- So I guess the one obvious upside of former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick being released from a federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas early Wednesday is that we can finally talk about a non-playing, unsigned NFL quarterback other than F’ing Brett Favre. Which is not to say that I don’t still loathe Favre and wish every day that he would blow out both of his rotator cuffs and never be able to even consider playing football again, because all of that is true. Dude is annoying, over the hill and needs to go away. But now we can take a few minutes to agonize over the possible return of a dramatically over-hyped, under-performing former No. 1 pick who can now add the rust and decay of nearly two years in a federal prison to the other knocks against him as a legit NFL quarterback. Lest you forget, prior to his revelation as a notorious dog fighter, Vick was a barely passable NFL quarterback whose passing skills were rudimentary at best and who kept his career going based almost solely on his freaky athletic and running abilities. Now, he’s out of the federal pen and headed back to Newport News, Virginia to serve the last two months of his 23-month sentence in home confinement. You can debate whether his punishment is sufficient for someone who pleaded guilty to a federal charge of bankrolling a dogfighting operation at a home he owned, but the reality is that on this divisive issue, everyone has chosen their side and no one is crossing over. You believe what you believe about the appropriate punishment for what Vick did and whether he should be allowed to play in the NFL again, period. The reality is that he’s going to be allowed back into the league at some point, whether commissioner Roger Goodell elects to suspend Vick any additional games or not before allowing him back into the league. If reinstated, Vick could return to professional football as soon as September. In the meantime, he’ll work toward paying the millions of dollars he owes as part of his bankruptcy proceedings by chipping away at an impressive $10 an hour working construction and appearing in a documentary for $600,000. There’s also the matter of shoring up his actual Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, which U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro rejected last month on the grounds that it would not realistically allow Vick to repay his debtors. Santoro shot down Vick’s initial plan, which called for Vick to come up with $750,000 to $1 million in cash to be paid to creditors. The judge said he saw no evidence Vick could come up with that much and suggested Vick's next plan not call for him to keep two houses and three cars, as did the rejected proposal. So there’s the bankruptcy proceedings to hash over, Vick’s stated plan to work with the Humane Society to discourage dogfighting, especially among teens, and the issue of whether he can return to being a productive NFL player. I’d say all of that is much more intriguing to discuss than some washed up, wishy-washy, indecisive old QB who can’t even decide how to best treat a lingering injury just so he might be able to play again……
- So that whole removing prostitution ads from Craigslist thing isn’t going very well. Even though Craigslist's managers have complied with the wishes of most of the state attorneys general who demanded they rid the site of prostitution ads, it’s still possible to find yourself some Craigslist sex for hire if you are so inclined. Even though the site replaced its controversial "erotic" section with a new "adult" category and company employees now review every ad submitted to the adult area before they appear online, ads for what appear to be sex for money still exist on Craigslist. One such ad was posted by a a self-described sex worker from San Francisco who admitted that she successfully posted an ad for her services to the adult section late last week. So aside from the cosmetic move of changing the name for the prostitution section of the site, the only real difference between Craigslist's erotic and adult categories is the photos. To be succinct, the photos are less revealing, with, less skin showing for the most part. However, the text below the pictures is basically the same, with lots of ads for “massage services.” Oddly enough, these adds for masseuses contain an awful lot of information about the physical appearance of the ladies doing the massaging, things like the masseuse's breast size ("I'm a natural C cup") and they are often photographed dressed in their underwear. There are also the same buzz words as you would have seen in the erotic services section when it existed: words such as "busty," or "fantasy girl" in their descriptions. The problem now is how much further Craiglist and the government can go with this fight. After all, if these ads merely contain pictures of hot chicks in very little clothing who aren’t directly offering sex, what else can be done? Now we all know that shady, hooker-ish things are going on once these ads are responded to, but the question is whether anyone has the authority and jurisdiction to do anything about it……..
