- Think video gamers are just wasting time and their few functioning brain cells by vegging out on the couch and playing X-Box, PS3or Wii? Think again. Over the weekend, hundreds of games gathered at the University of Connecticut for the EA Sports NCAA Football 2009 Challenge Prelimaries. The even kicked off on the UConn campus at noon on Friday, with the 16th and final spot in the tournament is up for grabs. Those who qualify for the big showdown will compete in January at the 2009 Rose Bowl, where EA Sports will give away $10,000 to the most skilled X-Box 360 gamer. EA Sports Marketing Director Brian Movalson, seems very excited and possibly disturbingly so as he is discussing a video game. “The EA SPORTS NCAA Football Challenge presented by Coca-Cola Zero brings the competition and excitement college football players feel every week to gamers in college towns across the nation.” Umm, no. You may be offering video game degenerates who spend more time on their couch than the Doritos and beer stains that also reside there, but don’t mistake that moment in the sun for these slugs as the same type of rush actual players who aren’t overweight, gorged on junk food, incapable of breaking 7.0 in the 40-yard dash and sporting skin whiter than Casper the Friendly ghost get out on real football fields. And oh yeah, girls may be lining up to get with star football players on campus, but I don’t think the same can be said for the top video gamers. Oddly enough, chicks don’t dig guys who are a wiz with the controller…..
- Boy, the hits just keep on coming for evangelist/(alleged) pedophile and polygamist Tony Alamo. As Alamo himself is in jail awaiting trial on charges that he, among other things, transported a minor across state lines for the purposes of having sex, the man identified as the chief enforcer in Alamo’s shady organization/cult is now under fire for the crimes he is alleged to have committed in service of the megalomaniacal Alamo. John Erwin Kolbeck is alleged to have beaten Alamo's followers for even minor infractions like playing with a spray bottle, with victims like Seth Calagna recalling nightmares of lying on the Fort Smith warehouse floor, feeling a wooden boardf crashing into backside as blood oozed onto the winter-cooled concrete. In an interview with detectives, Calagna told detectives months later that, Kolbeck even paused after 20 strikes to order another ministry member to pull off the 17-year-old's pants and thermals. Gee, hard to see why Kolbeck faces an arrest warrant on a second-degree felony battery charge, isn’t it? Of course, before the charges can be put into motion against Kolbeck, he’ll need to be found first. Yes, dude hasn't been seen since federal agents and state troopers raided one of the ministry's Arkansas compounds more than a month ago. But that doesn’t look at all suspicios, right? Police raid the compound where you (allegedly) did your vile, reprehensible work and you suddenly disappear into thin air. Then again, what do you expect from a scumbag whom Tony Alamo sometimes introduced by mimicking Jack Nicholson's menacing "Here's Johnny!" from "The Shining"? Or from a guy who was nearly arrested by the Fort Smith Police Department in March 2006 after allegedly performing a wedding ceremony between a 13-year-old girl and a 34-year-old man at Alamo's church. Just no shortage of quality individuals around this organization, eh?.......
- We have a Dawson Leery sighting. James Van der Beek hasn’t been seen much since the end of teen soap pioneer Dawson’s Creek in 2003, having only bit parts in smaller projects since then, but he’s popping up this season on another teen drama that films in the same area, One Tree Hill. Van der Beek, who spent much of time as a teenager in North Carolina working on Dawson's Creek, is heading back to the state to guest star on One Tree Hill. At present, he’s only scheduled to appear in one episode, airing Nov. 24. Ironically, he will be playing a filmmaker who wants to put one of Lucas Scott’s novels on the big screen, which is ironic because on Dawson’s Creek his character was an aspiring filmmaker, bordering on obsessive when it came to movies. “The specter of Dawson's Creek is always around us,” Tree Hill boss Mark Schwahn admits while also pointing out that his series films on the same lot that DC used to. “So I thought it would be cool to get James.” Other than this guest spot, Van der Beek's most recent TV credits include short-lived visits to Ugly Betty, Criminal Minds and How I Met Your Mother, none of which I actually saw. So welcome back to the teen drama world, Dawson Leery, we’ve missed you…..
