Wednesday, December 10, 2014

The Knicks finally show some fight, Cuba rises up and Billy Corgan remains an ass


- The Christmas spirit is alive and well in Manhattan. No, not at Rockefeller Center, where the ice skating rink is open for business and one of the gaudiest Christmas trees in the world is standing tall and welcoming visitors to New York City. Not at Radio City Music Hall, where the Rockettes are cranking out quality holiday entertainment. It’s not even at the Macy’s on 34th Street, where scenes from “Miracle on 34th Street” were filmed. No, the true and potent spirit of the season can be found at 61 W. 37th Street, where a window display by a caring business is showing one and all the kind of love the world needs this holiday season, more than it ever has. That address is home to Vivid Cabaret, which is exactly what its name suggests it to be, a strip club. So what can a place where drug-addled skanks/down-on-their-luck young ladies working their way through law school ply their trade of getting undressed for lecherous losers who jam $1 bills into their G-strings do to remind the world about the reason for the season? How about unveil a display mixing holiday images and colors with strippers clad in Christmas-themed outfits? “It’s a small window, but it will certainly warm many hearts,” Vivid manager Shaun Kevlin said of what’s heating up the window at his midtown club. Of course, this being a public setting and all, the strippers won't be showing anything they shouldn’t be, but their mere presence should be enough to lift the spirits of many Christmas shoppers passing through Manhattan………..

- Bill Corgan is an arrogant ass. This is not news. The Smashing Pumpkins frontman is narcissistic and pompous, and though he crafts some quality mainstream rock and has for two decades, he clearly believes his sh*t smells like strawberry ice cream when it comes to his professional life. So hearing that he showed up for an interview to promote the Pumpkins’ new album and dismissed fellow rockers Pearl Jam as "derivative" and Foo Fighters as undeveloped sounds like about par for the course. The comments came during a promotional appearance for his band’s new album, “Monuments to an Elegy,” and included Corgan’s claim that he  "can out write" all other rock songwriters of his generation. "I think the work speaks for itself," Corgan said. "I know [Pearl Jam] have a tremendous fan base, and they should, they're a great band, but I'm a Beatles guy, I'm a Stones guy, I'm a Kinks guy. To me a lot of other bands don't have the work." Why Pearl Jam should have a fan base doesn’t seem so obvious if one subscribes to Corgan’s line of thought, as he said it was a "mystery" how Eddie Vedder and Co. have maintained their top status "because I just don't get it." He then claimed that Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins were in their own class among their 1990s alt-rock peers. “I think if you stack my songs up, Cobain's songs up, and that band's songs, they just don’t have the songs," Corgan added. Sadly, the only guy Corgan felt like complimenting here is deceased, but he seems to have disdain for praising his living rivals………

- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! It was International Human Rights Day and for one of the world’s most controlling nations, that was a reason to rise up and stage an aborted demonstration that saw law enforcement come busting in and shutting down the fun. Cuban police rained righteous disapproval down on a demonstration by about 30 dissidents in central Havana, taking some of them away in cars. By now, everyone knows that this demonstration is going to happen because it’s a tradition upheld by the opposition group Ladies in White. "I am a patriot who wants all rights for Cuba without any restrictions," demonstrator Agustin Lopez shouted while police removed him from the demonstration. Lopez and other protestors resisted The Man and were shoved inside patrol cars before being whisked away from the scene. Yet not everyone gets the reason for the protest and in and of itself, that proves why such displays continue to be necessary in a place where the government reigns with an iron fist no matter who is technically in power at the moment. "I don't know why they say they are fighting for human rights here," said retired teacher Miriam Pascual, Why? Because you don’t really have any, M., even if you’re a big fan of the communist country's health and education systems. As always in Cuba, the government didn’t bother to provide any details about how many dissidents it detained or what its plans for them is. Stay secretive and grossly unfair, Cuba…….


- It’s amazing how the worst start in franchise history can turn teammates into potential celebrity boxing opponents in the locker room after a game. The New York Knicks have lost nine games in a row, they’re an astounding 4-19 and competing more for the worst record in the NBA than they are on the court and their star player is (allegedly) threatening to beat the holy hell out of one of his younger teammates. Carmelo Anthony, who is claiming he may need knee surgery soon, is clearly at full speed when it comes to his ability to rage at second-year teammate Tim Hardaway Jr. The Knickerbockers were speeding toward their fifth straight loss last week against Brooklyn when Hardaway barked, "Get the rebound!" The target of his remark seemed to be one of the best players in the league, Anthony, who approached Hardaway on the way down the court and used an expletive to ask Hardaway who he thought he was talking to. An established veteran star dressing down a younger player should have been enough, but Anthony reportedly chased that with another expletive informing Hardaway he was going to beat him up when they got into the locker room after the game. Sadly, that fight never happened and it’s sad because it would have been the most entertaining and competitive thing any Knicks player has done this season. The team is rife with discord and disdain for one another and multiple sources have said players are unhappy with first-year coach Derek Fisher's insistence on running the triangle offense. The friction between Anthony and Hardaway reportedly stems from each one’s belief that the other shoots too much and doesn't care about defense. Ironically, both are right………

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