- Regrets are a-flyin’ in Manhattan. The New York Yankees
are having more success than expected on the field, but two of the members of
their organization who have spent much of the season recovering from injury are
creating plenty of drama away from the field. Injured third baseman Alex Rodriguez
has been working to get back on the field after a hip injury and general
manager Brian Cashman, who ripped
his ankle to pieces skydiving prior to the season, recently told the media that
the injured former All-Star still wasn’t ready for game action. One day later,
Rodriguez used his newly created Twitter account to tell the world that
he has been cleared to play in rehab games. "Visit from Dr. [Bryan] Kelly
over the weekend, who gave me the best news - the green light to play games
again!" Rodriguez tweeted. His words directly contradicted those of his GM
and Cashman minced no words in responding when asked about the offending tweet.
"Alex should just shut
the f*ck up," Cashman said with more than a hint of disdain. His contempt
for a player who is making $25 million a season and contributing nothing to his
team while bringing along the baggage of being one of the central figures in
Major League Baseball’s latest steroid scandal was evident, but one day after
making his remarks Cashman was backpedaling and trying to make nice. Cashman
said the team wants a healthy A-Rod back at third base as soon as possible and
added that owner Hal Steinbrenner told him he spoke with Rodriguez on Wednesday
in Tampa, Fla., and reiterated that injury information should be announced by
the team, not individual players on social media. The fact that the team (and
every franchise in professional sports) feels it owns a player’s health and
medical information is humorous on some level, so maybe that explains why
Cashman said Rodriguez did not get back to him after he tried to contact the
slugger Tuesday night. Regardless of how this one ends, the Yankees continue to
deliver the drama…….
- It’s Japan…..it’s Australia….it’s international intrigue
on the high seas! Two nations that wouldn’t seem to have any natural conflict
between them are about to do battle after Australia took Japan to the International
Court of Justice on Wednesday over the hunting of whales in waters off the
Antarctic. Australian attorney general Mark Dreyfus says his nation is hoping for
a ruling that would prevent the Japanese fleet from harpooning the creatures in
the area. Australia declared the area a whale sanctuary in 1999, but Japan
doesn’t seem to give two rat’s sh*ts about that declaration. "We want
commercial whaling to stop and that includes the so-called scientific whaling
program that Japan has been carrying on for many years," he said. “We're
hopeful of a decision from the International Court of Justice before the end of
the year and certainly before the start of the next whale hunting season.” Dreyfuss
pointed out that Japan had killed more than 10,000 whales since 1986, the year
when commercial hunting of the creatures was coincidentally banned around the
world under an International Whaling Commission moratorium. The Japanese
government has exploited the hell out of a loophole in the law and is allowed
catch up to 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales every winter for “scientific
research.” This is (allegedly) necessary to provide data on whale populations
so that the international ban on the commercial hunt can be re-examined or
possibly lifted. However, the whales can be killed and their meat sold once the
(fake) research is completed. "Japan seeks to cloak its ongoing commercial
whaling in the lab coat of science," Bill Campbell, an Australian
government lawyer, told judges of the International Court of Justice in The
Hague. Environmental groups continue to lambaste Japan’s stance on the matter
and many have voiced support for Australia in the case. Along with their pals
from New Zealand, the Australians are pushing to withdraw all whaling permits
from the Japanese fleet. On the opposing side is Japanese deputy foreign
minister Koji Tsuruoka, leading the charge to keep killing whales in the name
of phony science. Let’s get it on……..
- Poppy: It’s not just the first name of a B-list actress
with roles in a few major movies and a flower grown in the fields of Afghanistan to help meet
the world’s opiate needs. It’s also a new device at that turns any iPhone into a 3D camera and
it’s at the heart of a Kickstarter campaign launched by a pair of Seattle
entrepreneurs. By plugging the device into their iPhone and opening its two-way
mirrors, users can capture their random and largely pointless videos of them
and their friends eating dinner or making fart noises in three dimensions.
Poppy aligns its front mirrors with the optics of the iPhone's camera, thereby
combining the right-eye and left-eye streams into a single 3D video, viewable
via the matching iOS app, on YouTube, or on a 3D-enabled television set. "It's
beautiful," co-creators Ethan Lowry and Joe Heitzeberg said. "And
really hard to describe or show in two dimensions." Poppy works with the
iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, and 5th-generation iPod touch, but comes with
the downside of having to remove the phone from its case in order to achieve
3-D filming capabilities. Lowry and Heitzeberg done test runs with their
creation at weddings, from the sidelines of sporting events and while playing
with their children. They believe Poppy could also be used from walk-throughs
by architects and real estate agents. It can also be used to “convert”
thousands of existing 3D videos on YouTube into full-color, high-quality 3D.
