Sport: Chris Gayle's first love is still cricket....for now

It often seems that Chris Gayle is tone between actually playing cricket and being a celebrity who plays cricket.

His exploits on the cricket pitch are fast entering the realm of legend, much like that other famous Jamaican athlete, - you know, the guy who runs? But, along the way, just like his track star compatriot, Gayle has had his share of publicity flaps and flops. Arguably, none will live longer in infamy (or maybe now in hashtag-land) than "Don't blush baby" the casual cap to a seemingly awkward attempt to coax Australian TV journalist Mel McLaughlin to join him post-game for dinner and a few drinks, during an on-air interview.

The incident made international headlines beyond the cricketing world and cost Gayle a fairly hefty $10,000 in fines from his local Aussie t20 club, the Renegades.

he has since shrugged off the whole brouhaha (the latest in a line which included him reportedly dropping his towel in a dressing room before another female reporter and boasting about his "big bat").

The West Indies batting star is apparently comfortable to move into another sphere of public life: memoirist. His life tome had its Jamaican launch at the expected place - his Triple Century Sports bar and Grill in the heart of the New Kingston business district.

The title?: "Six Machine" (clearly with apologies to the late James Brown, and the declaratory sub-title, "I Don't Like Cricket...I Love It".

Clearly not as much as having a party - and the man of the hour was suitably outstanding in white wihte shirt with black trim, tomato-red trousers and black shoeswith matching red trim. try ignoring him.

of course media reps ran through the expected raft of interviews and some got their books signed (distributor Novelty Trading, which runs the venerable Bookland store a few doors up the road, was on hand to handle the supply and sales, and patrons hungry for the sports highlights of the day could feat their eyes on the lounges multiple screen - that is, after the big man got through with his presentation.

Gayle, who spenthte summer playing T20 in the UK, among other things, is apparently in recuperation mode at present, but expects to beck on the pitch to put his big bat (and useful spin) into play, what with a number of international cricket engagements on his ever-expanding plate.

Poetry: Echosightings Vol II, RING GAMES

Summer
With its free rein
open spaces and
romps
Has been pressed into memory.
September
and its sundry
regiments close their grip
on life
Traffic
Booklists incomplete
Uniforms
And the summoning
bells
But even so
There is still room
for the reassuring trill
And twitter
of little voices
Caught up in the ageless songs
as each one hops
Along

Movies: 3Summer Movies, 3 Different promos

A quick stroll outside the local cineplex showed the summer season is in full swing. While the current showings include disaster flick "San Andreas" and the Melissa McCarthy comedic vehicle, "Spy" the "Coming Attractions" posters (and standees) reflect the conventional summer fare, as in sequels (Jurassic and Minions) and super-hero stories (Ant-Man)


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Sport: with Villa 'out to lunch" Gunners, Wenger leap into history

Going into today's FA Cup final at London's Wembley, Arsenal was a team on the cusp, in several repsects.

A win would mean no other team would have as many trophies (12), no other team would have notched back-to-back wins on two separate occasions (the gunners previously did it in the 2002 and 2003 seasons) and no other manager since WWII had notched more than 5 wins.

Well, all those conditionalities were soundly resolved today in one of the most lop-sided victories in over a decade, as the resurgent Gunners thumped a strangely out of touch and out of sorts Aston Villa 4-0, in a game that could easily have seen two or three more goals for Wenger's men.

Walcott opened the account with a fine volley 5 minutes from the interval, justifying the manager's faith in starting him over Giroud.  Then, ironically five minutes into the second half, Alexis Sanchez delivered the coup de grace, a thunderous 32-yard screamer that dipped exquisitely to chip in under the crossbar and effectively remove any residual resistance from a clearly resigned Tim Sherwood and his squad.

A towering Mertesacker header and a simple tap-in from late sub Giroud (who now has 4 goals in consecutive matches against Villa) slammed and sealed the coffin and sent the trophy back to the Emirates for at least another year. Deserved jubilation for Arsenal and dejection for the shell-shocked Villans and their fans, the latter no doubt expecting much more of a contest than materialized.

It may not totally wipe taste of losing both the Premiership (to Chelsea) and the Champions League (to Monaco, subsequently wiped out by finalists Juventus), but it sure speaks volume about Arsenal's potential as a dominant team, both in England and in Europe, come next season.

The players will surely be off to a well-deserved summer break.

localjoe.myorganogold.com