- This is a first. Homes burn down all the time, but I can't ever remember the owner of a burned-down home claiming that the fire was set by someone she knows who has threatened to try to kill her with voodoo. Meet Virgilette Joseph of Ocoee, Fla., whose home on Rachel's Ridge Loop in Ocoee burned to the ground around 10 p.m. Monday. Thankfully, no one was home at the time of the fire, as Joseph's 10- and 11 year-old daughters were spending the night at their aunt's house and Joseph was out to dinner when she got a phone call informing of the fire. The house is a total loss, which is obviously the major news - aside from the possible voodoo connection. The state fire marshal's office confirmed that it has identified and question a person of interest in relation to the fire, but obviously they can’t give a name at this point. What they can confirm is that arson was the cause of the fire and that it started in several locations around the house. Apparently this voodoo freak has been issuing death threats to Joseph for months now, but Joseph never went to the police about the death threats because she thought it would be too much of a hassle. Too much of a hassle? To pick up the phone, call the cops and tell them that a neighbor is making death threats against you, threats that involve voodoo? I can see where you might want to brush the person making those threats off as a kook if they do it once, but once a pattern begins to develop, feel free to go to the police. I’m admittedly not a fan of law enforcement, but I’m pretty sure they can deal with a voodoo sorcerer/sorceress who is harassing a neighbor with death threats. But I actually enjoyed having a voodoo-related arson story, so let’s see if we can’t make a few more of these happen in the months ahead………
- This is just thoroughly reprehensible and disturbing. I realize that sports media outlets across have a bizarre, over-the-top fixation with all things Brett Favre. Any time Favre spits, sneezes, trips or breathes, you can bet that there will be countless, breathless reports breaking down those spits, sneezes, trips or breaths and what it means. This trend has created such a backlash that there are now people out there like myself who openly despise Favre and root against him even though he was once one of the most beloved players in the game. However, the all-Favre, all-the-time routine was taken to a new low yesterday when reports surfaced that Favre’s family and friends have reserved a block of hotel rooms in Green Bay for Nov. 1, when the Minnesota Vikings are scheduled to play the Packers at Lambeau Field. Of course, the Vikings are the team that Favre is looking to un-retire for and come back to play for in 2009. Yes, we’ve gotten to the point where a person described as "a member of Favre's inner circle" blocks off between 25 and 30 rooms at the Midway Motor Lodge and it’s reported as if it matters at all. “They called and said if he goes to Minnesota they definitely want to be at the game,” said Doug Warpinski, the manager of the hotel. Great…..just tell me why this matters to anyone. Favre and his family aren’t even on the hook for the rooms if he doesn’t come back. Payment does not have to be guaranteed until 45 days before the check-in date, so the group can cancel the reservations in the next two months without penalty. In other words, they put a hold on the rooms just in case he comes back and yet everyone is reporting this with as much vigor as they can muster. What I’m wondering is whether media members are so deluded and sucked in by Favre that they no longer have a sense of perspective on how utterly ridiculous their stories about him are or if this is all some sort of sick, twisted joke that I don’t get. Sadly, either answer would be sad, depressing and infuriating, so maybe I’ll just move on………
- Sometimes high school seniors do things that genuinely deserve a ban from their graduation ceremony (i.e. last week’s tale of a student in Illinois who had a fellow student change her grade in the school’s computer system and refused to retake the exam for the class). This is not one of those times. A group of nine seniors from Arrowhead High School in Hartland, Wis. launched one of the most harmless, benign pranks in the history of senior pranks and for that, the school banned them from graduation. All these students did was use sidewalk chalk to write "Class of 09" and some small designs on the school building Thursday night. School officials then displayed a stunning lack of a sense of humor by declaring that the prank crossed the line and suspending all nine seniors from their own graduation ceremony. “In some ways I thought it was a pretty lame prank, you know, it looked more like a decoration," says James Clark, one of the seniors who was suspended. "It just said 'Class of '09.' And it had some pictures. Someone drew like a 'Tweety' bird or something.” Worse still is the fact that the chalk was up for a mere two hours before the offending seniors had to clean it up. Yet that - a prank with no property