- Echo and The Bunnymen have long been punk rock pioneers, even if they aren’t in the forefront of the minds of all but the most hardcore of rock fans these days. Still, the group will now be pioneers in an entirely different musical realm: outer space. The band’s critically acclaimed 1984 album "Ocean Rain" is a favorite of NASA astronaut - and huge Bunnymen fan - Tim Korpa. Korpa recently contacted the band about taking some of the group's music on his next mission, citing the 1984 record as his favorite of their catalog. I guess he figured that tracking down a vinyl copy of the album would be a difficult task that he just doesn’t have time for, so he dialed up the band and asked for their help. “Now it's official. We are the coolest band in the universe," said vocalist Ian McCulloch in a released statement. "As a kid I dreamt of being an astronaut, and now in a way it feels like I'm fulfilling that dream. I cannot wait to hear from Tim what it is like to listen to ‘The Killing Moon' in the actual glow of the moon." Korpa plans to take snapshots of the crew in space with the album during their voyage, which should actually be pretty cool. According to Nielson Soundscan data, "Ocean Rain" has sold 76,000 copies since 1991, then. "Ocean Rain" will also be getting the deluxe reissue treatment on May 30, with a re-release that bundles a live performance of the record from November 27, 2008 at the Liverpool Arena as well as a DVD documentary. The album has been staging quite a comeback over the past year, as it was also performed in its entirety on September 16 at London's Royal Albert Hall and on October 1 at New York's Radio City Music Hall. All three performances paired the group with an orchestra. Echo and The Bunnymen will also perform "Ocean Rain" on June 28 will see the band at the annual Glastonbury Festival and return to the U.S. later this year for two more performances after performing at this year's SXSW festival. The group is also working on their tenth album entitled "The Fountain," set for release later this year. Still, it sounds like having their music blasted in (and into) outer space might be the highlight of the year for Echo and The Bunnymen……..
- Not cool, Coca Cola, not cool at all. Not only do you produce a crappy, way-too-sweet, second-rate soft drink, but now you’re ripping valuable prizes from customers who win them? That doesn’t work for me. It also doesn’t work for Demetrios Tinguirlis of Stratford, Conn., who thought he had won thousands of dollars in scholarship money from a Coca Cola sweepstakes. Tinguirlis bought two bottles of Coke bearing the Twist and Text Sweepstakes and when he texted the cap numbers, the message sent back said, "You won.” "Then the next message said you won a $10,000 scholarship," said Tinguirlis. Awesome, right? Winning a $10,000 scholarship is enough to brighten anyone’s day, and it certainly lifted Tinguirlis’ spirits - right up until the limo driver from Stratford tried to claim his prize. As a father of six who is trying to save for his kids’ college funds, I can see where he would be a) pumped to win and b) pissed when Coke tried to rip that prize from him. “So six kids, $10,000 in scholarship money is great for us now and I was like wow,” he said. Coca Cola’s explanation for snatching the prize from Tinguirlis’ hands is that he bought the soda and sent the text in April. The contest starts on May 1st, as seen on the bottle. The company sent Tinguirlis a letter stating, "The entry was received during one of the promotion testing periods. And, a test win message was generated in 'error.' You could not be certified as an official winner.” Instead, the company is offering $500 in return for making no future claim. That doesn’t fly with Tinguirlis, who feels that Coke is trying to screw him over. “I don't think it's fair," he said. "I think you already said to me that I won $10,000. I was excited for it. I believe that's what I should get; not $500.” To that end, he’s contacted a local TV station and its investigative unit has taken up his case. I do understand that Coke can point to the contest rules and claim that they don’t have to pay up, but I also realize that if your contest is still in the testing stage, people shouldn’t be able to contact the contest source at all and receive any sort of reply. So there is fault on both sides, but Coca Cola still looks incredibly shady in the end. It turns out that Tinguirlis wasn’t the only one who got a wrong winning message because of the promotional test. Step your game up and get a hold on your contests, Coke…….
- Memo to all stoners out there: Respect your stash. I don’t think I need to tell most of you that, but when I come across the stories of people like David I. Pledge of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, I feel compelled to remind everyone of that rule just in case. My man D. Pledge was pulled over by University Heights Police in Iowa City at 12:52 a.m. Sunday for a traffic violation. That would have been bad enough, but Pledge knew that he was going to have an even bigger problem once the cop approached his car. What with being a devout pot head and having a large stash of the hippie lettuce in his possession, Pledge knew he had to do something. Not only did the inside of his car reek of the chronic, but he also had a large bag of weed with him. Officers immediately noticed the strong marijuana-like odor coming from Pledge's breath when they approached the vehicle, just as they easily spotted the green, leafy substance scattered down his shirt. It’s a sad scene to be sure, but it’s about to get a whole lot worse. See, police soon discovered Pledge had a partially eaten plastic bag of marijuana in his mouth. According to the police report, Pledge panicked when he realized his predicament and decided that eating an entire bag of pot was his best option. No throwing it out the window, no trying to stash it under a seat, just eating it, bag and all. Pledge eventually gagged and the "medium sized bag" came out of his mouth, earning him charges of preventing apprehension, obstructing prosecution and third-offense drug possession. Preventing apprehension and obstructing prosecution and third- or subsequent-offense possession of marijuana are aggravated misdemeanors and are punishable by up to two years in prison and a maximum $5,000 fine. All of that is bad, but perhaps not as bad as the stigma Pledge will now have in the stoner community for wasting perfectly good tree by attempting to ingest it. That’s something he may never recover from…….
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