- Is there any real surprise in the fact that Adam Sandler has set a new record for Razzie nominations, receiving 11 nods at the Bizarro Oscars? Yes, he’s universally known as one of the best guys in Hollywood, but treating people well and not being an a-hole don’t necessarily equate to making good movies and Sandler makes his share of duds. Mostly this is because he makes the same damn movie over and over again with a few minor variations from film to film. His cross-dressing comedy “Jack & Jill” is the latest target for razzing and the 32nd Annual Razzie Awards took aim on the eve of Sunday’s Oscar ceremony. While Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” cleaned up at the Oscars by winning five awards in the first half of the show, Sandler’s latest flick led the Razzie pack with 12 nominations, including the prestigious honor of worst film of the year. In a true Razzie moment, Sandler was also nominated for both worst actor and worst actress awards for his role portraying both title roles in the movie. To further the film’s dubious success, co-stars Katie Holmes and Al Pacino, who has a cameo in the comedy, are also nominated in the worst supporting categories. Tom Cruise may have to fight someone over his wife’s nomination, while Pacino has to wonder what the hell happened to his career. Some other big-name, big-budget films made the list for worst film of the year, including “New Year's Eve,” “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1” and “Transformers: Dark Of The Moon.” Sandler will have some manly company on the worst actress list from Martin Lawrence, who also scored a gender-bending nomination by playing the title role in yet another “Big Mommas” film, “Big
Mommas: Like Father, Like Son.” This year’s Razzie Awards have been moved from their traditional spot the night before the Oscars to, fittingly enough, April Fool’s Day on April 1…………
- Very disappointing, alleged participants in an alleged plot to kill Russian Prime Minister/dictator Vladimir Putin. The story is incredibly disappointing, but not for the reasons one might expect. Plotting to overkill an oppressive despot who pretended to leave power for a few years so one of his underlings could pretend to take over is admirable, but what isn't admirable is carrying out your plot in such a way that Russian and Ukrainian intelligence officials were able to snuff it out. The announcement came Monday as security services in Russia and Ukraine claimed they had foiled a plot to kill Putin. Putin’s opponents were quick to denounce the allegations as a publicity stunt six days ahead of a rigged presidential election he is assured of winning. Why someone who has fixed the election in his favor needs to curry voters’ favor, by the way, is a very good questions. Russia's pro-government Channel One television carried the announcement of the foiled plot, which was attributed to a group seeking an Islamist state in Russia's North Caucasus. Intelligence officials confirmed the seizure of a computer containing numerous video files showing Putin's motorcade, usually heavily guarded, moving about Moscow, following the arrest of two men. "Our final goal was to go to Moscow and attempt to assassinate Putin," a battered man alleged to be one member of the conspiracy said in a police interview. "Our deadline was after the election of the president of Russia." Putin’s opponents would argue the entire video was staged and given Putin’s desperation to remain in power, such an allegation doesn’t seem unrealistic. Perhaps he fears that he won't win by a wide enough margin to avoid a runoff election that could dent his iron grip on the country. Where were these two alleged schemers arrested? A spokeswoman for Ukraine's security agency SBU said a man was detained in the Black Sea port of Odessa on Jan. 4 after an explosion at an apartment that killed an accomplice and a third man fled the scene. "We found him in an apartment and detained him without a single shot being fired on February 4," SBU spokeswoman Marina Ostapenko said. "I can officially confirm that they were preparing an (assassination) attempt on Putin." Whatever you say, M………….
