Monday, September 02, 2013

NFL oddities, nuns + bikers and Britney Spears gets help


- Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro is doing quite well in replacing the late despot Hugo Chavez. By virtue of not being one of the world’s most heinous dictators, he has an edge on Chavez. However, he may want to do some work on his public speaking, as evidenced by a gaffe this week that saw him inadvertently rewriting biblical history. With one simple slip of the tongue, he managed to take the story of a miracle by Jesus and turn it into a plot line out of a bad porn flick made for $5,000 in Chatsworth, Calif. Maduro muddled the reference by multiplying loaves and “penises” instead of loaves and fishes. During his speech about education, he said, “to multiply ourselves like Christ multiplied the penises – sorry the fish and the bread.” In addition to displaying to children just how important a good education is and helping them learn an old story like they never have, Maduro became a Twitter punching bag for many. The Spanish word for "penises" (penes) is just a letter away from the word for “fish” (peces) which may help to explain his gaffe - it just won't earn him any leeway with the haters who have been lighting him up and meme-ing him to oblivion ever since. His mistake came as he was outlining his plans to expand the country’s education program to a crowd at the Miranda stadium, in the country’s capital, Caracas, although perhaps expectations should have been a bit lower for a man dressed in an Adidas track suit in the bright red, blue and yellow colors of the Venezuelan flag. The best speeches are rarely made in track suits, even if Maduro did vow that his government would "go in school by school, child by child, high school by high school, community by community — to embed ourselves in there.” You’ll do better next time, Nick………


- Why did that take so long? That’s the question begged by news that Britney Spears has hired a vocal coach as she prepares for her latest comeback. She doesn’t have a shred of actual vocal talent and never has, making one wonder why she didn’t hire a coach sooner so she might have been able to creep up on mediocre every now and then. A spokesman for the past-her-prime pop tart confirmed the news. "Britney has been using a vocal coach and going to regular sessions and has also been working hard with her choreographer in preparation for what's coming up,” the spokesman said. "With album eight on its way and a rumored Las Vegas residency in the pipeline, eagle-eyed fans have spotted that all of Britney's social networks have adopted a blacked-out theme... the mystery continues.” Spears recently teased fans with the prospect of a big announcement by unveiling a mysterious countdown on her official website and “ALL EYES ON ME” are the only words on the page, which has a clock that is under three weeks until whatever the hell is supposed to happen. Charli XCX has confirmed that she has written and submitted a new song for Britney Spears forthcoming new album and is one of many rumored contributors for the project. "I've been doing some writing for the Britney record. I was freaking out. I didn't even want to go to the session I was so excited. I was so worried I would fuck it up," Charli XCX said. "I was doing some stuff for that yesterday actually. Who knows how it will go. We've written one song and it's a great track and if she likes it then amazing. It was just an honor to be asked." Spears will reportedly take her lack of talents to the studio soon to work with her producer and collaborators Naughty Boy, Blood Orange, William Orbit, Sia and will.i.am………


- Milwaukee was a crowded place this weekend and motorcycle rallies can create a scarcity for places to stay. A motorcycle gang from nearby Michigan found a solution to their rooming problem from an unlikely source. Sisters of Charity, a group of nuns living in the Land of Fried Cheese Curds, once again opened their door to a group they would seem to have little in common with. "My idea of a motorcycle gang went back to the Hell's Angels," said Sister Anne Marie. That idea changed when the Sisters of Charity have opened the doors of their Brown Deer retreat to bikers 10 years ago. "Motorcycle men and women are absolutely delightful," Sister Anne Marie added. "We struck up a wonderful friendship." The past decade has proven that the two seemingly incompatible groups are a great fit, something Bill Carothers of the Muskegon Motorcycle Gang believes is evidence that the two groups have more in common than many would think. "Their charter is much in common with what ours is -- helping others less fortunate," he said. The bikers have 23 members in their group and Carothers added that after a deadly crash in 2012 that claimed two of their members and injured eight others in Fond du Lac County, the tranquility of the retreat has been a blessing for all of them. "It has been a very hard year for everyone," he said. After spending quality time together for several years now, the Muskegon Motorcycle Gang consider Sisters of Charity to be a sort of extended family for them and during their time in Milwaukee, they have even been known to take the sisters on rides around town. Maybe next year, they’ll find a tattoo parlor nearby and convince the sisters to get some ink to remember them by………


- No one is quite sure what the NFL was thinking with its banners outside Sports Authority Field at Mile High promoting Thursday night’s season opener between the Broncos and Baltimore Ravens. Well, other than looking to generate buzz and lots of talk and succeeding, but beyond that…who knows? The “Kickoff” banners feature the images of Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning and Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco. Manning called the banners "strange" this past week and angry Denver fans have questioned the decision to use Flacco’s likeness considering he drove a dagger through their hearts with a massive second-half comeback in the playoffs last season. When asked about being on banners adorning the opposing team’s home stadium, even the Super Bowl MVP with the shiny new contract admitted it was odd. "Ah, geez, yeah, I heard," Flacco said. "Somebody texted me a few nights back, when it first came out. I couldn't believe it. I think it's all deserved, I don't know if it's deserved towards me, I happen to be the guy they put up there. [But] I don't think here or anybody in our city would be too happy if we had somebody else from a different [team] on our stadium. I wouldn't expect anything different than all of the people in Denver to be pretty upset by it." Fans upset by the display have created an online petition to have the Flacco pictures and banners removed, but the advertising space in downtown was purchased by the NFL from the Downtown Denver Partnership. The Broncos reportedly objected to the banners, but the NFL did what it always does and steamrolled right over those objections to do whatever the hell they felt like doing. "We appreciate the fans' passion and their desire to protect their team but think of this game as more of an opening ceremony, a celebration of the new season for the entire league," NFL vice president of corporate communications Brian McCarthy said last week. In other words, eff-off………

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