performances.

Speaking of performances…Toms River’s Todd Frazier tied a couple of school records as Rutgers completed a sweep of the University of South Florida in Tampa, Sunday. The junior slugger hit an 8th inning homer which was his 14th of the season and 34th of his career…both equaling Scarlet Knights records. He now shares the career mark with his brother Jeff, who’s playing in the Seattle Mariners organization.

I would not condone students walking out of school as a form of protest in most cases but give those at New Egypt High School some credit for their action this past Friday. They walked out of school towards the end of the day to protest voters rejection of the school budget earlier in the week. About 90% of the students in school left the building and walked onto the football field where they displayed signs and talked about how disappointed they were that voters defeated the budget which places programs in jeopardy. Administrators knew of the protest and generally praised the students for the way they handled the situation. I would agree and hopefully the attention the students attracted will show adults and voters that they very much care about their education and future.