Friday, September 05, 2014

Johnny Manziel hype 10 - Johnny Manziel production 0, gun statues and Gotye runs for office


- He might be 90 years old, but Zimbabwean dictator Bob Mugabe is still Likes to Fight Guy. The aging dictator might be closer to death’s door than he is to the prime of his life, but he’s still in power and he’s still looking to swing on anyone who tries to f*ck with either he or his 49-year-old wife Grace. The rage of Mugabe boiled over after his wife accepted a nomination last month to lead the ruling party's women's wing, triggering accusations that Mugabe aims to set a political dynasty in place. When critics suggested that he was trying to maintain his unjust stranglehold on power, Mugabe fired back – right after downing his Metamucil and taking his second nap of the day. In response to those who would denounce his wife’s new position, Mugabe warned the haters against messing with his family. His comments were thinly veiled so as to not be blatant and over the line, but Mugabe told hundreds of cheering youths at the airport that he heard that someone told his nephew to tell Grace to leave Harare. His reply? "We don't want such arrogance." Hmm…cryptic and yet, the message is clear because the only way Robert Mugabe communicates is through threats, violence and menacing. He has ruled since 1980 and won re-election in a disputed/shamelessly rigged poll last year. He has already accepted a proposal by the women's wing to be the party's candidate for the 2018 election and in December, he will give his rubber-stamp approval of Grace's nomination during a congress. All in all, it’s more of the same in Zimbabwean politics and that’s just not good for anybody who doesn’t rock the last name Mugabe……….


- One hit is all it took for Gotye to set his sights on grander ambitions. The Australian pop singer hit it big with his single “Somebody That I Used to Know” and based on that very limited success, he has taken the next logical step in his musical progression by forming a political party with his band The Basics. The artist, real name Wally De Backer, has designs on running in Victoria's state election in his native country in November. De Backer has formed the Basics Rock'n'Roll Party with bandmates Kris Schroeder and Tim Heath and their platform is a strong one with which a massive amount of voters should be able to not only relate, but to find such common ground that they rush out to vote for a pop singer with no actual political experience. The three key planks in that platform are innovation, education and rock'n'roll. Its stated aims are improving indigenous education in Victorian schools, compulsory first-aid training in high schools and having more access to music in rural areas. "Politics in this country is treated like it belongs to the elite," Schroeder said. "We have these career politicians who often come from well-to-do families... and they are groomed into becoming these lifelong politicians that have no other life experience outside of either being in the young Liberals or young Labor, and becoming a member of parliament." Well said, K. He added that decisions on such issues can be made by any common man, even musicians who also have college degrees. In order to actually be eligible for election, the Basics Rock'n'Roll Party must have 500 registered members. To meet that mark, the band is looking to register members with a campaign on its Facebook page………


- Hey National Rifle Association, what do you think of the new three-story-tall sculpture erected this week in Hartford, Conn.? One could imagine that the gun-fetishing kooks of the NRA would not be thrilled to see a one-ton hunk of art made from shredded firearms that were collected during buyback programs that took perfectly good instruments of death and turned them into fodder for a sculptor’s hands. The buybacks and the resulting monument are part of the Raise the Caliber campaign, which has the stated purpose of ending illegal gun violence in the United States. Artist Michael Kalish is the mastermind behind the sculpture and he unveiled the piece in Hartford to the assembled crowd in Bushnell Park. "I wanted to portray a simple gesture. Something simple and profound. The origin of a handshake was to show there was not weapon and that was a profound statement," Kalish said. The good news for those who really want to see this innovative piece of art but don’t want to waste valuable travel money or vacation days on a trip to Hartford is that the statue will actually be doing some traveling in the near future. After spending the next nine months hanging out in Bushnell park, the art will be exiled to Detroit, where it will instantly quadruple the value of the city and become the most expensive item in the Motor City by a wide margin. Those who want to give thanks for the Raise the Caliber campaign can express their gratitude to the CEO of Jewelry for a Cause, Jessica Mindich, who is a West Hartford native………..


- Now would be a great time for Johnny Manziel to have some actual on-field, regular-season NFL production to his name. The much-hyped, polarizing backup quarterback for the Cleveland Browns may not see the field on Sunday in his team’s opener, but he’s busy behind the scenes working on his top priority – his brand. Manziel is waiting to get his trademark to Johnny Football registered, but he isn't letting that wait slow him down in his quest to wring every possible dollar out of his fame before his football career goes down in flames. In that spirit, Manziel has filed for a trademark to a new nickname: Johnny Cleveland. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) records indicate that last month, Manziel's company, JMan2 Enterprises LLC, filed for the moniker with the intention to use it on athletic apparel and footwear. Before Team Manziel filed, the office denied two other requests to trademark Johnny Cleveland because it suspected that the name was tied to Manziel, who had not given his approval. Fans have also filed for such lame-ass trademarks as Johnny Be Good, Johnny Browns and Money Manziel, all of which were denied. A bilingual opportunist files for and was awarded the rights to Juanito Futbol, the Spanish version of "Johnny Football.” So far, Team Manziel has filed for 10 trademarks and at last count, that’s 10 more NFL starts than he has made, 10 more touchdown passes than he has thrown in the league and 10 more snaps than he has taken in a regular-season NFL game. Also on the trademark filings list are: JFF, ManzIIiel and The House That Johnny Built, a reference to the newly renovated Kyle Field at Texas A&M that will be completed next season. Keep your eyes on the prize and don’t worry about that pesky football success that seems to work so well for guys like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson, John………

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