- Did anyone see the Chicago
Blackhawks hoisting the Stanley Cup earlier this month? Nobody? Hmm… could that
be because the ‘Hawks didn’t even reach the Stanley Cup finals and were bounced
from the playoffs in the Western Conference finals by the eventual-champion Los
Angeles Kings. Bearing that in mind, it’s worth asking whether Blackhawks stars
Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are in a good position to seeking new
contracts that would pay them $12
million per year -- almost double their current salaries – and establish a new
standard among NHL players. There is no question both are stars and they’ve won
a title together, so asking for a raise isn't far-fetched. There is also the
side note that both represented by agent Pat Brisson and like anyone entering a
negotiation process, Brisson knows the person who wants more money must start
high – often with a demand that has no chance of being met – and work their way
down to the actual point they hoped to reach all along. Kane and Toews are
eligible to sign extensions on Tuesday for the 2015-16 season and before that
time, the team may negotiate with their agent. Both players are entering the
last season of matching five-year, $31.5 million deals that pay them each $6.3
million annually. On the other side of the battle is Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman,
who undoubtedly understands the value of players in the early years of their
prime who have led the Blackhawks to two Stanley Cup titles in the past four
seasons and given that Kane and Toews are coming off 69- and 68-point seasons,
respectively, they’ve earned a contract upgrade. However, bowman refused
comment on the alleged $12 million demand and said he would keep all
negotiations private. Read between the lines, though, and you can hear him
chuckling at the idea of giving out two record-breaking contracts at the same
time………
- The threat from within is real for Venezuelan President Nicolas
Maduro. No, not Maduro’s conscience because he clearly doesn’t have one. Dictators
don’t have the luxury of having a
conscience, but Maduro is facing a danger from inside nonetheless. His menace
happens to be old-school leftists who accuse him of betraying the socialist
legacy that carried him to power. As avid followers of Venezuelan politics
know, Maduro was the handpicked successor of the late despot Hugo Chavez, who
died in 2013 after a battle with cancer but left what appeared to be a
likeminded dictator-in-training behind to take his place. At first, it looked
like Maduro would in fact continue that trend of trampling human rights and
stifling dissenters. He showed little tolerance for dissidence and a proclivity
for poking a pointy stick at Western powers. But 15 months into his rule, not
everyone is happy with the direction the country is headed. Orthodox
socialists are blasting Maduro over several issues, including liberalized
currency reforms they say are counter to the revolution. The tipping point for
the tension between the two sides came last week when Maduro fired Planning
Minister Jorge Giordani, a Marxist economist whose simplistic lifestyle and
anti-capitalist doctrine earned him the nickname "the Monk." That
sort of approach would seem an ideal fit for Socialists, thus spurring talk
that Maduro no longer walks among them. After being axed, Giordani published a manifesto
accusing Maduro of undoing Chavez's reforms and failing to control his
administration. This one is getting nasty in a hurry………
- The only real question to ask is whether the
helmet-wearing tools of Daft Punk will actually take off their ridiculous headgear
and talk this time. The enigmatic and wildly overrated electro-pop duo will be the subject
of a new documentary next year, with French subscription channel Canal Plus having
commissioned BBC Worldwide Production France to make a one-hour film about them.
Without a doubt, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo owe a huge
portion of their appeal to the fact that they are intentionally elusive,
wearing oversized helmets any time they appear in public and putting on
outright weird performances in which guests vocalists do all of the singing
because they can't be bothered to remove their buckets and vocalize anything. The documentary
will chronicle their rise, from the group’s formation in 1993 up to the success
of last year’s “Random Access Memories” release. Keeping up such a
smoke-and-mirrors show for 20 years is impressive on some level and during their
20-year career, Daft Punk have sold more than 12 million albums around the
world and have won six Grammy Awards. Prior to releasing “Memories,” they
announced their comeback from an extended hiatus with a teaser trailer at the
2013 Coachella Festival. They have released a mere four albums in the past two
decades, further underscoring how overrated they are. “Get Lucky,” the top
single off their latest album, was the quintessential piece of pop garbage with
the lyrical subtlety and intelligence of a cheese grater to the face. Jean-Louis
Blot, head of BBC Worldwide Productions France, will produce the documentary
with Patrice Gellé. "We are proud to announce our first commission with
Canal Plus Group on such an original and creative film,” Blot said. BBC
Worldwide France stands as a major French producer of documentaries with
stunning production values and universal appeal." Whatever you say, Louis……….
- If you commission and erect a giant, double-decker
fiberglass cheeseburger statue outside your business, you do so knowing it’s
only a matter of time before it’s stolen. At Big Steve’s Grill in Plainville,
Conn., the inevitable happened this week. Owner Steve Andrikis, the
quintessential small business owner and a man who serves all his food from
behind the counter with a smile, got the bad news Sunday night. Someone noticed
his 6-foot-hall fiberglass burger statue was missing and called him to let him
know. “Probably kids with a prank, I don’t know,” Andrikis said. “I thought it
would be a great thing to put out by the street. They definitely bring people
in.” On the surface, the statue would seem to be little more than a small town
marketing gimmick by an owner who understands that folks like cheesy crap that
they can smile at and pose with in ridiculous Instagram selfies. Another look,
though, confirms that this display is merely a challenge to every local kid
with access to a pickup truck and a tarp to steal it in the middle of the night
and drop it in the nearest lake or take off across neighboring counties on a
Snapchat photo safari for the ages. With his beloved fiberglass cheeseburger
missing, Andrikis is doing his best to remain positive and hold out hope that
the statue will find its way home. “If the people that took it just return it,
we won’t press charges, we just want it back that’s all,” Andrikis added. Until
that happens, all of the children and dorks who like posing for pictures with
the statue will have to find the nearest Big Boy and snap a few shots
with the chubby bus boy who serves as that fine eatery’s fiberglass mascot………
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