- It’s in the Steinbrenner genes. Beginning with the late,
loud George Steinbrenner, the family’s ownership of the New York Yankees has
been marked by world titles, bombastic proclamations, public drama and lofty
expectations. The theatrics have lessed somewhat since the passing of George
Steinbrenner in XXXX, but his son Hal has at least a little bit of the old man
in him and proved it this week when he ripped the Yankees’ offense and said
it’s time for the team’s hitters to man up. Speaking at Major League Baseball's owners meetings before the Yankees played the
Baltimore Orioles, Steinbrenner said he was especially disappointed with New
York's batters. "They've got to step it up and they know it,"
Steinbrenner said. Perhaps sensing the team’s slide in the standings was
pushing them toward a second straight season on the outside of the postseason
looking in, Steinbrenner said the team’s inconsistency at the plate "needs
to change." The Bronx Bombers are 19th in the majors in runs scored and
after spending $283 million in the offseason to add Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian
McCann and Carlos Beltran, a mediocre offense simply won't cut it. That’s
doubly true because the Yankees’ starting rotation has suffered injuries to
Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova and Michael Pineda, who returned
Wednesday to make his first big league appearance since April 23. "The
injuries have been as frustrating as they were last year," Steinbrenner
said. "When you lose four of your starting pitchers by the All-Star Game
... it's going to have an impact." The team’s 61-57 record after 118 games
matched its mark from last season and considering how 2013 ended, that’s a
number likely not making Steinbrenner feel any better……….
- Amsterdam is a liberal place…just not THAT liberal. The Dutch capital is a place where pot
tourists flock and prostitution is legal even though the ladies plying the
trade are marginally attractive at best, but part of the city’s culture is
under scrutiny by local officials who worry that there may be a touch of racism
in its holiday festivities. Mayor Eberhard van der Laan and organizers of a
large children's winter festival have decided that now is the time to reform
the image of "Black Pete" — the sidekick to the Dutch Santa Claus —
to remove perceived racist elements. It’s usually wise not to stereotype or
name any fictional characters by their skin color, so the change isn’t likely
to upset too many people. The mayor said the "negroid character" of
Pete's appearance will disappear over a period of years and while phasing out a
made-up person so people have a chance to say goodbye and adjust to the new
reality is somewhat comical. The change was clearly coming, as Black Pete has
become the subject of protests in the Netherlands. Opponents have denounced him
as a caricature of an African slave carried over from colonial times: Pete is
usually portrayed by white people wearing blackface makeup, bold red lipstick
and frizzy "Afro" wigs. Yeah, one can see where that might kinda,
sorta be perceived as racist by anyone with an IQ above 15 and even a shred of
a social conscience. A large majority of the Netherlands' mostly white
population still believes Pete is a positive figure and deny any racial insult,
but court rulings have opined otherwise and political figures are nothing if
not reactionary and desperate to avoid offending anyone whose vote they may
eventually need………
- Two steps back, Daniel Radcliffe, two steps back. You’ve already flirted with one rock
star movie role your Harry Potter-playing ass had no business filling and you
most definitely do not need to be sniffing around another one. Radcliff was
once linked to the perpetually-in-progress Freddie Mercury biopic, but
thankfully, that surefire disaster never materialized and Radcliff moved on to
other endeavors. Yet here he is again, expressing an interest in playing punk rock icon Iggy
Pop in a film of the pint-sized madman’s story. Iggy Pop is best known for his
manic stage presence, often rolling in broken glass and bleeding freely on
stage, diving into the crowd with reckless abandon before stage diving was cool
and his distinctive vocal style. A man who defined the edgy side of punk rock
should not be portrayed by a former child wizard and Broadway star, even if
Radcliffe believes he would be perfect for the part. "We've got a similar,
gnarly, sort of slightly strange, skinny bodies," he said. And? If that’s
all you’ve got, then step aside, wizard boy. There are hundreds of wannabe
actors who fit that bill and some of them might even be a non-milquetoast
British dude with no business being anywhere near the story of an absolute
musical icon. Radcliffe did try to bolster his rock and roll bonafides by
sharing his obsession with The Libertines frontman and well-known drug addict
Pete Doherty, but being obsessed with a solid British indie rock band doesn’t
make one qualified to play Iggy Pop on the big screen. Keep searching for that
next great musical or a part that allows you to use a magic wand and keep
moving, Radcliffe………
- There are bad people, there are straight-up scumbags and
then there are people like Akron (Ohio) resident Carol Hulett. Hulett was sentenced to four years in prison Wednesday after
pleading guilty to burglary, forgery and theft from the disabled. It’s the last
of those three charges that should boil the blood of anyone with a soul or
basic human decency, what with this D-bag of a human being pretending to be
disabled herself in order to befriend a developmentally disabled man and steal
from him. Read that last sentence again and feel free to text your friends,
book travel to Akron, search out Hulett and make plans to punch her repeatedly
in the face. According to prosecutors, Hulett pretended to be disabled and
eventually befriended a 60-year-old disabled man her husband had noticed riding
the bus. Yes, someone actually married this wench. She and her equally
scum-baggish husband befriended the disabled man, who had a part-time job
giving him money to live on, and convinced the man to cash three of his
paychecks and give Carol Hulett the money. Her husband, Shaun Hulett, is still
facing charges in an alleged purse-snatching incident, so the two of them were
clearly made for each other. Shaun Hulett pleaded guilty to burglary in the
same case and was sentenced to two years in prison, while his wife received
more jail time after being sentenced to an additional nine months for violating
probation. Fleecing handicapped people may not have the same stigma in prison
as those who harm women and children, but here’s hoping the ladies at whatever
facility Carol Hulett is sent to reserve a special dose of prison justice for
her sorry ass…….
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