Much of its inspiration comes from the old-timey tech tool known as the
stereoscope and the now-vintage View-Master. "We love the feeling those
simple devices give of stepping into another world," the device’s
Kickstarter page explains. "But they were all about seeing someone else's
photographs." Poppy can work hand in hand with camera or video apps such
as Camera Plus, Vine, Snapseed and Instagram, but Heitzeberg and Lowry have
also created a dedicated iOS app for Poppy. Their app captures 3D videos and
still images, saves photos and videos to the iPhone's camera roll and uploads
videos onto YouTube. So far, the Kickstarter campaign has accrued 340 backers and more than $23,255,
putting it more than halfway to its fundraising goal of $40,000. Four weeks of
campaigning remain and those who pledge $49 or more will receive a Poppy from
the first full production run and have their name included in the
totally-made-up Poppy Hall of Fame. Big-time donors ($229 or more) can snag a pre-production
Poppy used for early test runs and anyone with deep enough pockets to plunk
down $1,200 or more get a functional 3D-printed Poppy prototype……..
- Explanation rejected, Men's Wearhouse. The men’s clothier explained
this week why it fired executive chairman George Zimmer, beard icon and
commercial icon to the masses, and the explanation is absolute garbage. The
company sought to depict its own co-founder as power-hungry in his desire to
sell the company to private investors. "Mr. Zimmer reversed his long-standing
position against taking the company private by arguing for a sale of the Men's
Wearhouse to an investment group," the company's board of directors wrote
Tuesday in a statement it made public. That plan was one the board opposed on
the ground that it would force the company "to take on a huge amount of
debt." "The board believes such a transaction would not be in the
best interests of our shareholders, and it would be a risky path on many
levels," the directors wrote. Because Zimmer's 3.6 percent stake in the
company did not give him a controlling role, he could do little as the board
callously cast him aside. "Mr. Zimmer had difficulty accepting the fact
that Men's Wearhouse is a public company with an independent board of directors
and that he has not been the chief executive officer for two years," the
board added in its statement. Making ugly allegations that Zimmer did heinous
things like “refuse to support" Chief Executive Doug Ewert and other
executives "unless they acquiesced to his demands” is dirty pool as well
and it completely overlooks the contributions Zimmer and his world-class facial
hair made to the company’s bottom line with his wholly predictable TV spots
that always ended with his trademark line, “You’re gonna like the way you
look….I guarantee it.” Seeing Zimmer pitch 2-for-1 suit deals with his studly
beard had value for Men’s Wearhouse that cannot be measured in mere dollars,
yet the board had the gall to insist that "our actions were not taken to
hurt George Zimmer." The board terminated
Zimmer, who co-founded the
company in 1973, as executive chairman on June 19 and he then quit the board on Monday. The moves
have led to online outrage, but there is no indication that the board will
realize the error of its ways and welcome the Zim-man back………
- Who will be the next Dr. Who? Ben Whishaw best known for
playing James Bond's gadget guru Q in “Skyfall,”
says it will not be him. Rumors that he would follow in the footsteps of
current “Dr. Who” star Matt Smith reached Whishaw’s ears and he moved quickly
to shoot those tales down. "It's not going to be me. But I don't
mind - I don't think you can be Q and Doctor Who. It would be a bit wrong,"
Whishaw said. Smith announced earlier this month that he will be leaving the
show at the end of this year, ending his run as the 11th Timelord. His
character will regenerate during the show’s upcoming Christmas special, but no
one is confirmed to take his place on a full-time basis. The current favorite
among fans is Rory Kinner, who has played MI6 officer Bill Tanner in the last
two Bond movies. Other names linked to the gig have included Dominic Cooper (“The History Boys”), David Harewood (“Homeland”), Julian Rhind-Tutt (“The West Wing’) and Richard Coyle (“Coupling”). Regardless of who is
ultimately named to fill the role, most entertainment pundits don’t expect the
new Dr. Who to be named until the fall. Most have pegged the window of time before
filming begins on the show's Christmas special in August or September as the
likely time for the news. Smith’s character’s appearance in the show's 50th
anniversary special airing on November 23 will feature both his current
companion Jenna-Louise Coleman and his Dr.
Who predecessor David Tennant
and popular former companion Billie Piper. The franchise ability to swap
out its leading man and remain popular with fans is remarkable and the next
main character will have the challenge of keeping that streak alive……..
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