- South America has a giant Jesus in Rio de Janiero, Brazil,
and now Europe has its answer in the form of a ginormous fiberglass likeness of
Pope John Paul II in Poland. The southern Polish city of Czestochowa unveiled the 45-foot-tall statue of the
former pontiff, who served as the Archbishop of Krakow before becoming pope, on
Saturday. It is believed to be the
tallest such statue anywhere in the world, weighing in at five metric tons.
Made of white fiberglass, the massive statue stands on a hill outside the
city and shows the pope standing with outstretched arms. Erecting the statue in
Czestochowa makes sense because the city is home to the country's most
important pilgrimage site, the Jasna Gora monastery, and its icon of the Black
Madonna. The unveiling of the statue took place in a ceremony that began with
an actor reading fragments of texts written by the late pope. A church choir
then sang and the archbishop of Czestochowa blessed the statue. While the body
of the statue is made of fiberglass, its interior consists of a steel
framework. It was made by a company that manufactures fiberglass statues of
animals and other images common in theme parks. The statue seems odd in the
sense that it stands in the middle of a park filled with miniature models of places
of worship, making it seem as if the pope literally and figuratively towers
over them all. The benefactor for the project is a man named Leszek Lyson, said
he wanted to give thanks to John Paul II for the life of his son, whom Lyson
saved from drowning during a family holiday in Croatia three years ago. Poland remains
one of the most Roman Catholic countries in Europe, but not everyone is behind
the project. A Facebook campaign led to the decision to have the statue face
the city instead of the other way round, as was originally planned. Czestochowa's
architects' association also criticized the statue’s fiberglass structure as
lacking in quality…….
- Jay-Z is having himself quite a week. Not only is he
selling his 1/15 of 1 percent share in
the Brooklyn Nets so his new sports rep agency, Roc Nation Sports, can
represent NBA clients, but he’s also touched off an international incident by
visiting Cuba and claiming to have received White House permission for the
trip. The latter development centers around the implication that President
Obama green-lighted the trip to the Communist island, something the White House
steadfastly denies. When one is the biggest rapper in the game and has his own
record label, such criticism for both selling the small piece of an NBA team
you symbolically own and traveling to a nation Americans are forbidden from
visiting can both be tackled in one hastily written and recorded dis track,
which is exactly how Jay-Z has chosen to handle the drama. “Would’ve brought
the Nets to Brooklyn for free/Except I made millions off it, you f---in’
dweeb,” he rhymes in his new track, “Open Letter.” That line is aimed at
critics who have accused him of bailing on the team after playing a large role
in moving it from New Jersey to Brooklyn. Had he kept his ownership stake, his
agency would have been able to represent clients from other sports, but not the
NBA. His agency has already signed Giants receiver Victor Cruz and Yankee star
Robinson Cano and will now be able to represent NBA clients. Despite selling
his small share in the Nets, Jay-Z does still have a financial stake in their
new arena, the Barclays Center. “I still own the building, I’m still keeping my
seat/Y’all buy that bulls--t/you’d better keep your receipt,” he raps later in
the song. The rapper’s 40/40 Club and a store that sells Rocawear clothing are
in the arena, as are stores selling products in which he has invested, such as
Armand de Brignac Champagne. With that issue addressed, he turned his attention
to haters who criticized his trip to Cuba with wife Beyoncé Knowles last week. “Politicians
never did s--t for me/except lie to me, distort history,” he rhymes. “I . . .
turned Havana into Atlanta. Boy from the hood/but got White House clearance.” White
House press secretary Jay Carney downplayed those words, quipping, “I guess
nothing rhymes with Treasury,” alluding to the agency that approved the
journey. “The President did not communicate with Jay-Z over this trip.” If
nothing else, the drama gave the mainstream media a chance to feel street by
whipping out their best “99 Problems” jokes, so there is that…….
- Kevin Durant is looking to make sure his Oklahoma City
Thunder don’t come up short of a championship again this season. A Nike
marketing campaign has taken aim at the star forward’s nice-guy image and on
the court, Durant has done his part to shake that reputation by earning 12
technical fouls, tied for eighth in the league. With his über-efficient
offensive skills pushing the Thunder to the Western Conference’s best record,
perhaps the push has worked. If not, his antics during the Thunder's victory against the Golden State Warriors on
Thursday night might do the trick. With about 1:45 left in the second quarter
of Oklahoma City's 116-97 win at Golden State, Thunder guard Russell Westbrook
blocked Stephen Curry's layup and Durant scooped up the loose ball and drove to
the other end for a soaring dunk that he chased with a throat-slashing gesture
and by crossing his hands in prayer. "Kill 'em and pray for 'em after the
game," Durant said of the move. "It's nothing against the team I'm
playing against. Come out with a mindset and be friends after the game."
