Shorty's Summer Must List

The following is a list of events, adventures and general places to keep you occupied for over the Summer...

*Catch up on AMC's blockbuster Television shows:
Breaking Bad - Get started on the best show on cable since HBO's dynamic duo of The Sopranos & The Wire went off the air. Or get yourself acquainted with Mad Men's first two seasons before the third season premiere in August...

*Sick of cooking burgers and hot dogs on the grill? Head out to Iron Chef for the best Sushi in the Meriden-Wallingford area or hit up the Hibachi Grill. Or if raw fish is simply not your thing, check out Tai Gardens in Middletown for some Drunken Noodles or Pad Tai...

*Heading to the beach and need some reading material for your Kindle? Richard Price's Lush Life is a crime drama that examines the gritty side of New York City. Charles Bock gives Las Vegas the same treatment in his debut novel Beautiful Children. The non-fiction crowd might enjoy anything from Chuck Klosterman or David Sedaris, two authors who have my full endorsement. Not that anyone cares about that. Finally, if you're into the Vampire thing, you might wanna check out movie director Guillermo Del Toro's debut novel, The Strain...

*Want some suggestions on what to listen to on the ride to the beach? How about the Fleet Foxes or Phoenix for the hipster crowd? Or if your in the mood for a harder rock-n-roll, the Kings of Leon seem to be on everyone's iPod these days. As for all the hip-hop heads still out there, if you haven't jumped on the Drake bandwagon yet, there's probably not much room left. That said, Joe Budden and his hard core supergroup Slaughterhouse are readily available for all listeners despite the fact that an album release date still eludes us. I mentioned the Lupe Fiasco leak earlier this week...that track is a must have. Finally, get familiar with my lil brother's favorite artist, Ryan Leslie...

Summer Schedule

June 26-28: The injury depleted NY Mets return the favor and host the struggling cross town Yankees in the final weekend of interleague baseball this season.

July 1: Jonny Depp and Christian Bale star in the John Dillinger film Public Enemies. Michael Mann directs the two and a half hour film.

July 10: Jay-Hova heads to Mohegan Sun with Ciara as a headliner for a stop on his mini-tour in anticipation for the upcoming Blueprint III album.

July 10: Can Sacha Baron Cohen make it two in a row with Bruno? If his fictional gay Austrailian fashion guru does anywhere near the numbers that Borat did, then an Ali G become inevitable.

July 11: UFC 100 boasts what may very well be the greatest card in the history of Mixed Martial Arts. Headlined by the Heavyweight rematch between Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar, the card also features Georges St. Pierre defending his title against the dangerous Thiago Alves in an attempt to tear away pound for pound honors away from Anderson Silva and T.U.F. coaches Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson capping off the US-UK festivities.

August 6-9: Hopefully the Bronx Bombers will still be in contention when the Red Sox enter Yankee Stadium having already won eight straight against the Yankees for a four game set.

August 7: Can G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra prove that Transformers is not the only 80's cartoon franchise that can make it big in terms of summer movie madness? I'm very interested in seeing how Destro and Cobra Commander look.