Tuesday, August 20, 2013

China lies, Gronk is questionable and angry rock album producers


- New York City needs more apartments people can be drastically overcharged for and the Museum of the City of New York is happy to cash in, er, help. New Yorkers are used to paying a crap load of money for an uber-tiny living space, but Challie Stillman and her girlfriend Lina Franco have a plan. The duo have lived in cramped spaces for 24 years and that reality gave birth to an exhibit that showcases how two people could live in an itty-bitty-spot known as a micro-apartment and still find a way to live comfortably. Their idea/exhibit hybrid only takes four or five seconds to walk through and it’s only 325 square feet. Sadly, this faux living space breaks a law that prohibits apartments to be less than 400 square feet. However, the city’s population is expected to reach 9 million people in the next two decades and therefore, city officials elected to let the experiment go on for now. To be transparent, Challie and Lina said they currently live in a 650 square foot one bedroom, but wanted to take on this 24-hour challenge to see if they could cut that space in half if needed. The rooms in their experimental living space is tiny and then some and its the living room converts to the bedroom, with a kitchen that becomes a dining room for six. Every square inch of space has a dual purpose and the city is actually working to create homes like it on East 27th Street, where the special building will be full of 55 new micro units. Part of the appeal is that 40 percent of the domiciles will be affordable housing……..


- This is new. A producer of a hit rock album is bent at those who have criticized it. Producer Steve Albini was the man behind the boards for Nirvana’s polarizing 1993 release “In Utero” and two decades after Kurt Cobain’s death, the album still draws a very mixed reaction from fans and critics. In a recent interview, Albini denounced haters of the project as “parasites.” His comments came as a remastered version of the iconic grunge band's third and final studio album is being released to mark its 20th anniversary on Sept. 23, so give Albini credit for a blatant attempt at generating controversy to sell more copies of the 70-track effort. The re-release will feature previously unreleased recordings and demos, B-sides and compilation tracks and live material featuring the band's final touring line-up of Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl and Pat Smear. “In Utero” was unique even at the time because it was significantly more raw and abrasive-sounding than its predecessor, 1991's “Nevermind.” At the time, many critics and fans slammed the album as a turn in the wrong direction. Most of them have maintained their opposition voice since that time and Albini is having none of it. "All of the people that were carping at the band from the outside about what a mistake they'd made with this record, that pretty accurately represented what they wanted to do with their music… all of those people are parasites," Albini said. "They weren't involved in making the record. They want, somehow or another, to claim authorship of the creative output of these other people who are actually doing the heavy lifting for their career. I can't have any respect for somebody like that, who's not involved in the creative process but then decides that they wanna snipe at it from the outside and manipulate people into doing things to suit them. F*ck every one of those people." He has backup from Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, who has called the album as a testament to Cobain’s vision………


- A ton of awesome just went out of Week 1 of the NFL season, which is still two weeks away. Yes, the Playboy Bunny-loving, club-hopping, microphone-spiking meathead that is New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is all but certain to miss the team's regular-season opener against the Bills in Buffalo, according to sources familiar with the situation. Gronkowski, who underwent offseason back and forearm surgery and multiple follow-up procedures, reportedly “looks great (and) is doing great” during his workouts at the Patriots' training facility, where he has been running and lifting, but won’t be ready for Week 1 barring a major medical miracle. That’s a problem for the Patrios because now, all three of their top pass catchers from last season won't be in uniform in Week 1. Gronkowski’s fellow tight end, accused murderer Araon Hernandez, is currently in a Connecicut jail and is more focsed on finding holes in the prosecution’s case and getting off on a technicality, er, because he’s “innocent” than he is finding holes in opposing defenses and catching touchdown passes. Receiver Wes Welker is now in Denver and will be snagging weak line drives from the right arm of Peyton Manning rather than running routes for the Pats in 2013. That leaves Gronk as the only member of the trio who has any chance of making an impact this season and while a return in the second, third or fourth week of the season would give him plenty of time to play, one has to wonder what kind of game shape he’s going to be in and how much rust he will have to knock off. Brady continues to be one of the best in the NFL and no one would be surprised if he won another MVP award this year, but he’s going to have to go hero and then some to make that happen. Oh, and Gronkowski being out means no great end zone celebrations when the Pats throttled Buffalo and rookie quarterback E.J. Manuel on Sept. 8…….


- Lying again, eh China? Fibbing about the piss-poor air quality in its major cities is a daily habit for the communist hell hole, but this is a new level of deceit. A Chinese zoo is under the microscope for (allegedly) lying about a lion and trying to pass off a dog as the king of beasts. Yes, like a couple of drunk buddies who jump into a rented horse suit for Halloween and keep running into everyone at the party, the zoo allegedly dropped a lion suit on someone’s pet dog and visitors to the facility in the city of Louhe discovered the deception when they approached the cage marked “African lion” and the beast started barking instead of roaring. The “lion” turned out to be a Tibetan mastiff — a large, hairy breed of dog with a lion-like mane. "The zoo is absolutely trying to cheat us," one customer fumed. "They are trying to disguise dogs as lions." Making the story even better, the zoo also reportedly had a dog in the wolf cage, foxes in the leopard enclosure and nutrias in the snake den.  In their defense, at least they were putting the dogs on display and not eating them, but it was still shady. In explaining the lie, the facility’s manager, Liu Suya, denied any attempt at deception and lied by saying the lion had been lent out for breeding and would return soon. Liu then admitted that the dog belonged to a friend who was away on business and needed a place to keep his pet. The breeding excuse was also used for the leopard and the dog in the wolves’ pen was (allegedly) put there in the hopes of breeding breed a new wolfhound. "If visitors require an explanation, we'd be happy to give it to them," Liu said. Yes, they would like an explanation of how lying to them is not deception and why you couldn’t have an intern put up a hastily printed “Exhibit closed” sign instead………

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