destruction, no lasting damage and nothing obscene - was enough to warrant a ban from graduation? "It's disappointing, especially for other people who have family coming in from out of state, expecting a graduation ceremony,” Clark said. So while their fellow seniors readied for graduation, the suspended seniors held signs near the road -- saying things like "They're unfair, they don't care," and "We can't walk, cuz we used chalk.” Some parents did appeal, but their appeals were denied by the district superintendent, Craig Jefson. Jefson sent them a letter. It read, in part: "Students were aware that their behavior at this time could prompt their suspension from school and resulting loss of privilege to participate in the graduation ceremony, yet they participated in the disruption anyway. ... I needed to consider the message to current and future students that disruption of the school environment cannot be acceptable in some situations and not others.” Back it down a notch, C. Allowing seniors who doodled on the school wall in easily removable sidewalk chalk doesn’t set a dangerous precedent that will lead to the demise of your academic institution. It’s too late to do anything about the school’s regrettable decision now, but Craig Jefson and Co. needs to rethink their approach in case anything like this ever comes up again……
- Props to Disney/Pixar's "Up" for managing to fend off newcomer "The Hangover" and remain the number one movie at the box office two weekends in a row. “Up” received a boost from premium 3-D ticket prices, but the film still raked in an estimated $44.2 million to "The Hangover's" $43.3 million. The second straight solid weekend pushed "Up's" estimated total gross to $137 million. As for “The Hangover,” the R-rated comedy did much better than expected as moviegoers bought into stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis as they made a Vegas run gone wrong. “Hangover” actually pulled an outstanding "A" CinemaScore rating AND its audience was surprisingly comprised of just as many women as men. Clearly the ladies love seeing the craziest-bachelor-party-ever dude-fest just as much as the dudes themselves. Another newcomer for the weekend was Will Ferrell's dinosaur-themed comedy "Land of the Lost,” which fell on the opposite side of the surprise/disappointment ledger as “The Hangover.” In fact, “Land of the Lost” was one of Ferrell’s worst opening weekends for a movie in his career, coming in with an underwhelming $19.5 million for third place in the box office race. The movie is based on a 1970s kids TV series of the same name, but clearly fans of that show have no interest in seeing it on the big screen. The fourth-place finisher was "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” which made $14.6 million for a $127.3 three-week total. "Star Trek" finished in fifth place with $8.4 million for $222 million overall since opening. "Drag Me to Hell" had yet another bad weekend, finishing in seventh place with only $7.3 million, a drop of 54 percent from the previous weekend. On the other hand, "Angels & Demons" pushed past $400 million in global earnings and is now the highest grossing film worldwide for 2009. On the cinematic horizon is “Year One,” the back-in-time comedy starring Jack Black and Michael Cera, so it will be interesting to see if “Up” can keep its grip on the top spot……..
- Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy clearly did not learn the first lesson of prison survival, namely finding the biggest, baddest dude in the cell block and knocking him out on Day 1, because if he had, Donaghy probably would have earned enough respect to avoid what happened to him in the can a few months ago. It’s taken a while to surface, but a rumor is making the rounds that Donaghy was injured during an prison brawl in November. During the assault, another inmate claiming ties to the New York mob beat Donaghy with a heavy object. You might recall that Donaghy went to prison for his role in a gambling scandal that involved shaving points and altering margins of victory in NBA games. Oddly enough, gambling is also something that organized crime tends to be heavily involved in. As such, it’s not hard to see why a guy with ties to the mob would want to take a run at him. Donaghy suffered severe knee and leg injuries in the attack that will require further surgery, but he’s still slated for release from prison on June 17. It will mark the end of his 15-month sentence for betting on professional basketball. Donaghy has served his time at the federal prison camp in Pensacola, Florida. Upon his release, he will complete his sentence at a halfway house in Tampa. Oh, and he also plans to finish writing a memoir of his 13 years in the NBA. Right, because what’s more American than someone being a complete scumbag, getting convicted of a crime and sent to prison and then getting out and profiting off their life of crime? Thanks for sustaining my faith in the American spirit, Timmy…….
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