- Last night was a bitter one for baseball fans like myself. Seeing the final game ever at fabled, legendary Yankee Stadium in the Bronx was a tough pill to swallow. Yes, I hate the Yankees with a passion and every other night of every other season, I root for them to not only lose, but to lose by double-digit margins with maximum humiliation. However, in the final game ever at one of sports’ most legendary venues, I actually found myself rooting for the Yankees to beat the Baltimore Orioles in order to send the House that Ruth Built out in style. And so it was, with the 2008 Yankees capping off 85 seasons of memories in the Bronx with a 7-3 win over the Orioles. The final home run in Yankee Stadium was hit by catcher Jose Molina of the Catching Molina Brothers. Appropriately, hall of fame closer Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth inning as he has so many times in the stadium after entering the field from the bullpen to the sounds of “Enter Sandman.” Seeing legends like Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra in the ESPN broadcast booth, telling stories of their Yankee Stadium memories, was awesome. Shots of former Yankee standouts like David Wells and David Cone in the stands, with Wells downing a beer on camera, was great as well. Derek Jeter’s postgame speech while standing on the pitcher’s mound and talking to the fans was classy as you’d expect, and the victory lap the team took around the field to salute the fans up close was a great capper for the night. I’m sad to see a great venue go and wish dearly that the Yankees would have renovated instead of relocating, but old stadiums are an unwanted, diminishing commodity in baseball, with only Wrigley Field and Fenway Park left…..
- Can we all just agree to ignore that kook David Blaine and not give him any more attention for his stupid magic tricks. Dude is clearly willing to attempt weird things in the name of his craft, but living inside clear Plexiglass boxes for days on end and encasing himself in blocks of ice to see how long he can last….who cares? So his next stunt of hanging upside down above New York's Central Park for 60 hours next week is an open invitation for the scores of criminals who populate the park after dark to do their damndest to the idiotic freak show magician. The danger of going blind, which Dr. Massimo Napolitano of the Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, cites as Blaine’s main concern, isn't enough. Napolitano said Saturday that hanging upside down for a long time increases blood pressure in the head, especially in the eyes, which That could lead to blindness. Serves Blaine right, moron. This guy is just a freak show desperate for attention and so he attempts what amount to lame “Guinness Book of World Records” stunts on steroids and calls them magic. Here’s hoping some angry crack dealer goes gangsta on your upside-down ass while you’re hanging out in the park, D. Blaine…….
- Some people out there love the new design of Facebook. Those people are morons. The old Facebook was perfectly fine; simple, compact and easy to use. The new Facebook is more complicated (even though the a-holes at Facebook said they designed the new version to be simpler) and visually uglier. It has moronic tabs that you have to toggle between the get to parts of your profile that used to all be right there on the same page. Being a veteran Facebook-er, I’m among those who hate the new design and stuck to the old one as long as allowed. I actually was able to stay until much later than most, being one of the last ones changed over. But I wholeheartedly agree with Valerie Stayskal of Addison, Illinois, who said, “The new version is cluttered and there's no continuity to it. I don't like the tabs they've got. When you get to the news feed, you see all these fonts, and it's just a mess. Very hard to navigate.” Well said, Valerie, well said. Other users are rightly pointing out that many of the changes “just seem kind of pointless.” In other words, Facebook changed things just for the sake of changing them. This nightmare began in July and since then, users were allowed to decide whether to switch over to the new format or keep using the old one. Sadly, that transition period ended two weeks ago and now we’re all stuck with the crappy new version. That has prompted people like Facebook user Scott Sanders to start a petition that has garnered nearly 2 million names of people unhappy with new Facebook. Personally, I say it’s a freaking virus and it needs to be eradicated, pronto…..
- Sorry, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but nominating an actual, legitimate rock act for the class of 2009 doesn’t make your museum any less of a joke. Actually, two legit rock acts and one rap legend (it’s ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME, NOT RAP HALL OF FAME) are among the nominees. A huge, huge favorite of mine from the early days of punk, the Stooges, are one of the nominees. Alongside Iggy’s old crew are Metallica, who are definitely rock and definitely HOF material, even if I’m not a big speed metal guy, and Run D.M.C., definite music pioneers but not rockers in any sense of the word. All nine nominees were announced by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation last week. The other nominees are guitarist Jeff Beck, singer Wanda Jackson, Little Anthony and the Imperials, War, Bobby Womack, and disco and R&B group Chic. Yes, you read that right, an f’ing disco group is a nominee. That may actually be the straw that breaks this camel’s back, a damn disco group possibly going into the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME. Disco isn't rock, it’s so far from rock not even a GPS, compass and private jet can get the two of them in the same zip code. Disco was the darkest period in the history of music; gawd-awful synthsiezed crap that people on roller skates and wearing spandex and sequined outfits danced to. It sucked then, it sucks now and it has no place in any hall of fame. The five leading vote-getters will be announced in January and inducted April 4, 2009, in Cleveland, and if Chic makes the cut, they may as well demolish the museum then and there because it will officially become a laughingstock beyond restoration. That the ceremony, typically held in New York, is returning to Cleveland (my little corner of the world) after more than a decade-long absence is more salt in the wound. Once again, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame shows that it is worthy of my scorn, ridicule and derision for as long and as loud as I can proclaim it……
- Attention, rich women of the world. You now have your next target when it comes to talking your husband, fiancée or boyfriend into buying you the biggest, gaudiest, most expensive diamond in the world. A diamond unearthed in the southern African nation of Lesotho late last week could end up being one of the largest and highest quality round polished diamonds ever, according to a statement Monday from company that found it. The gem was examined by experts in Antwerp, Belgium who, determined that the 478-carat stone is one of the highest color grading available for a white diamond. Diamond consultant Neil Buxton explains that the stone’s value stems from its color. “It's a D color, which is the highest possible graded color you can get, and we believe there is a chance -- a very good chance -- of getting a 100-carat plus,” Buxton declared. According to the company that found the stone, if it receives that rating, it would “to the best of our knowledge be the first one in history.” Overall, the diamond ranks as the 20th largest rough diamond ever found. However, it’s not the biggest ever taken from the Letseng Mine, which is co-owned by Gem Diamonds Ltd. and the Kingdom of Lesotho. Two bigger stones -- 603 and 493 carats -- were found in the mine in 2006 and 2007, respectively, the company said. Not mentioned in any company statements was the conditions under which the diamond was obtained, which you have to wonder about given the whole blood diamond problem and what not. But no worries, I’m sure some über-rich person will eventually pay tens of millions of dollars for this rock once it becomes a finished product and won't stop for a millisecond to ask where it came from……..
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