- East Haven, Conn. continues to be the very odd site of a running battle over racial tensions between police and minority groups. The masses are angry at The Man and on Saturday, hundreds of residents and civil rights activists rallied in East Haven to march in unity against perceived racism by the city’s police department in its treatment of the Latino community. The tension stems from a series of incidents, but mainly from an incident at My Country Store, on Main Street, in which police allegedly discriminated against minorities. But while it was the police at the forefront of the drama on that day, Mayor Joe Maturo interjected himself into the line of fire by commenting that in order to soothe tensions with the Latino community, he might “go have a taco with them.” For some peculiar reason, that didn’t sit well with the supposed taco-eaters, many of whom aren’t actually from Mexico, where tacos are a common menu item. "What time is it? Time for Joe to go," the marchers chanted during Saturday’s demonstration. The four East Haven police officers involved in alleged racial discrimination against Latinos were arrested by the FBI the same day as Maturo’s remarks. Not everyone in East Haven supported the cause for the march and a small group of people lined Main Street and chanted, "Go home. Go home. Go home," as protestors passed by. Maturo chose the smart path in responding to the march: keeping his mouth shut and issuing a written statement about it that could be proofread and filtered by people much smarter than he is. "I am extremely proud of the manner in which both the participants and our residents came together to welcome this demonstration of our country's most precious precepts of freedom of speech and the right of assembly," Maturo said in the statement. "The themes of peace, unity and justice are ones that our community will continue to embrace and all our citizens certainly have a right to expect. The March for Unity in East Haven today highlighted our commitment to continue the open dialogue we have initiated amongst all segments of our Town. We must all be willing to hold out our hands in cooperation so that we may move forward as one, unified community." Oddly enough, staging the march meant cooperating with the East Haven Police Department, so maybe the spirit of cooperation does exist even if a few racist idiots were trying to bury it…………
- Astronauts don’t have a reputation for being the coolest cats around. Going into space is awesome, but being the sort of science-loving nerd willing to spend months in space doesn’t exactly have rock star cachet with the ladies. Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency flight engineer Satoshi Furukawa probably knows that lesson better than anyone and it would explain his willingness to embrace his inner dork for all the world to see by constructing a Lego replica of the International Space Station while working aboard the ISS. Furukawa did his work wearing heavy rubber gloves that the glove box enclosure used for construction of the model required. His small feat took about two hours, which thankfully he did not spend doing actual scientific experiments to benefit mankind in order to make the most of his valuable time in space. His Lego model is 2 feet long and was constructed as part of an educational collaboration between Lego and NASA. After finishing the model, Furukawa used it as a demonstration tool for a series of videos recorded to help educate children about living and working in space. ISS crew member and NASA astronaut Michael Fossum spoke about his crewmate’s dork-tacular accomplishment. “A lot of the work dealing with the small pieces had to be done in an enclosure, like a simple payload glovebox,” he said. “A simple structural one with plastic sides so you could see inside, but a glovebox so you don’t have all of these little pieces getting loose and becoming either lost or potentially getting jammed in equipment or even becoming a flammability hazard.” In words, working with Legos in outer space could be an actual hazard? How great would it have been for the ISS to suffer significant damage and need expensive repairs over a nerd playing with his Lego toys? Hope that was worth it…………
- It may have taken more than a year and a half, but the NCAA finally got to deciding whether or not the Oregon football program violated the organization's regulations in the way it used recruiting services over the past four years. To provide a brief overview, Oregon paid $25,000 to Willie Lyles and his Houston-based recruiting service in 2010. The Ducks claimed they had received standard recruiting services and materials from Lyles, but were never able to produce the video footage they supposedly procured as part of the transcation. What they did receive was a commitment from prized recruit Lache Seastrunk, who conveniently had a relationship with Lyles. Seastrunk ultimately left Oregon to transfer to Baylor, but the drama surrounding his brief association with Oregon lingered. The NCAA investigated and Oregon stumbled and fumbled all over itself in responding, providing outdated materials and information, or data that did not pertain to what the NCAA was seeking. On Friday, the organization released draft documents which suggest Oregon's use of three scouting services "did not conform" with NCAA rules, and the Ducks exceeded the number of coaches allowed to recruit. The two documents were contained Friday in a public records request by several media outlets and were labeled "Proposed Findings of Violations." The documents state that the scope and nature of the violations "demonstrate that the athletics department failed to adequately monitor the football program's use of recruiting or scouting services" while also conceding that the NCAA and university agree on a few points. However, Oregon quickly responded by saying it does not acknowledge any of the violations. Thanks to the heavily redacted nature of the documents, getting an accurate read on how severe sanctions on the program might be is virtually impossible. All Oregon can do is watch and wait. "While we have no specific timetable on the inquiry, we remain in close communication with the NCAA as the process advances cooperatively through each stage. Currently, pursuant to the NCAA's process, we are in constructive discussions with the NCAA on the draft of their proposed findings," Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens said in a written statement. In other words, the drawn-out process and bureaucratic red tape continue………..
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