- Good to see that some 12 years after becoming famous as a statutory rapist, Mary Kay Letourneau has moved on to bigger and better things and finally made something of her life. Either that or she’s still the same classless, trashy skank, just 12 years old. After hearing that Letourneau spent her Saturday night hosting a "Hot for Teacher" night at a Seattle bar, I’m going with the latter. Making the story even weirder is the fact that her former victim and now husband was the DJ at the event. Yes, that wacky couple who came together when he was a sixth grader looking to get after it with his teacher and she was an elementary school teacher looking to commit child rape back in 1997. It’s impossible to say whether the affair would have come to light if Letourneau hadn’t been impregnated by sixth grade student Vili Fualaau, but the reality is that she was. She got knocked up, the affair got exposed and Letourneau served time in prison after being convicted of statutory rape of the then 12-year old Fualaau. Letourneau was arrested while she was pregnant with Fualaau's first child and served 6 months of a 7-year sentence. She somehow managed to get early parole and made good use of that nice break by getting caught having sex with Fualaau just weeks after her release. The second time around, the parole board was smarter about handling her and it wasn’t until she’d served five years behind bars that Letourneau finally got out prison. By that time, Fualaau was legal and the two were married a short time later. They dropped out of the spotlight for a few years (what a loss that was for the rest of us), mostly because at that point there wasn’t the whole statutory rape angle and they were just another May-December romance between a convicted felon and the man she loved. That changed when Fualaau decided that his great aspiration in life - aside from hitting it with his teacher, which he clearly accomplished - was to become a DJ. Because of that, Mike Morris, owner of the Seattle-area bar Fuel, decided to drum up some business by bringing in the Letourneau-Fualaau freak show. Despite outcries by many in the city who say the event sends the wrong message, Morris say the event is all in good fun. “They lived it and they also paid for it," says Morris. “People can look at it the wrong way, but we're doing it for fun. And because she served her time and her sentence and she realizes what she did was wrong, but now she's just trying to live her life.” Mmm hmmm. Look, it’s your bar and you can do what you want with it, but giving any opportunity to a scumbag like Letourneau based on a truly despicable act is just bad form, bro…..
- There is now one less hurdle standing in the way of a great eighth season of 24. And with that show, you can never be too sure of any given season coming off as scheduled. Whether it’s Kiefer Sutherland getting touched up for a DUI, shutting down production for script rewrites or a Hollywood writers’ strike, every season of 24 seems like a high-wire act, and that’s before you even get to the dramatic plots of individual episodes. This time, the hurdle cleared is the apparent resolution of the issues between Kiefer Sutherland and fashion designer Jack McCollough, who accused the 24 star of breaking his nose with a swift head-butt at an after-party for the Met's Costume Institute Gala in New York. The incident occurred on May 6 after a dispute involving the designer and Brooke Shields. Sutherland is alleged to have stepped in to defend Shields and gone all Mike Tyson on McCollough. Yet as the criminal case against Sutherland proceeded and McCollough debated civil litigation, the two somehow managed to resolve their differences, laying the foundation for criminal charges to be dropped. Sutherland's reps are professing his regret about the incident (What, Jack Bauer can’t say “I’m sorry” on his own?) and that McCullough was injured. For his part, McCollough wished the actor well and is seemingly cool with the dismissal of third-degree assault charges against Sutherland, who is still due in court June 22. So a bit of a curious resolution, but I guess in Hollywood, famous people still get away with acting like thugs, even if it is as a high-society gala…….
