- If one is lucky, their waitress at the family dining spot
of their choice is affable, friendly and willing to pretend to like the people
she’s serving in order to boost her tip at the end of the meal. If one isn't so
lucky, their server is a disinterested magician who manages to disappear for
most of the evening and produces inexplicably bitchy behavior when she does
appear at the table to refill the drinks with disdain. That’s what makes Ahwatukee, Wisc. waitress Katrina Vasquez so
special. Vasquez is a waitress at Sakana Restaurant, but like most servers, she
doesn’t aspire to bring people their food for the rest of her life. Her true
passion is volunteering and traveling to share her love of art in order to make
the world a better place. One of her favorite stops is an orphanage in Egypt,
where she visits when she is able to afford the trip. But on a recent evening,
she found a child much closer to home who needed her help just as much. She
waited on the Friedman family and their son, Dustin, and quickly clued into the
fact that Dustin is autistic. Vasquez learned that Dustin is a big Pokemon fan
and because she spends her free time drawing and painting hats for children who
are going through cancer treatment and have lost their hair, she decided to use
her skills to make Dustin’s day a little better. "I made it in March and
they didn't come in for a few months and I was getting a little worried,"
Vasquez said. When the Friedmans did return, his father Dennis and the rest of the
clan were overjoyed about the hat. To pay her back, they decided to leave
Vasquez a $500 tip toward her next trip. It’s a heartwarming story for a woman
who is a cancer survivor herself and the money should be a big help paying for
her next trip………
- Shia LaBeouf is begging people to look at him – literally. There’s
simply no other way to describe a grown man with a sizeable bank account and at
least a B-list level of fame sporting purple lycra leggings and pink running
shoes and sprinting ' around an Amsterdam museum as part of a conceptual art
performance – other than possibly straight-up insanity, which cannot be ruled
out. LeBouf, who infamously pleaded
guilty to disorderly conduct at a Broadway show and was ordered to
complete a three-month course of treatment for alcoholism and walked out of a
Berlin Film Festival press conference for the Lars Von Trier film “Nymphomaniac” in February, has
clearly rediscovered his inner attention where and therefore invited volunteers
to “run with Shia, run for Shia or make Shia run.” The star of “Transformers” announced his publicity stunt
on Twitter and with the most ridiculous attire he could come up with, LaBeouf
and two other performance artists completed 144 laps of the Stedelijk Museum in
a “'metamarathon” staged during a 12-hour artistic conference attended by
hundreds of artists and philosophers at the venue. The attendees were gathered
to "consider how the world is perceived by the social media-savvy
generation born in the 1980s", which is every bit as pretentious and
pompous as it sounds. "As we are having a 'marathon' conference inside the
Stedelijk, we also wanted a reflection of that outside. Nobody can do it better
than Shia and the other artists at this performance,” museum curator Hendrik
Folkert said. Prior to the conference, LeBouf tweeted: "RUN: - to move
swiftly on foot - to PROCESS or execute a PROGRAM or instruction - an unbroken
series of PERFORMANCES." At least he didn’t tag this one the way he did
his hasty press conference exodus – by later appearing on the red carpet wearing
a paper bag on his head emblazoned with the words, "I am not famous
anymore.” Stay deliberately bizarre and attention-starved, S……….
- Before scoffing at Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s pitch to establish a global holiday known as World Yoga Day,
take a giant step back and ponder. The United States has an absurd number of
unofficial holidays to the point that seemingly every day not taken by an
actual holiday (that doesn’t include you, Arbor Day) is filled with National
Doughnut Day, National Pancake Day or National Wear Your Socks Inside Out and
On Your Hands Day. So when Modi pitches a new addition to the lengthy list of
annual U.N. observances in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly, maybe take
off the judging pants and consider the idea with an open mind. The prime
minister extolled the therapeutic powers of yoga and said it could help tackle
global problems, which might be a ginormous stretch, but can’t be any more
ridiculous than devoting an entire day to extolling the virtues of bacon. Modi
told delegates that yoga could, "bring a change in our lifestyle and
create awareness in us, and it can help in fighting against climate
change." The cynic could point out that Modi has a reputation as an
ascetic and is in the midst of a nine-day fast dedicated to the Hindu goddess
Durga, so maybe he’s just oddly eccentric or suffering from the ill effects of
having no nourishment to fuel the mind from which he is uttering these
nonsensical words. That same cynic could also note that the U.N. already has
118 awareness-raising days of observance, but those arguments should not carry
the day because the sheer stupidity of many of those days - the International
Day of Happiness, World Soil Day, International Mother Earth Day and
International Jazz Day – should mean that World Yoga Day has a chance to become
reality and sooner rather than later. Granted, the U.N. is a toothless
international punchline without any actual muscle to accomplish anything or
force rogue nations to capitulate, but that doesn’t mean it cannot revel in the
frivolity of its nothingness……..
- Phil Mickelson
isn't Phil Mickelson anymore. No, this isn't some sort of existential debate.
The hefty lefty from San Diego is still the guy who has won five majors and
will enter the Golf Hall of Fame soon after he retires. But the Phil Mickelson
so many fans knew and loved for his think-big approach to the game and his
willingness to try virtually any shot at any time and became one of the best in
the world in so doing is gone and he’s not coming back. If it wasn’t enough
that Mickelson not won a tournament since the British Open last summer at
Muirfield and has mostly been a walking dumpster fire on the course since then,
witness what happened Saturday at the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland. For
the first time in 10 appearances, Mickelson was benched by U.S. captain Tom
Watson, along with his Friday playing partner Keegan Bradly and Webb Simpson.
The decision came after Mickelson and Bradley rallied to take down Rory McIlroy
and Sergio Garcia in the opening session of fourballs matches Friday, but got
their asses kicked in foursomes when Bradley couldn't keep it in the short
grass and Mickelson couldn't make enough putts. "They didn't perform all
that well yesterday afternoon," Watson said. "They really wanted to
go today. These are the best pairings for alternate shot." After sitting
on Saturday, Mickelson will play only three matches this week, his fewest at
the Ryder Cup since going 3-0 as a rookie at Oak Hill in 1995. When asked about
being benched, Mickelson said, "Whatever it takes to win. I want our team
to win, and whatever we have to do is all I care about. He was even less chatty
when queried about whether it was his decision to sit. Rather than answer, he
crammed his earphones into his ears and strolled away………
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