- Miguel de Cervantes: Prototypical tortured artist and for
Spain, another draw to bring tourists to a country that already has plenty to
offer. Spain's greatest writer lived a famously tortured existence and died
flat-broke in Madrid, his body riddled with bullets. Cervantes’ original burial
place was a tiny convent church no larger than the entrance hall of an average
house and it was largely forgotten until the rediscovery of a novel by the
16th-century author featuring an eccentric character called Don Quixote. Now,
four centuries after his death, Spain plans to use Cervantes’ fame to its
advantage by searching for his remains and trying to unearth them in order to
promote a new tourist site. The estimated cost of the operation is $138,000 and
it is expected to take the remainder of the year at the Convent of the Barefoot
Trinitarians in Madrid's historic Barrio de las Letras -- or Literary Quarter.
The three-phase search will be closely watched in a country already strapped
for cash, but it could pay off big if it is successful. Cervantes had long
since penned "The Adventures of the Ingenious Nobleman Don Quixote of La
Mancha" when he moved to Spain's capital in 1606, but like so many great
artists, his true fame came long after he died. His initial legacy was that of an
ill-fated soldier who was wounded in battle and spent years captive in Algiers.
He was captured by Turkish pirates and wasn’t freed until the Trinitarian order
negotiated his release and helped pay a ransom that ruined Cervantes' family.
He became an errand runner for the convent to give thanks for his deliverance
and lived in a typical Spanish neighborhood full of artists, criminals, wine
and tapas. He was ignored by famed authors such as Luis de Gongora and Francisco
de Quevedo and died in 1616 at the age of 69. When the chapel in which he was
buried was expanded to its current state, his burial place was lost in the
process. Fernando Prado, the historian in charge of the project, is confident
of finding the unmarked grave. "We know he is buried there," Prado
said. "History teaches us that churches never throw bones away. They might
relocate them under roofs and vaults if necessary, but no one would dare throw
them into a common ossuary." The search team will first use radar to seek
any altered terrain pointing them in the right direction and from there, a forensic
anthropologist will take over. The third possible portion of the process will
be forensic identification on any bones found in the search. Battle wounds Cervantes
sustained in combat are expected to be a valuable clue in ascertaining his
identity……….
- Racism and bigotry in sports: They’re not just a Donald
Sterling thing. As European soccer fans are so adamant about proving on a
regular basis, they too can be heinous, reprehensible assholes with
backwards-thinking views on the world. Instances of racism against black
players have remained part of the ugly side of the fabric of European soccer
even as the world has moved forward and on Sunday in a game at Villarrea, Barcelona
defender Dani Alves delivered a legendary performance in response to a
hatemonger in the stands who came prepared to make a heinous statement that
doesn’t belong anywhere in humanity. Alves was doing his job, flopping with no
actual contact and running around a large grassy field while not scoring any
goals, when a fan hurled a banana in his direction because…..you know, it’s
cool to refer to people with dark skin as some sort of primate. The banana
landed at Alves’ feet and in a baller move, he casually picked up the hurled
fruit, peeled it and took a bit before proceeding to take a corner kick. He
explained after the contest that humor is the best way to combat racism in
sports. "We have suffered this in Spain for some time," Alves said.
"You have to take it with a dose of humor. We aren't going to change
things easily. If you don't give it importance, they don't achieve their
objective." Alves has experience dealing with racist chants from fans and
deemed the fight against racism "a lost war" in January 2013 after segments of Real
Madrid's fans mocked him with monkey chants during a match. Despite the
fruit-based bigotry, Alves stepped up to spark his team's 3-2 comeback when his
off-target shot was turned into an own goal by Villarreal's Gabriel Armando in
the 65th minute. Moments after the banana toss, he launched a cross that Mateo
Musacchio headed into his own goal in the 78th before Lionel Messi scored
Barcelona's winner. It would be awesome if this incident had any chance of
snuffing out the indefensible hate and bias that so many fans (and NBA owners)
have in their hearts, but sadly, ass-hattedness will persist and is still alive
and unfortunately well………
- One could look at Microsoft’s admission that a new zero day vulnerability has
been found to affect every version of Internet Explorer as a big problem….or
one could ask the obvious question that comes in response to such a
proclamation. That question, of course, is who the hell is still using Internet
Explorer in 2014? So many better options exist – Safari, Chrome, Firefox to
name a few – that anyone actually using any version of IE is both laughable and
proof that technologically ignorant people remain one of the world’s most
prevalent commodities. As for the vulnerability in question, attacks taking
advantage of the vulnerability are largely targeting IE versions 9, 10, and 11
in something called a "use after free" attack. Attackers corrupt data
as soon as memory has been released, often after ignorant users have been
foolishly lured to phony websites. Because of the nature of the vulnerability, Internet
Explorer accesses an object in memory that has been deleted or has not been
properly allocated. It corrupts a device’s memory in a way that allows hackers
to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user within Internet
Explorer. In so doing, that attacker could create a bogus, specially crafted
website designed to exploit said vulnerability and lure users to that site.
