- Los Angeles Kings center Jarret Stoll should really think about pacing
himself. Sure, the offseason just started and it seems like before you know it,
he’ll be trudging off to training camp for another season on the grind, but it
really isn't necessary to pack an entire offseason of debaucherous and
downright criminal activity into a single night. That seems to be the goal for
the man who would appear to be living the high life as a successful
professional athlete, a multimillionaire and the boyfriend of Fox Sports
reporter and "Dancing with the Stars" co-host Erin Andrews. He lives
and works in southern California and that’s pretty solid too, but clearly not
enough to satisfy this wildman’s lust for life. Not if he’s getting picked up
by Las Vegas police for suspected cocaine possession at the MGM Grand Hotel's
Wet Republic pool complex. Not only was he rolling an unspecified amount of the
Colombian nose candy, but he is also accused of possessing Ecstasy. It sounds
like a hell of a Vegas weekend – or at least it would have been if the cops
hadn't ruined this party before it really got started. The Kings issued a
statement saying they were aware of the reports and little else. "Our
organization is concerned and has begun conducting a thorough internal investigation,"
the team's statement said. "While we continue to actively gather facts, we
are withholding further comment at this time." Maybe Stoll was looking for
some stress relief because he will become an unrestricted free agent July 1
after struggling this season, tallying just six goals and 11 assists in 73
games..........
- These are rare and mysterious times in Cuba. In a curious
and fortuitous twist of fate, two dissidents made it
past a first round of voting and are standing as candidates in municipal
elections being hailed as an unprecedented test of Cuba's single-party system. Both
men expect to win the second round this weekend and if they do, they would become
the first officials elected from outside the Communist Party since the first
electoral law was established by Fidel Castro's government in 1976. Many
believe dissidents Hildebrando Chaviano and Yuniel Lopez merely being on the
ballot shows that Cuba's leadership may relinquishing its Vulcan death grip on
its control of the island’s politics and perhaps even using this occasion as a
loud sign of liberalization.The two men couldn’t be much more different as Chaviano,
65, and Lopez, 26, are at opposite ends of life’s spectrum. Yet both men
believe the government was caught off guard by the support for their
candidacies in the first round of candidate selection. It makes sense because that
round of the process happens at gatherings of neighbors at the district level,
so perhaps local officials didn't have time to organize enough to stop them. "Some
people say that there's fear in Cuba, and I say that people have lost a lot of
their fear," said Lopez, an unemployed member of the three-decade-old
Independent and Democratic Cuba Party. "I already feel like I've
won." Well that’s a loser’s mentality if there ever was one. Lopez, stop
thinking like a 15th seed who spring a massive upset in the first round of the
NCAA Tournament and almost doesn’t bother to show up for the next game. Chaviano’s
tale is a good one, as he’s a former government lawyer who decided to seize an
opportunity provided by both the letter of Cuban law, which offers theoretical
protection to independent candidacies. "We have to take advantage of the
moment," Chaviano said. Yes you do, Hildo-rama, and there is no
moment like the present………
- Sometimes, the best dreams come true start out as
ridiculous jokes uttered with zero degrees of seriousness. Major Lazer
producer Diplo knows this and it’s why a man who doesn’t belong in the same
musical zip code as an all-time icon like Robert Plant is making a concerted
push to team up with the Led Zeppelin frontman. Earlier this month, Diplo posted
a picture of himself with Plant on Instagram and tagged it with the caption:
"Collab coming soon." He later admitted the post was merely a joke on
his part after meeting Plant while on tour, but said cracking the joke has
actually inspired him to make Plant the latest big name with whom he has
worked. "I was on tour with Robert Plant down in South America and we
never did anything together, I just wrote that on my Instagram,” Diplo said. “It
seemed like it was so insane that no one would take it seriously but now I’m
actively going to look for him to do a collaboration. The reason I even
approached him backstage is because he beat me for the Grammy Record of the
Year four years ago. I told him that was my only chance to get that award and
you and Alison Krauss ruined it for me, but I still want to get a photo with
you anyway." To his limited credit – because his music sucks ass without
question – Diplo does recognize how talented Plant is and said the rock legend
spent half an hour talking to him about music when they met. It’s a nice story,
D, but it doesn’t mean he’s going to want to lock himself in a studio with you
for a few days to make music that will be much worse for your involvement………
- Calling a government’s attention to real world problems
can be difficult. You can riot if you’re bold enough and that’s an awesome
first option, but rising up in revolt isn't for everyone. Some like simpler,
quieter and less violent solutions and for people like that, there are tactics
like those used by Schenectady, N.Y. resident Elaine Santore. Santore,
the director of a local not-for-profit organization that helps retirees remain
in their homes, isn't the rioting kind and so the upstate New York woman
attacked the post-winter pothole problem in her hometown by filling in the road
craters with pansies. Yes, pansies. Following months of brutal winter weather
than left the streets of Schenectady looking like the surface of Edward James
Olmos’ face, city public works crews started fixing up the pavement as best
they could. Alas, it was not fast enough and so a few locals began filling in
the holes themselves. Santore chose a more colorful path, electing to plant the
flowers to make a statement about the problem and to make people smile after
what she called "a horrible winter." The funny thing is, her plan of
attack seems to have worked because of the 10 holes she filled with flowers
over three days starting Monday, all have now been fixed by city crews. Ever
the realist, Santore took a pragmatic approach to the situation. "I knew
something would happen to them," she said. "Either people would take
the flowers or they would be filled in. The winter was so hard on everybody and
so depressing. I wanted to do something creative to solve a problem we have
every year and bring a smile to people's faces." It’s a nice idea, E., but
nothing affects change like a well-lit Molotov cocktail lobbed through the
window of the city’s mayor or manager………
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