- God clearly did not like the prayer offered up by Sharon Davis, the
pastor of Seminole Heights United Methodist Church in Seminole Heights, Fla.
Davis was out for her nightly walk Sunday when she stopped to sit on the church
stairs to reflect and pray. It was a routine she had carried out many times
before, but this time she was on the wrong end of a falling tree. The tree fell
on her and knocked her to the ground, but thankfully some good Samaritans heard
her scream and came to help. "The tree fell and covered the stairs and we
could hear her scream," said Jordan Miller, who was working at his bike
shop across the street from the church. "We saw her down on the ground,
and that's when we realized what happened." Miller’s girlfriend called 911 while
he and several other people nearby rushed over to help. "It's a strange
series of events, but I'm thankful it happened the way it did and she didn't
get pinned under the tree or hurt more seriously than she did," Miller
said. Davis was taken to the hospital with numerous injuries, none of them
serious, and was released after a few hours. Ever the kind soul, Davis sent
word through church spokeswoman Christie Hess that she is thankful no one else
was injured. "It could have been the congregation leaving the church,"
Hess said. "And you know what? There were eyewitnesses who were right
there at the time it occurred, so she got immediate attention right then and
there." The tree will be removed and Davis will enjoy some down time as
she recovers from her injuries and tries to get back to work. Maybe she should
also work on her prayers because that last one did not seem to work……….
- The long, agonizing process of building hype for Sam Raimi's
upcoming film “Oz The Great and Powerful.” The first piece of the promotional puzzle for the movie that will take
fans back into the Land of Oz to explore the origins of the titular
wizard in L. Frank Baum’s classic story “The Wizard of Oz” first teased
fans with a picture of star James Franco in costume for his role as Oscar Diggs
in the Disney adventure film. Now, a colorful poster featuring an oncoming
storm and a hot air balloon caught in the chaos has been released and judging
by the poster, the movie will have much to do with what might have been going
on before Dorothy arrived in Oz. Gregory Maguire's “Wicked: The Life and
Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” tells the origin story of the great
and powerful Elphaba, but Raimi’s project will focus on Oscar Diggs, the man
who would go on to be the Wizard of Oz. It feels somewhat like the “Wolverine:
Origins” movie that tried to squeeze a few more dollars out of the “X-Men”
franchise and picks up the story as Diggs is hurled into Oz and forced to prove
his worth as a wizard before three witches (played by Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz
and Michelle Williams). Of course, the wizard in “The Wizard of Oz” proved to
be a lot of show and not much of an actual wizard, but the way Disney has hyped
“Oz the Great and Powerful,” Oscar Diggs may receive some significant
character upgrades. The poster itself focuses much more on the setting of the
film than it does on Franco’s character, but if the color and richness of the
poster is any indication, “Oz the Great and Powerful” will be a tour de force
for the eyes if nothing else………..
- Unhhhhhhh! Unnnnnnngggghhhhh! If that sounds familiar,
you’ve probably been watching a lot of women’s professional tennis lately. And
if you’ve been watching a lot of women’s tennis lately, you’ve probably been
watching it for the eye candy, for hot, leggy young blondes in short tennis
skirts sprinting all over the court, lunging for shots and competing to win
some tournament whose name you can’t even remember. Sex appeal is an
unquestioned part of women’s tennis and for a lot of dudes, that sex appeal is
heightened by hot women grunting in….um….provocative ways every time they hit a
shot. Grunting has become so universal and so loud that it has become a
distraction and an irritant for many, including critics who say it isn’t
necessary to sound like you’re either passing a kidney stone or in the throes
of passion in the bedroom on every forehand or drop shot. The Women's
Tennis Association has heard those complaints (and the grunts) and is now working
with the International Tennis Federation and Grand Slam Tournament committees
to create policies and rules to curb excessive grunting in large part to
appease fans who don't like the loud noises. WTA CEO Stacey Allaster explained
in a recent interview that she has heard from fans who are concerned about the
noise level of grunting players and also that the WTA wants to address the
issue on the junior tennis level to prevent another generation of screamers.
Ironically enough, the loudest and most prominent grunter happens to be the
reigning French Open champion and No. 1 ranked women's tennis player in the
world, Maria Sharapova. Sharapova happens to be über-hot, but not every likes
hearing a hot, leggy Russian blond grunting her way through a Grand Slam match.
Allaster suggested that players who grunt too loudly could eventually be
disciplined, lose points and even be fined if they are repeat offenders……..
- Paranoid much, Iran? Not that conspiracy theories aren’t
awesome, but what are the odds that the BBC actually hacked the website of Iran's state TV station to change the
results of a poll about Iran's nuclear program? Iran’s paranoia about the rest
of the world eyeing its supposedly energy-oriented nuclear program is well
known, but accusing a foreign media outlet of hacking a website to change an
online poll – one of the most meaningless forms of survey known to man – is a
new level of ridiculous. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful
purposes like energy production and somehow, a poll showing that 63 percent of
respondents favored halting uranium enrichment in exchange for an end to
Western economic sanctions is a near-terrorist act. According to Iranian
officials, the actual figure was 24 percent, and the rest favored retaliation
against the West with measures like closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a key
to exporting oil from the Gulf. For the record, the BBC denied the allegation,
probably because it is completely insane and also because the BBC has better
things to do. In a statement,
the BBC denounced the claims as "both ludicrous and completely false, and
the BBC Persian Service stands by its reporting. There is a significant
audience within Iran which depends on BBC Persian to provide impartial and
trusted news, and we are confident they are familiar with the state media's
tactics.” The alleged poll conspiracy became a moot point after the poll was
taken off Iran TV's website on Tuesday. Stay paranoid, Iran, stay paranoid………
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