Microsoft admitted that the problem exists and will investigate thoroughly
before releasing an out-of-cycle security patch to take care of the problem.
Most estimates – stunningly and questionably – peg the number of IE users
across all incarnations of the troubled browser at 25 percent, so that makes
this a noteworthy problem. Windows XP users will not receive the patch, meaning
that anyone still running the now-unsupported software will need a defense of
their own……….
- Zack Snyder will take the next crack at a superhero
blockbuster and given the almost-guaranteed success of any movie that includes
a hero of any studio vintage – DC Comics, Marvel, etc. – he had best not screw
it up. Snyder
has been tabbed to helm a "Justice League" film after Warner Bros.
confirmed its plans over the weekend for a DC Comics super-team film. Snyder
was a logical choice after directing last year's Superman reboot "Man of
Steel" and having already been tabbed to lead the forthcoming Superman
sequel. "It will be a further expansion of this universe," Warner
Bros. president of worldwide production Greg Silverman told. "'Superman vs
Batman' will lead into 'Justice League.'" Ah, the ol’ “Superman vs.
Batman” project, a film thus far know primarily as the movie that has pissed
off legions of fans before filming a single scene because its producers made
the decision to cast Ben Affleck joining as Batman. Snyder has plenty of work
on his plate before getting to “Justice League,” with the Henry Cavill- and
Affleck-starring "Man of Steel" follow-up due out in May 2016 with
Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. A large part of the Warner Bros. push to get its own
superhero team-up flick on the big screen undoubtedly owes to the massive
success of Marvel's superhero-filled "The Avengers," which made more
than $1 billion at the worldwide box office. As for the “Justice League’
project, the script is still a work in progress and Silverman coyly offered no
hint as to which characters will appear in the film. Not that it matters, as
fanboys everywhere will flock to see it regardless and give Warner Bros. the
massive payday it is seeking……..
- Where there are flocking stoners seeking a vastly
overpriced, yet finally legal high, there will surely be people looking to cash
in. Colorado has seen both positives and negatives in legalizing marijuana, but
while the tax revenues from making it kosher to burn kush haven't been as high
(pun intended) as expected, one unexpected group of people still sees plenty of
green in its future. That would be homeowners who have neither a respect for their
own property nor the appropriate desire to keep unwashed, unsavory stoners from
vegging out on their couch and burning a bowl of the good stuff while plowing
through a ninth straight day of not showering. These would-be pot profiteers
have seen the surge of pot tourists flocking to the Centennial State and they
realize that there may not be enough hotel rooms to house all of these
real-life Lebowskis. Like fans who live near the site of extremely popular golf
tournaments and rent their homes out to fans and players in town for a weekend
of great action on the links, these Coloradans can rent out their home through
a company all too willing to facilitate this unholy union. A company calling
itself airTHC
recently launched its website offering to link up out-of-towners with
marijuana-friendly vacation homes in Colorado. The project is the brain child
of airTHC co-founder Jordan Conner, who views himself as a visionary leading
the charge for a new type of tourism. “We can provide places like this where
they can come, they can ski for the day and enjoy cannabis legally, and not
necessarily bring a bad image to Colorado,” Conner said. “As a property owner
you will have a profile, and as a tenant you will have a profile. So as you
stay in places you acquire a reputation. You will also be able to contact the
person before they come and stay in your place.” Acquire a reputation? Stoners
already have a reputation and it is cloaked in hemp garments, flip-flops,
Cheetoh dust and bongs. Anyone who rents to a stoner knows what he or she is
doing, simply put. Conner can promote his business as giving people options,
but those who enlist the help of airTHC have already made their ill-fated
choice………
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