- Holiday music sucks. It’s annoying, it’s corny and if you replace the holiday-themed lyrics with normal ones atop the same notes and chords, no one would want to listen to it during the rest of the year. This should be common knowledge, but it somehow managed to escape a Boston subway dispatcher who programmed an electronic message board in a station to scroll the lyrics of "Deck the Halls" instead of the normal service announcements on Christmas Day. While there wasn’t exactly a groundswell of commuter outrage over the forced inclusion of Christmas music on their day, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officials were angry about the message and said the dispatcher could be strongly disciplined. Unfortunately, State Transportation Secretary Richard Davey sold out the MBTA by saying any punishment will be light, perhaps as lenient as a reminder not to use the signs for anything other than their real purpose. Davey suggested that because the dispatcher is a long-term employee with good intentions and a solid service record, there is no need for anything too strict. Wrong, Rich. The message needs to be sent loud and clear that this sort of perpetuation the worst music this side of disco, country and polka will not be tolerated. Fire this kook, see if there is any way to file a lawsuit for violation of civil rights and ensure this never happens again. Christmas music is not something to be laughed at or taken lightly and those who further its cause need to meet with swift and severe consequences…………
- Those who enjoy beautiful sights in the skies will have a solid next few days. Those who are not fans of radio blackouts, not so much. Astronomers are predicting fallout of particles from a recent solar storm that will slam into Earth and produce amazing Northern Lights, or auroras. However, the fallout may also cause radio blackouts for a few days due to the radiation from the flare – or coronal mass ejection (CME) for you outer space dorks. Radiation causes magnetic storms and boom, down go radio signals. The uptick in solar junk is due to a larger increase in activity in the sun, which runs in 11-year cycles and is expected to peak around 2013. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center addressed the impending downfall of space particles in a blog post. “Category G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storms are expected 28 and 29 December due to multiple coronal mass ejection arrivals. R1 (Minor) radio blackouts are expected until 31 December,” the post read. GPS systems, radios and mobile phones could all be affected by the particle storm because they all depend on radio waves. For the non-“Star Trek”/NASA crowd, a coronal mass ejection contains billions of tons of gases full of X-rays and ultraviolet radiation hurled out into space at around 5 million mph. Their temperatures reach as high as 100,000,000 degrees Celsius. When ionized solar particles becoming imprisoned by Earth’s magnetic field, the gases in the atmosphere are excited and they emit bursts of energy in the form of light. This causes auroras and magnetic storms, which in extreme cases can disrupt satellites and electricity grids. A major flare occurred in August but did not have a large impact because it took place on the side of the Sun not facing Earth. Maybe this time a little chaos will ensue…………
- Way to ruin the formative TV years of millions of Americans retroactively, relatively anonymous actress Janet Hubert. Hubert is not well-known, but her most prominent role is: that of Aunt Vivian on Will Smith's breakout sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The show, which is a staple of the ‘90s pop culture and remains well-known even today thanks to the magic of syndication and too many cable networks in need of programming, depicted Smith as a troubled teenager in Philadelphia whose mother sent him to live with her upper-class sister and family in the posh Beverly Hills suburb of Bel-Air. The concept was loosely based on Smith’s experience growing up in Philadelphia and in many ways, the show helped launch Smith into the role of major action star he now occupies. Along the way he has dabbled in music (never doing anything too adventurous or ground-breaking) but made tens of millions of dollars cultivating a good-guy image in films and playing carefully selected roles that feed the persona he has created. Hubert, speaking after Smith posted a photo of the “Fresh Prince” cast reunion just before Christmas, poked a giant hole in Smith’s positive aura. "He is still an egomaniac and has not grown up," Hubert fumed. Asked about Smith’s hints that a possible reunion show could happen, Hubert could not have been more dismissive. "This constant reunion thing will never ever happen in my lifetime unless there is an apology, which he doesn't know the word. There will never be a reunion ... as I will never do anything with a jerk like Will Smith," Hubert continued. What she wants an apology for, Hubert didn’t say. As for Smith never growing up…..in his position, who would? If you could be one of the highest-grossing actors of all-time, carefully select your roles and be considered one of the good guys in a place (Hollywood) full of a-holes, why would anyone want to grow up…………
- “Snakes on a Plane” was not a documentary or a how-to film, all. This seems like a salient point to mention now that someone, no names mentioned Czech citizen Karel Abelovsky, attempted to smuggle 247 exotic and endangered species in his luggage on board an Ibiza Airlines flight from Buenos Aires' international airport to Madrid. Airport security officials made him open his baggage at after police spotted the reptiles in the X-ray scanner and inside they found the nearly 250 poisonous snakes and endangered reptiles inside plastic containers, bags, and even socks, with each creature meticulously labeled with its Latin name. Oddly enough, that isn't even the most compelling part of the story. Those details take a backseat to the fact that authorities believe Abelovsky was a courier for a criminal organization that smuggles exotic species whose exports are banned. An Argentinian judicial source revealed that detail along with the fact that Abelovsky only arrived in Argentina days earlier and wouldn't have had time to gather all the animals. Judge Marcelo Aguinsky presided over Abelovsky’s initial hearing and said she spoke about the possibility that the boa constrictors, poisonous pit vipers and coral snakes, lizards, and spiders could have escaped the cloth suitcase in the unpressurized cabin of the Dec. 7 Iberia flight to Madrid, and perhaps attacked people there or at his final destination in Prague. Instead of heading to Madrid or Prague, Abelovsky will now spend some quality time in Argentina. He will remain them after surrendering his passport and being released on $2,500 bail. He refused to cooperate with police and now faces up to 10 years in prison. Back home in the Czech Republic, Abelovsky runs a Czech website that offers reptiles for sale. Business may take a bit of hit with its proprietor’s current legal situation…………
- Germany: The new medical Mecca for ailing athletes in need of some experimental procedures to heal their broken-down bodies. Tiger Woods, New York Giants defensive tackle Chris Canty, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee and Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant have all traveled to Deutschland in the past 18 months for an experimental procedure in which a patient's own blood is drawn from the arm and put into a centrifuge to separate out a certain protein. The engineered protein compound is then injected into the affected joint to expedite the healing process. Bryant had two such procedures done, one on his ailing knee and one on his aching elbow. Noted steroid user and all-around disliked New York Yankees third basemen Alex Rodriguez recently joined the club when he traveled to Germany to receive Orthokine therapy on his right knee and left shoulder, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman confirmed. Rodriguez was hampered by injuries at the end of last season and the Yankees were eliminated by the Detroit Tigers in the first round of the playoffs. Athletes travel to Germany to have the procedure done because it is not common elsewhere and also because they want to avoid the scrutiny and questions that would likely ensue if they had it done in the U.S., but Cashman insisted Major League Baseball and WADA have approved the procedure. With just three games under his belt in a new NBA season, it’s too soon to determine how much Bryant’s procedures have helped him, but Rodriguez could clearly use a boost after he had surgery on his right knee last July and saw his power drop in the second half and postseason. He played in just 99 games and hit a mere 16 home runs, then batted a paltry .111 with no homers and three RBIs in the division series loss to the Tigers. Cashman said Rodriguez is "100 percent" right now and should be at full strength heading into spring training in February. If he and Bryant see career boosts in their respective seasons, expect a lot more elite athletes to head to the land of beer and 1,000 different kinds of sausages for their own medical miracles…………
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