- The plot almost sounds comical or scripted. An ordinary citizen creates his or her own superhero identity and strives to protect their city from crime. Inevitably, the self-made hero is confronted by Batman, Superman or another “real” hero and convinced to leave the crime fighting to the real heroes. Except this is real life and not some CW primetime drama; Seattle’s self-styled superhero Phoenix Jones is real….and not very bright. Jones, a.k.a. part-time mixed-martial arts fighter Ben Fodor, routinely patrols downtown Seattle streets decked out in a rubber suit and mask. To some he is a kook, to others he represents a citizen fed up with crime doing what so many are simply too lazy or afraid to do. But hero or not, Jones was arrested early Sunday on four counts of assault after police said he used pepper spray on a group of people leaving a nightclub. Jones’ spokesperson - yes, he has one - claimed the hero was trying to break up a fight. His documentary film crew - yes, he has one of those too - shot video and posted it on Jones' Facebook page. The footage shows Jones being chased by a purse-wielding woman and then shooting what appeared to be pepper spray at a group of people. Ironically, he was the only person arrested in the incident. According to Seattle police, Jones overreacted to the situation and were adamant that the city is not in need of vigilante crime fighters. "If you see something that warrants calling 911, call 911. You don't need to dress up in a costume to do that," police spokesman Mark Jamieson said. Need to? Maybe not. Should? Heck yes. Sadly, the city does not agree and Jones was forced to appear in court Thursday to answer for his actions. He did commit the crucial superhero error of unmasking himself before cameras, but vowed to keep fighting crime after prosecutors delayed a decision on whether to press assault charges against him. Bottom line, he should not have capitulated when a judge's assistant asked him to remove the hood he wore to court to disguise his identity. Refuse, be thrown in jail for contempt of court and break out like a superhero, P. He put the hood back on after being informed of the court’s decision and went outside where he told a horde of assembled media that he would continue his anti-crime patrols before removing his hood again. "In addition to being Phoenix Jones," he said. "I am also Ben Fodor, a father and brother. I am just like everybody else. The only difference is that I try to stop crime." Epic fail bro, epic fail. Keep the hood on because taking it off and letting people know who you are means you will not only be Ben Fodor, father and brother, Phoenix Jones the crime fighter and a superhero, but also in for a world of hurt when someone decides they don’t like your act and does something about it…………
- How desperate are the Chicago Cubs to end their 103-year championship drought and finally win a World Series for their beleaguered fan base? Beleaguered enough that they are will to surrender some of the top prospects in their farm system to bring in a general manager whom they believe can lead them to that elusive title. Rumors have been swirling all week about the Cubs bringing in Red Sox GM Theo Epstein to run their franchise and although no official announcement has been made, the two sides have reportedly agreed on the terms for a potential deal. There is still the issue of compensation for the Red Sox, as Epstein is still under contract and the Cubs would need to provide compensation to acquire him. In anticipation of that happening, Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts has reportedly turned over a list of players to his three top baseball people to evaluate as compensation for bringing Epstein in to run baseball operations. A source close to the franchise did not say how the list was developed, but teams typically present a list of players they would accept in a deal to the team wishing to acquire the individual in question and the two sides then negotiate a compromise. The irony in the situation is that Ricketts’ top three baseball men are interim general manager Randy Bush, director of player personnel Oneri Fleita and scouting director Tim Wilken, who would all be drastically affected and/or out of a job if and when Epstein joins the Cubs. Another part of the discussion between the two teams will also reportedly be which Red Sox employees Epstein would be allowed to bring with him to Chicago. It seems like a lot of work just to bring in a new suit to run your perpetually underachieving franchise, but the Cubs have blown right past the point of desperation on this one and are willing to try just about anything………
