- In times of crisis, it is helpful for any team to know
that all of its members are unified and working together. Imagine how much
better the Pittsburgh Steelers would feel if they had that going for them.
Instead, a team that was just pummeled by a 4-8 San Diego Chargers squad that
traveled east across three time zones and played in horrible, un-SoCal-like
weather must travel to Dallas this week minus running back Rashard Mendenhall, a 1,000-yard rusher last season but a
colossal letdown this season. Mendenhall has also been slowed this season by
injuries in the past year, tearing the ACL in his right knee in Week 17 last
season and not returning until Oct. 4 this year. He was back all of four days
before straining his right Achilles and has been inactive for the past two
games since fumbling twice in four carries in Cleveland. It isn't difficult to
understand why he would not be in a good frame of mind, but that is no excuse
for being a bad teammate, something Mendenhall apparently was Sunday when he
was told by the team he would not dress for the San Diego game. According to
the team, Mendenhall promptly left Heinz Field after being informed of the
decision and that exodus led to his current one-game suspension for conduct
detrimental to the team. That means a 7-6 football team fighting for its
playoff hopes will be without a player who could help them win against a
similarly desperate 7-6 team in Dallas. With Mendenhall suspended, Jonathan
Dwyer, Isaac Redman rookie Chris Rainey will have to carry the load, something
they’ve had to do in Mendenhall’s stead for most of the season………
- Natural disasters have a way of bringing people together. Even
in the Philippines, where the government and Maoist rebels have been busy
waging war on each other, the destruction caused by Typhoon Bopha was enough to
cause both sides to push the pause button on their hostilities so that relief
efforts could proceed. The two sides have declared truces in two southern
provinces devastated by last week’s typhoon. Bopha killed 647 people and caused
crop damage worth $210 million, with rebels in both regions heavily affected by
the storm. By declaring truces, the government can have the army focus on
relief efforts instead of fighting in the aftermath of the most intense storm
to hit the Philippines this year. The typhoon wiped out about 90 percent of
three coastal towns in Davao Oriental province and buried an entire town in
neighboring Compostela Valley province under mud, both of which might make
waging war difficult. Realizing that a break might be beneficial after the two
worst-hit provinces just happened to be two of their primary bases of
operations, the Communist New People's Army guerrillas will use the down time
to regroup and refocus. Maj. Gen. Ariel Bernardo, an army division commander,
announced that he had ordered troops to shift from combat to relief operations,
and to help deliver food and rebuild communities. "We heard the rebels had
declared an informal cease-fire, we welcome that because we can all concentrate
on helping typhoon victims," Bernardo said. "I believe many of these
rebels were also affected and could be in the shelter areas.” As of Monday, the
death toll from the storm stood at 647, with nearly 800 missing and more than
1,000 injured. Additionally, about 100 fishermen were feared lost between
Mindanao and Indonesia's Sulawesi island and the Philippines' social welfare
department and the United Nations have asked for help for humanitarian agencies
bringing in food, water, medicines and shelter material for more than 5.4
million people affected by the storm. What’s reassuring about all of this is
that the New People's Army guerrillas and the army can resume their decades-old
battle for various parts of the Philippines once the recovery effort is further
along, right up until the next of the 20 or so typhoons that hit the Philippines
every year comes along………
- Is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame still the biggest joke
in all of music? Does Chris Christie go back for thirds at Thanksgiving dinner?
Heck yes, the HOF is a walking punchline and not only because the Material
Skank, a.k.a. Madonna, has been inducted, as has Cher. A new group of
completely unqualified nominees will be enshrined this year, most of them
having no connection whatsoever to either rock or roll. Once again, a freaking
disco - DISCO! – act will be inducted, this time, Donna Summer. Summer is among
a group of nominees who, while musically distinguished, belong in a music hall
of fame, not the ROCK AND ROLL Hall of Fame. Public Enemy is another example of
this reality. Unlike summer, their genre of music doesn’t suck donkey balls and
yet, rap is not rock and roll and therefore, Public Enemy doesn’t belong in the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ditto for Randy Newman, who has provided bitchin’
scores for dozens of great movies, but is not rock and roll on any level. Blues
guitarist Albert King belongs on the same list because his outstanding efforts
are commendable, but not rock. The two nominees who actually do make sense are
Rush and Heart, both of which are legit rock bands from bygone eras who are
still recognizable to most music fans over the age of 20. Geddy Lee and the
fellas should have been in long before now, as should Debbie and Nancy Wilson
and the rest of hteir Heart compatriots. The nominees, deserving and
undeserving both, were announced as the 2013 inductees at a ceremony hosted by Flea of the
Red Hot Chili Peppers Tuesday in
Los Angeles. Talking ill of Summer’s nomination may seem harsh because she
passed away earlier this year, but dying does not give any sort of added
credibility to a person’s music. The ceremony took place at the Nokia Theater,
where the official ceremony will be held next year. "I love halls of fame.
