- Every performer gets ready for the show differently; some meditate, some get their grub on, some listen to a certain song……and some of them puke their guts out before taking the state. Count British R&B singer Adele in the last of those four groups. The admitted in a recent interview that, “I puke quite a lot before going on stage. Though never actually on stage. But then, I sh*t myself before everything...The bigger the freak-out, the more I enjoy the show!” Interesting, because the thought of paying to see Adele in concert makes me want to puke……but I digress. Those comments came prior to a performance at the Barclaycard Mercury Prize ceremony on Tuesday night, before which Adele will presumably look for a backstage toilet or trash can and vomit up the remnants of her most recent meal before grabbing the mic. Other revelations from the interview include struggles with body image, which coincidentally enough tie in nicely with the pre-show vomiting habit. Adele copped to pre-show purging, saying: “I've seen people where it rules their lives, who want to be thinner or have bigger boobs, and how it wears them down, and I don't want that in my life... I have [body] insecurities, of course, but I don’t hang out with anyone who points them out to me.” Spoken very much like a true recording artist, i.e., making sure the people around you are telling you what you want to hear and not necessarily what you need to hear. The last big reveal from the interview was Adele’s admission that she only wants to have a children if she can be sure they are all boys. “I've always got on better with boys. Most of my friends are boys. Like, if I have children, I want five boys,” she explained. Probably a smart move because if there is anyone who is less likely to be grossed out by a person needing to throw up backstage before a concert, it’s a boy………..
- Don’t you hate it when a moron with an IQ of 14 attempts to remove himself or herself from the gene pool and for some odd reason, the universe won't allow it to happen? And if we only kept count of the number of times those attempts involved the words “homemade potato gun,” it would be truly staggering. These are people like 54-year-old John Berthiaume II of Buechel, Ky., who is now facing criminal charges after injuring himself with a homemade potato gun. How did police find out about his self-created weapon, you ask? Was he out hunting critters with projectile spuds, firing them at the fence in his yard to make some homemade mashed ‘taters or using the gun for more sinister purposes? No one is quite sure, but we do know Berthiaume was found lying in the street Sunday afternoon around 4:15 in front of a home on Alpha Avenue, allegedly after his homemade potato gun exploded. When police found him, this kook was badly injured and taken by ambulance to University Hospital, where he is recovering from injuries to his right arm and leg. As if the injuries weren't enough (and for an imbecile like this, they really aren't), Berthiaume was cited for wanton endangerment because the explosion sent shrapnel through the wall of a home across the street. Read that last sentence again, especially the end: shrapnel through the wall of a home across the street. While no one in that home was hurt, how great must it have been for them to arrive home from church, the store or visiting relatives for the holiday weekend and found a giant hole in their wall and shrapnel strewn across the living room. “Hey, what the heck is this? Why are there white chunks of what look to be potato and other debris scattered around our living room and why is there a potato-shaped hole in our wall? I bet it was that kook Berthiaume from across the street and his homemade potato gun again.” Needless to say, any homemade weapon is a recipe for disaster, especially one made with PVC pipes and a propane tank. From now on, let’s all agree to leave this sort of project to the professionals, like MacGyver………..
- Finally, the news is good when it comes to smoking in the United States. Unlike Europe, where a walk down a city street on an average day will net secondhand smoke from seemingly every other passerby, the U.S. is home to fewer and fewer smokers with each passing day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC announced Tuesday that fewer American adults are smoking cigarettes, and those who still smoke have cut back on the number of cigarettes they smoke. Still, the CDC was quick to caution that the problem is still very real and very dangerous. "Any decline in the number of people who smoke and the number of cigarettes consumed is a step in the right direction. However, tobacco use remains a significant health burden for the people of United States," U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Tom Frieden said in a statement. And by the way, Dr. T-Fried is right. The percentage of American smokers may be trending downward, but this study also revealed that the rate of decline has begun to slow. Lest anyone forget, smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States, killing an estimated 443,000 Americans each year. Once again, Dr. T-Fried (his rap name) knows who is getting the job done and who is not when it comes to choking out cigarette use. "States with the strongest tobacco control programs have the greatest success at reducing smoking," he explained. A quick scan of the numbers produces both encouraging and discouraging results, as the CDC report shows some 19.3 percent of American adults over the age of 18 -- roughly 45 million people -- were smokers in 2010. While that is down from 20.9 percent in 2005, it is still 45 million more smokers than the U.S. should have. Of the losers in this country who still smoke, 78.2 percent, or 35.4 million people, smoke every day. That figure looks ugly and it is, but the percentage of smokers who had fewer than 10 cigarettes a day rose to 21.8 percent in 2010, from 16.4 percent in 2005. Jamming 10 cancers sticks into one’s mouth each day is a revolting thought, but not as bad as the 8.3 percent of smokers who have 30 or more cigarettes per day, down from 12.7 percent in 2005. How anyone is finding time to burn 30 heaters or more a day is baffling. Smoking is banned in all public places in most every state, including office buildings and restaurants, so finding time and a place to smoke that much pretty much means smoking is your life’s passion. Rather than rest on its laurels of declining smoking rates, though, the CDC is keeping its eyes on the prize and plotting ways to redouble its efforts. "This slowing trend shows the need for intensified efforts to reduce cigarette smoking among adults," Dr. Tim McAfee, director of the CDC Office on Smoking and Health, said in a statement. "We know what works: higher tobacco prices, hard-hitting media campaigns, graphic health warnings on cigarette packs, and 100 percent smoke-free policies, with easily accessible help for those who want to quit." Or not producing tobacco products, which would also work. Cramming all smokers onto large shipping barges and floating them out to sea would also work, but may not be totally feasible. Either way, more must be done. Smoking costs about $193 billion annually in direct health care expenses and lost productivity and those figures don’t even account for the misery loser smokers foist on their fellow man…………