- Look at you, Iranian government, going all Big Brother and abusing the concept of censorship like nobody’s business! With the country’s presidential elections looming on June 12, the Iranian government has blocked access to Facebook, mostly because reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi -- a former prime minister considered a threat to current hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- created a Facebook page for his campaign that has more than 5,000 supporters on the site. Seeing a possibly legitimate candidate build support, the inner tyrannical fascist in Ahmadinejad came out and he quickly moved to shut down access to the site within his country’s borders. Those attempting to visit Facebook received a message in Farsi saying, "Access to this site is not possible.” According to news reports from the region, the Masadiq Committee, made up of representatives from Iran's intelligence ministry, judiciary and others had ordered the action. That’s cool, but I think we all know who was behind the decision. What’s bizarre is that after a few hours, the blockage was lifted, but was then reinstated. No explanation has been given for the block, but I suppose that when you are a repressive, dictatorial government that regularly tramples all over your citizens’ human rights, explanations aren’t your forte. Still, when you’re an opposition group looking to topple such a regime, going online is probably your best option. At least online, your country’s fascist dictator can’t actually run you over with a tank, tear gas you or sic riot police on your ass. Clearly cognizant of that reality, Ahmadinejad's challengers are increasingly turning to new technology to spread their message. In a country with an estimated population of more than 66 million and some 47 million Iranians with cell phones and 21 million with Internet access, it’s a good approach. So to all of the members of opposition groups in Iran who are clearly fighting a tough battle, stay strong. You are in the right and you cannot allow The Man to keep you down, no matter what. Fight the power……
- Bless John Daly’s heart. Dude may have more demons than any of us can ever comprehend, but he also has a big heart to match his outlandish personality, large appetite for women, alcohol and gambling and huge game on the golf course. He’s suspended from the PGA Tour right now because of his many indirections, but JD is playing abroad and even being out of the country hasn’t kept him from making a very cool gesture to a fellow player in peril. After Phil Mickelson's wife Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer last week, Daly decided to honor her during Sunday's final round of the BMW PGA Championship by donning a pair of bright pink golf pants. Sports leagues and teams often wear pink to show support for breast cancer research, so Daly’s tribute was a fitting one. “I had a pair, so I figured I'd do that for her today. I thought it would be a good gesture," Daly said of his trousers. "I know Phil very well and I know Amy. I've known them for a long time -- we've played the Tour together. She's a great lady. She has always been a sweetheart to everybody.” Aside from Daly joining the creepy category populated by anyone who actually uses the word slacks, he’s right on point. He also said that he has not yet spoken to Phil Mickelson, who is taking time off the Tour to be with his wife, but said he had been impacted personally by breast cancer. “I sent out a media message," Daly said. "He's probably surrounded by callers right now and I didn't want to bother him. I'm sure everybody on Tour and everybody in the world is thinking about her. There's been some [breast cancer] in the family and a lot of friends. It's just a tough thing women have to go through. But if they caught it in time, it is curable.” Agreed and agreed, J.D. It’s a small gesture but a very cool one and it underscores why Daly is still something of a beloved cult figure on the golf scene despite his many, many demons…..
- Ah, the stress of midterms. It was midterm week on Greek, but everyone’s midterm week was brutal for a different reason. For Rusty, Calvin, Dale and Jordan, it was their art history midterm. Knowing that a rugged slate of essay questions awaited them, the foursome took a unique approach to studying. Initially, Calvin, Rusty and Dale were setting up a study group of their own. Jordan invited herself in, partially to prepare for the exam but also because (as she later admitted), she missed hanging out with Rusty and having him as a friend after she decided they couldn’t hang out or be friends because she was with Andy, Rusty’s former Kappa Tau little brother, and she and Rusty couldn’t seem to be just friends. The study session is a way to begin rebuilding that bridge, but Andy isn’t cool with the arrangement. He calls Jordan numerous times while she’s studying with the group at Rusty and Dale’s apartment, calls she sends to voicemail. When Andy works around that by calling Calvin’s phone, Calvin doesn’t realize Jordan is avoiding Andy and he hands her the phone. IN the ensuing conversation, Andy breaks up with Jordan. It’s merely one of the myriad of distractions that throws the group off of Dale’s meticulous, neurotic study schedule. When memorizing dates, playing art history-themed board games and hashing over facts gets old, Rusty takes the group on an impromptu field trip. They take a walk to the lecture hall where their class takes place and Rusty uses the hall’s projector to put up a replica of the Cistine Chapel’s roof on the ceiling. The display definitely helps the group understand Michelangelo’s master work better and seems to score Rusty major points with the newly single Jordan, who calls it “amazing.” However, in a plot twist that wouldn’t have surprised even Stevie Wonder, Andy calls Jordan back and pleads for her to take him back. Once the study session breaks up and everyone heads home, Jordan tells Rusty about the phone call and repeats that she does still want them to be friends. In a man’s play, Rusty owns the fact that he can’t be just friends with her because he wants more. In an honest, straightforward way, he tells