- Sum 41's Deryck Whibley
has battled a lot of challenges in his life; being really bad at music, being
married to the pop music train wreck that is Avril Lavigne, being the frontman
for a tremendously bad pop-punk band of his own…and oh yeah, being a raging
alcoholic. Currently, one of those problems has elbowed the others aside and
left Whibley in a fight not for his career or his marriage, but for his life.
He was admitted to hospital earlier this year after his liver and kidneys
collapsed as a result of years of heavy drinking and as he undertakes the
recovery process and realizes that it’s not a lot of fun to be the sober friend
in the ground but it is fun to not be dead, life has changed substantially. "Now
I'm sober, I don't get calls from certain people that I used to… the drinking
friends,” Whibley said. “Now I'm the bum-out to them. Who wants to invite the
sober guy to the party? Y'know who has been incredibly supportive? Iggy Pop. He
had a lot of great advice; he's been through it all. We've been friends for
years." That’s right, punk rock icon Iggy Pop is the stable, steady force
that is going to help guide a troubled young rock star safely through a
turbulent chapter in his life. Iggy Pop, best known for doing copious amounts
of drugs, rolling around in broken glass on stage during shows and being an
absolutely madman well into his 60s is going to be a voice of reason for
Whibley – along with noted clean and sober dude Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe. “He
told me what to expect from people, that not everyone will understand. Duff
McKagan and Matt Sorum from Guns N' Roses have been great too. We go out for
coffee and talk about sh*t,” Whibley added. According to Whibley himself, even
one more drink could kill him, but thankfully he has a cadre of has-been rock
stars whose livers have endured decades of combined alcohol abuse to help him
stay on the sober train……..
- Who’s up for some bitchin’ electoral conspiracy theories? Hop
on board the conspira-train bound for Haiti and enjoy the ride, because this
powder keg of conspiracy goodness is just heating up. With long overdue
legislative and local elections scheduled for Oct. 26, President Michel
Martelly and his party seem to be will in control of the electorate’s
loyalties. That’s a problem for Haiti's leading opposition factions, who are
not simply biding their time and waiting to be screwed over once the polls open
and the hijinks can begin for real. Opposition leaders have fired some early
shots by alleging that the country's presidentially appointed electoral council
is stacking the deck in favor of Martelly and shutting them out of the
process…without actually spelling out how they are being excluded from the fun.
The allegations center on claims that the Provisional Electoral Council picked
by Martelly has only seven of its mandated nine members and is therefore not
legitimate. The chief complainers include the Unity party of former President
Rene Preval and the Lavalas Family of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
None of these conscious objectors have registered with the council and refuse
to recognize it as a legitimate part of the process. There are some bonafide
questions about the council, namely how any respectable government body can be
led by a man who is defending former dictator and all-around d-bag Jean-Claude
Duvalier against charges of embezzlement and human rights abuses. Unity
spokesman Dieudonne Saincy voiced the opposition’s demands for an
"impartial" electoral council before the balloting, but so far the
government has refused to give any ground………
- The question of how to turn a 6-foot-11, bearded Polish
man with some of the palest skin known to man the happiest guy on Earth has
finally been answered. Marcin Gortat
has never been an All-Star, he will never be considered the best or even
second-best center in the NBA at any point in his career, but he is still good
enough to earn a shiny, new five-year, $60 million contract to remain with the
Washington Wizards. The Wizards announced Thursday that they had signed the
Polish Punisher to the longest-possible deal for on the first day permitted
under NBA free-agency rules and Gortat posted a picture of himself signing the
papers on his Twitter page, writing that it was the “Best day Of my life!!!” One
can understand his excitement, what with long-term financial security, an
eight-figure annual salary and the chance to remain with the Wizards after
helping lead the club to its first playoff berth since 2008. While $12 million
a season for a good, but not great center could be construed as a stretch by
the casual basketball fan, a Gortat supporter could argue that he averaged 13.2
points and a team-leading 9.5 rebounds after he was acquired in a preseason
trade with the Phoenix Suns and became a key physical presence in the post
alongside young star guards Bradley Beal and John Wall. The Wizards were never
going to be in the running for LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony or any
of the other premium free agents this offseason, so bringing back their own free
agents and adding a few complimentary pieces to the mix was as good as the team
and its fans could hope for. A happy Gortat is rarely a bad thing……….
- Grab some fresh dough, tangy sauce and a big bag of
mozzarella cheese and fire up the car, y’all. It’s time to head to La Jolla Shores,
Calif. and take advantage of a golden opportunity presented by nature. Beach-goers
at La Jolla have found less room to roam and enjoy the beautiful blue waters of
late thanks to a massive swarm of anchovies swallowed up huge sections of
beachfront real estate. "It is rare to see so many anchovy abutting the
surf zone," said professor Dave Checkley of the Scripps Institution of
Oceanography (SIO). "More usually, schools are seen hundreds of yards to
many miles offshore." No one seems to have explained the sanctity of the
surf zone to the anchovies, who clearly have no respect for the area in which
waves break on shore and humans normally swim. A typical school of anchovy can
range from hundreds to millions of fish, with the size of this school
conservatively pegged between 1 million and 100 million anchovies. It’s the
sort of group rarely seen this side of a pizza-making convention, but the cause
is something of a mystery. Changing ocean temperatures are known to increase
the numbers for anchovies hitting the beach and the North Pacific is currently
transitioning into a cooler state, which is favorable to anchovies, so this isn’t
a total shock. Still, the chance to procure some choice anchovies was not lost
on some hungry diners who flocked to the scene in large numbers of their own –
local California sea lions, which are one of the primary predators for
anchovies. Some beach visitors took the chance to wade out and snorkel among
the anchovy, creating a rare experience that might make them think twice the
next time they hit up the local pizza parlor for a pie……….
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