- Russian Tennis
Federation President Shamil Tarpischev is righter than he knows when he says he
“doesn’t understand it.” Tarpischev has been fined $25,000 by the WTA Tour and
suspended from tour involvement for a year because he showed up on a Russian
late-night show and tried to play amateur comedian by referring to Serena and
Venus Williams as the "Williams brothers." Tarpischev appeared on "Evening
Urgant" alongside former WTA player Elena Dementieva and Dementieva
was asked what it was like to play against the Williams sisters. The question
may not have been directed to him, but Tarpischev thought he had a real zinger
so he jumped in and referred to the Williams sisters as dudes. When the show’s
host and Dementieva failed to laugh and kept on moving, Tarpischev decided to
let rip again just in case his very subtle attempt at humor had been
overlooked. "It's frightening when you look at them. But really you just
need to play against the ball,” he added. The WTA Tour announced the fine
Friday, noting that the $25,000 penalty is the maximum allowed under tour rules
and that it is seeking Tarpischev's removal as chairman of the Kremlin Cup for
one year. The tour also suggested that id Tarpischev owes the Williams sisters
a personal apology. "The statements made by Shamil Tarpischev on Russian
television with respect to two of the greatest athletes in the history of
women's tennis are insulting, demeaning and have absolutely no place in our
sport," WTA Tour chairman and CEO Stacey Allaster said in a statement. "His
derogatory remarks deserve to be condemned and he will be sanctioned.'' When
asked about his asinine remarks, Tarpischev replied, "I don't answer
stupid questions. I can't comment. I don't understand it." Actually, S.,
you do answer stupid questions with even dumber replies and you obviously don’t
understand any of it………..
- Way to miss the point again, everyman. If you’re going to
go on strike because you’re pissed off over an insulting contract offer from
your employer, then you cannot put a finite end point on your work stoppage –
unless your goal is to make yourself a neutered version of the enraged uprising
you hope to be. Putting a firm date on how long you’re willing to be off the
job allows The Man to simply laugh off your strike and wait it out, even if your
hope is to demonstrate the sort of damage you could do if you decided to leave
for good. No warnings shots, workers of the world. Take decisive action and
stick with it. Those words go out to train drivers at Germany's
national railway who are engaged in a two-day strike after their union rejected
a new pay offer in a bitter dispute complicated by rivalry between unions. The
GDL union called members out on strike from early Saturday morning until early
Monday morning and it was their second walkout in the past week, which begs the
question of why they bothered returning from the first one. GDL wants a 5-percent
pay increase and shorter working hours, which is a demand damn near every union
in every country around the world would like to make. Further complicating
matters is GDL’s demand to negotiate for other staff traditionally represented
by a rival union. In response, national railway Deutsche Bahn says it offered a
raise of 5 percent over 30 months, but the company won't accept rival pay deals
for other employees. GDL shot down what it called a "sham offer,” leaving
the railway with plans to operate just 30 percent of scheduled long-distance
trains during the work stoppage……..
- Who wants to record where indie rock’s most pretentious
a-holes toiled for two of their best albums? That long-awaited chance has
finally arrived. The Quebec church Arcade Fire converted into a studio to record two
albums and then grew tired of has finally sold and will reopen next month. The
128-year-old property was put up for sale by the band after the roof collapsed,
probably under the weight of Win Butler and friends’ immense egos, and Emery
Street Records purchased the damaged building and refurbished it. The
Montreal-based label clearly knew what it was doing, as the lure of following
in the footsteps of Arcade Fire
has drawn enough interest for the studio to be fully booked through the end of
the year. Arcade Fire purchased the former Presbyterian church in 2005 and
recorded their so-so second album “Neon Bible” plus its superior successor, “The
Suburbs,” in the facility. "This mystical place provides a unique venue
with peerless sound to record the Emery Street Records musical output, as well
as other high quality acts," Emery Street general manager Francis Lemay said
in a release. "We wanted to keep the spirit of the place alive and we will
produce many great artists in their quest for distinction." We wanted to “keep
the spirit of the place alive?” Not really. You wanted to keep your label alive
and you wanted to breathe more life into your bank accounts, but the spirit of
the building probably isn't high on the list. Along with Arcade Fire, acts such
as Timber Timbre, Wolf Parade and Beirut recorded at the studio before its
closure, so there is plenty of recent success in the facility to inspire the
bands who come through in search of their breakthrough and hope that the spirit
of the place is enough to carry them to fame………
- New York City is a place where big fights happen, often
over the smallest issues. The current big bout is taking place in the Park
Slope neighborhood, where one man is sticking a giant middle finger of opulence
in the faces of every one of his neighbors. William Caraballo is the proud –
and overprotective – owner of a flashy, neon orange sports car. Why someone
living in Manhattan would spend nearly six figures on a sports car when he
lives in a place where nonstop traffic makes driving faster than 11 mph an
impossibility is curious, save for the ability to pull chicks one would
otherwise not be able to snag, but owning such a pricey ride poses some issues
for Caraballo. Namely, how does he keep his prized possessions safe? The answer
to that question appears to be a ginormous tarp an a handful of orange cones. To
stake out his private parking spot on a public section of 54th Street,
Caraballo has set up six neon-colored cones and in the process declared the
area off-limits in a place where real estate of any kind is at a premium. When
asked what gave him the right to cordon off his own parking space on the street
when no one else who lives in his building does so, Caraballo’s response was
both simple and ignorant. "It's my first brand new car," he said. "I want to
protect it as much as possible." If you really want to protect it, fool,
then move the hell out of New York City and take up residence in the middle of
nowhere, giving you as much parking space as you’d like. According to
Caraballo, he bought the car in May and uses his cone forcefield to give his
car breathing room and not to reserve spaces. "I don't leave my cones
sitting there to reserve a spot for me, because I'm nobody special," he
said. He also uses his second car to hold his unofficial parking spot when he
leaves and believes that his neighbors actually appreciate his flashy ride.
Sounds like it’s time for someone’s house key to have a scratchy interaction
with the driver’s side door………..
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