her that he likes her too much to just be friends. It seems like a kamikaze move, but it turns out to be the right one. The next day (actually later in the same day), during the art history exam, Jordan passes a note to Rusty (Passing a note? Is this college or fourth grade?) telling him that she feels the same way about him that he does about her and that she wants to be more than friends. Unfortunately, the professor sees the note being passed and is about to fail Jordan and Rusty for cheating, along with Calvin and Dale for passing the note. Jordan saves all four by asking the professor to read the note and see that it has nothing to do with the exam. The professor obliges and actually reads the note out loud, which of course a professor would actually do during a midterm exam. Even though the corny, sappy contents of the note draw a few laughs from the class, everything turns out well when the professor allows Rusty, Calvin, Dale and Jordan to continue taking their exams. Rusty and Jordan are both happy about their new relationship, so midterm week wasn’t so bad for them in the end. Same can’t be said for Cappie and Casey, who found themselves facing a tough women’s studies midterm. When Cappie suggests and all-nighter to prepare for the exam, Casey hesitates because of their history and the fact that she’s now with Max, who is still abroad for a month working on a research project. Her apprehension goes away when she finds out that their study session will also include Delia, a girl from their class who Cappie has apparently been seeing. That night, the group meets up at a local coffee bar and Cappie instantly regrets the decision to take part in the study group once he sees Delia approaching….along with another girl from the class he’s also been hooking up with lately. Things go smoothly for all of a few minutes, right up to the point where one of the girls asks Casey if she’s seeing Cappie. Casey says no, but the conversation then leads Delia and this other girl to realize that Cappie has been sleeping with both of them. He and Casey flee the scene because obviously they can’t continue studying with two girls who now hate him. They move things to the library, where the overflow crowd of procrastinating students looking to study for midterms and a crabby librarian who repeatedly hounds Casey for talking too loudly once she bumps into fellow Zeta Beta sister Ashleigh make studying impossible. Kicked out of the library by the overbearing librarian, Cappie suggests Dobler’s as an option. That works for a while, but the combination of alcohol and the bar closing sends them in search of yet another study location. Cappie suggests the Kappa Tau house, but by the time Casey stops for some coffee to fuel their all-nighter, Cappie is asleep on a couch in the house’s common room. Casey wakes up Cappie and the studying resumes - until Rusty pops in to tell Cappie about his decision to finally confront Jordan with the truth about his feelings for her. Rusty’s monologue prompts Casey and Cappie to examine the same issues in their own relationship. She asks if they can just be friends, mostly because she’s been told by Ashleigh that Cappie and Rebecca Logan broke up because he wasn’t over her. Cappie admits he still has feelings for Casey and suggests that she still has feelings for him too. She won't admit it directly, but it sure seems like he’s right. Ultimately, Cappie throws down the gauntlet and declares that they just won't work as “only friends.” A stunned Casey asks what he’s saying and Cappie declares that she knows full well what he means. So is it friendship over? I doubt it….in fact, I’ll go ahead and say no way on that one. Elsewhere, Rebecca Logan is having midterm problems of her own. After she parks in a faculty lot near the library, her car is towed the night before a big paper is due. Her laptop is in her car, meaning it (and her paper) are locked up in the impound lot. She asks Ashleigh to drive her there, but in order to allow Ashleigh to get some study time in, Evan Chambers offers to drive Rebecca to get her car. Getting to the impound lot is one thing, but getting the car back is another. The owner of the lot isn’t around and after hours of waiting for him to show up, Evan decides to try a different tact. Because Rebecca only needs her laptop, he tries to boost her over the fence so she can use her key to get into her BMW and get her laptop. Of course, any good impound lot has a guard dog. This lot has a German shepherd who startles Rebecca, causes her to drop her key and then eats the key. Evan’s next idea is to buy some hot dogs, come back and use the food to distract the dog. While Rebecca feeds the hot dogs to the guard dog, Evan sneaks over the fence. Unfortunately, the dog sees him and gives chase. Because Rebecca’s car key is a smart key and unlocks the door whenever it’s within a few feet of the car, the locks open when Evan and the dog pass by her whip. Evan opens the door and shoos the dog inside to save his own hide, then realizes that doing so wasn’t at all helpful. Now, the dog is in the car along with the laptop. Evan’s next bright idea is to let the dog out of the car, have Rebecca grab the laptop and get out while he distracts the pooch by running. Like his preceding plans, this one fails too. Evan and Rebecca end up inside the car, trapped there by an angry dog that goes about ripping, scratching and biting anything it can get ahold of on the outside of her nice, silver BMW. Ultimately, both of them fall asleep inside the car. In the morning, Rebecca wakes up first and actually manages to finish writing her paper. Using her laptop’s Internet connect card, she emails the paper to her professor and averts disaster. Shortly after Evan wakes up, the owner of the impound lot shows up and finds them, ending an interesting night/morning. I liked the episode for the most part, even with Dale on screen quite a bit. His presence usually annoys the crap out of me and makes the show less watchable, but not so much tonight. Tune in next week, when I’m sure there will be a new round of drama and more than enough of it to go around……
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