Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Romanian spy drama, Radiohead teases the world and asinine NFL injuries


- Detroit Lions starting middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch is either not very bright or he’s in the midst of the worst case of denial documented this side of a psychological textbook. Tulloch is a ninth-year veteran who has played in 131 straight regular-season games between Tennessee and Detroit, but his streak will end this Sunday because of one of the single most idiotic reasons possible for a professional athlete to tear the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. In the midst of the Lions’ 19-7 win over the Green Bay Packers, Tulloch garnered the ever-elusive sack of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, tossing the Pro Bowl signal caller to the turf and making a big play for his team. That is where the good news ends. To commemorate his sack, Tulloch leapt up from the ground and attempted to lampoon Rodgers’ famed championship belt celebration gesture, only to feel his knee give out mid-celebration. He tumbled to the ground in a heap, got back up and tested the knee, ultimately deciding to continue playing. One snap later, he was unable to continue and left the game. On Monday, it was revealed that he is out for the year because he couldn’t successfully and healthily execute a pedestrian gesture that any of the 80,000 fans in the stands could have done without shredding their left knee. "It's unfortunate, man," Tulloch said. "You're passionate about the game. You want to get up and celebrate, and it happened. People do it a million times. Unfortunately it happened to me, but I've been healthy for nine years in my career, never missed a game, let alone damn near plays. Yet Tulloch had the kahones to insist he wasn’t embarrassed by how he injured himself and didn’t feel there was any reason for shame. Whatever you need to tell yourself as you stand on the sideline in a track suit during games and endure hundreds of hours of painful physical therapy to get back on the field next season, Steve………..


- Wesleyan University (Conn.) President Michael Roth and trustees Chairman Joshua Boger, you are heroes. Your unselfish, innovative gesture made Monday will change the (sex) lives and enhance the college experience of countless numbers of frat bros for generations to come. See, these two visionaries want to take the pesky step of actually attracting girls to fraternity houses out of the process by mandating that all on-campus fraternity house become coeducational within the next three years. Boger and Roth announced the change in a letter declaring that Greek organizations have both male and female members and to have each gender "well represented" in their organizational leadership to quality for housing on campus and the use of university spaces. Yes, this could have something to do with the fact that sororities currently have houses on campus and it might not be a move designed to get frat dudes better odds of hooking up with a hottie, but the intent can't cancel out those possibilities. "Our residential Greek organizations inspire loyalty, community and independence. That's why all our students should be eligible to join them," Roth and Boger wrote. "Although this change does not affect nonresidential organizations, we are hopeful that groups across the University will continue to work together to create a more inclusive, equitable and safer campus." Although the change comes less than a month after a decision to close the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house following an accident in which a woman fell from a third-story window, school spokeswoman Kate Carlisle said the changes do not come as a response to any one incident. Carlisle boldly and BS-edly said the subject has been a matter “of ongoing concern and discussion among the people in the administration, the school community, the alumni community and so forth for a number of years.” Whatever you say, Katie. The only true regret here is that Wesleyan U is a small school with just 3,100 students and just two active all-male residential fraternities — Delta Kappa Epsilon and Psi Upsilon. The lives of guys in both of those houses just got much, much better……….


- Score one for thinly veiled self-promotion. Radiohead's Thom Yorke knows plenty about drawing out the drama and building hype for a new project and he’s now busy tweaking fans who have eagerly awaited the band’s first new album in three years. Radiohead have long played the part of the thoughtful, mysterious and super-serious rock stars who are just a cut more sophisticated than their peers, but they are clearly no different than the rest of the rock world when it comes to how they create hype for their latest and greatest album. Yorke launched the first scud in that fight when he posted a photo on his Tumblr page of a white 12-inch vinyl on a turntable. The tabla rosa could be some sort of metaphor for a blank slate that Radiohead are about to paint with the wonderful colors of their music. The photo also contains a possible hint in the form of artwork designed by Stanley Donwood, the band's long-time collaborator who has designed all of their album and poster art since 1994. Further deepening the mystery, the image was also tweeted by another long-time Radiohead collaborator, producer Nigel Godrich. Combine those facts with the revelation last month from drummer Phil Selway that the band are due to begin sessions on the follow-up to their 2011 album “The King Of Limbs” this month because it was time to "start making music" together again. "There's always that sense that our best record is still to come…There’s still a lot creativity we can do together,” Selway said. Selway will be a busy man in the coming weeks, as he will also release his new solo album “Weatherhouse” on Oct. 6. The alleged Radiohead album doesn’t have a projected release date, but maybe another cryptic social media hint or two along the way will bring some clarity to the picture……..


- What the hell is going on in Romania? A better question might be who cares, because whatever is going on, it’s damn entertaining and someone needs to be writing it all down for the inevitable feature film it should spawn. The latest grand stroke of drama came Monday as the head of the eastern European nation’s foreign spy agency resigned to run for president in the Nov. 2 election. Aside from another blowhard politician jumping into the race at the last moment, the move has stoked the fires of debate about the presence of spies in the country's political life. Teodor Melescanu quit Monday as director of Romania's Foreign Intelligence Agency and the timing could not have been better. Melescanu’s announcement came a mere 24 hours after a leading TV political talk show host revealed that he was an undercover officer for the defense ministry. That wild allegation has yet to be substantiated, but here’s hoping it’s true and there are spies lurking on every talk show, reality show and soap opera that has any ties to the country. Conspiracy theorists have already begun speculating that the two developments confirm their fears that Romania's political life is being manipulated by the intelligence services. The country has two main intelligence agencies and five smaller agencies not under parliamentary control and that seems both shady and a recipe for rampant abuse of power. Regardless of his motives, Melescanu will run as a candidate for the Social Justice Party, the electoral office said, facing Prime Minister Victor Ponta and others. I spy something disturbing and über-shady in this race……..

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