- Sometimes China has brilliant ideas. In between oppressing its people, ripping away their civil rights and plotting ways to infect the rest of the world with their communist ideals, the Chinese come up with some solid, praise-worthy concepts. For example……the Communist Party’s announcement Tuesday that it will tighten its procedures for selling weapons abroad after the disclosure last week that state-owned arms manufacturers were negotiating arms sales to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s government as it sought this summer to fend off rebel fighters, that would be a good idea. A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman confirmed the decision and also said China would continue to obey a United Nations embargo on weapons sales that was approved last February with Beijing’s support. Well played, Jiang Yu, well played. Now, this doesn’t change the fact that your government should have been paying attention to this matter long before now, but it’s a step in the right direction. Oh, and it doesn’t change the fact that Chinese firms allegedly did ship weapons to Gaddafi forces, according to Libya’s rebel leaders. As with any government or major corporate entity in its position, China is leaning on the old standby of plausible deniability by claiming that the negotiations took place without the government’s knowledge. Chinese officials also contend that no weapons were shipped, which is probably a total fabrication. The proposed arms deals came to light when Libyan procurement documents were found in a Tripoli trash heap by a Canadian journalist after the rebels moved into Tripoli. Their total value was nearly $200 million, but the papers provided no indication that any of the proposed deals with three Chinese firms was completed. Speaking at a news briefing, Jiang promised the government would “further strengthen management over military exports.” She tagged that vow with a vague, official-sounding proclamation of competence and responsibility. “Competent authorities for military trade will handle the matter in a serious manner in accordance with regulations,” she stated. Predictably, news of the proposed arms deals has undermined China’s relationship with the rebels’ interim government, the National Transitional Council. Rebel leaders are said to be livid over the deals and claim to have evidence of arms shipments by firms in China and other embargo-busting nations. They have also pledged to retaliate should sales to Gaddafi’s military be proven. Prior to Libya’s uprising in February, China sold arms to the Qaddafi government and was a major customer for Libyan oil, buying about 3 percent of its annual requirements. In a shameless attempt to suck up to the new regime, Jiang reiterated that Beijing supports the transitional council. Those words would mean much more were China not the only one of the United Nations Security Council’s five permanent members that has yet to recognize the government. Jiang said China will recognize the government “when conditions are ripe,” whatever that means…………
- The start of a new NFL season is supposed to be about fresh starts, new beginnings and a chance to right what went wrong last season for the 31 teams who did not win the Super Bowl. Of course, most aspects of life are never as they should be and so it is for bitter NFL players who are unhappy with how their team has treated them or is paying them and haven’t lost sight of that bitterness over the long offseason. These players are men like Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs, who wants his contract upgraded and has demanded a trade because the team has made it clear that it has no plans to rework his deal. Additionally, Briggs and other Bears veterans are unhappy that the front office has failed to re-sign key veterans like Olin Kreutz and Danieal Manning and trading tight end Greg Olsen to Carolina. Briggs, by the way has three years remaining on a six year, $36 million extension signed prior to the 2008 season. "The main ingredient here, based off my decision, is to get something," Briggs said on Monday. "To have management even be willing to talk. Whether it be, let's deal with it at the end of the year, let's deal with it after the season, then I have something to work with. But when the organization or management says we're not talking now, we're not talking ever, that puts me in a position where I know my days are numbered." Wow, that sounds like a recipe for a happy and productive 2011 season! The fact that Briggs is not alone is largely irrelevant, as the Bears are not that dissimilar from any other team in having unhappy players who either want more money or are angry that long-time teammates they love but who are being paid more than they are worth to the team have been let go. General manager Jerry Angelo has heard Briggs’ trade demand and his reaction was, in a word, nonplussed. "What he's doing is not something that hasn't been done here in Chicago and around the league," Angelo said Monday. "We feel very, very confident that Lance's focus is going to be on the season and having a great year, and we'll just take care of our business when that time comes. And that'll be at the end of the year." If the Bears’ handling of Kreutz and just-released veteran running back Chester Taylor is any indication, Briggs may not like the result of that “taking care of business” Angelo spoke of…………
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