- Score one for losers who sit around all day playing video games and having no social life. When 2K Sports released the "Major League Baseball 2K10” game, the release was accompanied by a contest offering $1 million for the first fan to pitch a perfect game in the video game. The 2K Sports Perfect Game contest inspired video-game enthusiasts around the world to stay home at night, call in sick to work and bail on their friends (if they actually have any non-virtual ones) and stay home to play the game in the hopes of winning the big prize. In the end, it was dork Wade McGilberry of Mobile, Alabama, who won the contest. He used Kenshin Kawakami of the Atlanta Braves to record a perfect game (meaning no baserunners allowed) and his entry was recorded on March 2. However, it took 2K Sports the past two months to verify it. Even more amazing than his perfect-game feat is the fact that a) McGilberry has a wife and b) she actually encouraged him to stay home from work to play the game. "She told me, if I was going to be serious about this, that I should stay home [from work] and play the game," said McGilberry, whose day job is as a 401(k) record-keeper. "I decided to go to work anyway." Instead, he came home from work, sat himself down in front of his TV screen and flicked on his Xbox 360, determined to play until he completed the challenge. After just an hour and a half, he had reached his goal and only needed to hit the reset button only 5 times to do so. Once his win was announced, this nerd had no trouble recalling and recounting memories of the day that made him a million dollars. "The very first batter hit the ball up the middle off my pitcher. It deflected to the shortstop, who threw him out," he said. "One guy in the eighth inning hit the ball to the warning track," he recounted. After he finished, the confirmation code produced by a perfect game appeared on his screen and McGilberry immediately called his wife. Under the rules of the contest, the game had to be recorded with a timestamp and that entries would not be judged until the contest ended May 1. Dozens of submissions before McGilberry’s were rejected and his was deemed the first to meet the established criteria, according to Greg Thomas, president of 2K Sports. It was Thomas himself who showed up as McGilberry’s home this week with a giant check to commemorate his achievement. After receiving his winnings, McGilberry explained how he and his wife planned to spend the prize. "We are going to pay off the house, get our finances in order," he said. "We are also going to start a family, which we had planned to do once our finances were together. They are just together sooner than we thought." Good to know that your new family will be started on the strength of dad’s dork-rific video game skills……….
- How long has it been since we’ve hit some good Somali pirate news? Has to be a month or two, right? Well, it’s time to get back to my boys, the Somali pirates, because they certainly haven’t gone away and they are still terrorizing the Gulf of Aden like nobody’s business. The most recent incident came aboard the Russian-operated tanker Moscow University, which sails under the Liberian flag. The ship and its crew of 23 were en route to China Wednesday when pirates attacked and took control of the vessel and its estimated $50 million worth of oil. An estimated 11 pirates took and held the ship for about a day, but their reign as masters and commanders of the Moscow University was short-lived. Russian marines have stormed the tanker freeing the crew and cargo. Marines from the Marshal Shaposhnikov got the job done and the Russian Prosecutor's Office confirmed that one pirate was killed and some were wounded. Ten pirates were taken into custody. "Eventually, the pirates surrendered and a boarding team from the Marshal Shaposhnikov arrived onboard the tanker, captured all the pirates and freed the crew," the prosecutor’s office announced. "Due to wise steps taken by the vessel's captain Yuri Tulchinsky and his crew, all the 23 crew members hid in a special room inaccessible to pirates," said Serafima Shukshina, a spokeswoman for the Novorossiysk Shipping Line, which owns the vessel. "As a result, the pirates failed to take any crew members hostage, and couldn't take control of the ship despite their siege that lasted more than 20 hours." Under the Russian law, the captured Somali pirates would face charges of group piracy with the use of violence and weapons, meaning a maximum penalty of up to 15 years in the gulag/prison. Add this to a failed hijacking attempt farther south off the coast of Tanzania and I have to admit that during my brief hiatus from pimping and repping my boys the Somali pirates, the quality of their workmanship has dropped off drastically. Step your game up fellas, or else I may make my next break from talking about you a permanent one………….
- This should be an interesting mix that produces a unique musical result. Now that he no longer has an easy target to kick around in our former Ass Hat in Chief W., Neil Young has to find another source of inspiration for his music and he is currently recording a new studio album in Los Angeles with U2/Bob Dylan producer Daniel Lanois. The story came out last week in a Rolling Stone interview with longtime Young friend and bandmate David Crosby. No details are known about the project, which will be the follow-up to 2009's "Fork in the Road." It’s the first time Young and Lanois have worked together and given the fact that Lanois has worked with legendary and iconic acts like Dylan and Bono, you’d think that he would have more than enough respect from Young to establish a good working relationship right off the bat and provide a strong, steering hand to the recording process. For Young, the choice of producer is a stark departure from the norm, as he has rarely enlisted a big-name producer for one of his albums. It also has to be a bittersweet experience for Young because his longtime music and film collaborator, Larry "L.A." Johnson, died in January. Now he has to learn to work with someone new and do so while also balancing the demands of a solo North American tour, with support from Bert Jansch, that begins May 18 in Albany, N.Y., and wraps June 7 in Dallas. I look forward to seeing the results of these recording sessions and hopefully Neil will find a chorus or two to rip W. just for old times’ sake…………
- Kuwait, allow me to paraphrase legendary badass of the big screen John McClane (of Die Hard fame): Welcome to the party, pal! For too long, America has stood atop the (reinforced) platform of superiority in obesity, the wood groaning and creaking underneath our collective, immense girth. Now, it appears that Kuwait is joining the club. Western fast food chains like Burger King have invaded the nation with nearly as much force as the Iraqis two decades ago and food is a centerpiece of family gatherings and social events. Ginormous multi-course banquets are the norm in the oil-rich Gulf state and scorching summers keep people indoors where they eat….and eat…..and eat. All of these factors have meshed to turn Kuwait into one of the fattest nations on earth with all of the expected accompaniments to the population’s health. A whopping 74 percent of the population is overweight, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The situation is bad enough to be labeled an "obesity epidemic" that is contributing to a rise in heart disease and diabetes. The WHO says 14 percent of Kuwaitis currently suffer from diabetes, with that figure on a sharp incline. "[Being] overweight and obesity have been gradually increasing for the past 15 years," said Nawal Al Hamad, Head of Nutrition at Kuwait's Ministry of Health. "In Kuwait incomes are good, food is available and not very expensive, and most importantly people don't move a lot. Our homes are equipped with the usual advanced technology devices, in addition to the fact that we have helpers at home; even people who are unemployed usually have at least one or two helpers at home.” Studies have also revealed disturbingly high obesity rates in Kuwaiti children, with Web site Gethealthykuwait.com reporting that half of female students are overweight and type-two diabetes. Critics blame the arrival of Western products in Kuwait over the past 20 years, especially Western-style fast food. Also contributing to the problem are home delivery of food and office delivery by most fast-food restaurants. In other words, the same laziness and issues that have made America grossly FAT compounded by having that greasy, fatty food delivered right to your door so you don’t even have to make the effort to get into your car, drive to the restaurant and pick it up…………..
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