- No matter how many times you hear people tell tales of adults behaving like complete and total idiots at youth sporting events, you never really get used to the concept that the kids are the mature ones at most of the games they play. Men like Matthew A. Collins of Perry Township, Ohio will always amaze me. Collins, apparently the prototypical hot-headed Little League dad, decided that after a game Wednesday at Perry Township Park would be a good time to confront his son’s coach about a lack of playing time for his son. From there…..well, I’ll allow Lake County Sheriff Daniel Dunlap to take up the tale. “During the course of the game, Mr. Collins became upset, something about playing time,” Dunlap said. “(Collins) claims he was either belly bumped or kneed in the groin first.” From there, Collins allegedly headbutted the coach, followed him to the ground and continued to flail at him, Dunlap said. Collins attempted to sell the story that he was trying to end the argument and did not initiate the physicality, but the game’s umpire and other impartial witnesses all said that it was Collins who started the fight. He was arrested, charged with assault and released on a recognizance bond. He will be making his preliminary appearance in Painesville Municipal Court is scheduled on Tuesday and if convicted, he could face any punishment from community service to a six months in jail. Ironically, Collins is himself a police officer in the nearby city of Mentor. Way to show that you know how to keep your temper in tense situations, officer. If you can’t keep your head at a Little League game where the worst thing that could happen is someone running out of Capri Sun pouches before your kids gets one, how are you supposed to remain calm and in control if a suspect pulls a gun and opens fire on you in a crowded place? I’m sure that Mentor Police Captain John Jaros and his department will have a lot of fun conducting their internal investigation into Collins’ actions to see if sanctions would be appropriate. And as always, I’m sure this was an immensely proud day for Collins’ son, seeing dear old dad led away in handcuffs as his teammates and their parents looked on…………
- I’m not supposed to root for or against specific movies to succeed or fail, what with attempting to maintain an air of professionalism and all. However, I have to admit that I laughed…..and laughed…..and laughed when I heard that even in its debut weekend, "Sex and the City 2" couldn’t beat out a giant, green animated ogre for first place at the box office. "Shrek Forever After" won on what will go down as the slowest Memorial Day holiday weekend at the box office in a decade. "Shrek Forever After" won the top spot with a three-day total of $43.3 million, besting the glorified cougars of “SATC 2,” who raked in $46.3 million, far less than the $57 million earned by the original two years ago. Honestly, this film was such a glorified cash grab that even Hollywood should be ashamed of it. Bringing back a bunch of past-their-prime, marginally attractive actresses with mediocre acting skills for a sequel to a movie that was a bad idea the first time around reeks of desperation and a lack of originality. In third place was "Prince of Persia," the Jerry Bruckheimer adventure flick starring Jake Gyllenhaal and based on the popular video game of the same name. However, gamers don’t tend to venture out of their basements into the sun’s harsh rays all that often and they don’t generally risk interacting with members of the opposite sex, so counting on them to get out and support your movie is risky. Bearing that in mind, the fact that “Persia” managed to make $30 million for the weekend doesn’t seem all that bad. Seven percent of its total came from IMAX screens and has made $133 million in 10 days thus far. Fourth place went to "Iron Man 2," which conjured up $16 million, a decline of 39 percent from last weekend and has earned $274 million total. Next on the list was Universal's "Robin Hood," which fell 45 percent but made $10.3 million in its third weekend in theaters. In sixth was the Amanda Seyfried-starring romantic pic "Letters to Juliet," grossing $5.9 million for the weekend to boost its cumulative total to $38.1 million. The worst movie I’ve seen in a long, long time, Fox Searchlight's "Just Wright," was seventh for the weekend with $2.2 million to put its three-week gross at a laughable $18.2 million. Twentieth Century Fox's "Date Night" amazingly held on to eighth place, piling another $1.75 million into its piggy bank to inch ever closer to the $100 million mark (currently $93.4 million). After that the top 10 saw its biggest flop take ninth place. That would be the Relativity Media-financed comedy "MacGruber," the epic failure in the making from Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels. Considering the movie had an embarrassingly bad debut weekend, the fact that it lost more than 63 percent of its value from that opening weekend and actually made money as opposed to losing it is astonishing. “MacGruber” made just $1.5 million for the weekend, which can't make “star” Will Forte feel that great. "How to Train Your Dragon" secured the tenth spot in, appropriately enough, its tenth weekend. The DreamWorks family flick made with another $1 million and raised its cumulative total to $212 million…………
