- Slayer do not look like dudes who have soft hearts and a
tender side that leads to them rescuing all of God’s creatures, great and
small, from a frigid fate. Yet the tatted-up metal maniacs with shaved heads,
Goth-like attire and some of the most forceful hard rock around do have hearts
of gold, as proven by what transpired before a recent show in Indianapolis.
According to the band, guitarist Kerry King and several roadies went to dinner
at the popular Indianapolis eatery St. Elmo’s Steak House. The group paid top dollar
for their meals and enjoyed what had to be plenty of cow and more than a little
bit of alcohol, then tumbled out of the restaurant into the cold Indianapolis
evening. From there, well, things got cute and fuzzy in a hurry. “The assistant
tour manager, Jess [Cortese] saw a homeless man on the street who offered up
this little kitten for a dollar,” the band said in a statement. “The kitten
apparently was freezing so Jess took it, slept with her in her bunk on the bus
and went to the venue with her today, hanging out.” There is nothing more
badass and hardcore metal than a kitten sleeping on a tour bus amongst massive
men who like to shred and ink up, so it had to be a heartwarming scene. The day
of the show, a member of the crew knew someone who was looking for a kitten and
the animal was passed off to its new owner. Word came back that the kitten had
been fittingly named Gypsy and hopefully, the new owner sits down with his or
her pet and blasts some Slayer to celebrate their new bond………
- How many
people have asked themselves, “What does the leader of a failed independence
movement in Scotland do when his run at forming a new nation ends?” In case you
haven’t heard the answer, former Scottish pro-independence leader Alex Salmond
says he's going to run for a seat in the British Parliament in May's elections.
Salmond, who seems to have resigned himself to trying to affect change on a
smaller level after 55 percent of voters elected to go the safe route and stick
with the United Kingdom back in September, announced that will contest a
northeast Scotland seat for the Scottish National Party, which he led until
last month. Under his leadership, the party managed to win over 45 percent of
voters on Sept. 18, but didn’t come close enough to make anyone really sweat it
out on voting day. Early projections indicate that May’s elections are too
close to call, and project that smaller parties such as the SNP and the
anti-immigration U.K. Independence Party could end up holding significant
power. Salmond was asked why he would willingly run for election in a
parliament that he wanted to break away from just a few months ago and he said
"with so much at stake for Scotland, I think it's impossible to stand on
the sidelines." Various autonomy measures and chances for Scotland to
stand more on its own have been suggested in the weeks since the referendum,
but there is unquestionably a tinge of sadness seeing a man who pumped out some
quality inflammatory rhetoric leading up to the vote now meekly lining up to
get his name on the ballot to go sit in parliament with the men and women he
tried to sever ties with via independence………..
- Rafael Nadal doesn’t like being thought of as a sexist,
woman-hating professional athlete who can't stomach the idea of being coached
by a lady. Nadal landed in the middle of the drama when his coach and uncle questioned whether a woman could coach in the
men's game, calling out Spain's female Davis Cup captain. The 14-time Grand
Slam winner said federation president Jose Escanuela was in his
"right" to appoint Leon captain, but "it seems unfair to me that
they have wanted to shift the issue to a place that is evidently a clear issue
of populism." His remarks came amidst a sh*t storm created when Toni Nadal
questioned Gala Leon's appointment as Spain's first female Davis Cup captain by
saying it was "preferable that [the captain] is someone with a background
in the world of men's tennis." Those words were labeled sexist by
politicians from Spain's leading political parties and in the media and Leon
wasn’t too happy either. She struck back at the Nadal camp and that didn’t sit
too well with the family’s cash cow. Nadal fired back, denouncing Leon for feeding
a "false and absurd" debate. "It seems strange to me, as Davis
Cup captain, that instead of seeking union and harmony between players,
captains and the federation, she has incited and fed a debate that is totally
false and absurd," Nadal said. Others were big fans of the hiring,
including Scottish tennis star Andy Murray, who is coached by Amelie Mauresmo,
and the International Tennis Federation. Leon has since met with several
members of the team, but not Nadal. "I'm not going to ask for forgiveness
for being a woman," Leon said after a player meeting. No, but you may have
to ask forgiveness if you create a rift with your best player because of
something someone else said………
- Ready to get squeezed, American families looking to escape
into the Wild West for a summer trip that will leave everyone in the family
tired of each other and truly miserable? Hope so because there is am ambitious
(i.e. greedy) proposal
to double the cost to enter Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks in
northwest Wyoming. That’s right, not a $5 bump or a $10 raise, but freaking
doubling the cost. Under this d-baggish National Park Service plan, a 7-day
pass good for both Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks would increase
from $25 to $50. Oh, and an annual $50 pass good for both parks would be
discontinued in favor of each park having its own $60 annual pass. It’s a
shameless cash grab and a huge uptick that might put a hitch in the sprint
American families make each summer to see two of the nation’s most-popular national
parks and thankfully, there are a few reasonable minds speaking out against it.
The town of Jackson, fishing guides and wildlife safari companies are among
those vociferously criticizing the plan to raise the entrance fees for the two
neighboring parks. Those parties are lined up on one side of the debate, while
the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce and National Parks Conservation
Association support the fee increases. Hopefully the latter group is cool with
chipping off $20 to help everyone who wants to visit the parks actually be able
to afford it. So far, there hasn’t been much of a reasonable effort to explain
why a modest increase wouldn’t be enough and why it’s necessary for a
100-percent price jack for what are supposed to be national treasures that
Americans can go and enjoy without having to break the bank to make it happen.
As always, it’s a government agency looking to reach deeper into the pocket of
the common man and rip out as much as its grubby mitts can hold………
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