I love to pay homage to people who work in the arts, academics or sports. If
these people feel as remotely as honored as I did, it's a beautiful thing,”
Flea said. Following the announcement, Chuck D of Public Enemy weighed in on the honor his group had received. "It's
not an achievement for Public Enemy per se as much as I think it's an
achievement for hip-hop and rap music to be legitimized. Us going in is a win
for our peers like Kurtis Blow or KRS-One, Queen Latifah. Run-DMC, the Beastie
Boys, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious 5, they're our peers, and I feel
thankful we're joining that list,” he said. The 28th annual Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on April 18, 2013 and as always,
rock and roll will have little to do with the event………
- Even rich people can have a difficult time finding love
and they can’t all get help from that reality TV tool Patti Stanger of Bravo’s
“Millionaire Matchmaker.” Sometimes rick folks need to take the quest for love
into their own hands and that’s exactly what San Diego millionaire Marc Paskin
has done. Paskin recently rented a billboard in a San Diego neighborhood to fuel his
quest for finding the love of his life. The billboard became an unexpected
source of controversy when Paskin’s story went global and a few hooligans
ultimately tore the display down.
"A week ago Monday I put up a billboard, with the intent to meet someone
special, my soul mate. Last Thursday, the story of my billboard went world
wide, on the Internet, TV, and newspapers,” Paskin said. “My only desire was to
meet someone here in San Diego, but in the past 4 days I have received over
15,000 e mails from women that want to meet me-from all over the U.S., and all
over the world. I don’t need any more emails. Everyone has a right to find love
and happiness. I just went about it in a different way.” He considers the
billboard a success even though he elected not to put the billboard back up
after it was torn down. Being in the public eye is nothing new for Paskin, a
La Jolla real estate mogul who appeared on the ABC reality show "Secret
Millionaire.” Still, posting a billboard in the heavily Latino area of Barrio Logan with
the message: "All I want for Christmas is a Latina Girlfriend" was bound
to offend a person or 100……….
- Where are Ben Affleck, Bruce Willis and Steve Buscemi when
you need them? Those three men bravely led a fake expedition to space to
destroy an asteroid hurtling directly toward the Earth, but they have curiously
gone AWOL from the asteroid-exploding business and that’s a problem given what
happened just a few days ago. See, a giant rock approximately 120 feet wide just
passed between Earth and the moon and for a rock of that size, passing just
140,000 miles away from our planet is a disturbingly close call. A space rock
of that size could do some major damage to the planet if it struck, but
thankfully “Asteroid 2012 XE54”
missed on this pass by Earth. Astronomer Pasquale Tricarico of the Planetary
Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz. was among those who tracked the asteroid as
it passed some 100,000 miles closer to Earth than the moon typically does when
it orbits around our lovely plant. Tricarico reported that this was only the
third time an asteroid has been recorded to be eclipsing during an Earth flyby,
but all three have happened since 2008, so a disturbing trend does seem to be
developing. Regarding Asteroid 2012 XE54, Tricarico explained that “asteroids
eclipsing during an Earth flyby are relatively rare.” On its current
trajectory, this mass of space rock is expected to continue on its trek outside
our galaxy, but could pass by Earth again some time in the next three years,
when it completes its next lap around the sun. In the interim, let’s make sure
Willis, Affleck, Buscemi and their crew are training diligently and are
on standby so they can be shot into space to deal with any problems that arise……….
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