- Rarely do I find myself in the position of defending someone who has been accused of creating music that promotes devil worship. But to be fair, deceased heavy metal rocker Ronnie James Dio is not able to defend himself and the ass hats from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas are doing what they do best namely turning what should be the respectful, dignified goodbye for grieving family members and friends to the one they loved into a glorified publicity stunt for their church’s hateful agenda. The memorial service for Dio took place Sunday at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles and prior to the event, those pieces of crap from Westboro Baptist Church posted a picketing schedule on the its website and announced that protesters would be at the Dio memorial. In case the name of the church doesn’t ring a bell, these are the same classless a-holes who routinely pickets soldiers' funerals to promote their platform of hate and bigotry masked as an opposition to the homosexual lifestyle. The church isn’t accusing Dio of being gay, but rather accusing the 67-year-old rocker of worshipping Satan. He passed away on May 16 after a battle with stomach cancer and even for someone like myself who was not a fan of any of his bands, especially not his most famous one, Black Sabbath, the idea of respecting his passing is a no-brainer. Yes, he was a key figure in heavy metal music, a genre that has often been hit with charges of devil-worshipping. And yes, Dio popularized the "devil's horn" gesture, where the index and the little fingers are upright and the thumb is clasped against the two middle fingers. Fans throw the gesture up at concerts and it’s spilled over into pop culture in many places. Dio claimed that he was taught by the sign by his superstitious grandmother as a way to ward off the "evil eye," but some religious groups have taken offense to the gesture, alleging that it is a tribute to the devil. Ironically, it is Dio’s widow Wendy who is teaching a lesson about forgiveness and compassion to the Christians who picketed her husband’s memorial service. "Ronnie hates prejudice and violence. We need to turn the other cheek on these people that only know how to hate someone they didn't know," she said of the protest. The service also served a second purpose in addition to honoring Dio’s memory: raising money for cancer research. The memorial hosted a donation center for Dio's "Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund," named after one his songs. His most recent musical efforts included touring with Heaven and Hell, a version of Black Sabbath renamed for legal reasons. All shows were canceled last March because of his illness. He last appeared in public His last public appearance was in April at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards, when he accepted a vocalist of the year award. He was part of three Black Sabbath released albums, including "Heaven and Hell" in 1980, "Mob Rules" in 1981 and "Live Evil" in 1982. He left the band in 1982 and had just one brief reunion with them, a decade after the initial split. Here’s hoping that he is remembered for his music and the people it affected as opposed to the idiots who turned his memorial service into an absolute farce……….
- In one of the more fitting marriages of beverage and factory fuel I can remember in some time, Milwaukee Brewing Company has found a way to use leftover cooking grease to make its product. The company has reached a deal with local parks to use leftover cooking grease from their kitchens to turn it into bio-diesel energy to fuel the brewery. To complete the circle of enviro-conscious business, the grease-fueled beer will be sold in recyclable cans at county parks. Milwaukee County Parks Director Sue Black showed up at the plant to test ne of the first beers off the line at on the city's south side and gave it her seal of approval. I find this entire arrangement very fitting because who likes greasy, fatty foods more than beer drinkers and especially beer drinkers in Milwaukee? These are people who eat bratwurst for breakfast, bathe their breakfast cereal in malted hops and consider a nice, juicy steak to be a nice appetizer before plowing through a ginormous plate of ribs for dinner. Combining grease left over from cooking up some of those greasy, fatty, meaty meals with the production of one of Milwaukee’s true loves - beer - is genius. “Everybody that goes out on a Milwaukee County course gets to see a Milwaukee branded beer that they know is brewed using sustainable practices," said Jim McCabe of Milwaukee Brewing Co. It’s important to note that no actual grease goes into the beer, although for some odd reason I don’t think that a lot of Milwaukee residents would have a huge beef with that…………
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