- Let
it go, former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden. Sure, you were the top pick by the Portland
Trail Blazers over Kevin Durant in the 2007 NBA draft, but that was nearly
a decade ago and since then, you’re missed more than 75 percent your teams’
games, gotten picked up by the police for domestic violence and contributed
nothing of worth in the Association. Along the way in one of the most
snakebitten journeys in NBA history, Oden has been limited to 105 games due to
multiple microfracture knee surgeries and other issues. He’s looked like he’s
50 since he walked onto the Ohio State campus as a freshman and his body
behaves like a retiree’s, which is the reason he was last seen on an NBA bench
while playing for the Miami Heat in 2013-14, appearing in 23 games after a
three-season layoff. No one has been clamoring for his return this time around,
not even after Ohio State coach Thad Matta, who coached Oden during his one
season in college, said at the NCAA tournament in Portland that Oden had been
doing "high-level training" on campus for sixth months and had slimmed
down to about 280 pounds. "Quite honestly, I haven't seen Greg look this
good since when he played for us back in the day at Ohio State," Matta
said in March. "His attitude is off the charts." Based simply on
being 7-foot-1 and breathing, there will always be NBA teams willing to take a
look if Oden wants to play and now, he’s slated to participate in the Dallas
Mavericks' free-agent minicamp next week. He also worked out for the Charlotte
Hornets on Wednesday and the Memphis Grizzlies recently and seems intent on
another comeback, but the odds of someone with his fragility and injury history
suddenly finding routinely clean bills of health this far into his career….not
so good…………
- World,
it’s time to make nice with North Korea. Sure, those irascible maniacs on the
northern end of the Korean Peninsula are trying to develop a nuclear weapon and
they trample the basic rights of their people on a daily basis. Yes, their Lilliputian
leader Kim Jong-Un is a gluttonous megalomaniac who is hell-bent on starting
World War III even though such a conflict would end with his nation as a
smoldering crater of rubble. But when a country has discovered a miracle
cure-all that would wipe out four of the world’s deadliest diseases, then
getting friendly with it is the right call. Enter North Korea and its newfound cure
for Ebola, AIDS, MERS and SARS, which would put the capstone on decades of
research by scientists trying to eradicate these health scourges from humanity.
Not only that, but the North Koreans have apparently had the solution for 19
years. Yes, its scientists apparently first produced the disease-fighting drug
in 1996, according to state-friendly media outlets. Of course, knowing that
this claim would be met with both skepticism and envy by those who want to
discredit North Korea and steal this miracle cure for themselves, Pyongyang hasn’t
yet provided any actua details about this cure. Word on the street is that it
contains a natural herb, some plant food and a few elements, but that’s about
all. The injection drug Kumdang-2 was developed from ginseng grown from
fertilizer mixed with rare-earth elements, according to the official Korean
Central News Agency and to bring the bling, it also has “micro-quantities of gold and
platinum” thrown in, the drug's website says. It wipes out “malicious virus infections like SARS, Ebola
and MERS” and is “a strong immune reviver," according to state media. Curiously, earlier this
year, North Korea shut out foreign tourists for six months because of Ebola
fears, but it is K.J. Un’s cure to share or hoard……….
- Sonic
Youth bassist-vocalist Kim Gordon is a rock and roll icon and a pioneer for
women in the punk genre, but what is she doing with her lofty status these
days? How about cranking out vinyl copes of the ballet scores she composes for
theatrical productions? If that sounds like the most un-rock and roll thing
ever, it’s damn close. Gordon was commissioned last year to create music for Inversions, a ballet conceived by
New York artist Nick Mauss. Gordon, who earlier this month collaborated with J
Mascis on a song titled 'Slow Boy' for a new compilation curated by Converse, penned 'Music
for Inversions: A Live Ballet by Nick Mauss,' and while the ballet itself didn’t
become an international sensation, those involved thought it might be possible
to bring in some extra cash with a limited edition vinyl release of the music -
you know, for those who want to be totally hipster while prancing around their
Manhattan apartment in ballet flats trying to mimic the moves of whichever
prima ballerina was the star of this stage production. A total of 250 copies of
the album will be pressed and each will feature silk-screened cover art by
Mauss himself. No release date has been announced, but interested parties can
pre-order the record by contacting info@303inprint.com. The ballet itself
premiered last October at the Frieze Art Fair in London and was choreographed
by Northern Ballet’s Kenneth Tindall for five dancers and featured text by poet
Juliana Huxtable. Gordon performed the music live and while she remains as rock
and roll as ever, this one doesn’t do a lot for her rock cred……….
- Free
trash collection event in Kingman, Arizona, or sting operation to catch a
hardened criminal garbage dumper and shut his sorry ass down? The answer is yes
for Arizona detectives holding a free trash
collection event who not only kept the peace and allowed the thrifty among them
to get rid of unwanted items, but also arrested Trenton Drake White, who is
suspected of illegal dumping. While White was waiting in line for the event,
detectives recognized his vehicle as one that was spotted five days earlier at
the home of their suspect, who allegedly dumped 600 pounds of construction and
household trash in the desert. Showing what a hardened criminal he is, when
detectives approached him, they said he admitted to dumping the items and was
subsequently arrested on two unrelated misdemeanor warrants for failure to pay
fines and driving on a suspended license, plus that new felony charge of
illegal dumping. Maybe a fake beard or plastic nose and phony glasses would
have been a good idea before going to an event where there would be a lot of
police, or even asking a buddy if you could borrow his truck because yours was
(allegedly) not running that day. The Mohave County Attorney's Office will
review the case and given that the suspect a) now has three pending criminal
charges against him and b) admitted to the most serious one of the three, it
would seem that White is going to have a major black mark on his record going
forward. It’s an awfully steep price to pay merely to avoid paying a few extra
dollars on your garbage bill for the month……….
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