- P.T. Barnum looks smarter by the day. Saying that there’s
a sucker born every minute is about the only way to describe how a Texas
man was able to dupe multiple with promises of a Walt Disney theme park and
resort project that had no actual basis in reality. Thomas W. Lucas Jr., a
member of a Dallas-area real estate family, was convicted on seven wire fraud
counts and one count of making false statements to the FBI after a north Texas
jury deliberated for less than five hours. Court documents lay out the story of
Lucas presented investors with fake and forged sketches, maps and site plans to
build a future theme park. None of these geniuses thought to do any real
research of their own or even a simple Google search into what Lucas called “Frontier
Disney Dallas-Fort Worth.” These suckers later complained they overpaid for
land in two Texas counties, which they were planning to flip once Disney made
the announcement of the park. Ah, the old “super secret Disney park only I know
about” plan, meaning you should give me thousands of dollars so we can get one
up on a billion-dollar multinational corporation by jamming them up for the
land they need. Lucas created partnerships, joint ventures and limited
liability companies to begin acquiring land and managed to bilk his marks out
of nearly $14 million. He touted a source saying Disney was planning to build
the park in the metro area, but when the FBI questioned Lucas on the source, he
gave them a name of a dead man. Lucas' uncle Harry "Beau" Lucas tried
to cover for his nephew by saying the parcels were sold as “superior long-term
investments." It seems outright dishonesty and scum-baggery run in the
family………
- Hooray for aged-out actresses agreeing to revive their
roles in long-forgotten sci-fi movies that are coming back for a totally
unnecessary fourth sequel. Welcome back, Sigourney Weaver, and thanks for intimating that
you are open to reviving your character Ellen Ripley for a fifth “Alien” film. The idea is being
discussed in large part because earlier this year, director Neill Blomkamp
shared a series of concept art images for a new “Alien” film on his Instagram page. Weaver first played Ripley in
1979's sci-fi success story “Alien” before making a comeback in 1986’s
“Aliens,” earning an Oscar nomination for the role. She also appeared in “Alien
3” (1992) and “Alien Resurrection” (1997), neither of which generated the some
of critical or commercial power that the first two films created. In a lame
effort to glean some of the franchise’s remaining life, Weaver also provided
the voice of Ripley in the video game Alien:
Isolation, which was released last year. Even though she’s nearly 20
years past playing the role and the idea of former stars coming back to their
old roles in a much older form is usually depressing, Weaver sounds interested.
"We just left it at such a creepy place, sort of stranded above Earth. I
was quite happy to move onto other things and I didn't want to go to Earth,”
she said. “I didn't want to manufacture a sequel and I felt like we were
starting to do that. If something happens from this, it would be very organic
and very original, and because of that, it would make me want to do it. If it
was someone as talented as Neill, I'd certainly listen.” Blomkamp admitted that
his concept art is "completely unsanctioned" by 20th Century Fox and
that he worked on the ideas on his own, but said the project gained traction
through conversations with Weaver on the set of his latest film, “Chappie.” Here’s hoping
everyone has the good sense to just let this one go………
- It’s time for this week’s edition of Who’s Trying to
Overthrow Venezuelan Despot Nicolas Maduro! The game is always fun – assuming
you’re not one of those accused of trying to oust the hated dictator from power
and subsequently imprisoned for your attempted good deed on behalf of your
country – because it reinforces how much the nation hates the handpicked
successor to the late and über-dictatorial Hugo Chavez. According to the
government, a retired air force general and 13 other people are at the
center of a plot to overthrow Maduro. The general and his baker’s dozen alleged
accomplices have been arrested are implicated in the coup and the details of the
probably fabricated scheme are truly salacious. According to Maduro, the plan
was to attack his presidential palace and other government buildings on
Thursday. Congress president Diosdado Cabello confirmed on a television
broadcast that 11 soldiers were among those implicated. This was truly an
alleged coup across borders and boundaries, as military members are accused of
collaborating with folks from the private and political sectors, including two
opposition politicians and a businessman. It has the makings of a well-rounded
coup and to make the case that it’s real, Cabello showed photos of weaponry and
other items he said had been seized from those implicated. This is merely the
latest in a long line of purported efforts to overthrow Maduro’s regime and if
it goes the way of the case last year when three air force officers were
arrested, the accused will mysteriously disappear from view and won't be heard
from for a long, long time……….
- Julius Erving has been wrong about a lot of things in his
life. A guy who once ignored an illegitimate daughter for years and then
thought he could win her over with a signed basketball has clearly made
mistakes, but being a terrible father isn't the only area where Dr. J is less
than an All-Star. Erving, who was a
judge in the 2015 Sprite Slam Dunk contest Saturday night at the Barclays
Center in Brooklyn, realizes
that the dunk contest has lost all of its luster since he won its first
incarnation as part of the 1976 ABA All-Star Game in Denver. The contest has become gimmicky, boring and
tired, largely because there are only so many dunks that there are to do and
the NBA’s biggest names want nothing to do with it these days. Seeing bench
players and no-names do recycled versions of dunks that have been done dozens
of times doesn’t excite anyone, but that’s not why the dunk contest is a dud
every year, according to Erving. He sees a different – and furrier – culprit. "The
mascots messed it up," Erving said, referring to freaks in animal suits
doing trampoline-based acrobatic dunks during regular season games. "It
was great seeing regular human beings, even though they were 6-foot-6, 250
pounds, running and dunking a
basketball. When mascots started doing it with all the trampolines and all the
crazy stuff and falling on the floor,
then it became more like the X Games. The players can't live up to that."
Yes, because that’s what fans are truly concerned with, the zit-faced college
student in a gorrilla costume bouncing off a mini-trampoline and throwing it
down when most at the game are heading for the concession stand or checking
something on their phone. Nice try, Julius. Mascots suck, anyone over the age
of 10 hates them and the world would be a better place if they just went away,
but this is one problem you can’t pin on the San Diego Chicken, Philly Phanatic
or Moondog……..
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