- The Detroit Lions have often played like garbage in the
past few years. Now, their quarterbacks will look the part – at least in
practice. Starter Matthew Stafford and the Lions' other quarterbacks have new
practice gear to help set them apart on the field. Instead of wearing the
traditional red jerseys that quarterbacks don in order to let everyone know
they are not to be hit during practices, the team’s signal callers now rock a
bright shade of highlighter green for jerseys made from 21 recycled plastic
bottles. Predictably, this is part of a public relations initiative by the team
to help promote its own recycling campaign as well as Repreve, the recycled
fiber brand the jerseys are made of. "This initiative is a reflection of
the Ford family's commitment to leading in the area of sustainability,"
Lions president Tom Lewand said in a statement. "As an example, through
our partnership with Repreve, we will be expanding to 500 recycling bins
throughout Ford Field, making it easy for fans and guests to 'make the smart
throw.'" Recycled fashion is nothing new and while such jerseys might be
an even better fit in an enviro-conscious city like Seattle, the move is
nonetheless a solid one for the Lions even though their refuse-worthy ways on
the field have changed for the most part and they have the best receiver in the
NFL in Calvin Johnson. The players themselves have the goal of winning a
championship, while the organization has established its own goal of recycling
every possible piece of trash generated at their stadium and practice facility
during the course of the coming season………
- Yelp users are annoying as hell. However, trying to
intimidate and mute them generally doesn’t go well for businesses, as Union Street Guest
House in Hudson, New York, learned this week. The hotel, clearly oversensitive
about its reputation and unwilling to accept a little constructive criticism,
decided to attempt to fine wedding parties $500 for any negative online reviews
posted by any members of their parties. Such efforts to silence people in the
social media age is a futile one and in a totally predictable result, Yelp
users instantly began to light Union Street Guest House up with scathing
reviews. Some were real, some were fake, but all were hilarious. At one point
Monday, there were more than 700 reviews, but the hotel deleted many of them
after determining that they didn't reflect "first-hand experiences,"
according to Yelp. "Trying to prevent your customers from talking about
their experiences is bad policy and, in this case, likely unenforceable
anyway," Yelp said. Sensing that the situation was not going well for
them, hotel officials tried to make the policy disappear by removing it from
their website. Because the Internet is written in ink, the attempt failed.
Screen shots of the policy circulated online, declaring "there will be a
$500 fine that will be deducted from your deposit for every negative review of
USGH placed on any Internet site by anyone in your party and/or attending your
wedding or event." The hotel’s official stance is that guests who don’t
appreciate its greatness are merely ignoramuses who don't understand the
historic buildings or region. "Please know that despite the fact that
wedding couples love Hudson and our Inn, your friends and families may
not," the website says. "This is due to the fact that your guests may
not understand what we offer -- therefore we expect you to explain that to
them. USGH & Hudson are historic. The buildings here are old (but
restored).” How very arrogant of you, USGH. Some Yelpers reported receiving
multiple threats from the hotel over negative reviews, but such threats only
seemed to fuel the angry backlash………
- Who do you get to replace a quirky, eccentric Scotsman at
the helm of your late-night network talk show? If you’re CBS, you look back
across the Atlantic Ocean and find yourself another resident of the United
Kingdom to fill the role. James Corden, who is likely to be an unknown name for
many American viewers, is the reported choice to take over for Craig Ferguson as host of “The Late Late Show” on CBS, even though
the network is remaining quiet about the rumor. Corden stars in Disney's “Into
the Woods” and can currently be seen alongside Keira Knightley in “Begin Again,” but he has yet to make a major
A-list splash yet on this side of the ocean. Ferguson announced his plans to
leave CBS a few months ago when David Letterman announced his retirement and
Comedy Central talker Stephen Colbert was tabbed as his replacement over
Ferguson and a slew of other contenders. He has hosted “The Late Late Show”
since 2005 and said in April that he would make his exit at “the end of this
year.” When asked about his future plans, Ferguson took the true comedian’s
route by cracking a joke in which he said he wasn’t sure what he would do after
taking a little time off “and then I'll do something else … Probably, I'm
thinking, carpentry.” Following Ferguson’s declaration that he was done at CBS,
a number of high-profile names were bandied about as possible replacements, including
“Community” star Joel McHale and
Neil Patrick Harris, who starred
in CBS’ hit sitcom “How I Met Your Mother,” which wrapped this year. Corden is
not on the same level as those men in the United States, but he does boast a
whopping 4 million twitter followers and will hopefully bring those people to
his 12:35 a.m. time slot………
- The fight is on and it is turning ugly in what is actually
one of the most pleasant places in the world to visit. Scotland is currently in
the midst of a massive buildup toward a Sept. 18 referendum on independence for
the country known for kilts, bagpipes, fog and whiskey. Powerful opponents and
proponents of the measure to split from the United Kingdom and send Scotland
scuttling off on its own are lining up against one another and perhaps no clash
has turned nastier more quickly than the war of words between Scotland's
leading politician and Britain's former treasury chief. A televised debate
pitting Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond against Alistair Darling was
hastily slapped together only six weeks before the Sept. 18 vote and with most
public polls showing greater support for the coward’s route of staying in the
union over venturing out as a sovereign nation, Salmond and Darling went at
each other with a vengeance. Several exchanges turned confrontational, which
was actually a positive for Darling because it meant that Salmond at least had
enough respect for him to acknowledge his presence despite initially insisting
that any debate should be against British Prime Minister David Cameron. Cameron
went the chicken-sh*t route and ducked the challenge. The most pressing issue
during the debate was whether Scotland would be able to keep the pound as its
currency or would have to come up with its own should voters decide in favor of
independence. At this point, most observers consider the vote too close to call
and that should make the remaining days before election day every bit as heated
and chippy as this debate………
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