- Life
is not good right now for the Boston Red Sox. They are last in the American League
East at 27-34 and their minus-48 run differential is the second worst in the AL.
They just got swept by the Baltimore Orioles, losing 6-5 on Thursday in
Baltimore and apparently pushing at least two members of the team to their
respective breaking points. Red Sox starter Wade Miley got the hook after the
fourth inning, having surrendered nine hits, five runs and three home runs and
prompting manager John Farrell to yank him even though he had thrown just 69
pitches. But neither pitcher nor manager let it stand there and they engaged in
an ugly dustup in the visitors dugout. Farrell informed Miley he was done for
the night and Miley objected, going right back at his manager in animated
fashion and with more than a few wild gesticulations mixed in. Ferrell
responded in kind and yet both men were able to compose themselves in the next
five innings to lie and put on happy faces when asked about the situation after
the game. Both men downplayed the incident and it seems unlikely to amount to
much in the long term. The Red Sox simply have major problems and scores of
underperforming players who aren't justifying their lofty salaries, including
slugger David Ortiz, who is scuffling so badly that there is speculation that
he could be held out of the lineup against lefties. An upset pitcher and
manager seems like the least one could expect from a team with a big payroll
and small win total, so chalk this one up to simple frustration………
-
All-girls dance teams, Nazi imagery and a heaping helping of general
insensitivity toward an entire race of people who were the targets of a mass
extermination by arguably the worst man to ever live….sounds like a fan
afternoon in Mexico, no? It certainly
was for everyone at a cheer-dance competition in
the western city of Guadalajara at the end of May and now, the world is
learning all about the fantastic festivities that went on at this went. The
team in question, consisting of about two dozen girls ages 10 to 16, turned in
a stellar routine that saw them boldly display flags with swastikas, rock pseudo-military
outfits and have one member of the team go all in by flashing a Nazi salute to
the crowd. Credit to the adults who sanctioned this performance as well for
helping the girls put together their outfits with red armbands and camouflage
dance outfits, topped with red flags as they strutted in marching-style
formations. The reason this is just now becoming an issue is because someone
had enough intelligence to post a video of the performance online and it
quickly made its way around the social media network, where the requisite
amount of rage was displayed by trolls and Twitter eggs alike. In response, event
organizer Enrique Casas said the routines were the individual choice of the 192
teams that participated but noted that organizers may put safeguards on the
next competition "to avoid hurting people's feelings." Hey E? Nice
job ducking that catapult load of blame flying your way so it can strike
someone else and also, if you actually think “hurting people’s feelings” begins
to cover this, you’re as clueless as these wildly insensitive girls………..
- Beck,
buoyed by a Grammy for Album of the Year for his 2014 release “Morning Phase,”
is thinking, um, creatively when it comes to his next project. After winning
his Grammy and becoming the latest person to have a magical moment in life
ruined by an extremely pompous and ass-hatted interruption by Kanye West - the
world’s most overrated recording artist - Beck is working on a new album he has
described as "hybrid" of garage rock and dance that is totally
different than “Morning Phase.” Fans will be able to test the veracity of that
claim when the album’s first single, “Dreams,” drops next week. Beck said the album is the
"opposite" of his melancholy 2014 release described it as "a
pretty diverse group of songs that fit together." Songs that “fit
together,” you say? Wow, that sounds, um, scintillating. The album has been in
progress for the past couple of years and to hear Beck describe it, it could be
his most eclectic - i.e. weird - release to date. "It started out as a heavy garage rock
thing and became much more of a dance — some kind of hybrid," Beck said of
the sound of the album. The release of “Dreams” coincides with Beck's return to
playing live shows, including a date in London with The Strokes on June 18. Releasing
your 12th studio album is quite an accomplishment in and of itself, but to
still be making music and perhaps even the best music of your career more than
a decade and a half into the process is even better. Here’s hoping that the new
album is good enough to get Beck back on the Grammy stage with The Rock guarding
the entire space with a mandate to body slam West if he takes so much as one
step out of his seat………
- Who
knew politics in Sunland Park, New Mexico were so much fun? At least they are
when the conniving, scheming and law-breaking Daniel Salinas is involved. This
political innovator was locked in a hotly contested mayoral race back in 2012,
trying to unseat incumbent Gerardo Hernandez. It was a tough assignment for
Salinas and he needed something extra to gain an edge on his rival, so he
logically went to the one place he knew he could outsmart Hernandez. In other
words, he planted a small surveillance camera is the campaign office and when
that camera recorded a handsy Hernandez receiving a lap dance from a stripper,
Salinas pounced. Salinas secretly
recorded Hernandez receiving the lap dance in his campaign office and put his
footage to use when he attempted to extort Hernandez. The exact terms of his
demands haven't been publicized, but the plan didn’t work out well because this
week, Salinas pleaded guilty to
extortion for his actions. Now, the former mayoral candidate in the New Mexico
border city has been hit with a three-year deferred sentence with supervised
probation, and 100 hours of community service. It’s hardly the sort of
life-changing sentence that critics hoped for, but admitting to felony
extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion against a politician with a low
enough moral standard to get a lap dance in his campaign office just isn't as
offensive as it used to be. Besides, this is merely the latest embarrassing
scandal to hit Sunland Park and compared to the last one, it’s fairly tame. The
previous scandal involved former Mayor Martin Resendiz admitting he was drunk
when he signed nine contracts with a California company for $1 million. It
might be time to institute some serious reforms and standards in Sunland Park
politics, either that or turning local government into a reality show and
giving the E! network a call right away……….
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