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Everyone’s favorite overview of social dissidence around the world is giving a shout out to the ladies of Yemen today after they held a march in Sanaa honor of a prominent Yemeni human rights activist became the first Arab woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The scene quickly went from peaceful march to violent confrontation after thousands of women gathered in the southern Yemeni city to celebrate Tawakkol Karman's honor Sunday. Gangs attacked the gathering, which also featured protestors calling on the international community to support a revolution in Yemen. That was too much for some backward-thinking Yemeni men to handle and they attacked with batons and thrown rocks, injuring at least 38 demonstrators. The pro-government gangs attacked the gathering with bad intentions and without discrimination for their age or prominence in the event. "It's a shame to attack women.... Rocks were randomly thrown directly towards the female marchers," activist Abdullah Sabri said. Protestors rose up and marched in three Yemeni provinces on Sunday --Taiz, Shabwa and Sanaa. The largest gathering took place in Sanaa, where at least 15,000 females marched down the capital's Cairo Street. At the protest in Shabwa, thousands of women called on the United Nations to impose sanctions against President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ruling family. In the aftermath of the violence, activists made it clear they hold Saleh's regime responsible. Some of those who showed up were there solely to celebrate Karman winning the Nobel Prize, but it didn’t matter when the hangs attacked. Hurting women is a cowardly act in any culture, but this instance is especially ugly. It sends the message that women shouldn’t demonstrate or be part of the political process. One of the Sanaa protest’s best moments was when demonstrators chanted, "Saleh Saleh will stand trial" as they marched for more than three hours despite consistent harassment from pro-government groups. Here’s hoping the gang violence only inspires more uprisings…………
- He has already achieved infinitely more success than anyone ever should with an adult cartoon, but Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is aiming even higher. MacFarlane recently revealed that his dream is to bring Star Trek back to television. Dorks everywhere will be rejoicing if he is able to revive the sci-fi drama drama on the small screen in similar fashion to The Next Generation. "I'd love to see that franchise revived for television in the way that it was in the 1990s. [With] very thoughtful, smartly written stories that transcend the science fiction audience," Macfarlane said. However, dreaming about it and getting clearance to undertake the project are two very different things and MacFarlane admitted he wasn’t sure how to go about it. "I don't know who would give me the keys to that car," he said. Part of the uncertainty has to do with the franchise’s immense success on the big screen, with a second movie in the new Star Trek series in the works. Chris Pinep and Zachary Quinto are set to reprise their roles as Kirk and Spock. MacFarlane has plenty on his plate as well, running current shows Family Guy, American Dad and The Cleveland Show and working on a revival of The Flintstones. As much as Star Wars dorks don’t want to hear it and as much as they love any incarnation of their favorite entertainment franchise, a TV return for one of the biggest dork magnets in all of entertainment is not likely…………
- Next step in world domination or just another competitor sure to fall by the wayside in the digital music battle? Because Google is the tech giant in question, the inclination is more toward the former than the latter. Google is officially marching forward with plans for an online music store to compete with Apple’s iTunes and Amazon’s music store, although the company may open the service without the rights to sell songs from many of the biggest record labels. Sources say all for major labels have negotiated with Google for licensing rights to sell their catalogs, but only Citigroup Inc.'s EMI Group is close to a deal at present. Universal, Sony and Warner Bros. are all said to be far from any agreement, which certainly would diminish the appeal of Google’s music store. Competition is heated to create services that combine retail sales and remote music storage, known as "cloud" or "locker" systems. Apple’s announcement of its iCloud service was the major announcement in the fight this week. As outlined by Apple, iCloud promises to offer a more comprehensive combination of features than either Amazon or Google currently does. Apple is well ahead of both Google and Amazon in that respect, having secured licenses from the four major music companies that will let its users create remotely accessible online-music libraries without going through a lengthy uploading process. While Google's Music Beta and Amazon's Cloud Player both let users store music online, both require users to upload the majority of the music they wish to store. Depending on the speed of a user’s connection and the size of their digital music library, that process could take hours. Google initially launched Music Beta in May and admitted that that point its inability to reach a broad agreement with record labels. Jamie Rosenberg, a director of digital content for Google's Android mobile-software unit, which oversees the company's music initiatives, chided unidentified labels for demanding "terms that we felt were unreasonable or unsustainable." Google Music Beta remains in testing mode at present, but is expected to take the step into full-fledged, fully operational service soon. But without agreements with three of the four major labels………
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