- Russia may be ruled by a despotic dictator with a
disturbing affinity for mounting large quadrupeds while shirtless, but it’s
still a nation of tough people willing to roll up their sleeves, battle the
cold and get dirty when life calls for it. Even in the northern reaches of the
country, where the gulag mentality is still part of the cultural fabric, the
frigid conditions aren't enough to break a plane full of badass Russians. A Russian-made Tu-134 with 74 oil workers and seven crew members
onboard was preparing to take off from the town of Ingarka on Tuesday to
Krasnoyarsk 800 miles to the south, but it had a bit of a problem.
Specifically, the plane's chassis breaks literally froze to the ground. That
can happen when it’s -61 degrees Fahrenheit outside and conditions are too
frigid for even a polar bear. With their plane frozen to the ground and a
burning desire to fly south to (relatively) warmer climates to see their
families, the passengers were eager to do what they could to get the flight off
the ground. Several dozen men hopped off the plane and as seen in an eyewitness
video of the incident, they leaned on the wings and pushed the plane to dislodge
it from the place from whence it had frozen. It was an heroic feat and yet, not
everyone was sufficiently impressed. Russian authorities were enraged by the
incident and prosecutors launched an investigation into a possible breach of
safety regulations. "It would be funny if it didn't pose a horrendous
threat. People could have damaged the aircraft skin and the flaps," said Oksana
Gorbunova, senior adviser to the West Siberian transportation prosecutor. Gorbunova
said the passengers were asked to leave the plane when it got stuck. When a
tractor began towing the airliner, some of the passengers left a bus and tried
to help move it. "The plane was towed, of course, because it would be
physically impossible for people (to move it)," Gorbunova said. Yes, but
you don’t know if you don’t try (or understand basic physics), O……..
- It’s tough to stay mad at the Aussies. They’re a freaking
party wherever they go in the world, they always have a beer in their hand and
they like to fight. In other words, they’re that insane friend you always want
around but are half-terrified when they’re in the house because the potential
for sh*t to go sideways is omnipresent. Basketball's
governing body understands how loveable the blokes from Down Under can be and
that probably explains much of why FIBA decided that Australia did not
deliberately lose a World Cup game to delay playing the United States. FIBA
secretary general Patrick Baumann says the association’s investigation
"cleared Australia of violating the internal regulations” even though the
organization previously said what everyone was thinking when it announced that it
"widely suspected" that Australia lost on purpose to Angola, 91-83,
in order to avoid facing the eventual champion U.S. until the semifinals. The
ploy sort of work because Slovenia finished above Australia in the group and
lost in the quarterfinals to the U.S., but Australia ended up losing to Turkey
in the second round anyhow. Losing by eight points to Angola clearly should not
have happened and doing so took some, um, intentional suckage, yet here’s FIBA
announcing that it "can count on Basketball Australia to wholeheartedly
endorse the principles of fair play and ethical behavior." Perhaps a few
late nights at bars and parties in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide were enough to
talk FIBA off its hard-line stance while warning that any future match
manipulation can lead to "suspensions, substantial fines, reprimands or
warnings." Oh no, not reprimands and warnings……….
- When does a party really become a party? When it begins
as a children’s birthday party and ends with a 5-year-old boy popping pain
pills and being rushed to the hospital, that’s when. In Denton, Texas, that’s
precisely what happened after a birthday party with a piñata became a reason
to dial 911. It all started when a boy at his friend’s fifth birthday
celebration was looking on as the piñata was smashed and gave up
its sugary contents, with a major surprise in their midst. “There
was the one little box of candy that I saw fall and he went and grabbed it,”
said the boy’s mother, Brisa Ochoa. “It was very colorful. I would have never
thought that it had anything else in it besides candy.” Her son, Damien, picked
up that curious-looking box of candy and without giving it too much though,
popped one of the candies into his mouth. He complained about the small
sphere’s taste and his mother took a closer look. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh this
is a pill,’” Brisa Ochoa said. “Everyone went into a instant panic like, ‘Oh my
gosh, check your candy!'” Rather than Trolli Sour Brite Eggs, little Damien had
ingested a Hydrocodone pill that was inside the box. He only took one pill
or the impact could have been worse, but Denton Police are looking into the
incident and said the homeowner who had the birthday party wasn’t involved.
Investigators are attempting to determine where the pills came from, who they
belong to and how the came to be inside the piñata, but this could open up so
many possibilities going forward. How much fun would that next rave or
black-light party be if you could buy a piñata filled with Ecstasy or Vicodin?
Tweakers would love the idea of whacking a brightly colored item and having
mystery pills fall out for their raving pleasure………
- Music can be therapy for the soul and not just for
listeners. It can help the tormented soul of a musician unleash their inner turmoil
and exorcise their demons, much like the way rapper Mac DeMarco did with his
new album, “Salad Days.” DeMarco says the album was influenced by the struggles
of life on tour and played a part in him learning to “"stop being a little butthole."
The album features a major change in tone from his previous effort, “LP 2,” and
according to DeMarco, his time on the road is a major reason why. “I didn’t
have anything to be frustrated about before, but for this record, touring is
pretty sweet, but it’s slowly killing me with all the alcohol and it’s pretty
insane,’” he said. Recording the album pushed him out of a self-professed slump
and its upbeat vibe was both deliberate and carefully crafted. "This
record’s purpose was to bring the spirits up. It did for me, take all this
stuff you’re feeling and then pop yourself out of the slump," he said.
"When I’m complaining, it starts off like, ‘Oh boy, I’m tired’, but then
halfway through the songs the chorus comes in like, ‘Shut up you little prick,
you’re able to go round the world playing shows!’ I’m stopping myself being a
little butthole.” Eight months after the album’s release and with widespread
critical acclaim for the project, it seems DeMarco has accomplished his aims
and made himself a nice chunk of change in the process. Hooray for music plus
capitalism………
No comments:
Post a Comment