- I’ve been holding off commenting on the ongoing saga involving former New York Knicks coach/GM/franchise killer Isaiah Thomas, but this is getting too good to hold back any longer. After authorities were called early Friday to Thomas' Westchester County home, because a 47-year-old man was taken to the hospital and treated for an overdose of sleeping pills, Thomas and his family were quick to throw his 17-year-old daughter Lauren under the bus as the Thomas rushed to the hospital. And no, it’s not just me accusing Zeke and his family of tossing Lauren under the bus, the local police chief in the case said the same thing - literally. Harrison Police Chief David Hall likened the conflicting accounts of an accidental overdose at Thomas' home to a “cover-up. It wasn't his daughter, and why they're throwing her under the bus is beyond my ability to understand,” Hall mused. So the police are saying it was Thomas, a 47-year-old male, and Thomas is saying it was a 17-year-old girl. For some reason, Hall seems to disagree with Thomas’ characterization of the event. “My cops ... know the difference between a 47-year-old black male and a young black female,” Hall fumed. For good measure, he added a Richard Nixon blast, saying, Thomas and his family should “learn something from Richard Nixon -- it's not the crime, it's the cover-up.” That return volley didn’t sit well with the Thomas clan, as Zeke’s 20-year-old son, Joshua, was quick to refute Hall’s comments. “Saying that someone is being thrown under the bus when you are talking about health issues is disrespectful,” Joshua Thomas fumed in a text message. “I love both my sister and dad and am glad that both are doing well.” Boy that was a cleverly worded non-denial denial, J. To be fair, he later did argue that
it was his sister, not his father, who required treatment. Whatever you say, Thomas clan. What we know is that an ambulance and two police officers responded to a 911 call that came in from your home a couple minutes after midnight and the victim was taken about 5 miles from the home to White Plains Hospital Center, where officials declined to identify the overdose patient, citing privacy laws. While they still can’t identify the patient, it’s clear that they feel confident it was Isaiah Thomas and not Lauren. Honestly, this is a really jacked up situation and I just hope that whoever the involved parties were that they receive the treatment and counseling they so obviously need…..
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Because nothing fills me with joy quite like relaying news of riots, protests and social dissidence worldwide, I am happy to tell you about a great event held yesterday in Taipei, Taiwan. There, tens of thousands of opposition supporters marched through the country’s capital to protest an upcoming visit by a senior Chinese envoy. These great Taiwanese citizens believe that the trip is part of Chinese efforts to assert control over the self-ruled island. In other words, they’re accusing The Man of trying to hold them down, the most anti-establishment claim of all. Adding a touch of panache and spirit to the proceedings were the T-shirts donned by many protestors, their message proclaiming the slogan “Defend Taiwan.” And as with any good riot or protest, these intrepid souls mixed in a healthy dose of accusations directed at their own leader, pointing the finger at Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou for making too many concessions and moving too fast in relaxing restrictions on trade and investment with China. “The government has not done enough to protect our own interests when opening up to China,” said protester Karin Hsieh. Well said, Karin, well said. The minds behind this beautiful act of social dissidence are the progressive thinkers at the opposition Democratic Progressive Party. They have blasted Ma's efforts to seek stronger ties with the mainland since he took office in May, a policy that stands in stark contrast to the one espoused by his predecessor, the DPP's Chen Shui-bian, who had pursued a strict anti-China and pro-independence policy. All told, the march wound for several miles through Taipei, quite a sight to see for those who love a good protest like myself. Whether this demonstration will have any effect on Ma's initiative to resume talks in June between the two nations following a hiatus of almost 10 years is unclear. Honestly, accomplishing that objective might necessitate stepping it up a notch, say a pinch of property destruction, a cadre of clashes with police and a nice dose of general mayhem and chicanery. Burn a few buildings, overturn a few cars, smash windows with rocks and clash with riot police and you might have a shot at putting a halt to the second round of high-level talks is to be held in Taipei in early November. In other words, take the lead of pro-independence supporters in southern Taiwan who were able to disrupt a visit by a Chinese official this past week by clashing with security. The official was pushed and knocked to the ground by a small number of protesters who shouted “Taiwan does not belong to China.” Now THAT is what I’m talking about, Taiwan. You need to exert a little muscle and knock some heads to get things done in the world of protests and riots. Meek ain’t getting it done, people. Your country split from China in 1949 for a reason (civil wars tend to do that), but Beijing continues to claim the island as part of its territory and has threatened to attack if Taiwan moves to formalize its independence. Don’t let them intimidate you, Taiwan! Don’t take their smog-riddled, poison-water, lead-paint-toy having bullsh*t! Take it to the streets early, often and with a bad attitude……..
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