That NBA league office has weighed in on that mindset and after thinking it
over, the league has fined Durant $25,000 for making a "menacing gesture.”
Fake throat slashes have never been a favorite of über-arrogant commissioner
David Stern and his henchmen, so it’s no surprise that the league dinged Durant
for the gesture. A local charity in Oklahoma City gets $25,000 from it, Durant
gets to make his image a shade nastier and the league gets to stand on its
soapbox and shake its finger at a player who did something inappropriate on the
court. Sounds like everyone wins……..
- Booyah. Iran may have fallen behind North Korea in the
race to see which rogue nation can start World War III, but the Iranians have
taken the lead in a much more important area: time travel. Although not know as
tech titans, the Iranians may have just lapped the field if Tehran scientist Ali
Razeghi can complete his mission. He’s 1/1,000,000th of the way there in that
he has registered "The Aryayek Time Traveling Machine" with the
state-run Centre for Strategic Inventions. According to his filing, the device
can predict the future in a print out after taking readings from the touch of a
user. Razaeghi said the device worked by a set of complex algorithms to
"predict five to eight years of the future life of any individual, with 98
percent accuracy.” Now, it is a bit self-serving for the managing director of Iran's Centre for Strategic Inventions
to register an invention with the state-run Centre for Strategic Inventions,
but let’s hear him out on this one. "I have been working on this project
for the last 10 years," he said. "My invention easily fits into the
size of a personal computer case and can predict details of the next 5-8 years
of the life of its users. It will not take you into the future, it will bring
the future to you." Razeghi is a serial inventor with 179 other inventions
listed under his own name, so he clearly is all about pushing the technological
barriers. His invention could help Iran's government predict the possibility of
a military confrontation with a foreign country or accurately forecast the
fluctuation in the value of foreign currencies and oil prices. "Naturally
a government that can see five years into the future would be able to prepare
itself for challenges that might destabilize it," Razeghi said. "As
such we expect to market this invention among states as well as individuals
once we reach a mass production stage." Not surprisingly, doubters have
begun to pop up and they include Razeghi’s own friends and family – albeit not
for the reasons one might imagine. Razeghi said his project has been criticized
by friends and relatives for "trying to play God" with ordinary lives
and history. Let the debate begin……
- Don’t runners already get enough sh*t from the rest of
society? Drivers who won't move over to give them room on the side of the road,
idiotic teenage boys who want to heckle them or throw things at them from the
windows of passing cars and lax down owners who allow their pooches to run out
into the street and attack harmless runners are just a few of those hazards…along
with the long arm of the law in Miami Beach. Enter runner Alex Mesa, who has provided South
Beach visitors with bizarre videos to upload to Facebook for the last six years
by running backwards around the greater Miami area. His efforts have earned him
admiration, respect….and a citation from police for obstructing traffic. “The
adrenaline rushes. It's amazing, it's amazing," Mesa said of his unusual
running style. “It's better for you, it picks up your awareness, it builds you
up even faster.” However, an officer and one anonymous complainer who placed a
911 call on Saturday put a serious crimp in Mesa’s style. "Miami Beach
911. What's the address of your emergency?" an emergency operator asked
when the call came in. "He's, like, running backwards in the middle of the
street and zig-zagging through all the lanes. I just want you to pick him up
before he gets himself killed,” the Jello-O-nerved caller responded. Police
showed up on the scene, saw what Mesa was doing and took him down. "You
can run backwards, you can run forward, you can run on your hands, but you
can't run in the middle of the street, and you can't run in between
traffic," said Miami Beach Police Sgt. Bobby Hernandez, "and that's
what this call stemmed from.” Mesa was issued a $77.50 citation for obstructing
traffic and was predictably angry over the situation. “I've been doing it for
so many years," he said. "Police officers have seen me, and they
never said anything, OK? The police officer made it very clear that he was
going to give me a ticket because of my attitude, to see how I liked it.”
Thanks for nothing, MBPD……..
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